Today in Globe Business
Three Boston businessmen - a Boston Celtics owner, a former advertising mogul, and a member of the family that ran the Globe for generations - have emerged as prominent potential buyers of the Globe, according to people knowledgeable about their interest in the city's leading daily.
Actively mulling bids for the newspaper, according to these people, are Stephen Pagliuca, a private equity executive and Celtics co-owner; Jack Connors, cofounder of a major advertising firm and chairman of Partners HealthCare; and Stephen Taylor, a former Globe executive and member of the family that sold the Globe to the New York Times Co. in 1993.
The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to comment on the potential bids, said the three businessmen are in various stages of reviewing the Globe's finances and assembling investors who could be part of their groups.
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Health plans may fall short, Mass. says
The state's pioneering healthcare law requires residents to have insurance that meets minimum standards, but regulators are discovering many employers' plans test the limits by exploiting loopholes in the rules.
Regulators yesterday said that reviews of scores of health plans show many cap the benefits insurers pay each year on prescription drug coverage, exclude maternity coverage for dependents, or place an annual overall dollar limit on benefits.
Jamie Katz, general counsel for the Connector Authority, which oversees the state's health initiative, said the gaps raise "difficult issues" because companies are assuming their plans are adequate in the absence of specific regulations that say otherwise.
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When WFXT-TV (Channel 25) reporter Jim Armstrong needed help on a recent story, he sent this Twitter message to his 179 followers: "working on a special project about. . . . wait for it. . . . CouchSurfing. u familiar?"
When WHDH-TV (Channel 7) reporter Ryan Schulteis arrived at the scene of a Harvard University shooting, he immediately alerted the station's 9,853 fans on the social networking site Facebook.
And when WCVB-TV (Channel 5) asked for Mother's Day photos through their new social media forum, ULocal, 300 photos poured in that day.
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State loses battle with Gillette over taxes
Massachusetts lost a lengthy court battle yesterday to void Gillette's tax credits after the shaver maker reorganized its corporate structure a decade ago.
The case dates back to December 1998, when Boston-based Gillette Co. liquidated one of its subsidiaries, Gillette USA, and merged it into the parent company.
At the time, Gillette USA had collected millions of dollars in tax credits from investment in its manufacturing plant on the Boston waterfront, which in turn enabled the consumer products company to shave millions of dollars off its annual corporate excise taxes.
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Globe's DC chief Canellos tapped to lead editorial page
Peter Canellos, The Boston Globe's Washington bureau chief for six years, has been named editor of the paper's editorial page. He succeeds Renée Loth, who has held the position since 2000 and is retiring to write a weekly column for the Globe.
In his new role, which he will begin Aug. 3, Canellos will oversee a staff of 12, including the editorial board and op-ed columnists, and will supervise editorials, letters to the editor, and commentary for both print and online. Canellos will also be responsible for the Sunday Globe's Ideas section and oversee its three employees. Gareth Cook remains editor of Ideas.
Canellos will report to the Globe's publisher, P. Steven Ainsley, with whom he will shape the paper's editorial positions on regional and global issues.
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With two acquistions, AOL looks to tap local ad market
AOL, the troubled Internet company that is being spun off by parent company Time Warner Inc., is buying itself a parting gift. It is acquiring a pair of start-ups, including one in Boston, that run websites featuring neighborhood news.
Going Inc. of Boston, founded in 2006, offers information on local parties and entertainment events. The company runs websites targeting 30 US cities, including Boston, Chicago, Miami, and New York. Patch Media Corp., based in New York, publishes community news online, covering five towns in New Jersey. Patch was launched in 2007 and funded by an investment company owned by AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong. Financial details of the transactions were not released, but the Associated Press reported AOL paid less than $10 million each for the two privately held companies.
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