Home Showcase: Mystic views accent Charlestown duplex

This newly renovated duplex is one of two in a Charlestown row house on a hill with views of the waterfront along the Mystic River.

The exterior of 100 Baldwin St. has been redone with yellow HardiePlank siding, all new Pella windows with white trim and a new rubber roof. The condo, which is near the Schrafft Center and a quarter-mile from the Sullivan Square Orange Line T stop, is on the market for $685,000.

Unit 2 is on the second and third floors and you enter into an open living/dining area with three front-facing windows, a light/fan, paneled wainscoting and new dark-stained oak floors.

The adjacent recessed-lit oak-floored kitchen has 22 gray custom cabinets atop polished white granite countertops and a breakfast bar that seats two. Stainless steel appliances include a Fisher Paykel refrigerator and gas stove, and a Bosch dishwasher.

Off the kitchen, through a red door, sits a 6-by-8-foot rear deck with panoramic views of Charlestown.

Behind the kitchen is a full bathroom with marble tile floors and surround for a shower and deep soaking tub, as well as a white granite-topped vanity. There are two closets outside the bathroom.

The unit's three bedrooms, all with dark-stained oak floors, are on the second level, off a hallway with a closet holding a stacked washer and dryer.

The master bedroom has two windows, high ceilings and a white 15-cabinet custom built-in over and around the bed location, plus a large walk-in closet. Its en-suite master bathroom features a marble tile floor and a large marble-lined walk-in shower, in addition to a white polished granite-topped vanity.

The second bedroom has white cabinets built in around a bed opening, and two windows with views out over the Mystic River.

A small third bedroom, more suitable as a home office, also has built-in white cabinets, a light/fan and a window with views of the Mystic River.

One floor up is a 12-by-14-foot private roof deck with views of Charlestown.

The unit has its own gas-fired central heating and air-conditioning system.

There is no on-site parking space, so the option is street parking with a residential permit.

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U.S. slaps more sanctions on N. Korea

HONOLULU — Opening a new front in its cyber spat with North Korea, the United States slapped new sanctions yesterday on government officials and the North's defense industry in its first public act of retribution for a cyberattack against Sony.

Despite lingering doubts in the cyber community, the U.S. insisted that North Korea was to blame and the White House warned that this was just the opening salvo in the U.S. response.

While the fresh sanctions will have limited effect, American officials portrayed the move as a swift and decisive response to North Korean behavior they said had gone far over the line. Never before has the U.S. imposed sanctions on another nation in direct retaliation for a cyberattack on an American company.

"The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others," President Obama wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

The 10 North Koreans singled out for sanctions didn't necessarily have anything to do with the attack on Sony, senior U.S. officials said. Anyone who works for or helps North Korea's government is now fair game, said the officials.

The sanctions also apply to three organizations closely tied to North Korea's government: the country's primary intelligence agency, a state-owned arms dealer that exports missile and weapons technology, and the Korea Tangun Trading Corp., which supports defense research. All three of those entities were already subject to U.S. sanctions, so yesterday's move against those groups appeared primarily symbolic.

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Redesigned Volvo safe and sound

Do you want safety, technology and outstanding performance? Throw in head-turning curb appeal and the 2015.5 Volvo XC60 R-design has it and then some.

Safety features abound, and upgraded with the Technology and Blindspot packages, you have at your fingertips lane-departure warning, drowsy-driving alerts, in-town braking, front and rear pedestrian monitoring, and dynamic cruise control that will sense if another car has slowed or gotten too close to you. Add parking-assist cameras, cross-traffic alerts, merge-assist warnings and the legendary tough Volvo chassis, frames and body construction, and you have it all. This car has extremely high crash and safety ratings.

A new smartphone app that can start or stop the engine, unlock the doors and provide a wide variety of systems info such as gas consumption, remaining mileage, odometer average speed and fluid levels round out many of the updates to the 2015.5 XC60. It even has a built-in hotspot and Wi-Fi connection accessible through one of the drop-down menus.

The R-design T6 features the inline, six-cylinder, 3.0-liter, 325-horsepower turbo engine, which gets this handsome SUV rolling quickly and powerfully, but does not enjoy the improved mileage of the four-cylinder Drive-E engines. I had no qualms about giving up a little bit of fuel economy to enjoy the best engine for this vehicle. The refined chassis configuration demands the better-performing engine and this power plant delivers.

The R-design upgrades the chassis to a sport configuration, and with the oversized 20-inch wheels it handles like a sports sedan. The firm shocks, anti-roll bars, traction controls and all-wheel-drive keep the SUV planted firmly on the road. Steering response is sensational and the XC60 feels secure and solid.

Sliding into the luxurious and refined leather interior is a joy. Comfort and support is second to none. The leather-wrapped dash is sleek and sports a ghostly electronic speedometer and display. Your car and running information is located on the side and the safety features are projected in the gauge as you call them up. Rear-seat passengers will enjoy ample legroom and the cargo area goes from good to fantastic if the rear seats are dropped.

The simple, elegant and functional controls and interior hide a sophisticated electronic setup. The powerful Harman Kardon audio system is navigated through a number of interfaces including voice, steering wheel and manual controls. Phone setup was easy and the transmission quality excellent.

With a base price of $46,650, our optioned-up tester R-design T6 rang in at $54,420, slotting this luxury performer competitively with similar cars such as the BMW X series, Audi QX5 and Acura RDX.

The solid construction, quality materials and excellent repair record give this an edge over many cars in class.

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GM recalls 92K trucks, SUVs for ignition lock defect

DETROIT — General Motors is recalling 92,221 full-size trucks and SUVs for a defect in ignition lock systems that can cause safety problems in hot conditions.

Thursday's recall covers certain 2011-2012-models and certain 2007-2014-models that were repaired with defective parts. The recall is for U.S., Canadian, Mexican and exported vehicles.

The affected models re Chevrolet Silverado light-duty and heavy-duty pickups; Avalanche, Tahoe and Suburban; GMC Sierra light duty and heavy-duty pickups; and Yukon and Yukon XL; Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV and Escalade EXT.

GM says the ignition lock actuators may be too wide, making turning the key difficult when it's hot inside the cab. No crashes or injuries have been reported.

Last year, GM recalled 2.6 million small cars for defective ignition switches, linked to at least 42 deaths and 58 injuries.

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Smart devices prey to hackers

An unprecedented boom in wearable technology and smart homes will make 2015 a year of huge rewards for American consumers — and terrifying opportunities for hackers.

Did you think North Korea's hack into Sony Pictures was bad? Try a hack of your insulin pump, your heart monitor, your light bulbs or your door locks.

Data thefts are about to hit us where we live. As sensors on your wrists and your walls become ubiquitous, the data derived from them is being collected and stored — and its security is about to be tested in a major way in 2015.

Central to the year's digital plot line is what is known as the Internet of Things — think of it as a revolution akin to the World Wide Web in the 1990s.

Instead of wiring computers together, we're wiring devices together, bringing online nearly everything that was previously inert.

Exhibit A: Google has acquired digital thermostat-maker Nest. Exhibit B: Apple's upcoming release of the iWatch.

From your thermostat to your health tracker, everything will start to have its own Internet protocol, or IP Address, starting this year.

The opportunities for the tech industry are huge.

Cable companies and wireless providers alike are trying to dominate in this space, offering monthly smart-home packages with huge install costs and monthly fees. But they'll fail.

What's likely to win out are the easy-setup piecemeal options that communicate well together. Those include the Philips Hue connected light bulbs, Microsoft's Kinect sensor, which straddles the line of smart home and fitness devices, the Apple HealthKit platform and, of course, Nest.

Eventually, smart home technology and wearables will work seamlessly together and you'll think of both as part of one big category, the Internet of Things.

But here's the spark that will ignite a revolution: The biggest providers of cloud computing, Amazon and Microsoft, have made it easier than ever for smaller startups to have the capability to analyze the reams of data coming from all those sensors.

Within the past several months, smaller companies have been able to take these massive quantities of intel — streams of data so big and so smart they're more like neural networks — and apply a type of artificial intelligence known as "machine learning" to them. That's when computers become so smart they program themselves.

That would usually take millions of dollars in capital investments. But advances in cloud computing mean the cost is close to zero.

In 2015, companies will start to be able to provide amazing services we can't even anticipate today, driving the entire smart home and health revolution forward and solidifying it as a central part of our consumer culture.

But as all this data is pulled and stored, access points for cyberattackers increase. And no matter what these companies tell you, our security capabilities have not caught up — and won't in 2015.

Devices that digitally secure your home may seem smart now, but what if a state-sponsored group implanted them with a virus programmed to lay dormant until one day it unlocks all the homes in a particular city? Or those smart thermostats that provide great intel on when people are home and even in a particular room? They might give rise to smart burglars.

So while corporations are worried about being the next Sony Pictures, my concern for 2015 is an attack on the Internet of Things — the digital epitome of a double-edged sword.

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Hot Property: In 2015, new digs on the block

What we will see in Greater Boston residential real estate this year will be a lot like what we saw last year.

Another big wave of high-end apartment complexes will open between winter and spring, including 315 apartments at the Ink Block in the South End, 378 in neighboring Troy Boston, 359 apartments at 100 Pier 4 in the Seaport District and 398 units at the Ava Theater District. One Greenway in Chinatown will add another 217 market-rate apartments by summer.

East Cambridge's NorthPoint area will see two large apartment complexes opening this year: 355 units at Twenty 20 and 392 apartments at the Zinc at 22 Water St., near the new Lechmere Green Line station.

Over in the Fenway, two large luxury apartment projects will debut this spring: the Viridian with 322 units and the Van Ness with 172 units. And One Canal will add 320 new apartments on the Greenway this fall.

Whether the Hub can absorb this second wave of high-end rentals will indicate whether Boston is seeing exponential job growth and an increasing influx of millennials, empty-nesters and internationals, or if there's an oversupply, which will result in cutthroat competition that reduces rents.

"The first half of 2015 will be a lot like what we saw last year, with lots of new luxury apartments and a restricted condo inventory," said real estate columnist and William Raveis agent David Bates.

Bates sees the growth of emerging markets such as East Boston, and Dorchester neighborhoods such as Fields Corner and Savin Hill, as places for buyers looking in the $500,000 range as more are priced out of neighborhoods such as South Boston and Jamaica Plain and most of Cambridge and Somerville.

The city is seeking to encourage building denser housing in corridors along Dorchester Avenue between Broadway and Andrews and around the Forest Hills Orange Line station, but there will remain a shortage of more moderately priced condos and apartments for the foreseeable future. But a few, such as the 43-apartment Parkside on Adams in Roslindale, are slated to open this year.

And the shortage also goes for the high-end condo
market. Twenty Two Liberty in the Seaport District will debut at the end of the year, but its 109 condos are nearly sold out. So, too, are almost all of the 83 units at Sepia in the South End opening in the fall.

Two big luxury condo projects are breaking ground on Dalton Street near the Christian Science Center. Construction also will start on Lovejoy Wharf, 40 Trinity Place and Copley Place Tower, but delivery on these are two years away.

What will be available this year are smaller condo projects such as the 12-unit Royal in the South End and small South Boston and Back Bay projects.

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Hasbro to replace penis-shaped Play-Doh toy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It was an embarrassing Christmas for Nivea Cabrera after she was accused by her fiance's mother of letting her 5-year-old granddaughter play with a sex toy. A mortified Carbrera asked the child where she got the penis-shaped plastic cylinder.

"It's from my Play-Doh," the girl replied.

Hasbro, the Pawtucket-based toy company, is now doing damage control over the extruder tool in its Play-Doh Cake Mountain toy. The two-piece syringe-like tool, which includes a tube with corkscrew-type ridges around the outside and a dome-shaped top with a hole at the tip, can be used to squeeze Play-Doh to look like decorative cake frosting.

Complaints have been surfacing since at least November, when Tulsa, Oklahoma, TV station KTUL showed the tool to parents and asked them what they thought. The station blurred the image of the tool during the piece, saying it was due to parents' reactions. One woman told the station it was "a pretty phallic cake-decorating piece."

After Christmas, comments started pouring in to Play-Doh's Facebook page, including from Cabrera, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She said Hasbro called her after she posted a photo of the tool and asked about the shape on Christmas Day. She said the company offered to send her a replacement tool in a different shape, which she has not received.

Erin Rivers, a mother of two from Melbourne, Florida, thought it was hilarious when she helped her 6-year-old daughter open the box.

"I pulled out this extruder tool, and I just started cracking up at it, I couldn't help it. Then I immediately put the Play-Doh in it and took a picture of," she said.

Then, she posted it on Facebook.

"My friends have just as dirty minds as I do," she said. "It was hysterical to me. And then I gave it my daughter to play with."

She said her daughter and 4-year-old son don't notice anything strange about the toy.

Hasbro Inc. has received thousands of comments on the Play-Doh Facebook page pointing out the obvious.

"We are in the process of updating all future Play-Doh products with a different tool," it said in a statement posted on the page Tuesday.

It also offered to replace the tool for anyone who has complaints.

Rivers, who works in a pediatric dental office, says she's not upset at all. But she is flabbergasted that the toy slipped past so many layers of people at Hasbro.

"They have to have someone who creates it, someone who makes the plastic mold, someone who plays with it," she said. "I can't imagine that as many people that probably saw the toy, not one person said, 'Does anyone else think this looks like a penis?'"

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Business leaders bullish on 2015

After a year of strong economic growth in Boston, local business leaders tell the Herald they predict booming startups, cheap gas and steady development in 2015. Here are their forecasts:

Robby Bitting, marketing director at MassChallenge, on Boston startups: "We're super optimistic on 2015. There's a lot of momentum and success. On one hand, you see the big IPOs from this year with Wayfair and HubSpot that have generated a lot of excitement and ... attention for the startup community in Boston. But, on another level, what's really important is there's a lot of activity for earlier-stage entrepreneurs. Not only do you see it in the consumer web and enterprise software, but you also see that in healthcare, biotech and energy, and even in social enterprises."

Oil expert Andrew Reed, principal of ESAI Energy: "The price decreases (for heating oil and gasoline at the pump) we saw in the last few months put us at a new level where we should be staying — not just this winter, but for the next several years. OPEC ... had a decision coming for some time: Either you cut production (of crude oil) to defend the price or you keep producing to protect your market share. They've chosen the latter, which means there's a lot of crude oil out there."

Ernie Boch Jr., CEO of Boch Enterprises: "2014 was a great year for the automotive industry. 2015 looks like a better year, as long as the domestic (automakers) keep their production in line. In 2014, there was a great balance of supply and demand, but there were signs that the domestics were starting to over-produce, which could be dangerous."

Pat Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau: "We've had three consecutive years of strong growth and are hitting new highs in visitors and hotel activity and tax revenue generated." International visitors have been the strongest market segment. "That's been fueled by the aggressive marketing that we've been doing internationally for Boston and Cambridge, but also the success of Massport's new international air service activity."

John B. Hynes III, CEO of Boston Global Investors, on real estate development: "I think you're going to see an average development year, with another 4 or 5 million square feet put under construction citywide. I would like to think it will be good for another million square feet of starts in Seaport Square, having started a million feet this year."

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State clears dispensary to grow, sell medical pot in Salem

A Massachusetts company will begin growing cannabis and selling medical marijuana from a Salem dispensary, thanks to the first certificate of registration issued by the state.

The state Department of Public Health yesterday announced the clearance for Alternative Therapies Group Inc.

Alternative Therapies plans to sell its medical marijuana — which Massachusetts law requires must be grown from seed — to 1,526 patients in its first year, according to its filing with the state. The plants will be grown at its Amesbury cultivation site.

"Providing safe patient access is a priority of the Medical Use of Marijuana Program, and we are proud to take this important step forward," state Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz said in a statement. "Selecting dispensaries that meet our high standards takes time, but ensuring a launch of this new industry the right way for the people of Massachusetts is a top priority."

State public health officials visited Alternative Therapies' dispensary and cultivation sites to review its floor plans, security and cultivation operations to ensure product safety and quality; its storage and transportation standards; and responsiveness to patient needs, the DPH said.

The company will be subject to further oversight, including inspection of its transportation plans and testing of its marijuana plants once they are grown, before it's permitted to move or sell its marijuana for medical use. Ongoing oversight will include unannounced inspections before and after sales begin.

Other companies seeking to operate medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts are in the inspection phase.

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Workers: $1 hike in Mass. minimum wage is welcome

An estimated 280,000 Massachusetts workers — including 28,000 in Boston — will ring in the new year with a welcome addition to their paychecks.

That's the number of minimum-wage earners expected to get a $1-per-hour boost in their pay starting Jan. 1, when the first of three state Legislature-approved minimum-wage hikes takes effect, bringing the rate to $9-an-hour for 2015.

"That helps me very much," said Rita Dias, a 26-year-old Dorchester resident who helps support her mother and brother. "When it's going to be more up, it's going to be more helpful."

Dias earns the minimum wage for the 20 hours per week she works at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Roslindale and CW Price in Dorchester.

"It's not enough," Dias said. "Sometime I need to think about the rent I need to pay or buy food and help my family."

The $1-per-hour increase in the minimum wage will be the first increase since 2006 and will be followed by $1 increases in 2016 and 2017.

"It's not a living wage, but it's at least a step toward it," said Lew Finfer, director of the faith-based Massachusetts Communities Action Network and co-chairman of Raise Up Massachusetts.

According to the MIT living-wage calculator, a single adult in Boston needs to make $12.65 an hour and work full time to earn a living to meet average monthly expenses.

Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of community, religious and labor groups, collected 193,000-plus signatures to put a minimum-wage increase on the November ballot, prompting the Legislature to approve the wage hikes.

"We can come back in 2017 and hopefully get it up further," Finfer said.

Meanwhile, Mattapan resident Wendelly Innocent said the extra $1 per hour will provide a little help when it comes to making ends meet.

"It's better than the $8," said Innocent, 19, who works about 30 hours a week at a Dunkin' Donuts in Dorchester. "It's a struggle to make ends meet, paying bills. It's going to be less of a struggle, but it still will be a struggle."

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Maura Healey may sue drug cos. to rein in Rx abuse

Attorney General-elect Maura Healey said she would consider taking legal action against pharmaceutical companies to help rein in prescription drug abuse that can lead to heroin addiction.

Healey pointed to a lawsuit brought by Kentucky against Purdue Pharma alleging the company misled health care providers, consumers and government officials regarding the risk of addiction associated with the drug OxyContin.

"It's something I want to look at," Healey said. "I certainly won't hesitate to take action against pharmaceutical companies that are engaged in unfair or deceptive marketing practices and aren't being straight with the public."

Healey said the problem of opiate addiction has been growing, in part, because prescription painkillers have become so powerful while the cost of illegal drugs such as heroin has plummeted as their potency has increased. That's led to a rise of overdoses, she said.

The Kentucky lawsuit was filed in 2007 and remains pending.

Richard Silbert, a lawyer for Purdue Pharma, said the company agrees prescription drug abuse is a serious problem. He said that's why the company reformulated OxyContin to make it harder to abuse. But Silbert said the evidence doesn't show the company's marketing caused harm.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has said the state is moving ahead with the lawsuit.

Kentucky isn't alone. In July, the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit alleging five pharmaceutical companies, including Purdue Pharma, deceptively marketed their drugs to treat long-term, non-cancer pain. Chicago's lawsuit mirrors a complaint filed in June by two California counties.

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France drops its super tax on millionaires

PARIS — It was supposed to force millionaires to pay tax rates of up to 75 percent: "Cuba without the sun," as described by a critic from the banking industry. Socialist President Francois Hollande's super tax was rejected by a court, rewritten and ultimately netted just a sliver of its projected proceeds. It ends on Wednesday and will not be renewed.

And that critic of the tax? He's now Hollande's economy minister, trying mightily to undo the damage to France's image in international business circles.

The tax of 75 percent on income earned above one million euros ($1.22 million) was promoted in 2012 by the newly-elected Hollande as a symbol of a fairer policy for the middle class, a financial contribution of the wealthiest at a time of economic crisis.

But the government was never able to fully implement the measure. It was overturned by France's highest court and rewritten as a 50 percent tax paid by employers.

Faced with a stalling economy and rising unemployment, the government reversed course in 2014 with a plan to cut payroll taxes by up to 40 billion euros ($49 billion) by 2017, hoping to boost hiring and attract more investments.

All the while, Prime Minister Manuel Valls kept repeating his new credo: "My government is pro-business".

Ultimately, while the super tax affected only a small number of taxpayers, it triggered huge protests in business, sporting and artistic communities.

French actor Gerard Depardieu decried it vociferously and took Russian citizenship. Soccer clubs threatened to boycott matches for fear that 114 of their players or coaches would be taxed. The final version of the tax allowed them to minimize the burden.

The announcement of the 75 percent tax had "a very bad psychological effect" in business circles, says Sandra Hazan, a lawyer who heads Dentons Global Tax Group. Even if most of the companies were able to minimize or avoid the tax, "I think it had an extremely devastating impact on the attractiveness of France for foreigners."

At the time of its proposal, British Prime minister David Cameron ironically proposed to "roll out the red carpet" to French companies willing to avoid the tax.

Economist Thomas Piketty, author of the book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century", criticized it as "a millstone around the neck" of the government, asking instead for global reform of tax laws.

Proceeds from the tax are estimated to total 420 million euros ($512 million) for about 1,000 employees in 470 companies, according to the government. By comparison, France's budget deficit has soared well over 80 billion euros ($97 billion).

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Chipotle apologizes for NY worker's police protest

NEW YORK — Two Chipotle chief executives have apologized to New York City police officers who were greeted by a restaurant employee making the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture popular with protesters.

Co-Chief Executive Officers Steve Ells and Monty Moran said in a statement Monday that the employee's action appeared to be spontaneous. They said it happened at one of their Brooklyn restaurants on Dec. 16 when a group of nine police officers entered. They said the officers were not refused service, but chose to leave after encountering the gesture while in line.

The executives said appropriate actions had been taken toward the crew member after the Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. reviewed video footage from security cameras. They said they could not discuss what actions were taken.

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Alert issued after likely HIV porn set infection

LOS ANGELES — California public health officials issued an alert Monday after finding "very strong evidence" that an adult film actor became infected with HIV as a result of unprotected sex on an out-of-state film shoot.

The Department of Public Health said the male actor tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS after engaging in unprotected sex with several other male actors during two separate film shoots. He had tested negative before the shoot.

"During the second film shoot, he had symptoms of a viral infection," the alert states. "The actor went to a clinic and had another blood test that showed he had recently become infected with HIV."

One actor from the second shoot has since tested positive for HIV. According to the health department, lab results indicate the first actor who tested positive "probably transmitted" HIV to the second.

A health department official was unable to immediately release further details regarding the lab testing and investigation. The alert notes that very early in an HIV infection, the test can be negative "even though the actor really does have HIV."

"In this case, the actor and production company thought he was HIV-negative during filming," the alert states. "Shortly after his negative test, HIV levels in his body rose rapidly to where he could infect other actors through unprotected sex.

A California-based trade group for the adult film industry declined to comment.

A health department official declined to release any information regarding when the transmission had taken place or which company it involved, citing privacy restrictions, but said the apparent transmission occurred in Nevada.

"It's happened before, it's happened now, and it will happen in the future," said Michael Weinstein, president of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "The big lie the industry has been saying all these years, there are no on-set transmissions, has been proven to be untrue."

The foundation championed an ordinance adopted by Los Angeles County voters in 2012 requiring actors in pornographic films to use condoms. The porn industry has fought the ordinance, saying having actors use condoms would interfere with a film's fantasy element by subjecting viewers to real-world concerns like pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

A federal appeals court recently ruled the ordinance does not violate First Amendment rights.

Several porn companies have moved shoots out of the county over the last two years in response to the ordinance. The number of porn filmmakers applying for permits in LA County has declined sharply, from 485 in 2012 to 40 in 2013.

The last confirmed on-set HIV infection was in 2004. After that, the porn industry adopted monthly testing for a range of STDs. Last year, the industry increased testing to every 14 days after a woman who performs under the name Cameron Bay contracted HIV. Her diagnosis triggered a moratorium on adult film production until all performers who worked with her were medically cleared.

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No health insurance? Penalties to rise in 2015

WASHINGTON — The cost of being uninsured in America is going up significantly next year for millions of people.

It's the first year all taxpayers have to report to the Internal Revenue Service whether they had health insurance for the previous year, as required under President Barack Obama's law. Those who were uninsured face fines, unless they qualify for one of about 30 exemptions, most of which involve financial hardships.

Dayna Dayson of Phoenix estimates that she'll have to pay the tax man $290 when she files her federal return. Dayson, who's in her early 30s, works in marketing and doesn't have a lot left over each month after housing, transportation and other fixed costs. She'd like health insurance but she couldn't afford it in 2014, as required by the law.

"It's touted as this amazing thing, but right now, for me, it doesn't fit into my budget," she said.

Ryan Moon of Des Moines, Iowa, graduated from college in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in political science and is still hunting for a permanent job with benefits. He expects to pay a fine of $95. A supporter of the health care law, he feels conflicted about its insurance mandate and fines.

"I hate the idea that you have to pay a penalty, but at the same time, it helps other people," said Moon, who's in his early 20s. "It really helps society, but society has to be forced to help society."

Going without health insurance has always involved financial risks. You could have an accident and end up with thousands of dollars in medical bills. Now, you may also get fined. In a decision that allowed Obama's law to advance, the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the coverage requirement and its accompanying fines were a constitutionally valid exercise of Congress' authority to tax.

In 2015, all taxpayers have to report to the IRS on their health insurance status the previous year. Most will check a box. It's also when the IRS starts collecting fines from some uninsured people, and deciding if others qualify for exemptions.

What many people don't realize is that the penalties go up significantly in 2015. Only 3 percent of uninsured people know what the fine for 2015 will be, according to a recent poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

Figuring out your potential exposure if you're uninsured isn't simple.

For 2014, the fine is the greater of $95 per person or 1 percent of household income above the threshold for filing taxes. It will jump in 2015 to the greater of 2 percent of income or $325. By 2016, the average fine will be about $1,100, based on government figures.

People can get a sense of the potential hit by going online and using the Tax Policy Center's Affordable Care Act penalty calculator.

Many taxpayers may be able to get a pass. Based on congressional analysis, tax preparation giant H&R Block says roughly 4 million uninsured people will pay penalties and 26 million will qualify for exemptions from the list of more than 30 waivers.

But it's unclear whether taxpayers are aware of the exemptions.

Deciding what kind of waiver to seek could be crucial. Some can be claimed directly on a tax return, but others involve mailing paperwork to the Health and Human Services Department. Tax preparation companies say the IRS has told them it's taking steps to make sure taxpayers' returns don't languish in bureaucratic limbo while HHS rules on their waivers.

TurboTax has created a free online tool called "Exemption Check" for people to see if they may qualify for a waiver. Charges apply later if the taxpayer files through TurboTax.

Timing will be critical for uninsured people who want to avoid the rising penalties for 2015.

That's because Feb. 15 is the last day of open enrollment under the health law. After that, only people with special circumstances can sign up. But just 5 percent of uninsured people know the correct deadline, according to the Kaiser poll.

"We could be looking at a real train wreck after Feb. 15," said Stan Dorn, a health policy expert at the nonpartisan Urban Institute. "People will file their tax returns and learn they are subject to a much larger penalty for 2015, and they can do absolutely nothing to avoid that."

The insurance requirement and penalties remain the most unpopular part of the health care law. They were intended to serve a broader purpose by nudging healthy people into the insurance pool, helping to keep premiums more affordable.

Sensitive to political backlash, supporters of the health care law have played down the penalties in their sign-up campaigns. But stressing the positive — such as the availability of financial help and the fact that insurers can no longer turn away people with health problems — may be contributing to the information gap about the penalties.

Dayson, the Phoenix resident, says she's hoping her employer will offer a health plan she can fit into her budget, allowing her to avoid higher fines for 2015.

In Des Moines, recent college graduate Moon has held a succession of temporary local and state government jobs that don't provide affordable coverage. The penalties are on his mind.

"When it gets up to $325, I hope I have a career that actually offers me a good health care plan," he said.

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Associated Press Social Media Editor Eric Carvin contributed to this report.

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Online:

Tax Policy Center ACA penalty calculator: http://tinyurl.com/mrppjoe

TurboTax Exemption Check: http://bit.ly/1xu9hDl

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Somerville program helps young adults develop skills for employment

A Somerville workforce development program has teamed up with a jobs website to match low-income young adults with local businesses.

Although anyone can post or apply for one-off jobs or part-time work for free on HelpAroundTown.com, young adults age 18 to 24 in the city's Pocket Change program can signify their membership by using a badge on their profile, and employers can give preference to those applicants if they choose, said program manager Amanda Maher, the city's senior economic development specialist.

Pocket Change members get alerts when new jobs become available, and their case managers help them to apply and act as contacts if a job-poster wants to provide feedback.

Through a $7,500 contract, Somerville will pay for improvements to the Help Around Town website, which will allow the city to continue to use it for the Pocket Change program, Maher said.

Reem Yared, chief executive of Help Around Town, said Somerville initially approached her for advice, but it became clear that both sides were on the same page.

"We had exactly the same goals," she said. "I started Help Around Town with the specific purpose of helping youth find local jobs and build a reputation."

She said many employers will go the extra mile if they know they will be helping someone who really needs a job.

"It's really out of good citizenship, they know they are hiring local youth who want to make it," Yared said.

Funding for the contract and the program is provided through a $100,000 Working Cities Challenge Grant, awarded to Somerville early this year by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The city applied for the grant after a 2013 report by Commonwealth Corporation and the Drexel University Center for Labor Markets and Policy found that many young adults lack the "soft skills" needed for a job, such as knowing how to write a cover letter and resume, showing up for work on time and not talking on their cellphones on the job, Maher said.

"Many employers were saying, 'If you can send us someone with those skills and a good work ethic, we'll train them to do the rest,' " she said. "So the whole idea behind the program using Help Around Town is to provide young adults with pocket change while we work with them on soft-skill training. It also provides them with work experience for their resumes, as well as references, so that they'll be ready some day for full-time permanent employment."

The partnership between Pocket Change and Help Around Town has already paid dividends, Maher said. Several young adults who applied for one-off jobs with Somerville businesses through the site have since moved into more permanent employment with a local business.

In the meantime, the city has been seeking additional funders to sustain the program, she said.

For more information, contact Amanda Maher at amaher@somervillema.gov or 617-625-6600, ext. 2528, or go to HelpAroundTown.com.

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Amazon quick-delivery plans threaten small stores

Bay State convenience stores could be in for a world of pain in 2015 if Amazon speeds up and expands its same-day delivery services.

All signs point to Amazon vastly growing its Massachusetts footprint in the next year, and CEO Jeff Bezos has made no secret that instant delivery of goods to consumers is the end-game of America's biggest e-commerce giant. That means we may see the same one-hour delivery window that is currently being piloted in Manhattan — and that spells disaster for the sales volume of corner marts, which will simply no longer seem convenient.

A 1-million-square-foot fulfillment facility in Fall River, with part of the land located in Freetown, is on track to begin construction in 2015. Another 328,000-square-foot warehouse is planned for Stoughton, fueled by $2.89 million in state tax breaks over the next decade.

It's hard to blame the state for luring Amazon: The proposed facilities and its already existing properties stand to create many Bay State jobs, including an estimated 1,000 positions in Fall River and another 125 in Stoughton.

Amazon has been growing its same-day delivery service for years, and it's already available in parts of Boston and a dozen other U.S. cities. It's unclear how popular the service is locally. I've never used it, and you have to hunt around the website to find what's available for same-day delivery. But expect Amazon to start heavily promoting the service as part of its Prime subscription loyalty program in 2015.

"Our long-term vision is that customers can order and receive a sellers' product the same day anywhere in the world," reads a job listing posted by Amazon in late October, one of several open positions that point to a major hiring blitz to extend the same-day strategy across 
the globe.

Manhattan appears to be the test city for that strategy. One week before Christmas, Amazon launched the Prime Now app, which enables one-hour delivery for Prime members in parts of Manhattan. With more than 25,000 items available, delivery within an hour costs $7.99 and Prime members can select a two-hour delivery window from 6 a.m. to midnight for free. Amazon's video commercial for the service says customers can order everything from coffee grinders to TVs and have them within an hour.

Considering Amazon's shipping costs were more than double its shipping revenue for most of 2014, I'm skeptical that they'll find a way to make money on same-hour delivery anytime soon. Let's just hope they don't put too many convenience stores out of business before they raise their prices to the intended rates.

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Mayor Martin J. Walsh: ‘A ways to go’ on securing Wynn agreement

Mayor Martin J. Walsh said the city still has "a ways to go" before reaching a deal with Wynn Resorts that would clear the way for the casino giant to obtain Boston roadwork permits for its $1.6 billion gaming palace in Everett.

Walsh told the Herald his team met internally about the matter Friday, and said talks have been slow going as of late.

"My Transportation Department's been meeting with the Wynn people, but we have to get back on this and see where we go with this," Walsh said. "Right now it's slow. We still have a ways to go before we have any type of an agreement."

Wynn needs permits from Boston for road alterations in Charlestown, and pledged to submit Sullivan Square fixes to the city's Public Improvements Commission by February.

A Wynn spokesmen declined to comment.

Walsh — who cut a now-defunct mitigation deal with Mohegan Sun, which competed with Wynn for the Boston-area casino license — had an introductory meeting in October with casino magnate Steve Wynn at the Parkman House.

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Can Mass. casinos compete?

The state's gaming czar says local casinos are ready to weather mounting competitive pressures in New York and Connecticut in 2015, as his commission gears up to regulate its first gambling facility in Plainville and grapples with uncertainty over whether there will be a third Bay State casino in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Gaming Commission chairman Stephen Crosby said developments such as New York approving three new upstate casinos on Dec. 17 — including one in Schenectady, 90 minutes from the MGM Springfield project — have been "part of the calculation from the beginning."

"The Springfield facility is going to take a backseat to nobody," Crosby said. "I think we are going to have by far the most compelling, most competitively well-positioned facilities out there."

But Michael Paladino, who assesses the credit worthiness of casino companies for Fitch Ratings, said the types of casinos New York has opened, and the commercial one rumored on Connecticut's Bay State border, generally eat away at the existing local customer base, not add to it.

"We do think the market in the Northeast is saturated, particularly with the competition coming online in New York and Massachusetts," Paladino said. "It means that, generally, new competition has limited ability to grow the market, and essentially cannibalizes existing properties to a great degree."

MGM, which this year was licensed to build an $800 million casino in downtown Springfield, isn't worried.

"We are confident that as an urban revitalization project our innovative design, tested marketing plan, and strong brand will make MGM Springfield a premiere destination resort casino in the Northeast," MGM spokeswoman Carole Brennan said. "We are moving full steam ahead for a spring 2015 groundbreaking."

Boston College professor Richard McGowan, a casino expert, expects to see Massachusetts projects cut back as New York facilities come online, and for the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos to adjust to hold on to market share.

"In the long run ... you're going to see a repeat of Atlantic City, eventually," McGowan said, referring to the widespread shuttering of casinos this year. "There's going to be too many."

The first facility to open will be the $225 million Penn National slots parlor at the Plainridge Race Course in Plainville, expected in June. Crosby said the commission will add 10 to 15 staff members to regulate the Penn facility, which he called the gaming panel's "real focus" in 2015.

Meanwhile, there is a dearth of developments for the "Region C" resort casino license in the southeastern part of the state, with a Jan. 9 deadline for interested parties to submit a list of principals for background checks.

KG Urban has been approved to pursue a license in Region C, but has yet to announce an operator or win the support of New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, who is shopping the municipal golf course and a waterfront industrial site to casino operators.

"The market here in the Southeast is clearly weaker than it is in the other two regions," Mitchell said. "We're not holding our breath, but we're also open for a good proposal still."

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Mass. skiing awaits cold

Massachusetts ski areas are awaiting this week's forecasted return of colder weather to make more snow and kick the season up a notch.

Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, which opened Nov. 21, had one of its strongest and earliest launches in years for a record month.

"As the result of cold early temperatures, we were able to make snow early, and then we got the bonus of a 10-inch snowstorm around Thanksgiving," marketing director Tom Meyers said. "So we've had one of the best Novembers we've ever had."

But December has been a different story.

"December has been challenging all month, not just the last few days," Meyers said. "We've made snow whenever we can, but it's been not as cold as it was early. But, nevertheless, we still have over three-quarters of the mountain open, and the forecast now calls for cold temperatures to return … and we're looking to start making snow again and building base depths, expanding coverage and opening additional terrain."

Wachusett had 14 trails and four lifts open yesterday, with snow base depths of eight inches to 12 inches.

Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock opened Nov. 16 with expanded snow-making operations. Yesterday, 34 trails and nine lifts were in operation with average snow base depths of eight inches to 28inches. 

"The season started out very solid and … we were able to get all our snow-making terrain open before Christmas," CEO Tyler Fairbank said. "We've never been able to do that before."

Rain on Christmas Eve and into Christmas knocked down Jiminy Peak's trail count a bit, but with a significant amount of manmade snow on the mountain, it was able to recover very quickly with its grooming fleet, according to Fairbank.

It's been a slow start at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford, where eight of 18 trails and eight of 11 lifts were open yesterday.

The recent warmer weather has proved a challenge, according to marketing and corporate sales director Pam Fletcher. This time last year, Nashoba Valley had its entire mountain open thanks to a series of December snowstorms and more days of super cold temperatures.

"But with the cold weather coming, we can cover and open a slope from bare ground," Fletcher said. "And we already had, going into the rain, decent coverage — anywhere from 2 feet in some areas to 2 inches. That depth really helps you when you're going into the warm weather that we got over the holiday. We just need a couple of cold nights, and they can cover the whole thing."

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Short-sellers get last-minute gift with debt relief extension

WASHINGTON — For David Foster of Chicago, it was a stunning and welcome early Christmas present for him, his wife and three young children.

The Senate's 11th-hour extension of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act through Dec. 31 will save Foster, who works for a nonprofit ministry group, from having to pay the IRS about $28,000 next year on $100,000 of mortgage debt canceled by his bank as part of a short sale on his condo. Before the Senate's action, he told me he had no idea "how or where we could come up with" that sort of money.

The federal tax code treats forgiven debt as ordinary income to the borrower, taxable at regular rates. But under an exception that took effect in 2007, qualified home mortgage debt that is canceled by a lender as part of a short sale, loan modification or foreclosure is treated as non-taxable. However, that exception expired last Dec. 31 and its renewal has been in doubt all year leaving short-sellers such as Foster unsure whether they would be facing crushing taxes in 2015.

Thousands of Americans who completed short sales during 2014 and received cancellations of mortgage debt by banks had reason to celebrate when the Senate extended the exception for transactions just before adjourning for the holidays. According to data prepared for this column by research firm RealtyTrac, nearly 122,000 short sales went to closing nationwide between January and October, involving an estimated average debt forgiveness of about $88,500. The average seller had a mortgage balance one and a half times higher than the market value of the house.

In a short sale, an underwater homeowner agrees to sell the property to a new purchaser, typically for a price well below what is owed to the bank. If the bank agrees to the sale, the proceeds pay off part of the loan balance and the bank forgives, or writes off, the rest.

Richard Eastern, CEO of Washington Property Solutions Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., a brokerage specializing in short sales, says people such as Foster are the lucky ones. Substantial numbers of owners have been rushing to beat the Dec. 31 deadline. "I got a call today from a client who asked, 'we're still scheduled for Dec. 29, right?' " Eastern recounted. The typical client served by his firm is an underwater owner with $300,000 of mortgage debt on a $200,000 house.

But Eastern said he has dozens of other listings where a 2014 closing won't be possible, and some of these clients "are now devastated" in the wake of the Senate's limitation of the extension to 2014 transactions only. They could be plunging into a federal tax policy black hole when they complete their sales next year, uncertain of any further extension of the debt forgiveness law.

Eastern is mystified that Congress could not have lengthened the extension to two years, retroactive for 2014 and good through Dec. 31, 2015, a provision approved in a bipartisan vote by the Senate Finance Committee last summer. He predicts that without protection from heavy tax burdens, many underwater owners will opt instead for bankruptcy filings. In some cases, they might be able to qualify for an "insolvency" declaration, which could wipe away tax liability for unpaid mortgage balances.

How do you know whether your short sale, loan modification or foreclosure is covered by the extension for 2014? Though a tax professional familiar with the law should be your best guide, here are the key tests you'll need to pass: The house securing the mortgage debt must be your principal residence. The maximum amount of debt that qualifies for relief is $2 million ($1 million if you are married filing taxes separately.) Any portion of the mortgage debt forgiven that was used for purposes other than improving or building the house — say you refinanced, pulled cash out and used it to buy a car — will not qualify for the exclusion and may be taxable.

What are the prospects that Congress will extend the law for 2015, covering people who didn't quite make the deadline for 2014? Not great. The Republican tax policy leadership in the House favors broad tax reforms in the upcoming session and wants to put an end to temporary tax code benefits that require periodic extensions.

Unless proponents can make a strong case for mortgage debt relief as a permanent part of the tax code, it will be tough to get it extended again.

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