ENERGY
Auction set for offshore wind leases in Gulf of Maine
The US Department of Interior has set an auction date of Oct. 29 for its first sale of offshore wind energy leases in the Gulf of Maine, including several areas east of Cape Cod. Together, the eight lease areas total about 830,000 developable acres. Interior officials said they pared back the amount by 12 percent after receiving feedback about the potential impacts on fishing grounds, habitats, and vessel transit routes. Collectively, the eight areas, if fully developed for offshore wind energy, could provide up to 13 gigawatts of power, or enough for around 4.5 million homes. However, because of the depths in the Gulf of Maine, offshore wind developers would need to use floating technologies to support the turbines instead of the standard monopile foundations used in other offshore wind projects in the Northeast. Federal officials determined that 14 different firms, many of them affiliated with European companies, have qualified to bid in this auction, with a minimum bid of nearly $5 million per area; no bidder would be allowed to win more than two areas. The upcoming auction is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to get up to 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power installed by 2030, a goal that has become harder to reach due to major industry setbacks caused by higher borrowing and construction costs. — JON CHESTO
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HEALTH CARE
Faulkner nurses say they will stage one-day strike Oct. 1 if talks fail
Hundreds of nurses at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital are poised to go on a one-day strike Oct. 1 if their union still has not reached an agreement with the hospital, according to a news release Monday from the Massachusetts Nurses Association. The nurses are seeking wage parity with nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and other hospitals in the Brigham system. A spokesperson for Mass General Brigham said in a statement that the difference in salary scales is because Faulkner is a community hospital, not an academic medical center, meaning there are less specialized care offerings and lower reimbursements from insurance companies. The spokesperson said patient care and hospital operations would continue through the potential strike. — STELLA TANNENBAUM
LABOR
Blue Bottle Coffee workers protest firing of union organizer
Unionized Blue Bottle Coffee employees picketed outside the coffee shop chain’s Harvard Square location Monday in protest of the company’s decision to terminate a union organizer last week. Remy Roskin, a shift leader at Blue Bottle and a vocal organizer within the Blue Bottle Independent Union, said she was unfairly fired for clocking into work on her phone, rather than the cafe iPad — a violation of company policy — even though she had not received any prior disciplinary warnings. “The union and I both feel that I was singled out and unfairly terminated, where I should’ve been given a write-up or talked to about this,” Roskin said. “It’s not right.” Blue Bottle did not immediately respond to requests for comment. — DITI KOHLI
MEDIA
Channel 4 gets a new general manager
Johnny Green Jr., the general manager of WCBS-TV in New York, will take on a new role as regional general manager and president of both the New York station and CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV (Channel 4), CBS told WBZ employees on Friday. Adrienne Roark, president of editorial and newsgathering for CBS News and Stations, told WBZ staff that Green would take on the new role starting Sept. 30, according to an email obtained by the Globe and confirmed by CBS. He will replace Justin Draper, who told staff last week that he would depart WBZ and CBS the end of the month.— AIDAN RYAN
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Circle Internet Financial decamping to NYC
Circle Internet Financial, Boston’s most prominent cryptocurrency startup, is moving its headquarters to New York City just as the digital currency markets have emerged from a long downturn. Longtime Boston entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire, who cofounded Circle here 11 years ago, said the company will open a new office on the 87th floor of One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan early next year. Circle created one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies linked to the value of the US dollar, a less volatile type of digital asset than bitcoin known as a stablecoin. As the financial capital of the United States, New York already had a far larger crypto scene than Boston, including the headquarters of blockchain security company Fireblocks, collectibles platform OpenSea, and trading site Paxos. New York has some 464 venture-capital backed startups working on cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology versus 71 in Boston, according to data from PitchBook. — AARON PRESSMAN
PUBLIC TRANSIT
NYC system needs $115 billion in improvements
New York City’s transit system should prioritize repairing its current infrastructure rather than investing in expansion projects, a new report from a fiscal watchdog group advises. That’s because the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s overall capital needs totals about $115 billion, far exceeding available funding. The MTA runs the city’s subways, buses, and commuter rail lines and is working on a 2025—2029 capital budget to modernize a more than 100-year-old system. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
Budapest residents vote to ban short-term rentals
One of Budapest’s most popular tourist districts has voted in a referendum to ban short-term rentals after a surge in housing costs and complaints about noise and trash by its residents. The Hungarian capital’s sixth district is one of the most popular areas for Airbnb and similar housing, with over 2,200 such rentals, according to the municipality. In a two-week long plebiscite, 54 percent of residents voted to prohibit them, according to results announced early Monday. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
BANKING
BNP manager accused of cutting women’s bonuses to give more to men
A BNP Paribas manager faces allegations he ordered staff to cut female employees bonuses to boost the pay of male colleagues in London, according to new claims by a broker who previously won a landmark case against the French bank. Stacey Macken, a prime brokerage product manager, won a historic $2.6 million equal pay case in 2019 after she proved she was paid significantly less than her male colleagues and targeted by sexist behavior — including finding a witch’s hat left on her desk. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
PHARMACEUTICALS
Breast cancer drug helps prevent reoccurrence
Novartis’ breast cancer drug helped prevent the disease coming back a year after treatment had ended, in new data that will be closely compared with a rival product from Eli Lilly. Novartis’ Kisqali reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 28.5 percent in a four-year follow-up of patients with certain early types of the illness, according to data presented Monday at the European Society for Medical Oncology in Barcelona. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
PHARMACEUTICALS
Bayer prostate cancer drug cut risk of disease progression
Bayer’s fast-selling prostate cancer drug reduced the risk of the disease progressing in data that could see it receive approval for wider use. Nubeqa alongside androgen deprivation therapy reduced the risk of death or cancer progression by 46 percent compared with just receiving androgen deprivation therapy, according to full data from a late-stage study. If approval is secured it could mean doctors could prescribe the drug for patients both with and without chemotherapy, expanding treatment options. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Publish date : 2024-09-16 13:03:00
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