 | Wed. Aug. 31, 2011 Language firm taps former acting governor Swift as CEO
Jane Swift, the acting governor of Massachusetts from 2001 to 2003, has been appointed chief executive of Middlebury Interactive Languages, a Vermont company that provides language instruction for students from kindergarten through high school, the company said. According to its press release, the year-old company is a joint venture between Middlebury College and K12 Inc., a provider of curriculum and online education products. Headquartered in Middlebury, Vt., Middlebury Interactive Languages sells products and services to both consumers and schools. Two Mass. banks get $23m from US
Central Bancorp Inc. of Somerville and Leader Bancorp Inc. of Arlington have received a total of $22.9 million as part of a US Treasury program to increase small business lending, the US Department of the Treasury said today. All told, six Massachusetts banks have received funding under this federal program. Several congressional Republicans have derided the program as a government bailout. In some cases, banks have used money from the program to repay earlier federal aid they received on more favorable terms. July foreclosure starts hit highest level of 2011
More than 1,400 foreclosure proceedings were started in Massachusetts in July, the highest monthly number so far in 2011 and the highest number of monthly starts since September, the Warren Group reported this morning. Foreclosure petitions are an early step in the foreclosure process. There were 775 actual foreclosures in Massachusetts in July, down 38 percent from July 2010. Real estate specialists have said that the year-to-year falloff can be largely attributed to lenders pulling back on foreclosures, not an improving economy, and many expect the number of foreclosures to soon start increasing. State says 133,000 Mass. customers were still without power as of 10 a.m.
Just over 133,000 electricity customers in Massachusetts were without power in Massachusetts as of 10 a.m. today, down from 186,000 at 9 p.m. yesterday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. As of 11:08 a.m., National Grid said just over 99,000 of its Massachusetts customers were still without power as a result of Tropical Storm Irene, down from 144,001 as of 5 p.m. yesterday. Meanwhile, there were about 35,000 NStar customers without power this morning, down from 84,000 yesterday morning, according to NStar. National Grid posts local estimates on power restoration
National Grid has posted estimates on its website about when Bay State customers without electricity can expect to have power restored. As of 3:30 p.m., estimates were posted for most Massachusetts communities that National Grid serves. Estimates for remaining communities will be posted as they become available. All National Grid customers in Andover, for example, should have power by late tomorrow night. But many customers in Sharon may have to wait until Friday, and a few might not have power restored until Sunday. Starbucks single-serve coffee packs to hit supermarket shelves in November
Java giant Starbucks Corp. said today that single-serve packs of its coffee for the Keurig brewing system should show up in US supermarkets and specialty stores in November. Keurig is a single-serve coffee machine brand owned by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. of Vermont. Earlier this year, Starbucks and Green Mountain agreed to partner on single-serve coffee packs --- shares of Green Mountain stock jumped about 40 percent when the deal was announced in March. Amtrak and airline flights are mostly back to normal
Transportation services were largely back to normal today after disruptions caused by Tropical Storm Irene. All trains, including the Acela high speed rail, were back in operation between Boston and New York, with some delays, according to Amtrak. Northbound service between Philadelphia and New York, however, has yet to be restored because of flooding and debris on the tracks. At Logan International Airport, airlines had resumed normal schedules, working to get passengers stranded by the storm to their destinations. Boston-area home values up for second month in a row
Home values in the Boston area increased by 2.4 percent in June, marking the second straight month of rising prices after nearly a year of depressed values, according to a report released today by the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. All Mass. Wal-Marts that lost power have reopened
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said that all its Massachusetts stores are now open. Yesterday morning, six of the big discount chain’s 47 Bay State stores were closed as a result of power outages caused by Tropical Storm Irene. Wal-Marts in Wareham, Avon, Abington, Brockton, Framingham, and Bellingham were temporarily closed but have since reopened, the company said. State Street: Investor confidence falls
A global investor confidence index maintained by a unit of State Street Corp. fell to 89.6 in August, down 12.9 points from July’s revised reading of 102.5. The most significant decline was shown by North American investors, with confidence registering a reading of 88.6, down 13.9 points from July’s revised level of 102.5. Diminished growth expectations, the downgrade of the US sovereign debt rating, and continued difficulties in Europe were among the reasons why investors were so skittish. Just under 220,000 Mass. customers still without power
There were about 218,000 Massachusetts electricity customers without power as of just after noon today, down from 480,000 last night, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said today. The state’s two largest utilities, NStar and National Grid, also reported progress in restoring power in the aftermath of damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Irene. Earlier this morning, NStar said that 84,000 of its customers remained without power, down from 200,000 yesterday afternoon, concentrated on the South Shore, Cape Cod, and west of Boston. |
