Brookline fund-raising targets sister city
(By Catherine Ivey, Globe Correspondent, 02/21/99)
BROOKLINE - Perhaps this is what family is all about.

Crosstown Express
(By Alan Lupo, Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
When Nancy Caruso of the North End got up to speak at Peter Zuk's going-away party early this month, she recalls, ''Some of the people from the Big Dig started to cringe because they thought I was going to give him a recording of noise from the artery project.''

Different sounds of music
(By Christopher Muther, Globe Correspondent, 02/21/99)
SOMERVILLE - Five O'Clock Shadow could quite possibly be the hardest-working local band you've never heard.

Irises are as sublime as they are tough
(By Steve Hatch, Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
Irises are elegance. Their swordlike leaves serve as season-long architectural elements in the border. Their relatively short-lived flowers are sublime.

Minimum wage of $10 weighed
(By Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
`It's a start,'' said Mark Sutherland of the Carpenter's Union Local 40. ''Ten dollars an hour is the bare minimum wage to live in Cambridge.''

Mural project draws teen artists
(Byron Calamese Globe Corresp ondent, 02/21/99)
About 60 teenage artists from around the city are expected to start work this summer on a portable mural reflecting the diversity of a changing Boston, for display during First Night 2000 festivities.

New life, new home threatened
(By Gloria Negri, Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
CAMBRIDGE - In his search for freedom, Giovani Hoyos-Corrales traveled thousands of miles, mostly on foot, from his native Peru across 10 Latin American countries, enduring hardship and hunger, fording rivers in water up to his neck, to start a new life in America.

Pero ponders state position
(By Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero may become the state's next Commissioner of Veterans Services, creating a third possible board vacancy in the fall if Governor Paul Cellucci asks Pero not to run in the November election after taking the job.

Question raised: What's the limit at Logan airport?
(By Alan Lupo, Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
As Massport tries to relieve Logan Airport congestion by pushing to build a new runway and taxiway, critics from places as diverse as Roxbury, Winthrop, Melrose, and Quincy keep asking a question that nobody seems able to answer: When is it enough?

Retirees are taking advantage of Internet
(By Nancy Boland Johnson, Globe Correspondent, 02/21/99)
Anew trend for retirees is learning to visit Web sites to locate products and services. Many elders also use Web sites to seek information on learning, travel, recreation, and health issues.

Retiring swim coach sees young people in his future
(By Jeff Sullivan, Globe Correspondent, 02/21/99)
The life's accomplishments list continues to grow for Jack Dever, even though he's 59 and a few months away from retirement. And since Dever's definition of retirement does not include early morning tee times and afternoon naps, there's no reason to think the list is anywhere near complete.

She'll draw your portrait in no time
(By David Wildman, 02/21/99)
Artist Sarah Beth Wiley can scribble a complete and stylistically distinctive portrait of anyone in the space of less than five minutes. She uses a technique often employed in basic art classes called blind line drawing, where the artist holds the pen with one hand only and stares directly at her subject, never looking down at the work until it is done.

St. Fleur shows strength in Dorchester campaign
(By Michael Jonas, 02/21/99)
She may be a political unknown, but early indicators suggest Marie St. Fleur will be in the thick of the race to succeed Dorchester state Representative Charlotte Richie, who is giving up her seat to run the city's Department of Neighborhood Development.

The race for mayor
(By Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
Acting Mayor Bill Roche has sent a letter to all mayoral candidates asking them not to post political signs.

Three firefighters lauded for rescue
(By Globe Staff, 02/21/99)
Three Brookline firefighters received commendations at a recent selectmen's meeting for saving lives in a Jan. 14 four-alarm fire on Elm Street. Terming the incident ''a life and death situation,'' Fire Chief Robert English honored Captain Edward Roach and firefighters Carlo Gonzalez and Paul Riley.

Twisting and turning without losing direction
(By David Wildman, 02/21/99)
Here's an idea of Slept's priorities: Where some bands spend long hours planning ambitious tours, the members of Slept poured all their time into creating a parody of a tour that they included in one of their singles, with funny directions such as, ''You don't know everyone in audience. Advance three spaces.''