Talking Biz News Today — Jan. 3, 2020

Some of Friday’s top business news stories:

Associated Press

3 crashes, 3 deaths raise questions about Tesla’s Autopilot, by Tom Krisher

The Hartford to limit insurance for fossil fuel companies

Fortune

Hospitals Say Mergers Help Patients and Save Money—New Evidence Says Otherwise, by Sy Mukherjee

Big Pharma Raised Prices of Several Prescription Drugs on First Day of 2020, by hris Morris

CNN

Illinois cannabis sales bring in $3.2 million on day one, by Alicia Wallace

Jeep to unveil plug-in hybrid versions of the Wrangler, Cherokee and Compass, by Peter Valdes-Dapena

The Wall Street Journal

FDA Bars Fruit, Mint Flavors in Vaping Cartridges but Makes Exemption for Vape Shops, by Jennifer Maloney, Thomas M. Burton

Everything Must Go: Record Pace of Shut Stores Fuels Business for ‘the Closers’, by Chris Cutter

Reuters
U.S. farmers see another bleak year despite Phase 1 trade deal, by Karl Plume, P.J. Huffstutter

U.S. oil deals hit five-year high in 2019 on Occidental’s blockbuster Anadarko buy, by Shradha Singh

News about business journalism

NBC News names Ruhle its senior business correspondent

Ex-Philly Biz Journal editor hired by Maryland insurance regulator

Reuters names Brock its special correspondent for Southeast Asia

Bloomberg makes changes at top of energy, commodities coverage

The Information hires TechCrunch’s Clark

San Antonio Biz Journal hires Parton as commercial real estate reporter

Third Way hires Morning Consult reporter Toth

NY Times econ reporter: 42 percent of my sources in 2019 were women

Denver Biz Journal names Rodriguez its commercial real estate reporter

Dow Jones/WSJ autos reporter departs to freelance