Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis to receive honorary UMass degree

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees said this week it has voted to award Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at UMass Lowell's undergraduate commencement on May 18.

Davis will also deliver the keynote address at the commencement, which will be held at the Tsongas Center.

"The measure of a man's leadership in a time of crisis is his judgment and his performance, and Commissioner Davis displayed the greatest of both during the Boston Marathon bombings and during his leadership of police departments in Boston and Lowell," said UMass President Robert L. Caret in a statement. "I am delighted that we can properly honor him with an honorary degree for his decades of exemplary leadership that has benefited the entire Commonwealth and, now, the nation. Commissioner Davis has always put public safety and the public interest first."

Davis has led the Boston Police Department since 2006. He previously served as superintendent of police in Lowell for 12 years.

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Cheeseboy looks to hire 30 for Downtown Crossing shop

Local grilled cheese franchise Cheeseboy said today it is seeking to hire 30 team members for its new brick-and-mortar store in Downtown Crossing.

The 1,200-square-foot restaurant, located at 280 Washington St., is expected to open this spring. Applicants must be at least 16 years old, officials said, adding applications can be submitted at www.cheeseboy.com.

Currently, Cheeseboy operates eight other locations, including four in Massachusetts -- at South Station, the Prudential Center Mall, South Shore Plaza and the Natick Mall.

Last month, the franchise gave away over 31,000 free sandwiches through its Acts of Kindness Initiative for National Grilled Cheese Month, officials said.

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Clean Harbors shares drop on lower profit, guidance

Norwell-based Clean Harbors saw its shares drop slightly today after the company said its first quarter income from operations fell to $34.8 million from $61.7 million in the same period of 2012.

The decrease reflects the company's acquisition of Safety-Kleen, and an increase in depreciation and amortization expenses, officials said.

The company's first quarter net income was $10.5 million, or 0.17 per diluted share, compared with $32 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2012. Revenue for the first quarter rose 51 percent year-over-year to $862.2 million.

"Our margins in the quarter were significantly affected by integration-related costs and non-cash items related to acquisition accounting. As a result of the acquisition, we have realigned the company into five new reportable segments," said Clean Harbors CEO Alan S. McKim in a statement. "During the first quarter, solid performances in our Technical Services, Industrial and Field Services, and SK Environmental Services segments were more than offset by greater-than-expected weakness in our Oil Re-refining and Recycling, and Oil and Gas Field Services segments.

The company said it now expects its full-year 2013 revenues to be between $3.62 billion and $3.67 billion, compared with previous revenue guidance of $3.72 billion to $3.77 billion.

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Life is good brand gets into coffee business

Hub-based lifestyle brand Life is good said today it has partnered with The J.M. Smucker Co. to bring a new line of coffee to retailers throughout North America.

Life is good coffee will be available starting in late summer of this year at company retail stores and Genuine Neighborhood shops, national grocery store chains and online at Lifeisgood.com. Product flavors will include "Light Hearted," "Happy Medium," "Dark & Daring," "S'more to Love" and "Banana Bread Bliss."

"Through our new line of coffee with Smuckers, we'll be able to spread the power of optimism and help kids in need," said Bert Jacobs, chief executive optimist at Life is good. "We are grateful to partner with the timeless brand and outstanding team at The J.M. Smucker Company."

Smuckers is the second partnership for Life is good's Best-In-Class business unit. The brand partnered with Hallmark earlier this year to launch a greeting card collection nationwide. The company also recently announced it would donate 10 percent of its net profits to The Life is good Kids Foundation.

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Nissan cuts prices on 7 US models

DETROIT — Nissan is cutting prices on seven of its 18 models in the U.S., hoping its cars and trucks will show up in more Internet searches by shoppers.

The price cuts vary with the amount of equipment on each model. They run from 2.7 percent, or $580, on the top-selling Altima midsize car to 10.7 percent, or $4,400, on the Armada big SUV. Executives are under pressure to sell more cars, with Nissan's CEO targeting a 10 percent U.S. market share within three years.

Nissan is also cutting prices on the Sentra compact car, Juke small crossover SUV, Murano midsize crossover, Rogue small crossover and the Maxima full-size car.

Jose Munoz, Nissan senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas, said the seven vehicles account for 65 percent of Nissan's U.S. sales. The sticker prices, he said, were higher than similar models from competitors, and that kept Nissan vehicles out of some Internet searches.

"In some of the customer searches we may not appear," Munoz said. "We want to be considered by as many customers as possible."

Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has set a goal of taking 10 percent of U.S. sales by 2016 or sooner. In the first quarter, Nissan's sales fell 1.3 percent. Its share of the U.S. market was 8.6 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

The company plans to reduce rebates and other discounts to offset some of the price cuts. Nissan is facing intense competition from U.S.-based automakers and its prime Japanese competitors, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

The price cuts are effective Friday for cars and trucks that aren't yet on dealer lots. However Nissan will also make allowances to trim the prices of cars currently in dealer inventories. The cuts will remain in effect indefinitely.

The price cuts should help Nissan build on strong April sales. The company reported a 23 percent increase for the month on Wednesday.

Although Nissan denies it, industry analysts say it can afford the cuts because of efforts in Japan to weaken the yen against the dollar. That makes cars and parts made in Japan cheaper than goods made in the U.S. One analyst predicted a price war if other automakers follow.

"If the yen stays where it is at and competitive pressure does as well, we could be looking at a more widespread battle for buyers," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, a Detroit forecasting firm.

Nissan's Munoz denied the yen influenced Nissan's decision, saying that four of the seven affected models are made in North America. Only the Juke, Rogue and Murano are made in Japan, and their sales are small compared with the other models.

Nissan builds about 75 percent of its cars sold in the U.S. in North America. That should rise to 89 percent by the end of next year when the company shifts production of the Rogue and Murano.

Ford's U.S. sales analyst Erich Merkle wouldn't comment on Nissan's pricing. In April, he said, the industry saw little evidence that the weaker yen was affecting prices, which were down about $170 per vehicle compared to last April.

"The pricing seems to be very contained," he said.

Nissan isn't the first automaker to cut prices this year. In January General Motors trimmed $300 to $770 off the sticker price of its slow-selling midsize Chevrolet Malibu.

____

AP Auto Writer Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.

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Disruptor Beam inks deal with Zynga on 'Game of Thrones Ascent'

Hub-based social network game developer Disruptor Beam said this week it has signed a publishing deal with Zynga to bring its "Game of Thrones Ascent" game to the latter's followers on Zynga.com and Facebook.

The game is based on the hit HBO television series and book series by author George R.R. Martin.

"We launched 'Game of Thrones Ascent' into open beta on Facebook on February 21, and since then we've seen half-a-million installs of the game in less than two months -- with many players coming back again-and-again to immerse themselves in the world of Westeros," said Disruptor Beam founder and CEO Jon Radoff in a blog post. "But, as with any social game developer, a primary goal is to continue to iterate on the game with new mechanices and features, while continuing to grow the player base."

Based in San Francisco, Zynga closed its Boston office and laid off 5 percent of its total workforce in October.

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Police: California Starbucks poison attempt an 'isolated incident'

A 50-year-old woman allegedly put a lethal dose of rubbing alcohol into bottles of orange juice at a South San Jose, Calif., Starbucks, police said.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, San Jose police received a 911 call from a barista who said that a customer saw a woman removing two bottles of orange juice from a bag that she was carrying and placing them in a cooler area with other refrigerated items, police said.

The customer immediately reported it to Starbucks employees, and the suspect left the coffee shop. The customer followed her outside and recorded the license plate of the vehicle she left in, police said.

The Starbucks staff immediately removed the two bottles and found that the seals were broken and the contents of the bottles had a strong toxic smell to them, Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson said.

The San Jose Fire Department's Hazardous Incident Team responded to the scene and determined that the bottles contained a mixture of orange juice and lethal doses of rubbing alcohol.

Officers found Ramineh Behbehanian at her Chambertin Drive home in South San Jose and arrested her at about 8:30 p.m.

She was being held without bail at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and poisoning, police said.

"Though the investigation is ongoing, there is currently no indication of any further danger to the public," said Sgt. Jason Dwyer. "The suspect in this case is believed to have acted alone and this incident is believed to be an isolated incident. The suspect's motive remains under investigation."

The Starbucks was evacuated and closed for the day, Hutson said, and "out of an abundance of caution, we pulled all of the juice off the shelf and destroyed it and advised other Starbucks shops in the San Jose area to check all bottles of orange juice to make sure the seals weren't broken."

The store reopened yesterday, and the incident did not appear to affect business, Hutson said.

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Todd English refinancing restaurant empire to pay off debts

Celebrity chef Todd English is reportedly refinancing his culinary empire in order to make back payments to the state's Department of Revenue and a company that operates Faneuil Hall for his embattled Kingfish Hall restaurant, which closed last year.

Todd English Enterprises Chief Financial Officer Ron Chorney reportedly requested more time to sell the restaurant's liquor license at a Boston Licensing Board meeting held yesterday.

Chorney told the board the company has paid $24,000 out of nearly $215,000 in back taxes demanded by the Department of Revenue, adding refinancing would free up more cash to pay the remainder and settle claims from Quincy Market for back rent.

English's attorney, Dennis Quilty, said another restaurant that had sought English's license backed out of the deal over concerns the state or landlord would try to gain control of the license to pay off their debts.

The board votes tomorrow on English's request. A spokesman for English's company could not be immediately reached for comment.

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T-Mobile USA completes MetroPCS acquisition

NEW YORK — Wall Street gave T-Mobile USA Inc., the new-born combination of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS, a warm welcome on its first day of trading.

The stock was at $16.57 in morning trading Wednesday, up 99 cents, or 6 percent, from the value of MetroPCS shares at Tuesday's close. That suggests the combined company is attracting new investor interest.

The deal was structured as a reverse merger. The larger T-Mobile USA, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG and thus lacked its own stock listing, was "acquired" by the smaller MetroPCS Communications Inc. and inherited its stock listing. However, Deutsche Telekom owns 74 percent of the new, combined company.

The stock is trading under a new ticker symbol, "TMUS," on the New York Stock Exchange.

Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Niknam started coverage on Wednesday with a "Buy" rating and a $22 price target. Deal-making in the U.S. wireless industry is at a fever pitch, and Niknam believes Deutsche Telekom would be willing to sell its stake in the company.

AT&T Inc. tried to buy T-Mobile USA in 2011 with an offer much higher than the current market value, but the deal fell through because of opposition from regulators. Satellite-TV company Dish Network Corp. last month launched an unsolicited bid for No. 3 wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., but Sprint has already agreed to sell to Softbank Corp. of Japan. There is speculation that T-Mobile could be Dish's next target, if the Sprint offer is rebuffed.

T-Mobile, the No. 4 U.S. cellphone carrier, is adding 9 million MetroPCS customers to its own 34 million. The combined company will still lag No. 3 Sprint Nextel Corp. in size.

No immediate changes are expected for customers of either company, and T-Mobile plans to keep the "MetroPCS" brand. Over the next two years, however, the company will shut down MetroPCS's network, which means MetroPCS phones will eventually stop working. T-Mobile will use the space freed up on the airwaves to boost its own coverage and data speeds.

In March, T-Mobile dropped its conventional two-year service contracts in favor of selling phones with installment plans. It's made the change a centerpiece of its marketing, calling itself the "Un-carrier." It's a break with industry practices, and a reflection of the fact that T-Mobile has had a hard time attracting people to its contract-based plans. It has been losing customers from these plans for two years.

MetroPCS, meanwhile, started losing customers last year after many years of growth. It sells cheap phone service to low-income urban customers, who often line up in its stores to pay their monthly fees in cash.

MetroPCS shareholders got $4.05 in cash and half a TMUS share for each MetroPCS share.

MetroPCS's board agreed to sell to T-Mobile in October, but shareholders and shareholder advisory firms called the offer inadequate. T-Mobile improved its bid three weeks ago by reducing the amount of debt it would transfer to the new company and lowering the interest rate on the debt. The improved offer won shareholder approval last week.

The combined company's president and CEO is John Legere, and T-Mobile is keeping its headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. Former MetroPCS Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer J. Braxton Carter will serve as CFO, and the company is retaining a "significant presence" at MetroPCS's old headquarters in Richardson, Texas.

It will have 11 board members, including two of MetroPCS's existing directors. Deutsche Telekom deputy CEO and chief financial officer Tim Höttges will serve as chairman.

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PepsiCo pulls Mountain Dew ad after criticism

NEW YORK — PepsiCo is pulling an online ad for Mountain Dew that was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and making light of violence toward women.

In the 60-second spot developed by African-American rapper Tyler, The Creator, a battered white woman on crutches is urged by an officer to identify a suspect out of a lineup of black men played by members of a music group. A goat is included in the lineup.

The goat makes threatening remarks to the woman such as "Ya better not snitch on a player" and "Keep ya mouth shut." She eventually screams and runs away.

PepsiCo Inc. apologized in a statement and said it understood how the ad could be offensive. The company says the video has been removed from all Mountain Dew channels.

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