Trying to replicate Mohegan’s success

Mohegan Sun faces a Dec. 31 deadline to complete a colossal task: submit plans to replicate in Revere the experience of visiting Mohegan, a place that cannot be replicated.

Globe investigations found the BRA’s board — Paul Foster, vice chairman Timothy J. Burke, former chairman Clarence J. Jones, Michael P. Monahan, and treasurer Consuelo Gonzales-Thornell — rubber-stamped deals the BRA staff negotiated privately with developers, often with the mayor’s imprimatur.

BRA cuts deals at expense of affordable housing

A four-month investigation has found that the agency allowed at least five developers breaks on affordable housing fees of $3.4 million without disclosing them publicly.

Pope Francis’s words have resonated with many of the faithful since his election as pontiff. Here, Francis saluted the crowd as he arrived for his general audience in St Peter's Square on Nov. 6.

Catholics in the age of Francis speak out

His words can startle, charm, electrify. Many are finding something new, something to live by, as the pope models the awesome power of humility.

Video

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/12/22/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/IMG_2419.jpg N.E. Catholics on Pope Francis

New Englanders discuss how they’ve been absorbing the pope’s words and gestures, considering their meaning for the church — and for their own spiritual lives.

Danny Amendola ran with the ball after a catch.

nick wass/associated press

Danny Amendola ran with the ball after a catch.

Ravens receiver Torrey Smith reached for a pass under pressure from Devin McCourty.

nick wass/associated press

Ravens receiver Torrey Smith reached for a pass under pressure from Devin McCourty.

Tom Brady directed the Patriots’ offense.

gail burton/associated press

Tom Brady directed the Patriots’ offense.

Shane Vereen ran wtih the ball early in the game.

gail burton/associated press

Shane Vereen ran wtih the ball early in the game.

Tom Brady spoke to his troops.

nick wass/associated press

Tom Brady spoke to his troops.

Tom Brady looked for a receiver.

nick wass/associated press

Tom Brady looked for a receiver.

LeGarrette Blount scored the Patriots’ first touchdown.

Nick wass

LeGarrette Blount scored the Patriots’ first touchdown.

patriots at ravens | live updates

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/12/22/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/9478a99082b9467989f52d07fd4d5bbe-9478a99082b9467989f52d07fd4d5bbe-0.jpg Patriots lead Ravens in second quarter

The Patriots scored on three consecutive possessions to jump ahead of the Ravens.

Twelve-year-old Mayal Levy of Dorchester said he enjoys the challenge that the All Saints Choir of Boys and Men gives him.

Dorchester church choir offers refuge to young boys

In the basement of All Saints Episcopal Church in the Ashmont section of Dorchester, boys 7 to 18 find refuge from pop music and Facebook.

Kody Brown, center, posed with his wives, from left, Janelle, Christine, Meri, and Robyn in a promotional photo for TLC’s reality TV show, “Sister Wives.”

opinion | JEFF JACOBY

The slippery slope of gay marriage has begun

When a longstanding consensus on the meaning of a bedrock societal institution is altered, it is naive or disingenuous to claim that even more extreme changes won’t follow.

book review | Food & Drink

‘The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink’ by John Mariani

The updated version has entries for everything from “abalone” to “zwieback,” plus more than 500 recipes for classic American dishes and drinks.

Opinion

TOM KEANE

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/12/22/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/keane1222-860--90x90.jpg Desperate measures

Vandalism is a lousy way to create neighborliness, nor are bomb threats a great way to handle exam stress.

Sports

Tags in this section:

BRAD STEVENS: He’s back home in Indiana

Brad Stevens’s stock on the rise as he returns to Indiana

Sunday’s game marks the first visit back to Indianapolis in a professional capacity for Stevens since being named Celtics coach last summer.

Metro

Tags in this section:

Nation & World

Tags in this section:

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian oil tycoon freed from prison last week, arrived for a news conference in Berlin on Sunday.

Freed Russian oligarch says he’ll stay out of politics

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the onetime Russian oil tycoon who was imprisoned for a decade in a politically tinged case, said Sunday he doesn’t intend to get involved in politics or finance Russia’s political opposition now that he’s been pardoned and released.

Business

Tags in this section:

Innovation Economy

Wheels Up says it has signed up about 150 members.

Can Boston get plane-sharing off the ground?

What if, instead of boarding that cramped turboprop to Rochester, you could stretch out in a comfy private cabin of a ZipCar-like shared plane?

Books

new england writers at work

Author Lauren Slater writes and works on her jewelry in a small cottage with red walls at her home in Harvard.

Lauren Slater is always creating

Two years ago, the “Welcome to my Country” author moved from Somerville to Harvard, where she writes in a small cottage with red walls.