Looking Ahead

May 11

The city of Boston celebrates Mother’s Day in its own inimitable fashion. The Harvard Marching Band will lead this year’s Duckling Day Parade—an homage not only to mothers but the 1941 classic children’s book Make Way for Ducklings. The traditional event features family entertainment, duckling costumes, and face painting.

May 20

Conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza will stand trial beginning today on charges that he broke federal campaign finance law. Prosecutors allege that D’Souza used straw donors to funnel $20,000 into the campaign of Wendy Long, a Republican who failed to unseat U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in 2012. D’Souza has denied the charges.

May 20

Attorney Brian Smith, with backing from conservative groups like FreedomWorks and Club for Growth, is trying to defeat eight-term incumbent Rep. Mike Simpson in the Republican primary for Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District. The primary election today will be an early test of conservative strength against establishment Republicans in 2014.

May 25

Geeks around the world will celebrate things like Star Wars, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and other phenomena as the movement to set aside a day for geeks expands from small celebrations in Spain in 2006. Organizers chose May 25 because it coincides with the original theatrical release date for Star Wars.

May 25

Crowds will cheer, engines will roar, and drivers will go round and round—but will anyone not there watch? For the second time in its televised history, ratings for the Indy 500 dipped below 4.0 in 2013, settling in at 3.7. That mark was above its all-time low in 2010, but the race has lost its luster even compared to 2005 when the famous race pulled in a 6.1 share.