Special Master

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent Salem State University announced its commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients on Friday afternoon for this spring, including House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Kenneth Feinberg, who oversees the payout fund for the Gulf Coast oil spill clean-up.  DeLeo, who is currently serving his second term as Massachusetts House speaker, will address bachelor's degree recipients from the College of Arts...

By Justin A. Rice, Town Correspondent Salem State University announced its commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients on Friday afternoon for this spring, including House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Kenneth Feinberg, who oversees the payout fund for the Gulf Coast oil spill clean-up.  DeLeo, who is currently serving his second term as Massachusetts House speaker, will address bachelor's degree recipients from the College of Arts...

In something of a gray business, mediation and arbitration, Ken Feinberg is a splash of tropical color. He talks in a stentorian voice, like a Shakespearean actor. He says what's on his very active mind. He is blunt even when diplomacy might be the better card to play. Feinberg, a Brockton-born lawyer, was the special master of the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, in charge of distributing government-funded settlements to the families of the dead and those who were injured in the attacks, provided they agreed not to sue the airlines whose planes were turned into missiles.

The state Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on a proposed minor redrawing of Connecticut's congressional district boundaries. Justices are scheduled to hear arguments on the proposal Monday morning. They have until Feb. 15 to approve a final plan, which is needed because of population changes. The state is retaining all five of its U.S. House seats. The court had to appoint a special master to develop a redistricting plan after a legislative committee charged with the task failed to reach a deal.

Republican leaders are discounting claims by Democrats that the state Supreme Court's job of adjusting Connecticut's five congressional districts is a simple task that involves accounting for relatively minor population changes. Republicans contend there are glaring flaws in the current congressional map. In a memorandum filed Friday, the GOP renewed its call that "a qualified, non-partisan special master" be appointed to help the justices ensure redistricting is finished by Feb. 15. The bipartisan legislative redistricting committee, originally charged with redrawing...

The special master guiding the receivership of Westerly Hospital says its charitable donations won't be in jeopardy of being snapped up by creditors. A Rhode Island judge has issued an order allowing the special master and the hospital's fundraising foundation to set up a segregated account for donations made during the receivership. The Westerly Sun reports ( http://bit.ly/zv2eF3) that the action ensures financial gifts can only be used according to the donor's wishes, not for day-to-day expenses.

HARTFORD - The Republican leader of the Connecticut House of Representatives called yesterday for Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy to withdraw from a congressional redistricting case that's before the state Supreme Court. Representative Lawrence Cafero Jr. of Norwalk said Malloy has no role to play under the state constitution and his intervention "smacks of potential undue influence" with the court. Malloy last week filed a legal brief, along with Republican and Democratic legislators on the redistricting committee, after the panel failed to meet its deadline...

The state Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on a proposed minor redrawing of Connecticut's congressional district boundaries. Justices are scheduled to hear arguments on the proposal Monday morning. They have until Feb. 15 to approve a final plan, which is needed because of population changes. The state is retaining all five of its U.S. House seats. The court had to appoint a special master to develop a redistricting plan after a legislative committee charged with the task failed to reach a deal.

CHICAGO - The Obama administration’s pay czar says negotiations over executive compensation with the seven companies that received the biggest federal bailouts have been “a consensual process’’ - not a matter of forcing decisions on them. “I’m hoping I won’t be required to simply make a determination over company objections,’’ veteran Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg told the Chicago Bar Association in a speech. He said he hopes that when he announces pay levels for 175 top executives by Oct. 30 the seven companies will consider them fair and based on...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s pay czar is limiting 2010 compensation for top executives at GMAC Inc. because the auto finance giant continues to lose money and can’t yet repay its $16.3 billion taxpayer bailout, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Only one of the top 25 earners at GMAC will earn more than $500,000 in cash, and CEO Michael Carpenter will receive only stock compensation and no cash, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.

The special master guiding the receivership of Westerly Hospital says its charitable donations won't be in jeopardy of being snapped up by creditors. A Rhode Island judge has issued an order allowing the special master and the hospital's fundraising foundation to set up a segregated account for donations made during the receivership. The Westerly Sun reports ( http://bit.ly/zv2eF3) that the action ensures financial gifts can only be used according to the donor's wishes, not for day-to-day expenses.

The special master appointed by the Connecticut State Supreme Court to redraw the boundaries of the state's five congressional districts was urged by Democrats on Monday to make only minor changes to the map. But Republican lawmakers called on Nathanial Persily to consider their plan, which moves New Britain out of the 5th Congressional District with Danbury and into the 1st District with Hartford. They maintained that their proposal for the 5th district makes sense because it puts similar communities together and adheres to redistricting standards.

HARTFORD - The Republican leader of the Connecticut House of Representatives called yesterday for Democratic Governor Dannel P. Malloy to withdraw from a congressional redistricting case that's before the state Supreme Court. Representative Lawrence Cafero Jr. of Norwalk said Malloy has no role to play under the state constitution and his intervention "smacks of potential undue influence" with the court. Malloy last week filed a legal brief, along with Republican and Democratic legislators on the redistricting committee, after the panel failed to meet its deadline...

Republican leaders are discounting claims by Democrats that the state Supreme Court's job of adjusting Connecticut's five congressional districts is a simple task that involves accounting for relatively minor population changes. Republicans contend there are glaring flaws in the current congressional map. In a memorandum filed Friday, the GOP renewed its call that "a qualified, non-partisan special master" be appointed to help the justices ensure redistricting is finished by Feb. 15. The bipartisan legislative redistricting committee, originally charged...

In something of a gray business, mediation and arbitration, Ken Feinberg is a splash of tropical color. He talks in a stentorian voice, like a Shakespearean actor. He says what's on his very active mind. He is blunt even when diplomacy might be the better card to play. Feinberg, a Brockton-born lawyer, was the special master of the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, in charge of distributing government-funded settlements to the families of the dead and those who were injured in the attacks, provided they agreed not to sue the airlines whose planes were turned into missiles.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s pay czar is limiting 2010 compensation for top executives at GMAC Inc. because the auto finance giant continues to lose money and can’t yet repay its $16.3 billion taxpayer bailout, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Only one of the top 25 earners at GMAC will earn more than $500,000 in cash, and CEO Michael Carpenter will receive only stock compensation and no cash, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.

Mastering Boston Harbor: Courts, Dolphins, & Imperiled Waters , By Charles M. Haar, Harvard University, 380 pp., illustrated, $35 When a young humpback whale appeared in Boston Harbor earlier this spring, it delighted observers with a whale-watch show worthy of Stellwagen Bank, all within sight of the downtown skyscrapers. And its appearance was the latest -- and certainly the splashiest -- evidence of the harbor's rebirth. While it is not unusual to find humpbacks just offshore in the late fall and early spring, it took a cold spring and a good run of herring to lure one into the...

WASHINGTON - Talking tough but stepping gently, the Obama administration rejected direct intervention in corporate pay decisions yesterday even as officials argued that excessive compensation in the private sector contributed to the nation's financial crisis. Instead, the administration plans to seek legislation that would try to tame compensation at publicly traded companies through shareholder pressure and less management influence on pay decisions. At the same time, the administration drew a sharp line between the overall corporate world, and those...

CHICAGO - The Obama administration’s pay czar says negotiations over executive compensation with the seven companies that received the biggest federal bailouts have been “a consensual process’’ - not a matter of forcing decisions on them. “I’m hoping I won’t be required to simply make a determination over company objections,’’ veteran Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg told the Chicago Bar Association in a speech. He said he hopes that when he announces pay levels for 175 top executives by Oct. 30 the seven companies will consider them fair and based on principle.

WASHINGTON - Talking tough but stepping gently, the Obama administration rejected direct intervention in corporate pay decisions yesterday even as officials argued that excessive compensation in the private sector contributed to the nation's financial crisis. Instead, the administration plans to seek legislation that would try to tame compensation at publicly traded companies through shareholder pressure and less management influence on pay decisions. At the same time, the administration drew a sharp line between the overall corporate world, and those...