Anthem/BlueCross Hacking Precautions

This is an urgent message from our health provider, Blue Cross/Anthem, which as you may already know, fell victim to hackers earlier this week. A possible 80 million sensitive customer records were breached by hackers. 

New York residents who may have been impacted by the cyber attack against Anthem, should be aware of scam emails campaigns targeting current and former Empire BlueCross BlueShield and Empire BlueCross members. 

These scams, designed to capture personal information (known as “phishing”) are designed to appear as if they are from Anthem, (Empire’s parent company), and the emails include a “click here” link for credit monitoring. These emails are NOT from Anthem or Empire. 

• DO NOT click on any links in email. 
• DO NOT reply to the email or reach out to the senders in any way. 
• DO NOT supply any information on the website that may open, if you have clicked on a link in email.
• DO NOT open any attachments that arrive with email.

Empire also is NOT calling members regarding the cyber attack and is not asking for credit card information or social security numbers over the phone.
This outreach is from scam artists who are trying to trick consumers into sharing personal data. There is no indication that the scam email campaigns are being conducted by those that committed the cyber attack, or that the information accessed in the attack is being used by the scammers. 
Empire will contact current and former members via mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service about the cyber attack with specific information on how to enroll in credit monitoring. Affected members will receive free credit monitoring and ID protection services. 

For more guidance on recognizing scam email, please visit the FTC Website: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing. Additional information about the cyber attack against Anthem is available at www.AnthemFacts.com.

If you have ANY concerns or questions, contact your Union Rep. asap.

Fairway to open in Connecticut, Springsteen calls Wal-Mart deal a 'mistake', Monday Morning One Liners...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Fairway gets the OK to build its first Connecticut store.

In an interview with the New York Times Bruce Springsteen calls his exclusive Wal-Mart deal a "mistake"...“given its labor history, it was something that if we’d thought about it a little longer, we’d have done something different.”

The United Food and Commercial Workers union on Friday said it supported the White House Taskforce on Middle Class Working Families, which will be led by Vice President Joe Biden.
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Amazon.com eyes Grocery in the UK.

Whole Foods Market last week offered to settle the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust investigation of its 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets.
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An appeals court in Amsterdam has sentenced three former Ahold executives to suspended sentences and fines over their roles in the retailer's 2003 accounting scandal, reports said.
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Perry Kramer, vice president of sales operations, corporate and distributed solutions at BJ’s Wholesale Club, Natick, Mass., has been elected co-chair of the board of directors of the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), the standards division of the National Retail Federation here.

Politics

Gillibrand to meet with Hispanics on Immigration.

SNL doesn't care if Patterson is offended.

Bloomberg: "No joke, I'll cut 23,000 jobs"

Lawmakers say Citi should remove its name from the new Mets' stadium.

Coney Island rezone settled, Key Food at Bruckner Blvd will remain open, Tuesday Morning One liners...

Image via WikipediaConey Island land review process begins today.

The Bloomberg Administration will officially unveil its long-awaited plans to rezone Coney Island on Tuesday.

Key Food at Bruckner Blvd. will remain open,

"We believe that the combination of our effort and the change in the economy has led to a situation where there are not immediate efforts to close the store," said Patrick Purcell, spokesman for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500, which represents 100 employees at the store. "We're thrilled with what's happening."

More and more retailers are seeking relief in NYC.

Citizens and the UFCW rallied against Wal-Mart last week in New Jersey.

Regional manager of Wal-Mart said "retailers must adapt"

No Trader John's? No Problem, John Catsimatidis is calling his new outlet Grocer John's and he'd like you to know it represents "the new wave of marketing in New York."

He's also hinting at a serious Mayoral run.

Controversy is emerging as the community is rallying around a fired Whole Foods worker who stopped a shoplifter this past weekend in Michigan.

"The fact that I worked at the store at (the time of the robbery) is coincidental. If I had went over to the book store on my break and they were being ripped off, I would have helped them." - fired worker John Schultz

The Norwalk citizen writes on Stop & Shop's new technology.

Ahold reports Q4 sales up.

Whole Foods Market here on Friday said it has resubmitted its case against the Federal Trade Commission in a Washington, D.C., appeals court, saying the move would expedite a resolution in the ongoing dispute over its acquisition of Wild Oats Markets.
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Wal-Mart Canada here has announced the opening of its first environmental demonstration store in Burlington, Ontario, which features an application of geothermal technology and energy-conserving lighting innovations, among many other sustainability features.
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Politics
Hillary Clinton to supporters: "You'll always be on my side."

Barrack Obama wants Caroline Kennedy for the vacant Senate seat.

Steve Israel says he won't run in the primary if he is not appointed to the seat.

Congressman Anthony Weiner accused Mayor Bloomberg on Sunday of breaking campaign finance rules by failing to disclose campaign expenses.

13 CANDIDATES FOR two vacant City Council seats in Queens are revving up their campaigns, pushing for donations and starting to spend cash as the Feb. 24 special election draws near.

Trader John's to be settled today, Aldi, Aldi, Aldi, Wednesday Morning One-Liners..

Image by Getty Images via Daylife
NY District Court is planning on hearing the Trader Joe's vs Trader John's case today.

Whole Foods Market, Inc., yesterday asked competitors in 29 markets to provide pricing and other confidential information to help it defend its merger with Wild Oats against a challenge from the Federal Trade Commission, according to a published report.

Wal-Mart's Executive VP of the Grocery Division was appointed to the Food Marketing Institute board of directors.

Wal-Mart was named the top retail brand.

Top Chef donates $100,000 to NY City Harvest.

A Syracuse paper tries to prepare NYC on the soon to be opening Aldi.

Here's more chains offering free antibiotics.

U.S. retail sales fell a sixth consecutive time in December, making a deep, broad drop that indicated worried consumers were adding to savings instead of spending at the height of the holiday season.

Politics

Patterson met with Cuomo yesterday on the vacant seat.

Democrats urged Patterson to choose someone with neither the name Caroline or Kennedy.

Obama's grandmother wants to bring him a traditional spear and shield as house warming gifts.

A federal judge rejected the notion to overturn term limit extension.

New York has beaten back a legal challenge to Gov. Paterson's "Amazon tax."A decision yesterday by Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten clears the way for Albany to force out-of-state online companies to collect an estimated $50 million a year in sales tax from New York shoppers. http://www.nypost.com/seven/01142009/news/regionalnews/court_oks_states_amazon_tax_150054.htm

Whole Foods in Gowanus will open never?, Wal-Mart "upgrades" products from China, Wednesday One Liners...

Image via Wikipedia

Wal-Mart has announced it will step up its quality of products from China.

Here's more from the WSJ.

Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark., is scheduled to convene a conference here today with many of its leading global suppliers, plus Chinese officials and non-government organizations, to outline "a series of aggressive goals and expectations to build a more environmentally and socially responsible global supply chain," the company said yesterday.
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The Wal-Mart Foundation has delivered $577,000 to New York state's network of food banks as part of a partnership that will also have the retailer conducting food drives inside its stores.

A federal judge has awarded $4.6 million in back pay and damages to 36 delivery workers at two Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan, finding blatant and systematic violations of minimum-wage and overtime laws.

The Federal Trade Commission here has appointed an administrative law judge to oversee its administrative antitrust case against Whole Foods Market’s acquisition last year of Wild Oats Markets.
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Stew Leonard's has offered reusable canvas bags to customers since last year, but its new crop of bags, introduced this week, reflects consumer preferences in materials and design.

To help it improve its gluten-free product selection and services, Wegmans Food Markets surveyed shoppers on their gluten-free item needs

The Gowanus Lounge writes about the long awaited Gowanus Whole Foods, and says residents will have to continue their waiting...

Political

Obama says McCain is 'running out of time.'

Leaders of three major state employee unions met with Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday for what was described as a freewheeling discussion of how the state can save money to deal with its growing budget deficit.

Rep. Vito Fossella's conviction last week in Virginia for drunk driving should also be the final nail in his political coffin.

Whole Foods has more FTC Problems, Pathmark under renovations & Wednesday Morning One Liners...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

08/27/2008 Morning Read:

Whole Foods Market here has asked the Federal Trade Commission to select an administrative law judge to preside over the FTC’s antitrust proceedings against the Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger who does not serve as a commissioner, according to reports.
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Two Pathmark stores renovated under the chain’s new price impact format are set to debut in Philadelphia this week, kicking off a series of transformations planned for the Philadelphia region by owner A&P here. Pathmark stores in Upper Darby, Pa., and on Monument Ave. in Philadelphia, set to officially reopen under the new format on Friday, are the first of 26 planned conversions of existing Pathmarks in the region.

John Catsimatidis, chief executive officer of the Red Apple Group and Gristedes Foods, is taking aim again at two Native America tribes on Long Island for what he claims is an unfair cigarette taxation issue.

Wal-Mart stores opening in Canada next year will be designed to save 30 percent in energy use, said the head of the discount behemoth's Canadian unit.

The first four Marketside stores Wal-Mart Stores plans to open in the Phoenix area this fall will be located in former drug stores, according to published reports.
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Convention/Politics

CNN reports that Bill Clinton will not attend Barack Obama's speech Thursday night, when he will officially accept the party's nomination.

More on Bill Clinton at the convention.

WSJ : Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech to Democrats here Tuesday night was arguably as vital to the party's hopes for winning the White House as Sen. Barack Obama's big address will be Thursday.

David Patterson spoke at the Convention yesterday.