By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino formally threw his support behind US Representative Edward J. Markey on Friday, but said he could explain neither the Malden Democrat’s string of missed votes in Congress or decision not to release his tax returns until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. “I can’t explain that,” Menino told reporters of Markey’s timing around the tax disclosure. “Everybody runs their own campaign, and their own political situation, what they do publicly and privately. I can’t explain that at all.”

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

Republican candidate Gabriel E. Gomez ignited controversy on Thursday by calling his Democratic opponent for US Senate, a sitting congressman, “pond scum,” in an interview with a National Public Radio reporter on Thursday.

Asked whether his candidate regretted his remarks, spokesman Will Ritter recounted that Gomez not only didn’t regret it, but went further in a television interview Thursday evening:

“I was surprised at the controversy,” Ritter recounted Gomez saying. “Pond scum currently has a higher approval rating than Congress.”

Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, has been emphasizing the bruises he is getting in his first statewide campaign, to claim his Democratic opponent, US Representative Edward J. Markey, is waging a dirty campaign. Meanwhile, Gomez’s own claims are also harsh, as he bats back Markey’s negative advertising with increasingly vitrioic language.

By Julia Edwards, Globe Correspondent

It was “with a heavy heart” that Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said he was withdrawing his amendment that would have allowed gay Americans to bring their foreign partners into the country as part of the immigration overhaul that passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week. His decision marked the latest in a series of setbacks for gay rights legislation on the national level, notwithstanding polls that show a majority of Americans support advances on the broader issue of such rights. But the story behind Tuesday night’s action demonstrates how gay rights activists continue to face significant hurdles when specific measures are proposed on Capitol Hill.

By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

The federal Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered Neil M.M. Morrison, a former investment banker at Goldman, Sachs and ex-top state treasury aide to Timothy P. Cahill, to pay a $100,000 civil penalty, citing what the agency said was his role in a pay-to-play campaign fund-raising scheme for Cahill.

The agency’s order also bars Morrison from working in the securities industry for five years as part of the negotiated settlement that brings to an end a 2½-year investigation into his activities as campaign fund-raiser and chief adviser to Cahill’s campaign for governor in the 2010 election.

SEC regulations sharply restrict public-finance bankers and from contributing to elected officials who issue public bonds.

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

An adviser to US Senate candidate Edward J. Markey said today that he will release his tax returns publicly on Friday, committing to a date after days of fending off pressure from his Republican opponent.

Markey, a Malden Democrat who has served in the US House of Representatives since 1976, had been pressed by the media for the past week about whether he would open his tax returns to scrutiny, and when. Though Markey had said that he would do so “in the very near future,” his aides had continued to put off an anticipated date for the release.

Members of Congress are required to file financial disclosure forms showing their investments -in very broad terms in order to expose any potential conflicts of interest. But they can decide individually whether to open their actual tax returns to public scrutiny.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Retired police officer Robert Cappucci said Wednesday he has gathered more than 4,000 signatures to support his bid for mayor of Boston, making him the 16th potential candidate. Before joining the police department, Cappucci was elected to two terms on the School Committee and served until 1991. He lost his seat when the committee was changed from an elected body to an appointed board.

Cappucci’s father served in the state Legislature from 1936 to 1948, and the son longed to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Senator Elizabeth Warren, two months after starting to shop a book proposal, has found a publisher. Henry Holt and Company, one of the oldest publishers in the country, announced that it had obtained the rights to publish the book, which it characterized as telling both “Senator Warren’s improbable rise from a working class family in Oklahoma to the United States Senate,” as well as providing “a rousing call for protecting the middle class.”

By Jim O’Sullivan, Michael Levenson and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray will resign from the administration next month to run the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, positioning himself as a hometown cheerleader far from Beacon Hill where he saw his reputation tarnished the last few years.

In a dramatic exit from the State House, Murray, once widely considered a front-runner for the governorship next year, will serve as president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. He becomes the first lieutenant governor to resign midterm since John F. Kerry joined the US Senate in 1985, leaving the state’s second-highest governmental position open until a new administration takes office in early 2015.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

A Democratic state representative from Worcester resigned on Wednesday just as a House panel was poised to recommend that he be disciplined as part of an ethics investigation.

Representative John P. Fresolo, who was first elected to the Legislature in 1998, submitted a one-sentence letter to the House clerk saying he was “currently unable to effectively serve my district and regretfully submit my resignation,” effective immediately. He said he hoped that a special election would be scheduled to fill his seat. Fresolo offered no details as to why he resigning and the secrecy surrounding the investigation continued Wednesday. A spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo declined to comment on Fresolo’s departure, but said the speaker was in talks with Secretary of State William F. Galvin about the scheduling a special election.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

City Councilor Rob Consalvo announced Wednesday that several political advisers had joined his campaign for mayor, including Democratic strategist Tad Devine, who worked on presidential campaigns of Al Gore and John F. Kerry. Devine and another political operative, Mark Longabaugh, will serve as senior advisers to Consalvo. Devine and Longabaugh run a Democratic media consulting firm based in Washington. Consalvo also announced his field director will be Jeff Knochin, who worked on US Representative Stephen F. Lynch’s failed US Senate bid.

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

A House panel is poised to act against Worcester Democratic state Representative John P. Fresolo, with possible disciplinary measures taken by the full body within days, according to an official briefed on the investigation. The Ethics Committee is expected to recommend the House move against Fresolo, though the severity of its recommendation was unknown on Tuesday afternoon. Also unclear, because committee members are sworn to secrecy, are the charges against Fresolo.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Republican Senate candidate Gabriel E. Gomez is releasing a new television ad that labels his Democratic opponent, Representative Edward J. Markey, “dirty Ed Markey.”

“Negative ads from dirty Ed Markey, smearing Gabriel Gomez, comparing him to bin Laden,” a narrator says in the ad, which shows clips of two of Markey’s ads attacking Gomez. “Now, Markey actually blames Gomez for the Newtown shooting. Disgusting. Thirty-seven years in Congress. Dirty Ed Markey.”

Despite what the ad says, Markey has not blamed Gomez for the Newtown shooting. Markey has released an ad that highlights Gomez’s opposition to an assault weapons ban and to limits on high-capacity magazines, “like the ones used in the Newtown school shooting.”

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

A congressional delegation is planning to travel to Russia next week to meet with government and counterterrorism officials to discuss the ongoing investigations into the Boston Marathon bombings. The delegation, which includes Representative Bill Keating, a Bourne Democrat, is planning to examine some of the apparent gaps in intelligence sharing between the United States and Russia. The Russians had warned the US in 2011 that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a potential extremist.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

The campaign of US Senate hopeful Edward J. Markey held a conference call today pushing back against attacks from Republican Gabriel E. Gomez that the Markey was weak on homeland security.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

Republican Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez campaigned today with Senator John McCain, going on offense against Democrat Edward J. Markey for his votes on issues of homeland security.

At a VFW hall in Dorchester with the 2008 GOP presidential nominee standing by his side, Gomez attacked Markey for voting against a 2004 resolution expressing sympathy to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a similar 2006 measure.

Markey was one of 16 congressmen to vote against the 2004 resolution and one of 22 to vote against the 2006 resolution.

The attack represented something of a pivot for the Gomez campaign, attempting to put their Democratic opponent on the defensive.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

He is a governor, former corporate executive, and onetime federal prosecutor. Now, Deval Patrick can add another title to his resume: grandfather. The governor’s office announced today that Patrick’s eldest daughter, Sarah Baker Patrick Morgese, and her husband, Marco Morgese, welcomed a baby boy this morning. Gianluca Noah Patrick Morgese arrived two months early, weighing 2 pounds 8 ounces. He was born in San Francisco.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

Republican Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez is set to knock Democratic US Representative Edward J. Markey on Monday as “being out of the mainstream,” citing some of the congressman’s votes on issues of homeland security.

At a campaign rally Monday with Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, Gomez will ding Markey for voting against a 2004 resolution expressing sympathy to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a similar 2006 resolution, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks provided by his campaign.

“One thing that I have never understood is why my opponent...was one of the only congressmen in America who voted against resolutions of Congress to [h]onor the [v]ictims of the 9/11 attacks,” Gomez will say, according to the remarks.

Markey was one of 16 congressmen to vote against the 2004 resolution and one of 22 to vote against the 2006 resolution.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

Today, both Democrat Edward J. Markey and Republican Gabriel E. Gomez said they would participate in a June 5 US Senate debate sponsored by WBZ-TV and the Boston Globe.

In separate interviews with the Globe on the campaign trail, both confirmed their attendance at the forum, which appears likely to be the first debate of the short general election campaign for US Senate.

No other debates have been agreed to by both campaigns and each has accused its rival of debate-dodging in recent days.

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

After days of requests from reporters and his GOP opponent, Democrat US Representative Edward J. Markey said he will release his tax returns “in the very near future” to match the financial disclosure provided by his rival in the US Senate campaign, Republican Gabriel E. Gomez.

“I’m going to go back as far as he did and I’m going to release my tax returns,” Markey said on WCVB-TV’s On the Record. But he still declined to commit to a day for their release saying only that he would provide them, “in the very near future.”

The Globe has also repeatedly requested a review of tax returns from Markey, who has been in Congress for 36 years. Spokesman Andrew Zucker declined again on Friday to commit to a date for the release, though he, too, assured the disclosure would be made soon.

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

After days of tough questioning, Republican Gabriel E. Gomez went after his Democratic rival for US Senate, saying US Representative Edward M. Markey has been absent from the campaign trail and “hiding” from the controversies roiling the Democratic administration in Washington, D.C.

“We’re in the midst of probably the worst scandals of a lifetime down in D.C.,” Gomez said, citing the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for audits, the Justice Department’s seizure of media phone records and the administration’s conflicting reports on Benghazi.

“Where has congressman Markey been on all this stuff? I don’t know. He’s been hiding,” Gomez said, after campaigning at Mul’s Diner in South Boston.

By Julia Edwards, Globe Correspondent

WASHINGTON -- Republicans on Thursday dropped their efforts to stall President Obama’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, and her chief antagonist in the Senate promised to help her avoid a filibuster as the confirmation battle heads to its final step.

The nomination of Gina McCarthy was approved by the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works by a party-line vote of 10-8, with all Democrats favoring her and Republicans voting against her. The nomination now goes to the full Senate.

McCarthy’s prospects for heading the agency may have received the biggest boost after Senator David Vitter, the Louisiana Republican who had been her chief antagonist, dropped his threat to block her nomination on the Senate floor.

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

US Senator John McCain, coming to town Monday to raise money for Republican Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez, will also hold a rally for his fellow Navy veteran. The Monday-morning rally, at a Boston Police VFW post in Dorchester, will take place just before McCain helps raise money downtown at a high-dollar event. Donations collected there will go toward a joint fund-raising committee set up between the Gomez campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

US Representative Edward J. Markey today launched the first negative TV ad of the Massachusetts campaign for US Senate, attacking his Republican opponent, Gabriel E. Gomez, on gun control.

“Gomez is against banning assault weapons,” a deep-voiced male narrator says, before a video clip plays of Gomez saying as much. “And Gomez is against banning high-capacity magazines, like the ones used in the Newtown School shooting,” the narrator says.

“The more you know, the clearer the choice,” the narrator adds, ending the ad.

The spot works to juxtapose the candidates’ positions on the contentious issue, with the narrator noting Markey’s opposition to the National Rifle Association.

Markey has made gun control a marquee issue of his campaign.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

A big union is putting money behind Democratic Senate nominee Edward J. Markey in the first expenditure by an outside group in the race since the April 30 Republican and Democratic primary elections. The Service Employees International Union Committee On Political Education spent $340,000 in support of Markey this week, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The money was spent on canvassing services for the general election, according to the records.

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

For Governor Deval Patrick, it’s become as routine as signing legislation or greeting school kids. The rumors pop up about him eyeing national political service, and Patrick shoots them back to earth.

This time, it was speculation, stoked by the Chicago Sun-Times, that Patrick might replace embattled US Attorney General Eric Holder if he were to depart the Obama administration.

Patrick, a former senior Justice Department official and close friend of President Obama, would be a natural choice. His term expires at the end of 2014, he has made no public plans for life post-Beacon Hill, and he is considered to be in the large prospective field for 2016 presidential contenders.

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

Trying to rein in a growing controversy over the tax break he received on his Cohasset home, Republican US Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez told reporters today that he has paid the appraiser the $1,000 fee he allegedly owes.

Speaking to reporters after a press conference, Gomez said he paid the bill this morning, though he was “surprised to hear about this $1,000 bill after eight years. I frankly, I don’t even recall the bill.”

The appraiser who claimed he had never been paid filed a complaint in Small Claims Court Tuesday, the Globe reported today.

Gomez indicated that the appraiser was motivated by past Democratic donations and suggested he was propping up Gomez’s Democratic opponent in the Senate race, US Representative Edward J. Markey.

By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

When Republican US Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez was seeking a lucrative historical tax deduction for his Cohasset home, he rejected the first appraisal he received because it was too low, and then refused to pay the appraiser’s bill, according to court records.

That appraiser, Shaun Fitzgerald, said Gomez hired him in late 2005 to determine the amount he could deduct on his federal tax return in exchange for agreeing not to alter the home’s facade. But Fitzgerald said Gomez then failed to pay the $1000 appraiser’s fee.

Fitzgerald filed a small claims suit in Quincy District Court Tuesday. In it, he requested payment and attached his appraisal report that estimated the value of the deduction at $245,640.

By Joshua Miller and Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

US Senate hopefuls Edward J. Markey and Gabriel E. Gomez on Wednesday joined the bipartisan chorus ripping the Internal Revenue Service over the agency’s reported targeting of small-government groups for greater scrutiny. Both nominees steered remarks about the three controversies engulfing Washington away from criticism of President Obama and trained on the specific agencies caught up in the firestorms. “Whoever did this ought to be found and fired immediately,” Markey told the Globe in a telephone interview, referring to the reports of politically driven IRS actions. “The Constitution explicitly states it protects your right, whether it’s by race, gender, religion, or political belief, to have all the freedom in the world that you want,” Gomez said at a campaign event in Jamaica Plain. “For the government to be intruding the way it did is beyond scary.”

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

With recent legislation to strengthen background checks and ban assault weapons blocked in Congress, Representative John Tierney, a Salem Democrat, plans to introduce a gun bill Wednesday evening that would require handgun manufacturers to personalize their weapons to make them impossible to fire if they fall into the wrong hands. The bill, the Personalized Handgun Safety Act of 2013, mandates within two years that newly manufactured handguns be equipped with the technology that allows the guns to only work in the hands of their owners or other authorized users. Manufacturers that do not meet the standards could be held liable. And individuals or businesses selling older handguns must have them retrofitted with personalization technology within three years after the bill is enacted, at the expense of the federal government.

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff

Representative Niki Tsongas, back from her fifth trip to Afghanistan, warned Wednesday that the strides made by Afghan women could be jeopardized by potential negotiations to reach a long-term peace agreement with the notoriously anti-female Taliban. “I am very concerned that the gains for women will be traded away given the Taliban’s fierce intent on marginalizing women, if not worse,” she said in an interview. “There is a lot of concern about the reconciliation process.”

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

State Senate leaders unveiled a $33.92 billion annual budget today that boosts spending on services for the elderly and special education, but falls well short of Governor Deval Patrick’s plan to provide universal access to childcare and broadly expand the state’s aging transportation network.

Overall, the Senate plan would increase spending by 4.4 percent, compared to Patrick’s plan, which would hike spending by 6.9 percent.

Compared with the House proposal, the Senate provides more money for K-12 education, but not as much for higher education, while also rejecting House plans to crack down on welfare fraud.

Senators will debate the blueprint next week, and then reconcile their differences with the House, which approved its version of the state budget last month. Patrick must then act on the Legislature’s agreement by July 1, when the new budget year begins.

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

US Representative Edward J. Markey on Tuesday disinvited a Confederate flag defender, former television star, and onetime House colleague from playing music at a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser hours before it was scheduled to begin.

Markey’s US Senate campaign said the Malden Democrat was “completely unaware” that former Georgia Democratic congressman Ben Jones, who played the role of mechanic “Cooter Davenport” on the “Dukes of Hazzard” television show, has long been an ardent proponent of the Stars and Bars as a symbol of Southern culture.

Jones, who describes himself as a veteran of the civil rights movement, publicly sparred in 2002 with former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder over Jones’s use of the flag in his campaign for a Virginia congressional seat.

The House Agriculture Committee is readying a farm bill that contains a $20.5 billion cut over 10 years to the food stamp program, drawing objections from a member of the committee, Representative James McGovern, Democrat of Worcester. But McGovern is unlikely to halt the measure’s progress, because even some of his fellow minority Democrats on the committee want to keep the bill on track because of their desire to continue agricultural subsidies in rural districts.

By Wesley Lowery, Globe staff

Republican US Senate hopeful Gabriel Gomez climbed the half a dozen wooden stairs and entered a brown and yellow Braintree home early Tuesday afternoon.

Once inside, the GOP senate candidate spent about half an hour seated across the kitchen table from members of the Lear family, Braintree residents and voters who said they are considering backing Gomez despite having voted in the Democratic primary.

tical observers believe winning over voters like the Lear family -- just a handful of the 230,000 Massachusetts residents who voted for Stephen Lynch in the US Senate special election primary -- will be vital in order for Gomez to craft a coalition capable of carrying him to victory.

By Julia Edwards, Globe Correspondent

The House Agriculture Committee is readying a farm bill that contains a $20.5 billion cut over 10 years to the food stamp program, drawing objections from a member of the committee, Representative James McGovern, Democrat of Worcester. But McGovern is unlikely to halt the measure’s progress, because even some of his fellow minority Democrats on the committee want to keep the bill on track because of their desire to continue agricultural subsidies in rural districts.

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

US Representative Edward J. Markey has asked a former “Dukes of Hazzard” actor who has written in defense of displaying the Confederate flag not to perform at a fund-raiser scheduled in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night, his campaign said. A former Democratic congressman from Georgia, Ben Jones played the role of mechanic “Cooter Davenport” on the “Dukes of Hazzard” television show. Last year, NASCAR canceled a planned parade lap by the “General Lee,” the car featured on the show, at Phoenix International Raceway due to worries about reactions to the car’s roof featuring the Civil War banner of the South. Jones posted a letter on his website saying NASCAR had “chosen to dishonor those Southerners who fought and died in that terrible conflict by caving to ‘political correctness’ and the uninformed concerns of corporate sponsors.”

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

Drew O’Brien, a longtime Boston political hand, will rejoin his former boss, Secretary of State John Kerry, working in Washington on a global partnerships program launched under former secretary Hillary Clinton. A longtime top aide to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, O’Brien was Kerry’s in-state chief of staff. At Foggy Bottom, he will be the State Department’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships Initiatives, which leverages public-private relationships to help provide assistance like clean water and cookstoves around the world. “I’m absolutely excited by this opportunity the secretary offered,” O’Brien told the Globe. “And I’m looking forward to working with him once again.”

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON — Members of the state’s congressional delegation plan to gather at Legal Sea Foods in Washington on Wednesday evening to raise money for Boston Marathon bombing victims.

The One Fund event invitation lists suggested donations starting at $1,000 for “friends,” progressing to $10,000 for “host committee.” Roger Berkowitz, owner of Legal Sea Foods, is listed as honorary chair, along with the delegation, Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, and Governor Deval Patrick. Menino’s office said the mayor, who has been struggling with health problems, will not be able to travel. Patrick is scheduled to be in Ireland, on an official visit.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the Massachusetts State House on Monday and met with Governor Deval Patrick.

Just before 5 p.m., Cameron stepped out of a vehicle in a massive motorcade, made his way up to the middle landing of the State House steps and shook hands with Patrick. The staircase is almost exclusively reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries and departing governors.

Surrounded by a security detail, the two made their way into the State House, where Patrick could be heard telling the prime minister about the building’s history. As they walked along a red carpet through the rotunda under the golden dome, Cameron could be seen pointing and nodding at historical displays.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

Senate hopeful Gabriel E. Gomez today predicted that his campaign would be victorious, regardless of whether he receives help from Washington Republicans. His comments came on the heels of the news that US Senator John McCain of Arizona is scheduled to come to Massachusetts on behalf of Gomez’s campaign. “I’m my own person and I’m going to win this election with or without D.C.,’ he said at a press conference after a visit to a manufacturing plant in Woburn. Gomez said he was honored to have McCain come to Massachusetts for him, but noted he disagreed with the 2008 GOP presidential nominee on some issues.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

US Representative Michael E. Capuano on Monday said he was troubled by reports that the Internal Revenue Service had aggressively pursued conservative organizations, and called them reminiscient of the Nixon administration. On the growing focus in Congress on the attacks on the US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya last year, Capuano said the death of four Americans there raised “legitimate questions.” But he said, based on the information available, he expected the issue to end up becoming “the typical right-left type of nonsense you see on one station, but eventually falls off the others.” He said the recent reports that IRS targeted small-government groups for extra scrutiny were in a different category. Asked to discuss the reports, Capuano said that if the accounts were true, “There’s no way in the world, I’m going to defend that. Hell, I spent my youth vilifying the Nixon administration for doing the same thing.”

By Jim O’Sullivan, Globe Staff

US Senator John McCain is scheduled to come to Boston next week to raise campaign cash for a fellow Navy veteran, Republican Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez, according to an invitation to the event. The high-dollar event at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on May 20 will command $37,600 per person for a VIP roundtable, $15,000 per person for a photo reception, and $2,600 for a noon lunch. McCain’s interjection in the race comes as Republican operatives privately wonder whether national donations will come to Gomez’s assistance as the private equity investor and former Navy SEAL does battle with the Democratic nominee, US Representative Edward J. Markey. At the same time, Gomez has strived to avoid being tarred with the conservative label cultivated by Republicans in other parts of the country but unpopular in the Bay State.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

A new web video from the National Republican Senatorial Committee hits Senate hopeful Edward J. Markey for his involvement along with more than 300 other members in a check-bouncing scandal more than 20 years ago. Although the video is currently not backed by any money online or on TV, the fifty-second video gives a window into a potential line of attack Republicans may use against the longtime congressman in paid advertisements in the run-up to the June 25 special election.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the city is “well-protected” and large celebrations like those for July 4 will go on as planned, despite last month’s lethal Boston Marathon bombings. Residents and visitors, however, should expect more surveillance cameras than in the past. “What you’ll see at these events is more temporary cameras,” Menino said in an interview that aired today on WCVB-TV. “That’s one thing that I’m advocating for: In large events, bring in some temporary cameras so you’re watching the event.”

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

A Democratic bill introduced in the Senate and House on Thursday would prevent student loan rates from doubling as scheduled in July, while capping them in the future and permitting students to refinance current loans to a lower rate. The Responsible Student Loan Solutions Act would overhaul the student loan rate structure and determine interest rates based on the cost of operating the programs. Doing so, legislators say, would allow students to benefit from the lowest interest rate that the federal government could offer.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Tensions over a possible breakdown in intelligence-sharing between the FBI and Massachusetts authorities erupted in public Thursday, when Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis testified in Congress that federal agents never advised local officials of their 2011 investigation of a Boston Marathon bombing suspect. Davis said he was first told about the FBI’s previous interest in Tamerlan Tsarnaev after the FBI identified his body following a confrontation with police in Watertown. Davis said he was not previously informed of the earlier FBI investigation into Tsarnaev or Tsarnaev’s 2012 travel to the Dagestan region of Russia, even though there are three Boston police detectives and one sergeant assigned to the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force.

By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

Massachusetts Democrats went on the attack against Republican US Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez for a $281,500 tax deduction he took in 2005 for an historic preservation deal on his Cohasset home, calling on the candidate to release the details of the agreement. “It seems outrageous,’’ said John Walsh, the state Democratic Party chairman. He called on Gomez to make public his tax returns for that year and other details about how the deduction was calculated on the home that the candidate and his wife bought for $2.1 million in November 2004.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick will travel to the Republic of Ireland next week, joining state Senate President Therese Murray for a portion of her 10-day trade mission to the region. Patrick is slated to spend three days in Dublin and meet with the prime minister, the minister for foreign affairs, and trade and business leaders in the country, his office said today. Murray is slated to meet political and business officials in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. She will attend events in Dublin, Belfast, and other cities, her office said.

By Joshua Miller, Globe Staff

A new poll released this morning by WBUR found Democratic US Representative Edward J. Markey leading Republican Gabriel E. Gomez by 8 points among likely voters in their race for the US Senate. Among those voters who lean one way or the other — that is, those who intially don’t have a preference but pick a candidate when pressed by the interviewer — Markey led 46 percent to Gomez’s 38 percent. Without leaners, the poll found a 6-point race, with Markey leading 41 percent to 35 percent.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Not long after Gabriel Schoenfeld formally joined Mitt Romney’s campaign, he writes in a new tell-all book, he was in a conference room brainstorming about the presidential candidate’s economic plan. After initially talking about the substance of the plan, the book recounts, top adviser Stuart Stevens interjected to ask about whether it should be distributed in a bound book, compact discs, or through a USB memory stick. “The strategists, as I was to learn over the ensuing months, were supremely indifferent to substance,” Schoenfeld writes in the book, which was provided to the Globe by the publisher. “It was this indifference that governed their peculiar personnel choices.”