WBUR Newsroom Election 2008 CommonHealth Blog Boston Weather BBC World News NPR Top Stories NPR's Morning Edition NPR Topics: Books NPR Topics: Movies Fresh Air All Things Considered Marketplace Submit a Story Idea RSS Feeds Podcasts Chai and Crumpets at the Ritz? By Curt Nickisch Listen to story (Real Audio) BOSTON, Mass. - December 19, 2006 - Chai and crumpets, anyone? Next month, new owners from India will take over the Ritz-Carlton, Boston. The historic hotel overlooking the Public Garden opened in 1927 with a room rate of $15. The city will still keep its newer Ritz-Carlton across the way. But the loss of the very first hotel in the luxury chain has some mourning the end of a Boston icon. Others herald the sale as a harbinger of the city's economy. WBUR's Business and Technology Reporter Curt Nickisch checks in. The Old Ritz Boston socialite Smoki Bacon's reminiscences of the Ritz-Carlton, Boston.    From The WBUR Newsroom Expert: Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Could Rise To 8.1 Percent By 2010 BOSTON (November 20, 2008) A UMass Boston public-policy professor says Massachusetts could see its jobless rate rise to 8.1 percent in the next two years. Mass. Umemployment Rate Rises To 5.5 Percent BOSTON (November 20, 2008) The Massachusetts unemployment rate climbed to 5.5 percent last month, up from 5.3 percent in September. DiMasi Wants Fresh Consideration For Gas Tax Hike BOSTON (November 19, 2008) House Speaker Sal DiMasi on Wednesday made the clearest statement yet by a top Beacon Hill official that raising the state's 23.5-cents-per-gallon gas tax could be a good idea, releasing a statement suggesting the levy as an alternative to doubling tolls. Romney Adamantly Opposes Auto Industry Bailout WASHINGTON (November 20, 2008) Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is standing steadfastly behind the forces opposing a $25 billion "bridge loan" for struggling Detroit auto manufacturers.