Jaguar sedan’s power doesn’t pounce

The 2015 Jaguar XF Sport delivers a highly refined driving experience worthy of its price.

Built to compete with the Audi A6, BMW 5 series, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class vehicles, the Jaguar XF is an excellent choice for those who want to stand out from the crowd. With an MSRP of $59,875, it could even be considered a good value as it comes packed with standard features.

This British-made sedan possesses plenty of power — enough to maintain interest, but not so much that it overwhelms. It has a responsive and peppy 340-horsepower, 3.0-liter V6 engine with acceleration that doesn't lurch or intimidate. The XF Sport's engine is in the middle of the XF lineup, which ranges from a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder to a 5.0-liter V8 engine.

The XF Sport has an intelligent all-wheel-drive system that keeps the power on the rear wheels until needed, providing sure footing even in slick road conditions. For further control in adverse weather conditions, it also has winter and dynamic modes.

Our tester had an aerodynamic exterior coated in Italian racing red metallic paint, a charcoal interior and 20-inch dark grey wheels. It comes equipped with heated leather seats and a heated steering wheel, which were both tested on a raw, cold day and proved strong enough to use instead of the climate control system. It also had a heated windshield.

Retractable air vents automatically open on ignition for a James Bond effect when using the car's push-button start. Access to the car is gained by a keyless entry system, so you only need to have the key in your pocket to open the locked doors.

Xenon headlights present clear definition even on back streets at night. Signature LED lights outline the headlights, giving this Jaguar an even more distinctive look.

The steering is impressive. Tight spots are easily navigated and parking is incredibly easy. The XF also has a blind spot monitor to alert you to oncoming vehicles in other lanes.

Like its recent Jaguar and Range Rover predecessors, the XF has "intelligent stop-start," which is annoying in that it can only be overridden on a trip-by-trip basis.

Jaguar (and Range Rover for that matter) could use a revamp of the electronics/entertainment cluster. It is a very capable 380-watt touch screen GPS/entertainment system with great sound, but it is not customizable and cannot be configured to match your preferred mode as a default.

A four-year, 50,000 mile warranty with roadside assistance matches the other vehicles in its class. The only drawback when considering a Jaguar is its reliability reputation and lower than average resale value.

In the end, the Jaguar XF Sport is a thoroughly enjoyable vehicle that boasts both style and performance.

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U.S. holiday sales merry good

U.S. holiday sales posted their strongest growth in nearly a decade, thanks to an improved economy and purchases spread over a longer season, rather than concentrated on a few key days, according to a leading research firm.

Consumer spending in November and December rose 4.6 percent over the same period the previous year, exceeding the 3.8 percent ShopperTrak had projected and marking the best performance since 2005, when sales grew 5.2 percent.

"Holiday seasons have been up each year since 2010 in small amounts, but what sets this one apart is it was enough to create profitability," said Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, which expects to release state data next week. "Other holiday seasons' gains weren't large enough to offset increased costs."

The trend toward shopping earlier in the season continued last year, as November's sales growth outpaced December's. With a strong early push after Halloween and consistent deals throughout the month, November saw $120.2 billion in sales, a 5.4 percent increase over the same period in 2013, while December saw 
$149.9 billion, up 4 percent from the previous year, according to ShopperTrak.

With the exception of slight reversals in 2009 and 2011, when the calendar leaned more favorably toward December, the split between the two months continues to narrow — a 10-year trend that points to retailers' success in lengthening the shopping season, as well as consumers' increased willingness to shop early, the firm said.

"We saw improvement in the economy and labor market that really started to help the overall spending pace," said Michael P. Niemira, principal and chief economist at The Retail Economist. "Declining gas prices further helped discretionary spending."

Super Saturday, which falls on the weekend before Christmas, was the top sales day of the year, with an estimated $9.2 billion in sales, just edging out the $9.1 billion generated on Black Friday, according to ShopperTrak.

But the two days fell short of expectations, with Super Saturday sales gaining only .46 percent and Black Friday sales falling more than 7 percent, underscoring the declining importance of a single day or two in the season, the firm said.

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It’s a Whole new story at 
old Herald site

Whole Foods Market debuted its newest Boston store in the South End yesterday — its second largest in the region and considered a flagship for its North Atlantic division — and co-CEO Walter Robb sees room in the Hub for another of its size.

"We've seen the city evolving, so we have lots of plans," the Boston native said. "The opportunity to come in here and get 50,000 square feet — that's hard to do these days, and I do think there's another one (in the future pipeline)."

The Austin-based natural and organic food company entered Massachusetts in 1992 with its $26.2 million purchase of the former six-store, Boston-based Bread & Circus.

Its South End supermarket is in National Development's $200 million Ink Block project, the former Boston Herald headquarters site for more than half a century, and it memorializes the newspaper's history throughout its decor.

"It will be a great part of the community, but I'm also blown away by how much recognition of the Herald has been preserved," said Herald Publisher Patrick J. Purcell, a minority investor in the Ink Block project.

Newton's National Development worked for five years to bring a supermarket there, according to managing director Ted Tye.

"But no one quite got this neighborhood and what we were trying to do," Tye said. "Is it Chinatown? Is it the South End? Is it safe? There was a little risk at the time. (Whole Foods) set the tone for what we're trying to do here — nice, upscale development."

South End resident John Young was shopping at the new Whole Foods just after its opening yesterday.

"We've had a wonderful Foodie's (Urban Market in the South End), but we've been hankering for a Whole Foods," he said. "Now I don't have to get deep lines in my hands carrying heavy bags all the way from (the Symphony Whole Foods)."

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Markey: Honda fines a ‘warning’

Reforms are "urgently needed" to prevent more auto deaths, U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said yesterday after Honda was hit with a record $70 million in fines for not reporting to regulators 1,729 complaints that its vehicles caused deaths and injuries.

"This fine is a warning signal to all auto companies that they should take their safety reporting system into the shop for a tune-up," the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement. "Reforms are still urgently needed to hold car companies accountable and provide more information to the public so they can be protected from fatal vehicle defects."

The two $35 million fines issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was the largest civil penalty ever levied against an automaker. But Markey said NHTSA's $35 million maximum fine should be raised, "so that multi-billion dollar corporations don't get away with the equivalent of a fiscal slap on the wrist when they hide or miss important safety information."

The Honda complaints were related to air bag and other defective parts. Honda blamed its omissions on "errors related to data entry, computer coding, regulatory interpretation, and other errors in warranty and property damage claims reporting."

Markey, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said NHTSA needs to improve its Early Warning Reporting system, which requires auto makers to report deaths, injuries and warranty claims by making the information publicly available in a searchable format so consumers and safety experts can evaluate potential safety defects themselves.

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Report: Natural gas prices to spike in Mass.

Bay Staters will be paying "spiking" prices for natural gas for the next four years thanks to insufficient supply, according to a new report released by the state.

"From 2015 through 2019, electric generators have insufficient supply of natural gas, which results in spiking natural gas prices," according to the forecast, prepared by Synapse Energy Economics for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs says.

Earlier this year, Nstar and National Grid filed for supply rate increases of 29 percent and 37 percent, citing increasing demand.

The rate increases will mean long, cold winters for low-income residents, said John Drew, president and chief executive of Boston-based advocacy organization ABCD.

"If this stays the way it is, more and more people who are poor are going to have a much more
difficult time getting by," Drew said. "Basic commodities are increasing in price but their incomes are stagnant."

The bleak forecast drives home the need for a swifter transition away from fossil fuels, said the state energy department said.

"This study demonstrates the need to continue investing in energy efficiency and pursuing clean, base load power, like large hydro and wind, to ensure affordability and reliability for Massachusetts ratepayers," EEA spokeswoman Mary-Leah Assad said.

Between 2020 and 2030, Synapse forecasts, the burden will be eased by increasing efficiency in buildings and appliances and a surge in wind power and biomass power production.

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Harvard, Brigham partner up on Ebola drug

A Canadian pharmaceutical company is partnering with Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital to develop an oral drug that blocks the Ebola virus and could be tested on humans as early as this year, according to researchers and the company's president.

"Even if this current epidemic passes, Ebola has been back and forth over the past 40 or so years now," said John Huss, president and CEO of H&P Labs Inc. "It's not something that's always there, but it comes and goes. We weren't ready for this outbreak, but we could be ready for the next outbreak."

H&P Labs announced a licensing agreement with Harvard and Brigham and Women's for two compounds that prevent both the contraction of the Ebola virus and its spread within the body, according to Dr. James Cunningham, a physician at Brigham and Women's and lead researcher on the project.

"The current evidence suggests that the Ebola infection pathway is a complex, multistep process, and our lab has developed compounds that interfere with a couple of those steps," Cunningham said.

One of the compounds, he said, prevents the initial entry of the virus into cells, while the other prevents the transport of the virus.

The research was conducted by Cunningham and collaborators at the Cunningham lab at Brigham and Women's and at Harvard Medical School's New England Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, and Centers of Excellence for Translational Research. According to Cunningham, the research has been progressing for about 10 years.

Huss said H&P Labs will use the findings to develop an oral treatment against the virus and will begin testing on animals during the second quarter of this year.

"If everything pans out as we expect it to, then we bring it into humans late 2015, early 2016," he said.

The announcement of the licensing agreement comes as researchers and pharmaceutical companies work overtime to find a marketable way to battle the deadly Ebola outbreak, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives, mostly in West Africa.

Also yesterday, the World Health Organization announced that the final-stage trials of several experimental vaccines will begin this month or next. About 90 experts met at WHO headquarters to discuss plans for clinical trials in Liberia, 
Sierra Leone and Guinea.

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Charlie Baker thinks outside box with Pine St.

A business started­ by New England's largest homeless shelter has grown into a thriving enterprise that's even catering some of Gov.-elect Charlie Baker's inaugural events.

Based at Boston's Pine Street Inn, iCater is pro­viding boxed lunches for student volunteers at today's inauguration and cookies at tonight's festivities at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

"We were thrilled when we found out we were catering the inauguration," executive chef Frank van Overbeeke said. "It's quite eye-opening for the shelter guests we train."

Started in 2000 under the name Abundant Table, the business prepared meals for nonprofits before changing its name and branching out into corporate catering in 2011. Since then, iCater has built a growing roster of clients, including Boston Medical Center, Tufts University and the Boston Foundation.

"The food is always fresh, the people are polite, and it's good value for your money," said Linda Brown, resident services coordinator for Morville House, which provides subsidized housing for low-income seniors in Boston. "Plus, it's convenient."

Under van Overbeeke's supervision, iCater's team of four cooks, 25 trainees and five kitchen helpers prepare more than 3,500 meals daily, grossing $1 million a year, which goes to the Pine Street Inn's Food Services Training Program.

"I've learned so much — how to prepare different foods, how to work together," said Tishka Alston, 45, who graduated from the program last fall.

Since 2000, iCater has trained 725 shelter residents, and graduates have gone on to jobs at eateries including Myers and Chang, Legal Seafoods and Flour Bakery.

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Hingham beach outpost on Sullivan’s menu

Sullivan's, a landmark South Boston food stand that's been selling hot dogs and other fare on Castle Island since 1951, is exploring a Hingham outpost.

Hingham Bathing Beach trustees are in talks with the third generation of Sullivan's operators to open a seasonal concession offering the same food and affordable prices as in Southie.

"That's something we've prided ourselves on since my grandfather opened in 1951 — to provide quality food at reasonable prices," Brendan Sullivan said.

It would be Sullivan's first expansion. "We always thought about it the last few years, but never made any moves until this opportunity arose," Sullivan said. "It's a very similar situation from what we have now and what the trustees would like, so I think we are a perfect match for them."

For the trustees, it's an opportunity to give beach-goers regular access to rest­rooms not provided by the current bathhouse, open from July to Labor Day for three or four hours around high tide, trustee Alan Perrault said. "The concessionaire is responsible for keeping them open during the hours it's open, so we'll get that coverage," he said.

Sullivan's at Hingham Bathing Beach would be smaller than the Castle Island stand, where throngs of people line up for half-price dogs on opening weekend, usually the last weekend in February. It would operate on the same timetable, weather permitting, through the last weekend of November.

The next step is negotiating a lease and permitting.

"We're at the very beginning stages," Sullivan said. "I would love to have it open by the end of next summer, but that might be pushing it."

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Boston rolls dice on suit

Boston appears poised to turn back millions of dollars it is due from Wynn Resorts because it has sued the state Gaming Commission challenging the validity of the license issued to the Las Vegas gaming giant's planned casino in neighboring Everett.

Wynn attempted to deliver a check to Boston for $1 million, an up-front payment due this month as a condition of its license, but it was rejected by the city's corporation counsel, Eugene O'Flaherty.

"Pursuant to the content of the complaint filed by the City of Boston and the disagreement over the lawful issuance of the license award you reference, we will not accept the check," O'Flaherty wrote Monday night in an email obtained by the Herald to Wynn lawyer Jacqui Krum, who'd written O'Flaherty asking how the money should be delivered.

The denial raises the question of whether the city will also reject other money intended to lessen the impact of the planned casino, including a piece of a $17.5 million fund for communities that, like Boston, aren't deemed casino host or surrounding communities. Wynn paid $7.5 million into the fund, which Boston expressed interest in pursuing in November. Applications for the money are due Feb. 1.

Asked if the city plans to turn down other money owed by Wynn, Bonnie McGilpin, spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh, said the city "is now engaged in litigation and therefore cannot comment on specifics related to the lawsuit."

"Mayor Walsh is taking­ this action to protect the city and the neighborhood of Charlestown," she said. "Every remedy was exhausted to date and now this matter is in the hands of the litigators seeking to present this case in court on behalf of the city."

Wynn's $1 million payment was technically made to an escrow fund controlled by the Gaming Commission for dispersal, but Boston is declining to collect it. Spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the commission isn't sure how long it will hold on to the funds.

"At this point, we will hold that in escrow until they are ready to claim it," Driscoll said.

The conditions on Wynn's license say the $1 million up-front payment was to cover additional public safety resources to handle increased traffic, facilitate water transportation to the casino and support community programs in bordering Charlestown.

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Startup taking off with tiny propulsion systems

A MIT-born startup has raised $2 million in seed funding for product development and initial sales of its propulsion system for small orbiting satellites that's the size of a pack of gum.

"It's a type of in-flight propulsion system for satellites that can enable things like orbit transfers," said Natalya Brikner, chief executive and co-founder of Accion Systems. "You can use it to accurately point cameras. The smallest complete system we have built is about the size of a pack of gum."

The MAX-1 system uses electric propulsion with charged particles to control small satellites under 220 pounds. Those satellites, Brikner said, are exploding in popularity, but most do not have propulsion systems.

Based in Somerville, Accion Systems will use the money to add more employees — it only has three right now — and begin taking pre-orders. Accion will also use the money to literally launch its product.

"We are going to be launching our first product into space," Brikner said.

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