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