Inside the Red Sox collapse

Manager Terry Francona seemed unable to correct players’ lax behavior.

Fred Thornhill/Reuters

Dedication waned, unity unraveled, and manager Terry Francona lost influence as a once-inspiring Red Sox season ended in epic failure.

George H.W. Bush’s presidency, maybe even Washington as a whole, was guided by decency and dignity, writes Brian McGrory.

Brian McGrory

The dignified statesman

Five minutes with George H. W. Bush, and the problems of the present are made more vivid by the virtues of the not-so-distant past.

“To lose those games — you can’t recover it,” said Peter Colton, owner of The Four’s whose tavern is filled to its 395-patron capacity on game nights.

Lost Celtics games mean lost business

With two weeks of NBA games canceled so far, taverns and restaurants near the TD Garden are calculating the cost of an uncertain Celtics season.

Study faults some day-care centers

Many child care centers in low-income Massachusetts communities suffer from unsafe equipment, inadequate space, or other deficiencies, a survey concluded.

Campaign 2012

Rivals focus on Romney in N.H. debate

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who has proven to be a consistent presence at the top of the polls, did little to damage his campaign’s recent momentum.

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

In Occupy Boston tent city, the unheard find a voice

The unifying theme of the protest, if there is one, is the sense that the voice of the little guy has gone unheard for too long.

Boston public housing going smoke-free in 2012

About 25,000 tenants will receive letters announcing that their buildings will be smoke-free and that they will have to agree to the new policy when they sign their annual leases.

Metro

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Business

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CEO Andrew Dreyfus to focus on cost cutting.

Blue Cross to remain nonprofit public charity

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mass. had examined whether it should seek a different legal status given its extensive business operations as the state’s largest health insurer.

Nation

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Panetta warns defense cuts will hit home

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Congress yesterday that the $450 billion-plus in budget cuts he needs to make will hit them where it hurts — in their home districts.

Sports

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Resolution on Epstein is expected soon

No deal has been struck for Sox GM Theo Epstein to join the Cubs in an upper management capacity. But sources said last night that a resolution is expected in the coming days.

Arts

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Galleries

Creating harmony with chaos

Among the shows worth checking out is work by Varujan Boghosian at Victoria Munroe Fine Art.

Opinion

“With Islamist hardliners growing increasingly influential, hate crimes against Christians routinely go unpunished [in Egypt].”

Jeff Jacoby