Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles said the states will come up with a single standard that would apply to the entire region, creating a larger market for cleaner fuels and the development of clean energy technologies.

Low carbon fuel standards require reductions in the average greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy. It can apply to fuel used for transportation, but also for home heating fuel.
Fuels that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions include electricity and biofuels.

Other states that are part of the initiative include New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

Textron made the payment Dec. 29, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As part of the transaction, Textron Financial will issue the parent company 100 shares of common stock at $100 par value, the filing said. The transaction doesn't increase outstanding debt at either entity.

The company said Dec. 22 it planned to contribute about $600 million to the unit while exiting all finance businesses except those that directly serve its manufacturing divisions.

Textron also said last month that profit in the fourth quarter would be will be less than half what was previously forecast, hurt by finance unit losses.

Textron also plans to dispose of $7.9 billion of the finance unit's $11.4 billion in managed receivables, more than the $2 billion previously targeted, the company said.
Textron is also cutting 2,200 jobs to pare costs amid the global economic slowdown.

IYRS offers both short-term training sessions as well as one- and two- year programs in marine systems and boat building. Individuals can sign up for a nine-day introductory course called the Marine Trades Training Program from Feb. 17 to Feb. 27. The course is followed by a Marine Industry Career Day on Feb. 28 where individuals can connect with area employers.

For information about Thursday's session, contact John Freer at IYRS at jfreer@iyrs.org or call 401-848-5777.

The median price of a single-family house in November was $205,000, down 19.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Boston-based research firm. House prices have now been declining by double-digits for six consecutive months.

Sales of single-family houses in November fell 21.1 percent from a year earlier, the worst sales pace for the month since 1996, the report said. The decline followed an 11 percent increase in October sales from a year earlier.

So far this year, single-family house sales are down 14.2 percent, and prices are down 12.4 percent, according to The Warren Group.

The median price for single-family homes fell 19.6 percent to $205,000 from $255,000 in November 2007, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based real estate tracking firm.

November's percentage decline was even sharper than September's when median home prices slumped 17 percent compared to a year earlier. Year-to-date the median home price has retreated 12.4 percent to $234,250 from $267,500.

"November is the sixth consecutive month that median home prices in Rhode Island have been off by double-digit percentages. Homeowners are being pushed to lower asking prices as buyers, shaken by stock market woes and unemployment growth, hold back on making major purchases," said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. "Home prices won't recover until consumer confidence picks up and sales climb for several months."

Bradford Printing and Finishing replaces the old Bradford Dyeing Association, which closed its doors in late November. About 80 workers have been hired at the new company. The jobs will pay an average about $15.50 an hour, roughly the same pay offered by the old Bradford Dyeing Association.

Nick Griseto, chief executive officer president of the new company, said production will start Tuesday.

Bradford Dyeing had operated since 1911 and printed 15 million yards of fabric each year, mostly for the U.S. military. Griseto, formerly executive vice president for sales and marketing at Bradford Dyeing, said the new entity is buying the old company's property, building and equipment from former owner Michael Grills. Griseto said the new company already has production contracts in place.

Griseto's partners include former Bradford colleague Vasco Ferreira, who will be chief financial officer. They will also bring on Craig Nichols, Bradford's plant manager.

Following a growing trend among supermarket pharmacies, Stop & Shop will provide nine types of antibiotics free to customers with a prescription.

"This whole thing started a couple years ago with Walmart starting $4 generic prescriptions," said James G. Hertel, a food retailing consultant. "One of the things that has characterized food retailing in the last 15 years has been the story of Walmart and their ability to grow grocery sales. It had the industry scrambling."

Hertel said supermarkets nationwide have been losing market share to Walmart and looking for ways to fight back.

Two years ago, Meijer, a Midwestern chain with Walmart-like super centers selling groceries and department-store goods, started offering free antibiotics in its pharmacies. It has been joined by Publix, based in Florida; United Supermarkets, in Texas, and Schnucks, based in Missouri, among others.

Unlike those chains, which adopted free antibiotics as a permanent program, Stop & Shop will offer the giveaway only from Jan. 2 to March 21. Covered drugs included various dosages and forms of amoxicillin, ampicillin, bacitracin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, erythromycin, penicillin and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP).

Giant Food Stores, a Mid-Atlantic chain owned by Stop & Shop parent company Royal Ahold, of the Netherlands, is offering the same program as Stop & Shop. The chains are also offering 90-day supplies of more than 350 generic prescription drugs for $9.99.

The home improvement store will be at 1530 Davisville Road, the northwest corner of Gate and Davisville roads. It will have 117,000 square feet of retail sales space and an additional 32,900-square-foot garden center.

A grand opening ceremony will be on Jan. 15. Lowe's will match up to $5,000 in gift cards bought that day and donate the money to Habitat for Humanity.

The company said a store of that size represents an average investment in the community of approximately $18.5 million and creates up to 175 new jobs.

Lowe's entered the Rhode Island market in 2001. This will be its fifth store in the state.

The contract, which covers gambling operations and communication systems to connect 6,200 lottery retailers to the system, will cost New Jersey $15 million a year. The state lottery currently pays $26 million a year for gambling operations and $8 million a year for the communications system, meaning the new contract is a yearly savings of $19 million for the state off the $34 million it currently pays for gambling and communications services.

New Jersey's lottery takes in $2.5 billion a year. Of that, $1.5 billion is paid in prizes, $141 million is paid to retailers as commissions, and $882 million goes to education and state institutions.

GTECH originally had been selected for the contract in 2005, but the only other bidder, Scientific Games Corp., protested, saying New Jersey skewed the bidding process to favor GTECH. The state has wrangled with the issue since then, ultimately seeking new bids. Scientific Games did not submit a bid under the new process, but competitor Intralot did. GTECH won the contract under a scoring system that took into account contract price and technical merit. Intralot has 10 days to protest.

GTECH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lottomatica S.p.A., an Italian corporation.

The new rate, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, reflects the steep drop in crude oil and natural gas prices over the past several months.

The decrease is slightly bigger than the reduction originally proposed by National Grid last month. In a 255-page filing to the Public Utilities Commission in November, the company sought a decrease of 13.7 percent.

Since that filing, crude oil prices have continued to fall, prompting the company to revise its calculations.

A typical customer who uses 500 kilowatt hours of electricity each month will pay $79.72 a month, compared to the current bill of $93.44 a month.

The decrease is the first change in rates since an unprecedented rate increase of 21.7 percent in July.

National Grid is Rhode Island's dominant utility, providing electricity to 477,000 customers in 38 communities and natural gas to about 245,000 customers in 33 communities.

WESTERLY -- About 100 people were waiting at the Westerly Armory this morning, hoping to be hired at Bradford Printing and Finishing LLC, a new company that will replace the old Bradford Dyeing Association, which closed its doors in late November.

The hiring event started at noon; by 2 p.m., company officials estimated about 200 people had filled out applications.

Nick Griseto, CEO and president of the new company, said he hopes to have an opening ceremony at the old Bradford Dyeing Association plant in Westerly on Jan. 5 and begin production Jan. 6.

He said the company was looking to hire about 80 people to start, with the possibility of more to come. "It's good news in a bad-news environment," he said. Griseto said he needed to move quickly -- company staffers would go over applications this week and notify the new hires by Dec. 30.

Jim Jackson, personnel director for the new company, said jobs will average about $15.50 an hour, roughly the same pay offered by the old Bradford Dyeing Association.

That company, which had operated since 1911 and printed 15 million yards of fabric each year, mostly for the U.S. military, will no longer exist. Griseto said the new entity is in the process of buying the old company's property, building and equipment from former owner Michael Grills.

He declined to name the price. Griseto, who had been executive vice president for sales and marketing at the Bradford Dyeing Association, has partnered with former Bradford colleague Vasco Ferreira, who will be chief financial officer. They will also bring on Craig Nichols, Bradford's plant manager.

Griseto said the new company already has production contracts in place. By law, he said, material for U.S military uniforms has to be manufactured in the United States.

Griseto and Jackson said about half the people filling out applications at the Westerly Armory had been employees of Bradford Dyeing and about half were new faces.
Former employees of the Bradford Dyeing Association are not guaranteed jobs with the new company, although experience will be strongly considered in the hiring process.

Some employees at the Bradford Dyeing Association were members of a union, UNITE Here Local 432. Steve Rockholz, former union president at Bradford, said he believes one reason for the company's reorganization was to eliminate the union.

"It's a new business. If the employees want to form a union, we'll go along with that. We're anxious to get it started, and then we'll go from there," Griseto said.

As of Dec. 1, the company tried to charge customers $1.25 for each call to 411. A customer can make up to two requests for phone numbers during each call.

Verizon used to give customers five free calls to directory assistance each month. In November 2006, the number of free 411 calls was lowered to three per month.

In December 2005, the Public Utilities Commission gave Verizon wide latitude to set residential rates. Regulators said the high level of competition among telephone providers in Rhode Island, particularly from Cox Communications, would keep rates in check.

Business customers stopped receiving free directory assistance calls in 2003.

Cox Communications also charges $1.25 for each directory assistance call. Customers can also sign up for a plan that includes 5 calls at a cost of $2 per month.

Correction: While the company did seek permission to begin charging for all 411 calls, the Public Utilities Commission rejected that proposal by a 3-to 0-vote. Verizon residential telephone customers continue to receive three free calls to directory assistance each month.

Adjusted annual earnings per share will be $2.42 to $2.47 a share, including the impact of its Longs Drug Stores Corp. purchase, the company said today.

Moody's said, "The downgrade reflects Moody's expectation that LIN's cash flow will weaken significantly in 2009 due to declines in advertising spending resulting from continued softening of the U.S. economy and despite increases to contractual retransmission revenues and expected strategic cost cuts."