Boston floods FEMA with appeal

Boston yesterday filed an appeal with the Federal Emergency Management Agency of its controversial preliminary flood maps, which could substantially raise insurance rates for thousands of city residents and force thousands of others to obtain flood insurance for the first time.

The appeal is based on a study, completed by an independent consultant, that the city says revealed inconsistencies and potential errors in the approach FEMA used.

"These maps have significant implications for Bostonians," Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement. "We are doing our due diligence to make sure they are established with the best available data and appropriate modeling methodology."

The new maps added 1,585 acres of land to the 100-year flood plain — areas subject to coastal flood hazards — which includes 13,709 housing units and 4,202 businesses. All properties with federally backed mortgages or loans in the flood plain would be required to carry flood insurance and comply with flood protection standards in local zoning and state building codes.

As a result, the city hired Woods Hole Group through a competitive-bid process to evaluate FEMA's flood-mapping methodology, data sources and modeling. The consultant's final report found inconsistencies in FEMA's mapping and flood study approach, resulting in about 507 acres of land that should be removed from the 100-year flood plain, as well as 33 acres that should be included. Woods Hole Group also is conducting more detailed hydrodynamic flood modeling of Boston Harbor, which will be completed and submitted to FEMA.

The city's appeal asks that FEMA publish new preliminary maps based on the study's findings and hold a new, 90-day appeal-and-public-comment period.

"The city is ensuring that the new FEMA maps best reflect the current flood risk of Boston," said Brian Swett, chief of environment, energy and open space. "However, these maps do not address the future impacts of climate change and sea level rise. We know that coastal flooding will get worse in the decades to come, and the city has a number of initiatives underway to better prepare for this challenge."

In a statement yesterday, Dennis Pinkham, external affairs director of FEMA Region 1, said: "FEMA includes the appeal period in the process to ensure the community has the opportunity to present scientific information if they feel the preliminary maps are not accurate."

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Asian stocks post cautious gains, Qantas surges

TOKYO — Asian stock markets were mostly higher Thursday but gains were muted ahead of U.S. economic data and possible policy announcements from Japan.

KEEPING SCORE: The Nikkei 225, the benchmark for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, inched down 0.5 percent to 15,450.42. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.2 percent to 24,965.42. and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 2,080.43 Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to 5,626.30. Markets in India, Singapore and Indonesia rose.

US OUTLOOK: Revised data on U.S. economic growth for the April-June quarter is scheduled to be released later Thursday. But markets are more interested in employment data due for release the following week.

ANALYST TAKE: Hideyuki Ishiguro, strategist with Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, said action was muted in the absence of market-moving news, and players awaited the release of U.S. employment data next week. "Players are also waiting for signs on how long the weak yen might last," he said on NTV news. A weak yen is a plus for Japan's exporters because it raises the value of their overseas earnings.

JAPAN POLITICS: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to announce his new Cabinet ministers next week, which could signal what's in store for his so-called "Abenomics" policies that have helped Japan's economic revival and stock prices. The policies are believed to have helped the yen weaken and prices to rise in Japan, curbing the negative spiral of deflation.

QANTAS FLIES: Qantas Airways surged 7 percent in Sydney despite reporting a record loss that stemmed from tough domestic competition, a struggling long-haul business and a massive writedown of the value of its fleet. Investors welcomed confirmation it would separate its domestic and troubled international businesses, possibly attracting new investors to the long-haul operation.

WALL STREET: The Standard & Poor's 500 eked out a gain of one-tenth of a point, enough to set another all-time high. The index closed at 2,000.12 points, a day after its first close above 2,000. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 15 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,122. The Nasdaq composite edged down a point to 4,569. Trading was quiet ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend in the U.S.

ENERGY, CURRENCIES: Benchmark U.S. crude for October delivery was down 10 cents at $93.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The euro rose to $1.3215 from $1.3192 late Wednesday. The dollar dropped to 103.77 yen from 103.91 yen.

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Bowman: How to save face when you forget names

Many of us are challenged remembering names perhaps because we are not giving our full attention during introductions — we may be thinking about what we are going to say rather really listening to learn, remember and use a person's name. Even if you are not completely 100 percent positive about someone's name, make an effort. Here are some quick saves:

• Confess! Say, "I am so sorry, I have completely blanked on your name." Said with sincerity, your efforts and this single gesture will be noticed and appreciated. Remember, it is not what you say, but how you say it.

• Ask the mutually respected third party, "What's the name of the gentleman with the pink tie?" You may then knowingly approach and greet by name.

• The "set-up" — The practice of sending over the "mutually respected third parties" to introduce themselves, encouraging your target to respond by saying his or her name. This tactic is frequently used and highly effective. The person who choreographed this "set-up" then confidently approaches the targeted individual.

• Re-introduce yourself. Approach the other person and say your name. In business we should all be conditioned so that when we hear people say their name we respond in kind, saying our name, first and last, slowly and clearly, so this can be understood, remembered and used.

• Ask the pointed question, "What is your name, please?" The person should respond with first and last name. At which point you might say, "Yes, I knew Flynn, but yes, Susan Flynn." Now you have both.

• Ask for the spelling. Be careful here … when they say, "B-R-O-W-N." … OK! … "Exactly the way it sounds!" This happens! Others understand, and appreciate your effort. "Brown" and "Green" are also spelled with an "e," and even Smith sometimes has a "y."

• Say the name of the person you know and allow the other individual to reveal his or her name. (This tactic is a bit tacky, but might work in a pinch.)

• Ask how the person prefers to be addressed. This gives you a name as well as preference. This time, be alert and listen.

• Help others in distress — divulge your full name promptly if someone seems to be struggling, or share another person's name when it is evident that someone may have forgotten it. This is always appreciated and will help you stand apart. And it might make others more inclined to return the favor in times of need.

Judith Bowman is president of her own business consulting firm.

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US credit card late payments down in 2Q

LOS ANGELES — Americans are doing a better job of making timely credit card payments, even as many lenders increasingly extend credit to more people with less-than-perfect credit.

Credit reporting agency TransUnion says the rate of U.S. credit card payments at least 90 days overdue fell to 1.16 percent in the April-June quarter.

That's the lowest level in at least seven years.

The credit card delinquency rate is down from 1.27 percent in the second-quarter last year. It peaked in the first quarter of 2009 at 3.12 percent.

TransUnion's data set goes back to 2007.

Average card debt per borrower edged up from a year ago to $5,234.

Americans still have a limited appetite for debt after gorging themselves on sub-prime mortgages and credit cards before recession in late 2007.

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Microsoft’s newest Surface trying to top laptop

A burning tech question at the start of the 2014-15 school year is whether Microsoft's new Surface Pro 3 can be a true laptop replacement.

The answer is … pretty much.

I'm writing this column on the Surface Pro 3 — Microsoft's signature hardware device billed as a laptop-tablet hybrid — sitting on my couch as I plunk away on Microsoft Word for Office 365.

In fact, a more precise scene-setter: I'm balancing the Surface on one thigh, doing the single-knee-bended recline.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to launch into Pilates here. I have to keep two hands on the keyboard cover so that my Surface remains stable in this precarious position. I miss the ability to pick up the entire device by the keyboard base and move it around. But it's clear that Microsoft has taken great pains to create a Surface that can rest as comfortably as possible on the real estate between one's stomach and knees.

This new "lapability" is made possible by a retooled kickstand, which pops out of the back of the slate and now uses friction to adjust to any angle up to 150 degrees. This not only allows for a ton of viewing angles, but also for the serious aforementioned lap-cred that the latest iteration of Microsoft's signature hardware provides.

Microsoft has also improved the touchscreen tablet experience on the Surface with a compatible stylus, a Bluetooth-enabled pen that summons the productivity program OneNote with a simple click of the top button. A very nice palm rejection feature allows the user to rest a hand on the screen while writing with the pen, just as one would on a piece of paper.

While the Surface's so-called Type Cover is improved, this keyboard that doubles as a cover now snaps into the tablet with far more conviction. I would still like the keyboard to feel less bendy and more solid.

Microsoft is clearly making a play for the high-end market, but the price — starting at $799 and with discounts for students available at the Microsoft Store — it may be a little too high-end.

Full disclosure: I finished this column on my MacBook Pro. Microsoft Word's many legacy features just seemed to keep popping up out of nowhere to hinder my productivity. So while the hardware is greatly improved, I can't say the same for all the software.

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Bay State advocates fight food insecurity

Advocates for the hungry are hoping a new law, requiring any Massachusetts business disposing of one ton or more of food per week to divert it from landfills as of Oct. 1, will mean more food for people who need it.

"Our goal is to serve all of Massachusetts," said Lauren Palumbo, chief operating officer of Lovin' Spoonfuls, which hopes to take advantage of the law. Since it started in 2010, Lovin' Spoonfuls, a Boston-based nonprofit, has picked up 1.75 million pounds of excess food from more than 50 farms and supermarkets and distributed it to more than 40 food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and other area nonprofits.

"There are 49 million people who are food insecure in this country," Palumbo said. "The conversation always used to be that there wasn't enough food for everyone. But we're wasting 40 percent of our food. Taking and tossing it doesn't have to be the answer. Food rescue is the very logical, simple solution."

Statewide, more than 700,000 Massachusetts residents are hungry or at risk of hunger, according to Project Bread. And as many as 420,000 of them sought help from the Greater Boston Food Bank from 2012 to 2013.

"The problem is not that we don't have enough food; what we have is a distribution problem," said City Councilor Matt O'Malley, who has called for a hearing on hunger. "We need to examine the extent of the problem in our city and discuss the city's role in addressing it. We also need to better utilize the role of these nonprofits, and perhaps better facilitate how these programs can have a larger reach."

"Boston can be a leader in this," O'Malley said. "We have the institutional support. We have incredible nonprofits. We have the will. Let's find a way."

The food pantries' clients include the working poor like Shirley Green, 50, of Hyde Park, who told the Herald she went to bed hungry because, as a part-time home health aide, she earned just enough to make her ineligible for food stamps.

"I would pay only part of my utilities so that I could eat," she said.

This spring, Green qualified for $155 a month in food stamps because she had fewer clients. But because she earns only $520 a month, she relies on her church's food pantry to supplement her food stamps.

She is one of a growing number of Massachusetts residents who lack consistent access to food.

From 2002 to 2012, the percentage of "food insecure" people in the state nearly doubled, from 6.4 percent to 11.4 percent, according to Project Bread.

"The big upswing is very much related to an increase in the number of people who don't have well-paying, reliable jobs," said Ellen Parker, the nonprofit's executive director. "Everybody who works ought to be able to feed and shelter themselves and their kids."

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Watertown publisher cooks up mag with kid-friendly recipes

Five years ago, cookbook writer Sally Sampson was sick of hearing that the obesity epidemic was being fueled by a culture in which fast food was cheaper to buy than healthy food cooked at home.

So she decided to try a little experiment: She assembled a panel of teenagers and went about making their favorite fast foods.

According to Sampson, her version of a McMuffin had 28 percent fewer calories, 37 percent less fat and 34 percent less sodium. It also cost less than half what it did at McDonald's. Similarly, her version of a Double Whopper had almost 33 percent fewer calories, 38 percent less fat and 35 percent less sodium, and cost less than Burger King's, even when she bought the most expensive beef she could find. The panel's verdict: In both cases, the home-cooked versions were better.

All of which started Sampson thinking: What if she could give kids recipes for tasty, inexpensive, ethnically diverse, doctor-approved foods that they could cook with their families?

In 2010, she founded ChopChop Kids, a Watertown-based not-for-profit and publisher of ChopChop, a quarterly magazine available in English and Spanish and stocked with Sampson's recipes — dishes like "Peanutty Sesame Noodles," "Quesadillas de Huevo," "Monster Smoothies" and "Cauliflower Popcorn" — plus "fun food facts," games, puzzles and interviews with "healthy heroes" ranging from kid chefs to professional athletes to White House chefs.

"My idea was if children were cooking real food from scratch, they'd be eating less junk," Sampson said. "So I approached doctors I knew about the idea of doctors prescribing cooking."

The idea took off. Of the 150,000 copies printed of the first issue, 142,000 had been requested by doctors in 35 states to give to children and their parents during well-child visits, the children's equivalent of a physical.

Today, ChopChop Kids is a finalist in the startup accelerator MassChallenge, and the magazine is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"It's one of the best things out there for children, not just as an antidote to obesity, but as an age-appropriate way to learn the life skill of how to prepare healthy food to eat," said Dr. Barry Zuckerman, ChopChop Kids' chairman of the board and professor of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine.

Yvonne Adams of Watertown said that to her 9-year-old son Nathan, "protein" is a bad word, and her 5-year-old son Ari won't happily eat many vegetables.

"But ChopChop makes trying new things fun and exciting," Adams said. "The boys love doing as much of the cooking as they can by themselves. They loved making the zucchini and feta pancakes a while back. ... Of course, anything fruity and sweet is their favorite, and they've loved making the different popsicle recipes, especially since they can do that without any adult even in the room."

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Redesigning for hip tenants

Boston's architecture sector has rebounded with a vengeance after the housing bubble burst in 2008, and one firm — using a unique business model focused on younger, hip tenants — has grown exponentially and continues to pick up big-name projects.

CBT Architects, a Boston-based firm with more than 100 employees, has been named the architect of record for two major redesign projects in the city. It is remodeling The Schrafft Center in Charlestown and retrofitting Center Plaza in Boston for tenants.

"We've been experiencing a fair amount of growth recently, and we've seen an increase in our staff and our workloads recently. We've had a lot of wins," said Haril Pandya, principal at CBT Architects. "We're trying to position ourselves differently than other design firms in the city."

Part of the plan is "unlocking the value" of properties through a "holistic method" that takes the entire structure into consideration, Pandya said. He said it's important to consider savvy, technology-driven tenants when redesigning buildings that had housed very different organizations.

"We knew we really had to do something different if we wanted to bring in these millennial tenants into the fray," he said. "The right thing to do is to re-look at the building altogether. When you look at buildings like Schrafft, they love the brick-and-beam, warehouse look, but how do you make it more relevant?"

The Schrafft buildout could take eight to 10 months, Pandya said. Center Plaza — which could house anything from restaurants to a car showroom — could take one to two years to finish.

"We want that property to be a go-to, and not a go-through, destination," he said.

With the new work, CBT has seen phenomenal growth. Pandya's team has gone from five to 25 architects in the past eight months and has won more than 30 projects during that time.

"We're winning a lot of job projects because I think we're trying to create something new in the design field, and we're working with what the owner sees as value," Pandya said

Hub architecture firms have seen a strong rebound after the housing bubble burst, according to Boston Society of Architects.

"This is a good time. We're coming off of the recession where a lot of firms had to put projects on hold because financing got too tight," said Emily Grandstaff-Rice, president of BSA. "Now that financing has been released, and there's interest in developing, the commercial sector is doing really well.

"Architecture firms are hiring, but everyone is still a little cautious after 2008. Not everyone is ready to jump the gun, but things are certainly getting a lot better. There will be growth in Boston firms."

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Graduate to a Davis Square condo

This stylish three-unit condo complex has been carved out of a traditional triple decker just outside Somerville's Davis Square.

The three-bedroom duplex units range from $849,000 to $969,000, and all have red oak floors throughout, quartz and cherrywood kitchens and open living/dining areas.

The exterior of the building has been re-sided with blue HardiePlank with white trim, and has all new windows, roof and systems, including gas-fired heat and central air conditioning.

We took a look at staged model Unit 2, a 1,647-square-foot three-bedroom duplex selling for $969,000 on the second and third floor with two decks that overlook a park.

The unit has an open living/dining area with recessed lighting, 9-foot ceilings and lots of windows. Off this area is a half bathroom with porcelain tile floors.

The adjacent kitchen has white quartz countertops and glass mosaic tile backsplashes, with a breakfast bar that seats two and contemporary pendant lamps overhead. There are 15 cherrywood cabinets and top-of-the line Jenn Air refrigerator, dishwasher and six-burner gas stove with a fluted stainless steel hood.

Off the kitchen is a very tiny "third" bedroom, which is actually more of a home office.

The other two bedrooms are on the second floor. The master bedroom suite has oak floors and lots of front-facing windows. A leaded glass door leads out to a second private front deck overlooking a park. There's a large walk-in closet and an en-suite bathroom with porcelain tile floors, a dual sink vanity and a ceramic-tiled glass-doored walk-in shower.

The second bedroom has three windows and two closets. Across the hall, a second full bathroom features porcelain tile floors, and white subway tile surround for a tub/shower with a rainhead fixture. A closet inside the bathroom holds a washer/dryer hookup.

There's a stairway with a skylight opening onto the roof. The owner has roof rights, but will have to secure permission from the city to build a roof deck. But gas, electricity and water have already been brought up to the roof.

The unit comes with one deeded outdoor parking space behind the building.

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Jaguar Coupe’s 
a sexy sportster

To say that the 2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe is a head-turner would be an understatement.

During our four-day trial, this sexy sportster was subjected to catcalls, oglers, hoots and hollers whether parked or rolling through town.

This coupe screams "look at me!" Sporting a gorgeous front grille, sleek profile, shapely sides and a well-rounded backside, this Jaguar is a tantalizing hot rod that fascinates anyone it passes.

Retractable door handles and a rear spoiler that automatically rises at speeds of over 70 mph add to its already aerodynamic body.

Beautiful 19-inch black centrifuge alloy wheels give the salsa red exterior a striking contrast that will get you noticed.

And if they don't see you coming, they'll hear you.

The roar of the F-Type's switchable active twin exhaust yowls with a loud throaty roar, which gives way to a barking burble when stepping off the accelerator.

If you prefer a bit more stealth, you can lower the volume of the exhaust with the flick of a switch. But seriously, who would want that?

Stimulating steering and a heart-pounding 340-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 engine make this two-seater exciting to drive. A punch of the gas pedal puts you well over the speed limit in a flash — the F-Type's speed combined with its bright red exterior will certainly attract law enforcement. Somewhere there are pin-up posters of this car in police departments.

This Jaguar's suspension keeps you glued to every bend in the road.

The F-Type's dynamic mode gives you all the thrills without having to manage the 8-speed Quickshift transmission. Manual override is also possible with both steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters and drive selector control. The dynamic mode does seem to use more gas, so don't expect to get 28 miles per gallon on the highway with a lead foot.

With an MSRP of $77,375 as tested, the F-Type has 14-way adjustable bucket seats that are both supportive and comfortable. Seating is very low to the ground with a great feel for the car's center of gravity. Visibility was surprisingly good in spite of a small rear view mirror and window. One puzzling omission is the lack of a back-up camera. With such a beautiful car, you would want every chance to keep its exterior scratchless.

The stitched leather interior is also pretty. It has a smart look and good ergonomics, but a clumsy GPS/entertainment interface that is a real let down. A Meridian sound system pumps 380 watts into the cockpit and sounded great doing it, but quite frankly the exhaust sound is more fun to hear.

The bottom line is that the F-Type is the red-hot roadster that will make your friends jealous. Of course, you can share the experience with them — one at a time. Just tell them to leave the luggage home as this coupe has virtually no room for bags.

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