Mass. police fear pot farm robberies

Cops say they fear the legal pot farms allowed under the state's new medicinal marijuana law could turn into crime magnets that will draw armed criminals and turn into a law enforcement nightmare.

"If someone is going to go in and try to wipe out these facilities, chances are they would be armed," Wayne Sampson, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association said about the prospect of robberies. "Their intent there is to take a significant amount of drugs."

It is still unclear where any marijuana greenhouses — permitted for licensed dispensaries under the law — will be located. The Department of Public Health is weeding through 100 applications and will award up to 35 licenses — up to five in each county — at the end of January.

The licensees won't have to grow and sell their product in the same location. An urban storefront dispensary could have greenhouses in more less settled areas.

"Those would certainly be targets of interest for people to break into," said Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis, whose town was being eyed as a potential pot-growing location by a prospective dispensary operator who approached town officials, but backed off after meeting resistance. "I did not want them here in the town of Auburn," Sluckis said.

Even those looking to make money from the legal sale of marijuana acknowledge greenhouses full of the leafy stuff will be difficult to secure.

"I think their concerns are legitimate," said one dispensary license applicant, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the licensing process is ongoing. "The security issue is a critical one."

Department of Public Health spokeswoman Anne Roach, when asked about security concerns, cited the Massachusetts' marijuana law will allow patients with certain "debilitating" conditions to smoke pot to alleviate their pain. The law requires dispensary operators to keep their facilities secure with alarm systems and video cameras.

Sampson said he also would like to see private security officers at the big pot farms.

"These facilities may be so large there might be people caring for the plants 24 hours a day," Sampson said. "If they don't have somebody in there working, with the volume of profit they're making, they certainly can have security there."

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Boeing machinists OK contract tied to 777X

SEATTLE — The stakes were high and the vote was close as Boeing production workers agreed to concede some benefits in order to secure assembly of the new 777X airplane for the Puget Sound region.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Boeing hailed Friday's vote, which proponents said solidifies the aerospace giant's presence in the Seattle area.

"Tonight, Washington state secured its future as the aerospace capital of the world," Inslee declared.

Under the terms of the eight-year contract extension, Boeing said the 777X and its composite wing will be built in the Puget Sound area by Boeing employees represented by the Machinists union.

"Thanks to this vote by our employees, the future of Boeing in the Puget Sound region has never looked brighter," Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said. "We're proud to say that together, we'll build the world's next great airplane — the 777X and its new wing — right here. This will put our workforce on the cutting edge of composite technology, while sustaining thousands of local jobs for years to come."

Local officials of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had urged their 30,000 members to oppose the deal, arguing that the proposal surrendered too much at a time of company profitability. They had opposed taking a vote at all but were overruled by national leaders in the Machinists union.

The announcement that the contract had passed with a 51 percent yes vote was somber.

"Our members have spoken and having said that, this is the course we'll take," Jim Bearden, administrative assistant for Machinists District 751, said in announcing the results. "No member liked this vote or the position we were put in by the company, nor was it an easy vote for anyone to cast."

Opponents of the contract opposed the idea of freezing the Machinists' pensions and moving workers to a defined-contribution savings plan.

The issue fractured the union and drew unusual pleas from politicians who said the deal was necessary to support the area's economic future. Boeing has been exploring the prospect of building the 777X elsewhere, a move that could trigger a steady exodus of aerospace jobs from the place where Boeing was founded.

"We missed it by 1 percent because people were confused and worried about their jobs," said Rick Herrmann, who has been working at Boeing for 46 years.

Hazel Powers and Dena Bartman lingered at the Seattle union hall after the results were announced, their eyes swollen from crying. Powers described a solemn mood after the announcement.

"Shocked. Disbelief," she said.

"I'm still just numb," Bartman said.

Powers has worked for Boeing for almost 35 years, while Bartman has been there for 25 years. Her 25-year-old daughter has worked at the aerospace giant for seven years.

"I think people that voted for it were scared," Powers said. "The pressure from the politicians and the community - people are scared about not having good-paying Boeing jobs."

Bob Dennis, an inspector at Boeing for six years, said earlier in the day he was voting for the contract because it represented the best chance to keep the 777X jobs in Washington state.

"I don't think Boeing had to come back to the table. We forced them that way. But at the same time, I think this is our last opportunity to keep those jobs in the state," he said.

"The tough vote taken by the Machinists today means the 777X will be built in the only place it should be, by the only people prepared to deliver," said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

"I know well this decision wasn't easy for any of the Machinists or their families, and I know that many of those men and women decided Boeing's latest offer was still unacceptable," Murray added. "Their concerns about income and retirement security for current and future generations of aerospace workers - and all American workers - are legitimate."

Bearden, speaking in place of District 751 President Tom Wroblewski, who has been ill, said Boeing production workers "faced tremendous pressure from every source imaginable." He took a dig at "the politicians and the media, and others, who truly didn't have a right to get into our businesses, were aligned against us and did their best to influence our folks' votes."

Machinists International President Tom Buffenbarger, who forced the issue to a vote over the objections of local union leaders, said in a statement that "the impact of this agreement extends far beyond IAM members who voted today.

"For decades to come, the entire region will benefit from the economic activity and technological innovations that will accompany" the jet production.

Washington state has always been the most natural place for Boeing Co. to build the 777X, since most of the company's production is still done in the Puget Sound area. Chicago-based Boeing offered to keep the 777X in the region but sought two big deals: An extension of tax breaks all the way to 2040 and a new contract with the Machinists union that would transition workers away from traditional pensions.

In November, state lawmakers swiftly approved the tax benefits — valued at some $9 billion — but the Machinists rejected a proposed contract shortly afterward. After the initial contract rejection, Boeing immediately began soliciting bids from other states. The company said it received submissions for 54 locations in 22 states.

The competition has underscored Boeing's commanding bargaining position in an economy where top-notch manufacturing jobs remain scarce and elected officials feel obligated to aggressively pursue such opportunities.

Boeing improved its offer after the last vote by machinists. An initial plan to slow the rate that workers move up the pay scale was tossed while the company also offered $5,000 in additional bonus money and improved dental coverage.

In addition to the pension issue, opponents decried increased health care expenses and slower wage growth. However, some machinists will likely see their base salaries rise above $100,000 under the new agreement.

Boeing began offering the 777X in May, and company officials have said they needed to move swiftly to decide where the plane will be built.

The company recently received orders for 225 new 777X planes from three airlines at the Dubai Airshow.

Boeing has said the 777X is expected to carry as many as 400 passengers and be more fuel efficient than the current 777.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Baker in Seattle and photographer Elaine Thompson in Everett contributed to this report.

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Cold weather stalls U.S. auto sales in December

U.S. auto sales fell short of expectations last month, thanks to strong November sales and cold December weather, but the industry is in a good position for 2014, experts said.

General Motors sales fell 6.3 percent last month, Toyota sales fell 1.7 percent, and Ford and Chrysler both missed analysts' expectations.

Still, the industry had its best year since 2007, and the Ford F-series truck was the top-selling vehicle for the 32nd year.

Chris Hopson, an auto analyst for IHS, said he sees a recent trend of strong sales continuing.

"If you look at this five-month period as a whole, it reflects a nice running rate for sales," Hopson said. "The strength that we've seen in the second half of 2013 will continue in 2014."

Hopson said auto sales will follow the trajectory of the economy as a whole.

"We're hoping that sales are going to be supported by a recovery economy," Hopson said.

Both analysts and automakers blamed poor weather for slow sales at the year's end.

"When you start taking a look at the end in terms of when we closed in the month of December, there was some bad winter weather," said Erich Merkle, U.S. sales analyst for Ford.

Michelle Krebs, an analyst with Edmunds.com, said, "The sales pace at the beginning of the month was slower than expected as a lot of places were hit by bad weather."

Hopson said the end of November was strong, and that may have played a factor in the slow month.

"It looks like the pace of sales might have been attributable to sales in November," Hopson said.

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US spy court: NSA to keep collecting phone records

WASHINGTON — A secretive U.S. spy court has ruled again that the National Security Agency can keep collecting every American's telephone records every day, in the midst of dueling decisions in two other federal courts about whether the surveillance program is constitutional.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Friday renewed the NSA phone collection program, said Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Such periodic requests are somewhat formulaic but required since the program started in 2006.

The latest approval was the first since two conflicting court decisions about whether the program is lawful and since a presidential advisory panel recommended that the NSA no longer be allowed to collect and store the phone records and search them without obtaining separate court approval for each search.

In a statement, Turner said that 15 judges on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on 36 occasions over the past seven years have approved the NSA's collection of U.S. phone records as lawful.

Also Friday, government lawyers turned to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to block one federal judge's decision that threatens the NSA phone records program.

The opposing lawyer who spearheaded the effort that led to the ruling said he hopes to take the issue directly to the Supreme Court.

The Justice Department filed a one-page notice of appeal asking the appeals court to overturn U.S. District Judge Richard Leon's ruling last month that the program was likely unconstitutional. The government's move had been expected.

Larry Klayman, who filed the class-action suit against President Barack Obama and top administration national security officials, said he intends to petition the federal appeals court next week to send the case directly to the Supreme Court. Klayman said the move was justified because the NSA case was a matter of great public importance.

"There are exigent circumstances here," Klayman said. "We can't allow this situation to continue. The NSA's continuing to spy on everybody."

Turner said U.S. intelligence agencies would be willing to modify the phone records surveillance program to provide additional privacy and civil liberties protections as long as it was still operationally beneficial. He said the Obama administration was carefully evaluating the advisory panel's recent recommendations.

Judges sitting on the secretive spy court have repeatedly approved the program for 90-day periods. They also have repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of the program — a judicial bulwark that held strong until Leon's surprise decision last month.

Leon said the NSA's program was "almost Orwellian," a reference to writer George Orwell's futuristic novel "1984," and that there was little evidence the operation had prevented terrorist attacks. He ruled against the government but agreed to postpone shutting down the program until the government could appeal.

In a separate case involving the same NSA phone records program, a district judge in New York last month upheld the government's data collection as lawful. The American Civil Liberties Union, which lost that case, said this week it will appeal to a federal appeals court in New York.

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Feds OK Mashpee pact with Mass. on casino

The Mashpee Wampanoags came one step closer yesterday to building a resort casino in Taunton, after federal officials effectively approved the tribe's gaming pact with the state.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs' approval of the agreement, which outlines terms such as how much gaming proceeds will go to the state, follows its rejection of a prior pact.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs continues to review the tribe's application to put Taunton land for the casino into a federal trust. While that approval is expected to be more troublesome, Mashpee tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell said he hopes to start construction this year.

"The tribal state compact represents a very exciting and important historical time," Cromwell said.

But an attorney for KG Urban Enterprises, which is suing the state and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over the tribe's first rights to build a southeastern Massachusetts casino, yesterday called the state compact "legally irrelevant."

"The notion that the tribe will 'break ground on a casino by the end of 2014' is nothing short of absurd," attorney Jeff Harris said.

KG is undergoing a background check for a New Bedford casino after the commission's decision to open the southeast region's licensing process to commercial applications while the tribe pursues federal approvals.

KG's federal lawsuit seeks to invalidate the state's gaming act, claiming it includes "race-based set-asides" that give tribes an advantage.

"The United States Supreme Court held in 2009 that tribes such as the Mashpee are ineligible as a matter of federal law for new Indian lands," Harris said. "The compact is thus legally irrelevant and is nothing more than a distraction."

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Tropical Foods gets $ to expand

A third-generation Dudley Square landmark is expanding next door in a complex $15 million deal involving several city and state agencies along with the two brothers who own Tropical Foods.

Begun in 1974 by their grandfather, Pastor Medina, in a rented store called "El Platanero" or The Banana Man, the business has flourished. Tropical Foods is bursting at the seams in its 8,500-square-foot store, said co-owner Randy Garry, and the financing for the expansion announced by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday will more than triple the store's retail space.

"I am so proud to see this important project moving forward in the heart of Roxbury," Menino said.

The $15 million expansion will be financed in part by $3.6 million of New Market Tax Credits, provided through Bank of America, $1.4 million of MassWorks infrastructure program funding provided by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and a $788,000 grant from the U.S. Federal Office of Community Services as part of its Healthy Food Initiative.

Garry said he and his brother have had opportunities to move elsewhere, but held on to expand in their own neighborhood.

The project will combine land owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation with the brothers' property to build the new grocery store, then the current store will be converted into housing, city officials said. A five-story office and retail building also is planned.

"It was sort of complex," Garry said. "There were several different layers to it. There were a number of hurdles, that everybody had to coordinate."

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Audi SQ5 SUV is spacious and sporty

The SQ5, Audi's first utility vehicle available in a sport version, has the capacity of a midsize vehicle with the performance and handling of a sport sedan.

Our tester with its blue paint and 21-inch wheels had an understated appearance that shrouds the SQ5's power and performance. A 3.0-liter, supercharged V6 produces 354 horsepower that was accentuated by a beefy exhaust note. An eight-speed Tiptronic transmission made acceleration silky smooth and provided the option to shift manually. Paddle shifters on the steering wheel were useful for a quick downshift for highway passing.

The Audi's throttle response was swift and I was pinned back in the seat while accelerating on straightaways. The SQ5's sport suspension reduced body roll through tight turns. Ride quality remained reasonable considering its size and weight.

Audi's quattro permanent all-wheel drive that sends power to wheels with the most grip gives the SQ5 an edge on both dry roads and in adverse driving conditions. Our tester's low-profile tires would have to be replaced for the snow. The SQ5 yields an average of 19 miles per gallon in fuel economy and burns premium fuel.

The SQ5's black interior was highlighted with a bulging flat-bottomed steering wheel and supple Nappa leather seats. Heated front bucket seats were comfortable and reduced fatigue on long drives. Extended seat belt buckles that stayed on top of the rear seats made strapping in our children with boosters a breeze. A panoramic sunroof made the interior feel much larger. Audi takes navigation to another level with its system enhanced with Google Earth satellite imagery that provides a realistic picture of the route. Other interior highlights were an excellent Bang & Olufsen sound system with 14 speakers, a rearview camera, thermal cupholders and a three-zone climate control system.

Many of the interior features were part of a $7,500 prestige package that was included in our $64,770 tester. The SQ5 has a base price of $51,900. My only gripe with the SQ5 was the location of the cruise control stalk. It's difficult to see behind the steering wheel, which made it hard to use.

A non-sport version Q5 with a turbocharged four cylinder starts at $37,700. Audi also offers the Q5 with hybrid and turbo diesel engine options. Other SUVs to consider are the BMW X3, the Land Rover Evoque, or the Volvo EC60.

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Condo works on three levels

This updated triplex in a bow-fronted brick rowhouse on Southie's East Side has a South End feel without the price, and a top-floor family room with a gas fireplace and front and rear decks with ocean and city views.

The two-bedroom unit at 339 K  St. has three levels of living space, including a stylish kitchen with high-end appliances redone in 2011. The 1,425-square-foot unit, with oak floors throughout and two gas fireplaces, is on the market for $649,000.

Built in 1900, the two-bedroom Unit B, converted to a condo in 2003, occupies floors 2 to 4, with a reverse layout that puts the living spaces on the upper floors to maximize views, and bedrooms on the second floor.

Brownstone steps lead up to a restored original door and a wood-floored entry.

The main living spaces are an open living/dining/kitchen area on the third floor with refinished oak floors and recessed as well as track lighting. The living area features a granite-surrounded gas fireplace. There's a three-bay window bumpout and two other windows in the Mansard roof are deep-set, creating an old-world feel.

A recessed and track-lit kitchen, with deep-set Mansard windows overlooking Southie's Dorchester Heights, was redone in 2011. It has black granite and butcher-block counters with a dozen wood and glass-faced cabinets and a black granite island breakfast bar that seats three. There are butcher-block counters along the windows with storage spaces and white beadboard wainscoting below.

High-end stainless steel appliances include a Liebherr refrigerator, a Jenn-Air dishwasher and Jenn-Air gas stove with a fluted K-Star range hood.

There's also a half bath on this floor, redone in 2011 with a pedestal sink and beadboard.

A turning wood staircase leads to the fourth floor family room with a triangular glass partition wall at the top of the stairs. On the opposite wall, the drywall is cut triangular like a gable. This room has wood floors and a granite-encased gas fireplace. On either side are sliding glass doors to private decks. The front deck has views of Carson Beach, a few blocks away, and the rear deck has panoramic views of Southie's Dorchester Heights.

The two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms are on the second floor. The master bedroom has oak floors and a light/fan, but even with a bay window bumpout it's a little on the small side. There is a good-sized walk-in closet. The en-suite master bathroom was redone in 2011 with porcelain tile floors and a glass-doored walk-in shower with white subway tile surround. There's a large rectangular white porcelain sink and beadboard wainscoting.

A hallway to the second bedroom holds a large linen closet and a second utility/laundry closet with a stacked Kenmore washer and dryer and the unit's gas-fired forced hot air heating and  central cooling system, which was added in 2003.

The second bedroom, also on the small side, has oak floors and two windows and a large closet. The en-suite bathroom has small white tiles on the floor and white ceramic tiles for a combination tub and shower.

There's also a small home office/study on this floor.

There's no on-site parking, but street parking with a residential permit. The current owner rents a garage space nearby for $350 a month, which will pass on to the new owner if desired. 

• Address: 339 K Street, Unit B, South Boston
• Bedrooms: Two
• Bathrooms:  Two full, one half
• List price: $649,000
• Square feet: 1,425
• Price per square foot: $455
• Monthly condo fee: $210
• Annual taxes:  $4,736
• Features: Three levels of living space with oak floors throughout; open living dining/kitchen area on third floor with gas fireplace; kitchen redone in 2011 with granite and butcher-block counters, beadboard wainscoting and high-end appliances; fourth-floor family room with gas fireplace as well as front and rear decks with nice views; two bedroom suites; full- and half-bathroom renovated in 2011; in-unit washer and dryer; extra closets in hallways.
• Location: On South Boston's East Side, two blocks from Carson Beach. About a half-mile to offerings along Broadway, Southie's main retail district.
• Built In: 1900; converted to a condo in 2003; updated 2011
• Broker: Jackie Rooney of Rooney Real Estate at 617-645-5370

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Skimpy health law plans leave some 'underinsured'

WASHINGTON — For working people making modest wages and struggling with high medical bills from chronic disease, President Barack Obama's health care plan sounds like long-awaited relief. But the promise could go unfulfilled.

It's true that patients with cancer and difficult conditions such as multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease will be able to get insurance and financial help with monthly premiums.

But their annual out-of-pocket costs could still be so high they'll have trouble staying out of debt.

You couldn't call them uninsured any longer. You might say they're "underinsured."

These gaps "need to be addressed in order to fulfill the intention of the Affordable Care Act," said Brian Rosen, a senior vice president of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. "There are certainly challenges for cancer patients."

"Cost may still be an issue for those in need of the most care," said Steven Weiss, spokesman for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. That "makes it critically important for patients looking at premiums to also consider out-of-pocket costs when choosing a plan."

Out-of-pocket costs include a health plan's annual deductible, which is the amount before insurance starts paying, as well as any copayments and cost-sharing.

A few numbers tell the story. Take someone under 65 with no access to health insurance on the job and making $24,000 a year — about what many service jobs pay.

Under the health care law, that person's premiums would be capped below 7 percent of his income, about $130 a month. A stretch on a tight budget, yet doable.

But if he gets really sick or has an accident, his out-of-pocket expenses could go as high as $5,200 a year in a worst-case scenario. That's even with additional financial subsidies that the law provides people with modest incomes and high out-of-pocket costs.

The $5,200 would be more than 20 percent of the person's income, well above a common threshold for being underinsured.

"Chronically ill people are likely to be underinsured and face extremely high out-of-pocket costs," said Caroline Pearson, who tracks the health care overhaul for Avalere Health, a market research and consulting firm. "While the subsidies help, there still may be access problems for some populations."

Under the law, insurance companies competing in new online markets like HealthCare.gov can offer four levels of coverage.

All plans cover the same benefits; the difference is in financial protection. A bronze plan covers 60 percent of expected costs, silver covers 70 percent, gold covers 80 percent, and platinum covers 90 percent.

Bronze plans have the lowest premiums but provide less insurance. Gold plans are the closest to employer-provided coverage. Indeed, members of Congress and staffers who will now get their coverage through the health care law have been steered to gold plans.

Silver, however, is the standard for most consumers. The law's tax credits to help with premiums are keyed to a benchmark silver plan in each geographical area. And the law's subsidies to help with out-of-pocket costs are only available to people who get a silver plan.

Avalere found that the average annual deductible for silver plans is $2,567, more than twice what workers in employer plans currently face. Additionally, many silver plans have high cost-sharing requirements for prescriptions, particularly "specialty drugs" to treat intractable conditions such as severe forms of arthritis.

Some plans may offer limited relief by covering certain services before a patient has met their annual deductible. Those services can include primary care, some prescription drugs and routine care for common chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

But Pearson says that won't help people with high-cost illnesses. "Chronically ill people may still experience significant financial challenges," she said.

Platinum or gold coverage may be the better option for people with serious health problems. They'll pay more in premiums, but reduce exposure to out-of-pocket costs.

Obama administration spokeswoman Joanne Peters said the new system is still "night and day" from what patients faced for years, because insurers can no longer turn away those with pre-existing medical conditions, and because the new plans cap out-of-pocket costs. While that limits medical debt, it doesn't eliminate it.

One of the leading advocates of the health care law says most people will still come out ahead.

"If the question is, will some people find that coverage and care remain unaffordable, the answer is yes," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "There will be some people who feel that way. The overwhelming majority will be far better off, even if what they have is not perfect."

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Obama calls for restoring unemployment benefits

HONOLULU — President Barack Obama is urging Congress to reinstate jobless benefits for more than a million Americans.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says the unemployment insurance is a "vital economic lifeline" for many people. And he says failure to reinstate the benefits will cause the economy to slow for all Americans.

A bipartisan proposal in the Senate would restore the benefits for three months. Obama says if lawmakers pass the measure, he will sign it.

Obama is due to return from vacation in Hawaii on Sunday.

Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper delivered the Republican weekly address. He calls on the Senate to pass the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act. It seeks to boost funding for pediatric research at the National Institutes of Health.

The measure passed the House in December.

___

Online:

Obama address: http://www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/HouseConference

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