Presidential predictors puzzled by tossup states

Out of 538 Electoral College votes, prognosticators say, from 36 to 131 votes — up to 11 states — are too close to call.

Boy Scouts files reveal legacy of abuse

Documents paint a devastating picture of thousands of episodes of abuse, dozens in Mass., from about 1965 to 1985.

Blue Cross speeds up its customer service for one week

Tasks that normally take 10 to 30 days were addressed the same day because the Boston-based insurer knew people who called its lines would be surveyed.

Bankruptcy expected for firm linked to meningitis

New England Compounding Center will probably file for bankruptcy protection to try to stem the growing number of lawsuits against the firm, attorneys said.

Little Joe Cook recalls high notes of doo-wop fame

Admirers will salute the singer, known for his pioneering falsetto and his 1957 hit “Peanuts,” with a 90th birthday celebration Saturday.

Video

Little Joe Cook: Doo-wop legend

Little Joe Cook reflects on his music as he reaches 90.

Quinn Marcus conducted one of the impromptu street interviews that just might make her a widely known comedic celebrity.

Emerson student’s street interviews turn into a gig with MTV

“Quinnterviews” is what Quinn Marcus has coined her series of comedic shorts, which air on mtvU, a 24-hour branch of MTV.

LAWRENCE HARMON

Managing the fallout from freed felons

Chemist Annie Dookhan has turned Massachusetts into a criminal justice laboratory by creating the perfect conditions for the premature return of hundreds of convicted felons to the streets.

Helen Glover (right) and Heather Stanning, Britain’s most famous rowing duo, won the country’s first gold medal in women’s rowing, at home, in the London Olympics.

Head of the Charles

Golden season continues for Helen Glover

The Olympic champion, who’d never touched an oar until four years ago, will make a triumphant appearance at the Head of the Charles Regatta.

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From the archives | Photo Gallery

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/10/16/BostonGlobe.com/Enterprise/Advance/Images/peace006-767.jpg The 1969 peace rally

The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam on Oct. 15, 1969 was a huge gathering of antiwar protesters across the United States, with an estimated 100,000 people assembled at the Boston Common.

Globe exclusives

tom keane | opinion

Death on the highway
Robin Sloan’s first novel is a look at our digital world.

Book Review

‘Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore’ by Robin Sloan
A reflection in The Harold Parker State Forest

g cover

10 great places for outdoor family adventures

Sunday Preview | Ideas

How to improve presidential debates

Exclusive Sunday Preview | Magazine

How to winterize your home
Lincoln Tavern and Restaurant has seen a steady stream of customers since opening in South Boston this month.

Dining

South Boston hungry for Lincoln Tavern

liz walker

Question 2 is deeply flawed

Photo gallery

Globe photos of the week, Oct. 19, 2012
Bank of America plans to open a new supersized branch in the Boston building that once FAO Schwarz and Shreve, Crump & Low next summer. It will close two smaller area branches.

Back Bay slated for a new Bank of America ‘flagship’ branch
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Art Review

Confronting awkward realities in Israel

Steward, Partners reach trauma deal

Opinion

The Podium: Voices of New England

Sports

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Farrell talks continue between Sox, Jays

The Red Sox are continuing their efforts to land John Farrell as manager. The sides are discussing compensation.

Metro

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Prosecutors describe sex ring

Suspected leaders of an alleged prostitution ring that stretched to four Boston suburbs coordinated a well-organized operation, prosecutors said.

Columnists

The Green Bay Packers’ Dorsey Levens jumps during the 1998 NFC divisional playoff game.

DERRICK Z. JACKSON

Ringing the bell about NFL concussions

LAWRENCE HARMON

Managing the fallout from freed felons

Brian McGrory

Ads up; it’s just way too much
The Crimson have won 14 straight under Tim Murphy, who is aiming for his third undefeated season.

Christopher L. Gasper

Harvard football is schooling competition
At night, the lit-up sanctuary is a welcoming presence.

opinion | JOAN WICKERSHAM

Building a sanctuary
President Obama and Mitt Romney at Tuesday’s debate in Hempstead, N.Y.

Juliette Kayyem

Foreign policy and the parental perspective

Edward L. Glaeser

Nobel Prize shows school assignment woes

Dan Shaughnessy

Sox taking too long to hire manager

Yvonne Abraham

Cambridge cheers up about Obama

Brian McGrory

No shame for Rep. John Tierney

Jeff Jacoby

What would Hippocrates say about Question 2?

opinion | scot lehigh

President Obama upped his game

Business

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A rendering of Residential Commons at Barry’s Corner looking from Western Avenue.

Harvard offers more details on massive Allston expansion

The plan is a broader proposal to transform North Allston itself, bringing new shops, restaurants, and residences.

Politics

political notebook

Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama will hold their final debate on Monday night.

Candidates sidestep abortion; outside ads don’t

Though President Obama and Mitt Romney rarely tackle the topic of abortion head-on on the stump, the void is being filled by rival advocacy groups targeting swing states.

Nation & World

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A rescue worker carried an injured boy at the scene of an explosion in the Beirut Christian neighborhood of Achrafiyeh.

Beirut bomb kills top official

A large bomb exploded in the heart of Beirut’s Christian section, killing a top security official and at least seven others.

Arts

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Classical Notes

The Pacifica String Quartet will premiere “Return,” a new work by Keeril Makan (above), on Wednesday.

Keeril Makan’s ‘Return’ to premier Wednesday

The Pacifical String Quartet will perform composer Keeril Makan’s “Return,” a piece inspired by Makan’s feelings of dislocation.

“Where do I think the race is? I’m a little confused actually.”

Stu Rothenberg,  editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report

Magazine

The cover for the October 14 2012 issue

How grocery shopping got personal
The cover for the October 7 2012 issue

AP classes: A problem for Massachusetts high schoolers?
The cover for the September 30 2012 issue

How will independents factor into the Brown-Warren Senate race?

The cover for the September 23 2012 issue

9 hot trends in kitchen design

Opinion

“Similar to a chemistry experiment, the legal system is about to find out what it is made of and how it reacts to different conditions.”

Lawrence Harmon, on fallout from the state drug lab scandal

Ideas

“The strategy that underlies American policy, the Carter Doctrine, is now more than 30 years old, and in dire need of an overhaul. …Today, it drives American engagement in a Middle East that looks far different from the region for which it was invented.

Thanassis Cambanis , on the need for a new Middle East policy