Fifteen new universities from across the world, including two located here in Boston, have joined the non-profit partnership that offers free online courses from some of the most respected insitutes of higher learning. 

EdX announced Tuesday that it has added 15 new schools to its list of consortium members including Boston University and the Berklee College of Music.

EdX was launched last  year by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is focused on “transforming online and on-campus learning.”

“As we continue to grow the xConsortium and offer courses from institutions as diverse as our global community of students, we are moving forward with our mission to reimagine education,” said Anant Agarwal, president of the Cambridge-based program.”These schools, with their unique faculties and student bodies, will help us conduct collaborative research on best practices which improve education online and on campus.”

EdX said that, to date, it has more than 900,000 people on its platform.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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Following a spectacular penultimate production of “Chroma,” Boston Ballet closes a superb 2012-13 season with the classic Balanchine piece “Coppélia.” The ballet, which only made its Boston debut in 2010, is performed by Mikko Nissinen’s dancers with admirable ease and familiarity.

“Coppélia” tells the story of a playful prank gone awry, leaving a man in heartache. Lovable and gullible Franz (Joseph Gatti) becomes infatuated with Coppélia, a life-sized doll created by town inventor Dr. Coppélius. The cast-aside object of his desire, the crafty Swanhilde (Kathleen Breen Combes,) then puts on Coppélia’s clothing and tricks the love-struck young doctor into believing that a magic spell has brought his beloved doll to life. Meanwhile, Franz is too addled by both love and drink to realize what is happening.

It is a delight to watch Breen Combes dance. She possesses a natural proclivity for storytelling through dance, as is evident in the spunky, playful way she brings Swanhilde/Coppélia to life. This talent was first brought to the stage in her breakout role as one of the stepsisters in “Cinderella” (2008). Her energy is contagious. Every dancer brings 100 percent to the stage — from Dr. Coppélius (Robert Kretz’s) rickety walk to the mechanical movements of the other dolls in his attic. Not one performer misses a beat — and this includes the Boston Ballet students who feature in Act II — despite the considerable theatrics and tricky footwork this production demands.

A great ballet for children and adults alike — the storyline is easy to follow and the ballet is marked by a fair bit of humor — which is sure to make it a Boston Ballet repertory favorite for years to come.

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Talk about a spirited debate.

In the tradition of Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, at-large city council candidate Shaun Ivers is planning to channel the local pastime of pub-style political debate at Boston’s bars.

“For centuries, the neighborhood pub has served as a meeting place and epicenter of political discourse,” said Ivers, a Ivers, a Jamaica Plain real-estate agent and consultant.

“If there is one thing ‘old school’ about Boston, it’s that people in this city have a fondness for debate over a frosty pint.” He went on to say the booze-fueled banter “will not be some cheap meet and greet where handlers protect the candidates from talking about anything of substance.”

The first debate is slated for Thursday at Slad Bar & Grill in the South End, with the others happening sporadically until June 13. They are open to local politicians – including mayoral candidtes vying for outgoing Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s job – as well as the general public.

According to Ivers, the appearances will serve as “unofficial and informal debates for all city council and mayoral candidates.”

There will be no predetermined debate format, he said, however casinos, The Boston Redevelopment Authority, police, crime, schools and housing costs are just a few of the topics that Ivers intends to discus.

“When it comes to the issues in this race I’ll talk to my fellow candidates, I’ll talk to voters, I’ll talk to your grandmother, and I’ll even talk to your dog. You don’t have to agree with me to show up. In fact, I’d prefer that people who disagree with me show up, because only through healthy debate and multiple points of view can we keep Boston great,” he said.

Check out a full schedule below (between 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.):

Thursday, May 23

Roxbury Crossing/South End
Slade Bar & Grill
958 Tremont Street

Sunday, May 26

Beacon Hill
The 21st Amendment
150 Bowdoin Street

Tuesday, May 28

Allston
Tavern in the Square
161 Brighton Avenue

Thursday, May 30

South Boston
Cornerstone Pub
16 West Broadway

Sunday, June 2

Jamaica Plain
Doyle’s
3484 Washington Street

Tuesday, June 4

West Roxbury/Roslindale
West Roxbury Pub & Restaurant
1885 Centre Street

Thursday, June 6

Back Bay
The Globe
565 Boylston Street

Sunday, June 9

Dorchester
Eire Pub
795 Adams Street

Tuesday, June 11

Charlestown
Sullivan’s Pub
85 Main Street

Thursday, June 13

East Boston
Kelley’s Square Pub
84 Bennington Street

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
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Join us  for the next B2B Networking Meeting. We are excited with the direction the group is taking and need your input and advice to continue growing the group in size, reach and value. Let’s make this upcoming meeting the biggest and most productive yet!

Event price: $10 for Members/ $20 for Non-Members

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Long putters beware.

The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced Tuesday that it was amending the official Rules of Golf. Starting on Jan. 1, 2016, it will be illegal to anchor the club to make a stroke.

The new rule, 14-1b, says that a player using a long putter cannot hold the end of the club against his body while putting. The long putters are still legal clubs, as long as the rule is adhered to.

“Rule 14-1b protects one of the important challenges in the game, the free swing of the entire club,” said USGA president Glen Nager. “The traditional stroke involves swinging the club with both the club and gripping hands held away from the body, requiring the player to direct and control the movement of the entire club.”

You might be thinking to yourself, ‘Nice story on a slow news day.’ However, four of the last six major winners used an anchored stroke, including Adam Scott as last month’s Masters tournament.

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More than two dozen people were arrested early Tuesday morning when police conducted gang raids in a violent area of Roxbury known for being home to several gang members.

About 30 people were arrested and more were being sought for arrest after the early morning raids, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.

Authorities dubbed the enforcement effort “Operation H.” It was a long-term investigation targeting drug offenses and suppressing violent crime in the H-Block area of Roxbury, according to the district attorney’s office. The arrests come after authorities conducted multiple controlled drug buys, “extensive surveillance” and two months of grand jury testimony.

Fourteen people were indicted in Suffolk Superior Court while others face criminal complaints filed in Roxbury District Court. A few others will be charged in federal court.

The raids come ahead of the summer months when violence typically increases.

Police and District Attorney Dan Conley scheduled a news conference for later Tuesday to discuss the operation.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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Emergency workers pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, and officials on Tuesday sharply lowered the number of deaths caused by the storm.

The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble.

Seven children died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit, but many more survived unhurt.

“They literally were lifting walls up and kids were coming out,” Oklahoma State Police Sergeant Jeremy Lewis said. “They pulled kids out from under cinder blocks without a scratch on them.”

The Oklahoma state medical examiner’s office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, down from the 51 they had reported earlier. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner.

“There was a lot of chaos,” she said.

Thunderstorms and lightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but 101 people had been pulled from the debris alive, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokeswoman Betsy Randolph said.

Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments and rescuers from other states worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors.

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest U.S. tornado since 161 people were killed in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago.

“The people of Moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them, as long as it takes,” Obama said at the White House.

Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, said the whole town looked like a debris field and there was a danger of electrocution and fire from downed power lines and broken natural gas lines.

“It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it’s pretty much destroyed,” Lewis told NBC.

The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 mph.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center warned the town 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. (2001 GMT), which is more than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the center in Norman, Oklahoma.

SCHOOL TRAGEDY

U.S. Representative Tom Cole, who lives in Moore, said the Plaza Towers school was the most secure and structurally strong building in the area.

“And so people did the right thing, but if you’re in front of an F4 or an F5 there is no good thing to do if you’re above ground. It’s just tragic,” he said on MSNBC TV.

At least 60 of the 240 people injured were children, hospital officials said.

Witnesses said Monday’s tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the area on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes. That tornado ranked as an EF5 tornado with wind speeds of more than 200 mph.

The 1999 tornado ranks as the third-costliest tornado in U.S. history, having caused more than $1 billion in damage at the time, or more than $1.3 billion in today’s dollars. Only the devastating Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornadoes in 2011 were more costly.

Monday’s tornado in Moore ranks among the most severe in the United States http://link.reuters.com/gec38t

Jeff Alger, 34, who works in the Kansas oil fields on a fracking crew, said his wife Sophia took their children out of school when she heard a tornado was coming and then fled Moore and watched it flatten the town from a few miles away.

“They didn’t even have time to grab their shoes,” said Alger, who has five children aged 4 to 11. The storm tore part of the roof off of his home. He was with his wife at Norman Regional Hospital to have glass and other debris removed from his wife’s bare feet.

Moore was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out, houses destroyed and vehicles tossed about as if they were toys.

The dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters.

SAVED BY CELLPHONE

Speaking outside Norman Regional Hospital Ninia Lay, 48, said she huddled in a closet through two storm alerts and the tornado hit on the third.

“I was hiding in the closet and I heard something like a train coming,” she said under skies still flashing with lightning. The house was flattened and Lay was buried in the rubble for two hours until her husband Kevin, 50, and rescuers dug her out.

“I thank God for my cell phone, I called me husband for help.”

Her 7-year-old daughter Catherine, a first-grader at Plaza Towers Elementary School, took shelter with classmates and teachers in a bathroom when the tornado hit and destroyed the school. She escaped with scrapes and cuts.

Briarwood Elementary School, which also stood in the storm’s path, was all but destroyed. On the first floor, sections of walls had been peeled away, giving clear views into the building; while in other areas, cars hurled by the storm winds were lodged in the walls.

At Southmoore High School in Moore, about 15 students were in a field house when the tornado hit. Coaches sent them to an interior locker room and made them put on football helmets, and all survived, the Oklahoman newspaper said.

(Additional reporting by Alice Mannette, Lindsay Morris, Nick Carey, Brendan O’Brien and Greg McCune; Writing by Nick Carey and Jane Sutton; Editing by W Simon and Grant McCool)

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The Thermals are a post-pop-punk trio from pre-Portlandia-Portland, Oregon. The band formed in 2002 and has since released five records and toured fifteen countries. The Thermals’ sixth LP and debut for Saddle Creek, Desperate Ground will be released April 16. The album was produced by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth) in Hoboken, NJ. Agnello and The Thermals completed the record and evacuated the studio just hours before Hurricane Sandy ravaged New Jersey, a fate quite fitting when you consider the product. Desperate Ground is a true scrappy and scratchy return-to-form for The Thermals, with all the raw power and unhinged adolescent energy that made their early LP’s so insanely enjoyable. Lyrically, Desperate Ground is a brash and irresponsible ode to human violence, a black celebration of the inevitability of war and death. A dark and yet joyous affair, Desperate Ground tells the (murky) tale of a lone rogue in the night. One man, one path, one sword. An unceasing urge to destroy. A never-ending battle against the forces of nature. A destiny impossible to avoid.

The Thermals are Hutch Harris, Kathy Foster and Westin Glass.

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A pair of Jamaica Plain farmers are just weeks away from sprouting their first sky-high veggies atop the Boston Design Center.

Higher Ground founders Courtney Hennessey and John Stoddard plan to start growing in June, supplying produce to five Boston restaurants as well as a farm stand near the South Boston waterfront.

“We’ve been working on this for almost three years,” said Hennessey. “Now it’s really happening. We hope to grow two tons of produce this year. It’s exciting. It’s been such a growth for us.”

Their farm’s final fundraiser will happen tonight at the design center. Tickets are available for $100 on Eventbrite.com.

Over 300 backers pledged nearly $24,000 on Kickstarter.

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
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The detachment you can feel throughout our younger records is gone. We felt like it was time to make a bigger, more generous statement.

When describing the new album, Heaven, the Walkmen lead singer Hamilton Leithauser portrays a band hitting maturity, comfortable in its mastery, after a decade together. Adds guitarist Paul Maroon, “when you’re starting out, you’re sitting there trying to come up with a big idea, but after a while, you learn about the process of writing. You learn about your friends in the band and how they work best.”

It’s been ten years since the Walkmen made their debut album, Everybody Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. Ten years since they mixed the lovingly recorded analogue tapes down to the cheapest CD burner they could find. Ten years since lead singer Hamilton Leithauser snapped guitarist Paul Maroon’s arm in a celebratory wrestling match. Ten years since critics attached them to a New York scene they never wanted any part of.

But when Leithauser sings “We Can’t Be Beat,” on the opening track of their new album, he means it, like Cool Hand Luke getting up off the floor for one more round. “The world is ours,” he declares. This time, he may be right.
This spring, the band played a series of 10th anniversary shows that demonstrated how far they have outstripped their peers: two sets over two hours, no filler, rapturously received. In contrast, fellow graduates from New York’s celebrated rock revival class of ’02 have burned out or faded from view.

The Walkmen are the great New York band of their generation, and in Heaven, they have delivered their third killer album in a row. Although Leithauser argues that “our biggest accomplishment is just being here,” they are making the best music of their career and filling their largest venues yet. Their spot at the top of the bill at May’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival, curated by The National, demonstrates the respect in which they are held by the current wave of bands making music in the city.

All five members of the band have kids now and if the impact of parenthood is hard to pin down in a single lyric, there is definitely a new openness and emotional honesty to the songs. Most importantly, the old gang mentality has deepened, becoming something worthwhile and lasting. “I’m very proud of what we’ve done. We’ve stayed friends and those friendships have grown,” says Bauer. “We have survival experience and real love that children generate in your life.” Heaven is a definitive statement of purpose and commitment, from a band at the peak of its powers that is finally winning the recognition it deserves.

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Local Tea Party members will be protesting outside the Boston office of the Internal Revenue Service Tuesday as part of nationwide protests of the IRS targeting scandal.

The activists called for other members to meet up at noon and protest outside the JFK Federal Building near Government Center and Faneuil Hall. The building houses the Boston IRS office.

In a statement posted on its website, the Greater Boston Tea Party admonished the IRS for the scandal that has led to the resignation of an agency head after it was revealed that workers were targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny dating back to 2010.

“The Greater Boston Tea Party is greatly distressed to learn that a department of the federal government, in its oversight of our tax system, has routinely targeted for intimidation and harassment citizen activist organizations, based on their conservative political ideology,” the group said. “This behavior matters to every American. No department of government at any level has the power or authority to target individuals or organizations based on ideology.”

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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A federal judge approved a request by Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers that his jailers hand over their files on him, including suicide watch logs and psychological data, according to court documents released on Monday.

The defense has said it wants to track 19-year-old Tsarnaev’s injuries and mental state while he is held in federal prison to provide evidence of “the voluntariness of his statements” while under interrogation.

Tsarnaev was found hiding in a trailered boat in Watertown, four days after the April 15 blasts, which killed three people and injured 264 others at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

He was shot in the throat before his capture and is being held in a prison hospital at Fort Devens. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Bowler on Friday had denied a separate request by Dzhokar’s attorneys to take photographs of their imprisoned client without sharing them with prosecutors. She decided instead that prison staff could take the pictures in the presence of the defense counsel and that prosecutors would then have access to the photographs.

All the defense requests were made in secret filings with the court, and only made public later.

Tsarnaev’s lead attorney was not immediately available to comment on the judge’s decisions.

Tsarnaev left a handwritten message inside the hull of the boat describing the attack as retribution for U.S. wars in Muslim countries, according to a CBS News report last week citing unnamed sources.

Tsarnaev’s older brother and fellow suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gunbattle with police. He had been on a U.S. government database of potential terrorism suspects, and the United States had twice been warned by Russia that he might be an Islamic militant, according to U.S. security officials.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis testified to a congressional committee that that information was not shared with local law enforcement.

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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced plans to eliminate cash tolls on the Tobin Bridge and collect the money electronically instead, starting next year.

MassDOT said toll booths on the bridge will be replaced with overhead sensors, which will scan a car’s E-ZPass unit, linked to a debit or credit card. Spokeswoman Sara Lavoie told the Boston Globe the system will save drivers time.

Cameras will record each car’s license plate, and those that don’t have E-ZPasses will get a bill in the mail.

Similar changes are planned for tolls collected on the Massachusetts Turnpike and at tunnels near Boston’s Logan International Airport.

Switching to electronic tolls on the Tobin Bridge will cost $1.7 million. Another $120 million will be spent for changes to the Mass Pike and tunnels.

Transportation Secretary Richard Davey said the system will eventually save the state $50 million a year, primarily due to lower labor costs. 300 to 350 MassDOT workers will lose their jobs, about 75 percent of the state’s toll takers.

“Obviously, we don’t want to displace employees. They’ve done nothing wrong. Technology has just caught up to them,” Davey told the Globe.

MassDOT will hold public meetings on the North Shore over the next month to get feedback on the plan.

E-ZPass transponders are available for free online, and at 20 Registry of Motor Vehicles locations and 17 AAA offices statewide.

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Two Braintree children were found safe Monday night after being allegedly kidnapped by their father, triggering an Amber Alert.

Massachusetts state police said Jon T. Lockwood, 54, was arrested at a 7-Eleven store in South Windsor, Conn. The children, Patrick and Sarah Nguyen, aged 8 and 10, were located unharmed.

Braintree police Chief Russell Jenkins told the Quincy Patriot Ledger Lockwood had a supervised visit with the children earlier in the day at a Department of Children and Families facility in Weymouth.

“There was some concern this might happen,” Jenkins said in an email.

“The foster mother tried fighting off Lockwood, engaging in a tug-of-war for the custody of Patrick, but was unsuccessful,” Jenkins said. “She tried to get the children to hide from him.”

A neighbor who heard the commotion at the foster home tried to chase Lockwood’s car as he drove away.

A description of that car, a brown 1995 BMWi with Massachusetts plates, led to Lockwood’s arrest, after a trucker called 911, telling Connecticut state troopers that he saw the car exiting Interstate 84.

Massachusetts state police said Lockwood would be returned to Massachusetts to face charges.

Braintree police said Lockwood lived in Utah and had been staying at a hotel in Foxboro. The children’s mother is believed to be out of the country.

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At least 91 people, including 20 children, were feared killed when a 2 mile wide tornado tore through an Oklahoma City suburb, trapping victims beneath the rubble as one elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed.

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  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Devastation caused by Oklahoma tornado

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest U.S. tornado since one killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago.

Emergency crews were desperately searching the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School that took a direct hit from the tornado on Monday afternoon, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb told CNN.

There was an outpouring of grief on the school’s Facebook page, with messages from around the country including one pleading simply: “Please find those little children.”

Another elementary school, homes and a hospital were among the buildings leveled, leaving residents of the town of about 50,000 people stunned at the devastation and loss of life.

The Oklahoma medical examiner said 20 of the 91 expected to have been killed were children. The office had already confirmed 51 dead and had been told by emergency services to expect 40 more bodies found in the debris, but had not yet received them.

At least 60 of the 240 people injured were children, area hospitals said.

“We thought we died because we were inside the cellar door … It ripped open the door and just glass and debris started slamming on us and we thought we were dead to be honest,” Ricky Stover said while surveying the devastated remains of his home.

Moore was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out, houses destroyed and vehicles tossed about as if they were toys.

Rescuers were searching for survivors throughout the swath of devastation into the early hours of Tuesday, while the dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters. Severe weather was expected through the night from the Great Lakes south to Texas.

STORM ALERTS

Speaking outside Norman Regional Hospital Ninia Lay, 48, said she huddled in a closet through two storm alerts and the tornado hit on the third.

“I was hiding in the closet and I heard something like a train coming,” she said under skies still flashing with lightning. The house was flattened and Lay was buried in the rubble for two hours until her husband Kevin, 50, and rescuers dug her out.

“I thank God for my cell phone, I called me husband for help.”

Her daughter Catherine, seven, a first-grader at Plaza Towers Elementary School, took shelter with classmates and teachers in a bathroom when the tornado hit and destroyed the school. She escaped with scrapes and cuts.

The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 mph.

Witnesses said Monday’s tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the area on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes. That tornado ranked as an EF5, meaning it had winds over 200 mph.

The 1999 event in Oklahoma ranks as the third-costliest tornado in U.S. history, having caused more than $1 billion in damage at the time, or more than $1.3 billion in today’s dollars. Only the devastating Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornadoes in 2011 were more costly.

SCHOOL DESTROYED

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center provided the town with a warning 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. (4.01 p.m. EDT), which is greater than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the center in Norman, Oklahoma.

The notice was upgraded to emergency warning with “heightened language” at 2:56 p.m., or five minutes before the tornado touched down, Pirtle said.

Television media measured the tornado at more than 2 miles wide, with images showing entire neighborhoods flattened.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a temporary flight restriction that allowed only relief aircraft in the area, saying it was at the request of police who needed quiet to search for buried survivors.

Oklahoma activated the National Guard, and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency activated teams to support recovery operations and coordinate responses for multiple agencies.

Briarwood Elementary School, which also stood in the storm’s path, was all but destroyed. On the first floor, sections of walls had been peeled away, giving clear views into the building; while in other areas, cars hurled by the storm winds were lodged in the walls.

Across the street, people picked through the remains of their homes.

The number of injured as reported by several hospitals rose rapidly throughout the afternoon.

Oklahoma University Medical Center alone was treating 65 patients, 45 of them children, though it was no longer expecting a further mass influx of casualties, spokesman Scott Coppenbarger said.

Moore Medical Center itself sustained significant damage.

“The whole city looks like a debris field,” Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, told NBC.

“It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it’s pretty much destroyed,” Lewis said.

The massive twister struck at the height of tornado season, and more were forecast. On Sunday, tornadoes killed two people and injured 39 in Oklahoma.

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The Red Sox’ five-game winning streak came to an end with a 6-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox Monday night in Chicago. Despite the loss the Red Sox have still won five of seven games on their nine-game road trip.

Starter Jon Lester didn’t have his best stuff in what was his worst outing of the season and took his first loss of the year as well. The left-hander went six innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits while striking out two and walking three. All of the White Sox runs were scored with two outs. Clayton Mortensen and Craig Breslow closed out the game, throwing a scoreless inning apiece in the loss.

Things didn’t get off to the best start for the Red Sox as the White Sox scored five times in the first two innings, highlighted by a three-run home run from Adam Dunn in the first. The Red Sox didn’t give up as they fought back on a two-run homer from Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the third, and then a two-run double from Will Middlebrooks in the seventh, but in the end it wasn’t enough as the Red Sox finished with just six hits in the loss.

Saltalamacchia paced the offensive with his two hits in the No. 9 spot, while Dustin Pedroia did extend his 12-game hit streak with an infield single.

The teams will return to the diamond tomorrow night (8:10, NESN) for the second game of a three-game series. Felix Doubront will start for the Red Sox and the White Sox will counter with Jose Quintana.

What they’ll be saying: It was a frustrating loss for the Red Sox as things just wouldn’t go their way starting with the White Sox scoring all of their runs with two outs. Of their four, run producing hits two of them came with two strikes as well. Middlebrooks missed a game-tying home run by a foot in the ninth inning flying out to deep center, summing up the night for the Red Sox. They went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, while the White Sox went 4-for-9 … Lester took his first loss of the year and his now 6-1. You knew one of these nights was coming for Lester, but the important thing for him now is how he will bounce back in his next start, which should come at home against the Cleveland Indians this weekend.

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About 30,000 travelers moving through Connecticut dealt with grueling commutes Monday as trains between Boston and New York remained canceled due to a train crash Friday that injured more than 70 passengers and crew members.

A Metro-North train derailed and then was hit by another train between Fairfield and Bridgeport, Conn.

Many buses bound for New York from Boston’s South Station were already sold out early Monday morning.

While the snafu had little impact on Boston-area traffic, Total Traffic Network reporter Nichole Davis warned of hold-ups heading south.

“Anyone heading toward Connecticut is going to find snarled traffic there,” she said.

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Eight people were arrested after Cambridge police were forced to quell multiple fights that broke out among a crowd of hundreds that had descended on Massachusetts Avenue early Friday morning. 

Police responded to the area of 450 Massachusetts Ave. just after 2 a.m. Friday for a report of a large fight. When officers arrived they found about 400 people standing on the street and on the sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, many of them arguing and yelling back and forth. They had come from one of the nearby bars in Central Square, police said.

“While on scene, between four or five additional fights broke out on both sides of the street, and officers responded to each, separating the parties, and arresting the individuals who were actively fighting with one or more persons,” Cambridge police wrote in a report, which did not specify which establishment the people had come from.

More than 15 officers from Cambridge and MIT’s police department responded to the scene to help break up the fights, many of which occurred at the same time within the large crowd.

The eight people arrested were charged with affray. They range in age from 21 to 29 and are from Boston, Brookline, Chelsea and Randolph.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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Can women really have it all? Is it truly possible to strike the perfect balance between career and family in the modern world? “Rapture, Blister, Burn” suggests a surprising — and perhaps unpopular — answer to those enduring questions: maybe not.

This Huntington Theatre presented play is all about the women. Catherine is a successful academic with a lonely personal life. Catherine’s college friend Gwen, on the opposite end of the spectrum, spent her post-grad time getting married and popping out a couple of kids. Both 40-something women are experiencing the female version of a mid-life crisis and regretting their life choices.

“This play is about how our expectations — things that seem good on paper — turn out differently in real life,” says Kate Shindle, who plays Catherine. “A lot of people say this is a play about feminism, but it’s not really. That just happens to be the context for telling this story.”

The four lead female characters — Catherine, Gwen, Catherine’s mother and Gwen’s 21-year-old babysitter — represent three generations and three varying perspectives on gender roles. Shindle empathizes with her own character most.

“She’s very similar to me, in many ways,” she says. “She thinks things through before feeling them. She could give you a long talk about how relationships between men and women play out and why, but she doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does.”

Despite all the discussion on feminist theory, Shindle says this show is a comedy, not an education.

“It sounds heavy, but it’s pretty funny,” she explains. Both Catherine and Gwen go to ludicrous lengths to try to undo their life decisions. “It all leads to some pretty ridiculous comedic situations.

Still, the play doesn’t completely shy away from the topic — or from getting a little spicy. “This show is a little bit raunchy,” says Shindle. “There’s a lot of talk about pornography and whether it’s anti-feminism or empowering.”

If you go

“Rapture, Blister, Burn”

May 24 through June 22

Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

527 Tremont St., Boston

$15-$80, 617-266-0800

huntingtontheatre.org

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Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has turned down a party invitation.

The Pats tight end was set to go to Las Vegas as part of a promotional tour by private jet sharing program JumpSeat. JumpSeat’s Twitter feed wrote, “Hey Folks… sorry ‘bout the disappointment, but the Gronk trip is not happening. He is staying home relaxing.”

Gronkowski was set to have a fourth surgery on his forearm Monday, according to the Boston Herald. He is also suffering from “chronic” back pain, according to an NFL.com report, and will be sent to a spine specialist. The report says that Gronkowski could also face additional surgery for his back.

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If you enjoy power-play goals then the Bruins-Rangers Eastern Conference semifinals series is definitely not for you. We are only two games in but the respective power plays both look nearly hopeless: Boston is 1-for-5 vs. New York and 4-for-25 (16 percent) in the postseason while New York is 0-for-8 vs. Boston and 2-for-36 (5.6 percent) in the postseason. Bruins fans probably thought that they had seen the worst man advantage in the NHL all year but the Rangers take it to a whole other level in terms of power play futility.

Boston has the 11th ranked power play of the 16 teams that were in the 2013 playoffs, the only active team that is below them is New York, which is 15th. In many ways, it’s remarkable that these teams have advanced this far. It speaks to their overriding strengths in other areas – namely goaltending, depth and team defense. When you look around at the rest of the league, three of the top five power play units (Penguins, Sharks and Kings) in the playoffs and four of the top six (Senators) are still alive and have all won at least one game in the semifinals. Pittsburgh’s is the best one, No. 2, as it has scored 10 times in 37 opportunities (27 percent).

The Bruins have at least shown signs of life with their power play. Rookie defenseman Torey Krug scored a power-play goal to tie it at two in the third period of Game 1 (a game the B’s eventually won 3-2 in overtime) and Boston’s power play early in overtime didn’t result in a goal but eight shots on goal and constant pressure swung the momentum their way for the rest of the contest.

Somehow the Rangers’ power play seems to get worse every time they roll it out. They are 0-for-21 on the road and they haven’t scored in their last 16 chances overall.

Down 0-2 in the series, the Rangers will have to win four of the next five games (for the second series in a row) to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals (where they lost to the Devils last season). It’s hard to see them pulling that off without an exorcism of a horrid power play unit.
Boston proved two years ago that you don’t need a great power play to win a Stanley Cup, however it’s certainly not the model for longterm or repeated success in the playoffs.

Follow Metro Boston Bruins beat writer Richard Slate on Twitter @RichSlate

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Former Patriots wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson was arrested on charges that he violated probation and was ordered to jail Monday by a Broward County (Fla.) judge until he posts a $1,000 bond.

Johnson was on probation due to an altercation with his ex-wife, reality TV star Evelyn Lozada, last August in which Lozada claimed that Johnson head-butted her during an argument. Johnson was released by the Miami Dolphins a day after the incident and has not signed on with an NFL team since.

Johnson played with the Patriots during the 2011 season, catching just 15 balls. Johnson had 67 receptions the year prior with the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Is happiness something that happens to you, or something that you make happen for yourself? If you ask “Glee’s” Jenna Ushkowitz that question, she’ll tell you it’s the latter.

In fact, she’s written the book on finding your own glee through the power of self-affirmation and positive thinking. “Choosing Glee: 10 Rules to Finding Inspiration, Happiness, and the Real You” is part memoir, part self-help tome, and all motivational. Written through anecdotal vignettes, personal photos, lists and charts, “Choosing Glee” is Ushkowitz’ way of giving back to the world, putting out positivity as a means of reaping more good vibes. “I like to think that positivity is a choice, and you wake up and make a conscious decision,” says the 27-year-old actress. And though she admits, “I’ve never been through any really dark times where I hit rock bottom,” she seems to know what she’s talking about.

So, what’s this book really about?

It’s 10 rules that I live by, to success, to where I’ve gotten, where I am. I just wanted to share that with my fans and readers. You know, to tell them that it’s something you can choose to believe in every day. It’s like your mantra. You know, there are like people who feel that they’re the victim and it’s always happening to them? You can turn that around, and change your outlook on life, and it really makes life a little bit brighter.

Have you always thought this way?

Yeah, I think I’ve always been this way. You could say I was born this way, but I also think I owe it to my parents teaching me to have a good head on my shoulders, and rely on my support system, and always stay true to who you are.

But what about somebody who wasn’t born that way?

Well, again, it’s making it a choice. You make it a choice, and every day you wake up and make it your mantra and say today I’m going to make the best of every situation and look at every situation with the glass half full. And then, after awhile, it sort of becomes subconscious and it becomes a way of life. It’s a lifestyle change, it’s like a diet. People always say, oh, I’m going to diet for this amount of time — well, it’s actually a lifestyle change you need to make.

Can you think of a recent situation where you had to make that choice?

Sure, I mean there was a time in the industry where I did a pilot — my belief is that everything happens for a reason — so I was doing this pilot and it got picked up, and I was all excited, and then I got this phone call that they actually weren’t going to pick me up, that they were going to recast me. And the first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, well, I’m not a good actor; I’m fat, I’m ugly, they hate me!’ (laughs) And then you turn around and say, you know what? It wasn’t me, it wasn’t meant to be, and actually it turned out that the reason was that I was a little too young. But you still believe, Oh, they’re lying,’ so I went to my friends and we vegged out and did our thing, it’s like a breakup. But then you get over it. And I then went on to book “Spring Awakening,” and then “Glee,” and wouldn’t have finished college. So you have to look at it like, well, I wouldn’t have been able to experience those things.

So you’re obviously a big believer in karma.

Oh yeah, 100 percent. Everything happens for a reason and I believe in karma. I believe that what you give to the world — the energy that you give to the world — is what you get back. And it will come back to you if you’re not good to it. (laughs)

The post Jenna Ushkowitz talks the power of positivity in ‘Choosing Glee’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Anyone with information can anonymously text tips to 873873. Credit: TPD

Anyone with information can anonymously text tips to 873873. Credit: TPD

Transit Police are looking for help identifying a man who allegedly assaulted a woman on a Green Line C Trolley at Park Street MBTA Station last Tuesday.

The man, seen smiling while wearing a red shirt and hooded sweatshirt, is estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old. Transit police released surveillance photographs Monday in hopes that the public could help identify him.

The MBTA has struggled with the issue of sexual assaults on the T, particularly on the Green Line due to its cramped quarters.

A closer image of the suspect. Via TPD

Transit Police allow people to offer anonymous tips by texting information to 873873. They may also call the criminal investigations unit at 617-222-1050.

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS

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Celtics guard Terrence Williams was arrested by Kent, Wa. police Sunday for allegedly brandishing a firearm. Williams reportedly waved a gun while threatening the mother of his 10-year-old son.

The No. 11 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Williams has been seen as a “bust” by most standards but played well during 24 games this season with the Celtics. Williams had been playing basketball in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Williams parents both spent time in prison, according to The New York Times, and Williams’ father was murdered in 1993 after he was released from jail on drug charges.

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