QUOTE OF THE DAY “Our goal is to find out what happened to

allow a leak of such magnitude to occur and to ensure that the proper safeguards are

in place to prevent a similar incident from occurring.” Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which is investigating a chemical leak that has left 300,000 West Virginians without usable water Article, this page Neiman targeted, too, by holiday hackers

NEW YORK - Luxury merchant Neiman Marcus confirmed Saturday that thieves stole some of its customers’ payment information and made unauthorized charges over the holiday season, making it the second retailer in recent weeks to announce it had fallen victim to a cybersecurity attack.

The hacking comes weeks after Target Corp. revealed its widespread breach. Neiman Marcus didn’t say whether the breach was related to the data theft at Target, but some security experts believe they could be part of the same scam.

Ginger Reeder, spokesman 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 after customer purchases at stores. On Jan. 1, a forensics firm confirmed evidence that the upscale retailer was a victim of a criminal cybersecurity intrusion and that some customers’ credit and debit cards were possibly compromised as a result.

Reeder wouldn’t estimate how many customers may be affected but said the merchant is notifying customers whose cards it has now determined were used fraudulently. Neiman Marcus, which operates more than 40 upscale stores and clearance stores, is working with the Secret Service on the breach, she said.

Weather foils recovery of 5 crash victims

BOISE, Idaho - Bad weather Saturday morning turned back a recovery team attempting to reach the wreckage of a small airplane that went down in the central Idaho mountains in early December.

Valley County Sheriff Patti Bolen said a meeting is planned Monday to consider options for reaching the remote crash site and removing the bodies of the five family members who had been onboard.

Officials suspended the search for the aircraft in mid-December, but an intensive search by family and friends located the badly damaged aircraft Friday.

Dale Smith, 51, a software executive from San Jose, Calif., was flying the single-engine Beech Bonanza from eastern Oregon to Butte, Mont., when he reported engine trouble.

Smith’s son and the son’s wife, along with Smith’s daughter and her fiance, were onboard.

U.S. advisers aid Somalia’s militant fight

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military secretly sent a small team of advisers to Somalia last month to assist with operations against militants, the first time U.S. troops have been stationed there since two helicopters were shot down and 18 American soldiers were killed in 1993, U.S. officials said.

The three-man adviser detachment is based at the airport in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, where a force from multiple African nations attempting to stabilize the war-ravaged country has its headquarters, the officials said.

The U.S. soldiers assist a force of more than 18,000 under the auspices of the African Union. The Americans also are helping Somalia’s fledgling security forces, which have struggled to assert control beyond Mogadishu.

Though the initial adviser presence is small, a senior Defense Department official said the U.S. was hoping to expand it in the coming year, signaling the possible return of a permanent U.S. presence in Somalia Gun of gangster moll Bonnie to go on sale

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A pistol carried by the infamous duo Bonnie and Clyde is going up for auction in Knoxville.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported bidding for the nickel-plated Colt .38 that belonged to Bonnie Parker will open Jan. 25 at Case Antiques.

Other items to be auctioned with the gun include six bullets from its clip; 14 photos from the scene in Louisiana where Parker and her lover, Clyde Barrow, were shot down by lawmen in 1934; and a letter of authenticity.

The gun was found hidden in Parker’s dress by a mortician preparing her body for embalming. He gave it to the son of a co-worker, who passed it down to his son, Bob Hightower.

The collection has an estimated value of $125,000-$175,000 and will sell as a single lot. Similar sets of guns associated with Bonnie and Clyde have fetched up to $500,000.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/12/2014