Unemployment remains under 3 percent
BOSTON — Unemployment ticked upward slightly in April to 2.9 percent, but the rate was still unusually low, state officials said. Since the current system of collecting statistics began in 1970, the rate has only been under 3 percent on five occasions. Three of those occasions were February, March and April. The March rate was 2.8 percent and the February rate was 2.9 percent. April’s 2.9 percent was down from 3.2 percent in the same period a year earlier. The state’s rate was also lower than the national rate, which was 4.3 percent. The state has now recorded a lower rate than the nation for 50 consecutive months, the Division of Employment and Training said.
Gas-fired power plant sought for Bellingham
BELLINGHAM – The parent company of Florida’s largest utility proposes to build a natural gas-fired power plant here, according to Bloomberg News Service. The company, FPL Group Inc., hopes to have the plant in operation by mid 2003. The report said the plant would generate enough power to light 700,000 homes. Florida Power and Light, the main subsidiary of FPL is the state’s largest utility, with 3.7 million customers. FPL has already announced plans to build natural gas-fired power plants in Texas and California.
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Mullen ad agency wins major contract
WENHAM – Mullen advertising agency has won a contract from Northern Light Technology LLC for a $12 million to $15 million contact. Northern Light is an on-line research company based in Cambridge. Mullen reportedly beat out Ingalls of Boston and Jordan McGrath of New York City in competitive bidding for the contract.
Beth Israel Deaconess eliminates 80 positions
BOSTON — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has announced it will eliminate 80 executive jobs as part of a restructuring. The cuts will result in 55 middle managers losing their jobs. The other positions are vacant, hospital officials said. “This is part of a redesign program we’ve started at the medical center,” Dr. Herbert Kressel, the hospital’s president, told the Boston Herald. “Our notion is that we have to have a management structure that is in line with patient needs — a management that is more streamlined.” Kressel did not rule out future layoffs at the center, The Boston Globe reported. Earlier this year, the hospital began a top-to-bottom restructuring project called “Genesis.” The layoffs are expected to save $3.9 to $4.7 million from the hospital’s annual budget. Beth Israel lost $16 million in the first three months of this year. The hospital lost $29 million last year and expects to lose $50 million in 1999.
Boston’s population expected to top 600,000
BOSTON — The city’s population is expected to top 600,000 for the first time since 1970, reflecting a demographic shift observers say is being driven by a booming economy and drop in crime. City researchers and real estate professionals told The Boston Globe that the influx of new residents is led by young professionals with high-paying jobs and aging baby boomers whose children have left home. The city’s population is projected to break 600,000 by 2000 and could reach 688,000 by 2010, according to the Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research and the Census Bureau.
Raytheon drops chat room lawsuit
BOSTON — Raytheon Co. has dropped a lawsuit against a group of people it believed were spreading company secrets in an anonymous Internet chat room — after the defense contractor obtained their names. Most of the 21 chatters were employees, and critics say the company used the court’s power to chill free speech. “It seems that the sole objective of Raytheon was to identify these individuals,” said David Sobel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research group. “It raises questions about the legitimacy of the way the court’s discovery procedures were used.” Four of the workers quit, and Raytheon says the rest entered corporate “counseling.” “We felt like our internal investigation had accomplished what we wanted it to accomplish. It was time to put the matter behind us,” David Polk, a spokesman for the Lexington-based company, said.
7 indicted in alleged scheme to bilk banks
BOSTON — Seven people have been indicted on fraud and other charges in what prosecutors said was an elaborate scam to get $20 million in funding from banks and other financing companies. The founders of Multinational System’s Corp. and Advanced Risk Corp. of Marlboro — Stephen Chan, 27, and Michelle Lee, 26, — were indicted by a federal grand jury in U.S. District Court. The two were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Chan was also charged with bank fraud. Also charged in the indictment with conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud were William Hulse, 53, of Providence, and Dennis Burns, 36, of Buffalo, N.Y. James Gaffney, 40, of York, Maine, and Kenneth Leib, 50, of Fair Oaks, Calif., were charged with conspiracy and mail fraud. Thomas Burke, 52, of Needham, was charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said the companies claimed to specialize in protecting electronic data against disasters such as floods and fires. But the companies made that claim so they could secure funding from banks, prosecutors said. Once banks agreed to loan the companies money for computer equipment and other items, the money was given to vendors, who in turn, were supposed to provide the companies with the equipment, said Allison Burroughs, an assistant U.S. attorney who investigated the case.
Court revives lawsuit against John Hancock
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Appeals Court revived a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. that seeks to hold senior officers and directors responsible for a lobbying scandal. Policyholder Loretta M. Harhen accused the company of failing to police and prevent illegal lobbying by an employee that ultimately cost the company dearly in legal fees and federal and state fines. Harhen claimed in her suit that top company officials knew or should have known about the illegal lobbying and claimed that policyholders shouldn’t have to pay the price. The company paid $900,000 to the federal government and $110,000 to the State Ethics Commission. Authorities had charged that from the late 1980s to the early 1990s the company’s lobbyists had given gifts to lawmakers with a value greater than the $50 legal limit of the time.
