It Figures

$6 Million

Amount of settlement reached between the family of a Massachusetts woman killed in a 2006 tunnel collapse inside Boston’s Big Dig, and Powers Fasteners Inc., the Brewster, N.Y., epoxy maker blamed for supplying the faulty glue used to secure cement ceiling tiles.

$876,437

Amount lost by The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. in an office furniture fraud scheme by one of its project managers, Todd Olynciw. Olynciw, who oversaw renovations and contracts for The Hartford, pleaded guilty last week to an illegal arrangement in which he sold or gave stolen company furniture to several firms and steered renovation contracts for The Hartford in exchange for nearly $400,000 in kickbacks from contractors.

25%

The 2006 premium increase for coastal homeowners in Massachusetts insured through the state’s residual market, The FAIR Plan, that survived a court test. Over the objections of the state’s attorney general, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled recently that the 2006 rate increase allowed by then-commissioner Julianne Bowler did not violate a state law capping increases.

20%

Drop in the number of traffic deaths in Delaware between 2006 and 2007. The 118 deaths were the fewest recorded in eight years. The state credited intensive law enforcement for the decrease.

5

Height, in feet, of debris inside the house an elderly couple in Yonkers, N.Y. who died in a fire inside their home. Officials blamed the enormous, maze-like piles of rubble — as well as a nailed-shut front door — for creating a death trap from which neither resident could be rescued.

1

Number, in months, of the time it took for the New York Insurance Department to issue Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway a license to sell municipal bond insurance. Officials said the move would help municipalities enhance the credit of new bonds or outstanding downgraded bonds. Normally the process takes between three and nine months.