...with brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary...
• USA Today reports that New York City health inspectors closed down, at least temporarily, on of Manhattan's most popular bakeries because of concerns about a mouse infestation. The Dominique Ansel Bakery, which created the Cronut (a trendy croissant-doughnut mashup that would have people waiting in line each morning to get the limited supply), reportedly was closed after a customer posted a video on YouTube showing a mouse scurrying across the floor.
Responding to reports, a spokesperson for the bakery said that inspectors never found any evidence of mice, had previously given the bakery an A rating, and only had found "certain structural technicalities, such as any hole larger than the tip of a ball point pen, (that) were cited as potential for 'infestation.' Each hole amounts to certain points and they used that to shut us down."
The bakery is expected to reopen as soon as today.
Didn't any of these guys ever see Ratatouille?
• Reuters reports that "a year after ConAgra Foods Inc. won the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming that its Hebrew National hot dogs were not kosher, a higher authority has given the case new life. A federal appeals court in St. Paul, Minnesota on Friday said a trial judge erred in dismissing the lawsuit brought by 11 consumers in its entirety on the ground that the First Amendment barred him from addressing the underlying religious questions."
Rather, the case will be returned to state court for trial.
ConAgra continues to maintain that the case is without merit and that all of its Hebrew National products are kosher.
• The Washington Post had a report over the weekend about the growth of retail medical clinics, noting that "after several years of very slow growth coinciding with the recession and its aftermath, they are taking off again. Accenture, a global management consulting firm, predicted last year that the number of walk-in retail clinics would almost double by 2015, to nearly 3,000."
Among the trends driving the trend - a shortage of primary care physicians, the health care needs of an aging population, increased acceptance on the part of consumers, and finally, the Affordable Care Act, which is expected to accelerate the other trends.
• The Los Angeles Times reports that in the wake of the Target data hacking, the California Assembly is considering a bill that would "strengthen consumer safeguards and limit the type of information collected and retained by retailers … The most controversial feature of the bill would shift the responsibility for any data breach from the banks and credit card issuers to the retail businesses where the breach occurred.
"Specifically, retailers would be responsible for notifying customers of any hacking incident and would be liable for financial damages."
However, the Times writes that the bill's chance of passing hardly are assured, and it "may trigger one of the year's biggest disputes over business-related legislation."
• USA Today reports that New York City health inspectors closed down, at least temporarily, on of Manhattan's most popular bakeries because of concerns about a mouse infestation. The Dominique Ansel Bakery, which created the Cronut (a trendy croissant-doughnut mashup that would have people waiting in line each morning to get the limited supply), reportedly was closed after a customer posted a video on YouTube showing a mouse scurrying across the floor.
Responding to reports, a spokesperson for the bakery said that inspectors never found any evidence of mice, had previously given the bakery an A rating, and only had found "certain structural technicalities, such as any hole larger than the tip of a ball point pen, (that) were cited as potential for 'infestation.' Each hole amounts to certain points and they used that to shut us down."
The bakery is expected to reopen as soon as today.
Didn't any of these guys ever see Ratatouille?
• Reuters reports that "a year after ConAgra Foods Inc. won the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming that its Hebrew National hot dogs were not kosher, a higher authority has given the case new life. A federal appeals court in St. Paul, Minnesota on Friday said a trial judge erred in dismissing the lawsuit brought by 11 consumers in its entirety on the ground that the First Amendment barred him from addressing the underlying religious questions."
Rather, the case will be returned to state court for trial.
ConAgra continues to maintain that the case is without merit and that all of its Hebrew National products are kosher.
• The Washington Post had a report over the weekend about the growth of retail medical clinics, noting that "after several years of very slow growth coinciding with the recession and its aftermath, they are taking off again. Accenture, a global management consulting firm, predicted last year that the number of walk-in retail clinics would almost double by 2015, to nearly 3,000."
Among the trends driving the trend - a shortage of primary care physicians, the health care needs of an aging population, increased acceptance on the part of consumers, and finally, the Affordable Care Act, which is expected to accelerate the other trends.
• The Los Angeles Times reports that in the wake of the Target data hacking, the California Assembly is considering a bill that would "strengthen consumer safeguards and limit the type of information collected and retained by retailers … The most controversial feature of the bill would shift the responsibility for any data breach from the banks and credit card issuers to the retail businesses where the breach occurred.
"Specifically, retailers would be responsible for notifying customers of any hacking incident and would be liable for financial damages."
However, the Times writes that the bill's chance of passing hardly are assured, and it "may trigger one of the year's biggest disputes over business-related legislation."
- KC's View:
