Medtronic to buy Irish medical-device manufacturer

U.S. medical device manufacturer Medtronic announced Sunday night that it has agreed to buy Ireland-based competitor Covidien for $42.9 billion in cash and stock.

The combined company would have its executive offices in Dublin, where it could benefit from Ireland's lower corporate tax rates. But the merged company would continue to operate in Minneapolis, where Medtronic employs more than 8,000, the companies said in a statement.

Medtronic is paying a 29 percent premium on Covidien's stock price as of Friday. The shares had closed at $72.02 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by medical-device manufacturers. The companies are seeking to expand their offerings and contain costs in response to price curbs forced by the nation's new health care law.

In April, Zimmer Holdings, an orthopedic device maker, announced that it was buying Biomet in a $13 billion deal.

Medtronic makes pacemakers and insulin pumps, among other products. Covidien specializes in surgical equipment.

As a result of savings from the deal, Medtronic said it would spend an additional $10 billion over the next decade in investments, acquisitions and research and development in the United States.

"The medical technology industry is critical to the U.S. economy, and we will continue to invest and innovate and create well-paying jobs," Omar Ishrak, Medtronic's CEO, said in a statement.

Efforts by domestic companies to use mergers to reincorporate overseas for tax reasons have raised concern among some U.S. lawmakers. Ireland taxes corporate income at 12.5 percent, compared with a top marginal rate of 39.6 percent in the United States, according to the tax advisory firm KPMG.

Drug-maker Pfizer recently tried unsuccessfully to acquire U.K.-based Astra-Zeneca. The banana-seller Chiquita agreed to buy an Irish firm, Fyffes, in March.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, and 13 other senators introduced a bill in May to restrict the deals.

"These transactions are about tax avoidance, plain and simple," Levin said in a statement. "Our legislation would clamp down on this loophole to prevent corporations from shifting their tax burden onto their competitors and average Americans."

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Kasem was an island of calm in swirl of pop music

LOS ANGELES — In pop culture, Casey Kasem was as sweet and dependable as a glass of warm milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies, which only made the ugliness of his last few years of life seem more bizarre and tragic.

The radio host of "American Top 40" and voice of animated television characters like Scooby-Doo's sidekick Shaggy died Sunday morning at a hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington. He was 82. He suffered from a form of dementia, and his three adult children from his first wife fought a bitter legal battle with Kasem's second wife, Jean, over control of his health care in his final months.

That made Kasem a fixture on news outlets that feed on the sleazier side of celebrity life at a time when it wasn't clear he was aware of it or even able to understand.

This wouldn't seem all that remarkable for a bad-behaving pop star or actor who shed spouses with the frequency of changing characters. But this was Casey Kasem, whose work epitomized the gentler, romantic side of pop culture, of a time when stars were admired for their celebrity and worshipped for their talent.

"American Top 40," with Kasem's soft, homey voice counting down the hits, was a refuge from shock jocks or the screaming big-city radio voices. It was dependable, broadcast on some 1,000 stations at its peak, so if you were driving in Connecticut or Kansas, California or Kentucky, you could always take a measure of the pop charts with Casey.

Kasem weaved stories around the songs, anecdotes about interactions with fans or gee-whiz tales about how stars got their starts. Seldom was heard a discouraging word, unless it was a starting point for a narrative about coming back from hardship, the darkness before the dawn.

Interspersed in the countdowns were the long-distance dedications, songs played for a long-lost or distant lover in the hope a heart would be stirred. You'd wince at some of the hokey song selections, but only the truly cynic would laugh at the emotion that spilled out of the letters Kasem read.

At the end of the show, always, would come Kasem's signature words of advice: "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."

On the first "American Top 40" in July 1970, Kasem counted down to Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not to Come" at the No. 1 spot. As the years went on, Kasem progressed through disco and punk, arena rock and rap. All were welcome under Casey's big tent.

That made him the rare personality who could count the stars among his fans. Reaction to his death Sunday was widespread, from tweeted memories to a dedication from the stage by Elton John at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

John sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and said, "Travel safely, my angel," in front of 80,000 fans in Manchester, Tennessee.

Kasem was of Lebanese descent, born in Detroit as Kemal Amin Kasem, and he spoke out on issues promoting greater understanding of Arab-Americans throughout his life. He made his name as a disc jockey, and when his career blossomed in the Los Angeles area, he took on other voice work. He was Robin in the animated "Batman" series. He once said his work on "Scooby-Doo" would outlast anything he did.

He was succeeded at "American Top 40" in 2004 by Ryan Seacrest, a fan who said he used to imitate Kasem counting down the hits when he was a boy.

"When decades later I took over his AT40 countdown show, it was a surreal moment," Seacrest said in a statement. "Casey had a distinctive friendly on-air voice, and he was just as affable and nice if you had the privilege to be in his company. He'll be greatly missed by all of us."

"Scooby-Doo" may last longer, but we'll bet Kasem will most be remembered for "American Top 40" and his place in the continuum of pop music accounting, from "American Bandstand" to "Soul Train," ''Total Request Live" to Spotify playlists.

Hard feelings being what they are, it's difficult to imagine the fight between the people Kasem is leaving behind will simply end with his death. Kasem, at least, is at peace.

And instead of thinking about squabbling, his fans can imagine what it would have sounded like to hear Casey Kasem counting down to John Legend, Pharrell Williams and Iggy Azalea.

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Progress made on a 'bionic pancreas' for diabetics

Scientists have made big progress on a "bionic pancreas" to free some people with diabetes from the daily ordeal of managing their disease.

Doctors say that a wearable, experimental device passed a real-world test by constantly monitoring blood sugar and automatically giving insulin or a sugar-boosting drug as needed.

Doctors tested it for five days in adults and teens with Type 1 diabetes, the kind often diagnosed in childhood. It improved blood-sugar control more than standard monitors and insulin pumps did.

The device was developed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston University. Results were featured Sunday at an American Diabetes Association conference in San Francisco and were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Domino's introduces a 'Siri' to take mobile orders

NEW YORK — Domino's is introducing its own version of Siri.

The pizza delivery chain on Monday plans to introduce a function on its mobile app that lets customers place orders by speaking with a computer-generated voice named "Dom." The rollout is part of an ongoing push by Domino's to take business away from rivals and smaller pizza shops by offering more convenient ways to order.

The company says the updated app for iPhones and Android devices will deliver a "human-like, conversational" experience, but notes that it will take some time to work out the kinks in the technology.

"It is not perfect," Domino's CEO Patrick Doyle said in an interview. "This is the sort of thing, like any other really new technology launch, you're going to learn, you're going to get better."

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Supreme Court has 17 cases to decide by June's end

WASHINGTON — It's crunch time at the Supreme Court, where the justices are racing to issue opinions in 17 cases over the next two weeks.

The religious rights of corporations, the speech rights of abortion protesters and the privacy rights of people under arrest are among the significant issues that are so far unresolved.

Summer travel, European teaching gigs and relaxation beckon, but only after the court hands down decisions in all the cases it has heard since October.

In rare instances, the justices will put off decisions and order a case to be argued again in the next term.

This is also the time of the year when a justice could announce a retirement. But the oldest of the justices, 81-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has signaled she will serve at least one more year, and maybe longer.

The justices will meet Monday and again on Thursday to issue opinions, and could wind up their work by the end of the month.

A look at some of the cases that remain:

— Contraceptive coverage: Corporations are claiming the right to exercise religious objections to covering women's contraceptives under their employee health insurance plans, despite the new health law's requirement that birth control be among a range of no-cost preventive services included in health plans.

— Abortion clinic buffer zones: Abortion opponents are challenging as a violation of their speech rights a Massachusetts law mandating a 35-foot protest-free zone on public sidewalks outside abortion clinics.

— Cellphone searches: Two cases weigh the power of police to search the cellphones of people they place under arrest without first obtaining a warrant from a judge.

— Recess presidential appointments: A federal appeals court said President Barack Obama misused the Constitution's recess power when he temporarily filled positions on the National Labor Relations Board in 2012.

— TV on the Internet: Broadcasters are fighting Internet startup Aereo's practice of taking television their programming for free and providing it to subscribers who can then watch on smartphones and other portable devices.

— Greenhouse gases: Industry groups assert that environmental regulators overstepped their bounds by trying to apply a provision of the Clean Air Act to control emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants and factories. This case is unlikely to affect the recent proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to slash carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly one-third by 2030; that plan involves a different part of the same law.

— Union fees: Home health care workers in Illinois want the court to rule that public sector unions cannot collect fees from workers who object to being affiliated with a union.

—Securities fraud: Investors could find it harder to bring class-action lawsuits over securities fraud at publicly traded companies in a case involving Halliburton Co., a provider of energy services.

— "False" campaign claims: An anti-abortion group says state laws that try to police false statements during political campaigns runs afoul of the First Amendment.

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Boston connects to Beijing

New direct air service between Boston and China starts Friday, the latest in a string of nonstop international flights landed by Logan International Airport and perhaps the biggest coup to date.

"Of all the international flights, this is probably the biggest milestone," Massport CEO Thomas Glynn said. "In the global economy, China is the biggest player. Many nonprofit and for-profit businesses in Boston have activity in China."

Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines will start Boston-Beijing service four times per week — on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It will switch to daily flights from July 21 through August — peak China travel season amid strong demand, according to Joel Chusid, Hainan's U.S. executive director.

Hainan already has sold well more than half of the seats for its July and August flights on the 213-passenger Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

"Our bookings are coming in steady," Chusid said, noting Hainan started reservations "pretty early" and has an interline agreement for connections with JetBlue Airways. "It's met our expectations.."

Hainan has set up a Boston office with a general manager and sales, finance and customer support staff.

At Hainan's request, Massport is planning a June 23 meeting for airline officials with local business leaders on Massport's Asia task force that worked toward landing the China service and the nonstop Toyko flights that started in 2012. It will be followed by a luncheon with Gov. Deval Patrick.

"Lasting growth in the 21st-century global economy will come from our competitiveness in global markets," Patrick said in a statement. "Hainan's new flight will better serve our international passengers and build upon our growth strategy to open up Massachusetts to new markets to ensure that we remain competitive for many years to come."

Massport has rebated $540,000 in landing fees and will provide $350,000 in marketing support over two years to Hainan as incentives for starting the Boston service.

"This gives them a little cushion if it takes a while for them to build up their load factor," Glynn said.

Hainan's 36 business-class seats have 74-inch pitches — the space between a point on one seat and the same point on the seat in front of it. The lie-flat seats turn into beds with turn-down service, mattress pad, duvet, sheets, pillows, pajamas and slippers provided.

Menus rotate monthly and include Western and Chinese choices. Recent Chinese dinner selections for the a la carte business-class service from Beijing to Seattle included fried pork stuffed with water chestnut in sweet and sour lychee sauce, pan-fried shrimp mousse with tofu, and sauteed bitter gourd with pickle.

"It's not Panda Express," Chusid said.

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Should new Mustang tires go on the front or back?

I have a 2011 Mustang GT 5.0-liter with 36,000 miles. It has the Brembo brake package and Goodyear F1 tires on it. I'm ready to replace the worn rear tires again with the new OE Goodyears. Last time I replaced the rear tires, I placed the new tires on the front and moved the older front tires to the rear. Now people are telling me that I should place the new tires on the rear drive-axle to reduce the chance of oversteer that might be induced by having too much fun in a curve. With an everyday car I believe that understeer would be the greatest concern, but with 412 horsepower and almost 400 pound-feet of torque, maybe the new tires should be on the back. Which end of the car should the two new tires be placed on my Mustang and is a nitrogen fill worthwhile?

On the back. Like you, my first thought was that new tires should be mounted on the front and the older, worn front tires moved to the rear. Because the front tires do a far higher percentage of braking and, of course, steer the vehicle, my instincts said put the best tires on the front.

However, since loss of traction from the front tires — the "understeer" you mention — is easier to correct than "oversteer" — loss of traction from the rear tires — the recommendation for replacing just two tires is to mount the new ones on the rear.

In short, correcting understeer involves "breathing" back the throttle or modulating brake pressure to help the front tires regain traction. Oversteer, on the other hand, requires an instantaneous steering correction in the direction the back end is trying to go in order to keep the front tires pointed where the vehicle is headed, while at the same time neutralizing the throttle — not accelerating and not decelerating — to stop any wheelspin. If and when the rear end regains traction and wants to snap back — so-called "overcorrecting," a complete misnomer — the steering must be straightened in time with the rear end snapping back to keep the front wheels pointed where the vehicle is traveling.

In the racing schools I teach, we label the correction for oversteer as a three-step process: correct/pause/recover, CPR for short, an easy acronym to remember.

Nitrogen contains no moisture and is less prone to pressure changes with temperature changes, so filling tires with nitrogen makes some sense, but only if you continue to use nitrogen to top up tire pressures.

I own a 2001 Dodge Dakota and would like to clean the engine. Is it OK to take it to a self-service car wash and power-wash it?

It must be. Ever seen a used car on a dealer lot with a dirty engine? It's OK to clean the engine and engine compartment as long as you cover any sensitive wiring and electronics and don't aim the high-pressure spray directly at these components. Remember, engines and drivetrains get wet when vehicles are driven in the rain. The wiring harnesses and connectors used on modern automobiles are designed to be relatively weatherproof.

Motoring Note: Regarding white smoke from the 2003 Honda, reader Paul Harvey offered a good suggestion. "I had a similar problem involving my 2002 Toyota Sienna. One mechanic told me it was caused by a sludge problem and would require an engine replacement. I had thought it was a head gasket problem and took the van to another mechanic, who diagnosed a bad PCV valve. After he replaced it, the problem was solved."

A stuck or clogged PCV valve typically forces oil into the combustion chamber, where it is burned, creating a bluish smoke. So checking the PCV system for proper function is a simple step to possibly explain the sudden appearance of smoke from the tailpipe. Thanks for the suggestion, Paul.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race -car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number.

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With prices rising, home equity makes a comeback

WASHINGTON — If you're like most homeowners, it's your biggest asset. You can't track it online or check monthly statements sent to you by a bank, but it's crucially important for your personal financial well-being and your retirement planning.

It's your home equity — the difference between the market value of your house and whatever debt you've got on it. Equity for most of us is a big deal and, based on data released last week by the Federal Reserve, Americans' home-equity holdings are booming.

That's great news for most owners — though not all — and for the economy as a whole. The more equity we have, the more likely we are to spend money on goods and services that create more jobs — the so-called "wealth effect."

Now consider these brain-bending big numbers: Thanks to rising prices and substantial continuing pay-downs of mortgage debt, owners' combined 
equity holdings increased by 
$795 billion during the three months between the end of last December and March 31 of this year. Homeowners' equity holdings at the end of the first quarter totaled $10.8 trillion, the highest amount since late 2007 — but still well below the bubble-era record of $13.4 trillion reached in early 2006.

The ongoing boom is also pulling thousands of owners across the country out of real estate purgatory — they've been stuck in negative equity positions, but are now transitioning to positive. According to new estimates from mortgage and housing analytics firm CoreLogic, the owners of 312,000 houses moved out of negative territory during the first three months of 2014.

Now for the sobering side of the home-equity story: Despite the boom in housing wealth underway, many owners are still not able to join the party. About 6.3 million of them remain underwater on their loans. The average amount of negative equity they're carrying is often significant — they owe an average 33 percent more than their house could command in a sale today. That gives you an idea of the widespread pain still being felt in the wake of the bust and recession.

The impact is especially severe for owners who bought with little or nothing down and then loaded on additional debt with second mortgages. The average negative equity balance for owners with two mortgages is about $75,000, according to CoreLogic. For households with one mortgage, the average negative equity is around $52,000.

Also on the sobering side, millions of owners continue to have less equity than they'll need if they want to sell or even refinance. At the end of March, 10 million owners had less than 20 percent equity in their properties and 1.6 million of them had less than 5 percent. Given real estate transaction costs, most people with less than 5 percent equity would have to bring money to the table to pay off the debt on their house when they sell.

Equity holdings are closely linked to market segments — higher-cost houses are less likely to be in negative equity positions than lower-cost homes — and geography. According to CoreLogic, only about 3 percent of homes costing more than $500,000 have negative equity. By contrast, 17 percent of homes costing less than $200,000 are in negative positions.

Not surprisingly, areas of the country that performed worst during the bust — where easy-money financing was most common during the boom — continue to have high rates of negative equity, even well into the housing rebound. But there's one dazzling exception: California. In some inland counties during the recession, toxic financing contributed to home value losses of
50 percent and higher. Yet today, thanks to the most vigorous marketplace rebound of any state, just above 11 percent of California homes are in negative equity. Compare that with 29 percent in Nevada, 27 percent in Florida, 20 percent in Arizona.

Where are average equity levels highest? Texas, where home prices remained modest and affordable during the boom, is at the top. Just 
3.3 percent of Texas homes have debt exceeding their resale values. Rounding out the top five, Montana, Alaska, North Dakota and Hawaii all have less than 5 percent negative equity on average. The District of Columbia, a high-cost market that has seen significant home-price appreciation in the past several years, ranks sixth best in the country with a 5.1 percent negative equity rate.

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River beckons just outside new Danvers condo

This new townhouse condo along the Porter ­River in Danvers is designed for boaters as it includes a 35-foot boat slip right outside the door.

Unit 7 at Mariners Point at 58 River St. is one of 11 new units in four buildings being built on the two-acre site of a former marina. All have attached garages, covered back porches with water views and boat slips. The energy-efficient units have beige Hardiplank siding and architectural-grade Pella windows and glass sliders. Window moldings and other woodwork is also high quality.

The three-bedroom model Unit 7 has 2,353 square feet of living space on two levels with red oak flooring, and is listed for $775,000.

The unit has a small entry porch and front door that opens into a recessed-lit kitchen with antique white cabinets with serpentine trim, a wine rack and St. Cecilia granite counters with a glass-mosaic tile backsplash. There's a center island, a pantry/coat closet and stainless-steel GE Cafe appliances.

The large, open dining/living area has recessed and contemporary light fixtures and there's a gas fireplace with a black granite hearth in the living room.

A wall of windows and a sliding glass door lead out to a columned private back porch with river views. There will be a grassy common yard around the buildings, new granite and cement seawalls and boat slips.

Behind the living/dining area is a ceramic half bath, a washer/dryer hookup and direct access to a one-car garage.

A red oak staircase leads to three bedrooms on the second floor, off a hallway with a laundry closet with a stacked Samsung washer/dryer. The recessed-lit master bedroom suite has three large windows with river views, three closets with built-in closet systems and a bathroom with white Carrara marble vanity top, floors, walls and walk-in shower, plus a deep soaking tub.

The two other bedrooms are decent-sized with a second full bathroom with tumbled marble floors and tub/shower walls with glass-mosaic tile inlays.

The unit has two zones of gas-fired heating and central air conditioning. There's a private parking space in front of the garage, plus about a dozen visitor spaces.

The condo does not have a basement, but is built out of the flood zone so flood insurance should not be required.

Home showcase

• Address: 58 River St., Mariners Point, Unit 7, Danvers
• Bedrooms: Three
• Bathrooms: Two full, one half
• List price: $775,000
• Square feet: 2,353
• Price per square foot: $329
• Annual taxes: To be determined
• Monthly condo fee: $337
• Location: One mile to retail and restaurants in Danvers Square
• Built in: 2013-14
• Broker: Francine Cecieta of 
J Barrett & Co. at 978-808-0704

Pros:

• Private back porch looks out to river and boat slip
• Red oak floors, Pella windows, quality doors and moldings throughout
• Open kitchen dining/living area with 9-foot ceilings, wall of windows facing river
• Master bedroom suite with three closets, Carrara marble bathroom

Cons

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MGM gets first Mass. casino license

MGM is the state's first official casino operator, pending the outcome of efforts to repeal the state's casino law.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission yesterday voted unanimously to grant MGM a license for its $800 million casino, hotel and entertainment and shopping complex in downtown Springfield.

"People are hungry to work," Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said.

MGM estimates the project will bring 3,000 permanent jobs and 2,000 construction jobs to Springfield.

MGM will pay the $85 million licensing fee only after the state Supreme Judicial Court decides whether a referendum to repeal the state's casino law can be allowed on the November ballot.

That decision is expected before July 9.

If the court blocks the referendum, MGM would pay the fee in about eight business days.

If the court permits the question, MGM pays only if the referendum is defeated.

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