With flip of a switch, train takes off on own

Officials looked at a red line train that took off without an operator as it rested at an MBTA yard in South Boston.

?We failed our passengers today,? said Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack, in a press conference that also failed to explain how, precisely, the MBTA lost its train.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/11redlinepic09.jpg ?We didn?t know what was going on,? rider says

Karrie Mohammed recounted her fears after the Red Line train she was in ran operatorless for several stops on Thursday.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/BCOM/Images/11redlinepic04%20-%20Copy-6424.jpg Red Line riders shocked, dismayed by runaway train story

Some said it added to their already-existing discontent with the public transit system.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/Del6446476.jpg Favorable Mass. taxes a factor in GE?s hunt

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt says he wants his company to be based in a pro-business environment. So what?s he doing, looking at the Boston area?

shirley leung

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/11/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/leung-5819.jpg The motto, the history ? GE, it?s time to come home

Don?t stay in Connecticut. Don?t go to New York. Here?s why the headquarters of General Electric Co. should move to Boston.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/doc150-9642.jpg Baker to use HBO opioid documentary to lobby for legislation

The film tracks eight young Cape adults as they grapple with pills and heroin addiction, some of them to their deaths.

Names

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/11nameswomen03.jpg Shonda Rhimes headlines Mass. Conference for Women

The owner of Thursday-night television, Shonda Rhimes, was interviewed by The New Yorker?s Emily Nussbaum.

Names

Saying goodbye to Pretty Things in Somerville

It was a night of celebration and mourning at the Independent in Union Square.

Heather and Stephen Walker with their two daughters Samantha, 6, (right) and Taylor, 4, at their Marblehead home. She's the

For Christmas decorators, two styles a-clashing

Some couples clash when it comes to Christmas -- decor, that is. These ?mixed marriages? of tacky vs. tasteful.

CHAD FINN I SPORTS MEDIA

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/6fcdb63cee7d4599b79a04100d51c7bc-6fcdb63cee7d4599b79a04100d51c7bc-0.jpg NBC?s Michele Tafoya reaches 200 games on Sunday night

Twenty-seven of those games have involved the Patriots, including Super Bowl XLIX.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/chin121015PatriotsPractice_spt1.jpg Rob Gronkowski back in action at Patriots practice

The tight end was back on the field for the first time since injuring his right knee Nov. 29 versus the Broncos.

Alex Speier

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/08/01/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/chin073115SoxRays_spt14.jpg A number of questions facing the Red Sox? offense

The shape of the Red Sox roster appears largely settled, but that doesn?t mean that it?s without questions

 Wandaliz Sepulveda and son, Ivan Gonzalez (12)  at their home in Holyoke. Ivan was one of the students abused at the Peck School in Holyoke.

Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe

Whistleblower, parents describe abuses in program for disabled students

Most of the alleged physical abuse was inflicted upon children in the school?s Therapeutic Intervention Program for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/newcomposite.jpg Who?s on top in New Hampshire? A primary ranking

In less than two months, N.H. GOP voters will face a primary with more choices on the ballot seen in a generation.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/11/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/wiggs_Trump_539812.jpg Donald Trump returns to N.H. to accept police endorsement

Donald Trump returned to New Hampshire, where he continues to lead in the polls.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/11/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/IMG_4773.JPG At least two people dead in multiple shootings in Revere

The incident occurred sometime after 7 p.m. in front of a multi-family home at 70 Waite Street, residents said.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/10/01/BostonGlobe.com/BCOM/Images/suffolkdowns1104-5090.jpg Casino opponents challenge ballot question

The ballot question, if approved by voters, would alter the state?s casino law to allow a second slots parlor to be built in Massachusetts.

Defense attorney Robert Gray (left) placed his hand on the shoulder of defendant Daniel Holtzclaw (right) as they waited for the verdicts in his trial in Oklahoma City.

Sue Ogrocki, Pool/AP

Oklahoma ex-cop guilty of 18 counts in sex assaults trial

A former Oklahoma City police officer was convicted of raping and sexually victimizing eight women on his police beat in a minority, low-income neighborhood.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/gibbons[1]-5802-U824288609490bG--90x90@BostonGlobe.com.jpg Hotelier in line for convention post

Veteran hotel executive David Gibbons would replace James Rooney, who spent more than a decade as the authority?s executive director.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/01/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/glx-4983.jpg Four contractors for Green Line extension out

The MBTA said it has notified several firms working on the project that it is ending their contracts.

Parents of San Bernardino shooting victim Vyetter Velasco, Marie and Robert Velasco released a white dove over her casket during memorial service in Covina, California.

Mike Blake/REUTERS

Funerals for 14 killed in California massacre somberly begin

?She was more than our sister,?? Yvette Velasco?s sister, Erica Porteous, 37, said. ??She was our soul mate.??

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/11/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/Was8988320.jpg US officials search for missed red flags ahead of shootings

American officials say Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, discussed martyrdom and jihad online as early as 2013.

Ground Game

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/08/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/trump150-2064.jpg Three scenarios for Trump and the GOP

What happens after Donald Trump, particularly for the Republican Party?

Globe Santa

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/11/25/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/santa_logo[1]-U80342642589InF--90x90@BostonGlobe.com.jpg Donate to Globe Santa

Globe Santa delivers holiday gifts to local children in need.

Globe investigations

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/11/18/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/spotlight150x150-165.jpg Globe investigations and Spotlight reports

A look at high-impact investigations from The Boston Globe, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning report on abuse in the Catholic Church.

The story behind 'Spotlight'

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/11/18/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/spotlight-9497.jpg Boston Globe coverage and the movie ?Spotlight?

?Spotlight? is based on the stories and the reporters behind the investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

The Big Picture

The best Boston Globe photos of 2015

Staff photographers share the stories behind the year?s most powerful pictures.