2/18/21
Ford to Phase Out Fossil-Fueled Vehicles by 2030
Ford Motor Co. has announced plans to phase out vehicles it sells in Europe that are powered by fossil fuels. By 2026, the company will offer only electric and plug-in hybrid models there, and by 2030 all of Ford's passenger cars will run solely on batteries in Europe, the New York Times reports, and Ford isn't the only automaker switching over. Last week, U.K. automaker Jaguar Land Rover said its Jaguar luxury brand will be all-electric by 2025. The company expects all Jaguars and 60% of Land Rovers sold to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2030, the year the U.K. is slated to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles. Last month, General Motors said it plans to produce electric vehicles exclusively by 2035. Volkswagen says it will manufacture a million EVs in 2023 and 1.5 million in 2025.

2/17/21
Murphy Extends Health Emergency For 12th Time, Carrying NJ Into Full Year Under The Order
Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday extended the state's public health emergency declaration for a 12th time, an action that will carry the state into a full year under the order. The declaration gives the Department of Health expanded powers to respond to the coronavirus and roll out the vaccine, Murphy said. More than 1 million people have gotten the first shot of the two-dose vaccine that was first administered in New Jersey in mid-December.

2/16/21
U.S. Oil Production Slumps by Record 40% as Permian Freezes
Total U.S. oil production has plunged by close to 40% -- the most ever -- as an unprecedented cold blast freezes well operations across the central U.S., according to traders and industry executives with direct knowledge of the operations. Crude output has now fallen by more than 4 million barrels a day nationwide, they said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. Before the cold snap, the U.S. was pumping about 11 million barrels a day, according to government data. The estimate of oil production losses has climbed steadily over the last three days as companies and traders assess the situation. Not only do traders and executives now believe losses are larger than previously expected, they also fear they will be longer lasting. The Permian basin -- America's biggest oil field -- is the region worst affected, with output down between 65% and 80% from normal levels, traders and executives said.

2/16/21
Winter Storms Bring Customers to C-Stores
Nearly 170 million people are under winter weather advisories this week as snow storms, icy roads, power outages and low temperatures threatened businesses and residences coast to coast, reports CNN. . .Convenience stores across the nation provided food and supplies to those affected, while grocers like HEB and Kroger stores in Texas have announced shorter hours due to the storms. One Austin-area HEB was reported to be out of milk and butter with ground meats and crackers running low. Below freezing temperatures are forecast to affect more than 245 million people in the lower 48 states this week, with more than 50 million Americans expected to experience temperatures below zero. There is the potential for more than 240 cold temperature records to be broken by Tuesday evening.

2/15/21
Oil Hits Pandemic High As Winter Storm Pushes Demand And Poses Production Risk
Freezing weather in regions across the U.S. sparked another rally in energy prices and put West Texas Intermediate crude on pace to settle above $60 a barrel for the first time since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. WTI crude futures rose 62 cents, or 1%, to $60.09 a barrel Monday. The jump brings WTI crude futures up about 24% so far in 2021. It touched $60.77 a barrel earlier in the session, its highest level since January 2020. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed 1.4% to $63.33 after hitting its own 13-month high. The latest pop in the energy market came as cold weather racked portions of the U.S. and fostered demand for power and fuel while simultaneously threatening to hamstring production in Texas. "Winter storm and arctic blast of cold weather that is making its way south to Houston may have some severe impacts on the oil industry," oil analyst Andy Lipow wrote over the weekend.

2/14/21
Why So Many Covid-19 Workers' Comp Claims Are Being Rejected
Determining where a person contracted Covid-19 is proving to be a difficult legal puzzle. In many workers' compensation cases, carriers said individuals were most likely infected in their off hours, while workers' attorneys said their clients' Covid-19 cases were directly linked with unsafe job environments.Insurance carriers and business groups feared at the start of the pandemic that they would be overwhelmed by workers' comp claims related to Covid-19. That concern intensified as more than a dozen states passed laws giving some employees including nurses and firefighters a presumption of eligibility, or access to workers' comp coverage without requiring them to prove infections occurred on the job. Those fears turned out to be unfounded. Workers filed hundreds of thousands of virus-related claims in 2020, but those cases, according to state and industry data, were more than offset by a steep drop in non-Covid-19 claims as layoffs, shutdowns and remote work reduced the number of workplace accidents and injuries.

2/11/21
Pandemic Tax Windfall For NJ: Receipts From House Sales And Liquor Boost State Revenues
The surge in home sales means a boost for New Jersey's bottom line since it generates more revenue from a tax on real-estate transactions. And real estate is not the only industry seeing a rise in sales during the pandemic and with it a corresponding lift in state revenues. Taxes from alcohol sales have been surging in New Jersey during the pandemic, as have state Lottery revenues. State tax data shows that transfer-inheritance tax receipts have also increased significantly amid the health crisis. But there may be more to that than just the grim reflection of the deadly pandemic. Without a doubt, New Jersey's monthly tax collection reports reveal the financial damage  caused by the health crisis, but they also show that, while some tax sources have expectedly lagged last year's pace, others have sprinted ahead.

2/12/21
Smash-and-Grab ATM Thefts on the Rise
More criminals have been smashing and grabbing ATMs from outside of banks and inside convenience stores, Insurance Journal reports. Travelers insurance firm registered a 220% bump in claims for ATM theft damage in 2020 over 2019. COVID-19 closed or restricted bank hours, with the financial firms encouraging customers to use ATMs.