Challenge looms for new Partners CEO

David Torchiana takes over next month as Partners HealthCare?s leader, and his style will immediately be put to the test.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/21/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/SnowcleaningPrudentialbuilding.jpg Latest snowstorm adding rain to the mix

Southeast Mass. and Rhode Island are expected to be most vulnerable to roof collapses as falling snow gradually turns into rain.

?I say we let it pile up and then just dig tunnels through the snow, a series of Habitrails so you never have to go out and see the mayhem.? said Tony V, a comedian seen guarding a parking spot in the Monument Square neighborhood of Charlestown.

Lane Turner/Globe Staff

Humor to help melt the pain of region?s snow

Local stand-up comedians offer some levity on a situation that has become laughably bad.

Given the record snowfall, parking spaces are at a premium.

Kevin Cullen

As the snow piles up, so do parking miseries

?People are starting to lose it, but we?re all in the same position,? says one frustrated driver.

Nearly one in 10 bridges and one in five major roads are reportedly in poor shape.

John Bohn/Globe Staff/File 2008

Michael D. Goodman | Commentary

Mass. needs to face hard transportation facts

The challenges facing the Commonwealth?s transportation system are not new, but they are substantial.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/22/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/e3c0ed63290f40f4ad55d4b449ca3660-e3c0ed63290f40f4ad55d4b449ca3660-0.jpg GOP primary candidates challenged by gay marriage tide

Recent polling indicates that traditional Republican Party views on gay marriage are increasingly out of step with a seismic societal shift.

Senator Edward J. Markey will send letters to fossil fuel companies, trade organizations, and others with a stake in carbon fuels.

Senator Markey questions climate studies

Senator Edward Markey is calling on coal and oil companies to reveal whether they are funding scientific climate change studies.

A submachine gun was among the guns taken off the streets.

BPD confiscate three guns, arrest four in 12 hours

The police?s Youth Violence Strike Force confiscated three guns, including a submachine gun, and arrested four men on Saturday.

The young woman and the mountain

In the Presidential range, a mile above the world, the weather is a cruel monarch. Climbers sometimes forget that; those who would rescue them cannot.

Dustin Pedroia has undergone three surgeries in the last 24 months, two on his left hand.

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

Dustin Pedroia ready for bounceback season

?I?m ready to play. I?m excited and healthy and ready to go do what I do,? Pedroia said after arriving in Fort Myers.

Christopher Muther | travel

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/21/BostonGlobe.com/Travel/Images/Vegas.jpg In defense of Las Vegas

Before dismissing Las Vegas, explore what it has to offer.

A tow truck drove past the casket of Kevin J. St. Pierre, Jr. St. Pierre died Feb. 11 when he was sturck while loading a disabled vehicle onto his tow truck on the Mass Turnpike.

Tow truck procession marks funeral

A line of tow trucks took part in the Southbridge funeral of Kevin St. Pierre Jr., who was killed on the Mass. Pike Feb. 11.

A 2011 Rindge and Latin yearbook photo included, from left, Stephen Silva, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robel Phillipos.

A friend no more, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev took part of their souls

In the 22 months since the Marathon bombings, the loyalty of Tsarnaev?s former friends from high school has disappeared.

An Oscar statue is seen outside the Dolby Theater during preparations ahead of the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 20, 2015. The Oscars will be presented at the Dolby Theater February 22, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

87th Academy Awards | 8:30 p.m. (ABC)

A complete guide to the Oscars

Find out who was nominated, who was snubbed, and how to get a leg up in your Oscar pool.

The narrative of Pope Francis as a progressive reformer is becoming so set in stone as to be beyond rethinking or nuance.

john l. allen jr. | all things catholic

?Reverse déjà vu? shapes Pope Francis?s image

The narrative of Francis as a progressive reformer is becoming so set in stone as to be beyond rethinking or nuance.

Magazine | Connections

Teaching dad Facebook, or is he teaching me?

Maybe playing by the site?s conventions isn?t all it?s cracked up to be.

The Big Picture

Alejandro Bolivar/EPA

Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations

Pre-Lenten celebrations around the globe wrapped up earlier this week before the marking of Ash Wednesday.