Job growth hits yearly low

The nation's job growth last month slipped to its lowest level of the year, as fewer people sought work and the food industry took a hit from the Market Basket dispute.

Employers added 142,000 jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — less than the 225,000 economists had expected and well below the 212,000 average of the previous 12 months. Job numbers from June and July were also revised downward by 28,000.

And while the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent, that was because more people without jobs stopped looking for one.

"The fact that the labor force shrank in August is not particularly good," said Doug Handler, chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight. "We need the labor force to grow to continue to drive growth."

Handler said it is difficult to say what is behind the decline in the labor force.

"Some of it could just be flat-out discouragement," he said.

Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve, called the report "disappointing" in a speech yesterday, pointing out that while 7.3 million people are considered employed, many of them are part-timers who are unable to find full-time work.

The food and beverage industry lost 17,000 jobs last month, a decline attributed at least in part to part-timers at Market Basket whose hours were eliminated as worker protests calling for the reinstatement of CEO Arthur T. Demoulas brought the grocery chain's business to a virtual standstill.

Those jobs will show up in the employment report for September as new jobs.

Still, economists noted month-to-month volatility in job numbers is not unusual, and other indicators point to an improving economy.

"It's still one month," said Robert Murphy, a Boston College economics professor. "We need to see what might happen over the rest of the year."

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Starbucks debuts at Hub Star Markets

Shoppers at two Star Markets in Boston can now turn to Starbucks to fuel their trips through the supermarkets' aisles.

The Seattle coffee chain debuted its first locations inside Star Markets yesterday in the Fenway neighborhood and on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. Both serve its full menu.

The openings are part of a larger relationship that Starbucks already has with 
Albertsons and Jewel Osco, two of the other grocery chains operated by AB Acquisition LLC, the parent company of the West Bridgewater-based Star Market and Shaw's Supermarkets since last year.

They're also part of an effort to restore the 99-year-old Star Market brand. Its new owners have been expanding the chain — which has grown from 14 locations to 21 after former Shaw's were rebranded — and repositioning it with expanded all-natural products and new services, such as carrying groceries out to customers' cars.

"Starbucks has a great brand, great company and story, and we wanted to be partners with them to make their products available to our customers," said Jeff Gulko, spokesman for Star Market and Shaw's. "We do have plans for additional locations and will share information … as it becomes available."

The Starbucks deal comes with no restrictions on the other brands of coffee that Star can sell, Gulko said.

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The Ticker

Rosengren: No rush for Fed to raise rates

Federal Reserve officials shouldn't be in a hurry to unwind monetary stimulus because elevated slack in the U.S. job market is keeping inflation below the Fed's target, said Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.

"Significant excess capacity remains in labor markets," Rosengren said yesterday in a speech at an annual conference held by the New Hampshire and Vermont Bankers Associations in Boston. "It seems to me appropriate for monetary policy to continue to be patient in the interest of ensuring that the economy reaches full employment and the 2 percent inflation target as quickly as possible."

S&P sets another record high

U.S. stocks ended higher yesterday, lifting the S&P 500 to a fresh closing high, after a weaker-than-expected jobs report was taken as a sign that the Federal Reserve will not begin raising interest rates anytime soon. Stocks had traded lower after the government reported fewer U.S. jobs were created in August than expected. By early afternoon, however, major indexes turned positive, led by utilities. Fed officials have made it clear that they see the labor market as still struggling, which partially justifies keeping rates at rock-bottom levels.

Foes of Mass. bottle deposit expansion bill have already spent $5.4 million

Opponents of proposed expansion of the state's deposit law have already pumped more than 
$5.4 million into a campaign to defeat the question on the November ballot.

Nearly all the money — $5 million — came from the Washington-based American Beverage Association, a trade association representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry.

The ballot question would expand the current law to include bottled water and other non-carbonated beverages not included in the original law. It is Question 2 on the ballot.

Supporters of the question have raised about $293,000. The bulk of that has come from the Massachusetts Sierra Club.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups say updating the decades-old law will reduce litter and encourage recycling.

Critics say it will hurt small businesses by forcing them to handle an increase in bottle returns.

L Rockland Trust announced that Elizabeth K. Souza, left, has joined its investment management group as vice president and financial consultant. She serves clients in the New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Rochester, and Wareham areas. Prior to joining Rockland Trust, Elizabeth served as a senior financial advisor at Santander Investment Services for the past 12 years.

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Most fines upheld for Irene outages

The state's highest court yesterday reduced fines against two utilities for their handling of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and a subsequent October snowstorm, but upheld the standard state regulators used to assess the companies' response to widespread power outages.

After the storms left hundreds of thousands of people without power — some for more than a week — the Department of Public Utilities fined National Grid $18.7 million and Nstar $4.1 million for the two storms, and Western Massachusetts Electric Co. $2 million for the snowstorm only.

The Supreme Judicial Court ordered the fine against National Grid reduced by $900,000, saying the only violations DPU did not prove were those alleged during the last two days of efforts to restore power after both storms. The SJC ordered the fine against Nstar cut in half, saying regulators failed to prove that the utility did not repair downed power lines quickly enough.

Krista Selmi, a spokeswoman for DPU, called the court's decision a "clear signal DPU acted within its authority," an opinion seconded by Attorney General Martha Coakley.

"Our investigation found that the utilities' preparation and response to these storms was woefully inadequate," Coakley said. "We recommended record penalties against the utilities, and the fines upheld today send a clear message that customers deserve better."

National Grid said in a statement it was disappointed with the decision.

Northeast Utilities, the parent of Nstar and Western Massachusetts Electric, said in a statement: "We are pleased that the court invalidated penalties where there wasn't enough evidence to warrant them."

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Rules loosen for casinos

The state Gaming Commission has softened its requirement that the subcontractors that casino vendors hire automatically submit to criminal background checks, a change the commission says will streamline permitting but gaming critics fear will add a layer of secrecy.

The commission voted yesterday to change its regulation that originally required casino vendors to submit "Subcontractor Identification Forms" before the vendors are licensed to do work for casinos. Now, subcontractors will only have to submit the forms if specifically targeted by the commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau.

The identification forms require subcontractors to list, among other things, who owns them, and to authorize courts, law enforcement agencies, probation departments, banks and other institutions to release any information about them that the commission requests.

Catherine Blue, the commission's general counsel, said the need for the change became apparent as the panel has begun processing vendors looking to work on an approved slots parlor in Plainville and an MGM casino in Springfield.

"We have a better understanding of what we need to see in certain situations, and have a better understanding how to make the process streamlined and how to make it work better," Blue said.

Subcontractors typically hire the actual workers who perform on-the-ground tasks on behalf of vendors. According to regulations, a factor the commission can weigh in deciding to permit a vendor to do work for a casino is the "integrity, honesty and good character of any subcontractor."

John Ribeiro, chairman of the Repeal the Casino Deal campaign that is working to overturn the state's casino law in November, said he's worried the change will embolden vendors — who could provide a casino everything from security to cleaning to maintenance services — to hire questionable subcontractors because they won't be subject to the same automatic disclosure requirements as mainline casino employees.

"They can always hire subcontractors to get around the regulations," Ribeiro said. "I think if you're going to regulate anything, I think you should be making sure that we don't have criminals working at the casinos. I think that would be a basic regulation that you'd want to enforce."

Blue said the change creates no greater risk of a criminal element in casinos because the IEB retains the right to demand background information and authorization.

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The Ticker

Transit startup raises $4M

Cambridge transportation startup Bridj, which runs a fleet of buses in Boston that travel on routes determined by demand, has raised $4 million in seed funding, the company said yesterday.

The company also announced that it has hired Gabe Klein as chief operating officer. Klein was formerly the head of the Chicago and Washington, D.C., departments of transportation.

The money was invested by Atlas Ventures, NextView Ventures and others. Bridj said thousands have used the service since it launched in beta in June.

Google agrees
to refund kids' 
app purchases

Google has agreed to pay full refunds totaling at least $19 million to consumers who were charged for purchases that children made without parental consent from the Google Play app store.

The settlement is part of the third case by the Federal Trade Commission about unauthorized in-app purchases made by children. It settled with Apple for $32.5 million in January and it filed a complaint against Amazon, which has said it won't settle over the charges.

In Google's case, the FTC said that since 2011, consumers have reported children had made unauthorized charges ranging from 99 cents to $200 within kids' apps downloaded from the Google Play store.

TODAY

•  Labor Department releases employment data for August.

— staff and wire reports

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Apple at core of security problem

Apple still hasn't assured millions of users that their information is safe, and it has refused to take responsibility for a security breach that led to the theft of scores of compromising photos of A-list celebrities.

The Cupertino-based consumer electronics titan has also failed to publicly apologize to celebs including actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton — women who had their personal accounts hacked and intimate photos stolen and posted in an online forum over the weekend.

Best as I can tell, Apple failed to institute basic security protocols. That's because even Apple admits in a statement that "certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on usernames, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet."

Well, it's actually not that common — for services that institute simple security protocols. The fact is, after several failed login attempts to a user's account, access should be shut down to that account. That simple lockout procedure is employed by all manner of software and services, from Yahoo to Facebook to Gmail.

Asked whether it had any lockout procedures in place for multiple incorrect login attempts to its iCloud and Find My iPhone service, a spokeswoman for the company would only say, "Yes, there is a limit."

As a test, I tried to log in with my Apple user ID with an incorrect password more than a dozen times. No emails or lockouts alerted me that someone could be trying to guess my password.

So while many Apple software experts claim that Apple released a patch that plugged at least one big vulnerability that is believed to have led to the breach, I'm not convinced.

To believe that Apple has no culpability in this breach, you'd have to buy the notion that hackers guessed the usernames, passwords and security questions correctly for dozens of celebrities on the first couple of attempts.

More likely is that hackers employed a method known as brute force, where malicious software programs make thousands of auto­mated guesses until the correct password is found.

We don't know the precise hacking methods. But Apple has left us with more questions than answers. The company said in a statement, "When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilized Apple's engineers to discover the source. Our customers' privacy and security are of utmost importance to us."

But Apple also insinuated that the victims should have chosen stronger passwords. There are some simple ways to prevent brute force password hacks, and at this point, we don't know for sure whether Apple uses those safeguards.

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Infinity Pharmaceuticals partnership sends stock soaring

Shares of Cambridge biotech company Infinity Pharmaceuticals soared yesterday after it announced it has inked a partnership with pharmaceutical giant Abb­Vie to develop its blood cancer drug.

The companies will jointly­ develop the cancer drug duvelisib, which is under­going clinical trials to treat a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and a type of leukemia. Shares of Infinity shot up 44 percent, closing at $15.73.

"This collaboration is an important step toward fulfilling Infinity's objective of bringing better treatments to patients," Adelene Perkins, president and CEO of Infinity, said in a statement. "AbbVie will be a wonderful partner for Infinity, bringing all of the expertise and scale of a successful, well-­established company, together with the energy, drive, innovation and nimbleness of a young organization."

Under the agreement, Infinity will get an up-front payment of $275 million and up to $530 million in payments when certain milestones are met.

Infinity spokeswoman Jaren Irene Madden said the agreement will help fund future trials for the drug, which could lead to it being approved for treatment of other blood cancers.

"We have early data that shows that this drug is active across a broad range of blood cancers," Madden said. "Both the up-front and the milestone (payments) will enable us to fund these clinical studies."

AbbVie yesterday also announced a partnership with Google spin-out Calico that is developing drugs for cancer and diseases including Alzheimer's. Google executives have described Calico as a project that will enable people to live longer.

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Michael Bloomberg to return as head of media company

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is returning to lead Bloomberg LP, the media empire he founded and which he remains its majority shareholder.

The company said that Daniel Doctoroff will step aside as president and CEO of the company at the end of this year.

"Bloomberg LP will not name a replacement, but rather will again be led by Mr. Bloomberg with support from the existing leadership team," the company said.

Doctoroff joined Bloomberg LP as president in January, 2008, and became its CEO in July, 2011. He had served in Bloomberg's administration in New York, serving as deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding.

Doctoroff reportedly decided to step down after Bloomberg began taking a greater role at the company since he left office as New York mayor earlier this year.

Bloomberg had said that he was not planning to return to run Bloomberg LP, and instead concentrate on his philanthropy, but but that he accepted the offer to return "after significant pushback and great reluctance."

"This is a sad day for me and my company," Bloomberg said in a statement. "I really wanted Dan to stay and continue in his leadership role. But I understand his decision. I never intended to come back to Bloomberg LP after twelve years as Mayor. However, the more time I spent reacquainting myself with the company, the more exciting and interesting I found it - in large part, due to Dan's efforts. I have gotten very involved in the company again and that led to Dan coming to me recently to say he thought it would be best for him to turn the leadership of the company back to me. It was a gracious and thoughtful offer and one that I finally accepted after significant pushback and great reluctance."

Doctoroff said in a statement, "I love the company and have deep respect and affection for Mike, so leaving is not an easy decision, but it is the right one for the company, for Mike and for me at this stage of my life. It is and has always been Mike's company and given his renewed interest and energy, it only makes sense for him to retake the helm."

During Doctoroff's tenure, company revenues increased to $9 billion in 2014, from $5.4 billion in 2007.
 

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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CVS changes name, stops tobacco sales early

As CVS sharpens its focus on customer health, the nation's second-largest drugstore chain will tweak its corporate name and stop the sale of tobacco nearly a month sooner than planned.

CVS Caremark said it will now be known as CVS Health, effective immediately. The signs on its roughly 7,700 drugstores won't change, so the tweak may not register with shoppers.

However, those customers will see a big change when they check out. The cigars and cigarettes that used to fill the shelves behind store cash registers have been replaced with nicotine gum and other products that help people kick the tobacco habit. CVS said earlier this year that it would stop selling tobacco products on Oct. 1.

CVS and other drugstores have delved deeper into customer health care in recent years, in part to serve the aging Baby Boom generation and the millions of uninsured people who are expected to gain coverage under the federal health care overhaul. They've built hundreds of walk-in clinics in their stores and have steadily expanded the services they provide.

Drugstores now offer an array of vaccinations and flu shots, and their clinics can help monitor chronic illnesses like diabetes or high blood pressure. CVS said its new name reflects its broader commitment to health care.

"We're doing more and more to extend the front lines of health care," CEO Larry Merlo said.

As part of this push, the drugstore chain announced earlier this year that it would phase out tobacco sales.

The company said it could no longer sell tobacco in a setting where health care is delivered, and the presence of that product was hard to justify when it tried teaming up with hospital groups and doctors to help with patient care.

Merlo said the company moved up its quit date nearly a month because they got ready for the move sooner than they anticipated, not because its distribution centers had already run out of tobacco.

The corporate name change represents an improvement because the average person didn't understand the word Caremark, which represents the company's pharmacy benefits management business, said Laura Ries, president of the brand consulting firm Ries & Ries.

The new name may provide a better sense of what CVS does to the few investors or people on Wall Street who don't know about the company, which is ranked 12th in the 2014 Fortune 500.

But Ries said the name's power is limited because health is a generic word that is common in many company names.

"It's an improvement off of Caremark, but it's not some amazing wonderful thing that will change the world," she said.

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Providence Journal lays off staffers ahead of deal

The Providence Journal yesterday laid off several staffers as part of New Media Investment Group's acquisition of the paper.

Metro columnist Bob Kerr of Fall River, with the Journal for more than 43 years, said he was told at least 20 people lost their jobs. He was one of four staffers called into a meeting with human resources late yesterday morning.

"I was given a severance package with no explanation," he said. "It's tough."

Kerr, 69, said staffers received an email last Thursday saying New Media would "make offers of employment to most of the current employees."

Other staffers in Facebook posts said they had been informed they will be laid off Feb. 18, when all copy editing and page design will be handled out of Austin, Texas. The Providence Newspaper Guild declined to comment.

New Media's $46 million deal to acquire the Journal from Dallas-based A.H. Belo was announced in July. Neither firm, responded to requests for information yesterday.

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Apple says iCloud not breached in 'targeted' photo hack

Apple said Tuesday that certain accounts of Hollywood celebrities were compromised via a "very targeted attack" on its services -- but that neither iCloud nor Find My iPhone were breached -- and that the company was working with law enforcement officials to track down the individuals responsible for the incident.

"When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilized Apple's engineers to discover the source," Apple said in a statement. "Our customers' privacy and security are of utmost importance to us."

On Sunday, nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Kirsten Dunst -- as many as 100 stars in all -- were posted online, evidently stolen from their personal Apple accounts. The pictures, first uploaded to website 4chan, appeared to show most of the celebrities nude or partially dressed. Apple said Monday that it was investigating the incident.

Apple said that after more than 40 hours of investigation, "we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet." The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant insisted that the cases did not represent a "breach" of any Apple system, including iCloud or Find My iPhone.

To protect against this type of attack, Apple said, it advises users to always use a strong password and enable two-step verification. Two-step verification requires users to verify their identity using one of their devices associated with an Apple account.

The FBI said Monday that it was investigating the matter. "The FBI is aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter," an agency rep said in a statement. "Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Market Basket may curb expansion

Newly reinstalled CEO Arthur T. Demoulas said Market Basket could scale back its expansion plans this year as it tries to get its affairs in order after a grueling two-month battle for control over the company.

"If need be, if we have to cut back on some of our new store expansion from four or five stores to two or three stores (this year), we will do that," Demoulas said at the Market Basket in Chelsea yesterday.

Demoulas is now working to get the supermarket chain back on track after a months-long boycott and walkout cost the company millions in lost sales.

Earlier this week, the company announced that Demoulas would buy the 50.5 percent of the company he did not own from his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas for $1.5 billion — leaving the hugely popular company saddled with debt to a private equity investor.

Market Basket currently has a number of new stores in the pipeline, including one in Revere that is close to being ready to open.

That store would be the first to open, Demoulas said. Other upcoming stores are in Waltham, Littleton and Attleboro.

Demoulas was treated to a hero's welcome at the Chelsea store, with employees hugging and singing to him.

"It was awesome," said Kevin Feole, store director. "It was quite a scene, all hugs and kisses."

Demoulas thanked the workers for their support, and pledged that the company would not change.

"We try to be good to one another and help each other out and be the wind at each other's back, and you certainly saw that wind," he said.

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T’s ready for Assembly

The first new MBTA station in nearly 30 years is set to open today, and it will serve as a crucial catalyst for the new $1.5 billion Assembly Row development in Somerville, officials said.

"The T station opening tomorrow is surely a capstone moment for this project," Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said. "It's a tremendous accomplishment."

The Orange Line station, between Sullivan and Wellington stations, will be the first new T station in 26 years. Previously, the Orange Line went straight through Somerville without stopping.

Curtatone said the 
$29 million station is how private-public partnerships should be done.

"This project should serve as a model and example of a smart investment of public tax money," he said. "It's certainly exciting, long-awaited, and it's paying off more than imagined."

For the developers, the station will be a final crucial puzzle piece for the 57-acre project that includes retail, residences and office space.

"It's one of the cornerstones of the whole concept to make the neighborhood fully function," said Russ Joyner, general manager for the Assembly Row shops. "It just opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities."

Joyner said foot traffic will pick up thanks to the station, giving the development a huge opportunity to establish Assembly Square as a retail and recreation destination.

"We have to give ourselves a chance to communicate and build on (the station)," Joyner said. "The mass transit component just gives you that much more of a critical mass."

Several marquee stores have already opened, including the Legoland Discovery Center. Legal on the Mystic opens today.

Developer Federal Realty Investment Trust plans a second phase of development.

Somerville will also be on the receiving end of the planned Green Line extension, which will add six stations after Lechmere station in Cambridge.

Curtatone said the new Orange Line station, combined with the planned Green Line extension, will be key for Somerville's future.

"Only 15 percent of Somerville's population was within half a mile of public transit," Curtatone said. "That will transform to 85 percent. That will serve as an economic catalyst."

The new station will be officially unveiled during a ribbon-cutting today.

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British migrant rights activist faces Thai trial

BANGKOK, Thailand — A British human rights activist who investigated alleged abuses at a Thai fruit processing factory went on trial Tuesday in the first of a series of criminal lawsuits filed against him by the company.

Natural Fruit Co. Ltd. is accusing activist Andy Hall of defamation in the wake of a report he helped author last year for the Finland-based watchdog group Finnwatch that detailed poor labor conditions in seafood and pineapple export companies in Thailand.

The report investigated a factory owned by Natural Fruit that employs hundreds of migrants from neighboring Myanmar, and found the company illegally confiscated passports, paid below minimum wage and overworked staff in sweltering conditions so hot that heat strokes were common. Natural Fruit disputes the accusations.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, criticized the trial, saying it would have a "chilling effect" on independent researchers probing the industry.

Natural Fruit, "has decided to take a punitive approach rather than address the problems in their factory," he said. "This is all about trying to intimidate people who are prepared to investigate human rights abuses."

Hall, 34, faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to US$10 million.

There are four criminal and civil cases pending against Hall, whose passport was confiscated by Thai authorities as a condition of bail set in June. The first, which began Tuesday, relates to defamation charges for an interview on the subject he gave to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television.

Virat Piyapornpaiboon, the owner of Natural Fruit, told The Associated Press before the trial began that he was saddened by the allegations, which he again denied.

Hall was optimistic. "I don't believe there is any evidence ... to show that what I did was malicious or in some way against the company," he said. "I did it for the benefit of the workers, so I am confident we will win the case."

The trial comes after the United States earlier this year demoted Thailand to the lowest level in its annual rankings of governments' anti-human trafficking efforts, principally over its failures to do enough to stop abusive practices in the Thai seafood industry.

The so-called "tier 3" rankings for Thailand means the country could face U.S. sanctions.

Hall has worked in Thailand for years and is an outspoken activist on migrant issues. Millions of impoverished migrants, largely from Myanmar and Cambodia, have left their countries to work in Thailand. Some do not have legal papers, and many work low-skilled jobs for long hours at pay below their Thai counterparts. They typically lack health and social security benefits.

The trial comes after a months-long crackdown on freedom of speech that followed a May 22 coup in which the country's elected government was overthrown. Thailand's military rulers have also silenced their once-thriving political opponents, threatening them with prosecution if they disturb the public order.

Virat, Natural Fruit owner, is the brother of the secretary-general of the Democrat party, which had opposed the ousted government and is seen as allied to the coup leaders.

___

Associated Press journalists Papitchaya Boonngok and Jerry Harmer contributed to this report.

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NASA: Power grid may be at risk

Perhaps, as a tech-savvy citizen, you are worried about the financial cost of data breaches, or our increased vulnerability to terrorist hackers, or the erosion of our digital civil liberties.

Don't be.

Instead, worry about the complete collapse of our power grid.

NASA is warning that there's a 12 percent chance an extreme solar storm will hit Earth in the next decade, sending out massive shock waves that would knock out grids across the world.

The economic impact of this doomsday scenario could exceed $2 trillion — or 20 times the cost of Hurricane Katrina, according to the National Academy of Sciences.

NASA first made this warning in 2009, when a study it funded detailed what might happen to our high-tech society in the event of a super solar flare — essentially the equivalent of bad space weather. An extreme geomagnetic storm would follow, melting copper windings of transformers at the heart of many power distribution centers.

But few listened. And there was very little news coverage.

Then in 2012, NASA's prediction almost came true, with Earth experiencing a close shave by a solar storm that tore into our orbit. The storm hit a solar observatory that was equipped to measure the impact, providing precious data that confirmed NASA's previous warnings of the severe consequences these storms pose.

But again, few noticed.

Recently, commemorating the two-year anniversary of the near-miss, NASA put out a press release with even more research, noting there's a 12 percent chance that such a catastrophic solar storm will actually hit Earth in the next decade, with ramifications to modern society lasting for years.

And again, no one noticed. It turns out scientists are really bad at PR. To be fair to them, society's appreciation for science is abysmal anyway.

But the truth is that this is an issue every person on the planet should care about and not dismiss as far-fetched. In fact, it's happened twice before: in a milder form in March 1986, when 6 million people in Quebec lost power for nine hours because of a small solar storm. And in 1859, a series of powerful solar storms hit Earth head-on, disabling our global telegraph system.

The problem is that now, our society is much more susceptible to bad space weather because of our reliance on power grids that are increasingly interconnected. It makes economic sense, but it also leaves us vulnerable to cascading failures.

There is no way to stop a solar storm, but there could be a way to warn us one is coming: by having sun-
orbitting satellites on the lookout for flare-ups, giving us a chance to shut down our global power grid until the storm passes. Maybe it's fitting that on Labor Day, we should call for the heroic workers at NASA to get the respect they deserve — and the funding necessary — to do just that.

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Device could quickly deliver wide-ranging medical info

A Cambridge company is attempting to create a real-world version of the famous tricorder on "Star Trek" — an instant scanning and analysis device that would be able take crucial vitals, as well as run dozens of medical tests — on one drop of blood, telling the user within minutes whether they have a cold, the flu, or something more serious like a heart abnormality.

"We have been working on developing a single device that is capable of diagnosing the majority of diseases from a single drop of blood," said Dr. Eugene Chan, CEO of DNA Medicine Institute, a Cambridge health technology company. "It's partly about global health, but it's also about general health for all of us. Everyone's got a condition where having a technology like this would be helpful."

The device, rHEALTH, is also being tested by NASA for a potentially key part of the space agency's future.

"They're funding us to develop this technology for long-duration space travel towards Mars," Chan said.

On Earth, rHEALTH — one of 10 finalists for the global $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE — could be used to help monitor and deal with disease outbreaks in remote areas, like the current Ebola outbreak.

"Any portable setting, any setting where there's a lack of health care" would fit for rHEALTH, Chan said. DMI has worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the device. Chan said consumers in developed areas also would benefit from the device.

"You want to be able to pick up someone coming down with dizziness ... and diagnose it in the first place," he said. "This will impact the majority of the population."

"The technologies being created for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE can have a profound impact on myriad medical areas, including health monitoring, prevention, diagnosis and disease management," said Rick Valencia, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Life, in a statement. "It will certainly be exciting to see these devices materialize as we move closer to the competition's end.

"Medicine is still stuck in the Dark Ages," he said. "The physician still holds the information, so to unchain the (information) empowers the consumers to control their whole health."

As futuristic as this may seem, a device that takes minutes to diagnose an illness from home may not be too far away.

"I would say in the next two to three years, you're going to see some really neat technologies hitting the market," Chan said. "We're going to get a lot of cool technologies that are going to let us address our own health a lot better."

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Bad weather shuts down concerts, delays flights

PHILADELPHIA — Severe thunderstorms across the Northeast on Sunday slowed operations at airports, wreaked havoc at outdoor sporting and musical events in New York and Philadelphia and sent people scurrying from a beach after three men were struck by lightning.

The men were injured at Orchard Beach on Pelham Bay in the Bronx on Sunday evening as bad storms rolled through the area, the Fire Department of New York said. The men were being treated at a hospital, and the extent of their injuries was unknown.

Torrential rain, thunder and lightning interrupted Labor Day weekend celebrations in Philadelphia, where a parkway hosting a music concert was evacuated for safety reasons. Organizers of the Made in America festival warned people to move quickly and calmly to the exits and to protected areas outside the downtown festival site until the bad weather passed.

Anne Beyens, of Scottsdale, Arizona, was among a group of five waterlogged friends who were told to leave the concert after watching deejay 3LAU and ended up at a bar a mile away. They said most of the headliners they wanted to see, including Pharrell Williams and Kings of Leon, were scheduled for later in the night so they were hoping to return.

"We knew it was going to rain," Beyens said. "We didn't know they were going to kick us out."

Besides temporarily stopping the Made in America concert, the bad weather also forced the early end to the Electric Zoo musical festival on an island in New York's East River and halted play for the first time at this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens.

Former champion Maria Sharapova took notice of the screeching weather warnings on reporters' cellphones as she answered questions about her loss to 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki just before the storm hit.

"Is that the flood warning? Darn it. If I was only there a little longer," she said to laughter.

Electric Zoo spokesman Stefan Friedman said "the safety and security of all attendees, artists and staff" was the primary concern as people were told to leave. The decision was made about six hours before the festival was scheduled to end on Randall's Island, where fans have to take ferries and shuttle buses.

The National Weather Service said it had reports of wind damage and flash flooding in East Orange, New Jersey, and reports of large tree branches down on Long Island. It said most of the damage was reported between 4:20 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., when the storms were intense.

More than 30 flights in and out of the New York metro area were delayed and at least one was cancelled because of the severe weather, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Storms also disrupted air travel in Philadelphia and the Baltimore-Washington region.

Flights leaving Newark Liberty in New Jersey and Washington Dulles in Virginia were held up nearly three hours, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Flights in and out of New York's Kennedy Airport and Philadelphia International Airport were delayed up to two hours.

In the Midwest, storms began sweeping across Iowa and Nebraska late Sunday with heavy rains causing some flooding and wind gusts affecting power lines and snapping tree limbs.

The National Weather Service said Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, and Dakota City, Nebraska, saw straight-line winds of 80 mph to 90 mph that caused significant damage.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that in the Omaha metro area, at least eight people were rescued Sunday evening on the Elkhorn River.

Cleveland's game at Kansas City was suspended due to rain with the Indians leading the Royals 4-2 heading into the bottom of the 10th inning. The game will resume on Sept. 22 in Cleveland.

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Keep all four tires the same size or hurt drive train

My co-worker had a flat left front tire on her 2002 Jeep Liberty. She had no spare and the service station didn't have her size. They sold her a bigger tire than the other three. I told her she would have handling issues, mileage would be affected and there would be stress on the front end, differential and transmission. There's an awkward tilt of the Jeep toward the passenger side. I told her she would be at high risk for rollover. Am I right?

You win the good Samaritan award! Assuming her Jeep is four-wheel drive, mounting a tire of significantly larger diameter is absolutely wrong. The difference in rolling diameter will generate considerable stress on driveshafts, differentials and the transfer case.

I don't think the "awkward tilt" of the vehicle would significantly increase the chance of a single-car rollover, but it certainly won't help vehicle stability. The binding of the drivetrain may cause a reduction in fuel mileage, but the larger concern is a potential failure in the drivetrain.

You did the right thing; now make sure she gets that tire replaced with one that is the same size and diameter as the other three. I'd be inclined to revisit the issue with the service station — they certainly should have known better.

I hope you can help with my 1999 Durango 5.9 SLT with 115,000 miles. It runs fine but at inconsistent times — winter or summer, newly started or running a while, under load or no load or even parked — the engine begins to misfire and loses 80 to 90 percent of its power. No gauges or warning lights indicate a problem before or after the event.

I've been able to pull over, turn the engine off then restart it again and it runs fine just like the problem never occurred. In the past nine months the frequency of this has increased and a couple weeks ago I experienced a new event. While pulling a 2-ton trailer and slowing down for a stop sign, the engine completely died in a split second. I immediately noticed the odometer did not show the typical miles numbers but did show jumbled lines and dashes. It did not start right up — it took three tries of cranking it for an extended period and then it started and ran fine.

I have repeatedly taken it in to a reputable mechanic and the local Dodge dealer for inspections and diagnostics that turn up nothing. Might you have some guidance for me?

Could Christine have morphed into a Durango? Intermittent issues can be, and often are, difficult to pinpoint even with modern on-board diagnostics built into the vehicle. Since there appear to be no DTC fault codes stored in the computer, I'd initially focus on potential mechanical causes such as a clogged/restricted catalytic converter or exhaust system. Exhaust back pressure can build until it literally chokes the engine. When the engine stalls, the back pressure is released and the engine may well restart and run fine again — for a while. A simple exhaust back pressure test with the pressure gauge screwed into the oxygen sensor port might confirm this — there should be less than roughly 2 psi of back pressure in the exhaust.

With the age of the vehicle, make sure the coil and ignition wires are in good shape and not generating any crossfire or grounding under load.

I can't explain the bizarre odometer display, but it may indicate some kind of electrical anomaly that caused the stall. The best bet for pinpointing something like this is to plug a data recorder (co-pilot) into the diagnostic link and drive the vehicle until another event occurs. Lock the event data into the recorder and have the shop or dealership download the data — it allows them to monitor what happened in real time, hopefully pinpointing the culprit. Good luck.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paul brand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number.

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Device opens DNA testing to masses

When Sebastian Kraves was growing up in Argentina, his grandmother gave him something transformative: "The Voyage of the Beagle," Charles Darwin's account of his voyage to the Galapagos Islands, where he made observations that led to his theory of evolution.

"I was blown away by the diversity of life on Earth and how it's all encoded by DNA," Kraves said. "But in high school, when I said I wanted to become a DNA scientist, people laughed and told me to go study something useful."

So he did. After earning his Ph.D. in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, he teamed up with Ezequiel Alvarez Saavedra, a former classmate from Argentina who obtained his Ph.D. in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and they founded Amplyus, a MassChallenge finalist that aims to make DNA technology accessible not only to scientists, but to the masses.

Alvarez Saavedra was the lead developer of their miniPCR — or polymerase chain reaction — machine, which searches for a very specific part of the genome and then makes copies of it. At 2 inches by 5 inches, it's about one-tenth the size of a traditional PCR machine and, at $799, about one-fifth to one-tenth the cost.

Clinicians in a hospital lab can use the miniPCR to test patients for increased risk of certain diseases. Health authorities can use the machine to test food for the presence of E. coli or salmonella. And students can use it to do "CSI-like" forensic testing in the classroom.

"One of those 'got-to-know' procedures is the use of PCR," said Alia Qatarneh, the research assistant at Harvard University's Life Sciences Outreach Program, which works with high school students from across New England. "Students get what PCR is in theory but rarely have the opportunity to run a PCR reaction themselves from start to finish."

"Zeke and Sebastian's miniPCR machine allows for many things," Qatarneh said. "It's incredibly affordable, allows for students to have direct, hands-on experience and takes away part of the mysterious 'black-box effect' that tends to overshadow the science of PCR."

At CampBio, the summer outreach program of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, the Amplyus team led two workshops for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, who role-played Centers for Disease Control scientists examining a claim of tainted beef. The students used the machines to determine which batches were positive for E. coli.

"Exposure to these types of hands-on experiences at such an impressionable age can spark a lifelong interest in science," said Amy Tremblay, the institute's public programs officer. "Through the interactive and cutting-edge workshop the Amplyus team was able to incorporate into CampBio, we may have done just that."

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To Market, to Market

Market Basket's 71 locations will be back to business as usual early this week, area store directors said yesterday, as a steady stream of grateful customers returning to fill their carriages said they were happy to find fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy products back in stock.

"We'll be back to normal by Tuesday," said Chelsea Market Basket store director Kevin Feole, where shelves are already 85 to 90 percent stocked. "Since everything broke, it's been nonstop."

Billerica store director Al Jussaume also expects to be fully restocked sometime this week and said foot traffic yesterday was "right on par with a regular Saturday this time of year."

"We're bouncing back quicker than any of the naysayers thought we would," Jussaume said. "You should see the hugs and kisses and thank-you's we're getting from the customers. It really is an amazing atmosphere here."

The frantic push to "right the ship" has been full steam ahead since the Market Basket saga ended last week when forced-out former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas reached a deal worth more than $1.5 billion with his rival relatives that allowed him to assume control of the beloved chain his family founded.

The chain, worth $4 billion before Arthur T.'s June 18 firing touched off a customer boycott, looked to be dying on the vine as it racked up millions in losses and shelves were left empty due to a halted supply chain — but a surge of new customers turned on to Market Basket's low prices will give the chain the push it needs to bounce back, Feole said.

"There's quite a few people" who said they didn't shop at Market Basket before, but came to check it out, he said. "I've never hugged so many people in my life, from employees to customers."

Longtime customer Juan Rodriguez, who said the Chelsea Market Basket was "like my second house," was pleased to see the business quickly recovering.

"It's not just (Arthur T. Demoulas') victory, it's ours," he said.

Mary Mulkern, who has been a loyal customer for more than 40 years, recalled when she had a cooking grill stolen from her yard and Market Basket employees assembled a new one and hand-delivered it to her home.

"You don't get that kind of service other places," she said. "That kind of stuff sticks with you."

For the last six weeks, Mulkern has been reluctantly "shopping at Shaw's and Hannaford and hating every minute of it."

"I'm feeding eight, I was spending $300-$400 a week going to other stores," which was $150 more than she would have been spending at Market Basket, she said. "You want to shop at a place that treats you like family — it feels good to be home."

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