School board meetings descend into shouting matches. Accusations of racism and anti-Semitism fly. Angry parents turn their backs on board members in a symbolic stand of disrespect.

Tension in a suburban New York school district is rooted in an unusual dynamic: The families who send their children to public schools are mostly Hispanic and African-American. The school board is almost entirely made up of ultra-Orthodox Jews who send their children to private schools and are bent on keeping taxes low.

Ed Graf was given life in prison 25 years ago for killing his two stepsons by locking them in a backyard shed and setting it on fire.

Two investigators used photos of the shed’s remains to persuade jurors that Graf had started the fire intentionally.

To Julie LaStrape, March Madness is not a college basketball tournament. It’s a time of year that is so insanely busy, it can drive you mad.

LaStrape is one of the main organizers of the annual Global Business Forum, which brings speakers from areas such as academics, business and public policy to explore issues facing the world economy.

Civil unions for gay couples got the governor’s signature in Colorado on Thursday, punctuating a dramatic turnaround in a state where voters banned same-sex marriage in 2006 and restricted protections for gays two decades ago.