1. Hallmark hospital system’s CEO is retiring
The chief executive of Hallmark Health System, the hospital operator seeking to merge with Partners HealthCare, is retiring. Michael V. Sack, 65, is leaving this month. His announcement comes days after a judge rejected letting Partners acquire Hallmark and South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. Hallmark runs Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital in Melrose. Attorney General Maura Healey promises to sue if Partners proceeds with the takeovers. Alan Macdonald, Hallmark’s executive vice president, will be interim chief until the board names a permanent replacement. —
2. HP boss gets a raise, despite three-year sales slump
SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman (right) has graduated from the dollar-a-year club as the struggling tech company prepares to split up. She was paid $19.6 million in cash and stock last year, up from $17.6 million in 2013, after HP’s board raised her base salary to $1.5 million from $1 and bestowed additional cash and stock awards based on performance. HP’s revenue has fallen for each of the last three years. Whitman, named chief executive in 2011, has warned shareholders that a turnaround would take several years. Despite the sales slump, HP’s board concluded Whitman beat performance targets, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. —
3. Mass. gas prices drop just two cents this week
The monthslong free fall in Massachusetts gas prices may be ending. The statewide average fell just two cents last week, to $2.06, according to AAA Southern New England. That compares to a drop of eight cents last week and double-digit drops for each of the six weeks before that. US gas prices have dropped steadily since June because of weak economies overseas and record levels of domestic oil production. In recent weeks, however, wholesale gasoline prices have settled and the price of oil has rebounded slightly. A gallon of regular, unleaded, self-serve gasoline is $1.28 cheaper, on average, than it was at this time last year. —
4. Prosecutors seek 3-year prison term in ‘nut rage’ case
SEOUL — Prosecutors on Monday recommended three years in prison for the former Korean Air executive charged with endangering flight safety after an in-flight tantrum triggered because she was served macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. Cho Hyun-ah, daughter of the airline’s chairman, pleaded not guilty to four charges and defended her actions as the result of a devotion to work. She ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight after a heated confrontation with the cabin crew, forcing the plane to return to the gate at Kennedy International Airport in New York.
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Prosecutors said Cho stood atop the airline’s systematic effort to cover up the incident, compel employees to lie, and discredit the chief flight attendant. —
5. Monotype paying $12m for a mobile marketing startup
Monotype Imaging Holdings, of Woburn, one of the largest font-licensing companies, will pay $12 million to acquire Swyft Media, a New York mobile marketing startup. Monotype, which owns the rights to fonts including Times New Roman and Helvetica, said Swyft’s small staff will join its New York office. Swyft has created branded content and custom digital stickers for hundreds of the world’s largest brands, including Coors, Sony, and Hearst. Users swap the stickers with friends using messaging apps, giving companies more exposure. Swyft expects $3 million in revenue this year. —
6. RadioShack may end up shutting down in bankruptcy deal
NEW YORK — RadioShack is considering shutting down its nearly century-old retail chain in a bankruptcy deal that would sell about half of its store leases to Sprint and cancel the rest, people with knowledge of the discussions say. Locations that Sprint takes over would operate under the wireless carrier’s name, meaning RadioShack would cease to exist as a stand-alone retailer, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks aren’t public. The negotiations are not final, the people noted. Sprint and RadioShack have also discussed cobranding the stores, two of the people said. —
7. Bluebird’s gene therapy wins ‘breakthrough’ designation
Bluebird Bio Inc., a Cambridge gene therapy startup, said its experimental treatment for a rare blood disorder has won a “breakthrough therapy” designation from the Food and Drug Administration. Such a designation is intended to speed the development drugs to treat serious or life-threatening diseases if early clinical studies show substantial advantages over existing medicines. Bluebird’s LentiGlobin BB305 is for patients who need blood transfusions because they suffer from beta-thalassemia. The drug treats beta-thalassemia and severe sickle-cell disease by inserting a beta-globin gene in a patient’s stem cells outside the body and then reintroducing them into the body with a stem cell transplant. —
8. Apple turning Arizona sapphire facility into data center
PHOENIX — Apple Inc. will invest $2 billion over 10 years to open a data center in Mesa, Ariz.. It will be the company’s fifth in the United States and serve as a control facility for the other four. Apple’s earlier plan for the 1.3 million-square-foot facility failed. It had a deal with GT Advanced of Merrimack, N.H., to use the plant to make sapphire glass for Apple products, but GT declared bankruptcy in October. Apple has also been working to help more than 600 GT employees who lost their jobs. —
9. Jeep recalls Cherokees with an air bag problem
DETROIT — Jeep is recalling more than 228,000 SUVs worldwide to fix a software problem that can cause side air bags to inflate for no reason. The recall, of Cherokees from the 2014 and 2015 model years, is the latest in a rash of problems with air bags at several carmakers. Fiat Chrysler, which makes Jeeps, says there have been a few inadvertent air bag deployments when drivers dramatically changed the angle of travel. Canadian regulators say the problem occurred mainly in off-road situations. Chrysler says it’s not aware of any accidents or injuries. —
10. Death toll from faulty GM ignition switches is at least 51
DETROIT — More than 1,100 claims were filed in the week before Saturday’s deadline to seek payments from General Motors’ ignition switch compensation fund. So far, 51 death and 77 injury claims have been granted. The fund’s deputy administrator says it’s likely there will be more awards as she and her boss, Kenneth Feinberg, sort through at least 4,180 new claims that came in before the deadline. GM was aware of faulty ignition switches on certain small cars for more than a decade but didn’t recall them until 2014. As of Sunday, the fund had received 455 death claims and 3,447 for injuries. —