Bringing together Boston's CleanTech news and events

Sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts rose 3 percent in 2009, marking the first year-over-year increase since 2004 and offering more evidence that the state’s housing market may be climbing back from its steep fall.

Woburn renewable energy developer and construction company Solaya Energy has been tapped to build a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine at the Massachusetts Water Resources Facility’s pump station in Charlestown.

Ambient Corp. announced Tuesday it has received a $9.9 million order for its smart grid communications nodes, which act as a bridge, router or gateway for communications on the electrical grid.

The 2,500 casino dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino will organize a union if a tentative two-year agreement is approved on Friday - the first dealer contract negotiated under tribal law, according to union officials.

Massachusetts regulators have charged Securities America, a broker owned by Ameriprise Financial Inc. , with selling $697 million in investments without fully warning investors about the risks involved.

The board of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, which has been working to broaden its alliances with other Boston-area hospitals, reached outside the organization yesterday by electing Boston Celtics co-owner Wycliffe “Wyc’’ Grousbeck as its chairman.

After surviving months of uncertainty, New England’s more than 40 Saab dealers are celebrating the deal that will pull the Swedish car brand back from the brink of extinction.

A leading credit rating agency yesterday lowered the debt rating on Boston Medical Center as the financially troubled hospital posted an operating loss of $24.5 million for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, its first in five years.

A House panel probing the bailout of American International Group is sharpening its questions for two Treasury secretaries and a federal investigator who believes the Federal Reserve withheld documents.

Borders Group Inc. , the unprofitable US bookstore chain, said Ron Marshall resigned as chief executive and director after about a year on the job.

Federal health officials announced the recall of 2 million medical needles yesterday because of a risk they can push bits of silicone into patients’ bodies.

Home Depot Inc. , the world’s largest home improvement retailer, will cut 1,000 US jobs as it shrinks its pool of human resources and construction workers and closes three test stores.

DirecTV and Dish Network are challenging a new 5 percent sales tax on satellite television service in Massachusetts. The levy is part of the 2010 budget plan approved by the House and Senate last summer.

Parametric Technology Corp. , a product design company, reported its fiscal first-quarter profit more than tripled as sales rose and costs remained steady.

Analytical instrument maker Waters Corp. said yesterday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 5 percent as a weaker US dollar drove the value of international sales.

EMC Corp. , the world’s biggest maker of storage computers, posted a full-year sales forecast that beat analysts’ estimates as corporate technology spending rebounded.

With his prospects for another term brightening, Ben Bernanke will lead the Federal Reserve this year in pulling back the stimulus money it pumped out to fight the financial crisis that erupted in his first term.

Federal regulators are asking the nation’s largest wireless companies whether they give customers adequate notice about early termination fees for breaking a service contract before it expires.