#1 Victim of NYC Bail Reform & DA Bragg - Retailers - Here's the Data!
10 career criminals racked up nearly 500 arrests since NY bail reform began
Stunning statistics compiled by the NYPD show that the city's alleged "worst of the worst" repeat offenders have been busted a total of 485 times since bail reform went into effect in 2020.

The NYPD's list of "notable" career criminals is topped by an unnamed "Recidivist No. 1" who's been busted arrested a total of 101 times, with 88 coming since bail reform was enacted.

Larceny charges account for 74 of the recent arrests, all of which took place in Manhattan, where District Attorney Alvin Bragg has come under fire for the soft-on-crime policies he imposed after taking office on Jan. 1.

The career crook has 15 convictions, including three for felonies, and failed to appear in court at least 14 times, leading to the issuance of a "significant" number of bench warrants, according to the NYPD.

"Recidivist No. 1" has also violated parole and probation and has two pending prosecutions for thefts from various Target stores on five separate occasions.

Others on the list include a felon whose rap sheet includes convictions for an attempted drug sale and 41 unspecified misdemeanors.

Out of 67 arrests since bail reform began, 49 involve thefts in Manhattan.

Another accused "high volume offender" has been busted 55 times since 2020, with 47 alleged incidents taking place in Manhattan and 18 pending prosecutions involving commercial retail burglaries and thefts.

Another alleged recidivist has 87 total arrests and 25 since bail reform, including 21 in Brooklyn.

That crook, who has convictions for two felonies and 18 misdemeanors, is free pending sentencing in three burglary and robbery cases.

At least six of the 10 accused "worst of the worst" are roaming the streets, even though eight have had bench warrants issued for failing to appear in court - and one has 10 open warrants, according to the NYPD.

Other figures compiled by the NYPD show that people with three or more arrests for robbery, burglary or larceny in a single year jumped a total of 25.9% from 2019, before bail reform, to this year as of June 30.

For alleged serial shoplifters, the increase was an even greater 36.8%.

The re-arrest rates of alleged burglars and thieves last year were as high as three times what they were in 2017.

As of July 5, 25.1% of burglary defendants were arrested again within 60 days and charged with a felony this year, up from 23.7% in 2021.

Suspects charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor, were re-arrested on a more serious felony charge this year at a rate of 21.2%, virtually unchanged from 21.6% last year. nypost.com

Security Officers Keep Shooting
Two Guards Charged with murder and one under investigation for homicide
Security officers continue to be involved in shootings across the country, and more times than not, they find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

In the past seven days, security officers have shot twenty- three people resulting in the arrest of two security officers for murder and a third is under investigation for homicide.

Three security officers this week were involved in fatal shootings that killed two unarmed men and one person who, was armed with a knife, and was attacking a woman.

In Greensboro North Carolina, a contracted security guard was charged with fatally shooting an unarmed man involved in a bar fight. Police said that the man posed no threat to the security guard when he was shot.

There were more than 137 shootings involving private security in July. privateofficer.com

Starbucks Crime Closures Continue to Make Headlines
Some Starbucks employees believe crime concerns aren't real reason for closures
Citing safety concerns, the coffee chain recently announced it would be shutting down five locations in Seattle - Central District, Westlake Center, Capitol Hill, Roosevelt and Union Station - and one in Everett. Some employees, however, believe there may be another reason behind the closures. They claim it's in retaliation for union organizing.

Two of the stores closed Sunday are unionized. The coffee giant is in battle with several of its employees at both the 505 Union Station location in Seattle and nationwide over collective bargaining. Overall, the company has closed 16 coffee shops across the country.

Union representatives sent out a statement this weekend saying the workers at the Olive Way and Union Station stores in Seattle will be relocated to nearby shops. Starbucks said the six closed stores have been hit with vandalism, property theft and have been a target of rising crime.

Earlier this month, KOMO News looked up property crimes and violent crimes on the blocks where these affected stores are located and did not see a noticeable upward trend at most of the locations. But the company says not all of the issues employees are seeing get reported.

According to the city's reported crime numbers KOMO News obtained, most of the other affected locations are not seeing a noticeable upward crime trend, except for the Westlake Center location at 4th Ave and Pine Street. Property crimes on that block shot up to 134 so far this year, compared to 39 last year.

There were several crimes reported at or near some of these Starbucks locations throughout the year. For example, near the Roosevelt location that is closing, business owners say they have been dealing with several safety issues and crime. komonews.com

Funding Soft-on-Crime DAs
Op-Ed: George Soros' reality-defying bid to justify funding pro-crime DAs
Billionaire George Soros, who's funneled millions to district-attorney candidates that promise to keep criminals out of prison, writes in The Wall Street Journal that his efforts are "popular."

Look at the organizations he funds: They're not anti-crime or law-enforcement groups but ones like the Community Resource Hub for Safety and Accountability, which (as The Post reported) got $3 million and aids advocates who "address the harm of policing."

Got that? He sees policing as something harmful that needs to be addressed. Some "concern" for crime.

Indeed, anyone even remotely familiar with Soros' funding knows his aim is not crime-prevention but consequence-prevention for criminals, especially via donations to DA wannabes devoted to "decarceration." That's what makes his next claim, that the system is "rife with injustices" because too many people are sent to jail, so outrageous.

How exactly is it unjust to put lawbreakers (especially dangerous ones) behind bars? Letting them go free is the gross injustice, as any victim will tell you. It also encourages more crime, by signaling that lawbreakers pay no price for their actions.

Here's a real doozy: He asserts "no connection" between "reform-minded prosecutors" and the surge in crime rates. Well, he helped install Kim Foxx in Chicago and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia, and both towns have seen historic crime spikes. Just coincidence?

Most galling: his threat to continue backing pro-perp DA candidates, arguing that his funding lets them make their case to the public, and that "judging by the results, the public likes what it's hearing."

Likes it? San Francisco just booted its "reform-minded" DA Chesa Boudin. Los Angeles is on the verge of doing the same to Soros-backed DA George Gascón. In New York, gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Lee Zeldin is gaining support by vowing to fire Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, another Soros fave.  nypost.com

   RELATED OP-ED: Why I Support Reform Prosecutors

Cook County Progressive State's Attorney Kim Foxx "More concerned with Political Correctness and Agendas"
Retiring prosecutor stands by rebuke of Progressive State's DA Kim Foxx's leadership in Cook County state's attorney's office as discontent in ranks goes public
A longtime prosecutor who resigned last week told the Tribune on Tuesday he stands by a letter he penned faulting Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's administration for deep-seated issues in the office.

Murphy's resignation came four days after a Tribune story detailing high turnover and rock-bottom morale in Foxx's second term, including a growing list of high-ranking attorneys. Roughly one-third of assistant state's attorney spots have been vacated and refilled from January 2020 to June of this year, according to official figures.

Academics have noted a recent backlash against so-called progressive prosecutors across the country who have embraced reform platforms during a national increase in homicides and shootings in major cities such as Chicago. Last month, The New York Times noted that Foxx was one of three liberal prosecutors reelected to second terms despite a rise in homicides.

Murphy's letter represents one of the first public rebukes of Foxx's leadership as resignations continue.

"This administration routinely claims that they have shifted their focus from prosecuting low level crimes so that they can focus their resources on fighting violent crime and drivers of violence. This is simply not true," Murphy wrote in an email titled "Good Bye" that was sent to dozens of prosecutors Friday.

"If this administration was truly concerned with effectively fighting violent crime, then they would fully staff those courtrooms and units. Not create more useless policy positions on the executive staff at the expense of hiring more (assistant state's attorneys) who can work in the trenches."

Murphy wrote, "However, I can no longer work for this administration. I have zero confidence in their leadership." He later added: "This administration is more concerned with political narratives and agendas than with victims and prosecuting violent crime. That is why I can't stay any longer." chicagotribune.com

Report: 210 LEOs shot in the line of duty, a 14% increase from last year

Of the LEOs shot and wounded in the line of duty, 39 were killed - a statistic "outpacing last year's historic numbers

WASHINGTON - A report released by the National Fraternal Order of Police has found that at least 210 law enforcement officers have been shot in the line of duty as of July 31 - a statistic that's up 14% from the same period last year.

Of the 210 officers wounded, 39 were killed - a fact that National FOP president Patrick Yoes said "should alarm all Americans" during a press conference for the report's release. The report also found that 71 officers were shot as a result of 46 ambush-style attacks, which killed 18 members. The statistics, Yoes said, are "outpacing last year's historic numbers."

"Make no mistake - we are experiencing a real crisis with the level of violence directed at law enforcement officers," Yoes continued. "Frankly, it is unlike anything I've seen in my 36 years of law enforcement."

Download the full report here or read it below. police1.com

Violent Week in Washington D.C.
At least three dozen have been shot in D.C. since Wednesday

Six people were shot Monday in Northeast D.C., capping a violent period in the city

The mass shooting that killed one man and wounded five others outside an apartment complex in Northeast Washington on Monday capped an especially violent six-day period in D.C., raising fears among some residents and sparking renewed calls from city leaders for action.

In all, at least three dozen people have been struck by gunfire since July 27, and six have been killed, according to police. Twice in Southeast Washington last week, police said assailants armed with assault-style rifles sprayed more than 90 bullets into parking lots, in one instance killing two men. Over the weekend, a police officer fatally shot a man - after a shooting moments earlier injured two people in Northwest Washington. washingtonpost.com

Washington D.C. violent crime, homicides continue to rise

Detroit police chief addresses how tethers won't stop people from committing crimes

4,432 Store Openings - 1,954 Closures So Far in 2022
Mall owners say retailers are still opening stores in spite of recession fears

The biggest shopping mall owners in the United States say retailers are still forging ahead with their plans to open new stores in spite of growing recession fears.

The biggest shopping mall owners in the United States say retailers are still forging ahead with plans to open new stores in spite of growing recession fears and decades-high inflation that's squeezing shoppers' budgets.

Simon Property Group, the country's largest mall owner, said the pipeline of businesses slated to open up at its properties remains strong. The company reported an occupancy rate at its U.S. malls and outlet centers of 93.9% as of June 30, up from 91.8% a year earlier.

Fueling the openings are a mix of factors, including retailers pushing to snap up limited space and popular online brands looking to expand by opening up brick-and-mortar locations. Some retailers are eyeing real estate in markets outside of major cities as they follow people who uprooted to find bigger spaces during the Covid pandemic. And companies including Macy's that shuttered stores in recent years are now testing different formats, often with smaller footprints.

So far this year, retailers in the U.S. have announced 4,432 store openings, compared with 1,954 closings, according to data from Coresight Research, resulting in a net of 2,478 openings.

Before the pandemic, the industry was seeing net closures of thousands of stores every year as consumers increasingly moved their spending online. In 2019, Coresight tracked 9,832 closures, compared with 4,689 openings. Last year, the retail industry eked out a net addition of 68 stores. cnbc.com

Retailer Warehouse & Restaurant Workers Report Heat-Related Complaints
Oregon OSHA has received more than 60 complaints related to heat

Oregon OSHA implementing new rules to protect workers during heat wave that was deadly last year.

OSHA said the cases it's monitoring at the moment in the metro area include an inspection at a Fred Meyer warehouse in Clackamas after a heat-related complaint and at least three open inspections in Portland and at least three open inspections in Portland at worksites such as food carts and restaurants. OSHA has also received 10 complaints in Eugene and is doing three heat-related inspections in Medford.

Multnomah County Health said at least a third of emergency room visits for heat exposure this week at local hospitals are people who got too hot while on the job. Many of them are young and otherwise healthy people.

"On one hand I think this is uber scary, on the other hand, I think maybe people are hearing the message-You know it's better to treat when you're in that heat exhaustion phase.

OSHA has at least nine open heat-related inspections in which businesses will receive citations.

When it hits 90-degrees and above like it is now, employers must provide more breaks, more communication and more close monitoring for heat exhaustion or heat stroke. kgw.com

Employee's death after confronting shoplifter highlights need for training,
OSHA says
Family Dollar faces $330,446 in proposed fines following the death of an employee in Orlando, Florida, who tried to stop a shoplifter from escaping with store items, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced July 22.

The employee struggled with the shoplifter but was unable to stop the shoplifter from leaving the store with merchandise, OSHA said. A short while later, the employee started feeling shortness of breath and began vomiting, according to a report from The Miami Herald. An assistant manager called 911, but the employee later died at the hospital from cardiac arrest, the report said. "Incidents such as this can be averted when workers are trained on a violence prevention program that empowers them to recognize and avoid risks on the job," OSHA area director Sarah Carle said in the agency's release.

An investigation into the employee's death uncovered multiple entrapment hazards, which led OSHA to propose fines against Family Dollar, the release said. Entrapment hazards are conditions that cause people to get trapped, caught, submerged or encumbered and unable to get free without assistance, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson explained in an email to HR Dive. They were not considered related to the employee's death, the spokesperson said.

OSHA provides a checklist of prevention controls in its guidance for retail establishments

Continue Reading

2nd Big Class Action on the Horizon? & How About the CEO's Response
Equifax Sent Lenders Inaccurate Credit Scores on Millions of Consumers

During a three-week period this year, Equifax sent faulty scores to lenders, resulting in higher interest rates and denied applications

Equifax provided inaccurate credit scores on millions of U.S. consumers seeking loans during a three-week period earlier this year, according to bank executives and others familiar with the errors.

Equifax sent the erroneous scores on people applying for auto loans, mortgages and credit cards to banks and nonbank lenders big and small-including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc., the people said. The scores were sometimes off by 20 points or more in either direction, the people said, enough to alter the interest rates consumers were offered or to result in their applications being rejected altogether.

The glitch is another setback for Equifax, which fell victim to a hack in 2017 that exposed the sensitive personal information of nearly 150 million Americans.

Mark Begor, Equifax's chief executive, publicly acknowledged the flub at a June investor conference, calling it a coding issue that affected "legacy applications that resulted in some scores going out that had incorrect data." He said the company had fixed the problem and takes issues with its data quality seriously.

"The impact is going to be quite small," Mr. Begor said, "not something that's meaningful to Equifax." Editor's Note: Was this the appropriate response for millions of readers?

The glitch could land the Atlanta-based Equifax in more hot water with its regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Under its director, Rohit Chopra, the agency is investigating how the three main credit-reporting companies-Equifax, Experian PLC and TransUnion-handle consumer disputes, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. wsj.com

800M Sq.Ft. of Warehouse Space Needed Now - Increasing Risk Rapidly
Surging Retail Inventories Are Swamping U.S. Warehouses
Warehouse owners say more retailers are looking to add storage capacity, both for goods now reaching their networks of stores and distribution centers and as they prepare to keep more inventory on hand long-term to guard against stock-outs.

Prologis, the world's biggest owner of warehouses by square footage, said in a recent market analysis that it expects an additional 800 million square feet of warehouse space to be needed beyond earlier projections to handle the excess inventories.

Retailers including Walmart Inc., Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and Best Buy Co. have reported they are coping with an unexpected glut of casual clothes, kitchen appliances and electronics as consumers have pivoted away from spending on goods while the highest inflation in decades.

Persistent supply-chain bottlenecks have also led many retailers to stretch out buying cycles, bringing in goods early to ensure shelves are stocked during the critical fall sales season. Some retailers have also bulked up orders to be prepared in case of supply-chain disruptions, part of the shift from "just-in-time" inventory management to "just-in-case."

The inbound shipments are stacking up at seaport docks, filling up warehouses near gateways and clogging distribution networks across the U.S. wsj.com

NRF Confident the U.S. Can Dodge a Recession
NRF Says Economy is Strong Enough to 'Keep a Recession at Bay' Despite Two Quarters of Decline
Despite two consecutive quarters of decline, the U.S. economy still does not appear to be in a recession and remains unlikely to enter one this year, National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said today.

"Back-to-back contractions have heightened fear of a recession, but while the economy has lost momentum heading into the second half of the year, economic data is not yet consistent with a typical recession," Kleinhenz said. "Our view is that while the economy is functioning at a slower pace it is likely to avoid a recession this year. Despite ongoing uncertainties, we believe the underlying strength of the economy is strong enough to deal with inflation and keep a recession at bay - or short-lived even if we are wrong."

Even with two quarters of GDP decline, private final sales to domestic purchasers - a key measurement of both consumer and business spending - remained in positive territory for the first half of the year, up 3 percent in the first quarter and flat in the second, the MER report said. Other indicators including employment, retail sales, income and industrial production have seen slower growth, but none have contracted. nrf.com

H-E-B is testing a futuristic 'run your basket through' checkout device - 'Fast Scan'

The Teamsters' new chief readying UPS drivers for a strike as he heads toward contract negotiations

Allbirds lays off 8% of its global corporate workforce

More layoffs at Glossier as the brand moves into wholesale

Gas Prices Have Fallen for 50 Straight Days, Approach $4 a Gallon


Quarterly Results

Uber Q2 gross bookings up 33% ($29.1B), revenue up 105% ($8.1B)

CVS Q2 Retail/LTC Segment total sales up 6.3%, Pharmacy Services Segment sales up 11.7%, consolidated sales up 11%

Starbucks Q3 Global comp's up 3%, U.S. comp's up 9%, NA comp's up 9%, Intern. comp's up 18%, with China down 44%, consolidated net sales up 9%

Yum Brands Q2 Worldwide comp's up 1%, sales up 3%
   KFC comp's down 1%, sales up 1%
   Taco Bell comp's up 8%, sales up 10%
   Pizza Hut comp's down 3%, sales even

Verizon Mobile Security Index
The shift to remote work sees a major rise in cybercrime

● Major attacks are on the rise-45% of companies surveyed suffered a compromise in the past 12 months, up 22% year over year

● Seventy-nine percent (79%) of respondents agreed that recent changes to working practices have adversely affected their organization's cybersecurity

● Fifty-two percent (52%) of respondents said they have previously sacrificed the security of mobile devices, including IoT devices, to 'get the job done' (e.g., meet a deadline or hit productivity targets)

● Eighty-five percent (85%) of companies surveyed have budget dedicated to mobile security

With the increase in hours, locations and devices comes an increase in vulnerability for companies protecting themselves from cyberattacks. The Verizon Mobile Security Index (MSI) 2022 reveals that there is a continued rise in major cyberattacks in the last year involving a mobile/IoT device, up 22% year-over-year, that resulted in data or system downtime. With 85% of companies surveyed stating that they now have a budget dedicated to mobile security, there has never been a more pressing need to apply those funds to cyberthreat mitigation.

With the increased threat, it would seem that companies would double down on their policies. However, the findings point to the opposite, with 85% saying home Wi-Fi and cellular networks/hotspots are allowed or there is no policy against them, and 68% allow or have no policy against the use of public Wi-Fi.

Security mitigation should be a top priority

Awareness of the impact of a cyberattack is clear, with 64% of respondents saying that public awareness of cybersecurity risks will increase in the future. This is partly attributable to nearly two-thirds (66%) of companies stating that they had previously come under pressure to sacrifice mobile-device security "to get the job done," with 52% succumbing to that pressure.

Impact across business sectors

The MSI highlights the impact of cybercrime on mobile security across various business sectors. Highlights are as follows:

Retail: Almost nine out of 10 (88%) businesses are concerned that a mobile security breach could have a lasting impact on their brand or customer loyalty. However, 70% said that increased mobile use is essential to staying relevant to consumers, while 41% said this presented a daunting security challenge.

Read the full Verizon Mobile Security Index 2022, and learn more about what Verizon is doing to help address cybersecurity threats. verizon.com

In Case You Missed It: Ransomware threat rises: Verizon 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report 5/24/2022

And: Verizon continues its crack down on spam calls and texts 5/20/2022 Updated on 7/27/2022

#1 Way of Identifying Victims - Leak Sites of Cyber-Criminal Gangs
Reported ransomware attacks are just the tip of the iceberg. That's a problem for everyone

Shame or just trying to avoid bad publicity means there's very little useful data recorded on ransomware attacks.

The level of reported ransomware incidents doesn't paint an accurate picture of what's really going on, as many victims remain unwilling to talk about what happened, the European Union's cybersecurity agency has warned.

Following an analysis of 623 ransomware incidents between May 2021 and June 2022, the ENISA threat landscape report for ransomware attacks warns that "the findings are grim" as ransomware becomes more efficient and is causing more devastating attacks.

Ransomware presents a massive cybersecurity challenge, with many victims feeling as if they've got no other choice but to pay potentially millions in Bitcoin to free their data. But very few victims ever talk about what happened, with ENISA noting "publicly reported incidents are only the tip of the iceberg".

"The lack of reliable data from targeted organisations makes it very hard to fully understand the problem or even know how many ransomware cases there are," warns the report, which suggests the most reliable sources for finding out who has been a victim of a ransomware attack are the leak sites of cyber-criminal ransomware groups who publish data stolen in the attack.

This lack of transparency also means that it's difficult to investigate, analyze and learn lessons about how attacks work, hampering efforts to help protect other businesses from falling victim to similar incidents.

Public statements on what happened during attacks are rare, and in the few cases that are spoken about publicly, they often don't include details.

"Ransomware is thriving, and our research shows that threat actors are conducting indiscriminate attacks. Companies of every size across all sectors are affected. Anyone can become a target. zdnet.com

Big Tech Companies Pose 'Threat to Open Markets and Competition'
DOJ national security division chief backs tech antitrust bill
Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen told the House Judiciary Committee Thursday that he supports pending antitrust legislation to diminish the power of big tech despite national security concerns raised by some in the intelligence community.

The letter from Acting Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter Hyun notes that Justice "views the rise of dominant platforms as presenting a threat to open markets and competition, with risks for consumers, businesses, innovation, resiliency, global competitiveness and our democracy."

Cicilline's request that Olsen weigh in on the antitrust bill's national security impact comes two weeks after CyberScoop reported Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner had been lobbying the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to address intelligence community concerns about cyber and national security elements of the legislation. Sources told CyberScoop at the time that ODNI officials felt "pressured" to sign off on the bill. ODNI officials told CyberScoop they do not "weigh in on the merits of policy options." cyberscoop.com

Crypto's Wild Wild West - The SEC is Patrolling
Robinhood's Crypto Unit Fined $30 Million by New York's Top Financial Regulator
The New York State Department of Financial Services imposed a $30 million fine on the cryptocurrency trading unit of online brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc. for alleged violations of anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity regulations, in the department's first crypto enforcement action. wsj.com

Who's Got Your Wallet?
Crypto Holders' Funds Are Drained From Solana Wallets in Cyberattack

Security and safety of digital assets platforms has come under scrutiny following recent bankruptcies and hacks

An attacker targeting the solana cryptocurrency ecosystem drained funds from thousands of wallets in an incident that could draw increased regulatory scrutiny to digital assets.

By 1 a.m. ET Wednesday, an unknown actor exploited a flaw to drain cryptocurrencies from 7,767 wallets, according to the Solana Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the network. While the total value of the assets stolen was unclear, blockchain security firm PeckShield estimated the loss to be $8 million. wsj.com

Browser Synchronization Abuse
Bookmarks as a covert data exfiltration channel
Two universal and seemingly innocuous browser features - the ability to create bookmarks (aka "favorites") and browser synchronization - make users' lives easier, but may also allow hackers to establish a covert data exfiltration channel.

Crypto Bridge Nomad Loses $190M in Free-For-All Attack

Why there is no quick fix for cyber attacks

Businesses, Not Government, Now in Charge of Workplace Mask Rules
Cancellation of Government Mask Mandates Leaves Canadian Employers to Decide for Themselves
Generally speaking, the more decisions are left to their discretion, the more businesses-and their HR professionals-like it. But the recent elimination of COVID-19-era mask requirements for most Canadian workplaces may have given employers a little more discretion than they are entirely prepared for.

The absence of government mask mandates means that virtually all employers governed by provincial employment laws-comprising about 90 percent of Canada's workforce-will need to decide whether to continue their own workplace masking rules.

The vaccination rate in Canada is high, and mask-wearing has not been the political hot button there that it has been in the U.S. Nonetheless, some people prefer wearing a mask, while others do not. Attitudes may vary regionally and according to what populations experienced during the pandemic. Ontario, for example, had long-standing mask requirements and suffered major COVID-19 outbreaks.

In his own travels, Michael Richards, an attorney with DLA Piper in Toronto and Vancouver, observed that mask-wearing in and around public places in Ontario and elsewhere in the east has been and continues to be the norm. In the west, he said, people seem to need more reminders.

Earlier this year, nearly three-quarters of Canadians supported provincial mask mandates, but currently only about half do, according to a July study by the nonprofit Angus Reid Institute, based in Vancouver.

Even in discontinuing mask mandates, provincial governments continue to emphasize health and safety and recommend mask usage in various circumstances. shrm.org

COVID to Blame for Canada Worker Shortage?
Where have all the workers gone? Don't blame COVID, economists say

Boomers are exiting the workforce in droves, leaving more job vacancies than there are people to fill them

Canada is in the throes of a serious labour shortage, but economists say it's not all the pandemic's fault - it's the inevitable culmination of a seismic demographic shift decades in the making.

"It's the slowest-moving train on the planet. It was predictable 60 to 65 years ago, and we have done nothing about it," said Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers. "We knew this transition was going to happen."

The numbers behind all those help wanted signs are startling. According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio - a key measure comparing the number of Canadians looking for work to the number of available jobs - is currently hovering at a historic low in every province. In fact, the ratio is significantly lower now than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began. cbc.ca

Downtown Toronto lags behind North American cities in COVID recovery, study says
From March through May Toronto was at just 46 per cent of levels for the same period in 2019, tied with Oakland, New Orleans and Calgary.

Ontario extends COVID sick days but labour advocates say program is inadequate
 

Scammers Posing as Amazon
If you're getting fake texts from scammers posing as Amazon, you're not alone-here's what you can do
Fake text messages and e-mails carrying phishing attempts by virtual scammers have been on the rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And, one of the more prevalent methods scammers have been using recently is fake messages purporting to be from an Amazon representative, who might claim to be checking in about suspicious activity on your account or even a delayed package.

Typically, these phishing or "smishing" - aka SMS phishing - attacks are aimed at tricking you into believing you are communicating with a legitimate representative of the e-commerce giant. If you're not careful, you might over valuable personal information from your credit card information to login credentials for your online accounts, or click on malware-ridden links that infect your devices with viruses.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that U.S. consumers collectively lost roughly $5.8 billion from fraud in 2021, up 70% over the previous year. About a third of that came from imposter scams.

So, what can you do to make sure you're not taken in by one of these increasingly prevalent spammer scams?

Don't click any links, or share any personal information, unless you're absolutely sure you're actually speaking with an actual representative from Amazon, or any other legitimate company or organization.

Amazon itself offers an online guide to help its customers identify suspicious messages posing as official Amazon communications. The company says that red flags include order confirmations for items you didn't order and messages with grammatical errors or prompts to install software. cnbc.com

Expanding Same-Day Delivery
Amazon launches same-day delivery for Pacsun, GNC and other retailers
Amazon is expanding its Prime benefits and its services to other retailers with same-day delivery for customers of Pacsun, GNC, SuperDry and Diesel, the e-commerce giant announced on Monday. Sur La Table and 100% Pure will be added in the coming months.

The service is available in select zip codes in more than 10 metro areas, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Seattle, as well as Scottsdale, Arizona and Washington, D.C., and that will also expand in coming months, according to a company blog post.

The option is limited to select items and is free to Prime members as long as they spend at least $25; for orders below $25 the service costs $2.99. Some stores will also offer in-store pickup, Amazon said.

Expanding Amazon's same-day delivery service to include other brands is a way to offer Amazon customers "greater selection, at faster speeds," Sarah Mathew, director of Amazon Delivery Experience, said in a statement. retaildive.com

Amazon Hires Senior Senate Aide, Boosting Efforts to Stymie New Tech Antitrust Bill