Drop-off in gifts to Obama in Mass.

The number of supporters contributing the maximum to President Obama’s campaign fund has plunged nearly 50 percent compared with his 2008 run.

Scot Lehigh

The fallout of US extremism

A new book concludes that the Republican Party bears most of the responsibility for today’s political dysfunction.

Through a nonprofit established by his administration last year called Moving Massachusetts Forward, the Patrick administration collected $130,000 from five donors, according to ethics disclosure forms filed by the governor.

Big donors helping Governor Patrick travel

A substantial portion of the funding for Governor Patrick’s two second-term international trade missions has come from a handful of powerful executives and companies.

At Herb Chambers Ford, salesman Mustafa Salman (left) showed Ken Monahan a Ford Fusion. Dealers are trying different tactics to get customers to trade in their cars.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Dealers hurt as consumers keep used cars longer

With owners holding onto their cars, dealers are facing a double whammy of slower new-car sales and a smaller pool of used vehicles to offer.

WIQAN ANG FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE/FILE 2005

Mass. will open 40 miles of MWRA trails to public

Officials announced they would make a network of trails over a century-old system of aqueducts accessible to hikers, bikers, or anyone seeking a stroll in the woods.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/05/23/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/23shalepic--90x90.jpg Mass. gets boost from shale boom

The unlocking of natural gas reserves hundreds of miles away promises to benefit Massachusetts companies and the state economy.

Lawmakers target big pay deals at mutual companies

Shocked at the amount Liberty Mutual paid its former CEO, three Mass. senators have proposed budget amendments to discourage other mutual companies from giving outsized pay packages.

Brian McGrory

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/05/23/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/mcgrory-2043.jpg The benefits of political friendship

Try as I might to leave the Liberty Mutual lunacy behind, someone keeps drawing me back, and that someone is Governor Deval Patrick.

Public seeks answer from RCC on US crime audit

Members of the board of trustees at Roxbury Community College said at their public meeting that funding could be in jeopardy if president Terrence Gomes remains in his post.

Boston Globe ePaper

ePaper

What is an ePaper?

The complete print edition, in its exact layout. Browse the print edition page by page, including stories and ads.

Globe Insiders

Globe Talk | May 23, 6 p.m.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2011/08/05/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/05books1.jpg A conversation with Ben Mezrich

The New York Times best-selling author discusses his books “Bringing Down the House” and “The Accidental Billionaires.”

BostonGlobe.com exclusives

Pulled pork sandwiches at Tremont 647.

Food

How to make wicked good barbecue
Authors Gabriel García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes, and Toni Morrison meet at a dinner at Fuentes’s home in Mexico city in 1995.

Opinion | David Carrasco

The legacy of Carlos Fuentes
Clockwise from above: Shrimp and grits; one of Gem’s signature dishes.

dining out

Gem Restaurant & Lounge sends mixed messages

Joshua Boger is joining Alkeus.

Tiny start-up lands a former Vertex CEO
Democratic Party tracker Martin Geldhof videotaped Senator Scott Brown at Newton South High School.

Candidates wary as opposition cameras roll
This historic mile marker on the edge of a sidewalk on Harvard Avenue in Allston is one of a series erected between Boston and Springfield almost three centuries ago.

editorial

Boston should protect damaged historical marker

The TD Garden crowd delighted as Rajon Rondo dished to Greg Stiemsma, who slammed home two points in the third period.

Bob Ryan

Celtics’ late surge sealed Game 5 win

Newton officials call tomato display illegal
Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios received $75 million in guaranteed loans in 2010 from the State of Rhode Island after Massachusetts declined. Last week, the company missed a $1.1 million payment.

Politicians can find start-ups hard to resist
Deerfield Academy student Peter Krasznekewicz, 17, stands among some of the 34 houses in his public art installation at the Emily Dickinson Museum.

Visual Arts

Homing in on Dickinson’s poems
Historian Thomas O'Connor in 1997 in his BC office with a Civil War recruitment poster displayed in Boston during that war.

Thomas H. O’Connor, ‘dean’ of Boston’s historians, dies at 89

Album Review | POP

Soul searching suits John Mayer well

Sports

Tags in this section:

Orioles 4, Red Sox 1

Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (0 for 4) earned a walk — back to the dugout — after grounding to the pitcher in the ninth inning at Camden Yards.

Red Sox held in check by Orioles

Brian Matusz and three relievers stymied the Red Sox offense, holding Boston to a season-low two hits as the Orioles won, 4-1.

Metro

Tags in this section:

Bill Lovallo held daughter Sarah, a greatgranddaughter of an Armenian genocide survivor, during the dedication Tuesday of the long-envisioned Armenian Heritage Park on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Armenian Heritage Park opens on Greenway

Hundreds of residents braved the pouring rain to witness the dedication of the Armenian Heritage Park, the newest addition to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Columnists

Jeff Jacoby

Peace process harmed Israel’s reputation

Scot Lehigh

The fallout of US extremism

Brian McGrory

The benefits of political friendship
Fans watched One Direction perform live on stage in Wellington, New Zealand, in April.

Joanna Weiss

One wrong direction for boy bands and their girl fans

JULIETTE KAYYEM

Europe’s other challenge: immigration

JEFF JACOBY

In politics, two parties are enough

Innovation Economy

Winning the competition for ideas
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett of the Celtics celebrated during their Game 1 victory over the 76ers on May 12.

Dan Shaughnessy | Online exclusive

Celtics should be embarrassed
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, left to right, are now in their fifth season together in Boston.

Bob Ryan

Celtics success on borrowed time

yvonne abraham

A long time coming

JOAN VENNOCHI

History, a la Obama

JOANNA WEISS

A voice of change on abortion

Business

Tags in this section:

Morgan Stanley, lead underwriter for the $16 billion IPO, was already facing an inquiry by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over allegations of sharing negative information with some investors ahead of the IPO.

Mass. investigating Facebook IPO

Secretary of State William Galvin is investigating whether one of the investment bankers for Facebook Inc., Morgan Stanley, shared advanced information with certain investors.

Politics

Political Notebook

Joe Biden keeps up Democrats’ attack on Romney

The vice president said the GOP’s Tea Party faction has blocked progress by President Obama while Mitt Romney wants to take the country back to recessionary practices.

Nation & World

Tags in this section:

Arts

Tags in this section:

Food & dining

Globe 100

“It used to be we could round up the usual suspects but now we may have to go a little deeper. We may have to go to the bench. But I’m not worried.”

Jack Connors,  on raising funds for Obama and the DNC

Magazine

The cover for the May 20 2012 issue

Best beaches guide for New England
The cover for the May 13 2012 issue

Things to do in and around Boston this week
The cover for the May 6 2012 issue

Homes for sale for $250,000, $500,000, $750,000, and $1 million
The cover for the April 29 2012 issue

Dying wishes expected to be decided on November ballot

Opinion

“Israel has gone on making concession after concession to those who seek its destruction, clinging against all logic to the fantasy of a ‘two-state solution.’ ”

Jeff Jacoby 

Ideas

“A question is more than the simple thing we might think it is — it’s a unique and potentially sophisticated instrument.”

Leon Neyfakh  on the power of questions