Later business hours fit to a T

The MBTA's late night weekend service pilot program is spurring Cambridge to join the Hub in taking a look at extending the hours businesses can remain open.

"We want to look at the potential benefits, not just for our employees and our residents, but also for our local businesses," said Lisa Hemmerle, director of economic development for Cambridge. "We have a task force formed."

Government officials make up the task force and they are laying the groundwork before its membership is opened up to the public, Hemmerle said.

The city, said Hemmerle, already has granted requests from two businesses — the Kendall Square Cinema and Veggie Galaxy — to stay open later. And Hemmerle said Cambridge plans to begin an outreach program soon to encourage businesses to stay open later.

"We're hoping to have more, as people realize now their staff can get home," said Elizabeth Lint, executive director of the Cambridge License Commission. "It's something the city has an interest in."

The MBTA's yearlong late night service pilot program, which extended the hours trains and some buses run on Friday and Saturday nights until 2:30 a.m., kicked off in late March.

Meanwhile, Boston's late night task force has met twice since Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced his proposal to let bars and restaurants stay open until 3:30 a.m.

Still, the city hasn't opened up the floodgates yet. The Boston Licensing Board last week denied a request from Amelia's Taqueria in Allston to stay open until 3 a.m. on the weekends. Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman with the mayor's office, said those kinds of requests could be viewed more favorably in the future.

"Moving down the road we'll work better in terms of managing later operating hours," she said.

The task force, trying to get a pilot program rolling by the summer, is looking at how to best implement later hours.

"What's driving this is the two main things we want to look at is the quality of life and the demand for this service," said John Fitzgerald, senior project manager at the Boston Redevelopment Authority and co-chairman of the task force.

The task force, with the help of students from the Harvard Kennedy School, so far is collecting information, including crime statistics, streetlight concentrations and is even combing through Twitter to see the age of those most likely to be tweeting between 2 and 4 a.m.

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Boston HQ’s score skyline spots

The city's skyline has long been largely off limits to companies looking to advertise their names atop high-rises, but lately several companies planting roots in Boston have been allowed to emblazon their corporate logos on their rooftops and rooflines.

Boston-bound motorists heading over the Zakim Bridge are now greeted by giant letters that spell out Converse on the roof of the sneaker makers' soon-to-be opened world headquarters. Meanwhile, travelers to the Seaport District — particularly at night — can't help but notice the illuminated Vertex sign atop the pharmaceutical company's new waterfront home.

The tenants of the two buildings join only a handful of companies — State Street's headquarters in the Financial District being the most notable — granted permission by the Boston Redevelopment Authority to vertically advertise their names.

Boston's downtown skyscrapers are mostly devoid of rooftop advertising due to a 1979 BRA rule prohibiting signs atop high-rise buildings.

Lara Merida, the BRA's deputy director for community planning, said exemptions are granted to companies that locate their corporate headquarters in Boston and occupy the entire building. Hotels such as the Westin and Renaissance can erect signs on their rooflines as "wayfinders" for visitors, she said.

"Generally, signage on top of large projects is discouraged. However, corporate signs have been approved as an economic development incentive for companies building their headquarters in, or transferring their headquarters to Boston," the BRA said in a statement.

Other companies that got BRA approval to erect logos above their corporate headquarters include John Hancock Financial on Congress Street and New Balance in Brighton Landing.

Vertex recently moved its headquarters from Cambridge to Fan Pier, bringing with it 1,300 employees.

"As part of our move to Boston, we followed the BRA's policy related to placing a Vertex sign on our building. This was based on the building serving as our global headquarters and the fact that we occupy 100 percent of the space," said Vertex spokesman Zach Barber.

Converse is moving its world headquarters, now in North Andover, to 187,000 square feet of new office space being created by the $230 million refurbishment of a nine-story building across from the TD Garden. The rehabbed building will house some 400 Converse employees when it opens in the spring of 2015.

"The decision for signage was made by the city. Ultimately, the sign is a reflection that Converse is here to stay," Converse said in a statement.

Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh, said that while the Converse building will contain 45,000 square feet of ground floor retail, the sneaker company is occupying "100 percent of the office space."

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Diminutive driver’s hubby worries about her safety

My wife is 5 feet 2 and has a driving posture that places her about 12 inches from the steering wheel of her 2010 Subaru Forester, even with the pedal extenders I have installed. Years ago I was convinced that this is pretty dangerous given the geometry and violence of airbag deployments. Should I be concerned about the risk of injury from a deploying airbag?

The basic rule of thumb is a minimum of 12 inches between the driver's chest and the steering wheel/airbag. The crash management system in modern automobiles is engineered to make sure the sea belt/restraint system prevents the driver's upper body from entering the "zone of deployment" prior to the airbag inflating.

So in this case the seatbelt is the critical factor. The good news is that her Subaru, like many modern vehicles and unlike many early-generation airbag-equipped vehicles, is equipped with front seatbelt pretensioners that will rapidly retract and lock the seatbelt in any frontal collision that triggers the airbag. The mechanism for this is an "explosively expanding gas" driving a piston that retracts the belt. This helps prevent "submarining" — sliding downward and forward in the seat — and helps prevent the upper body from reaching the airbag's zone of deployment.

It would appear that you've done everything possible to allow the Subaru's crash management system to work properly for your wife in the event of a serious frontal impact.

• • •

Some new cars do not have much space around the tire in the wheel well, which results in snow collecting and freezing in the small space. Could this affect how the brakes work?

Very unlikely. As long as the wheel can roll, the hydraulic pressure applying the brake pads against the rotors will force out moisture and debris as well as generating more than enough heat to melt any ice/snow in proximity. With that said, it's always a good idea to knock off the large "icebergs" that collect at the rear of the wheel wells before driving. These can initially limit steering until worn or knocked clear.

• • •

I have a 2002 Buick Century with about 180,000 miles on it. The transmission shifts smoothly when it first starts, but after driving for a while it starts to "clunk" when shifting to the next gear. The transmission was rebuilt in 2010. Transmission "conditioner" was added a couple of weeks ago and it's a little better, but not much. Any suggestions for eliminating the clunk except a $2,000 rebuild? Our son will be driving the car over the summer and we'd like it to last a while longer.

Does the "Service engine soon" light ever come on when the harsh shifting occurs? Hard upshifts or downshifts can be indicative of "limp" mode operation — a self-protective, high hydraulic pressure mode to prevent slippage/damage to the transmission. If so, a diagnostic scan tool may pinpoint the problem.

If no service light comes on, the problem may be mechanical. Even though the transmission apparently has been rebuilt, sediment or worn/binding valves or accumulator pistons may be causing the symptom. This might explain the temporary improvement from adding the conditioner. If the additive wasn't SeaFoam Trans-Tune, give this a try.

Recognize that harsh shifts aren't necessarily damaging to the transmission or drivetrain. Short of major work, I'd suggest continuing to drive the car until the symptoms worsen significantly. More gentle acceleration and/or manually upshifting/downshifting the transmission may improve shift quality.

• • •

Motoring Note: A hearty "thank you" to the armchair quarterbacks who commented on my response to the faulty fuel pump on the 2000 Ford Explorer that wouldn't start in cold weather unless the owner tapped on the bottom of the fuel tank. In describing the additional amperage drawn by a worn/tired fuel pump, I should have said higher mechanical rather than electrical resistance. The additional mechanical resistance in the pump is what causes the increased draw of current I described.

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The Ticker

Etsy pop-up shop returning to Newbury St.

A group of local artists who sell their jewelry, photography, glassware and other work on Etsy, the online handmade marketplace, will open a Newbury Street pop-up shop May 30.

The temporary Newbury Handmade Market at 301 Newbury St. will be open daily through Aug. 3. It's the second year for the store.

Darden to sell 
Red Lobster

Darden Restaurants Inc. said yesterday it would sell Red Lobster to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion in cash, defying activist investors who opposed plans to shed the struggling seafood chain.

Darden said the sale was not subject to shareholder approval and should close in the quarter ending in August.

Hedge fund Starboard Value LP, which owns about 5.5 percent of Darden's outstanding shares, opposed a sale or spinoff

• Richard S. Pieters, M.D. of Duxbury was elected president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Board-certified in radiation oncology and hospice and palliative care medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Radiology, Dr. Pieters is a radiation oncologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester and a clinical associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

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Victims’ lawyer blasts GM, FEDS

A Texas lawyer representing the families of more than 60 people killed and 600 seriously injured in accidents allegedly caused by faulty ignition switches in General Motors vehicles criticized the automaker and the federal regulatory agency that fined it $35 million yesterday for taking more than a decade to disclose the defect in millions of cars.

"Thirty-five million dollars is pennies in a fountain, less then 1 percent of GM's total net worth and cash on hand," said Robert C. Hilliard, whose clients include a Boston College graduate assistant football coach whose sister was killed while driving a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which levied the fine, "has always been seen as a toothless tiger, a joke inside the walls of the big car companies," Hilliard said. "This is a complete victory for GM ... NHTSA needs to speak on behalf of the memories of my clients' loved ones ... It needs to order these defective cars parked now."

Although the maximum fine from safety regulators was doubled to $35 million this year, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urged Congress to raise it to $300 million.

Phil Trautwein, the coach whose 19-year-old sister, Sarah, was killed five years ago when her car veered off a South Carolina highway at 8 a.m. and hit a tree, went a step further.

"We want criminal charges against GM," Trautwein told the Herald, urging people to join the more than 109,000 others calling for that in a petition on Change.org/GM.

The nation's largest auto-maker already is the subject of a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department, as well as a civil investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

NHTSA also is fining the company $7,000 a day for failing to answer 107 questions about the ignition-switch recalls by April 3.

GM has acknowledged knowing since at least 2001 that the switches in its Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other compact cars could turn off without warning, disabling the power steering and brakes, as well as the air bags.

But although automakers are required by law to report safety-related problems within five days, it was not until February that the company began recalling 2.6 million of the cars.

"GM's ultimate goal is to create an exemplary process and produce the safest cars for our customers," CEO Mary Barra said in a statement yesterday. "They deserve no less."

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Home Smart: By the banks of the river Charles

This Dover home sits high above the Charles River and takes full advantage of the views from a living room, sunroom, bedroom and outdoor rear decks.

While the 1953 clapboard home has a blocky-looking exterior, the home's interior was completely renovated from 2008-2010 with a redone foyer and kitchen, new windows, sliding glass doors and insulation, and upgraded electric and plumbing.

The highlight of the home is a renovated vaulted living room with beams, a picture window on one side and glass sliding doors out to a large deck that overlooks the river. Another glass slider leads out to a koi pond and fountain fashioned out of an in-ground gunite swimming pool.

The open kitchen/dining area has granite counters and an island and it leads out to an enclosed sunroom with great Charles River views over a private, rural area of the waterway.

The renovations have an artistic flair, with contemporary light fixtures throughout the house. The living room wood fireplace has been redone with decorative tile. The house's bathrooms are all updated with marble floors, vanities, showers and vessel sinks — and one half bath even has an alabaster vanity.

The master bedroom suite is on the first floor and offers a bedroom with hardwood floors, a walk-in closet and a light green and white marble spa-style bathroom with a glass-enclosed shower.

There are two additional good-sized hardwood-floored bedrooms on the second floor. One has glass sliders out to a large rear deck overlooking the Charles, and the other has a three-part window. Each has a remodeled marble bathroom nearby. A laundry room off the hallway has a full-size Whirlpool washer and dryer.

The current owners had a new 430-foot artesian well drilled and installed a new water holding tank within the past few years. They've also recently added a water-softening system and new septic tank.

The home's basement has a semi-finished space ideal for a family room or home theater, a connection to an attached two-car garage and an unfinished area for storage that has an updated oil-heating system. There is no central air conditioning.

The surrounding 1 1⁄2 acre lot has been extensively landscaped, and it descends down through a wooded area to the river, where you can tie up a canoe.

Home showcase

• Address: 167 Claybrook Road, Dover
• Bedrooms: Three
• Bathrooms: Three full, one half
• List price: $1,188,000
• Square feet: 2,509
• Price per square foot: $473
• Annual taxes: $13,455
• Location: Three miles to retail and restaurants in Natick Center in one direction and Wellesley Center in the other; about four miles to offerings in Needham Center.
• Built in: 1953; remodeled and updated systems 2008-2013
• Broker: William Raveis agents Shari Sklar Jacobson at 617-512-5169 and Marjorie Gold at 617-549-0181

Pros:

• Large vaulted living room with decorative-tile fireplace
• Sunroom and decks with great Charles River views
• New artesian well, water holding and septic tanks and water-softening system
• Extensively landscaped with koi pond and new retaining walls

Cons:

• Blocky-looking exterior
• No central air conditioning

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Riots in Vietnam leave 1 Chinese dead, 90 injured

HANOI, Vietnam — A 1,000-strong mob stormed a Taiwanese steel mill in Vietnam overnight, killing at least one Chinese worker and injuring 90, Taiwan's ambassador said Thursday, the first deadly incident in a wave of anti-China protests prompted by Beijing's deployment of an oil rig in disputed seas.

The spreading unrest is emerging as a major challenge for Vietnam's authoritarian and secretive leadership, and is damaging the country's reputation as an investment destination. Companies from Taiwan, many of which employ significant numbers of Chinese nationals, are bearing the brunt of the protests and violence.

The overnight riot took place at a mill in Ha Tinh province in central Vietnam, 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Hanoi, operated by the conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, one of the biggest foreign investors in Vietnam, according to Ambassador Huang Chih-peng and local hospital officials.

Huang, who spoke to a member of the management team at the mill Thursday morning, said rioters lit fires at several buildings and hunted down the Chinese workers, but did not target the Taiwanese management. He said the head of the provincial government and its security chief were at the mill during the riot but did not "order tough enough action."

He said he was told one Chinese citizen was killed in the riots, while another died of natural causes during the unrest. He said around 90 others were injured

A doctor at the Ha Tinh General Hospital said about 50 people, most of them Chinese nationals, were admitted to the hospital Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. He didn't give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Huang said the rioters left the complex at 6 a.m., but he feared they "might be going for a rest and could come back."

Anti-Chinese sentiment is never far from the surface in Vietnam, but it has surged since Beijing deployed an oil rig into disputed waters in the South China Sea on May 1. The government protested the move as a violation of the country's sovereignty and sent a flotilla of boats to the area, which continue to bump and collide with Chinese ones guarding the rig, raising the risk of conflict.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, mobs burned and looted scores of foreign-owned factories in southern Vietnam near Ho Chi Minh City, believing they were Chinese-run, but many were actually Taiwanese or South Korean. Authorities said they had detained more than 400 people.

Ambassador Huang said the mill in Ha Tinh is Vietnam's largest foreign-invested project, and one of the largest integrated steel mills in Southeast Asia. It employs 1,000 Chinese nationals, he said. Vietnamese Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the complex in 2012.

Low wages, especially compared to next-door China, have been driving investment in Vietnam over the last years.

Investors and analysts said that if order wasn't restored quickly, then investor confidence could take a hit.

"If this madness continues and spreads out in the next couple of days to other parts of Vietnam, definitely it will have a very damaging effect on exporters, because they might not be able to commit to their delivery day," said Willy Lin, who heads a Hong Kong trade group representing knitwear manufacturers and exporters.

Hong Kong-based contract clothing maker Lever Style, which started outsourcing production to Vietnamese factories three years ago, has sent some Chinese quality assurance and technical support staff working at those factories back to China as a safety precaution, said CEO Stanley Szeto.

"You always have these little hiccups, no matter where you go," Szeto said. "Other than our staff, we're not really affected."

___

Associated Press writer Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

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Abramson replaced as NYT executive editor

NEW YORK — The New York Times on Wednesday announced that executive editor Jill Abramson is being replaced by managing editor Dean Baquet after two and a half years on the job.

The company didn't give a reason for the change. Abramson and Baquet had both been in their current positions since September 2011.

Baquet, 57, who would be the first African-American to hold the newspaper's highest editorial position, originally joined the Times in 1990 as a reporter and held positions including deputy metropolitan editor and national editor. He left the paper for the Los Angeles Times in 2000, where he served as managing editor and then editor. He rejoined the Times in 2007 and was Washington bureau chief before becoming the managing editor for news.

"It is an honor to be asked to lead the only newsroom in the country that is actually better than it was a generation ago, one that approaches the world with wonder and ambition every day," Baquet said in a statement released by the newspaper Wednesday.

Prior to his first stint at the Times, Baquet worked at The Chicago Tribune and The Times Picayune in New Orleans. While at the Tribune in 1988, he and two other journalists won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, for looking into corruption in the Chicago City Council. He was a finalist in the same category in 1994.

The move comes amid a shift in the Times' focus, and that of the newspaper industry overall, toward digital products and away from traditional print papers as print circulation and advertising revenue declines.

In its most recent quarter, the Times Co. saw overall advertising revenue rise for the first time in three years, jumping 3 percent to $158.7 million. The company's print and digital advertising rose compared with the same period a year ago.

The company also added digital subscribers and increased home-delivery prices. At the same time, the company posted a small profit that fell slightly short of Wall Street analysts' expectations.

Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the newspaper's publisher and chairman of its parent company, called Baquet the best qualified journalist to take on the job in the Times' newsroom.

"He is an exceptional reporter and editor with impeccable news judgment who enjoys the confidence and support of his colleagues around the world and across the organization," Sulzberger said in a statement.

Sulzberger added that Baquet was closely involved with Abramson in the Times' digital transformation over the past six months.

The managerial change came with little warning or explanation to Times employees, according to several staffers. Workers were sent an email Wednesday afternoon that asked them to gather in the newsroom. There, less than ten minutes later, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. introduced Baquet as the Times' new executive editor.

According to one staffer, Sulzberger said a concern about newsroom management led to the change. Staffers applauded Baquet's promotion. Abramson was not present at the gathering.

Abramson, 60, was the paper's first female executive editor. She joined the newspaper in 1997 after working for nearly a decade at The Wall Street Journal. She was the Times' Washington editor and bureau chief before being named managing editor in 2003.

"I've loved my run at The Times," Abramson said in the company's statement. "I got to work with the best journalists in the world doing so much stand-up journalism."

Baquet succeeded her as managing editor after she was named to the top editing spot.

New York Times Co. shares fell 71 cents, or 4.5 percent, to end the regular trading session at $15.06.

___

Michael Sisak contributed to this report.

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Global stocks weak ahead of European growth data

SEOUL, South Korea — Global stock markets were mostly lower Thursday ahead of quarterly European growth figures that investors hope will show a strengthening economic recovery.

European stocks turned lower after briefly trading in positive territory. Germany's DAX was down 0.1 percent to 9,743.35 and France's CAC 40 declined 0.3 percent to 4,488.09. Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.1 percent to 6,869.46.

Wall Street appeared set for losses, with the Dow and S&P 500 futures contracts both down 0.1 percent.

Investors are waiting for European growth figures later in the day. A survey of analysts by financial data provider FactSet forecasts that the eurozone economy grew 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, a figure that would confirm Europe's recovery from recession has gathered pace.

Even then, markets are expecting the European Central Bank to deliver stimulus measures at its June 5 meeting to keep the region's recovery from going into reverse. But those hopes failed to stoke investor appetite for risky assets.

Earlier in Asia, robust quarterly growth figure in Japan failed to boost sentiment. Investors reduced risky assets following a pullback in U.S. stocks from record levels.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.8 percent to 14,298.21 despite the government reporting that the economy expanded at an annualized 5.9 percent in the first quarter, the fastest pace in nearly three years.

The growth was attributed to consumers and companies bringing forward spending ahead of a sales tax hike on April 1. Economists say the tax increase could cause a contraction in the economy in the current quarter.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.1 percent to 2,024.97. Southeast Asian markets were mostly down.

But Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent to 5,510.80 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.7 percent to 22,730.86. South Korea's Kospi was little changed at 2,010.20.

"In the US, markets have tip-toed into unchartered territory in recent sessions but sustained moves higher appear to have been hampered by mixed economic data," said CMC Markets trader Niall King in a market commentary.

In the energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude for June delivery was down 36 cents to $102.01 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 67 cents Wednesday to $102.37.

In currencies, the euro edged down to $1.3667 from $1.3717 late Wednesday. The dollar advanced to 101.86 yen from 101.81 yen.

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Asian stocks gain after S&P 500 breaks 1,900 mark

TOKYO — Asian shares moved higher Wednesday after the S&P 500 hit a record high, but Japan's benchmark fell as investors locked in profits from recent gains.

The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 0.3 percent to 14,388.68 after a 2 percent jump the day before on a weaker yen.

South Korea's Kospi added 1.0 percent to 2,003.04 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong perked up after its midday break, gaining 0.9 percent to 22,549.44.

Elsewhere in Asia, mainland China markets fell on weak economic data, but shares rose in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Standard & Poor's 500 topped the 1,900 mark for the first time Tuesday, driven by optimism over the economic recovery, before closing just below it, up 0.1 percent at 1,897.45.

The Dow Jones industrial average also rose 0.1 percent to 16,715.44 though the technology-focused Nasdaq composite lost 0.3 percent to 4,130.17.

European shares also rose, lifted by the U.S. rally, and signs that Germany's Bundesbank central bank may be willing to back further stimulus, including an interest rate cut, by the European Central Bank.

In other markets, the Japanese yen was trading at 102.14 to the U.S. dollar, compared with its close Tuesday of 102.26. The euro was at $1.3718, versus Tuesday's close of $1.3707.

Benchmark U.S. crude for June delivery was up 36 cents at $102.06 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.11 Tuesday to $101.70 a barrel, the highest close since April 24.

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