EXTRA...

State adds 900 jobs; Cape non-profit shares $1M; Globe lays off 80

Financial advice from a reader:
   If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago you would have $49 left.
   With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.
   With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.
   BUT, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, than turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214 left.  
   Based on the above, the readers suggests, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.Mass. businesses added 900 jobs in January
Cape non-profit shares $1M in foreclosure counseling

Massachusetts bucked the national trend last month, as employers added 900 jobs to payrolls, the state Department of Workforce Development said. Nationally, employers sliced payrolls by 17,000 jobs in January, the first reduction in more than four years. The state's unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent from 4.3 percent in December, but remains below the national rate of 4.9 percent...

Nonprofits to share $1m for foreclosure counseling
A half-dozen Massachusetts nonprofits that counsel people facing foreclosure will get more than $1 million in federal aid to expand their efforts. The money is the state's share of about $130 million Congress allocated in December to fund counseling for up to 400,000 families nationwide. Most of Massachusetts' share will be distributed by the Housing Partnership Network to nonprofits in Springfield, on Cape Cod, on the South Shore, and possibly to a fourth group in Boston. The remainder will be divided among a nonprofit with a statewide focus, the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, and two smaller groups focused on Boston...  Globe.  
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At the Globe, "Dear Colleagues"
Letter to employees announces term for 80 layoffs

Media Nation has obtained an e-mail sent to the staff by Boston Globe publisher Steve Ainsley confirming reductions at the Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. I've done a little guessing at where the paragraph breaks ought to be. Here's the text:

 Dear Colleagues:

As part of a company-wide effort to achieve greater operational efficiencies, we will be offering voluntary buyouts to employees of The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Boston Globe employees will receive offers next week. Telegram & Gazette employees will receive offers the following week. Boston.com and GlobeDirect employees are ineligible for this program.

We are expecting a total reduction of 80 positions, with approximately 60 from the Globe and roughly 20 from the T&G. This reduction in staff is a difficult but necessary step toward our ongoing goals of reducing costs and finding efficiencies that allow for the long-term health of our business...  MediaNation. 
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Florida tax cap; Chatham dinghy war; Wind wins prize at Cannes

 ^{For as long as there have been people fish ing on Cape Cod, there have been dinghies, dories, skiffs, and the occasional canoe parked in the sand on Chatham's beaches.}

A fishing tradition keelhauled in Chatham
New breed of beachowners wants dinghies gone

For as long as anyone can remember, homeowners in Chatham have accommodated on their beaches the battered skiffs and dinghies of local fishermen. The dinghies were the only way fishermen could reach their boats moored just offshore. And so, small vessels littered the shoreline, nestled in the sand amid the scallop shells and seaweed, an accepted part of the landscape... And recently, some people with waterfront property and out-of-state area codes have started demanding that locals remove their small boats from their beaches.

The latest demand - made this month in a legal notice by San Francisco homeowners looking to sell their waterfront land for a tidy $10.75 million - has sparked what longtime Chatham resident Ned Webster calls "the big dinghy flap." It has become more than just a controversy about dinghies and where they can and cannot be kept. Locals say it is about Chatham's soul being eroded by newcomers with thick wallets, newcomers whom they refer to as "wash-ashores"... Globe.
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Wind energy wins first prize at Cannes

EPURON GmbH, a subsidiary of Conergy AG, won the top honor for best film advertising spot at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes. The "Power of Wind" ad was recognized as the best tv ad from Germany at Cannes. It was created by Nordpol+ Hamburg.  See the video here. 

 State rep questions Florida property tax cap

Championing the cause of Massachusetts residents with second homes in Florida who pay higher property taxes than residents there, Rep. Eric Turkington (D-Cape and Islands) recently wrote state Attorney General Martha Coakley urging her to join other states' attorneys general in supporting a class action lawsuit protesting tax discrimination against out-of-state property owners in Florida.

The lawsuit, Lanning et al v. Pilcher et al., questions the constitutionality of a "Save Our Homes Amendment" (SOHA) to the Florida constitution passed by voters in 1992, according to a recent press release from Mr. Turkington's office. The SOHA caps the annual assessment on a property owned by a Florida resident at either 3 percent of the assessment for the prior year or the percent increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  As the law stands, someone who buys a second home in Florida has to pay property taxes as much as three times higher than a Florida resident who qualifies for the tax cap, according to a Jan. 27 article in the Miami Herald...  Martha's Vineyard Times. 

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Cape couple wins $8 million suit for estate

Charities lose court fight for $8m estate
Late stockbroker's will bequeathed his fortune to Cape Cod couple

Following his diagnosis, the Rosens - with whom Brener had maintained a close relationship for many years - began to drive him to doctor appointments, to restaurants, to visits with his friends and former clients, and to their home on Cape Cod. Lois Rosen had known Brener her entire life, her husband had used him as his stockbroker since 1969, and Brener frequently spent holidays at their home.Five weeks before his death, after a yearlong battle with cancer that left him deeply depressed, 85-year-old Leonard R. Brener made a startling decision.  Instead of bequeathing his $8 million estate to four local charities, he changed his will to give the entire amount to his niece and her husband. It was this couple, he explained, who had cared for him in his dying days. Brener, a former Boston police lieutenant who later become a wealthy stockbroker, left no heirs. He said the money was his thanks to the Rosens for their love and assistance.

The change of heart stunned the four nonprofits that had previously been the stated beneficiaries of Brener's estate, spurring them to try to have his will overturned. And this week, after a legal fight lasting more than five years, the state Appeals Court rejected their effort, concluding Brener had been mentally competent and his decision to leave his money to Lois and Herbert Rosen, who are in their late 60s, should stand.  "In the final stage they functioned as his closest family," Judge Mitchell J. Sikora Jr. wrote of the Rosens. "They comforted him through the bleakness of terminal illness. His gratitude would be natural"...  Globe. 

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Oil $102 a barrel; Broadband boom for Bay State; Bill would outlaw teacher-student sex;

Oil goes above $102 a barrel; Weak dollar blamed

Could exceed $105 by the end of today; Inflation looms

Crude oil rose to a record above $102 a barrel as a weakening dollar spurred investors to buy commodities priced in the U.S. currency.

Futures jumped in New York and London as the dollar fell to an all-time low against the euro. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index rose to the highest ever, on gains for gold, silver, sugar, copper and coffee. A government report later today is expected to show U.S. crude inventories rose last week.

"This record is purely a play on the weakness of the dollar, as investors use both crude and gold as a hedge against inflation,'' said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix Gmbh in Zug, Switzerland. "If the dollar keeps getting weaker, and we don't have inventory builds today, it could drive prices towards $105."...   Bloomberg. 
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Bill would outlaw teacher-student sex
Mattapoisett victim pushed for the legislation

For Adler, the relationship was a negative turning point in her life. "When I met him, I was 16 and I had won a local beauty contest; I was an honors student; I had a little cute boyfriend," said Adler, who lives in Mattapoisett.  By the end of the affair, when she was 18, Adler said she was a wreck. "Carol Adler was just 16 when her high school English teacher first started making advances. Adler said those moves turned sexual during her junior year, after her father died and she was at her most vulnerable.

For the next two years, Adler said she and the teacher continued the affair, even though he was more than a decade her senior and married with two small children. Adler said the relationship filled her with remorse and a guilt that lingered into her adulthood.

"I was derailed," said Adler, now 49 and a mother of three. "It wasn't until my children got to that age that I looked back and said, 'My God, that was why I had such a difficult time.' "  Now Adler is pushing a bill that would make sexual intercourse between teachers and students under 18 a criminal offense, regardless of consent. The bill is slated to come up for a public hearing at the Statehouse yesterday...  Berkshire Eagle.  
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Broadband’s Potential in Massachusetts at $3.8 Billion
National study determines the potential economic impact in Massachusetts

In a report released last week measuring the national economic impact of broadband, Massachusetts stands to see a $3.8 billion economic impact from a modest increase in broadband adoption. The report, The Economic Impact of Stimulating Broadband Nationally, details the potential state-by-state impact of accelerated broadband access and use. Its findings suggest that the U.S. could realize an impact of $134 billion annually from increased broadband adoption.

Programs that lead to increased broadband adoption can:

• Create over 58,000 jobs
• Create more than $2.7 billion in direct income growth
• Save residents roughly $14 million in average healthcare costs
• Save residents more than $141 million in annual gas mileage costs (teleworking, shopping online, etc.)
• Cut more than 71 million pounds in average annual CO2 emissions

Connected Nation has garnered national, industry-wide recognition as a best-practice model for broadband expansion. The model, which includes extensive broadband mapping, a public-private partnership and local eCommunity leadership teams, has been replicated in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio as well as a mapping effort in West Virginia and South Carolina.

To read more data about Masdsachusetts, please visit the website here.
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Supreme Court takes Indian Land suit

Supreme Court Says It Will Hear Narragansetts' Land-Trust Case
The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts could also be affected by this case and stop tribes from circumventing state laws

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a case next fall that questions whether it is constitutional for the federal Department of the Interior to take land into trust for American Indian tribes.  The case was filed on behalf of the governor and state of Rhode Island and the town of Charlestown against Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, and Franklin Keel, the Eastern Area director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to stop land owned by the Narragansett Tribe from being placed into trust by the federal government... 

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts could also be affected by this case. The Mashpees have filed a petition with the federal government asking that 140 acres in Mashpee and 500-plus acres in Middleboro be put into a federal trust.  The tribe has expressed its interest in using the land in Middleboro to build a resort casino, but that can't happen until the land is put into trust...  The Day. 
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Supreme Court will rule on Narragansett dispute with Rhode Island

Providence, R.I. --The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to resolve a dispute over the federal government's ability to take land into trust for American Indian tribes, a move that effectively removes those lands from state and local control.  American Indian rights groups fear the case involving the Narragansett Indian Tribe could undermine the status of tribal land across the country and make it difficult for tribes to expand their control over newly acquired lands. The justices will hear the case in the fall.

The state has argued that federal law prevents the U.S. government from taking land into trust, or largely removing land from state and local control, for tribes recognized after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act -- unless they meet certain ancestry requirements or Congress specifically authorizes it. The Narragansetts became a federally recognized tribe in 1983...  Globe. 

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After Alice's restaurants; MMA cadets return home

After Alice's restaurants
Celebrity arrived with a song, left her some baggage, then urged her to an artist's life

From Alice Brock's kitchen window overlooking the harbor, she can see a lighthouse at the end of the sliver of sand called Long Point. "I was conceived out there," declares the Alice of "Alice's Restaurant" - the name of the Arlo Guthrie song (1966), the Arthur Penn movie (1969), and her own second restaurant in Stockbridge.  For anyone who has never heard Guthrie's 18-minute anti-Vietnam War ballad, the gist is this: In the mid-1960s, Brock lived in a former Housatonic church with her husband, Ray, and per the custom of the day, friends crashed with them for indefinite periods. ("We were feeding them lots of spaghetti," Brock recalls. "We had no money.") Guthrie and a friend arrived for a Thanksgiving visit, and finding that the trash had been piling up, decided to help out by taking it to the dump. But it was closed for the holiday, so after driving around in search of legal alternatives, Guthrie pitched the trash into a roadside ravine. A local police officer spotted the garbage, ferreted out a piece of paper with Ray Brock's name on it, tracked down Guthrie there, and jailed him and his friend for littering. Guthrie embroidered these events with verse after verse of wry, digressive narration, separated by the chorus: "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant."

In fact, the Thanksgiving drama occurred before Brock opened her first little restaurant in Stockbridge, and the song was recorded after it had closed. She called it The Back Room, but it was better known as "Alice's." It was the first of three restaurants she opened. The last one, Alice's at Avaloch, closed in 1979. With that, she packed up her white Cadillac Eldorado convertible and headed for Cape Cod's outer edge, where she had spent many happy summers as a child. Almost 30 years later, Brock, 67, says she has never looked back...  Globe. 
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MMA cadets return home from training cruise

It was homecoming day for the seagoing cadets of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Sunday as the school's training ship returned to the Cape Cod Canal.  On its annual sea term cruise in Southern waters, the 540-foot vessel Enterprise transited the Panama Canal, visited Golfito in Costa Rica and crossed below the equator in the Pacific Ocean before stopping off in Aruba on the return leg.

Watching from the pier bathed in the bright sunshine, Adm. Richard G. Gurnon, president of the Academy, said that he was pleased — and somewhat relieved — to see the conclusion of this year's uneventful passage. "Life at sea can be dangerous, and there is no denying that there are risks involved in sending 500 young people to sea so this is a time for rejoicing and jubilation," he said. "Many of them have never been to sea in their life or even out of Massachusetts in their life. It went off without a problem the entire 50 days"...  Standard-Times. 

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DiMasi played, isn't swayed; Tapping the power of the oceans

On links, casino backer gets the speaker's ear
Closure for EXXON-Valdez
The oil eventually spread more than 600 miles, an area plaintiffs contend would stretch from Cape Cod, Massachusetts,  to Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
  They also charge that Hazelwood, an alcoholic, was drunk. They argue that he consumed at least five double-vodkas in waterfront bars before boarding the ship. They say Exxon knew that Hazelwood, once treated for his disease, had resumed drinking... Internet Press.  DiMasi not swayed, spokesman says

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, the most prominent opponent of casino gambling in Massachusetts, has played golf at a pair of exclusive clubs in Florida recently with an official from Suffolk Downs, at the same time the track owners have been aggressively pursuing a gaming license for their East Boston site.  In addition, DiMasi also received an invitation to play with Donald Trump at the ultra-exclusive Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach earlier this month - as Trump carefully eyes Massachusetts for a possible casino development. A DiMasi aide said the speaker declined the invitation - though his rejection came at the same time the Globe was making inquiries about his schedule.

During DiMasi's two recent rounds of golf with Boston businessman and Suffolk Downs co-owner Joe O'Donnell, the two discussed casino gambling in Massachusetts, according to O'Donnell...  DiMasi's brother-in-law, Cape Cod luxury realtor Robert Kinlin, said in a telephone interview from his condominium in Palm Beach that a Trump assistant called Kinlin to extend the invitation. Kinlin, in turn, passed it along to DiMasi, and DiMasi declined several days before they were scheduled to play, leaving it to Kinlin to pass along regrets to Trump...  Globe. 
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Tapping the source
The power of the oceans

A key feature is that the turbines use technology and components developed from the wind industry, that already exist and that have been developed over the last 20 years. It is only the support structure that is truly new and innovative.Last year I came across the story of Dutch company Kema and their energy island idea - basically a variant on the usual pumped hydro energy storage concept where water is pumped out of a space below sea level then allowed to flow back in, generating power as it does. The "island" uses wind power to pump water out of the enclosed area. An obvious extension to this idea would be to harness ocean energy as well - letting wave and/or tidal power supplement the output of the wind turbines. An attraction of this concept is that it potentially allows a large amount of new energy storage to be brought online - and this storage would be along the world's coastlines, where most of the population lives....

In the United States, at the southern end of the Bay of Fundy, lies Passamaquoddy Bay, which has long been a target for a tidal power development - first initiated in 1935 by the Public Works Administration under the Roosevelt administration, then halted by Congress a year later. John F Kennedy revived the 550 MW project in 1963, however the plan died with him (spawning one of the stranger JFK assassination conspiracy theories I have come across).

Further south, in the Martha's Vineyard area, two underwater turbine projects are trying to get started - one a 300 MW proposal from Oceana Energy Company and the other from Natural Currents Energy Services. Other projects are being considered in the Cape Cod and New Bedford areas - part of a "gold rush" for good tidal power sites (the most desirable ones usually have hourglass figures, to get maximum force in the incoming tide) which has seen the FERC issue 47 preliminary permits for ocean energy projects (and generated mainstream news coverage on the NBC network)...  The Oil Drum. 
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The Cape's building bubble; The world loves our bike trails

An old rail trail with Cape Cod views
Northeast's #1 tourist destination, trails get 400,000 bikers yearly


The boadwalk across Eastham's Great Marsh is one of the great views. See all the trails here.SOUTH DENNIS, Mass. — The Cape Cod Rail Trail is not the longest or the best.  But the picturesque 22-mile pedal-hike trail remains a showpiece that certainly garners attention. It is one of the oldest bike paths in the United States.

Part of its appeal is that the trail lies on Cape Cod, perhaps the No. 1 tourist destination in the Northeast, an area that gets 13 million vacationers a year.  The rail trail stretches from state Route 134 in South Dennis to the east and north to South Wellfleet within the Cape Cod National Seashore.

It runs through the towns of South Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Orleans and Eastham to near Wellfleet — with a spur trail that runs to Chatham.  The trail — its first leg opened in 1979 — typically gets 400,000 users a year.  The terrain is surprisingly flat with a few rolling hills. That makes for easy pedaling. The 8-foot-wide trail even has its own rotary, just like the Tallmadge Circle in Ohio or Boston's infamous traffic circles. But instead of vehicles, the Harwich rotary directs walkers and bicyclists east toward Chatham, west to Brewster or north to Orleans and Wellfleet...  Seattle Times.  
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A Real Estate "bubble" on Cape?
Developing new options
"We're fortunate. We're in this bubble down here" - Daniel Buckley
To minimize their risk in the current market downturn, Bay State builders are scaling back projects and giving buyers more choices... At the New Seabury golf course community on Cape Cod, where new single-family home prices range from $1 million to $2.5 million, construction is proceeding at a brisk pace, said Daniel Buckley, project manager for Bayswater Development at New Seabury.

Buckley said construction is underway on a 28-home single-family subdivision at New Seabury, as well as a 25-condominium project.

He said the buyers are attracted to the golf courses and the beaches, and tend not to have credit problems.

"We're fortunate. We're in this bubble down here," Buckley said... (end of story) Globe.  

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Criticism of Patrick casino study choice; Mr. Nice Guy excited as backup

Senator blasts hiring of firm with ties to casino industry

The Patrick administration has hired a New Jersey company to independently evaluate its claims that three resort casinos will bring jobs and money to Massachusetts, drawing criticism from casino foes who say the company has deep ties with the casino industry.

Spectrum Gaming Group LLC, which counts Harrah's Entertainment and Las Vegas Sands Corp. as clients, Thursday was awarded a $189,000 contract to review the governor's plan. It was the only company that competed for the state contract.

The company, with offices in Atlantic City and Princeton, N.J., was hired in response to state lawmakers' criticisms during a Dec. 18 Statehouse hearing that the Patrick administration's projections were based on an internal study. At the hearing, Gov. Deval Patrick promised an independent look...  But Sen. Susan Tucker, D-Andover, said she doesn't believe the company can impartially review the governor's claims...  Eagle Tribune.  
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Mr. Nice Guy excited as backup with champions
Played for Brewster in the CCBL against Lowell

Sean Casey broke into a smile so huge that the creases beside his sparkling eyes deepened.  He even cracked up usually serious Jason Varitek as they stood by the batting cage Saturday. Casey's grin padded his lead for the spring training Triple Crown with the Boston Red Sox -- laughs, hugs and handshakes.

"Everyone will think that our team is a lot nicer because he's the nicest guy I've ever met in my life," Mike Lowell said.  Not a bad reputation to have, especially in a sport that took a big hit with the use of performance-enhancing drugs and has some perpetually grumpy players.

"It's OK to be known as a nice guy. That's fine with me. That's not such a bad thing," Casey said Saturday, just four days after he happily put on a Red Sox uniform for the first time, a simple act of dressing for work that he called "pretty cool"...  Lowell played against Mr. Nice Guy in 1994 in the Cape Cod summer league for top collegians...  Globe. 

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Sneaky moves for Buzzards Bay wind farm

Sneaky maneuvers could harm ocean sanctuaries
Efforts designed to help Buzzards Bay proposal

The Massachusetts Ocean Sanctuaries Act was designed to prevent development in Massachusetts state waters in order to avert destruction of environmental habitat and to protect natural resources. It also helps make Massachusetts one of the most attractive destinations for tourists from all over the country...

Last week, however, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a version of the Ocean Management Act which I believe was a Trojan horse to slip through a massive change in the Ocean Sanctuaries Act without public input and without a public hearing... The change would allow large scale renewable energy facilities to be constructed in ocean sanctuaries in Massachusetts state waters.

The change in the Ocean Sanctuaries Act appears to be an attempt to assist one project proposed by Patriot Renewables to construct 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. Back in 2006, the Secretary of Environmental Affairs ruled that the large scale wind farm proposed by Patriot Renewables is not permitted under the Ocean Sanctuaries Act...  MetroWest. 
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This week's action in Legislature on the Buzzards Bay proposal

SEND RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ISSUE TO WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE (H 4527) House 34-114, rejected a motion to recommit to the Ways and Means Committee the section of an ocean management bill that would open the state's ocean sanctuaries to renewable energy development. Currently only traditional energy facilities are allowed in state waters. The motion also instructs the committee to hold a public hearing on this section that removes a major obstacle facing Jay Cashman, an ally of House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, in Cashman's effort to build up to 120 wind turbines in Buzzards Bay. Supporters of recommitting the section said that the proposal has never had a public hearing and should be required to go through the regular legislative process. They noted that the turbines would hurt the area's fishing industry and recreational fishing by blocking access to fishing boats sent out across the bay. Opponents of recommitting the section said that it is simply designed to treat traditional generating facilities and renewable energy projects equally under state law. They noted that the section is being fully debated on the House floor and argued that there is no reason to send it back to committee. The House eventually approved the entire bill including the controversial section. (A "Yes" vote is for the motion to recommit the section to Ways and Means and instruct the committee to hold a public hearing. A "No" vote is against the motion).
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