US soldier kills 16 Afghan civilians, Karzai says

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said a US service member shot dead 16 civilians before dawn Sunday, and a NATO general quickly apologized.

A parish grows amid the abuse scandal

In 2002, a tight-knit parish in Hanson celebrated a new church under a cloud. After a decade of struggle, it has emerged stronger.

Big-box retailers shrinking floor space to reduce costs

Brands such as Staples, Old Navy, and Kmart are downsizing their footprints to cut costs following a long period of tepid consumer spending and steady growth in online shopping.

For Romney, saying little on Limbaugh said a lot

Mitt Romney’s response to comments Rush Limbaugh made about a Georgetown Law student struck some inside and outside his party as woefully inadequate.

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Drivers get a break as parking tickets decline

The number of parking tickets issued in Boston has dropped nearly 13 percent during the past three years, according to a Globe review of records.

Steve Wynn built casino fortune with bold designs, tenacity

Many think the casino mogul is wasting his time in Foxborough because the town is unlikely to approve a casino. But Wynn has beaten the odds in the past.

Neighbors await word on Catherine Greig

Relatives of James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger’s alleged victims are wondering what a change of plea from his longtime girlfriend would mean for the case against the mobster.

Duxbury resident still fighting Pilgrim

A year after Japan’s crisis, Mary Lampert remains committed to closing the nuclear plant, and her efforts have helped drag out the license renewal process for Pilgrim.

“I know people don’t necessarily believe it, but we’re not all about revenue. We look at tickets as a deterrent.”

Thomas Tinlin,  commissioner of Boston’s transportation dept.

Globe Insiders

Globe Talk | March 21, 6 p.m.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/03/02/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/lennyclarke copy-018--90x90.jpg Boston, a Comedy Capital

Join Dave Russo, Anthony Scibelli, Tony V, Jimmy Tingle, and Lenny Clarke for a talk about the city’s comedy scene. Laughs guaranteed.

Spring Style Magazine

SPECIAL MAGAZINE

Spring Style

The season’s freshest fashion feels airy and easy — think fluttery shapes, pretty prints, and nothing too structured or serious.

Inside The Boston Globe

Hammitt clutch from Moxie.

Runway Rundown

Pastels: A primer
Pad See Ew with handmade rice noodles at Long Grain in Camden, Maine. (Jonathan Levitt for The Boston Globe)

explore new england

10 meals worth the mileage

Ideas

Inside the board game renaissance

ART REVIEW

Impressions of Debussy

César Alvarez at a rehearsal of ‘‘Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps,’’ which premieres Friday at Oberon.

theater review

Civil War meets sci-fi in rock musical ‘Futurity’

Q&A

Why Republicans and Democrats will never agree

Travel

Family-friendly pubs in Greater Boston
Universes’ ‘‘Ameriville’’ looks at the nation through the prism of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

theater review

Katrina-inspired ‘Ameriville’ is Universes’ call to action

There’s a new baker in town

Democratic darling has also been critic

g cover

Would you wait in line 8 hours for a beer?

MOVIE REVIEW

‘A Thousand Words’ has little to say

Metro

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Howard Lowell stood on shore near the site of the legendary battle between the Confederate ship Virginia and the USS Monitor, an ironclad led by his great-great-great-grandfather, John Lorimer Worden.

Battle of the ironclads tested their metal

A century and a half ago, a historic battle took place that changed the course of naval warfare. And Boston played a role.

Business

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Education-tech ecosystem grows in Boston

A growing cluster of technology companies focused on education innovation are taking root among the region’s universities, education researchers, and textbook publishers.

Columnists

Jeff Jacoby

Medallion system shackles cabbies

Joanna Weiss

Contraception, the economic miracle drug

GARETH COOK

Community chest
Although paralyzed, shooting victim Marcus Hurd, questioned by attorney John Amabile in Suffolk Superior Court last week, says he accepts the code of the streets.

Joan Vennochi

As victims accept ‘code,’ more victims are created

Innovation Economy

Boston dreams head west

LOVE LETTERS

Her boyfriend’s ex keeps calling and calling and calling...

Christopher L. Gasper

Seguin is causing idol talk

Adrian Walker

Church, lender need to talk

SCOT LEHIGH

Maybe it’s not Mitt’s fault
John Barros is both a School Committee member and head of a nonprofit which supplies school services.

LAWRENCE HARMON

A little too close for comfort

Boston Capital

Markets rebound. Now what?

Brian McGrory

The politics of panic

Nation & World

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Putin protest movement loses steam, lacks agenda

Thousands gathered in Moscow on Saturday to denounce President Vladimir V. Putin, but protest organizers admitted they had yet to settle on a path forward.

Sports

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Capitals 4, Bruins 3

Bruins are caught flat-footed

The Bruins wiped out one two-goal deficit, but they couldn’t negate a second one in a 4-3 loss to the Capitals on Saturday.

Arts

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music preview

“If we’re onstage and play the entire concert safe, that’s not what jazz is about,’’ says Gregory Porter.

Jazz vocalist Gregory Porter sings from the soul

As a boy in a big family with no father in sight, Gregory Porter found succor in the warm, embracing balladry of Nat “King’’ Cole.

Travel

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Ireland

Ireland’s Aran Islands are a bastion of native culture

The country’s roughest seas and 1,000 miles of ancient stone walls have successfully preserved Celtic tradition within their spellbinding shores.

Books

BOOK REVIEW

‘When Politics was King in Irish Boston’ by Gerard O’Neill

How an immigrant group grew in power and influence for the better - and worse.

Magazine

The cover for the March 11 2012 issue

Stoughton’s Lori McKenna is writing her heart out
The cover for the March 4 2012 issue

Putting college degrees to work
The cover for the February 26 2012 issue

24 hours in Kendall Square
The cover for the February 19 2012 issue

Renovated Newport firehouse is calm, cool, and collected

Opinion

“Changing the conversation — from gender to money, from shame to sanity — would do everyone a world of good.”

Joanna Weiss, on birth control

Ideas

“The best-selling board game today is the board game that was the best-selling board game in 1936. That is Monopoly.”

Game publisher Eric Hautemont