Boston adds areas where wireless Internet available

Mayor Thomas M. Menino turned on wireless hot spots that will give Internet access to anyone with a computer or other WiFi-enabled device in City Hall Plaza , Quincy Market , and the North End's Columbus Park . Menino aims to provide similar service to a square-mile network in Roxbury's Grove Hall and Dudley Square by mid-2007 . That project will serve as a model for the rest of Menino's planned citywide WiFi network. Roxbury was chosen because one goal is to close the ``digital divide" between rich and poor in a city where many students don't have Internet access at home, Menino said. Access will initially be free. Among those donating service, equipment, and labor to downtown hot spots are Galaxy Internet Services , SkyPilot , and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers . (Chris Reidy)

Flight attendants for the merged airlines US Airways and America West say they will picket at Logan International Airport and six other airports on Halloween. At issue are stalled contract negotiations and a dispute over a contract proposal that contains no wage increases. Gary Richardson and Mike Flores , union presidents for flights attendants at America West and US Airways respectively, issued a joint statement saying picket lines would go up at airports in Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh, as well as at Washington National, and LaGuardia in New York. Richardson said more than half the flight attendants at America West have not had a raise in four years. (Diane E. Lewis)

Boston Scientific Corp. said it won European Union approval for its Promus drug-coated heart stent, making the company the first permitted to sell stents that release different medicines. The Promus, a version of the Xience stent made by Abbott Laboratories, will complement the company's Taxus product already on the market, Natick-based Boston Scientific said. (Bloomberg)

3M Co., the maker of products from Post-it Notes to electronic road signs, acquired Brontes Technologies Inc. of Lexington for $95 million to add 3-D dental imaging systems. Closely held Brontes makes digital-scanning systems that allow dentists to get impressions of teeth. (Bloomberg)

Hanover Insurance Group Inc. of Worcester forecast a $34 million, or 66-cents-per-share, third-quarter charge due to Hurricane Katrina. The insurer said it boosted its estimate for pretax net losses and loss adjustment expenses related to Katrina by $52 million, after it conducted a claim review. (AP)

John T. Dugan was named head of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission's Boston district office, the agency said. Dugan succeeds David Bergers, who was named head of the SEC's Boston office in April. Previously Dugan was the office's assistant district administrator for enforcement, where he played key roles in market-timing cases against Prudential Equity Group LLC and Massachusetts Financial Services Co., the SEC said. (Ross Kerber)

US workers of all ages say pay is critical to job satisfaction, according to a survey of 2,775 employees commissioned by the American Business Collaboration , a coalition of seven big firms. The study, released by WFD Consulting, a Newton workplace consulting firm, found that 57 percent of salaried women in their 20s and 46 percent of salaried men in their 20s said pay was the top factor contributing to job satisfaction. In addition, 62 percent of hourly women and 59 percent of hourly males in that age group said pay was critical to job satisfaction. When researchers asked people in other age groups, they too, ranked pay as central to job satisfaction, but few workers would quit over pay. Rosalind Barnett , director of the Communities, Families, and Work Program at Brandeis University , said the findings reflect workers' growing concerns about financial security and the underlying health of the national economy. (Diane E. Lewis)

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