Power failure affects Verizon service

THE REGION

Power failure affects Verizon service

About 420,000 Verizon Communications Inc. telephone subscribers in communities north and west of Boston lost voice mail -- but not dial tones -- after 1 p.m. yesterday when a power failure in Cambridge affected a Verizon telecommunications hub there. As of 5:45 p.m. about half of lost service was restored, but the company had no estimate of when full service would be resumed. Spokesman Jack Hoey said the problem occurred when the voice-mail system's backup emergency power unit failed to kick in at the Bent Street switching station near Kendall Square. NStar Electric said 15,000 Cambridge customers lost service for up to one hour. Among Verizon customers affected was Eastern Bank with nearly 1,000 employees. (Peter J. Howe)

Manulife to pay $1m to settle US charges

Manulife Financial Corp., Canada's biggest insurer, agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle a US Justice Department claim it violated premerger notification requirements in its 2003 takeover of John Hancock Financial Services Inc. Manulife didn't file notice that it held about 1.5 percent of Hancock common stock before proceeding with the acquisition, the department said. Companies must file notice before completing a purchase of more than $50 million unless it is only for investment purposes. "Acquisition of stock in a firm that you are considering merging with is not an acquisition made 'solely' for investment," said R. Hewitt Pate, the Justice Department's antitrust chief. (Bloomberg)

Mykrolis wins court ruling in patent case

Mykrolis Corp., which makes chemical filters used in semiconductor factories, said a federal judge ordered Pall Corp. to stop selling products that allegedly infringe two Mykrolis patents. The US District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction against Pall's PhotoKleen EZD-2 Filter Assembly products, Billerica-based Mykrolis said. The injunction prevents Pall from selling or offering to sell the products until the case is tried in court. Pall said it would appeal the ruling issued Friday. The suit was filed in March 2003. (Bloomberg)

SEC lifts cap on 3 State Street funds

State Street Corp., the world's largest asset custodian, said the Securities and Exchange Commission will allow mutual funds to invest more money in three of its exchange-traded funds. Boston-based State Street, which opened the first exchange-traded funds in 1993, said the SEC granted exemptions to limits a mutual fund company can hold in ETFs with a combined market value of about $18 billion. State Street manages $63 billion in ETFs, about 27 percent of the worldwide total. ETFs are index-based investments that allow investors to buy or sell shares of entire portfolios of stock in a single security. Unlike mutual funds, they are priced continually and can be bought throughout the trading day. Mutual fund companies, regulated by the SEC under the Securities Act of 1940, typically can't buy more than 3 percent of voting shares in another fund, like an ETF, without an exemption. Even with the exemptions, they must abide by conditions the SEC requires to be included in purchasing agreements. (Bloomberg)

Putnam to cut fees 40% on college plans

Putnam Investments, the sixth-biggest US mutual fund company, said it will reduce the fee it charges investors in so-called 529 college-savings plans to $15 a year from $25. The annual fee in the plans overseen by Boston-based Putnam only applies to investors with less than $25,000 and who haven't agreed to make periodic investments of at least $50, the company said. College-savings plans, known as 529 plans after a provision in the Internal Revenue Code, typically are sponsored by state governments and managed by mutual fund companies. (Bloomberg)

THE NATION

Crude oil prices reach 13-year high

The price of oil rose to its highest level in more than 13 years as traders responded to the weekend killing of five Westerners working for an oil contractor in Saudi Arabia. The wholesale price of gasoline also reached a record, signaling the likelihood of even higher pump prices by Memorial Day. Crude for June delivery gained 83 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settling at $38.21 per barrel -- the highest price since Oct. 16, 1990, when oil was valued at $38.89 per barrel. (AP)

Cracker Barrel, US settle bias probe

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. reached a settlement with the Justice Department over charges it discriminated against black customers. CBRL Group Inc., which operates Cracker Barrel, agreed to train workers and hire an auditor to make sure its restaurants are in compliance with civil rights laws. The company also plans to expand diversity training, investigate complaints by customers, and post equal-treatment policies. The investigation found evidence of discrimination at about 50 Cracker Barrel restaurants in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Justice charged the company with violating Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations. The settlement doesn't include monetary payment and Cracker Barrel denies any wrongdoing, the company said. (Bloomberg)

Sprint PCS offers 'excess minutes' plan

Sprint PCS launched a "Fair & Flexible" plan that lets people who exceed their monthly allotment of wireless calling minutes pay for extra minutes for as little as 5 to 10 cents instead of the usual average 40 cents. For example, on a $35 plan with 300 minutes, subscribers who use over 300 can agree to pay for blocks of 25 minutes for $2.50 each. The price drops to $2.50 for 50 minutes on plans with 650 minutes or more, and existing subscribers can switch their current plans to Fair & Flexible if they sign a two-year contract. Nextel Communications Inc. began testing a comparable offer in Arizona, Florida, and Ohio last week, while Cingular Wireless offers several roll-over plans. Sprint's move comes as it is trying to control monthly subscriber losses of 2.9 percent in the first quarter, second only to AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (Peter J. Howe)

Last-minute lobbying for overtime bill

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao worked in public and private to head off an embarrassing defeat in the Senate today at the hands of Democrats challenging Bush administration overtime regulations. Speaking to nursing students in Florida, Chao said the regulation "makes clear that registered nurses who currently receive overtime will continue to receive overtime when the new rule takes effect." Her claim drew a prompt rebuttal from several nurses unions. "For the first time in the history of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), hourly paid employees, including registered nurses, may be denied overtime compensation," the Coalition to Preserve Overtime Rights for Registered Nurses wrote members of the Senate. With a close vote expected, Chao arranged a private meeting with Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who has yet to take a position. He was one of six Republicans who sided with Democrats last fall in a 54-46 defeat of an earlier draft. (AP)

. . .Etc.

Telica Inc. , a Marlborough telecommunications equipment manufacturer, said it closed a sale of voice-over-Internet-protocol switching gear to McLeod USA Inc. of Iowa. The equipment will be used for a McLeod launch of VOIP service in its Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Detroit markets. . . Cedar Point Communications Inc. of Derry, N.H., said it closed a sale to TVCable Group, a cable television company with about 1.5 million subscribers in Ecuador, of gear to offer phone service over cable lines and high-speed wireless connections this year. Terms were not disclosed. (Globe staff)