In brief: Visit Spokane seeks to fill five board seats
Visit Spokane is seeking area business representatives to apply for seats on its board of directors.
Visit Spokane – formerly the Spokane Visitors and Convention Bureau – is a nonprofit that promotes travel and tourism in the region.
It has five open positions, each with three-year terms that begin in January.
Applicants should be senior-level tourism or business leaders with a strong interest in regional economic development, a press release stated.
Those applying must send a brief explanation of their interest in serving on the board, along with a summary of professional background, including not-for-profit board experience.
After a review of applicants, a slate will be prepared for a November election decided by the group’s dues-paying members.
Inquiries should be sent by Wednesday to Visit Spokane CEO Cheryl Kilday at <a href=”mailto:ckilday@VisitSpokane.com.</p>ckilday@VisitSpokane.com.
USDA to spend millions to ease pink salmon glut
JUNEAU, Alaska – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to buy up to $13 million in canned pink salmon to ease a glut that has weighed down prices for Alaska fishermen.
In July, Gov. Sean Parnell asked the USDA to buy $37 million worth of canned fish under a federal law that allows the government to purchase surplus food from farmers and donate it to food banks or other programs.
Earlier this year, the agency purchased $20 million worth of canned salmon.
While the government only is buying a portion of what the governor requested, it’s still significant, said Bruce Schactler, food aid program coordinator for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. He estimated it at well over 300,000 cases, which will help the industry and provide stock to food banks.
Home Depot offering free ID protection
NEW YORK – Home Depot says it’s offering free identity protection services to those customers who potentially might be hurt by a possible data breach at the home improvement chain.
The company also said Wednesday it’s working with leading security firms Symantec and FishNet Security to help it investigate a possible data hacking.
The moves come as Home Depot is trying to reassure customers that it’s doing all it can the day after it learned of “suspicious” activity that pointed to a breach. It said Tuesday that it was working with both banks and law enforcement.
The possible data breach at Home Depot was first reported by Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, a website that focuses on cybersecurity. Krebs said multiple banks reported “evidence that Home Depot stores may be the source of a massive new batch of stolen credit and debit cards” that went on sale on the black market earlier Tuesday.