South Shore merchants use Twitter to spread the word
By Steve Adams – The Patriot Ledger
When the newly-opened Abby Park restaurant in Milton prepared to add lunch service this week, it announced the news on its Twitter page. The restaurant just opened this month and already has 149 people following its “tweets,” the 140-character messages that are the standard mode of communication on Twitter.
“Marketing has taken on a new face,” restaurant owner Vance Welch said. “We’re looking at Twitter as we build a base.”
Twitter hasn’t yet found a way to profit off of its addictive social media site, despite reaching more than 20 million users monthly. But a growing number of South Shore businesses are finding a way to raise their profiles using Twitter’s free bully pulpit.
For the Greater Boston Running Company, Twitter is an opportunity to build an ongoing dialogue with customers and attract new ones.
Sam Pitts, manager of the company’s store at Derby Street Shoppes in Hingham, tweets several times a day. Some promote store products, but others link to news about the running community in Greater Boston or other topical items.
Giving a newsy flair to the site makes it more likely that people will visit, Pitts said. On Wednesday, he linked to a USA Today story about health risks associated with flip-flops. “Play it safe and pick up some new Reefs at the store 
” he added. Another post linked to a review of runners’ watches on the New York Times’ Gadgetwise blog.
“We try to post information that people are interested in,” said Pitts, who has 280 “followers,” Twitter parlance for those who elect to receive all tweets from a user. “We’ve actually had customers come in the store because of what we’ve been doing on there.”
To recruit followers, Pitts searches Twitter for people who are following other running sites in the Boston area. Often, they reciprocate and begin following the store’s site.
“We get direct access to a customer base in terms of getting our product out there, and we get to see what people are talking about,” Pitts said.
Perhaps no sector of the retail industry in the Boston area is taking advantage of Twitter more than restaurants.
Anny Deirmenjian, an account manager for Image Unlimited Communications in Winchester, tweets on behalf of clients such as Burtons Grill in Hingham.
“People feel a real connection with social media, Deirmenjian said. “They have a part in it and we try to do updates via Twitter every day if we can.”
Promoting celebrity sightings – either in advance or after the fact – is a popular strategy in the restaurant industry.
Abby Park recently tweeted that New England Cable News’ “TV Diner” would be filming an upcoming episode at the 160-seat restaurant.
After a newspaper gossip column reported that New Kids on the Block singer Jordan Knight was spotted dining at Burton’s, Deirmenjian posted a link to the story.
“It’s a good response because the people can follow what’s going on at the restaurant,” she said. “Maybe next time we’ll do it as it’s happening.”
Followers of Abby Park on Twitter can expect nearly daily updates, mainly on dinner specials.
The Twitter page augments Abby Park’s regular Web site, which invited visitors to sign up to receive e-mail alerts. More than 2,000 people registered before the restaurant opened, Welch said.
But Twitter users tend to check their accounts more frequently, Welch said, giving it an advantage over Facebook.
Twitter also is serving as a new outlet for help-wanted ads. The Kings entertainment complex that is opening a new location at Legacy Place in Dedham next month announced a job fair on its Twitter page this week.
“We plan on ramping up our Twitter presence as we get closer to launch as we see it to be an important marketing tool that will allow us to connect with the community and those interested in our brand,” said Josh Rossmeisl, Kings’ general manager, in an e-mail.
A recent example of the power of social media took place on Tuesday when Burtons Grill in Virginia Beach, Va., launched a two-for-one promotion using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to contact 1,500 diners. Reservations began streaming in within minutes, and the restaurant’s sales tripled that of the average night.
“We were blown away by what happened and how powerful this new medium is when used correctly,” said Kevin Rowell, owner of Burtons.
READ MORE ABOUT TWITTER
Steve Adams may be reached at sadams@ledger.com.
Boston moves ahead in world finance rank
The global recession has actually enhanced Boston’s reputation as one of the top financial centers in the world.
A new report ranks the Hub within the top 10 financial centers in the world, moving from 11th place to ninth place, as many other financial hotspots tumbled along with the global economy.
The “Global Financial Centres Index,” prepared for the City of London Corp., indicates that major investment players across the globe appreciate Boston’s steady environment for financial firms and experts at a time of deep market turmoil.
Previous rankings by other firms usually have Boston in top 20 lists of financial cities – thanks to the large number of mutual-fund, wealth-management, venture capital and private-equity firms based here.
But the City of London Corp.’s study, which was conducted by the UK-based Z/Yen Group, stands out because, in addition to data measuring the amount of funds flowing through a city, it relies on surveys of financial executives who are asked to rate cities.
Those interviewed are also dominated by European executives, confirming that Boston has an international, Old World flare appealing to those on the other side of the Atlantic.
Jim Lowell, editor of Fidelity Investor, an independent print and online newsletter, said Boston is considered a “hidden gem” by some international investors.
“Boston has long been known for being staid, fiduciary (minded) and for its long-term asset management,” said Lowell.
Those somewhat conservative traits have apparently helped Boston during tough financial times.
London and New York remain the unquestioned leaders of the financial world, the index report said.
If anything, London and New York’s leads may have solidified, despite London, in general, and New York, in particular, being epicenters of the current financial crisis. The two cities have maintained their lead partly because many up-and-coming, fast-growing cities in Asia and elsewhere took heavy hits during the current economic crisis, the City of London report said.
Boston was also a beneficiary of the recession, in terms of rankings.
The Hub rated particularly high for its financial “infrastructure” and “market access” to funds and deals, the report said.
How long Boston can maintain its strong, top-tier status is in question.
Cities throughout Asia and the Middle East – such as Shanghai, Beijing and Dubai – are emerging as financial powerhouses that want a larger piece of the funds and jobs flowing to more established financial centers, the report said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1174535
Margaret M. Greer, Smith Barney Financial Advisor, Waltham, MA, Arrested
After airport arrest, driver apparently trolled Craigslist for witnesses
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
The posting on Craigslist by a user named “Matron” appeared at 3:59 a.m. on Monday, just hours after a high-powered Wellesley portfolio manager had been released from police custody following an explosive parking altercation with a state trooper at Logan International Airport.
Margaret M. Greer |
Matron described herself as “a middle aged lady driving a silver van” and explained that she had, “an altercation with a Mass State Cop outside terminal B around 8:15 pm.”I am seeking witnesses who were there and saw the State Trooper bang on my car and try to get through my door,” Matron wrote in a posting that was deleted this afternoon following this story’s publication on Boston.com. “Several State Police cruisers pursued me and arrested me on the Mass Pike. Please help me, if you saw this event.”
The description nearly matches the arrest Sunday night of the portfolio manager, Margaret M. Greer, who is accused of hitting a trooper with her side mirror, driving at him so he had to run backward for 15 feet, and dragging him for a short distance as she drove away. The one exception: Greer’s “silver van” was a silver Mercedes Benz ML320 sport utility vehicle.
There is no definitive evidence that Greer used the alias Matron and trolled Craigslist for witnesses who saw her dispute with the trooper. Greer did not respond to a message yesterday seeking comment. Her attorney, Carol Ann Starkey, declined to discuss or confirm “anything about any discussion that occurred on the Internet.”
“Mrs. Greer is taking these allegations very seriously,” Starkey said. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t have our own side of the story. It doesn’t mean that we don’t strongly refute what the government’s recitation of the facts has been to date. We are going to let our facts unroll in a courtroom, not in the court of public opinion.”
Authorities confirmed that they are scrutinizing the Craigslist posting and the string of responses that followed.
“Prosecutors are aware of the postings and are examining them for any potential connection to our Logan Airport case,” said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s office.
If Greer did post the solicitation on Craigslist, she did not uncover any witnesses — or sympathy — in cyberspace.
“You fled the police?” wrote a user with the name “justanotherpost.” “I am sorry but just by what you have written here, I would suggest you give up looking for ‘witnesses’ to bolster some kind of entitlement you seem to think you have, and, instead, cooperate with the police as much as possible to straighten the mess you have gotten yourself into.”
A poster named “golf22″ chimed in: “I’m sure the District Attorney appreciates your help in rounding up witnesses to testify against you as to the several illegal actions you took.”
And Mr_Twister added: “We’ll all be ‘VERY’ happy when the judge throws the book at you.”
Matron defended herself, saying she was “blocked in by a bus on one side, and cars parked in front of me, and behind.” The chase on the turnpike “was slow speed, and required five state cruisers,” Matron wrote, “I was freaked out and traveling at 50.”
When the posters turned nasty — and one recognized the story from the news — Matron sharpened her rhetoric.
“Wake up people, you are being controlled by a government who thinks they can do anything … When has it become a crime to pull up to the curb to pick up your husband at the airport? Oh, in a bus lane?” she wrote. “I am very disappointed at the antipathy I have received from this forum. I thought the craigslist community was more empathetic and dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
A lecture followed.
“Why did the State Police come after me?” Matron wrote. “Because it’s so easy! The same reason that the IRS audits every pizza parlor owner in town, but never audits Enron Corporation. The same reason the SEC audits all those you know who are registered brokers, but never audited Bernie Madoff. Why do the police logs in your town fill up with teenagers and immigrants? Because it’s easy for the cops to pick on these helpless people, and so much more difficult for them to go after the really hard criminals. I am distressed that you cannot see this. Please do not think you are holier than me, because you are not.
“When it happens to you, I hope I can be there to support you.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Airport dust-up got nasty, trooper says
Motorist in SUV accused of assault
Perhaps you’ve been there, idling in front of an airport terminal hoping your family member or long-lost college buddy appears before the approaching state trooper shoos you away. Margaret M. Greer was told to move along Sunday evening as she waited for her husband at Logan Airport, but police say she didn’t go quietly – and ended up in court because of it.
Greer, a portfolio manager from Wellesley, allegedly lowered the window of her Mercedes Benz ML320 SUV just an inch when the trooper, Sergeant Danial Wildgrube, approached and told her she would have to move because she was obstructing traffic in a bus lane. Greer merely pointed to a nearby vehicle and told him to take care of that motorist first, Wildgrube said in his report of the incident. He said he repeated the demand, but she shut her window and ignored him.
What ensued before shocked onlookers was a protracted confrontation in which, court papers allege, Greer nearly ran the trooper over as she repeatedly drove out of reach, only to be chased down by the trooper as he tried in vain to wrest Greer from her car.
“I’m not stopping the car! Get away from me,” Greer shouted repeatedly, according to one witness, George Kaniwec.
Greer, 57, was charged yesterday in East Boston District Court with assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, and failure to stop for a police officer. Her lawyer, Carol Starkey, entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, and Greer is to return to court May 13 for a preliminary hearing.
“Mrs. Greer is a highly respected member of the community and has pled not guilty to all allegations,” Starkey said later. “There are two sides to every story, and we strongly contest the facts as presented by the Commonwealth and look forward to presenting our side of the story. It’s very upsetting and traumatizing to her. . . . Anyone who has picked up or dropped off anyone at the airport may understand there’s two sides to the story.”
Wellesley Town Clerk Kathleen Nagle said Greer served two terms on the five-member elected School Committee, from 1995 to 2000, and served from 1995 to 2003 as an elected member of Town Meeting. Greer did not return calls made yesterday to her home and to her employer, Citi Smith Barney.
Greer’s driving record is mostly clean, with one “at fault” accident in 2004, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
On Sunday, Wildgrube’s report says, the trooper got out his ticket book after she refused to move her car and walked to the front of the vehicle to take down the license number. Then, he reported, Greer gunned her engine and sped off, clipping him with her side mirror and forcing him to leap out of the way.
Wildgrube said he yelled at Greer to stop, but she continued driving until she was stopped by traffic a short distance away. The trooper approached again, opened the driver’s-side door, and told her to get out because she was under arrest, but Greer refused and drove away again, he alleged.
Wildgrube said he caught up to her a third time as she sat in traffic in front of the terminal. He moved to the front of the vehicle and put his arms up. She allegedly hit the gas again, causing the trooper to place his hands on the hood. “She pushed me approximately 15 feet while I ran backwards fearing that I would fall under the car,” Wildgrube wrote. “All the while she was looking directly at me.”
Wildgrube said he was forced away from the car again, falling to the ground. He got up, opened the driver’s-side door, and attempted to undo her seatbelt, he alleges, but she started driving away, dragging him along.
Wildgrube said he broke free and Greer drove away, but he radioed in her plate number.
Greer was stopped by other state troopers on the Massachusetts Turnpike, near the entrance to the Copley tunnel.
Although troopers said they noticed a slight odor of alcohol on her breath and found a small glass in the vehicle containing an alcoholic beverage, they did not ask Greer to submit to a field sobriety test. David Procopio, spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety, said Greer did not appear to be impaired.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said: “If a trooper asks you to move your car from a bus lane, you do it. . . . The trooper gave her every opportunity to do the right thing and she blew it. Now she’s looking at a felony charge.”
Brian R. Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com. 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dragged trooper: Wellesley woman smelled of booze
A state trooper attempting to shoo a Mercedes Benz SUV illegally idling in a bus lane at Logan International Airport was hit and dragged by the obstinate driver, a 57-year-old Wellesley woman, as she allegedly sped off to avoid getting a ticket.
Investment manager Margaret Greer was released on personal recognizance yesterday following her arraignment in East Boston District Court on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon and failure to stop for police. An automatic plea of not guilty was entered on her behalf by the court.
According to state police Sgt. Danial Wildgrube’s report, Greer had a “slight odor of an alcoholic beverage” on her breath.
Greer’s defense attorney, Carol Ann Starkey, declined to answer questions about the alleged incident, but told the Herald today her client “is a highly respected member of her community and she pled absolutely not guilty to all of these allegations.”
“There are two sides to every story,” said Starkey, “and we strongly contest the facts as presented by the commonwealth in this case. We take the allegations very seriously and we look forward to presenting our side of the story in a court of law.”
Sunday night, Greer, parked in a marked bus lane, told Sgt. Wildgrube she was waiting for her husband and rolled up her window to ignore the officer when he first gave her the option of circling Terminal B or relocating her vehicle to a cell phone lot, according to the police report.
When she allegedly refused, Wildgrube approached the Mercedes ML320 to write her a ticket. Greer allegedly hit the gas, clipping him with her passenger side mirror, the Suffolk District Attorney reports.
While she was blocked by oncoming traffic, Wildgrube opened the driver’s side door and ordered her out, but Greer allegedly drove on and shut the door, prosecutors said.
Stopped in traffic again, Wildgrube made another attempt to get Greer out, but she allegedly accelerated directly at him, forcing him to run backward about 15 feet, prosecutors said. He managed to get the driver’s side door open, but as he was unfastening her seat belt, Greer allegedly sped away with him, a report states
The trooper freed himself and broadcast the vehicle’s plate and description to fellow police, who stopped and arrested Greer on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
“I had about 60 people on my bus. They were terrified by what they saw. My legs are still shaking,” a bus driver who witnessed the alleged assault at Logan told investigators.
A Newburyport man who had just stepped off a flight from Dallas said he saw the trooper “shouting for the woman to stop” with his hands extended.
“She kept the car in gear and shouted repeatedly, ‘I’m not stopping the car, get away from me’ ” the witness told police. “Then she gunned the engine and took off.”
Prosecutors said when Greer was booked, she refused to answer questions about whether she had ingested drugs or alcohol.
They also said she denied having been at the airport, claiming instead she was driving home from her work at Merrill Lynch in Boston. Yet, according to her online profile, Greer works at Citi Smith Barney.
Reached at her home today, Greer took a business card from a reporter but declined to comment.
Greer is listed as a portfolio manager at Smith Barney’s Waltham office with a finance license in 18 states. The Harvard Business School graduate and former Wellesley School Committee member lives at 24 Windsor Road in Wellesley in a mansion with an online assessed value of $1.5 million. Her husband, Gordon Greer, also 57, is a stock broker, according to public records.
As a condition of her release, Greer has been ordered to stay away from Logan. She is due back in court May 13.
Joe Dwinell and Marie Szaniszlo contributed to this story.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1162499
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Margaret Greer – The Wicked Witch of Wellesley
http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2009/04/wicked-witch-of-wellesley.html
“a portfolio manager from Wellesley…. a highly respected member of the community…. served two terms on the five-member elected School Committee…. and served… as an elected member of the Town Meeting”
Seems like a nice lady, right?
“troopers said they noticed a slight odor of alcohol on her breath and found a small glass in the vehicle containing an alcoholic beverage, they did not ask Greer to submit to a field sobriety test…. did not appear to be impaired”
WTF?!!!!!
As you read this account of elite excess and arrogance, ask yourself if you would receive the same treatment?
“Airport dust-up got nasty, trooper says; Motorist in SUV accused of assault” by Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | April 1, 2009Perhaps you’ve been there, idling in front of an airport terminal hoping your family member or long-lost college buddy appears before the approaching state trooper shoos you away. Margaret M. Greer was told to move along Sunday evening as she waited for her husband at Logan Airport, but police say she didn’t go quietly – and ended up in court because of it.
Greer, a portfolio manager from Wellesley, allegedly lowered the window of her Mercedes Benz ML320 SUV just an inch when the trooper, Sergeant Danial Wildgrube, approached and told her she would have to move because she was obstructing traffic in a bus lane. Greer merely pointed to a nearby vehicle and told him to take care of that motorist first, Wildgrube said in his report of the incident. He said he repeated the demand, but she shut her window and ignored him.
What ensued before shocked onlookers was a protracted confrontation in which, court papers allege, Greer nearly ran the trooper over as she repeatedly drove out of reach, only to be chased down by the trooper as he tried in vain to wrest Greer from her car.
“I’m not stopping the car! Get away from me,” Greer shouted repeatedly, according to one witness, George Kaniwec. Greer, 57, was charged yesterday in East Boston District Court with assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, and failure to stop for a police officer. Her lawyer, Carol Starkey, entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, and Greer is to return to court May 13 for a preliminary hearing.
“Mrs. Greer is a highly respected member of the community and has plead not guilty to all allegations,” Starkey said later. “There are two sides to every story, and we strongly contest the facts as presented by the Commonwealth and look forward to presenting our side of the story. It’s very upsetting and traumatizing to her. . . . Anyone who has picked up or dropped off anyone at the airport may understand there’s two sides to the story.”
Wellesley Town Clerk Kathleen Nagle said Greer served two terms on the five-member elected School Committee, from 1995 to 2000, and served from 1995 to 2003 as an elected member of Town Meeting. Greer did not return calls made yesterday to her home and to her employer, Citi Smith Barney. Greer’s driving record is mostly clean, with one “at fault” accident in 2004, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
On Sunday, Wildgrube’s report says, the trooper got out his ticket book after she refused to move her car and walked to the front of the vehicle to take down the license number. Then, he reported, Greer gunned her engine and sped off, clipping him with her side mirror and forcing him to leap out of the way.
Wildgrube said he yelled at Greer to stop, but she continued driving until she was stopped by traffic a short distance away. The trooper approached again, opened the driver’s-side door, and told her to get out because she was under arrest, but Greer refused and drove away again, he alleged.
Wildgrube said he caught up to her a third time as she sat in traffic in front of the terminal. He moved to the front of the vehicle and put his arms up. She allegedly hit the gas again, causing the trooper to place his hands on the hood. “She pushed me approximately 15 feet while I ran backwards fearing that I would fall under the car,” Wildgrube wrote. “All the while she was looking directly at me.”
Wildgrube said he was forced away from the car again, falling to the ground. He got up, opened the driver’s-side door, and attempted to undo her seatbelt, he alleges, but she started driving away, dragging him along. Wildgrube said he broke free and Greer drove away, but he radioed in her plate number.
Greer was stopped by other state troopers on the Massachusetts Turnpike, near the entrance to the Copley tunnel. Although troopers said they noticed a slight odor of alcohol on her breath and found a small glass in the vehicle containing an alcoholic beverage, they did not ask Greer to submit to a field sobriety test. David Procopio, spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety, said Greer did not appear to be impaired.
I think THREATENING to RUN OVER a COP is IMPAIRMENT, don’t you?
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said: “If a trooper asks you to move your car from a bus lane, you do it. . . . The trooper gave her every opportunity to do the right thing and she blew it. Now she’s looking at a felony charge.”
WHY no BOOZE CHARGE?
What, he forget!!!!?
WTF?
–more–”
Update: This lady must have been SOMEONE VERY, VERY IMPORTANT to have gotten THIS AMOUNT of PRINT in the Globe. Somebody down there know her or something?
Meg Greer
Second VP – Wealth Management, Financial Advisor
Portfolio Manager, Smith Barney Div., Citigroup Global Markets
Margaret (Meg) Greer is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and holds the degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. She joined Smith Barney as a Financial Consultant in 1997, and has thirty years of individual investing, corporate and small business experience. Meg is a frequent public speaker and has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “Good Day New York,” The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes Magazine and Money Magazine. In addition to her business success, Meg is committed to community service and education. She has served as Vice Chairman of the Wellesley MA School Committee and an elected member of the Wellesley MA Town Meeting. She has been a Board Member and Troop Leader for Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council, with whom she created the Smith Barney Financial Camp for Girls. Meg lives in Wellesley, with her husband, Gordon, has two grown children, and works in the Waltham, MA, Smith Barney office.”
And check out the SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS!!
Globe:
Margaret M. Greer has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting a police officer. (WBZ-TV)
Other:
Let’s see if something (booze) is missing from the Globe report…
“After airport tiff, a plea for help on Craigslist; Witnesses sought to confrontation” by Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff | April 2, 2009
The posting on Craigslist by a user named Matron appeared at 3:59 a.m. Monday, just hours after a high-powered Wellesley portfolio manager had been released from police custody following an explosive parking altercation with a state trooper at Logan International Airport.
Matron described herself as “a middle-aged lady driving a silver van” and said she had “an altercation with a Mass State Cop outside Terminal B around 8:15 p.m.
“I am seeking witnesses who were there and saw the State Trooper bang on my car and try to get through my door,” Matron wrote in a message deleted, along with a rambling missive, yesterday after Boston.com published a story about the postings. “Several State Police cruisers pursued me and arrested me on the Mass Pike. Please help me, if you saw this event.”
I ALWAYS LEAVE MY STUFF UP!!!!!
The description nearly matches the alleged confrontation Sunday night involving the portfolio manager, Margaret M. Greer, who is accused of sideswiping a trooper with her side-view mirror, driving at him so he had to run backward for 15 feet, and dragging him for a short distance as she drove away. The one difference: Instead of a silver van, Greer was driving a silver Mercedes Benz ML320 sport utility vehicle.
There is no definitive evidence that Greer used the alias Matron and trolled Craigslist for witnesses. Greer did not respond to a message yesterday seeking comment. Her lawyer, Carol Ann Starkey, declined to discuss “anything about any discussion that occurred on the Internet.”
“Mrs. Greer is taking these allegations very seriously,” said Starkey, adding that Greer “strongly refuted” the accusations and had her own side of the story for ready for a courtroom.
Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office, said: “Prosecutors are aware of the postings and are examining them for any potential connection to our Logan Airport case.”
If Greer did post the query on Craigslist, she apparently did not uncover any witnesses, or sympathy, in cyberspace. A poster named golf22 wrote: “I’m sure the District Attorney appreciates your help in rounding up witnesses to testify against you as to the several illegal actions you took.”
Mr_Twister added: “We’ll all be *VERY* happy when the judge throws the book at you.”
Greer, 57, pleaded not guilty Monday in East Boston District Court to charges that included assault and battery on a police officer. She is accused of closing her window and ignoring an order to move out of a bus lane from the trooper, Sergeant Danial Wildgrube.
What followed was described in court papers as a battle of wills between a trooper with a ticket book and an executive in a hulking SUV. Matron defended herself, saying she was “blocked in by a bus on one side, and cars parked in front of me, and behind.” The chase on the turnpike “was slow speed, and required five state cruisers,” Matron wrote, “I was freaked out and traveling at 50.”
When the posters turned nasty, Matron sharpened her rhetoric.
Hey, LYING ASSHOLES DESERVE IT!! They BRING IT ON THEMSELVES!!!!!!
“Wake up people, you are being controlled by a government who thinks they can do anything,” she wrote. “. . . When has it become a crime to pull up to the curb to pick up your husband at the airport?”
A rambling lecture followed.
“Why did the State Police come after me?” Matron wrote. “The same reason that the IRS audits every pizza parlor owner in town, but never audits Enron Corporation. The same reason the SEC audits all those you know who are a registered brokers, but never audited Bernie Madoff. . . . Because it’s easy for the cops to pick on these helpless people. . . .
“Please do not think you are holier than me, because you are not,” Matron continued in her posting. “When it happens to you, I hope I can be there to support you.”
Yeah, yeah, CRY ME a RIVER, lady — and THEN GO TAKE a DRINK (that was KINDLY OMITTED from the Globe’s follow-up report, imagine that).
–more–”
And the SYMPATHY does NOT STOP THERE, folks(?)!!!
The full-size pickup truck was there only seconds when the burly State Police trooper approached and blew a whistle that echoed throughout Terminal C at Logan Airport, urging the car to move.
But Paula Anderson just waited. “I was trying to get my son’s attention,” the Saugus woman said, as her son loaded his luggage into the truck yesterday. Then they were off.
Her timing was perfect. But for others, the system of picking up a relative or friend at an airport terminal can be confusing, frustrating, even intimidating.
With federal policies banning parking outside airport terminals, state troopers are quick to move cars picking up passengers who are not yet waiting by the curb with their luggage ready in carts that ironically read, “Go Ahead and Push Me.”
The question is where do you go? Drivers who do not correctly time their arrival, whether they are early or their passenger is still retrieving luggage, can expect to pay to park at a rate of $3 just to enter the lot, and $6 for those who are there for more than 30 minutes. Few know about a cellphone lot where drivers can wait at the other end of the airport.
Some choose to just drive in circles around the terminal until their passenger is curbside. Melissa McCagg of Malden circled the busy roadways three times to pick up a relative after a trooper shoed her away from Terminal C yesterday, after she was there for just seconds.
“They have been moving us constantly,” she said. “They should at least give us a minute.”
This is a “newspaper” I’m reading a reporting on?
Luis Falcon, 27, of Puerto Rico found a perfect spot away from troopers’ view in between two terminals, where parking is still prohibited but in an area that seems to get less scrutiny. Falcon, who had already been shoed away from Terminal C while waiting to pick up his aunt, was checking the rearview mirror for approaching troopers.
“They just told me I got to move,” but never said anything about that spot, he said.
David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said the federal Transportation Security Administration prohibits curbside parking at terminals as a safety and security policy. He said troopers do have discretion in letting drivers park momentarily, letting them wait if they can see their passenger nearby or if the passenger is just grabbing luggage. Many times the decision depends on the traffic, he said.
But in today’s post-9/11 world, troopers remain vigilant, he said, pointing out cases in which people have parked their car, got out, and entered the terminal, leaving the car alone.
Did she OPINE about THAT WHOPPER of a LIE, Globe?
See why you need to FACE UP to 9/11 TRUTH, readers?
“In this day and age, that’s a red flag and something we can’t allow,” he said. “We have a job to do; one is to keep the traffic moving and, two, to keep the safety and security of the airport.” For some, the system can be intimidating, as state troopers in uniform whistle and holler at cars to move. Some see it as confusing and many as frustrating.
I’m tired of the Globe playing good cop, bad cop.
This guy was a BAD COP in the Globe’s eyes and WE KNOW WHY!!!!
State Police allege a Wellesley woman refused to move her sport utility vehicle Sunday, then drove at a trooper who tried to record her license plate number. The woman, Margaret M. Greer, 57, a former Wellesley School Committee member, faces several charges, including assault and battery on a police officer. Through a lawyer, she has disputed the police version of events and has pleaded not guilty.
Nothing about the BOOZE in the CAR, ‘eh?
Bob Cummins of Holliston has perfected the system after 13 years driving limousines. He has been frustrated by some troopers who seem a little overzealous, he said, and confused by the system of roads at the airport.
Unless, of course, they are ending the life of young Mr. Woodman.
But Cummins, who was picking up a relative yesterday, has learned to use what is somewhat of an unknown at the airport: the cellphone lot. The lot seems far from the central part of the airport and difficult to find by following signs. But it allows drivers to wait and contact their passenger for a perfect arrival.
Cummins waited with a coffee and a newspaper, then wasted no time picking up a relative who called to say she was ready. “It took me less than two minutes to get here,” he said. “When you follow the rules, it runs perfectly, it really does.”
Fidelity wants to hold your hand
As investors reel, the fund giant and others step up their advice-giving
By Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | March 11, 2009
- It’s not easy peddling financial advice when people are queasy about opening their quarterly retirement account statements.
But Fidelity Investments, seizing on what it views as an opportunity in uncertain times, will introduce a three-pronged financial guidance program in an effort to reassure wary investors buffeted by the turbulent economy, the company said yesterday.
Fidelity will host more than 500 free seminars for customers and noncustomers this month at its investment centers across the country, including more than 50 at New England branches. The sessions will cover more than a dozen topics, from market intelligence to retirement road maps, promising “actionable financial strategies” for investors at different stages of their lives. Fidelity said it may extend the seminars beyond March if there’s demand.
- It also is rolling out free online calculators and other Web-based tools to help investors evaluate their portfolios. And it is launching an advertising campaign promoting its program, called Guide to Personal Savings, or GPS, a play on the acronym for the navigational system that guides drivers.
The mutual funds giant, based in Boston, declined to say how much money it will spend on the program.
“Many individuals are looking at their portfolios with a fresh set of eyes,” Kathleen A. Murphy, the president for personal investing at Fidelity, said in a conference call with reporters yesterday. Fidelity’s goal is “to make this process easier” for those people, she said.
Murphy cited research showing 83 percent of Americans have not sought financial help in the past year because they feared it would be too costly or was designed solely for the affluent.
The campaign is designed to educate ordinary investors so they can “get back on track with their finances,” in Murphy’s words, not explicitly to sell stock-based mutual funds.
- Fidelity unveiled its program on a day the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 379.44 points, or 5.8 percent, to 6,926.49 in a bounce-back rally. It was the biggest point gain for the Dow since Nov. 24.
Famously bearish investor Jeremy Grantham, chairman of the Boston investment firm Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo and Co., meanwhile, posted a commentary on his firm’s website yesterday, urging investors to start moving money from cash to stocks and suggesting stocks may now be undervalued by 30 percent.
The broad market retreat has hurt mutual fund firms particularly. More money has flowed out of stock mutual funds than into the funds in five of the seven months ended Jan. 31, the most recent period for which data are available, according to the Lipper unit of the Thomson Reuters research firm. That lowers the amount of assets fund firms manage, which in turn reduces the fees they collect. The lower revenue means fund companies don’t have as much money to reach out and give new customers financial help.
“The assets in the fund industry, like every other industry, are down, especially equity fund assets,” said Greg Ahern, spokesman for the Investment Company Institute, a mutual funds industry group in Washington. “You’re seeing the demand for professional advice increase exponentially at a time like this, not only for advice about retail funds but about 401(k)s and other retirement funds.”
- Analysts said mutual fund companies and other financial firms have stepped up their hand-holding in recent months as the market has tumbled and the financial crisis has deepened, sending out investment newsletters, sponsoring Internet seminars called “Webinars,” and having more frequent phone conversations with rattled customers.
Other firms, such as Vanguard Group and T. Rowe Price, also host free seminars, though they are usually restricted to customers, and offer their own online planning tools. “We are continually coming up with new analyses helping people prepare for retirement and manage through this environment,” said Brian Lewbart, a spokesman for T. Rowe Price, a mutual funds firm based in Baltimore.
Fidelity’s program may be unique, analysts said, not only because it is backed by advertising but because it is tailored to investors – including noncustomers – spooked by the recession. The campaign, reaching out to individual investors and employees who are investing retirement funds through managed workplace accounts, is following the playbook of businesses that seek to capitalize on bad conditions to boost their market share in downturns, they said.
- “A lot of fund firms are ramping up communications,” said Dan Sondhelm, partner at SunStar Strategies, an Arlington, Va., marketing consulting firm for the financial industry. “They’re getting more phone calls and Web hits than ever because investors are scared. But not a lot of firms can afford to invest in advertising right now when their revenue is down 50 or 60 percent” because of the stock market slump.
Fidelity said details of its program, including its interactive online calculators and the times and locations of its educational seminars, will be posted on its website, www.fidelity.com.
Robert Weisman can be reached at weisman@globe.com.
More modern environment:
Prescription for hurting vehicles in Braintree
Herb Chambers opens new collision center in Braintree
Car czar Herb Chambers wants to be the collision center king of Massachusetts. A collision center and truck repair garage that opened recently on Lundquist Drive in Braintree represents Chambers’ fourth and biggest service center.
“If you love your car and you have an accident, this is the place you want to go,” Chambers said. “This is Massachusetts General Hospital for cars.”
The former warehouse now contains 44 body shop repair bays and 16 repair spots for commercial trucks and buses. Chambers plans to hire 20 additional technicians to work at the Braintree center, which began operating last month.
Repair business had been steadily increasing at Chambers’ previous collision center on Washington Street, which is now closed. The closing of several local Ford dealerships in recent years overwhelmed its ability to handle the demand.
Chambers bought the 78,400-square-foot building on Lundquist Drive two years ago for $3 million. He estimated he has spent more than $5 million converting the space – a former Avon Home Fashions warehouse – into a collision center and truck repair shop.
The facility was designed to provide a more modern environment than most body shops, with windows allowing natural light. Vacuum hoses are attached to tools used to sand vehicles, sucking dust and particles out of the air.
The latest computerized diagnostic equipment helps technicians straighten frames or match paint to cars’ original colors.
Two offices – remnants of the Avon warehouse – are available for insurance appraisers to fill out reports.
The Chambers body shop has about half the capacity of Ernie Boch Jr.’s Collision Center in Norwood, even though it is actually larger than the Norwood center. That facility spans 35,000 square feet and contains 88 repair bays for cars and trucks, Manager Bob Brown said.
Chambers is also counting on the Braintree facility to expand his heavy truck repair business. He spent $500,000 to elevate the roof of the building to accommodate box trucks and buses. The truck repair facility replaces one on Wood Road, which has a lease that expires in May.
Chambers is also using part of the building to store new vehicles such as Ford Mustangs with accessories that are frequent targets of thieves when parked outside at a dealership.
Chambers’ Somerville-based auto group owns 43 dealerships in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He is opening new dealerships in Westboro and Sudbury in the next few months.
The Braintree facility is hiring painters and metal technicians for the body shop and diesel-certified mechanics for the truck repair shop.
“If they’re really craftsmen, I need them,” Chambers said. “They’ve got to have experience, because everything has to be done to a Rolls-Royce finish.”
Steve Adams may be reached at sadams@ledger.com.
