Northeastern University

The state's labor market showed signs of stabilizing last month as Massachusetts employers added jobs for the first time in nearly two years and the state unemployment rate held steady, breaking a 22-month streak of increases. Led by gains in education and health services, Massachusetts firms increased payrolls by 1,500 jobs in February, after revised data showed that overall employment remained flat in January, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported yesterday. It was the first monthly gain since July 2008. The state unemployment rate, meanwhile, was unchanged from January, holding at the nearly 34-year high of 9.5 percent. It's the first time since March 2008 that the rate hasn't increased. ``There's still an awful lot of unemployment out there, but it looks like the labor market is healing,'' said Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economics professor. ``The economy appears to be growing a bit stronger. The positive job gain is good news.

Bob Scannell lived by a lot of sayings, so many that one of his grandchildren is putting them on a T-shirt to help everyone remember the phrases that guided their lives. At the top of the list was ``family first,'' a simple sentiment Mr. Scannell turned into a code for everyday actions. He and his wife, Gerry, did not have a lot of money for fancy vacations when they moved with their five children to Milton nearly 40 years ago. So Mr. Scannell installed a pool and made their home a magnet for his family, extended family, and all others who wished that they, too, had been born a Scannell. ``The pool was a place of social gathering, and that was no accident; it was by design,'' said his son Bill of Medfield. ``I have friends who are now in Singapore, and when they're back in town, they say, `Let's go over to your father's and have a beer by the pool.' '' Mr. Scannell, who worked his way up at Boston Edison from mechanic to labor relations administrator, was 74 when he died of cancer Mond

The burrito chain Qdoba Mexican Grill is facing a full course of financial troubles in these tough economic times: It owes tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes, the business has shuttered struggling stores, and it is being sued by one of its suppliers and landlords. Qdoba, which helped set off the burrito invasion in Boston five years ago, has failed to pay more than $81,000 to the city for real estate and personal property taxes at four locations, including $45,507 for its shop near Northeastern University, said Lisa C. Signori, Boston's chief financial officer. Over the past year, Qdoba has closed restaurants in Brookline and Shrewsbury, and on Friday the food service distributor Agar Supply Inc. filed a lawsuit in Norfolk Superior Court against Chair5 Holdings LLC, the Wellesley franchise group that runs local Qdoba restaurants. David Greenwood, an Agar spokesman, declined to comment on specifics of the case, which accuses Qdoba of failing to pay for goods sold and delivered

Some Toyota drivers sue in US, want to return vehicles for a full refund after safety recall. A group of Toyota owners sued the Japanese automaker Monday, demanding a full refund for their recalled cars and seeking a payout that could exceed several billion dollars.

Class-action lawsuits by disgruntled Toyota owners could cost company at least $3 billion. Toyota owners claiming that massive safety recalls are causing the value of their vehicles to plummet have filed at least 89 class-action lawsuits that could cost the Japanese auto giant $3 billion or more, according to an Associated Press review of cases, legal precedent and interviews with experts.

Class-action lawsuits by disgruntled Toyota owners could cost company at least $3 billion. Toyota owners claiming that massive safety recalls are causing the value of their vehicles to plummet have filed at least 89 class-action lawsuits that could cost the Japanese auto giant $3 billion or more, according to an Associated Press review of cases, legal precedent and interviews with experts.

Spate of bias incidents roil University of California system, spurring search for solutions. Swastikas, nooses, a KKK hood, graffiti, epithets and jeers.

In the wee hours, for 40 years, Joseph Magliaro could be found at La Contessa Pastries, his Italian pastry shop in Davis Square in Somerville, making his famous cannoli shells or zeppoli so they would be fresh for customers every day and they could watch him pump fresh cream into the cannoli. Mr. Magliaro, also known as Papa Joe or Joe Mag, loved his bakery almost as much as he loved his nieces and nephews, all children, in fact. Every child who left his shop had one of his free, just-baked cookies and a smile on his or her face. They dubbed him, Joe Cookie. Mr. Magliaro never married, friends said, possibly because he was married to his job, 24/7. He had a following of more children, however, than many married people could handle. When they grew up and married, Papa Joe made their wedding cakes, decorating them with the artistic flourish of an Old Master. Joseph Pasquale Magliaro, who had often been invited to talk about his baking on Boston television shows, died of cancer Feb. 11 at

RICHMOND - In almost every important decision he's made in his life, Chaisson Allen seems to have taken the counterintuitive path. It was the approach he took in choosing to play basketball instead of football like his older brothers, Mikki and Laveil. It influenced him to go to a local public high school after passing the entrance exam to the private school his brothers attended some 40 miles from their home in Murfreesboro, Tenn. And, eventually, it helped him decide to leave home to play basketball at Northeastern University - spurning offers from Mississippi, which offered him a scholarship as a high school junior, Southern Illinois, and Tulane. In each instance, Allen blazed his own trail. ``I don't know how to explain it,'' he said. ``I guess it's the way I was brought up.'' Growing up, Allen's parents, Michael and Charleen, took in his maternal grandparents. Like his paternal grandparents, they were educators who stressed the importance of education. Surrounded by such wisdom, C

The Massachusetts economy gained jobs for the first time in 18 months, but far from enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising to its highest level since the summer of 1976, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported yesterday. Employers added 400 jobs in January, the state's first gain since July 2008, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.3 percent in December. Even when the economy is adding jobs, unemployment can rise if jobs aren't created quickly enough to keep up with the growth of the labor force. The state also released revisions to employment data that show the recession hit Massachusetts harder than first thought. Since the recession began here in March 2008, the state has lost 166,000 jobs, about 30,000 more than initially reported, according to the revised data. The revisions also showed that the unemployment rate, which appeared to decline in the fall, actually rose steadily throughout last year, climbing more than 2 percentage

A former Beverly woman who killed her sleeping 16-year-old daughter with a shotgun blast on Valentine's Day in 1990 and then tried unsuccessfully to shoot her other daughter and herself has been granted parole. Lawyers for Susan Biancardi, 61, received a copy of the decision Wednesday from the state Parole Board, which voted 7-0 to initially release her to a long-term residential treatment program for mental health counseling. The board agreed with Biancardi, who testified at a Jan. 21 hearing that she killed her daughter, Marcia, largely as a result of undiagnosed mental illness, chiefly bipolar disorder. ``While there was some evidence that the murder of Marcia was partly related to escalating tensions between mother and daughter around various domestic issues, there was strong evidence that Ms. Biancardi's actions were largely informed by profound mental illness,'' the two-page decision said. Biancardi has worked hard to improve her mental health, understands how her illness precipi

Red Sox top Northeastern 15-0 in opener of exhibition DH, beat Boston College 6-1 in 2nd game. Boof Bonser threw a scoreless inning in his first spring training start in two years, striking out two batters and picking up the win, and the Boston Red Sox beat Boston College on Wednesday night in the second game of an exhibition doubleheader.

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce yesterday offered the latest plan to revive the Massachusetts economy, proposing tens of millions of dollars in corporate tax breaks that the business group says will encourage investment, innovation, and hiring. The tax breaks would eventually cost the state about $165 million a year in lost revenue, but would create an estimated 40,000 jobs over five years and generate enough growth to produce $167 million a year in new revenue from payroll, income, and other taxes, Chamber officials said. The tax breaks offer incentives for investment in start-up firms, equipment, buildings, and new employees, they said. ``These are not short-term, quick fixes,'' said Paul Guzzi, Chamber president, unveiling the plan in business group's downtown headquarters yesterday. ``They are designed to build on our competitive assets and position our economy for the future.'' The Chamber's plan follows a flurry of new proposals to boost the Massachusetts economy, which ha

The number of foreclosures initiated by lenders in January dropped to the lowest level in more than a year in Massachusetts, an indication that fewer people may lose their homes this year. At the same time, the number of foreclosure deeds - one of the final steps in the foreclosure process - increased to the highest level for the month of January since 2006, according to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks the housing market. Timothy M. Warren, chief executive of Warren Group, said the decrease in petitions to foreclose could be due to the Obama administration's efforts to get lenders to modify more loans. The increase in deeds, Warren said, is probably attributable to a Massachusetts Land Court decision last year that temporarily slowed the foreclosure process, artificially depressing 2009 figures. If loan modification efforts are truly beginning to have an effect, Warren said, ``that would certainly be a hopeful sign and some kind of indication that the worst of the foreclosur

As names of potential candidates for the presidency of the University of Massachusetts surfaced in academic circles, professors and education officials said the university system needs a leader with academic clout and political savvy to push the Commonwealth to bolster higher education funding. Jack Wilson, president of UMass since 2003, announced yesterday that he would retire in June 2011. While many in the system touted Wilson's ability to raise money through entrepreneurial ventures, research grants, and intellectual property income, some faculty criticized him for allowing state support to erode during his tenure, leading to higher tuition and fees for students but fewer professors to teach them. ``The thing that gets UMass into the upper tier is the quality of the faculty, and on some level, the quantity of the faculty,'' said Randall Phillis, a biology professor at UMass Amherst who is president of the university's faculty union. ``You can't do quality work if you're always over

Faneuil Hall Marketplace has beat out shopping centers in Chicago and San Francisco to win Google's Street View contest, making the historic plaza one of the first pedestrian malls to get the 360-degree mapping treatment. The photographs will be taken later this year by Google's Street View Trike, a three-wheel cycle that has cameras and sensors to gather images that are stitched together to make a panorama. The Street View Trike is used to make the images in places that are not accessible to motor vehicles. Last year, Google solicited suggestions about where it should send the Street View Trike and narrowed them down to five categories: pedestrian malls, college campuses, theme parks and zoos, bike trails, and national landmarks. Faneuil Hall, one of Boston's top tourist attractions, led the online poll, with nearly 20,000 of about 40,000 votes in the pedestrian mall category, topping Chicago's Navy Pier and San Francisco's Pier 39. ``It's great exposure for the marketplace,'' said Re

Attorney for Ala. suspect's parents says 'no question' brother's shooting was accidental. The attorney for the parents of a woman accused of a triple murder at an Alabama college said Friday there's "no question" it was an accident when she fatally shot her brother in Massachusetts in 1986, despite doubts now being raised by the district attorney there.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - After a successful track and field career at Northeastern University, Steve Langton of Melrose still wanted to compete at the highest level. He knew the Summer Olympics weren't in his future, but he wondered about the Winter Olympics. On his 24th birthday, Langton decided to find a new sport and did a Google search on ``USA Bobsled.'' It linked Langton to the homepage for the US bobsled federation. Scanning the profiles of team members, he saw similar-sized athletes with backgrounds in other sports. At 6-feet-2-inches, 227 pounds with respectable personal bests in the 100-meter dash and long jump, Langton figured he'd fit right in. He was right. After an impressive showing at a summer combine a couple of months later, Langton was training with the national team for the World Cup circuit. Less than three years after his first bobsled run, he made the 2010 US Olympic team. Tonight, he will compete in the men's four-man bobsled competition. ``It's definitely

Oops! From Buckner to Webber, Sven Kramer has plenty of company in sports hall of shame. If there's anyone who can relate to what Sven Kramer is going through, it's Eddie Hart.

NATICK - The sweet-voiced grandmother sat at a table before the Massachusetts Parole Board and said she was not the same woman who killed her sleeping 16-year-old daughter with a shotgun blast on Valentine's Day in 1990. ``I have no expectation to be forgiven by anyone, nor by myself,'' said Susan Biancardi, 61, who now takes medication to control bipolar disorder. ``If I could cut off both my arms and have that night never happen, believe me, I would do it in a heartbeat.'' Five board members heard Biancardi's plea for freedom recently following another horrific area slaying, one that has cast a pall over the panel and underscored just how high the stakes can be when weighing whether to give a convicted murderer, no matter how seemingly reformed and remorseful, a second chance. The arrest of Edward Corliss, paroled in 2006 and now charged in the shooting death of convenience store clerk Surendra Dangol, has prompted the panel to conduct an internal review of how it handled the case, w