Super PACs pour money into early states
The committees are playing an increasingly muscular role in the days before the first contests in the Republican presidential nominating contest.
Brown asks House GOP to bend on tax proposal
Senator Scott Brown said House GOP opposition to the Senate’s bipartisan measure approved Saturday is “irresponsible and wrong.”
Insurer to reward patients for finding cheaper care
Under a program being rolled out next month by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, patients could get paid for finding hospitals that charge less for the same medical tests.
Red Sox’ spring site has Fenway feel
JetBlue Park, the $78 million new spring training complex for the Red Sox, resembles their home in Boston, right down to its very own Green Monster.
Bill Greene/Globe Staff
Homeless allies’ plight haunts Occupy protesters
In the nearly two weeks since Mayor Menino ordered the closing of the Financial District camp, the movement has scrambled to find housing for some of its most vulnerable members.
Kevin Cullen
Saving an American family
Gidget Jachney saw a woman on the street, surrounded by her kids, wearing something called quiet desperation. Instead of averting her eyes, she helped.
Probation faulted on use of free legal help
A state audit questioned the spending of $47.9 million on free legal counsel, saying probation officials inadequately screened defendants.
Global intelligence failed to detect change in regime
For South Korean, Chinese, and US intelligence services to have failed to pick up any clues of Kim Jong Il's death attests to the secretive nature of North Korea.
“There’s just a lot of pain right now for people who have to come to [Occupy general assembly meetings] and ask, ‘Does anyone have a place for me?’ ”
Anna Aizman, an Occupy Boston member, on homeless members of the movement
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Postal Santa tries to deliver on letter requests
Operation Santa is a project of the USPS to connect families in need with families who want to help. This year, the Boston office received 1,200 letters from parents in need.
Business
Which bank is the oldest? Accounts vary
The roots of institutions are tangled, and a 1784 Mass. charter plays a central role in competing claims from two modern-day giants, Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon.
Politics
Political Notebook
Romney acknowledges perception he is inauthentic
Mitt Romney acknowledged that some voters have questioned his authenticity and his willingness to change political positions.
Nation & World
Kim succession raises fears
The abrupt death of Kim Jong Il, the hermetic North Korea leader, threw the rest of Asia into deep anxiety yesterday and reverberated across the Pacific.
Sports
Bruins 3, Canadiens 2
Bruins keep up winning ways
The Bruins and Canadiens met again last night, and it ended the way it usually does for Boston these days — with the Bruins finishing on top, 3-2, for their fifth straight victory.
Lifestyle
TV’s best dressed: Behind the seams
What’s the best-dressed show? With the exception of “Mad Men’’ and “Gossip Girl,’’ which have officially been retired to the Globe’s hall of fame, here are a few contenders for the title.
Arts
FRAME BY FRAME
At the scene of slaughter, a visual triumph
Everything is lovingly described in the “Butcher Shop’’ at the MFA from the blood pooling beneath the ox’s nose to the nicks and chalk marks on the timber column behind.
Best of the new
Best of the New
Boston’s best people and ideas of 2011
Safer neighborhoods, quieter commutes, and one really brainy historian.
Opinion
“My case for awarding the Great Negotiator Award to Kim Jong Il spotlights his success in nuclear negotiations with President George W. Bush.”
Graham Allison
Ideas
As tempting as it might be to imagine the Christmas trees we see today in public parks and central plazas as a quaint relic of small town life, it turns out that our modern public trees have politics woven right into their roots.
Leon Neyfakh