Mass. promotes locally-grown Christmas trees

BOSTON — State officials are urging residents to buy locally-grown Christmas trees this season.

State agriculture commissioner Greg Watson joined other state and local officials for Friday's annual tree-cutting ceremony at Crane Neck Christmas Tree Farm in Groveland.

Watson said locally-grown trees and renewable and recyclable, and an important part of the state's economy.

According to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, there are 284 Christmas tree farms in Massachusetts, producing more than 75,000 trees each year.

The vast majority of Christmas trees are grown on farms, limiting damage to forests.

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Pioneering offshore wind project faces deadlines

BOSTON — As it seeks investors, a project off the Massachusetts coast that aims to be the nation's first offshore wind farm must reach fast-approaching benchmarks or risk missing out on hundreds of millions in critical funding.

To qualify for a tax credit that would cover a major portion of its capital costs, Cape Wind either must begin construction by Dec. 31 or prove it's incurred tens of millions of dollars in costs by then.

Also, a $200 million investment — the only one of a specific dollar amount Cape Wind has announced — is conditioned on whether developers can fully finance the rest of the project by year's end.

With less than two months until the deadline, Cape Wind isn't publicly discussing financing efforts. It also has yet to start on-site construction and isn't detailing how it can qualify for the tax credit, only that it expects to.

Even if Cape Wind fails to qualify, spokesman Mark Rodgers said, "We will move this project forward, we will secure financing and we will construct the project."

The 130-turbine, $2.6 billion Cape Wind project was proposed for Nantucket Sound in 2001 and touted as a large, clean energy source near a high-demand coastal area. It's been delayed by a thick bureaucracy and opponents who say the project will ruin the sound and threaten wildlife and maritime traffic.

Cape Wind has sold about three-quarters of its planned power output to two local utilities and aims to be producing power for homes and businesses in Massachusetts by 2015.

First, it must continue to lock down what financing it has and get more of it.

Of two major federal tax subsidies available to renewable energy projects, Rodgers said Cape Wind is pursuing one, an investment tax credit, which could cover a hefty 30 percent of its capital construction costs.

But to qualify for the credit, the project must have begun construction by Dec. 31. Alternatively, Cape Wind can qualify if developers incur 5 percent of the wind farm's cost by year's end.

If the project doesn't qualify for the credit, Cape Wind would be left to fill a huge financing hole. And under its deals with the utilities, failure to obtain the credit would increase the starting price of its power from 20 cents per kilowatt hour to 22.7 cents, with 3.5 percent annual increases.

It's unclear how that would impact the average utility customer's bill. But estimates when the utilities struck their deals (and Cape Wind's starting price was projected at a lower 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour) indicated their average ratepayers would pay about $1 to $1.50 extra per month for Cape Wind's power.

Any further bump in price is sure to inflame critics, who frequently note that Cape Wind's power is far more expensive than other energy sources, including more than double that of land wind.

Though Cape Wind hasn't started erecting turbines in Nantucket Sound, IRS regulations provide other ways to qualify as having begun construction, said Arnold Grant, a tax law expert at Reed Smith, which helps develop renewable energy projects but isn't tied to Cape Wind.

For instance, if an offshore wind farm's turbine supplier is doing significant work off-site, that can count toward having begun construction.

Grant also said meeting the 5 percent costs milestone doesn't even require the company to spend the money by Dec. 31. The delivery of goods from a large equipment contract, for example, can help a company meet the threshold, even the company hasn't paid the contract by year's end.

The bottom line, Grant said, is that companies looking to qualify for the investment tax credit can usually figure it out.

"The rules are out there. You need to satisfy them, but there are different ways of doing it," he said.

Audra Parker of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a Cape Wind opponent, said the fact construction hasn't started in the sound speaks to Cape Wind's slow progress, whether it gets the credit or not.

"They can't begin physical construction in Nantucket Sound, so any other means of wasting taxpayer money on Cape Wind would be obtained through a loophole," Parker said.

It may be a steeper climb for Cape Wind to secure more than $2 billion in financing by year's end to meet the conditions of the Danish pension fund PensionDanmark's $200 million investment.

Even if PensionDanmark comes through with a commitment, the project appears well short of the needed financing, said Parker. Cape Wind is pursuing a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, but it's unknown when a decision will be made.

Parker said she doubts Cape Wind can be financed without it.

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Maine appoints members to lobster marketing board

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine's Department of Marine Resources has appointed members to a new board aimed at boosting the state's marketing effort in the lobster industry.

The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Board will include state officials like George Gervais, the commissioner of the state's Department of Economic and Community Development, as well as lobstermen and marketing experts.

The 11 board members will devise strategies and tactics on marketing lobsters to consumers, restaurants and retailers.

The Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative Board is part of a five-year initiative by the state to increase sales of the state's best-known seafood. The annual marketing budget for lobsters increased more than six-fold to $2.2 million under a law that took effect in October.

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Small Business Saturday puts focus on independent retailers

Mom-and-pop stores today are gearing up for a Small Business Saturday that they hope will top the bustle of Black Friday.

"(Today) for us is usually bigger — by double," said Philip Celeste, owner of On Centre, a specialty gift and accessory store in Jamaica Plain. "We're expecting to have a very good holiday season. Looking at November, we're already way ahead of last year."

On Centre opted not to have a sale yesterday or today, instead relying on their unique products and the know-you-by-name customer service that most big box stores and online retailers simply can't provide.

Down the street, at Boing! Toy Shop, Kim Mitchell and her staff gift wrap every purchase for free and have a loyalty program to reward frequent customers. "I'm also here, and I'm active, and if people have a question or a complaint, they know who I am," she said.

Still, many small business owners are acutely aware that their competition increasingly is not only big box stores but the Internet. So at Fire Opal in Coolidge Corner, Sue Stein has heightened her Web presence and advertises on social media. Stein also has the benefit of being located in a neighborhood that has a strong shop-local ethic.

"People should keep in mind that more than half of the money they spend in a small business stays in their town," said Jack Mozloom, a spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Business. "You're helping your neighbors, you're helping to create jobs in your community."

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Monday the deals shift to the Web

Black Friday shoppers have collapsed on their couches and finally gotten a chance to digest that turkey after a hectic day of deal-hunting, but it all starts again Monday on the Internet.

"Online shopping has been very, very strong," said Chris Christopher, a retail analyst with IHS Global Insight. "Right now, a little over $1 of every $20 spent is spent online."

Online shopping is the only retail sector growing at a double- digit pace, with online sales expected to generate $78 billion this holiday season, a
15 percent increase over last year.

Still, Christopher said, Cyber Monday may have lost some of its exclusivity this year because online retailers such as Amazon have been offering deals to compete with brick-and-mortar stores opening on Thanksgiving.

"A lot of them had to up their game because they didn't have the luxury of people staying at home," he said.

Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said online retailers can take a chunk out of local sales, but the Internet also opens up possibilities for small stores.

"There's a lot of smaller companies that are finding it as a growth opportunity," he said.

Jasmine Raines, a 24-year-old Dorchester resident, hit Legacy Place in Dedham on Black Friday, planned on shopping again today, and then finish off her spree with some online shopping. "Then I'll wait for Cyber Monday," she said.

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Bill would ban "fracking" in Mass. for 10 years

BOSTON — A bill aimed at temporarily banning the natural gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — is making its way through the Massachusetts Statehouse.

The Legislature's Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has approved a bill that would create a 10-year moratorium on the technique in Massachusetts.

Environmental activists argue that fracking can lead to water contamination, illness, and damaged rural landscapes.

Supporters say the technique is safe and is a way to extract natural shale gas that would otherwise remain trapped underground, helping keep energy prices down.

There could be limited shale gas deposits in western Massachusetts.

The bill must still be approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Deval Patrick before becoming law.

Vermont last year became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing.

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Troubled Vatican bank names consultant as manager

VATICAN CITY — The troubled Vatican bank announced its new top manager Saturday, promoting an outside consultant who had stepped in when the bank's top two managers resigned amid scandal last summer.

Rolando Marranci had worked for Promontory Financial Group advising the Institute for Religious Works on cleaning up its accounts when he was named acting deputy director July 1. The bank's senior managers, Paolo Ciprianni and Massimo Tulli, had been forced out after a Vatican accountant with close ties to the bank was arrested for trying to bring 20 million euros ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland without declaring it at customs.

At the time of the ouster, the bank's president, Ernst Von Freyberg, was named acting director while he continued on as president and board member, a seeming conflict of interest that appears to be resolved now that Marranci has taken over day-to-day operations of the institute.

Von Freyberg remains on as president.

Marranci's appointment was announced Saturday, days before the Vatican is due to be evaluated by the Council of Europe's Moneyval committee on its progress complying with international norms to fight money laundering and terror financing.

The Vatican passed Moneyval's first test in the summer of 2012 but received poor or failing grades for its financial watchdog agency and the IOR, specifically the bank's ability to ensure that its customers and transactions were clean.

Promontory has been going through the IOR's accounts to ensure they comply with international norms. That task was due to have been completed at the end of 2012 but has dragged on. The Holy See has also passed a series of new laws to respond to Moneyval's recommendations ahead of the new evaluation round.

At the same time, Pope Francis named a commission of inquiry to look into the bank's legal structure and activities as part of his overall reform of the Holy See's finances.

Marranci, 60, retired in 2011 from Italy's Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, where he had held several accounting positions and, among other jobs, was chief financial officer of BNL's London branch.

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VP Biden trying to show US still focused on Asia

WASHINGTON — It's up to Vice President Joe Biden to show that the U.S. effort to realign its gaze toward Asia hasn't fizzled out.

Biden is set to arrive Monday in Tokyo on a weeklong trip to Asia, which is watching carefully to see how committed the Obama administration is to increasing America's influence in the region as a hedge against an increasingly assertive China.

In meetings with leaders in Japan, China and South Korea, the vice president will seek to show that while the administration has been preoccupied with Mideast flare-ups and a series of domestic distractions, the U.S. remained determined to be a Pacific power.

At the same time, disputes among Asian nations seem to be boiling over, threatening instability in a region that's vital to the U.S. economy.

American allies Japan and South Korea are barely speaking. China is butting heads with its neighbors and with the U.S. about Beijing's new air defense zone over a group of tiny islands that have exacerbated long-simmering territorial conflicts. The U.S. on Friday advised American carriers to comply with China's demand that it be told of any flights passing through that defense zone.

Early in his presidency, Obama declared the U.S. was "all in" when it came to the Asia-Pacific. His administration pledged to increase its influence, resources and diplomatic outreach in the region, and to bolster the U.S. military footprint so that by 2020, 60 percent of the Navy's warships would be based there, compared with 50 percent now.

The concern was that as China came into its own as a superpower, its sway over other Asian nations would grow, too.

But in Obama's second term, Iran, Syria and Egypt have absorbed the president's attention on foreign policy matters. At home, the administration has been consumed with a health care rollout that's become a major political problem, while intense gridlock in Congress has bogged Obama down in domestic disputes.

To cap it off, Obama had to scrap a much-anticipated trip to Asia in October because the federal government was shut down. His absence led many in the region to wonder if it remained an Obama priority.

Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, said recently it does. She announced that President Barack Obama will visit Asia in April and promised that the U.S. will keep deepening its commitment to Asia "no matter how many hot spots emerge elsewhere."

But Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, said he's heard loud concerns as he's traveled the region as the chairman of the House subcommittee dealing with Asia.

"In each country I've gotten this feedback: 'When do you think the president is going to put some meat on the bones?'" Chabot said. "It's been mostly just talk, and mostly diplomatic engagement. They want to get beyond just talk."

On his first stop, Biden will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before focusing on women's issues with the new U.S. ambassador, Caroline Kennedy. In Beijing, Biden hold talks meet with China's president, Xi Jinping, vice president, Li Yuanchao, and premier, Li Keqiang.

After meeting with South Korean leaders in Seoul, Biden will give a major speech on the U.S.-Korea relationship at Yonsei University and lay a wreath at a cemetery honoring fallen U.S. troops.

The trip comes at a critical time.

The U.S. is trying to complete a major trade agreement by year's end, but it's not certain the deadline with be honored. The Trans-Pacific Partnership involving the U.S., Japan and 10 other nations could clear the way for much greater trade with Asia, in line with Obama's ambitious goal to double U.S. exports by 2015.

Issues of market access, environmental protections and intellectual property remain controversial. It's also unclear whether Congress will approve the pact without making changes, potentially derailing the deal.

For Xi and Biden, their visit will be something of a reunion. The two exchanged official visits when Xi was vice president, spending hours together as the U.S. tried to learn as much as possible about the man who would become party leader in 2012.

Biden's visit comes two weeks after China's leaders outlined a market reform plan that could be the country's most significant economic overhaul in at least two decades. The Communist Party conference marked the unveiling of Xi's vision.

But China's new air defense zone over the East China Sea may overshadow Biden's mission. The administration said Biden would raise the issue directly with Chinese leaders.

China announced last week that all aircraft entering the zone — a maritime area between China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan — must notify Chinese authorities beforehand and that it would take unspecified defensive measures against those that don't comply.

Neighboring countries and the U.S. have said they will not honor the new zone, which is believed aimed at claiming disputed territory, and have said it unnecessarily raises tensions.

China's defense ministry said fighter jets identified and monitored the two U.S. reconnaissance aircraft and a mix of 10 Japanese early warning, reconnaissance and fighter planes during their flights through the zone early Friday.

The U.S. has tried to stay out of such territorial disputes, but treaty obligations to Japan sometimes get in the way. As China, Japan and others adopt increasingly aggressive military stances, the U.S. worries about an increased likelihood of a mishap spiraling quickly out of control.

In South Korea, the nuclear threat from an unpredictable North Korea is a chief item on Biden's agenda.

The deal the U.S. helped strike with Iran to temporarily freeze its nuclear program is a stark reminder of the impasse in negotiations with North Korea. Unlike Iran, North Korea is believed to already have a nuclear bomb, and there's worrying evidence it is pressing ahead with weapons development.

Meanwhile, state media in the North claimed Saturday that an elderly U.S. tourist detained for more than a month has apologized for alleged crimes during the Korean War and for "hostile acts" against the state during a recent trip. The apology couldn't be independently confirmed.

Biden may try to play mediator between South Korea and Japan, whose long-troubled relations are souring over painful legacies from Japanese colonialism and World War II. Nationalist sentiments in Tokyo have been pitted against Seoul's desire for more public remorse from Japan over its use of Korean sex slaves during the war, and other injustices.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

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Americans kick off first holiday shopping weekend

Millions of Americans turned out as the holiday buying season started earlier this year on Thanksgiving Day. But there's still a lot of shopping left.

While figures aren't yet available on how many people shopped on the first two days of the holiday shopping season, crowds came early and often as more than a dozen major U.S. retailers stayed open for 24 hours or more on Thanksgiving through the day after known as Black Friday.

But overall, The National Retail Federation predicts that 140 million shoppers planned to shop during the four-day holiday weekend that begins on Thanksgiving Day. And of those, about 23 percent, or 33 million shoppers, planned to do so on the actual holiday.

So the challenge for retailers is to keep the momentum going through the weekend — and beyond. In years past, stores have had a robust start to the season by offering deep discounts only to see crowds disappear until the final days before Christmas when the big bargains pop up again.

Overall, the retail trade group expects retail sales to be up 3.9 percent to $602 billion during the last two months of the year. That's higher than last year's 3.5 percent growth, but below the 6 percent pace seen before the recession. And retail experts said it's going to be difficult for stores to get shoppers to keep coming back into stores without bargains.

"Can stores continue the momentum after a promotional November?" said Laura Gurski,a partner and global leader of the consumer product & retail practice at A.T. Kearney, a global management consultancy. "How do you top it in December?"

Despite that there is a lot of the holiday shopping season left, this year may cement the transformation of the start of the holiday shopping season into a two-day affair.

Black Friday had been the official start of the shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was originally named Black Friday because it was when retailers turned a profit, or moved out of the red and into the black. Retailers opened early and offered deep discounts.

But in the past few years, store chains have been opening on Thanksgiving.

This year, several welcomed shoppers for the first time on Thanksgiving night, while Gap Inc., which owns Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy, opened half its stores earlier on the holiday.

Wal-Mart stores, most of which stay open 24 hours, has for the past several years offered doorbusters that had been reserved for Black Friday. And Kmart planned to stay open 41 hours starting at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving.

That has led some to question how much further Black Friday will creep into Thanksgiving, which along with Christmas is one of only two days a year that most stores are closed.

"Black Friday is now Gray Friday," said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy.

The earlier openings have met with some resistance.

Workers' rights groups and some shoppers had planned protests on Thanksgiving and Black Friday to decry the way some store employees were forced to miss holiday meals at home. But as of Thursday afternoon, there were no reports of widespread protests.

Judy Espey ducked out of a Thanksgiving family dinner to buy a 50-inch flat-screen TV at Wal-Mart near Clifton Park, N.Y., for $288. But "I don't really dig the Thanksgiving night thing," she confessed. "I feel bad for the workers."

Vinnie Gopalakrishnan pledged not to hit the stores after seeing TV footage of people shopping on Thanksgiving. But he flip-flopped after his cousin told him about a deal on a big-screen TV.

"I said, 'I'm not going to do it. Those people are crazy,'" Gopalakrishnan said before heading to a Wal-Mart on Friday.

It's unclear whether the early openings will lead shoppers to spend more over the two days or simply spread sales out.

Last year, sales on Thanksgiving rose 55 percent from the previous year to $810 million, as more stores opened on the holiday, according to research firm ShopperTrak. But sales dropped 1.8 percent to $11.2 billion on Black Friday, though it still was the biggest shopping day last year.

Store sales numbers won't be available until Saturday. But IBM Benchmark, which tracks e-commerce for 800 retailers, said online sales on Thanksgiving were up 19.7 percent from last year. Online sales on Black Friday rose 9 percent, based on preliminary data.

There are signs that stores fared well, too.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, started its holiday sales events at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, two hours earlier than last year. Wal-Mart said customers bought at least 2.8 million towels, 2 million TVs, 1.4 million tablets, 300,000 bicycles and 1.9 million dolls.

Terry Lundgren, Macy's CEO, said the 15,000 people who showed up for the opening of the flagship store was the most ever, up from 11,000 last year. "Clearly people are in the shopping mood," he said.

Of course, not every retailer saw robust crowds.

At Woodland Hills mall in Tulsa, Okla., the owner of Bags and Bangle complained that he had to stay open from 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving to 10 p.m. on Friday. Suhail Zaidi, who was required by the mall to keep his booth open, said Thanksgiving was somewhat busy, but business had died down by 3 a.m. On Friday morning, he said he had seen only about 20 customers.

"We ruined the holiday," Zaidi said. "Black Friday is a good shopping day, but opening up on Thanksgiving is ridiculous."

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AP writers Chris Carola in Clifton Park, N.Y., and Kristi Easton in Tulsa, Okla.; AP Retail Writer Mae Anderson in New York; and AP Business Writer Sarah Sell in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.

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Ex-New York Observer editor Kaplan dies at 59

NEW YORK — The former New York Observer editor who hired a then-unknown Candace Bushnell to write a column called "Sex and the City" has died. Peter Kaplan was 59.

Kaplan's wife, Lisa Chase, says he died Friday of cancer in New York City.

Kaplan edited the weekly Observer from 1994 to 2009.

He was credited with honing the paper's snarky tone and with hiring writers who became influential voices of their era.

Bushnell's column about love and dating inspired the hit HBO series "Sex and the City" starring Sarah Jessica Parker.

More recently, Kaplan served as editorial director of Fairchild Fashion Media, a division of Conde Nast Publications.

In addition to his wife, Kaplan is survived by their son, David; three children from his first marriage to Audrey Walker; and two brothers.

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