Bill on jobless benefits clears hurdle in Senate

A half-dozen Republicans sided with the Democrats in voting to advance the bill that extends benefits for the long-term unemployed.

Mist rose from Lake Michigan as temperatures dipped well below zero  in Chicago on Monday.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Frigid air spreads across nation

Bone-chattering cold snapped decades-old records across the Midwest as the polar air started to invade the East and South today.

JPMorgan settles Madoff fraud claims for $1.7 billion

The deal settles criminal charges accusing the bank of ignoring obvious warning signs of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.

Colts QB Andrew Luck and coach Chuck Pagano will be coming to Foxborough on Saturday to play the Patriots.

Mark Zaleski/AP/File

Dan Shaughnessy

Colts won’t be a challenge for the Patriots

The Colts are not guaranteed to choke. But they have all the ingredients Bill Belichick loves in a playoff chump.

Betsy Whitmore on Bondcliff Trail on Mount Bond in New Hampshire’s White Mountains last March.

Hikers scale region’s highest peaks in deadly weather

A local hiking group is united in its goal of scaling 4,000-foot-high mountains in the winter in spite of the danger.

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn will skip Sochi Olympics

Vonn, whose knee has not yet fully recovered from a fall last winter, will have more surgery soon.

Kevin Cullen

New mayor making important links

Marty Walsh understands better than most that we don’t need more jail cells as much as we need more beds for addicts.

Opinion

TOM KEANE

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2014/01/07/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/pot150-1029.jpg An experimental state

Colorado is a laboratory of democracy, and its marijuana experiment could teach us a lot.

Sports

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On Football

Tom Brady might not win every playoff game, but he won’t be the reason the Patriots lose, either.

Re-ranking the NFL playoff QBs

Tom Brady tops the list because, while he might not win every playoff game, he won’t be the reason the Patriots lose, either.