profile in the news

Challenge looms for new Partners CEO

Torchiana takes over next month as Partners HealthCare?s leader, and his style will immediately be put to the test.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/22/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/e3c0ed63290f40f4ad55d4b449ca3660-e3c0ed63290f40f4ad55d4b449ca3660-0.jpg GOP primary candidates challenged by gay marriage tide

Recent polling indicates that traditional Republican Party views on gay marriage are increasingly out of step with a seismic societal shift.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/21/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/SnowcleaningPrudentialbuilding.jpg Latest snowstorm adding rain to the mix

Southeast Mass. and Rhode Island are expected to be most vulnerable to roof collapses as falling snow gradually turns into rain.

Senator Edward J. Markey will send letters to fossil fuel companies, trade organizations, and others with a stake in carbon fuels.

Senator Markey questions climate studies

Senator Edward Markey is calling on coal and oil companies to reveal whether they are funding scientific climate change studies.

BPD confiscate three guns, arrest four in 12 hours

The police?s Youth Violence Strike Force confiscated three guns, including a submachine gun, and arrested four men on Saturday.

Criminals are  persuading people to load cash onto prepaid debit cards that are easily bought at retailers.

Prepaid cards becoming targets for fraud

Prepaid cards are increasingly popular with scammers, replacing traditional wire transfers as the go-to vehicle for bilking consumers.

A tow truck drove past the casket of Kevin J. St. Pierre, Jr. St. Pierre died Feb. 11 when he was sturck while loading a disabled vehicle onto his tow truck on the Mass Turnpike.

Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff

Tow driver killed in crash is remembered with truck procession

A line of tow trucks took part in the Southbridge funeral of Kevin J. St. Pierre Jr., who was killed on the Mass Pike Feb. 11.

The young woman and the mountain

In the Presidential range, a mile above the world, the weather is a cruel monarch. Climbers sometimes forget that; those who would rescue them cannot.

A 2011 Rindge and Latin yearbook photo included, from left, Stephen Silva, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robel Phillipos.

A friend no more, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev took part of their souls

In the 22 months since the Marathon bombings, the loyalty of Tsarnaev?s former friends from high school has disappeared.

Dustin Pedroia has undergone three surgeries in the last 24 months, two on his left hand.

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

Dustin Pedroia ready for bounceback season

?I?m ready to play. I?m excited and healthy and ready to go do what I do,? Pedroia said after arriving in Fort Myers.

Isaiah Thomas.

GARY WASHBURN | ON BASKETBALL

Newest Celtic Isaiah Thomas the NBA?s little big man

The pint-sized guard has thrived in a league filled with talented giants.

An Oscar statue is seen outside the Dolby Theater during preparations ahead of the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 20, 2015. The Oscars will be presented at the Dolby Theater February 22, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

87th Academy Awards | Sunday, 8:30 p.m.

A complete guide to the Oscars

The Academy Awards are this Sunday. Find out who was nominated, who was snubbed, and how to get a leg up in your Oscar pool.

file/2014

travel

In defense of Las Vegas

Before dismissing Las Vegas, explore what it has to offer.

DEBBIE HAROLD  was laid off twice in less than three years, but she has settled in now in a new job at TD Bank.

Four stories of jobs lost, and regained

These workers, all over 50, lost jobs for the first time in their working lives and eventually found satisfying new ones.

Busted by a beagle at Logan. Again.

At Logan International Airport?s Terminal E, ?agriculture canines? are trained to sniff for prohibited foods that could be host to pests or diseases.

The Big Picture

Alejandro Bolivar/EPA

Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations

Pre-Lenten celebrations around the globe wrapped up earlier this week before the marking of Ash Wednesday.