Bow-front duplex is decked out

This stylish duplex condo in the Eight Streets area of the South End has had a recent high-end makeover and includes two private decks as well as an outdoor parking space.

The three-bedroom condo at 38 Upton St. No. 4, on the market for $1,995,000, occupies the top two floors of a 1899-built bow-front brownstone that was redone into four condos in 2012.

Unit 4 has a reverse layout, with the living spaces on the top floor — leading up to a private roof deck —and the bedrooms a floor below. The levels are connected by stylish oak staircases with modern iron railings.

The top floor is a contemporary-style open kitchen/dining/living area with new walnut-stained oak floors and recessed lighting.

The high-end kitchen, with two windows and a skylight, features 16 custom white cabinets, including large pantry ones, honed Absolute black granite counters and a glass-mosaic-style backsplash. There's a separate island that seats three with a prep sink, a U-Line wine cooler and built-in microwave. Stainless-steel Thermador appliances include a double-door refrigerator, gas cooktop and wall oven. There's also a cabinet-faced Bosch dishwasher.

Off the kitchen is a half bathroom with a wall-­mounted sink and there's an adjacent utilities/storage closet.

The living/dining area has a built-in gas fireplace with black-honed granite surround, and there's a dining nook in the bow-front with three windows. The far corner of the room has a full wall of built-in bookcases and a window seat with storage.

Stairs lead up to a skylight door opening onto a 25-by-14-foot private roof deck with panoramic Boston views. The deck has gas, electric and water lines.

The unit's three bedrooms are on the third floor, all with walnut-stained oak floors. The front-facing master bedroom has a bow-front window, as well as a large walk-in closet with built-in storage. The en-suite master bathroom has radiant-heated marble-tiled floors as well as marble walls and surround for a glassed-in steam shower. There's a double-sink vanity topped with white quartz countertops.

The rear-facing second bedrooms are off an oak hallway with two closets, one for storage and the other­ holding a stacked Frigidaire washer and dryer.

The second bedroom, which has a built-in Murphy bed, is on the small side. And the narrow third bedroom, which has a built-in desk and bookcase, is even smaller, better suited to its current use as a home office. But there is a glass door from this bedroom out to a private balcony with views over the South End.

A second full bathroom features slatted marble floor tiles and surround for a deep soaking tub, as well as a floating vanity.

The unit has a new two-zone gas-fired heating system with Nest thermostats and a porthole central air-conditioning system. It has a central humidification system as well as a security system.

Unit 4 also comes with a deeded oversized parking space behind the building with access to an electric charging station.

Home Showcase

• Address: 38 Upton St. No. 4, South End
• Bedrooms: Three
• Bathrooms: Two full, one half
• List price: $1,995,000
• Square feet: 1,784
• Price per square foot: $1,118
• Annual taxes: $16,246
• Monthly condo fee: $286
• Location: Block from restaurants and shops along Tremont Street, the South End's main retail district; one block in other direction to offerings on Washington Street and Silver Line stop
• Built in: 1899; redone in 2012
• Broker: Michael Harper of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage at 617-480-3938

Pros:

• Stylish kitchen with custom cabinets, center island, Thermador, Bosch appliances
• Open living area with gas fireplace, bow-front dining nook and library area
• Private roof deck with panoramic city views and second deck off guest bedroom
• Comes with one outdoor parking space near electric charging station

Cons:

• Lots of stairs to climb
• Guest bedrooms on the small side

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Train operator fines piling up

MBTA commuter rail operator Keolis Commuter Services continues to rack up fines for delayed trains and other performance issues, with penalties totaling $1.62 million for November and December.

The MBTA, which awarded the French transportation giant an eight-year, $2.7 billion contract last January with a July start date, said 
84.37 percent of commuter rail trains arrived on time in November, with a rate of 89.82 percent in December, resulting in maximum contractual penalties of $434,425 each month.

Keolis penalties for other infractions, including station maintenance, train capacity, cleaning and staffing, were the maximum allowable $434,425 in November and $325,750 in December.

The new fines are in addition to the more than $800,000 in penalties Keolis racked up in its first five months of operations.

"While certain indicators are trending in the right direction, the penalties make it clear that there is much room for improvement," MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. "The MBTA will continue to work with its commuter rail partner to improve service delivery and enhance our customers' overall experience."

In a statement, Keolis said it is focused on improving the reliability of the service.

"We are seeing increases in on-time reliability system-wide and will continue to work on all levels to strengthen that performance," Keolis spokesman Mac Daniel said.

It's not acceptable that Keolis' performance has been so poor, according to Greg Sullivan, former state inspector general and now the research director for the Pioneer Institute.

"They've got the management skills and ability to have our system run on time," he said. "I'm confident that they will improve their performance after paying this kind of money."

But Sullivan gave kudos to the MBTA for including a zero-tolerance policy in Keolis' contract.

"Under the prior contract, more than half of the late trains were forgiven and not reported as late even though the commuters were late for work," he said. "Under the new contract, the MBTA is holding the commuter rail operator's feet to the fire, and it should. It's the only way to get the attention of the company."

Keolis won the contract over Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., which had run the commuter rail since 2003.

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Acura TLX more than sporty sedan

The longer I drove this car, the more I liked it. And, as it revealed more of its personality to me, the more I realized the subtle sophistication of the 2015 Acura TLX SH-AWD.

From the fuel-efficient yet powerful 3.5-liter 290-hp VTEC V­6 turbo engine to the excellent all-wheel drive to the quiet, tight upscale cabin, Acura has done an excellent job of blending the popular TL and TSX sedans to produce this terrific-driving car.

My first inkling that I was driving more than just a well made sports-styled sedan was when I ran through an hour of heavy rain and noticed how well the car handled in the river of water on the highway. Despite the lower profile 18-inch 225/50 tires, the all-wheel drive kept me connected to the road, not hydroplaning or skittering.

The fantastic steering response and tight cornering came next. The chassis and suspension channeled a racing profile, pulling the car flat through turns and minimizing body roll. Capping the driving experience was the quick and powerful engine mated to a silky smooth 9-speed transmission. I ran the car in all five driving modes from economy, which delivered well over 30 miles per gallon on the highway, to sport, and loved that the engine was spirited in all modes.

Cabin fit and finish also grew on me. The comfortable leather-clad ventilated seats, wood inlays and aluminum trim smartly accented the conservative interior. The textured plastics and dash framed a two-gauge cluster that included the speedometer and tach. Electronic information gauges were embedded on the display and toggled through steering wheel controls.

Acura engineers have not forgotten safety in the TLX. The standard Tech and Advance Packages include lane departure, back-up camera, adaptive cruise control, heads-up warning when someone gets too close, blind-spot monitoring, rear pedestrian crossing alerts and collision mitigation braking for in-town driving.

The center 
console-mounted push-button gear selector for the automatic transmission took some getting used to and even after a few days into the test period I still occasionally went looking for a gear shifter. I also found the infotainment center a bit confusing to use despite the touch screen panel.

The trunk was spacious despite the visually shorter lid, but some rear seat legroom suffered for it. The car has superb curb appeal and Acura has reclaimed some of the angular lines of the popular mid 2000s TL, sharpening the softer, rounded fenders from the previous car. The trademark chrome beak, a design that drew so much criticism in the previous generation TL it forced a mid-cycle rework, is much smaller. With the new LED headlamps, the entire nose of the car is much more sporty and aerodynamic.

A base model TLX starts at a MSRP of $31,445 while our loaded version hit $45,595, making this a must drive when comparing sporty sedans such as the BMW 328 and Audi A4. Acura may have hit on a worthy competitor.

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Elizabeth Warren would use drug co. fines for NIH funds

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to file a bill next week to help fund basic medical research by targeting drug companies accused of breaking the law, but the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council has a problem with the proposed funding mechanism.

"We appreciate Sen. Warren's commitment to increased NIH funding, but believe the mechanism proposed ... is flawed and is not likely to provide the increase in dollars Sen. Warren is anticipating," CEO Robert Coughlin said.

Under Warren's bill, drug companies involved in government settlements over alleged wrongdoing would have to pay 1 percent of annual profits for their drugs that relied on taxpayer-funded government research. Those penalties, which would run for five years, would go to National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration research.

"This isn't a tax," Warren said. "It is simply a condition of settling to avoid a trial in a major case of wrongdoing. If a company never breaks the law, it will never pay the fee."

Budget cuts have choked off support for research that could lead to breakthrough treatments for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's and other conditions that affect millions, according to Warren.

Coughlin said the drug industry has supported a number of initiatives aimed at boosting NIH funding. "We look forward to the continued dialogue on increasing NIH funding for critical medical research and working with Sen. Warren and the entire Massachusetts delegation to find an appropriate solution," he said.

Massachusetts organizations received $2.4 billion-plus in fiscal 2014 — 10 percent of NIH funding and second only to California.

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Belmont Colonial an energy star

Talk about a makeover.

A 1927-built Dutch Colonial near Belmont High School wasn't just gut renovated — it was deep energy retrofitted.

Deep energy retrofits, defined as renovations that cut energy costs more than 50 percent, turn drafty houses into super-efficient homes.

The just-completed three-bedroom 2,700-square-foot single family at 158 Concord Ave. — on the market for $1,265,000 — looks like any number of contemporary makeovers. The living spaces have an open feel and there's a stylish kitchen with white cabinets, gray-and-white granite counters and Jenn-Air appliances, along with an adjacent sunroom dining area. The master bedroom suite has two closets with built-in storage, and an en-suite master bathroom features a glassed-in steam shower and a marble-topped double-sink vanity.

"A house doesn't have to look different to be green," said Leland DiMeco, the listing broker of the Belmont house and co-founder of Boston Green Realty, which specializes in selling energy-efficient properties. "And the price of deep retrofits is in the ballpark of a traditionally built high-end home."

But there are major differences in the way this house was reconstructed. Super-insulated walls are up to 16-inches thick, tilt-and-turn windows are triple-paned, and doors to the outside are nearly three inches thick. The roof and wall insulation exceeds the building code by 100 percent.

This retrofitted home will use 75 percent less energy than a traditional home.

And the air quality in the retrofitted house is more healthy than that in conventional homes, Butler said, with outside air brought into each room through ventilator fans, while stale air is exhausted. Indoor air runs through a heat exchanger to raise the temperature.

"The house has been rebuilt like a refrigerator," DiMeco said. "Once it reaches a certain temperature it's hard for that temperature to drop."

A wall-mounted heat pump unit takes care of the first floor and a small ducted heating/cooling system serves the top two floors.

"People wrongly think that deep energy retrofits are hugely expensive to do compared to a traditional gut renovation, " said contractor Brian Butler of Savilonis Construction, who has done more than a dozen DER projects. "But with the incentive rebates, it only costs about 6 percent more."

Developer Sachi Sato, who lives next door to 158 Concord Ave., bought the property from an elderly couple for $590,000 in 2013, and teamed up with her business partner Sayo Okada at SA2 Studios, which specializes in sustainable design and development.

"After we made the calculations, a deep energy retrofit made economic sense for this house because so much needed to be redone inside and out," said Sato, who tapped into utility National Grid's Deep Energy Retrofit incentive program, which provided $14,000 in rebates.

Sato estimates total construction costs at over $400,000, including the master bath addition and an all-new roof, and plumbing, electrical and heating/ventilation and tankless water heating systems.

"We're trying to get more builders to understand the benefits of doing deep energy retrofits," said DiMeco. "These properties not only cut energy costs significantly, but they are much healthier places to live."

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Measles outbreak casts spotlight on anti-vaccine movement

LOS ANGELES — A major measles outbreak traced to Disneyland has brought criticism down on the small but vocal movement among parents to opt out of vaccinations for their children.

In a rash of cases that public health officials are rushing to contain, at least 70 people in six states and Mexico have fallen ill since mid-December, most of them from California. The vast majority of those who got sick had not gotten the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine.

While still a scourge in many corners of the world, measles has been all but eradicated in the U.S. since 2000 because of vaccinations. But the virus has made a comeback in recent years, in part because of people obtaining personal belief exemptions from rules that say children must get their shots to enroll in school.

Others have delayed getting their children vaccinated because they still believe now-discredited research linking the measles vaccine to autism.

"Some people are just incredibly selfish" by skipping shots, said Dr. James Cherry, a pediatric disease expert at the University of California, Los Angeles.

As cases mount, several newspapers have criticized the anti-vaccine movement.

Measles "is a disease that has been beaten by modern medicine. That makes it all the more frustrating that anti-science stubbornness has proven, in the case of the Disneyland-related measles, that when it comes to contagious diseases, it's a small world after all," the Los Angeles Times said in an editorial last week.

Barbara Loe Fisher, director of the National Vaccine Information Center, a Virginia-based nonprofit that favors letting parents decide whether to vaccinate, said, "I don't think it's wise or responsible to blame" unvaccinated people for the Disney outbreak. She noted that a small number of those stricken had been fully vaccinated.

Health authorities believe the outbreak was triggered by a measles-stricken visitor to one of the Disney parks who brought the virus from abroad last month.

As one of the world's biggest tourist destinations, Disney was a perfect spot for the virus to spread, with large numbers of babies too young to be vaccinated and lots of visitors from countries that do not require measles shots. The disease has since spread beyond Disneyland.

The infected ranged from 7 months to 70 years old, including five Disneyland workers.

"It's tragic to see measles making a resurgence," said Deanne Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency. "When our immunity falls, it creates a problem for the whole community."

While all states require certain vaccinations for schoolchildren, parents in certain states such as California can opt out if they sign a personal belief waiver.

In the past five years, the percentage of kindergartners in California who are up to date on all vaccinations has held pretty steady from 90.7 percent in the 2010-11 school year to 90.4 percent in 2014-15. But there are some wealthy communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties and in Northern California with double-digit vaccination exemption rates.

To control this latest outbreak, those who are not vaccinated were warned this week to stay away from Disney theme parks. Disney employees who have no proof of immunization and may have come into contact with sick colleagues were placed on paid leave until they are given the medical all-clear.

At Huntington Beach High School in Orange County, two dozen unvaccinated students were ordered home until the three-week incubation period is up.

More than 30 babies in Northern California's Alameda County have been placed in home isolation after possible exposure.

"I'm terribly upset that someone has made a choice that not only affects their child but other people's children," said Jennifer Simon, whose 6-month-old daughter, Livia, was isolated after it was learned she may have been exposed to measles during a visit to the doctor's office.

___

Contact Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

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Converse soups up Andy Warhol line

North Andover's Converse will launch a sneaker and clothing line celebrating late pop artist Andy Warhol's iconic imagery.

The Nike-owned brand's collection, set for a Feb. 7 release, will feature Warhol prints on Converse's own iconic sneaker — the Chuck Taylor All Star — which the artist had used as a canvas for his work.

Sneaker designs include reinterpretations of Warhol's Campbell's soup can screen print, and motorcycle and newspaper prints inspired by Warhol's mid-1980s Ads and Illustrations series. Graphic tees highlight Warhol's "Converse Extra Special Value" work that features the Chuck Taylor All Star.

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Kickass Cupcakes stales, files bankruptcy

Another local cupcake company crumbled this week, filing for bankruptcy after closing its Somerville store in August.

Kickass Cupcakes filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a proceeding used to liquidate a company's assets to pay off its debts. The company owes its creditors $263,000, according to court documents filed late Tuesday.

Kickass opened in Davis Square in 2007 and had moved to a new location on Highland Avenue in May before shutting down. It also had expanded to a food truck and was involved in several food truck "throwdowns."

Sara Ross, the company's owner who formerly wrote for the Herald's Fork Lift blog on food, fun and drink, could not be reached for comment.

The bankruptcy still leaves many cupcake options available in the crowded Boston-area market. Hub-based Sweet has six shops in Boston, Harvard Square and Chestnut Hill; Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown Cupcakes has a single Boston store on Newbury Street; and Treat Cupcake Bar has Natick and Chestnut Hill locations.

Cohasset's Wicked Cupcakes — which sells cupcakes in a jar and whose owners appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank" and paired with one of its investors, Kevin O'Leary — operates at Faneuil Hall Marketplace.

Crumbs Bake Shop also reopened in Boston last fall after the formerly public New York chain filed for bankruptcy in July and was taken over by Marcus Lemonis, an entrepreneur and host of CNBC's reality series "The Profit."

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City, startup develop online project forum

A new partnership between the city of Boston and a local startup will let residents keep tabs online on the development of city-owned land and chime in with questions and comments.

"You can see all those projects, you can see what's happening in your neighbor­hood, you can have a conversation with us, with your neighbors, about the impact," said Devin Quirk, director of operations for the Department of Neighbor­hood Development. "We want to take the same robust community conversations we're having and make that available to a wider audience by taking it online."

Working with coUrbanize, a Cambridge startup, DND has listed its 87 on­going projects, which include developments the city has selected after a request for proposals process, as well as city-funded public housing.

"As soon as we make a change to any of our properties, it's immediately updated on our website," Quirk said.

Each project has a place to submit feedback on the project, and lists the current status, details on the final proposal, and pictures and renderings.

"As part of the Boston 2030 housing plan, my administration committed to making the development of city-owned land even more transparent," said Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

CoUrbanize's Web platform is designed to increase access to details on new developments. The company was founded out of MIT's School of Architecture and Planning.

"Their mission really aligned with ours," Quirk said. "They want to have a robust conversation about development in neighborhoods."

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Hyundai sues over subway cars

A losing bidder is accusing the Patrick administration of illegally giving a rail enterprise owned by the repressive Communist Chinese government an "inside track" on a lucrative contract to manufacture Red and Orange Line subway cars last year.

In a blistering lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court yesterday, Hyundai Rotem Co. alleges China CNR Corporation, which now has a $566.6 million contract with the MBTA to produce 284 subway cars, unfairly benefited during the bid process when former Gov. Deval Patrick and former MassDOT head Richard Davey met privately with officials from a CNR joint venture during a "trade mission" to Hong Kong.

Patrick and Davey also relaxed previous bid requirements to favor CNR, the suit alleges.

Massachusetts awarded China CNR its first major North American subway car contract last year.

In a statement, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo defended the contract: "As part of a lengthy and thorough procurement process, the MBTA fully considered all materials submitted by each of the bidders, including Hyundai Rotem. Hyundai Rotem's bid was substantially higher than the successful bid and did not present the best value for the taxpayers of the Commonwealth, and so the MBTA did not award the contract to Hyundai Rotem. The MBTA does not believe that the complaint has any merit."

South Korea-based Hyundai Rotem, which claims it filed an administrative appeal with the state in November, demands in the suit that the contract be thrown out and that it be declared entitled to the contract because it produced the next lowest bid — $720.6 million.

"The procurement process was deeply and fundamentally flawed because the MBTA failed to put the bidders on equal footing, made arbitrary and capricious decisions, failed to adhere to the terms of the bid documents or do minimum due diligence of CNR, all in violation of Massachusetts General Laws," the suit contends.

Hyundai Rotem claims that during the December 2013 trade mission to Hong Kong, Patrick and Davey held "improper" private ex-parte discussions with officials from CNR's Chinese joint ventures regarding CNR's plans to build a North American headquarters in Springfield as part of the deal, but "no effort was made" to hold similar meetings with other bidders.

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