New Hub report denies a ‘brain drain’ exodus

A new BRA report debunks what Hub officials have long bemoaned as Boston's "brain drain" — the mass exodus of the young and college educated who flee the area soon after graduation and take their talents to high tech jobs in other cities.

The report, which analyzed census data, labor statistics and two studies over the past decade, found that the number of newly minted college graduates leaving the city is a normal turnover for what you would expect from a region where higher education is a major industry. The analysis also found that the area boasts a healthy level of young, college-educated residents.

"We are not saying we shouldn't concentrate on retaining young people and graduates. But there is no brain drain in Boston. That's what we found," said Alvaro Lima, research director at the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

"I think that the main argument is that higher education institutions in Boston are an export industry," said Lima. "We bring in people — lots of people — and bring in money by charging them for education."

Lima and researchers at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute also found there are not enough jobs in the area labor markets to hire anywhere near the number of graduates each year.

"There is no way we are going to retain 60,000 people a year," Lima said. "You cannot produce jobs at the same rate you produce graduates."

A recent study released by think tank City Observatory seems to back up the BRA report. Boston is one of only four cities, including San Francisco, San Jose and Washington, D.C., where half or more of all 25- to 34-year-olds have a college degree, that study showed.

City Observatory found that the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees in the Boston area grew by nearly 12 percent from 2000 to 2012. San Francisco, the Hub's chief rival in luring high-tech pros, posted nearly the same spike in that time.

"We are not saying that Boston should not double every effort to retain more young people," said Lima. "What we're saying is we don't have young people leaving by droves right now."

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WHO: Number of Ebola-linked cases passes 10,000

DAKAR, Senegal — More than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola, according to figures released Saturday by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread.

Of those cases, 4,922 people have died.

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest ever outbreak of the disease with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There have also been cases in three other West African countries, Spain and the United States.

The U.N. health agency said Saturday that the number of confirmed, probable and suspected cases has risen to 10,141. Its figures show about 200 new cases since the last report, four days ago.

Even those grisly tolls are likely an underestimate, WHO has warned, as many people in the hardest hit countries have been unable or too frightened to seek medical care. A shortage of labs capable of handling potentially infected blood samples has also made it difficult to track the outbreak. For example, the latest numbers show no change in Liberia's case toll, suggesting the numbers may be lagging behind reality.

On Thursday, authorities confirmed that the disease had spread to Mali, the sixth West African country affected, and on the same day a new case was confirmed in New York, in a doctor recently returned from Guinea.

Mali had long been considered highly vulnerable to the disease, since it shares a border with Guinea. The disease arrived there in a 2-year-old, who traveled from Guinea with her grandmother by bus and died Friday.

The toddler, who was bleeding from her nose during the journey, may have had high-risk contact with many people, the World Health Organization warned. So far, 43 people are being monitored in isolation for signs of the disease, and WHO said Saturday that authorities are continuing to look for more people at risk.

To help fight Ebola, the U.N. humanitarian flight service airlifted about 1 ton of medical supplies to Mali late Friday. The seats of the plane were removed to make room for the cargo, which included hazard suits for health workers, surgical gloves, face shields and buckets, according to the World Food Program, which runs the flights.

"Speed is of the essence in this Ebola crisis. Agencies such as WFP and WHO are working every hour to confront together the virus as a matter of priority," said Denise Brown, the West Africa regional director for the U.N. food agency.

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Land Rover made to go off-road

The Land Rover LR4 HSE is the luxury SUV for those who actually go off-road.

More than just a boxier, gussied-up Jeep, the LR4 is equally at home on any surface. This upscale vehicle does it in style, with a straight-grained walnut-trimmed dashboard surrounded by leather. Leather seats and a leather-wrapped steering wheel work in harmony to polish this off-road beast.

The solidly built LR4 has an integrated body frame made with a boxed steel-ladder foundation and sports permanent four-wheel-drive. Everything about this midsized SUV suggests it is a machine that is well-made.

The flip of a paddle switch causes the electronic air suspension to lift and lower the vehicle. The same system also automatically adjusts to speed and terrain. This is all complimented by the torsion-differential terrain system, independent front and rear suspension, and dynamic stability control which all work in conjunction to keep the LR4 in control and its 19-inch alloy wheels in contact with the road or wherever you're driving.

A tight turning radius allows the LR4 to navigate anywhere, so it is nimble in the densely populated city as well as the country.

An eight-speed electronically controlled transmission uses a single-speed transfer gearbox to accelerate very smoothly, but put the pedal to the medal and you'll pay for it! The LR4 does have an ECO mode that stops and starts the engine at stoplights. While annoying, the ECO mode tries to save you some money on gas. But ultimately, the LR4 averages just 16 mpg.

Another gas saving measure is the speed alarm that alerts you when you exceed a predetermined speed. This feature limits gas consumption — as well as costly speeding tickets.

For comfort and entertainment, the 825-watt Meridian 17-speaker sound system sounds great, but the 7-inch touchscreen display is smallish and the Bluetooth audio streaming is hard to configure. The LR4 is also hampered by a cryptic control layout in an oversized center console that has undersized and needlessly compact buttons.

The console also takes up a lot of space, creating a narrow footwell only compounded by its bulky doors. The dash and console would have more room if it weren't for the ashtray (yes, ashtray) and the somewhat useful powered cooler box. But the cramped feeling is washed away a bit with plenty of headroom and three sunroofs. Two of the "alpine" roofs are fixed, but they let in lots of light.

The LR4 seats five comfortably and there's plenty of storage in the rear. An asymmetrical split tailgate allows great access to the cargo area.

The bottom line is that the LR4 is worth looking into if you are interested in a tony but tough all-terrain SUV.

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SpaceX founder envisions building city on Mars

The serial entrepreneur behind Tesla Motors and the California-based SpaceX believes there are "plenty" of people who would consider a one-way trip to Mars.

Sounding like a cross between Captain Kirk and L. Ron Hubbard, Elon Musk said SpaceX's long-term goal is to establish a "self-sustaining city" on the red planet as a kind a backup for earth.

"The future of humanity will fundamentally bifurcate along the lines of a single-planet species or a multi-planet species," Musk, 43, said at the AeroAstro 100th Anniversary Symposium at MIT. "A multi-planet version of humanity's future is going to last a lot longer ... than if we were a single-planet species."

NASA chose SpaceX as part of the first program to allow private companies to deliver supplies to the International Space Station, but it has yet to send a manned spacecraft to Mars.

"There are some risks ... which we will not be able to mitigate," Musk said. "I think we should do it now because ... the window of technology for this is open. For 1 percent of our resources, we could buy life insurance for us collectively."

Musk acknowledged that space flight today is "ridiculously expensive," and even the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett couldn't afford the estimated $200 billion cost of a Mars spacecraft.

That's why the first Mars explorers would likely send robots. But calling to mind the movie "The Terminator" he warned of the perils of artificial intelligence, calling it "probably our biggest existential threat."

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Voters weigh expansion of bottle deposit law

BOSTON — Both sides in the debate over Question 2 on the Nov. 4 ballot say much has changed in the more than three decades since Massachusetts first passed a bottled deposit law.

Proponents of the measure that would expand the scope of the law say a variety of beverages that were largely unheard-of on store shelves at the time have become consumer staples — all the while adding to the state's litter woes.

"There was virtually no such thing, when you walked into a supermarket, as bottled water, sports drinks, vitamin water or Diet Snapple peach-flavored teas," said Janet Domenitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. "There is this entire market of containers that have become litter or trash because they were not defined in the current law."

But what has also changed, opponents of the ballot question argue, is the way Americans handle the trash they produce. Slow but steady gains in recycling, including municipal programs that pick up recyclable materials in front of people's homes, are making returnable containers unnecessary, they say.

"It's really undermining a system that has evolved and works better than loading up your containers and driving them back to the grocery store," said Nicole Giambusso, spokeswoman for No on Question 2: Stop Forced Deposits. "We should be looking at modern technology and not at something that was created for 1982."

The ballot measure, if approved, would add 5-cent deposits to most non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverage containers.

It would also allow the nickel deposit — unchanged since the original law was approved — to increase with inflation in future years and require that unclaimed deposits be earmarked for a special state environmental fund.

After trying without success to convince the Massachusetts Legislature to make the changes, activists opted to take their case directly to voters. But the ballot campaign has met with stiff opposition from industry groups that through Oct. 20 had spent more than $8.2 million, much of it on an advertising blitz, according to state campaign finance records.

By contrast, a coalition of environmental groups supporting Question 2 had collectively spent about $900,000.

The opposition has been largely funded by supermarket chains, which would have to deal with the added volume of extra containers being returned, and the Washington-based American Beverage Association, which lobbies for soft drink companies.

A TV ad run by opponents that claimed 90 percent of Massachusetts residents have access to curbside recycling was fiercely challenged by backers of the ballot question, who cite state figures showing that only 47.5 percent of cities and towns, covering about 63 percent of the state's population, offer curbside recycling.

"They went on the air and lied," said Domenitz.

Opponents denied misleading voters, though later ads against Question 2 used revised language, saying 90 percent of residents had access to curbside or other "community recycling."

Expanding the bottle deposit law would hike prices for beverages and add millions in handling costs for bottle returns, in part because of the need to purchase new equipment to handle different-sized containers, Giambusso said.

Environmental groups embrace curbside recycling but also point to its limitations. It doesn't account for beverages consumed in parks, on beaches or any number of other places outside the home, Domenitz said.

Citing estimates from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Coalition for an Updated Bottle Bill says 80 percent of carbonated beverage containers have been either redeemed or recycled over the past five years, while the recycling rate for containers not subject to the current deposit law is only 23 percent.

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The Ticker

N.H. co. settles with Apple

A New Hampshire company that was manufacturing synthetic sapphire glass has reached a settlement with Apple, but at the expense of layoffs at its facilities in Salem and New Hampshire.

GT Advanced Technologies said in a statement yesterday it will "wind down" its sapphire production in Salem and Mesa, Ariz., under a settlement with Apple that is part of the company's ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

GT has laid off 650 workers in its Arizona plant and six employees in Salem. The Salem facility will remain open, but a number of positions will be transferred to its Merrimack, N.H., headquarters.

MBTA launches Green Line tracking

The MBTA began providing real-time information on the Green Line yesterday for the first time in the line's 
117-year history. Real-time data on the location of Green Line trains is now fed to the dozens of MBTA real-time apps. This will mark the completion of the first phase of a multi-phase project to provide real-time information and predictions to the Green Line's 227,000 daily riders.

Raytheon reports $515M in net income

Raytheon Co. yesterday reported third-quarter net income of $515 million.

On a per-share basis, the Waltham company said it had a profit of $1.65, beating Wall Street expectations.

The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.61 per share.

The defense contractor posted revenue of 
$5.47 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Analysts expected $5.62 billion, according to Zacks.

Lynch donates $50G to foundation

The New England Chapter of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship announced it has received a $50,000 donation from the Barbara Lynch Foundation. The Hub restaurateur's donation will be used to specifically expand NFTE's programming within Boston schools, including Charlestown High School, the Josiah Quincy School, Boston International High School and West Roxbury Academy.

Today

• Commerce Department releases new home sales for September.
• State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corp., has announced the appointment of Lori Heinel as chief portfolio strategist. In this newly created position, Heinel will oversee a global team of 20 investment professionals dedicated to communicating information about investment strategies and solutions to prospects, clients and consultants. A 30-year industry veteran, Heinel most recently served as chief investment strategist for OppenheimerFunds Inc., where she oversaw product management, product development and investment thought leadership.

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Lumiere shines light on high-end Medford site

A large site across from the Mystic River Reservation in Medford is being turned into the area's latest luxury apartment development with views across the river to the Boston skyline.

The 164-unit Lumiere is about a mile from the Wellington Orange Line T Station, and sits on the site of a former car dealership. The first 48-apartment phase has just opened, with 18 of the units leased. The final two phases will be finished in December and February.

The Lumiere is in the same apartment submarket as Station Landing in Medford and Assembly Row in Somerville, but without the urban village feel.

"People who go there get the hustle and bustle, but those who rent here want a little more tranquility," said Lumiere property man­ager Robin Boersner, citing nearby walking and cycling trails and kayaking on the river. "We're across from a natural retreat."

Waltham- and Dallas-based Criterion Development Partners also recently built the Rivers Edge apartments near Wellington, but the Lumiere is targeting a higher-end market.

"Criterion wanted to create a real upscale feel at the Lumiere, with larger apartments and higher quality finishes than the competition," said Michelle Tomasetti, director of marketing for Winn­Residential, which is managing the development.

All apartments have 9- to 10-foot ceilings and tall windows, kitchens with Silestone countertops and islands, and two-tone zebrawood and white cabinetry. The master bedroom suites have spacious walk-in closets and soaking tubs in the en-suite tiled bathrooms. Fifth-floor apartments have gas fireplaces and some units have hardwood floors throughout. Most have sliding-glass doors to private balconies.

Studios at the Lumiere, with 623 square feet, start at $1,829, one bedrooms, from 690 to 840 square feet, range from $2,071 to $2,688 and two bedrooms, with 1,038-1,301 square feet, go for $2,655 to $3,033. All apartments have in-unit washers and dryers.

And each comes with one garage parking space, with additional spaces available at $100 apiece. The complex is currently offering a leasing­ concession of one free month's rent.

While the apartments have earthy tones, the common-­area finishes — starting with a striking white marble tile wall in the entry foyer — go for a bolder, contemporary look.

"There's a lot of texture with bright colors to give the amenity spaces a boutique hotel feel," Boersner said.

The second-floor common spaces take advantage of Mystic River and Boston skyline views. The Lookout Lounge has wraparound windows and glass mosaic tile walls, and features a full high-end kitchen for tenant use as well as a clubroom with a two-sided gas fireplace and a billiards table.

This room opens onto an outdoor courtyard, one of two in the complex, which features a heated pool and a sundeck. There's also a fitness facility, a Wi-Fi conference room and a dedicated room for gaming­ consoles. The second courtyard will feature a "green" community garden.

The pet-friendly Lumiere is going for a LEED designation, and has other green features such as LED lighting as well as electric car- charging stations.

"What we're offering is elegance with an edgy touch," Tomasetti said.

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Pipeline ‘consumer’ advocates are gas industry insiders

A new group that claims to advocate for consumers by pushing for natural gas pipeline construction as a way to cut rising electricity costs is made up of industry insiders.

Anthony Buxton, general counsel and spokesman for the Coalition to Lower Energy Costs, is a registered energy industry lobbyist in Maine, where he represents Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., a Kinder Morgan Energy Partners subsidiary that wants Maine ratepayers to subsidize a proposed natural gas pipeline from New York to Dracut. However, Buxton said he is not involved in the Massachusetts project.

Barbara Kates-Garnick, the coalition's senior energy policy adviser, is a former executive at KeySpan and National Grid, and former commissioner of the Department of Public Utilities.

Buxton, who confirmed his industry links, denied the coalition is a front for the industry, saying it wants to increase the supply of natural gas to New England, thereby "dramatically" lowering energy costs.

When asked who would pay for such a pipeline, Buxton said: "Ratepayers would pay for the pipeline over time, but would recoup those costs in electricity savings."

But Greg Cunningham, senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, said ratepayers don't need a pipeline in Massachusetts because there already are incremental pipeline expansions in the final stages of approval that would bring relief to consumers years before any Tennessee Gas pipeline could be built.

"They (the coalition) say (their proposal) would benefit citizens, as if they represent the citizens," he said. "They represent a multi-billion corporation that is pushing an estimated $3- to $6-billion pipeline that it wants to be paid for by consumers."

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Amazon’s new Kindles a perfect read

The new Kindle Voyage is the perfect binge-reader.

It proves that the iPad isn't for bookworms anymore, because even the most old-school lover of dead trees should take a look at the Voyage, which takes all the best aspects of Amazon's previous e-readers and rolls them into the best digital book experience on the market.

While the iPad is still king of the tablet market with about 30 percent marketshare, Amazon has steadfastly catered to people who love to read. It's a strategy that should pay off this holiday shopping season with impressive sales of this impressive product.

The ultra-thin, 7 mm device starts at $200 and costs $290 for the 3G model, a price reflective of a super-luxe and refined style.

Like the excellent Kindle Paperwhite, the Voyage has a unique lighting system that directs light from the screen itself down onto the ink — just like a light in the room would reflect off a piece of paper — very cool technology that doesn't strain your eyes.

At 300 pixels per inch, the same as the printed page, reading on the Voyage is literally like reading a book.

The Kindle Voyage is an electronic reading device that melts away, with alerts and annoyances muted while you read, excellent battery life and very little bezel. The buttons for the next and last page are capacitive, so you can hold the Kindle anywhere without fear of triggering them.

A magnetic latch cover with a built-in stand makes it easy to take a book to bed.

A particularly awesome feature is Kindle X-Ray, which helps with instant word definitions and information about obscure characters and themes.

It's worth noting that Amazon also has a winner with the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition, the first tablet for children that's worth a try. It costs $149 for the 6-inch version and $189 for the 7-inch base model. The price includes a one-year subscription to 5,000 games, videos, and books for kids. A rugged protective case and two-year, no-questions-asked warranty rounds out that excellent offering.

Both the Voyage and Fire for kids are evidence that Amazon should stick to the things that made it great — namely, books.

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Dunkin' Donuts counting fewer beans

Weak consumer spending and increased competition for their breakfast business yesterday prompted the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts to warn that it might miss sales forecasts.

It will be a "challenge" for Canton-based Dunkin' Brands to achieve the low end of its targeted 2 percent to 3 percent increase in comparable-store sales at U.S. Dunkin' locations, chairman and CEO Nigel Travis said in an earnings call with analysts.

"Dunkin' Donuts U.S. third-quarter (comparable store sales) of 2 percent did improve slightly over the second quarter even if we continue to feel the impact from an ongoing sluggish economy and a highly competitive QSR (quick-service restaurant) breakfast and coffee environment," Travis said. "We've faced some headwinds this year on Dunkin' Donuts U.S. stores."

Comparable store sales are considered an important performance measure. They reflect sales at stores open 54 weeks or more and exclude recently opened or closed stores.

Travis said he is "concerned" about consumers.

"I'd like to think that they were going to be encouraged by gas prices going down," he said. "That doesn't seem to have happened to anyone yet."

Dunkin' is facing competitive pressures — including price competition — from casual dining chains and fellow quick-service chains such as McDonald's.

Breakfast and coffee are strong growth categories in the restaurant business, and more and more companies are looking to get their piece of the pie, said Sharon Zackfia of William Blair & Co. "Particularly with soft drink consumption kind of declining and other (parts of the day) providing challenges for many restaurant operators, breakfast is pretty enticing," she said. "It's growing, and it's pretty habitual. "

Dunkin' maintained its full-year earnings-per-share guidance of $1.73 to $1.77.

Its earnings growth is primarily driven by development, and that remains very healthy for U.S. Dunkin' locations, and franchisee profitability is at all-time highs, Zackfia said.

Dunkin' shares, which fell as much as 6.7 percent yesterday, closed at $44, down 5.96 percent.

"The shares have under-performed their (QSR) and broader restaurant industry peers year-to-date," Barclays analyst Jeffrey Bernstein said in a research report. But, he noted, "Despite the near-term headwinds, we continue to believe Dunkin' is a strong long-term growth story."

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