Gov asks SBA for loans to those hit by bombing

Gov. Deval Patrick has called on the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide some relief in the form of low-interest loans for small businesses and private nonprofits affected by the Boston Marathon bombings last week.

In a letter, Patrick asked the agency to issue an Economic Injury Declaration for Suffolk County so that long-term and low-interest SBA loans would be made available to businesses and private nonprofits.

"Requesting this federal aid will help Boston and the commonwealth recover faster from the tragic events that unfolded at the marathon," Patrick said. "I urge the Small Business Administration to approve our request quickly to help the small businesses that keep our commonwealth strong rebuild."

In order to receive this federal assistance, the commonwealth must show that businesses suffered substantial economic injury.

If the agency issues the declaration, emergency officials will coordinate with the USSBA and Boston's Office of Emergency Management to have specialists available in the city to work with businesses that may be interested in the loans, Patrick said.

Businesses were gradually allowed to reopen on Boylston Street this week, several days after two bombs went off killing three people and injuring hundreds.

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Strike on horizon for utility workers

Union utility workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island voted overwhelmingly yesterday to authorize a strike against National Grid, citing concerns over the utility's low staffing levels, inadequate storm responses and ongoing payroll issues.

"This vote is a testament to the ongoing mismanagement and mistakes that have plagued this utility for years now and have cost ratepayers millions," said Dan Hurley, president of the Brotherhood of Utility Workers Council and Local 369. "To date, the company has not shown a willingness to address these very serious issues in a satisfactory manner, and this must be resolved moving forward."

The vote comes as members of the Utility Workers Union of America, including Local 369, are in the midst of negotiations with National Grid on a new contract, which is set to expire on May 11.

"National Grid is currently engaged in contract negotiations with the unions mentioned. We are negotiating in good faith and are committed to an outcome that balances the needs of our customers and our employees," said National Grid spokesman David D. Graves in a statement.

In December, National Grid was issued an $18.7 million fine for to its response to storms in 2011.

Most recently, the utility was hit with a $270,000 fine by the state attorney general for delays in paying hundreds of workers after Hurricane Sandy.

In addition, the company also encountered a series of payroll errors that produced inaccurate paychecks for thousands of workers for months and failed to distribute workers' W-2 forms by the Jan. 31 deadline, union members said.

"The mistakes and mismanagement at this company are out of control," Hurley said.

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Restored Victorian a treasure

This resplendent Queen Anne Victorian has been restored to its former glory with original period details and new custom cabinetry and woodwork.

The six-bedroom house at 43 Abbot St. in Andover features beamed ceilings, restored pine floors, four wood-burning fireplaces, formal sitting and dining rooms and a kitchen redone in 2007 sympathetic to the period of the house. This 4,931-square-foot house with three levels of living space and a two-story 1993 addition with a garage and great room above is on the market for $1.2 million.

The 1890-built house has a gambrel-shaped roof with recently replaced yellow clapboard siding and a red asphalt shingle roof. There's a columned front porch faced with stone that leads into a grand entry foyer with restored pine floors, a wood beam ceiling and a wood-burning fireplace. There's an original turning staircase to one side and a reception area with a period window treatment. At the far end of the foyer is an anteroom converted into a half bath with a Carrara marble vanity and large oval window.

To the left through pocket doors is a formal sitting room with 12-foot ceilings, restored pine floors, a built-in bookcase and a wood-burning fireplace with a wood mantel.

There's a door here to an adjacent formal dining room that can also be entered through a pocket door from the foyer. The dining room also has restored pine floors, a built-in (for china) and a wood-burning fireplace with a wood mantel.

There's a large kitchen redone in 2007 that has its original wood beams, wide pine floors and recessed lighting. There's a granite-topped knotty pine island, cherrywood cabinets and granite counters. Appliances are black and stainless steel including a just-added GE Monogram wall oven and a three-year-old dishwasher.

This room also has a large brick-walled wood fireplace with a wood-burning stove. On the other side of the kitchen is a breakfast nook with glass doors that lead out to a deck added in 1993. There's a large grass side yard with a garden area.

Off the kitchen is a half bath as well as a back stairway to the upstairs bedrooms.

Behind the kitchen is a family room with pine ceilings, walls and flooring and two walls of windows.

The adjacent 1993 addition has a mudroom with a rear foyer leading to an attached two-car garage and has stairs up to a great room with two skylights, currently used as an artist studio heated by electric baseboard.

The staircase at the front of the house leads up to a pine-floored gallery area and four bedrooms. The master suite has a bedroom with restored pine floors and a chandelier. There's an updated closet space with built-in storage, and an updated en-suite bathroom with cream and gray marble tiles, a beadboard cabinet, granite-topped vanity and walk-in shower.

The other three bedrooms, two good-sized and one smaller, have pine floors and lots of closet space. One bedroom has a fireplace, another a closet with a washer and dryer. There are two other full bathrooms on this floor redone in the late 1980s, one with a shower, another with a raised whirlpool tub in front of a stained-glass window.

There are two additional bedrooms and a full bath on the third floor, along with lots of storage in flanking eaves.

Half of the basement has wood floors and there are fieldstone walls that extend into a full bathroom with blue tile floors and a walk-in shower. There's a washer and dryer in a laundry area and a room used as a wine cellar. The home's steam boiler is here, with heat fed through original steam radiators in the original areas of the house. There is no central air conditioning.

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The Ticker

Yankee Candle to sell 'Boston Strong' candles

Yankee Candle is making a limited edition Boston Strong candle available online for pre-order now to honor the victims of the Marathon bombings.

All net proceeds for the commemorative candle will be donated to the One Fund Boston, which was organized by city and state officials to raise money for families and victims most affected by the tragedy.

Car emissions inspectors fined $116G

Two motor vehicle emissions inspectors will shell out $116,000 to settle allegations they issued up to 67 fake passing inspection stickers to cars with failed emissions control systems at a service station in Wrentham, Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

A complaint alleges that William "Bill" Daly of Wrentham and his nephew, Michael Daly of Raynham, conducted the fake inspections at Bill's Automotive Center between November 2008 and January 2010.

Honey Dew donates to One Fund Boston

Honey Dew Associates, the parent company of New England franchise Honey Dew Donuts, said participating locations will donate 10 percent of sales made in stores on Monday to the One Fund Boston.

The One Fund, which has already raised more than $20 million, was announced by Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino to help families most affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.

Two Boylston St. eateries to reopen

Two popular Boylston Street restaurants — Abe & Louie's and the Atlantic Fish Co. — will reopen for business today at 5 p.m. today after a 12-day closure following the Boston Marathon bombings.

Cabot Corp. cuts 90 Malaysian jobs

Boston-based Cabot Corp. said its joint venture carbon black company, Cabot Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., will stop carbon black production at its Port Dickson, Malaysia, facility by the end of July, resulting in a loss of 90 jobs.

• Heritage Museums & Gardens has hired Jennifer Kent as director of development and Susan Loucks, as membership and annual fund manager. Kent previously spent 11 years as director of marketing and development for the EcoTarium in Worcester. Loucks recently served as development director for the Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth.

• Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc. of North Billerica has hired Mary Anne Heino as the company's new chief commercial officer. Mike Heslop will now become the company's new vice president of business development and strategic planning, while former CCO Cyrille Villeneuve will move to the role of vice president, international.

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Sporty Durango handles well

Choices are limited when shopping for a seven-passenger vehicle. A minivan can take care of the seating capacity, but factor in the need for cargo space, and towing capacity and suddenly you're shopping for a hulking SUV. The 2013 Durango meets these requirements in a sporty crossover SUV that drives like a much smaller vehicle.

The Durango starts at $29,495, but our all-wheel-drive test model arrived with the top-of-line Citadel trim package that topped out at just over $44,000.

A bold chrome grille immediately catches the eye, giving the Durango a bit of muscle car bravado. Chrome continues on the door handles, ground effects, mirrors and wheels to help give the Dodge, painted in a bright silver metallic clear coat, an aggressively styled exterior.

The Durango's beige leather and black trim interior is upscale, well-built and packed with features. Both driver and front passenger seats are eight-way power adjustable. There's plenty of head and foot room with the second-row captain-style chairs. Both front and second row seats were heated along with the steering wheel. My children instinctively went for the third-row seats, which were a bit cramped for adults.

Dodge does a good job of simplifying the Durango's media center. I felt at ease with a limited number of buttons and dials on the center console controlling the radio and navigation systems. However, I found the steering wheel controls a bit overwhelming at first. Soon, though, I was controlling just about everything while keeping my eyes on the road.

Our test model had an adequately powered 3.6-liter, V6 engine with a 290-horsepower output. The Durango handled well, cruising quietly along the Mass Pike and in the city. A relatively short wheelbase helped out when trying to park in tight downtown Boston garage spaces. I did find that the Durango's five-speed transmission was a bit lacking — an extra gear would help smooth out the SUV's acceleration.

Our test model's V6 engine offered reasonable fuel economy, at 15 miles per gallon combined city and highway, along with all-wheel-drive and light to moderate towing capacity. An optional 5.7-liter, V8 engine is available for those who need the extra power, but bear in mind that the AWD feature is only available with the V6.

The Durango holds its own in the limited crossover-SUV market.

While I enjoyed the Citadel's upscale trim package, I could easily settle for the Durango's entry- to mid-level trim packages.

The Durango adequately accommodated my family of five, but rear cargo space was limited once everyone was seated. Crossover SUVs from Ford and GM are also worth considering when looking at the Durango.

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Boeing says new battery system ensures 787 safety

TOKYO — Boeing Co.'s chief engineer for the 787 Dreamliner said Saturday that changes to the lithium-ion battery system are fully sufficient to ensure the aircraft's safety, although the company has been unable to find the cause of the original battery failures earlier this year that led to groundings of the plane worldwide since mid-January.

Michael Sinnett gave a briefing on the revamped battery to reporters in Tokyo after Japanese and U.S. regulators gave carriers permission to resume 787 flights once battery modifications are made.

The new battery system is designed to prevent a fire, and to contain one should it occur with an "enclosure," a casing around the battery to prevent heat from being released in the aircraft, Sinnett told a news conference in Tokyo.

"Even if we never know root cause, the enclosure keeps the airplane safe, it eliminates the possibility of fire, it keeps heat out of the airplane, it keeps smoke out of the airplane, and it ensures that no matter what happens to the battery, regardless of root cause, the airplane is safe," he said, adding "in some ways it almost doesn't matter what the root cause was."

He said Boeing has identified over 80 potential causal factors and addressed all of them in the new design.

The 50 Dreamliner jets in service worldwide were grounded in mid-January after incidents with smoldering batteries occurred aboard two different planes, leading to hundreds of cancelled flights and revenue losses.

Japan's two biggest carriers have the most 787s — All Nippon Airways owns 17 of the jets, while Japan Airlines has seven. They have begun installing the new batteries over the last week, and airline officials said commercial flights would resume around June as the safety improvements are expected to take several weeks to finish.

It takes five days to completely retrofit one airplane, Sinnett said, and repairs to nine jets are almost complete. New batteries are being shipped from Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa to the airlines, he said.

ANA is planning to conduct a test flight using a modified Dreamliner in Japan on Sunday.

The only U.S. airline using the 787 is United Airlines, which owns six.

Japan is mandating additional safety measures including one test flight after the new system is installed. Operators will need to monitor the new battery system during flight and authorities will require airlines to conduct a detailed sampling inspection of the batteries after a certain period of use.

Special training for all on board personnel including the pilot on 787s is mandated, and airlines are to disclose information on safety measures taken on the 787 to the public.

Boeing has 840 purchase orders of the plane so far.

Sinnett declined to comment on cost for repairs worldwide. He plans to meet with executives from ANA and JAL during his Japan trip.

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Associated Press writer Emily Wang contributed to this report.

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Obama: Flight delay fix a 'Band-Aid'

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the congressional fix for widespread flight delays is an irresponsible way to govern, but he's prepared to sign the legislation that lawmakers fast-tracked.

He says the bipartisan bill to end furloughs of air traffic controllers is a "Band-Aid" solution rather than a lasting answer to this year's $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester.

The cuts have affected all federal agencies, and flight delays last week left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious and Congress feeling pressured to respond.

"Republicans claimed victory when the sequester first took effect, and now they've decided it was a bad idea all along," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, aired Saturday.

He singled out the GOP even though the bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support in both the House and Senate.

The president scolded lawmakers for helping the Federal Aviation Administration while doing nothing to replace other cuts that he said harm federal employees, unemployed workers and preschoolers in Head Start.

"Maybe because they fly home each weekend, the members of Congress who insisted these cuts take hold finally realized that they actually apply to them, too," Obama said.

Rushed through Congress with remarkable speed, the bill marked a shift for Democrats who had hoped the impact of the cuts would increase pressure on Republicans to reverse the broad cuts.

Republicans have rejected Obama's proposal to replace the spending reductions with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

"There are some in the Obama administration who thought inflicting pain on the public would give the president more leverage to avoid making necessary spending cuts, and to impose more tax hikes on the American people," said Rep. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania in the Republican address.

Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the FAA could have averted the flight delays on its own by cutting costs elsewhere and rejiggering work schedules, but chose not to do so.

The bill signed by Obama would let the FAA use up to $253 million from an airport improvement program and other accounts to halt the furloughs through the Sept. 30 end of the government's fiscal year.

Faced with the prospect that emboldened Republicans will push to selectively undo other painful effects of the cuts, the White House said Friday that a piecemeal approach would be impractical, but wouldn't definitely rule out signing other fixes.

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Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference

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Follow Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

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Report finds solid growth in Massachusetts economy

BOSTON — A report by the University of Massachusetts and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says Massachusetts's economy grew at a strong 3.9 percent rate in the first quarter of the year.

The report says hiring increased in the January-to-March period, incomes rose and consumer spending improved.

The increase contrasts with a weaker 2.4 percent rate of growth at the end of last year. It's also stronger than national rate of growth in the U.S., which was 2.5 percent.

The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts regained as of January all the jobs lost in the downturn even as U.S. employment remains below the prerecession peak.

The jobs growth in Massachusetts has helped boost incomes, which have been further supported by the strong stock market and rising home values, leading to stronger consumer spending.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

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Federal loan aid available for Back Bay businesses

Small Back Bay businesses affected by the Boston Marathon bombings now have access to low-interest federal disaster loans to help cover their losses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration last night made the economic injury disaster loans available to the businesses and private nonprofits following a request from Gov. Deval Patrick.

Some businesses in a 12-block area surrounding Boylston Street that the FBI sealed off as a crime scene were shut down for 10 days following the April 15 bombings.

Eligible impacted businesses could qualify for up to 30-year working capital loans of up to $2 million at rates of 4 percent after submitting an SBA disaster loan application. The rate for nonprofits is 2.875 percent.

"The Small Business Administration is strongly committed to providing the most effective and customer-focused response possible to help small businesses and non-profits in Massachusetts with their federal disaster loans," SBA Administrator Karen Mills said in a statement. "Getting our businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA."

The SBA declaration covers businesses and nonprofits affected by the marathon bombings in Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex and Norfolk counties.

SBA disaster specialists will be available to work with impacted Boston businesses considering the loans, which can be applied for online at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. The deadline is Jan. 27, 2014.

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Facebook: Breyer won't stand for board re-election

NEW YORK — Facebook says that venture capitalist Jim Breyer won't seek re-election to its board of directors.

Facebook Inc. said Friday that Breyer, partner at Silicon Valley VC firm Accel Partners, will stay on until the company's annual meeting on June 11.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook has eight other board members, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

In an emailed statement, Breyer said that after over eight years of board service, he's stepping aside light of other responsibilities, including his recent election to the Harvard University Corp. board.

According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, Breyer also isn't seeking re-election to the board of retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

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