Legislative committee mulls 2 green-jobs bills

The Legislature's Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies considered two bills aimed at creating more green-industry jobs. House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi's bill would use $43 million of previously set aside cash to invest in the green industry and provide grants to educational institutions through the planned Clean Energy Technology Center. A separate bill, by Senator Benjamin B. Downing, Democrat of Pittsfield, is aimed at starting a training fund to prepare workers for green-sector jobs. Downing said the next step would be for legislators to merge the bills into one, which he hopes will win approval by the end of the month. (Erin Ailworth)

Network Health, one of four providers of low-cost healthcare insurance, said it is expanding to cover residents of Cape Cod and the islands. The plan serves residents who earn less than three times the federal poverty level and qualify for subsidized coverage, called Commonwealth Care, under the state's universal healthcare law. The move gives residents of the Cape and islands a choice of Commonwealth Care providers, Network Health said. The plan, based in Medford, covers about 160,000 people in Massachusetts. (Jeffrey Krasner)

Linear Air, which provides air taxi service in the Northeast, closed a $3.5 million round of equity financing, the Concord company said. This third round of money will support expanding service nationwide and enlarging the fleet of four Eclipse VLJ jets to about 300 jets in the next two to three years. (Nicole C. Wong)

Archemix Corp., a Cambridge biotechnology company, said one of its drug candidates has received orphan drug designation from European regulators. ARC1779 is an antiplatelet agent that has the potential to treat a rare, life-threatening blood disorder known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. ARC1779, which is in phase 2 clinical development, received orphan drug designation from the Food and Drug Administration in April. (Chris Reidy)

Biopure Corp., a Cambridge biotechnology company, said it has had discussions with the Food and Drug Administration about patients for a clinical trial of its Hemopure product. Biopure makes products from cattle blood that is refined to replenish oxygen-starved tissue. Biopure has won regulatory approvals for a product to treat anemia in dogs. Now the company seeks FDA approval for a study in humans that would investigate the use of Hemopure in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. (Chris Reidy)

The Food and Drug Administration is broadening its testing of food beyond tomatoes, including looking at imported products, to find the source of a salmonella outbreak in the United States, a spokesman said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 943 cases of salmonella food poisoning as of July 4, up from 869 cases July 1. Although tomatoes are still the "lead suspect," cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and Serrano peppers have been added as possible culprits, FDA spokesman Mike Herndon said. The US government has not imposed any trade barriers as a result of the outbreak, Herndon said, calling earlier reports that some foods from Mexico would be banned erroneous. (Reuters)

Mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc., struggling to raise capital to stay in business, said it has stopped accepting new loan submissions in its main mortgage lending divisions and plans to slash 3,800 jobs, or more than half of its workforce. The move comes as the lender works with banking regulators, who have determined the company is no longer well-capitalized and have asked it to submit a new business plan designed to improve its financial footing, IndyMac chairman and chief executive Michael W. Perry said in a letter to shareholders. (AP)

The government wants to make improvements to the crash-test program for new cars and trucks, offering more guidance to car shoppers. The Bush administration plans to disclose changes today to safety ratings, which grade new vehicles on a scale of up to five stars. Transportation officials have said they want the ratings to take into account a broad range of collision avoidance technologies. (AP)