Senator Joyce?s gifts raise concerns on ethics

Sunglasses given by Brian Joyce to his Senate colleagues may violate ethics rules for the cut-rate price that he paid for them.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/01/29/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/south150-3943.jpg Partners? deal to acquire three hospitals rejected

A judge denied the deal in a devastating blow to Partners HealthCare, and to former attorney general Martha Coakley.

Attorney General Maura Healey has had a busy first week in office.

Steven Senne/Associated press

As Healey gets to work, she faces unusual question: What?s next?

Maura Healey?s swearing-in as attorney general was just the start of a big week for the Next Big Thing in Massachusetts politics.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo.

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe staff/file 2014

Mass. House votes to abolish term limits for speaker

The vote extended indefinitely the reign of Robert DeLeo, one of the most powerful politicians on Beacon Hill.

SCOT LEHIGH

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/01/30/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/Scot_Lehigh_150px-1143.jpg Robert DeLeo, the indispensable man on Beacon Hill

When you find yourself in the position of undoing the very reform you once insisted was vital, you will grasp at any straw you can.

Friday storm to drop up to 8 inches of snow

Two storms are expected to hit after midnight into Friday and Sunday into Monday.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/01/29/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/aaron150-8156.jpg Aaron Hernandez murder trial gets underway

In opening statements, prosecutors laid out the physical evidence that they say proves Hernandez?s role in the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Blizzard of 2015

Dump trucks carrying snow that has been removed from roadways and sidewalks dump their payloads in a lot on South Boston.

Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

For truck after truck, Boston snow farms are the destination

Several ?snow farms? are being used to store the tons of snow that have bottled up the city this week.

The Louisburg Square home of Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry fined for failing to shovel sidewalk outside home

Boston officials slapped John Kerry with a $50 fine for failing to clear a snow-clogged sidewalk at his Beacon Hill mansion.

Larry Bird and Bill Russell ? torchbearer candidates?

If Boston gets Olympics, who lights the flame?

It has the potential to be the next great Boston sports argument, and nine years hardly seems like enough time.

Super Bowl XLIX

Ernie Adams (right is the Patriots? director of football research and close confidant of Bill Belichick.

Jim Davis/Globe Staff

The Patriots? man behind the curtain

Is Ernie Adams, a little-known Bill Belichick confidant, the secret to the Patriots? success?

PHOENIX, AZ - JANUARY 29: Honoree Terry Bradshaw (L) and former NFL player Joe Montana attend the Friars Club Roast of Terry Bradshaw during the ESPN Super Bowl Roast at the Arizona Biltmore on January 29, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Friars Club)

Christopher L. Gasper

Brady had to have ordered deflation of footballs, Joe Montana says

The Hall of Famer added, though, that the rules are too stringent and that Deflategate won?t hurt Brady?s legacy.

PHOENIX, AZ - JANUARY 29: NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino attends the Super Bowl XLIX Football Operations Press Conference on January 29, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Ben Volin

Colts, NFL did not conduct sting in Deflategate, NFL official says

The NFL?s head of officiating said the issue of deflated footballs was brought up in the first half of the AFC Championship.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/01/29/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/9e06ee4f89ff4ab99e98d43e9d2daad2-9e06ee4f89ff4ab99e98d43e9d2daad2-0.jpg Kam Chancellor vs. Rob Gronkowski is a marquee matchup

Chancellor, Seattle?s enforcer in the secondary, has the size and speed to stand up against the Patriots? top receiving threat.

Opinion

JEFF JACOBY

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/01/29/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/Jeff_Jacoby_150px-1129.jpg No, 2014 wasn?t the ?warmest year in history?

How can an entire planet, with its multifarious systems, be said to have a temperature, or even an average temperature?

The Big Picture

Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Massive snowstorm hits the Northeast

The storm blasted the region with wind-whipped snow that piled nearly three-feet high in some places.

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