Hurley's World

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday that he would view a visit to Boston by Pope Benedict XVI as a "great honor," but that the city has received no confirmation that the pontiff intends to visit.

Officials in Governor Deval Patrick's administration said yesterday that they are confident that developers will be willing to pay $200 million to $300 million each for the right to build casinos in Massachusetts, citing studies that say the state is full of seasoned gamblers and casual tourists ready to try their luck close to home.

MASHPEE - Only weeks ago, the Mashpee Wampanoag were on their way to fortune. They had won federal recognition, clearing the way for them to build a glittering $1 billion resort and casino in Middleborough and reap the millions that other tribes have collected from gambling. Then things went awry. The tribal chairman stepped down in disgrace. Federal authorities launched ...

Suffolk Downs in East Boston and Revere's Wonderland Park immediately began jockeying for one of the three Massachusetts casino licenses that Governor Deval Patrick is expected to propose as soon as today, while gambling foes just as quickly began mobilizing and vowed a major fight against casinos, portraying it as a struggle for the state's soul.

NEWTON - Elm and maple trees rustled in the breeze on Highland Avenue in West Newton one afternoon last week. Spacious homes cast long shadows across carefully manicured lawns. Gardens brimmed with freshly planted asters.

DUXBURY - It was planned as a vigil to pray for the recovery of three teenagers injured in a car crash Friday as they drove to school.

When Theresa Liu bought a house in Norton about two years ago, she could most easily explain its location by describing her neighbor.

Mental health workers are looking for new ways to help Native American service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In some parts of the United States, specialists are combining modern treatments with traditional healing methods, employing medicine men, participating in sweat lodges, and asking tribal elders to encourage veterans to seek professional medical ...

If that's Whitey Bulger, I'll eat my scally cap. Our favorite fugitive serial-killer-cum-FBI-informant, Whitey - Jimmy, to you - has been on the lam for 12 years, and it has become an article of faith that every couple of years the FBI trots out somebody saying they almost caught their former stool pigeon.

NORTH ANDOVER - It was Old World beliefs meeting modern-day lifestyles. Pagans gathering by a pond inside Harold Parker State Forest in North Andover socialized to the persistent pop of gunfire from a nearby hunting club. Witches in jeans and Crocs were elbow-to-wand with heathens and druids, vampires and those just beginning on their spiritual quest.

Police are searching for a suspect responsible for an armed robbery and assault in an East Somerville store early yesterday, according to a WBZ-TV report. The suspect broke into 158 Broadway St. at 7:15 a.m. as the clerk opened the store. Armed with a handgun, he demanded cash before physically assaulting the clerk, and fleeing on foot toward Sullivan Square ...

Standing in a large hangar with two F-15s parked outside, state and federal officials announced a realignment yesterday of Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod that will relocate the fighter jets and reassign 141 guardsmen into an intelligence unit.

Like gamblers anticipating winnings, community leaders in prime potential locations for the state's first casinos reveled yesterday in the news that Governor Deval Patrick reportedly wants to bring three gambling developments to Massachusetts.

A line, by its very nature, forms whenever there is a demand and a shortage. Project DEEP has a limited number of spots for its one-on-one tutoring program for middle-school students. Dorchester parents want those spots for their kids.

David Mellor has Red Sox Nation guessing. Take Eliza Gregory, a waitress in the State Street Pavilion behind home plate at Fenway Park, who simply loved the gigantic, stylized letter "B" that materialized in the grass under center fielder Coco Crisp's cleats one night this summer.

She's not the mother who wore the "Stop Snitchin' " T-shirt to her son's murder trial in Boston.

For some residents of Hollis, N.H., the Lone Pine Hunter's Club was long a neighborhood scourge, emitting the sound of gunfire morning, noon, and night, and making enjoyment of property impossible and life generally unbearable.

With the Marion Tavern at Grandview Farm deteriorating across from the Town Common, a committee charged with studying new uses for the landmark is recommending that the selectmen consider tearing it down.

TEWKSBURY - Six years ago, Kelly O'Donnell seemed like a normal, exuberant 6-year-old, taking gymnastics and dance classes. Then she started having headaches, losing her balance, and vomiting.

A significant number of Harvard residents apparently have lost confidence in the local School Committee, saying it has made questionable decisions that could tarnish the district's stellar reputation.