The Justina Case: A follow-up

Child welfare agency still lacks medical guidance

To this day, if staffers within the agency need advice from medical experts, they are often left scrambling to find help on their own.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/12/19/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/edda063aa1214b0e999559364104d566-edda063aa1214b0e999559364104d566-0-1029--90x90.jpg Pastor defrocked after performing son’s gay wedding

United Methodist church officials defrocked the Pennsylvania pastor who officiated his son’s gay wedding in Massachusetts.

Mass. jobless rate higher than US for first time since ’07

The state’s unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in November, down from 7.2 percent in October but above the current US rate of 7 percent.

Target says 40m accounts may be involved in credit breach

The chain said those who used credit and debit cards at their stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 may have been affected.

Rockets center Omer Asik (3) has been rumored to be bound for Boston in a trade.

Associated Press/File

On basketball

Celtics should hold off on Omer Asik trade

The Celtics are jelling and Danny Ainge needs a good reason to interrupt their momentum. The 7-foot Asik isn’t worth it, the Globe’s Gary Washburn writes.

A prayer vigil was held Wednesday across the street from the home on Kimball Street in Fitchburg where 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver lived.

YVONNE ABRAHAM

Jeremiah Oliver was a little boy lost

Jeremiah’s story is one of monumental, catastrophic failure. Instead of protecting the boy, state social workers left him to suffer alone.

The sequel gives the original news team from “Anchorman” — played by (from left) David Koechner, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell — a slot at the Global News Network.

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Anchorman’ sequel piles on the silliness

While “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is a disappointment, it occasionally breaks through to realms of blissful comic Dada.

Opinion

JOAN VENNOCHI

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/12/19/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/vennochi-769.png The Orwellian NSA

The National Security Agency’s wide-ranging collection of phone data is something George Orwell may have imagined, a federal judge said.

Sports

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At 6-8, 259 pounds, John Scott is arguable the NHL’s most feared fighter.

Buffalo’s John Scott always ready for a fight

At 6-8, 259 pounds, Scott is arguably the NHL’s most feared fighter. And the Bruins, who face the Sabres Thursday, know his work all too well.

Nation & World

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Medical staff members left a Reno hospital after a gunman killed a doctor, wounded two others, and killed himself.

Reno hospital killer appeared to be on mission

Detectives have not been able to establish a motive or relationship between the man who shot the two doctors and the relative of a patient Tuesday before killing himself.

Politics

US Senator Richard Blumenthal (right), Democrat of Connecticut, walked to the Senate chamber on Wednesday before a vote on the budget compromise.

Bipartisan budget agreement clears Congress

Congress sent President Obama legislation scaling back across-the-board cuts, adding a late dusting of bipartisanship to a year more likely to be remembered for near-perpetual gridlock.

Arts

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Book REview

Sage Stossel’s illustrations of her superhero Amy are light and simple.

‘Starling’ by Sage Stossel

The book is straight out of the age of “New Girl” and “Sex in the City,” in which we are drawn to watch a female protagonist for her flaws, not in spite of them.