Panel to urge fewer tax breaks in Mass.

A group of state leaders has concluded that Massachusetts needs to overhaul its tax system to eliminate many breaks that siphon billions of dollars from public coffers.

44 killed in Iraq attacks ahead of Arab summit

Bombings across Iraq killed 44 people, striking at police and Shiite pilgrims in a torrent of violence that officials had dreaded in the run-up to next week’s Arab League summit.

The vital records include the intention to marry filed by John Adams and Abigail Smith on Feb. 25, 1764, with a note that the ceremony was performed Oct. 25.

Bay State’s historical records enter new era online

Millions of birth, marriage, and death records from Mass. dating back to 1620 will become available online today on Ancestry.com, thanks to the work of DeLene and Jay Holbrook.

Romney’s Medicare plan could create gap for seniors

By raising the eligibility age while removing a new safety net for the ailing to obtain affordable health insurance, Mitt Romney’s plan would result in more uninsured seniors.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

NCAA finds enthusiastic audience in Boston

Above all, Boston sports fans embrace big, potentially history-making events. That helps explain the draw of the NCAA East Regional, which starts Thursday at TD Garden.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/03/20/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/20salempic--90x90.jpg Mother pleads not guilty in attack on children

Tanicia Goodwin, 25, who is accused of slashing her two children’s throats and setting fire to her apartment, told authorities she was trying to protect them.

Historic church could avert foreclosure, specialists say

OneUnited Bank plans to auction Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roxbury on Thursday, but the church has a number of options it can use to forestall the move.

Cambridge panel OK’s Google’s expansion

Cambridge City Council voted to approve a plan for Google Inc. to increase its Kendall Square office in an expansion that would halve a public rooftop garden.

“I did what I had to do to protect my children. I’m sorry.”

Tanicia Goodwin,  who allegedly tried to kill her children

Globe Insiders

To Grammar’s House

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/03/16/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/SPRINGCLEANING2.jpg Spring cleaning for grammar rules

Grammar’s House can get a bit cluttered sometimes, often with rules that are capricious, spurious, or flat-out erroneous.

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US to investigate killing of black teen in Florida

The United States has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by a white neighborhood watch captain at a gated community in Florida.

Sports

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Celtics 79, Hawks 76

Celtics guard Rajon Rondo drove around Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) and center Zaza Pachulia in the first half of Boston’s win in Atlanta.

Celtics hold on in Atlanta

The Celtics ran away from the Hawks in the fourth quarter, and then had to hang on as the Hawks closed to within one point in the waning seconds.

Opinion

“Over the last 30 years, more than 100,000 Irish people have been granted permanent residency in the US. That’s 2 percent of the Irish population.”

Farah Stockman 

Ideas

“If the Solutrean hypothesis becomes widely accepted, it would mean that the sea played a central part in human expansion. And in the matter of ‘who came first,’ it would mean that all the Americas have a new origin story to contend with.”

Gareth Cook