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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Imports plummet in April as tariffs weigh on trade
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up REAL ESTATE Advertisement Healey administration sets aside more than $7 million for office-to-residential conversions The Healey administration this week announced it had awarded more than $7 million to help spur two office-to-residential conversion projects in downtown Boston. Woburn-based KS Partners won $3.4 million to convert 15 Court Square. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff The Healey administration this week announced it had awarded more than $7 million to help spur two office-to-residential conversion projects in downtown Boston. A proposal to convert 31 Milk St. from Dinosaur Capital Partners of Newton was awarded $4 million, while Woburn-based KS Partners won $3.4 million to convert 15 Court Square. The Milk Street conversion is due to carve out 110 new rental units on the building's office floors, including 22 income-restricted apartments, while 80 apartments are planned for 15 Court Square, including 16 affordable ones. The state money is coming from $15 million that Governor Maura Healey set aside last year from the state's Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to help developers planning larger office conversions in downtown Boston finance their projects. So far, at least 15 applications have been filed in Boston to take advantage of the city's own program for office-to-residential conversions, which offers as much as 75 percent off property tax bills for up to 29 years. But construction has so far begun on only one project, building 15 apartments at 281 Franklin St. The Wu administration said on Wednesday that construction on the Milk Street and Court Square projects should begin by the end of the year. — JON CHESTO Advertisement LAYOFFS Pampers maker Procter & Gamble to cut up to 7,000 jobs as companies are buffeted by higher costs The Proctor & Gamble headquarters complex is seen in downtown Cincinnati in 2015. John Minchillo/Associated Press Procter & Gamble will cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years as the maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers implements a restructuring program at a time when tariffs are raising costs for American companies and consumers are growing anxious about the economy. The job cuts, announced at the Deutsche Bank Consumer Conference in Paris on Thursday, make up approximately 6 percent of the company's global workforce, or about 15 percent of its nonmanufacturing positions, said chief financial officer Andre Schulten. Procter & Gamble, based in Cincinnati, had approximately 108,000 employees worldwide in June 2024. The cuts are part of a broader restructuring program. Procter & Gamble will also end sales of some of its products in certain markets. Procter & Gamble said it will provide more details about that in July. — ASSOCIATED PRESS ECONOMY The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits last week rises to highest level in eight months Filings for US unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in eight months last week but remain historically low despite growing uncertainty about how tariffs could impact the broader economy. New applications for jobless benefits rose by 8,000 to 247,000 for the week ending May 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the most since early October. Analysts had forecast 237,000 new applications. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of US layoffs and have mostly bounced around a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since COVID-19 throttled the economy five years ago, wiping out millions of jobs. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement BANKRUPTCY 23andMe's DNA data soars in value with new $305 million bid Signage at 23andMe headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., in 2021. David Paul Morris/Photographer: David Paul Morris/ Bankrupt genetic analysis company 23andMe will hold a second auction for its cache of DNA data with an opening bid of $305 million from a group led by the company's former chief executive, Anne Wojcicki. The offer is nearly $50 million more than the last bid from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which had been declared the winner of the first auction last month, only to have the outcome challenged in court by Wojcicki. The new auction is a compromise between Wojcicki, Regeneron, and 23andMe, all of whom had come to federal court in St. Louis on Wednesday prepared to fight over the best way to set up a new round of bidding. 23andMe had initially proposed limits on the new auction that were questioned by US Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh. At the start of the hearing on Wednesday, Walsh asked lawyers for Regeneron and 23andMe to justify the proposed auction rules, including a $10 million breakup fee and a limit to the bidding, which he said may be 'inefficient.' Under the new rules, Wojcicki, who is partnering with a California-based research institute, would make a bid of $305 million, which Regeneron can counter with an offer that must be at least $315 million, company attorney Christopher Hopkins told Walsh. After that, Wojcicki and the research institute can make their final bid. If they do, Regeneron gets the chance to make the last offer of the auction. — BLOOMBERG NEWS Advertisement LEGAL Mattel settles baby sleeper death suits before start of a trial Mattel headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. Bing Guan/Bloomberg Mattel Inc. and its Fisher-Price unit have settled lawsuits alleging their recalled Rock 'n Play baby sleeper was so defectively designed that it led to the deaths of infants. The agreement, disclosed in a Delaware court filing last week, resolves lawsuits over six death cases and four allegations the faulty design of the Rock 'n Play product led to babies suffering flattened heads when they rolled against the product's side, said Michael Trunk, an attorney representing victims who settled their cases. He declined to provide financial terms. Among the cases settled was a suit filed by Ameena Brown over the death of her son, identified in court filings only as AB. Jury selection in her case was slated to start Thursday in Delaware. There are at least four other such cases pending in Delaware Superior Court. A representative of Mattel declined to comment. Mattel acquired Fisher-Price in 1993 in a deal valued at $1 billion. — BLOOMBERG NEWS GAMING Eager fans endure long lines for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch A Nintendo Switch 2 is sold at the Nintendo store in New York's Rockefeller Center on June 5. Richard Drew/Associated Press Eager customers lined up outside electronics stores in Tokyo hours in advance to collect their pre-ordered Nintendo Switch 2 video game consoles. The much anticipated Switch 2, being released around the world Thursday, is an upgrade to its eight-year-old predecessor with new social features meant to draw players into online gaming. Nintendo is counting on the Switch 2 to boost sagging sales. In the United States, a chaotic pre-order process in April left some fans frustrated after the consoles quickly sold out. Still, some eager fans lined up early Thursday at retailers such as Target in hopes of purchasing a unit. 'I'm just rolling the dice here,' said Edgar Huo, who was in a line of about 25 outside of a Target in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. — ASSOCIATED PRESS Advertisement TOURISM Where Canadians are traveling this summer now that they're avoiding the US Canadians are traveling more this summer than they did last year — just not to the United States. According to data from Statistics Canada, the government's data-crunching agency, they have logged 10 percent more flights to overseas countries in the first five months of 2025 than they did in 2024. In that same period, they also curbed their flights to the United States by 20 percent. Car trips across the border have declined by 35 percent, leaving US border towns ravaged. The dominant winner in this behavioral shift are Caribbean countries. According to a May 2025 report from flight and ticketing analytics firm ForwardKeys, summer flight searches to the region have increased by 22 percent from last year, more than to anywhere else. Data shared with Bloomberg by the Caribbean Tourism Organization also shows that at least a half-dozen island nations have so far documented gains in Canadian arrivals, with Bermuda taking the lion's share. Although its weather is more consistent with the mid-Atlantic — with optimal temperatures in the summer — it already saw Canadian visits grow by 34 percent in the first quarter of the year. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Boston Globe
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
In the wake of Cambridge councilor being publicly accused of paying for sex, few calls to resign
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But that is hardly a universal sentiment, particularly in Toner's hometown of Cambridge, which has a reputation as a bastion of progressive politics. Advertisement Cambridge School Committee member Elizabeth Hudson said she would 'sooner make sex work legal than call for Paul Toner to resign.' 'This guy knows his stuff; he's always one of the most informed, most thoughtful, and most practical voices in the room — especially on the 'everyday infrastructure issues' that may not be ideologically or politically sexy, but which constitute the preponderance of the work required to make this a great place to live,' she said. 'As a resident, I have an interest in how he runs the City, and my interest stops there; his personal life is absolutely none of my business.' Toner, a second-term city councilor in Cambridge and former teachers' union leader, is one of 23 men publicly accused as a frequent patron of the brothel. On Friday, new names revealed in court included Toner, James C. Cusack, Jr., a surgical oncologist; and Anurag Bajpayee, the co-founder and chief executive of Woburn-based climate tech firm Gradiant. Another hearing this coming Friday is scheduled to include more names of people who allegedly frequented the network of brothels that catered to an elite clientele. Advertisement Toner, as the only public official named so far, has the highest profile of the men accused publicly. Shortly after he was named in a clerk magistrate's hearing Friday afternoon, Toner released a statement saying, 'I caused pain for the people I care about most. For that, I will be forever sorry. This is an ongoing legal matter and I will not have further comment at this time.' A spokesperson for Toner declined to comment further on Saturday. Toner's colleagues on the council have largely kept their powder dry. Several signed onto a joint statement calling the allegations troubling, but also noting that he 'has the right to a fair process through the judicial system.' 'If convicted, his actions would not simply be a lapse in judgment of a private individual but a crime and a violation of the trust placed in him by the public,' said Councilors Burhan Azeem, Patricia M. Nolan, Sumbul Siddiqui, and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler in the statement released Friday evening. 'Illegal prostitution is inherently exploitative and is not a victimless crime. We stand with those hurt by exploitation.' They called for Toner to 'consider the impact of this situation on the City Council and his role as a leader in the community,' but they did not mention resignation in the statement. Sobrinho-Wheeler, in a separate statement, did call on him to resign. Councilor Catherine Zusy, though, said he should remain on the council. She said Toner was a 'real leader' on the legislative body, and that he was smart, conscientious, and hard-working. Advertisement 'He adds extraordinary value,' said Zusy. 'He did something really stupid. No, I don't think he should resign from the Council. We need him.' Cambridge's mayor, E. Denise Simmons, said in a statement that it is 'essential we respect due process and uphold the presumption of innocence as the legal proceedings unfold.' 'Councilor Toner and his family must determine how they wish to proceed and as mayor I intend to provide them the appropriate space and privacy to navigate this difficult time, to the extent possible,' she said. Kimberly Sansoucy, executive director of the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women, declined to comment directly on Toner's case. She said the city organized a group that includes advocates, business leaders, and law enforcement to come up with changes to cut down on the exploitative illegal sex trade. 'What's important to understand is the systemic nature of commercial sexual exploitation in our communities,' she said. 'The work of the Women's Commission and our Stakeholders group centers on supporting those who have been harmed while working to prevent future exploitation.' The Title IX Aurelia Advocates, a sexual violence advocacy organization at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, urged the council to call for Toner's resignation, saying his connection to the case 'signals that those involved with sexual violence are rewarded with positions of power.' 'Rewarding this behavior is a slap in the face for survivors,' read a statement from the organization. 'These women will never be in a position to defend themselves to the degree that Toner will. Survivors of sexual crimes are often shamed or discredited.' This brothel ring, operating out of apartment buildings in Cambridge, Watertown, and suburban Washington, D.C., came to light when federal authorities raided it in November 2023. At the time, prosecutors charged three operators and said they'd seek accountability for men who'd bought sex there. The story made national news after authorities said that the brothel's detailed record keeping showed them that the clientele included elected officials, government contractors with security clearances, doctors, lawyers, and professors. Advertisement All three operators have pleaded guilty, and ringleader Han 'Hana' Lee, 42, This is a case, advocates for trafficked women say, In December 2023, Cambridge Police, working with federal law enforcement, sought charges in state court against 28 men. Authorities have said they chose these men out of the 2,800 contacts in the brothel's cell phone because they had exchanged the most text messages with it. But their names remained private after their initial hearings were delayed for more than a year in the face of a series of appeals. This month, 23 of the men have since had their initial hearings, and at least five more whose names still private remain. Only two of the 23 men showed up to their court dates, with most sending their attorneys in their stead. The first dozen hearings Along with Toner this past Friday, though, was Anurag Bajpayee, an MIT-educated chief executive of a billion-dollar local tech once described as a 'unicorn.' Advertisement He's accused of buying sex at least 11 times, according to a police report that said he exchanged 501 texts with the brothel hotline. A Globe review of publicly available records confirmed that Bajpayee is the chief executive and co-founder of Gradiant's technology, based on the natural evaporation and rainfall cycle, cleans wastewater at factories and manufacturing facilities for corporate clients including Coca-Cola, Micron Technology, and Pfizer. The Globe reported in 2023 that the company employed more than 900 people and had more than doubled its annual revenue for each of the previous four years. Neither Bajpayee nor Gradiant responded to requests for comment on Friday or Saturday. On Saturday, the cell listed for Bajpayee had been disconnected. During the hearing on Friday, Bajpayee's attorney Daniel Gaudet sought to poke holes in the police narrative, saying evidence around his client was inconsistent. Bajpayee was not present for the hearing. 'Probable cause is lacking,' Gaudet said. 'It's not enough.' Jeremiah Manion and Travis Andersen of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Sean Cotter can be reached at
