Boston offers free parking on Valentine's Day

BOSTON (AP) -- Boston is showing a little love on Valentine's Day to people who drive into the city.

Mayor Thomas Menino says all parking meters are free on Thursday.

He says the goal is to help businesses hurt by last weekend's snow storm. He hopes couples will celebrate the day by coming into the city to shop or enjoy a romantic dinner.

The storm that dropped more than two feet of snow on some parts of the state and caused hundreds of thousands of power outages prompted the state to order all non-essential vehicles off the roads and the city of Boston to enforce an on-street parking ban.

There was no estimate on how much the free parking would cost the city.