Cambridge single-family fresh from makeover

This unassuming two-family in North Cambridge has been converted into an upscale single-family home.

Built in 1894, the 2,100-
square-foot three-bedroom home at 225 Rindge Ave. was recently renovated with new systems and wiring, higher ceilings, slate and wide-plank wood laminate floors, recessed lighting and all-new marble bathrooms. It's on the market for the just-reduced price of $839,900.

Geared for low maintenance, the home has new vinyl siding and a tankless water-heating system. And although there is no front yard, there is a fenced-in grass backyard.

The exterior has been nicely restyled with gray siding and white trim with plum-colored shutters. A small front porch leads into a foyer with brown slate floors and a cutout that opens up to the adjoining living room, which has 10-foot ceilings with white soffits, wood floors and recessed lighting.

Straight ahead from the foyer, through French doors, sits a sunny formal dining room with two windows, recessed lighting and slate floors. At the far end of this room, under a metal overhead fixture, is a granite-topped cutout leading into the kitchen.

The home's recessed-lit kitchen has white soffits, brown slate floors, 15 custom wood cabinets and granite counters and backsplash. There are Samsung, Kitchen Aid and Whirlpool stainless-steel appliances.

Off the kitchen is a half bath and at the end of a slate hallway, there's a laundry room with a full-size Whirlpool washer and dryer.

The home's three bedrooms are on the second floor, reached via a turning staircase. The master bedroom suite, with wood floors and two closets with built-ins, has a high-end bathroom with brown marble floors and walls around a tub and shower and a stylish double-sink vanity. There's a back porch leading from this bedroom.

There are two other bedrooms, one good for a children's room and a third that's nursery sized. There's a stylish, second full marble bathroom with tiled surround for a tub/shower and white sink vanity.

The home's finished basement has a slate-floored family room plus an adjoining home office. There's also a full ceramic-tiled bath here with a tub/shower and white sink vanity.

There's extra storage space in an unfinished area of the basement, along with the home's high-efficiency gas-fired heating and cooling system, as well as a Rinnai tankless water-heating system.

A driveway next to the house accommodates three vehicles.

Broker: Bremis Realty, brokers Brenda Bremis at 617-828-1872 and Stephen Bremis at 617-828-1070

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Scion FR-S: Sporty ride
 at a great price

I loved the reaction I got to the 2013 Scion FR-S — is this a Porsche? Not quite, but this is a true sports car indeed.

I was quickly relieved to find the FR-S wasn't just a sports car lite made for kids fresh out of school looking for glitz with nothing under the hood to back it up. This is truly a high-performance car meant to be driven and a car that willingly returns the favor by being a blast to drive. As soon as the first exhaust note growls out, you know you've got a tiger by the tail.

The 2.0-liter 200-horsepower FR-S is born of a collaboration between independent Subaru and powerhouse Toyota. The Subaru boxer engine mated to a six-speed transmission is wrapped by aggressive styling, creating one very fun car to drive. The shark-like sweeping lines harken back to European sports cars of the '60s and '70s but with 2013 engineering.

The front and rear independent MacPherson struts with 17-inch alloy wheels turn this coupe into a quick, spirited and tight car to drive. The roadster handles crisply and stops confidently with precise steering and powerful ventilated brakes. Throw this nimble car into a turn, happily motor down the highway and it'll pay you back with immense feedback.

What is truly great about this hot little number is the little number — the price. As tested the FR-S will cost you just $26,166. The only upgrade that is available is the $635 stereo, so what you see is what you get with this rear-wheel-drive sportster. The FR-S is a little more than half the cost of the Porsche Boxster and a more powerful car than the Mazda Miata.

A race-inspired interior sports an extremely supportive seat and the thick, red stitched, leather-wrapped steering wheel moves the car with just a flick of the wrist. Even without the six-speed stick the car is powerful, quick and fast. A punch of the gas, downshift with the paddles and you go. There's no lag and when you drop it into sport mode, the shift points switch to aggressive gearing allowing you to wring out every RPM.

The clean dash has a speedometer, tach and gauges in plain view. The stereo was a bit cumbersome, but once I figured it out setting my stations and phone was not too hard. The interior is well-fitted and good-looking with cloth and mixed plastics. Aluminum trimming and accents finished the cockpit. Humorously, it has two "rear" seats that really are for stowing some gear, but my golf clubs had to ride in the passenger seat.

The FR-S returns a solid average of 28 mpg, rating at 25 in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. Although it's a twin mechanically to the Subaru BRS, it has different standard equipment so it cost about $1,000 less.

Compare this sports car to the Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Genesis and don't be afraid to sneak a peak at the Porsche and Nissan 370z to see how favorably it stacks up.

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Study: Consolidate state’s 105 pension systems

Consolidating the administration of the state's 105 public employee retirement systems would save nearly $25 million annually in employment costs and stipends that could be used to pay off unfunded pension liability, according to a new study.

The Pioneer Institute, a Boston think tank, estimates that consolidation could save up to $22.5 million in annual labor costs and another $2.3 million in retirement board member stipends. Each local retirement system is overseen by a board, each of whose five members receives a $4,500 annual stipend, plus travel and other expenses.

"We have so many retirement systems it's very hard to know whether they're doing the right thing," said Iliya Atanasov, Pioneer's senior fellow on finance and one of the study's authors. "If we consolidated that system, we would be able to have substantial savings and have much more transparency about what is going on with pension assets because it would be clear where the responsibility lies and what's happening with those dollars."

Atanasov and co-
author Casey Miles found that the median local board had 524 beneficiaries for every board member, but one of the least staffed boards — Middlesex County — was almost four times as efficient. Only the state employees' system had a lower staffing level, with 2,597 beneficiaries per employee compared with Middlesex's 1,968.
 The largest local system, Boston, has 2 1⁄2 times as many beneficiaries as the Middlesex system but employs almost six times as many staff.

Daniel J. Greene, executive officer of the Boston Retirement Board, could not be reached for comment.

Jon Carlisle, a spokesman for state Treasurer Steven Grossman, who oversees the state retirement board, said the treasury strongly supports cost-saving initiatives but cannot compel independent retirement boards to merge into the state system.

"Instead, the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, the investment arm of the state retirement system, has encouraged local boards to invest their holdings with it and has attracted those investments through strong performance and outstanding customer service," Carlisle said. 
"The management fees that an independent board can save through this arrangement are substantial."

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Aerosmith drummer’s coffee rolls into local stores

Fans of Aerosmith and fans of java unite! Beginning next month, you'll be able to indulge your taste for both when drummer Joey Kramer's organic brew hits store shelves.

Rockin' & Roastin' coffee will be available in 100 locations throughout New England, including Big Y's 59 stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

"I'm a coffee addict forever," Kramer told the Herald. "This is not just another celebrity putting his name on a product. I'm hands on. I'm working really hard on it. There's no reason people should be gouged."

For $7.99, you can take your pick from his trio of small-batch brews: two dark roasts from Sumatra and Ethiopia and one dark-medium roast from Guatemala.

All three previously were available only online. But in May, Kramer announced his partnership with Comfort Foods of North Andover, which now roasts, packages and distributes them.

Currently, the coffee is available in both whole bean and ground forms, and soon Kramer will unveil a single-serving option.

Java lovers need feel no guilt for indulging their addiction. Through June 2014, he'll donate a portion of his coffee sales to auto-dealership magnate Ernie Boch Jr.'s nonprofit, Music Drives Us, which offers grants for music programs for people in need.

In addition to Big Y, Rockin' & Roastin' coffee will also be available at five other grocers: Roche Bros., Trucchi's Supermarkets, Dave's Fresh Marketplace in Rhode Island; Durham Marketplace in New Hampshire; and Geissler's Supermarket in Connecticut.

Next stop for Kramer's coffee: Texas, where he owns a home, although no date has been set.

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Sales-tax holiday expected to sail through Legislature

Beacon Hill lawmakers plan to vote on a proposed Aug. 10-11 state sales tax holiday early next week, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo anticipates no opposition to what's become a last-minute annual vote.

"It helps the business community, which obviously we always want to do … and, equally important, is it helps consumers, especially as folks get ready for back to school," he said. "Any relief that we can give — and ... the incentive to shop here in Massachusetts — is an important step."

Senate President Therese Murray also has expressed support for a sales tax holiday this year.

Massachusetts has had a sales tax holiday every year since 2004, except for in 2009. The holiday exempts consumers from paying the 6.25 percent Massachusetts sales tax on most single-item purchases that cost $2,500 or less.

Shoppers saved about $23.34 million in state sales taxes during last year's two-day holiday, according the state Department of Revenue.

"It's an important economic stimulus for consumers and Main Street alike, and it's been a proven winner," said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. "We do border New Hampshire, so we cover many sales that otherwise would go elsewhere and, frankly, we have a very tech-savvy consumer who knows how to shop online."

DeLeo attributed the last-minute vote, in part, to getting a handle on state tax collections.

The state started a new tax year on July 1. "We began … in good shape," DeLeo said. "The economy looks good, and it puts us in a better position to do this."

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Wall St. liking Facebook

Facebook Inc. shares soared in after-hours trading yesterday on late news that the social networking company's mobile advertising sales boosted it to a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit.

"We made some really good progress this quarter with the growth and engagement of our community, the release of new products like Instagram video, and advertising growth, especially on mobile," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a call with analysts. "We now have more daily actives on mobile than on desktop. Nearly half a billion people use Facebook on their phones every day, and soon we'll have more revenue on mobile than on desktop as well."

Facebook posted $333 million in net income for the second quarter ended June 30, compared to a $157 million loss in the same period a year ago. Revenue jumped 53 percent to $1.81 billion from $1.18 billion. Both beat analysts' estimates.

"They were a legitimate surprise," said Ben Rose, an analyst at Battle Road Research in Waltham. "People were setting fairly conservative expectations. Going into the quarter, we, like others, were projecting about $1.6 billion in revenue."

Advertising revenue accounted for $1.6 billion or 88 percent of Facebook's total revenue, a 61 percent increase from a year ago. Mobile ad revenue, meanwhile, was about 41 percent of total ad revenue, compared to less than 10 percent in last year's second quarter.

Shares of the Menlo Park, Calif., company's stock climbed 20.6 percent to $31.98 after the bell and a $26.51 close.

"It does suggest that the sentiment is improving for the company," Rose said. "Their stock hasn't performed really well since their (initial public offering) more than a year ago."

Concern about its ability to capitalize on the shift to mobile devices from personal computers has weighed on Facebook shares since its $16 billion IPO in May 2012 — the largest technology IPO ever. Facebook's stock was priced at $38 when it went public and has yet to hit that level since.

"Finally, the blowout quarter that Facebook bulls have been waiting for," Bloomberg Industries analyst Paul Sweeney said.

Zuckerberg also rebutted concerns that teens are growing tired of Facebook in favor of newer services such as (Facebook-owned) Instagram. "… Based on our data, that just isn't true," he said.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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The Ticker

Hasbro misses mark 
on quarterly earnings

Hasbro's second-quarter net income fell 16 percent, hurt by cautious consumer spending and a steep drop in sales of boys' toys. Toy industry sales have been in a slight decline all year, stung by a video game industry slump, shoppers' curtailed spending and increased demand for electronic gadgets such as smartphones and tablets.

Separately, the nation's second-biggest toy maker announced that it is expanding its merchandising relationship with The Walt Disney Co. for properties including Marvel and Star Wars.

Netflix growth up, but shares drop

Despite a growth in revenue and subscribers, streaming-video giant Netflix saw its stock price dip after reporting its financials for the second quarter.

For the quarter that ended June 30, Netflix revenue was $1.069 billion, up 20 percent from $889 million for the first quarter of 2012, but fell short of Wall Street's expectations of $1.072 billion. Quarterly net income rose to $29 million from $6 million.

Netflix shares were down $14.36, or 5.48%, to $247.60 in after-hours trading.

Meanwhile, Netflix subscriptions grew to about 
30 million U.S. streaming customers, up from 
29.2 million, for a total of 36.3 million worldwide, the company reported.

Analysts had hoped for a larger increase in U.S. streaming subscribers than the reported addition of 630,000.

TODAY

 The Allston Board of Trade, the Brighton Board of Trade and the Brighton Allston Improvement Association are co-sponsoring a forum on the candidates for mayor of Boston.

 Altria Group, Apple, AT&T Dupont, Radio Shack and UPS report quarterly financial results.

TOMORROW

 Commerce Department releases new home sales for June.

 Boeing, Caterpillar, Delta Air Lines, Facebook, Ford, Pepsico and Visa report quarterly financial results.

 Grossman Marketing Group, a print and promotional products company headquartered in Somerville, has announced the hiring of Heidi Quigley. She joins the Somerville office as a special projects associate. In this role, Quigley will be responsible for marketing collateral development, online marketing, social media management and other related duties.

 Foley & Lardner LLP announced that Stuart Fross has joined the firm as partner in the private equity and venture capital practice in the Boston office. Focused on investment management and pooled investment vehicles, Fross brings experience with a wide variety of investment funds including registered open-end, closed-end and exchange-traded funds.

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Asian stocks higher after Wall Street gains

SEOUL, South Korea — Asian stock markets rose Tuesday as overnight gains on Wall Street and the Japanese prime minister's vow to focus on economic reforms helped investors brush off a downbeat U.S. housing survey and weak quarterly earnings.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was 0.8 percent higher at 14,774.09, its second day of gains since Prime Minister's Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition gained control of the upper house in weekend elections, possibly making it easier to implement reforms aimed at lifting the world's No. 3 economy out of its long slump.

Abe pledged that economic recovery will be the government's top priority.

Since Abe took office following a lower house election victory in late December, aggressive monetary easing and government spending have helped push stocks higher while business confidence has improved and the weaker yen has eased pressure on exporters.

South Korea's Kospi rose 1.1 percent to 1,900.52. South Korea's government said it will unveil a new set of measures to boost the stagnant real estate market including lower taxes on purchases of properties.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 2 percent to 21,851.97 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent to 5,019.50. Stocks in mainland China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia also rose.

Investors in Asia are looking ahead to a week full of corporate earnings reports. Apple Inc. will disclose its quarterly results after the U.S. market closes on Tuesday. In Seoul, Asian tech titan Samsung Electronics will release its quarterly performance before trading starts on Friday.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial inched up 0.01 percent to 15,545.55. McDonald's slump following its weaker-than-expected quarterly performance weighed on the index.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4 percent to 3,600.39. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 1,695.53 on Monday. The index is at an all-time high, though trading volumes were lower than average.

A surprising fall in U.S. existing home sales in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million kept investor sentiment on Wall Street in check.

In currency markets, the dollar rose to 99.49 yen from 99.32 yen late Monday. The euro rose to $1.3199 from $1.3186.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 23 cents to $107.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.14 to finish at $106.91 on Monday.

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Pump prices jump 12 cents, AAA sees further rise

American motorists are bracing for further increases in gas pump prices this summer after average national prices rose 12 cents in the past week alone.

AAA says drivers are experiencing "sticker shock" as increased summer demand, unrest in Egypt and production disruptions in the U.S. and other countries push up the price of crude oil and gasoline.

The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline was $3.67 a gallon on Friday.

AAA says that's 23 cents more expensive than the same time last year but still below the all-time daily high of $4.11 a gallon on July 17, 2008.

The association says retail gas prices are likely to rise more in the coming weeks.

Unscheduled refinery shutdowns or hurricanes on the U.S. Gulf Coast could also add to price increases.

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Survey: Brighter US economic outlook boosts hiring

WASHINGTON — Companies are increasingly confident the economy will grow at a modest pace over the next year and are hiring more, according to a survey of business economists.

Nearly one-third of the economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics said their companies added jobs in the April-June quarter, according to a report released Monday. That's the highest percentage in nearly two years. And 39 percent expect their firms will hire more in the next six months. That's near the two-year high of 40 percent reached in the January-March quarter.

The hiring pickup occurred even though sales and profit growth slowed in the second quarter.

Optimism about future economic growth increased. Nearly three-quarters of the survey respondents forecast growth of 2.1 percent or more over the next 12 months. That's up from two-thirds in the first quarter survey, released in April, and the most in a year.

The quarterly survey's results echo much of the recent data tracking the economy. Growth has been slow in the past nine months, but employers have added jobs at a healthy pace. Many economists anticipate that the steady hiring will help accelerate growth in the second half of this year.

The NABE surveyed 65 of its member economists between June 18 and July 2. The economists work for companies from a variety of industries, including manufacturing, transportation and utilities, finance, retail and other services.

Among the findings:

— Only about 35 percent of the respondents said sales at their firms increased in the second quarter. That's sharply lower than the 55 percent who reported rising sales in the first quarter. And 15 percent said sales fell, up from 9 percent in the first quarter.

— Profit growth also slowed: Only 21 percent of respondents said profit margins increased last quarter, down from 29 percent in the first.

— Only 19 percent of economists said their firms were raising wages and salaries, down from 31 percent in April and the lowest proportion since October.

— A small but increasing minority of respondents say that government spending cuts and tax increases have hurt their businesses. Twenty-six percent of the economists said their firms were negatively impacted, up from only 16 percent in April. Still, 74 percent said the government policies had no impact on their businesses, though that's down from 79 percent three months earlier.

Looking ahead, companies are increasingly concerned about higher interest rates. That reflects the jump in rates that took place following Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments in late May that the Fed could slow its bond-buying program later this year. Those purchases are intended to keep interest rates low.

The interest rate on the 10-year Treasury bond, a benchmark that influences mortgage rates and other borrowing costs, has increased nearly a full percentage point to about 2.5 percent since May.

When asked for their biggest concern over the next 12 months, 17 percent of the respondents cited rising interest rates. That is a big jump from April, when only 4 percent cited such concerns.

The biggest concern for most companies is the health of the global economy, which was cited by nearly one-third of the respondents. Europe's financial crisis has plunged that region into a recession, and growth in China, Brazil and other large emerging markets has also slowed. That's crimping U.S. exports.

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Mastectomy aid eases recovery

Before she woke up in the hospital after her mastectomy 12 years ago, Cathy McGrath knew her breast would be gone. What she didn't plan for was multiple post-surgical drains — little plastic bulbs with a long tube — to collect fluid.

"I was really taken aback by it," the North Andover woman said. "I thought, how am I going to manage all of these?"

A nurse told her some women pin the drains to their clothes or go to Home Depot and get a tool belt to put them in.

So McGrath asked herself: What would Princess Di or Jackie O do?

"I thought there's no way they'd be going to Home Depot," she said. "They'd want something incognito, discreet, but with a lot of functionality to it, something that would make them look more like a person than a patient."

So McGrath designed the Jacki, a post-surgical jacket for breast cancer patients, and started A Little Easier Recovery, a nonprofit to give the garments away to patients.

On the outside, the Jacki looks like a classic suit jacket in black or plum. But on the inside, it has pockets all the way around the bottom.

The initial version was made of Polartec fleece. But when McGrath told her story to Polartec, the company gave her a deal on a soft, wicking material that is now used in many of the jackets. The rest are made of interlocking cotton.

In the beginning, her aunt sewed the garments, and McGrath gave them to Brigham and Women's Hospital and Tufts Medical Center. When the hospitals told her that patients loved them, she realized she was on to something and applied for nonprofit status, giving her organization a name that she thought was "humble" but fitting.

"There's absolutely nothing easy about cancer treatment," McGrath said. "The most I could give patients was a little easier recovery."

Since then, her nonprofit has given away more than 10,000 of the garments nationwide and been named a finalist in this year's MassChallenge startup accelerator and competition.

McGrath never meets the patients who wear her jackets, but she has received letters from them, like the woman who delivered her father's eulogy wearing the Jacki, or the one who wore it to her son's wedding, or the woman who was just content to wear it while she played Thomas the Train with her toddler.

"It gives patients some sense of dignity as they recover from a surgery that's affected their body image," said Cate Mullen, the nurse coordinator at Tufts Breast Center, which receives about 150 of the jackets each year. "There's a lot of pain, so it's a big relief that it's easier to get into and out of. It's a wonderful thing we can offer them."

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If you’re smelling burning oil, look out for a leak

I have a 2005 Mazda 6 with the 3-liter V6 engine and 70,000 miles. I do my own oil changes and for the past several changes have noticed a strong smell of burning oil when stopped at lights or in traffic, lasting three weeks after I have done the oil change. I am very careful not to spill any oil onto the exhaust when removing the filter, and to eliminate this possibility I left the filter in place after the last change. This failed to eliminate the problem. The engine burns no oil between changes and no smoke is visible from the exhaust. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In most cases, smelling hot oil at idle indicates some type of external leak or spillage that drips onto the hot exhaust. In addition to the exhaust components near or under the oil filter, check to make sure no oil is dripping from the valve cover gaskets onto the exhaust manifolds, particularly from the front valve cover with the oil filler cap. Perhaps enough oil collects against the gasket when you refill the engine with fresh oil that it slowly migrates past the gasket and drips on the manifold.

The other system to focus on is the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system. Your engine features a PCV valve plumbed into the induction system downstream of the throttle plate, meaning engine vacuum pulls crankcase vapors into the combustion chambers where they are burned. If the PCV valve is stuck or clogged and doesn't open under engine vacuum, the crankcase may become somewhat pressurized and force oil and vapors past the piston rings and into the combustion chambers.

I have an '83 Jeep CJ-7 with the 258 six-cylinder engine. The oil pressure gauge was showing about 50 pounds per square inch when it suddenly went to zero. I connected a mechanical gauge to the engine block and it showed 60 psi. Is this an easy fix? How does the electrical gauge work?

Could you mount the mechanical gauge in or under the dash? If so, you've "fixed" your problem. I've always preferred mechanical gauges anyway for two reasons — they are instant and accurate, and not subject to electrical gremlins.

To determine whether the problem is the gauge or the electrical sending unit on the engine, disconnect the wire from the sending unit and connect a 12-volt test light from this wire to ground. Turn on the ignition. If the lamp flashes, the instrument voltage regulator is good. If the lamp stays lit, the regulator is bad. If the lamp doesn't light, check the regulator's connections and ground. And check for an open circuit in the connection from the regulator to the gauge.

And finally, if the lamp flashes as it should but the gauge isn't accurate, the gauge is the likely culprit.

My 2005 Grand Marquis is scaring me. I put on the brakes to stop but the car suddenly accelerated. I pushed on my brakes with all my might but the car kept going. I had to shift into neutral. By that time I was out in traffic against the light. This has happened three times. My shop could not find anything wrong. Please help!

I am so pleased to hear that you remember the simplest way to stop/prevent any type of unintended acceleration — shift into neutral! The other quick answer is to turn off the key.

What could have caused this? I can only speculate but I would suggest having the cruise control cable disconnected to eliminate this possibility. I would also inspect very carefully the power brake vacuum system, booster and check valve. A sudden, large vacuum leak could bleed off power assist to the brakes while at the same time possibly cause the engine idle speed to suddenly increase.

Did you feel any rapid pulsing in the brake pedal when this occurred, indicating ABS activation? Check for diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) from the ABS system. Ford also suggests checking the ABS module connector for water intrusion.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paul brand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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