New York
Neiman Marcus is latest victim of security breach
NEW YORK – Luxury merchant Neiman Marcus confirmed Saturday that thieves may have stolen customers’ credit and debit card information and made unauthorized charges over the holiday season, becoming the second retailer in recent weeks to announce it had fallen victim to a cyber-security attack.
The hacking, coming weeks after Target Corp. revealed its own breach, underscores the increasing challenges that merchants have in thwarting security breaches.
Ginger Reeder, spokeswoman for Dallas-based Neiman Marcus Group Ltd., said in an email Saturday that the retailer had been notified in mid-December by its credit card processor about potentially unauthorized payment activity following customer purchases at stores. On Jan. 1, a forensics firm confirmed evidence that the upscale retailer was a victim of a criminal cyber-security intrusion, and that some customers’ cards were possibly compromised as a result.
California
Giant panda leaves San Diego for life in China
SAN DIEGO – A giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo is being sent to China.
The zoo says Yun Zi was crated up and driven to Los Angeles on Thursday in preparation for the flight. His keeper and a veterinarian will accompany him.
The zoo’s pandas are on loan from the Chinese government, which decides where zoo-born offspring go after they turn 3. Yun Zi turned 4 in August.
The zoo prepared Yun Zi for the trip by making the special bread he’ll eat in China instead of the kibble used in San Diego. He’s also been fattened up to deal with the cooler temperatures of the mountains where he’ll live.
China is trying to breed and preserve the pandas. Only about 1,600 are believed to remain in the wild.
Weather Channel says safety at risk in dispute
PASADENA, Calif. – The Weather Channel wants its viewers to urge congressional intervention in its business dispute with DirecTV, arguing that it’s a public-safety issue if the satellite system pulls the network off the air for nearly 20 million viewers.
The network’s contract with DirecTV expires at the end of Monday. If an agreement on how much DirecTV pays The Weather Channel is not reached by then, TWC will likely stop airing on the system.
The Weather Channel said it would be deeply irresponsible for DirecTV to turn it off. DirecTV notes that there are other ways its customers can get weather forecasts.
West Virginia
Tap water may be out for days after chemical spill
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Several hundred thousand people in West Virginia remained without clean tap water for a third day Saturday following a chemical spill, and a water company executive said it could be days before uncontaminated water is flowing again.
Water sample test results must consistently show the chemical’s presence in the public water system is at or below 1 parts per million, the level recommended by federal agencies, before residents can turn on their taps again, West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre said Saturday at a news conference.
The company told about 300,000 residents in nine counties to not drink their tap water or use it to bathe or wash dishes or clothes after a foaming agent used in coal processing escaped from a Freedom Industries plant in Charleston and seeped into the Elk River.
Associated Press
