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The finance committee of the Boston Archdiocese authorized the church to pursue bankruptcy proceedings as a method of settling at least 450 sexual abuse lawsuits. Wednesday's vote by the 12-person group is the first step toward allowing the church to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code. Such a filing would be the first by an archdiocese.

Hedge fund operator Sowood Capital Management said Friday it would return $1.4 billion to investors after losing an estimated 60% of their money last month betting on corporate bonds and loans. Sowood, based in Boston, had more than $3 billion in assets at the end of June, the firm's founder, Jeff Larson, told investors in a conference call. The fund sold most of its holdings Monday to Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group after failing to meet lenders' demands for more collateral.

New York to Boston: Get over it. The Big Apple's neighbor to the north was brought to a halt Wednesday when some harmless blinking signs advertising a cartoon were mistaken for bombs. In New York? Fuhgeddaboudit. The city's 911 operators logged no calls -- not a single one -- when the identical devices depicting in lights a character from "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" were planted around Manhattan and Brooklyn several weeks ago.

Contract talks between the city of Boston and the police union that picketed the site of the Democratic National Convention hit a snag during overnight negotiations, but a new mediator was brought on board and both sides were to return to the bargaining table Wednesday. Talks began Sunday evening but adjourned Monday without an agreement.

U.S. marshals on Thursday began patrolling outside the site of the Democratic National Convention to ensure that picketing police officers did not block the start of construction work for next month's political gathering. U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro said at a hearing earlier in the day that he would use the marshals to patrol the FleetCenter, the site of the July 26-29 convention, and report violations of an order he issued last week.

In a direct response to the March train bombings in Spain that killed 191 people, transit authorities here will begin random searches of passenger bags on subways and commuter railways. The nation's first comprehensive policy of inspecting packages on public transit will start next month, Police Chief Joseph Carter of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said Tuesday. "Explosives are mainly what we are looking for," said Carter, whose agency is known in this region as "the T."

As the Democratic National Convention prepares to open here Monday, Boston is girding for it as if a monstrous, four-day snowstorm was about to hit in July. Despite more than 18 months of nonstop planning, questions remain about how one of the country's oldest cities will handle its first national political convention. What is certain is that disruptions brought on by unprecedented security measures will touch almost every aspect of daily life.

Braced for weeks for possible turmoil and traffic gridlock, this city instead sailed through the first day of the Democratic National Convention. Boston experienced virtually no reported crime on Monday and roads were unusually clear. Even the weather cooperated, with blue skies and none of the oppressive humidity generally associated with Boston summers. "It's just glorious," said Nick Bigney, who cruised into Boston Harbor on Monday with his family aboard their 38-foot sloop, Rubicon.

Dodger owner Frank McCourt is at least two months in default on a small piece of property in a South Boston neighborhood, the Boston Globe reported. The eight-story building on Fort Point Channel, which held the state Department of Revenue's offices, has been vacant since January. The owners of the $22-million note are offering it for sale as "non-performing and in default" because McCourt has not paid interest or principal since April.

Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley made an emotional appeal to Catholics who opposed the downsizing of local parishes, saying the cuts are so painful that he sometimes asked God to "call me home and let someone else finish this job." In a letter directed at protesters, O'Malley said the church's financial status was "much worse than people realize" and that a plan to close or consolidate 83 of the 357 parishes was for the good of the archdiocese.