AIRPORTS report passenger decline

After T.F. Green Airport in Warwick reported an 11.3-percent drop in passengers for September compared with a year ago, the two other airports that serve the Boston metropolitan area posted similar declines. Logan International Airport, which had forecast an 8-percent drop, showed a decline of 10.0 percent, from 2,230,145 passengers for the month last year to 2,006,335 this year. Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, in New Hampshire, had forecast a 12-percent to 15-percent decline, but posted a 15.1-percent drop, from 331,590 passengers last year to 281,643 this year. Green had 415,507 passengers last year and 368,416 this year.

Jobless center open Saturdays

The R.I. Department of Labor and Training Call Center (401) 243-9100 will be open for unemployment insurance claims filing every Saturday this month from 8 a.m. to noon. The Saturday hours are in addition to its regular hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. To avoid waiting during times of high phone traffic, residents filing for regular claims are encouraged to file online at www.dlt.ri.gov.

Venus de Milo pays settlement

A Swansea restaurant will pay $210,000 after settling allegations that it failed to comply with the Massachusetts tip statute by not giving workers the proper amount. Venus de Milo Restaurant has agreed to pay 345 current and former workers $160,000 in restitution after reaching an agreement with state Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office. The restaurant also will pay a $50,000 penalty to the Commonwealth. In 2006, the attorney general’s office began a probe into the restaurant’s practices after receiving a complaint. The company did not admit to violating the law.

Electricity rate questioned

Questioning the continued high electricity rates of National Grid, the state’s primary utility, despite the decreasing cost of oil, Sen. David E. Bates, R-Barrington, is suggesting the Senate Committee on Corporations examine the recent rate hike the company was granted. His call for a hearing came in a letter sent late last week to Sen. William A. Walaska, D-Warwick, chairman of the committee. National Grid earlier this summer received approval from the Public Utilities Commission for a 21.7-percent hike for electricity and a 10-percent hike for natural gas. National Grid said at the time that the largest single rate hike was the result of rising energy costs from its suppliers.

Bay commission awarded grant

The Narragansett Bay Commission has been awarded a $275,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant to support innovative approaches for improving environmental permitting programs, which impose limits on pollution emissions to the air, water and land. The grant will allow the commission to test several proposals, including the use of environmental management systems and an environmental results program. With the EPA grant, the commission, in partnership with the state Department of Environmental Management and the University of Rhode Island, will apply proposals to create a sustainable energy management system for the state’s wastewater treatment facilities. They will focus on improving energy efficiency and reducing the oil and grease coming into the facilities from restaurants and food processing operations, with the goal of turning this waste into a renewable fuel source. EPA is now soliciting grant applications for next year.

Group expands heating-oil reach

People’s Power & Light, a nonprofit organization that aggregates consumer power to make energy more affordable and sustainable, has announced that it has heating-oil dealers in its buyers group to serve every community in Rhode Island, except Block Island. The group offers a discount price to customers based on its power to negotiate better prices based on a fair markup over the wholesale price. “Every day the wholesale price goes down, our retail price goes down,” promised Karina Lutz, deputy director of People’s Power.

Entrepreneurship expo on Nov. 13

The Academic Center for Entrepreneurship at Bristol Community College has announced that its 2008 Entrepreneurship Expo and Awards Ceremony will be held Nov. 13, from 4 to 8 p.m. Activities during the evening include a presentation by Steve Silverstein, founder and chief executive officer of Not Your Average Joe’s restaurants and a marketing workshop conducted by Joe Lembo, director of sales for Citadel Broadcasting. There will also be a support-services exposition for businesses to show their products and to network with other local businesses. That will be followed by the awards ceremony and a reception. For more information, visit www.bristolcc.edu/Community_Education/ace/Expo.cfm or call (508) 678-2811, ext. 2695.

Expansion at Little Allen’s Harbor

Rhode Island Mooring Services Inc. is expanding at Little Allen’s Harbor in the Quonset Business Park in Davisville. The company, owned by Richard DeSalvo, has grown from 1 acre with four slips and one building to 7 acres with 94 slips. The expanded facility will be landscaped with park-like grounds, featuring a beach, grills, tiki huts, picnic areas and kayak racks. Two 6,000-square-foot buildings have been constructed for inside storage and new restroom facilities.

Small business nominations sought

Nominations are now being accepted by the U.S. Small Business Administration for the 2009 Rhode Island Small Business Person of the Year and other awards. Winners will be honored during the Rhode Island Small Business Week celebration in May. Awards will be presented in 11 categories and any individual or organization of the small-business community may submit nominations. Guidelines and nomination forms are available from the SBA Rhode Island district office by calling (401) 528-4561 or by visiting www.sba.gov/ri. The deadline is Nov. 21. For more information, call Faith White at (401) 528-4561 or e-mail faith.white@sba.gov.

Belo reports third-quarter loss

Dallas-based A.H. Belo Corp., publisher of The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal, yesterday reported a third-quarter loss of $17.3 million, or 84 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.3 million, or 31 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The more recent quarter included an $11.1-million charge for a voluntary severance program and a $4.5-million printing press-related impairment charge. For the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, operating revenue slipped 15 percent to $153.8 million from $181.9 million. A.H. Belo is a publicly held media company (AHC: NYSE) whose properties include daily newspapers and a diverse group of Web sites, including www.projo.com. A.H. Belo also publishes various specialty publications and owns direct mail and commercial printing businesses.

Recycling firm opens N.C. facility

Metech International Inc., a recycling firm that processes electronic scrap from large manufacturers of information technology, telecommunications and medical equipment at a 50,000-square-foot processing facility in Worcester, recently opened a new recycling facility in Durham, N.C. Earlier this year the company had a household electronics scrap collection in Worcester in conjunction with the Department of Public Works and Parks. It also had similar collections in Boston and Lexington, Mass. Everything that was collected was recycled for material content and all recycling took place in North America.

Ski resorts protest ‘offensive’ snowboards

A half-dozen ski resorts in New England and the West are joining in protests against two new lines of snowboards that feature images of Playboy models and cartoons of self-mutilation. Smugglers’ Notch in Vermont says it has banned employees from using the Love and Primo boards made by Burton Snowboards. Vail Resorts has prohibited employees of its Vail, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek and Keystone resorts in Colorado and California’s Heavenly Mountain from using the Love boards or any other inappropriate, offensive or suggestive equipment while on duty. On the Web site of Sugarbush, in Vermont, resort president Win Smith Jr. said the company can’t ban the use of the Love board, but can make sure its employees are not riding them and that its stores are not selling them. The boards led to a demonstration last week outside Burton’s headquarters in Burlington, Vt.

Army lab faces waste violations

The Army’s Cold Regions Research Lab in Hanover, N.H., may face fines of more than $100,000 for alleged hazardous waste violations. The Environmental Protection Agency says the lab improperly handled, stored and labeled hazardous waste containers. The Cold Regions facility conducts research on the impacts of human activity on the environment in colder regions, as well as the effects of the cold on equipment, operations and facility maintenance. Researchers there also test materials used in cold environments and research the nature of snow, ice and frozen ground.

Vermont students’ concerns heard

University of Vermont officials in Burlington say a special committee will consider a request by more than 100 student protesters that the school withdraw its investments in companies that build weapons systems for the U.S. military. The promise from Richard Cate, UVM vice president for finance and administration, came after students gathered to air their demands yesterday outside the office of university president Daniel Fogel. UVM’s Socially Responsible Investment Committee will decide whether to recommend to the board of trustees that UVM’s endowment funds sell off their investments in DynCorp, General Dynamics, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. The group Students Against War says the companies have a vested interest in perpetuating warfare.

MBTA adds new trips from Worcester

Early risers heading from Worcester to Boston can take advantage of two new MBTA morning trips. The trains will leave Worcester’s Union Station at 4:45 and 6:05 a.m daily. Other new trips include a 2:40 p.m. outbound trip from Boston to Worcester and a 4:30 p.m. inbound trip from Worcester to Boston. MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas said the T was responding to the demands of riders who wanted the early morning work shifts and wanted to minimize gaps between trips. Grabauskas said the T has heard for years from nurses and others in the medical field who need to get to Boston area hospitals by 7 a.m.

Portsmouth gains wireless access

Getting onto the Internet in downtown Portsmouth, N.H., is about to get easier. The city is formally accepting $345,000 worth of equipment to expand the number of free wireless access points from 4 to about 20. People need to be within about 500 feet of an access point. Cisco Systems Inc. is donating the equipment, and city technology specialist Alan Brady says Cisco also will provide engineering help. In return, the city has to buy maintenance services for a year and allow Cisco to use the project in its marketing. City manager John Bohenko says it’s a good tradeoff and requires no money from the city.

USDA offers loans to Vt. farmers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers in the entire state of Vermont are eligible for emergency loans to help cope with a series of natural disasters during the summer. The USDA announced Monday that the disasters include excessive rain, flooding, flash flooding, high winds, hail, lightning and tornadoes that occurred in June through August. Farmers have eight months to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.