State hopes to create Southern gateway to Boston

Mass. officials want to develop a large swath of state-owned property between Chinatown and South Boston that could eventually host homes, offices, stores, and public parks.

Negative ads aimed away from Romney

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is practically getting a pass in the nasty media war leading up to Iowa’s GOP caucus votes tomorrow.

Iowa evangelical bloc fractured over GOP candidates

Despite a recent surge in the polls for Rick Santorum, voters in Iowa who identify with the religious right said they see Mitt Romney as the nearly inevitable nominee.

Pushed out of Harvard, professor returns fire

Professor Subramanian Swamy’s dismissal by his peers at Harvard, after he had penned a newspaper column that many saw as hateful towards Muslims, has stirred a debate over free speech.

Flemmi son says gangster’s kin also victims

Breaking his silence, Billy St. Croix says his family was shattered by his father, Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi, and James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger.

Billy St. Croix, a son  of  Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi,  knew that “Whitey” Bulger’s return to Boston would take his family back to a place of enormous loss — and shame.

Jason Greene For The Boston Globe

Billy St. Croix, a son of Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi, knew that “Whitey” Bulger’s return to Boston would take his family back to a place of enormous loss — and shame.

Above,  Flemmi (standing) and Bulger (seated, right) at a long-ago wedding.

Handout from Billy St. Croix

Above, Flemmi (standing) and Bulger (seated, right) at a long-ago wedding.

Billy St. Croix testified against his father, Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi, but refused to enter  witness protection. He now lives in another state and is working on a book about his life.

Jason Greene For The Boston Globe

Billy St. Croix testified against his father, Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi, but refused to enter witness protection. He now lives in another state and is working on a book about his life.

Marion Hussey, Flemmi’s longtime companion, left him when her daughter Deborah said he had molested her.

Handout

Marion Hussey, Flemmi’s longtime companion, left him when her daughter Deborah said he had molested her.

Deborah Hussey and William Hussey, later St. Croix, in 1962. She was a toddler when her mother began dating Flemmi.

Handout

Deborah Hussey and William Hussey, later St. Croix, in 1962. She was a toddler when her mother began dating Flemmi.

Stephen Flemmi with Debra Davis, a girlfriend of his who was also allegedly strangled to death by James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger.

Handout from Billy St. Croix

Stephen Flemmi with Debra Davis, a girlfriend of his who was also allegedly strangled to death by James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger.

This image is from the summer of 1970 in Montauk, N.Y. That weekend Deborah Hussey rescued her brother, Billy, from drowning. She is standing behind Flemmi; Billy is at right.

Handout

This image is from the summer of 1970 in Montauk, N.Y. That weekend Deborah Hussey rescued her brother, Billy, from drowning. She is standing behind Flemmi; Billy is at right.

G cover

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/01/02/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/02gcover_1--90x90.jpg Are you ready for wellness coaching?

Increasing numbers of health care officials are recognizing the benefits of prescribing individual counseling to treat some conditions, including obesity and diabetes.

Dan Shaughnessy

The way I see it, Patriots are a mirage

These guys aren’t going anywhere near Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Something bad is going to happen at Gillette Stadium before this month is over.

“The people who cut me out are leftists who have nothing to do with economics . . . It’s almost like the Spanish Inquisition — they didn’t give me a chance.”

Subramanian Swamy, on his dismissal from Harvard by fellow professors 

Metro

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The area behind NewStreet at the corner of Sumner Street, with an expansive viewof Boston Harbor, is the site of a proposed NewStreet project in East Boston.

Menino called key to East Boston hopes

If anyone can spur real growth along a section studded with crumbling piers and faded promises, many believe, it is Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Nation & World

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A new medium-range missile is fired from a naval ship during Velayat-90 war game on Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran January 1, 2012. Iran test-fired a new medium-range missile, designed to evade radars, on Sunday during the last days of its naval drill in the Gulf, the official IRNA news agency quoted a military official as saying. REUTERS/Jamejamonline/Ebrahim Norouzi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Iran says it has made first nuclear fuel rod

Iranian scientists have produced the nation’s first nuclear fuel rod, another step in Tehran’s efforts to achieve proficiency in the entire nuclear fuel cycle.

Sports

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Patriots 49, Bills 21

Patriots Antwaun Molden, Devin McCourty, and Patrick Chung appeared to walk on air following McCourty’s interception against the Bills in the regular-season finale yesterday at Gillette Stadium.

Patriots earn top seed in AFC

New England locked up home field advantage in the AFC playoffs by virtue of its 49-21 win against Buffalo, though once again it took a come-from-behind effort.

Health and wellness

G Force

Mindful of ways to get healthy

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and founding director of its Stress Reduction Clinic.

Arts

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MUSIC REVIEW

Styles P turns on the chaos

Styles P's show at Showcase Live was perpetually chaotic, perplexingly unpredictable, briefly violent, altogether unhinged, and still somehow genuinely fun.