Globe newsstand price to increase to 75¢ on Feb. 4

The newsstand price of individual copies of The Boston Globe will increase from 50 cents to 75 cents on Feb. 4, according to a company statement. The increase applies to newspapers sold in Greater Boston. The daily Globe is already priced at 75 cents at locations beyond 30 miles from the city. The price increase does not affect home delivery copies of the paper nor does it affect the price of the Boston Sunday Globe. (Jenn Abelson)

A bankruptcy court hearing set for yesterday to seek a Boston judge's approval of the sale of Alpha Omega Jewelers assets was postponed to this morning so the parties could complete required paperwork. At today's hearing, the new management of the four-store luxury jewelry chain, which filed for Chapter 11 protection this month, will ask Judge William C. Hillman of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts to approve the winning bid in an auction for the assets. The bidder is a consortium that includes Boston's Tiger Capital, SB Capital of Great Neck, N.Y., and the Gordon Co. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Under the plan being submitted to the judge, the group would sell the company's inventory and find other parties to take over the leases at its retail outlets in Boston, Cambridge, Natick, and Burlington. (Robert Weisman)

Fallon Community Health Plan said a laptop computer was stolen containing personal information for all the members of its Fallon Senior Medicare Advantage and Summit ElderCare plans. The computer contained claims data for about 30,000 people, or about 15 percent of Fallon's overall membership. The insurer said the computer belonged to a third-party vendor in Boston, which it declined to identify, and was stolen from that firm's offices. Fallon is offering free credit monitoring - which would alert members or their families to any unusual activity in their financial accounts - to subscribers whose personal information was stolen. Chief executive Eric H. Schultz said Fallon is working with law enforcement officials to recover the computer. (Jeffrey Krasner)

Boston-based Investors Against Genocide pressing mutual fund firms to adopt so-called "genocide-free" investment policies won an initial victory that's expected to bring such a proposal before shareholders of Fidelity Investments' biggest equity fund. Four other big fund companies are targeted in a campaign emboldened by a Securities and Exchange Commission staff decision that it was "unable to concur" with Fidelity's arguments that the proposal didn't meet criteria to bring it before shareholders. The decision is expected to prevent Fidelity from blocking shareholder votes at several of its funds, including a March 19 shareholder meeting for the $81 billion Contrafund. (AP)

Diagnostic test maker BG Medicine Inc. said it will not proceed with its planned initial public offering because of current market conditions. In its withdrawal request filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Waltham company said it may consider a subsequent private offering. BG Medicine had planned to raise about $35.1 million from an IPO of 4.5 million common shares, according to filings with the SEC. (AP)

Governor Patrick's administration said it has pledged more than $100 million in public and private sector resources to support two dozen developments that will yield 908 new rental apartments in 21 cities and towns across the state. Of that total, 771 will offer long-term affordable rents for low- and moderate-income families, the administration said. Funding will support developments in Amherst, Ayer, Beverly, Boston, Charlton, Everett, Framingham, Franklin, Gardner, Gloucester, Lowell, Lunenburg, Lynn, Pittsfield, Quincy, Sharon, Spencer, Wareham, Westfield, Weymouth, and Worcester, the administration said. (Chris Reidy)

Foxwoods Resort Casino says more than 2,000 jobs will be created at MGM Grand at Foxwoods between now and the casino's opening in May. Hiring will begin Sunday using a new website, yourdream.jobs, and at hiring fairs and at kiosks in employee areas of the existing casino. Restaurants there will likely employ an additional 1,000 new workers. (AP)