In brief: Kickstarter says customer data hacked
Online fundraising site Kickstarter says hackers got some of its customer data.
Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler said hackers accessed usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and passwords. The passwords are encrypted, but the company said it’s possible for a hacker to guess a weak or obvious password. It recommended that users change their passwords.
Hackers did not get credit card information, said New York-based Kickstarter, but two accounts saw unauthorized activity.
The breach was disclosed Saturday on the Kickstarter blog. The company said it learned about the breach from law enforcement on Wednesday and closed it immediately.
Three killed in private plane crash
DENVER – All three people aboard a small private plane perished in a crash close to Telluride Regional Airport in the famous skiing town, Colorado authorities said Sunday night.
The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza took off from the airport at 11:20 a.m. Sunday on its way to Cortez, a city in southwest Colorado about 75 miles away, San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said.
Air traffic control at the Telluride and Denver airports lost contact with the plane, prompting a search by the sheriff’s office at 12:40 p.m. It was found crashed into a cliff band about a mile west of the airport at 5:17 p.m., and deputies confirmed there were no survivors, the sheriff said.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Masters said the county coroner’s office was expected to release the identities of those killed once their families are notified.
Avalanche leaves two skiers dead
LEADVILLE, Colo. – Two skiers were killed and three others were injured in a large avalanche in Colorado, marking the third deadly slide in the state in less than a week, authorities said Sunday.
Susan Matthews, a spokeswoman for the Lake County Office of Emergency Management, said seven skiers on Star Mountain near Leadville triggered the slide at about 5 p.m. Saturday. Search and rescue crews found the bodies of two skiers Sunday afternoon.
Three skiers were hospitalized with injuries that included a broken leg, a broken ankle and a possible broken rib and collapsed lung. One has since been discharged from the hospital. Authorities have not released the names of anyone involved.
Rent in N.D. city exceeds NYC, L.A.
WILLISTON, N.D. – The rapidly growing North Dakota oil patch city of Williston has the highest average rent in the United States, a national study from an apartment renting guide shows.
A 700-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in Williston costs an average of $2,394 a month, according to Apartment Guide, an online website for apartment hunters. The same apartment would cost $1,504 in the New York area, $1,411 in the Los Angeles area or $1,537 in the Boston area, the Williston Herald reported.
Nearby Dickinson, N.D., ranks fourth on the list at an average of $1,733 a month. Boston is sixth, New York is seventh, Los Angeles is eighth. Chicago didn’t even crack the Top 10.