Current Events in July 2020

Shipt workers are planning to walk out on July 15 in protest of a controversial new pay model at the company. 

Workers for the grocery delivery service say the new algorithm-based pay structure, internally dubbed “V2,” would shave at least 30 percent off their total pay. The new model replaces Shipt’s previous flat-fee model.

“The company replaced our transparent, fairer pay with a shady algorithm. Workers saw their pay plummet,” a group of Shipt shoppers wrote in a Medium post. 

“This seismic company shift is occurring at the same time that its shoppers — essential workers taking unprecedented risks during this pandemic — are already suffering significantly.” 

Business is booming for Shipt

The workers pointed out that Shipt, a service where customers pay a monthly fee in exchange for the ability to receive deliveries from grocery stores and retailers, is concurrently “experiencing obscene increases in its sales” amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

“This isn’t a company that has to cut pay because its core business crashed. The company has intentionally over-hired, preying off the millions of displaced workers who were furloughed or laid off during a pandemic,” the Medium post continued. 

“Shipt’s intention all along was to introduce the pay cut when it had more workers than it needed. That way it is still able to roll profitably forward even if a sizable percentage of Shipt’s existing workforce is forced to quit due to drastic cuts to our pay.” 

Workers plan to walk out Wednesday, the day the new pay model launches in a dozen new markets. Shipt maintains that it's “committed to helping shoppers succeed” and is open to feedback on the new pay model. 

“Our commitment to shoppers is stronger than ever, and any operational changes we make balance the interests of shoppers with the longer-term needs of the business,” Shipt said.

Following in Amazon’s footsteps, Wells Fargo has announced that it doesn’t want TikTok on its employees' work phones either. In a note to employees, the banking giant said the app must be removed from all company phones immediately due to privacy concerns. 

“We have identified a small number of Wells Fargo employees with corporate-owned devices who had installed the TikTok application on their device,” the company told The Information. 

“Due to concerns about TikTok’s privacy and security controls and practices, and because corporate-owned devices should be used for company business only, we have directed those employees to remove the app from their devices.”

Mere hours before Wells Fargo sent the email to its employees, Amazon sent out a similar message, warning that employees who didn’t uninstall the app from their work phones would no longer be able to access company email. 

TikTok, which is owned by China-based tech company Bytedance, has been under scrutiny lately. The Trump administration has threatened to have the app banned entirely amid concerns that the company could share data with the Chinese government. 

TikTok said it has never been asked to do that, and it added that it’s “committed to protecting users’ privacy and being transparent about how our app works.” 

National security risk?

Following Amazon’s decision last week, TikTok said it didn’t understand why the company decided to demand that employees remove the app but said it was willing to discuss the matter. 

“While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community,” a spokesperson said in a statement. 

Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, told Fox News last week that the Trump administration is considering blocking some Chinese apps, including TikTok, calling them a risk to national security.

"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too. But, it is something we are looking at.”

If you’re shopping for a home this summer, be prepared to increase your offer for the home you really want. If you’re selling, don’t jump at the first contract.

That’s the takeaway from real estate broker Redfin’s analysis of its June sales figures. For the second month in a row, more than half of the sales the broker handled had multiple offers, meaning the properties were the objects of bidding wars.

The flurry of competition for homes comes in spite of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which depressed sales in April and the early part of May. As states have opened up, buyers have returned to look over the limited number of properties for sale. Economic factors could also be at work.

"Bidding wars continue to be fueled by historically low mortgage rates and fewer homes up for sale than almost any time in the last two decades," said Redfin economist Taylor Marr. "It's like a game of musical chairs where only the best bidders get a seat.”

Looking for more space

The new crop of buyers is made up of renters and move-up buyers who have held onto their jobs. 

“They’re vying for the small number of single-family homes on the market as they realize they need more space for their families," Marr said.

Record low mortgage rates make homes more affordable. The average mortgage rate fell to 3.03 percent for the week ending July 9, the lowest 30-year fixed-rate number since Freddie Mac began tracking the statistic in 1971. 

At the same time, the number of homes for sale in June fell more than 21 percent from the year before. Today, inventory levels are the lowest they’ve been since at least 2012 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of new listings fell 12 percent compared to June 2019.

Highly competitive

According to Redfin, Boston was the most competitive housing market last month, with more than 72 percent of the brokers’ offers facing at least one competing bid. 

"This is the most competitive real estate market I can remember," said James Gulden, who has been a Boston Redfin agent since 2012.

The San Diego and Salt Lake City metros were also extremely competitive last month, with more than 63 percent of Redfin properties attracting competing offers.

A new survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that the pandemic has changed the housing market in fundamental ways, some of which may be long-lasting. The findings suggest that frustrations with COVID-19 may also be pushing buyers to pursue housing options more aggressively. 

“A number of potential buyers noted stalled plans due to the pandemic and that has led to more urgency and a pent-up demand to buy,” said NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun. “After being home for months on end – in a home they already wanted to leave – buyers are reminded how much their current home may lack certain desired features or amenities.”

The survey showed that 24 percent of Realtors indicated having buyers who shifted the location of where they intend to buy a house due to the coronavirus. The suburbs, rural areas, and small towns were the top new destinations.

Volvo Cars of N.A. is recalling 307,910 model year 2008-2016 V70s and XC70s, model year 2007-2016 S80s, model year 2011-2018 S60s and V60s, model year 2016-2018 S60 Cross Countrys, model year 2014-2020 S60Ls, model year 2009-2015 S80Ls, model year 2009-2016 XC60s and model year 2015-2018 V60 Cross Country vehicles.

The flexible steel cable that connects the seat belt to the front outboard seating positions may fatigue over time, causing the seat belt to not secure the occupant in the event of a crash.

An unsecured occupant has an increased risk of injury .

What to do

Volvo will notify owners, and dealers will replace the seat belt anchor cable for both front seats.

This recall is expected to begin August 25, 2020.

Owners may contact Volvo customer service at (800) 458-1552. Volvo's number for this recall is R10029.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tally as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Previous numbers in parentheses.)

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 3,131,953 (3,067,780)

Total U.S. deaths: 133,420 (132,498)

Total global cases: 12,323,502 (12,093,782)

Total global deaths: 555,977 (550,689)

Another daily record number of cases

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shows no sign of slowing down, setting one daily record after another. On Thursday, researchers at Johns Hopkins University counted 63,000 new cases, eclipsing the record of 60,000 cases set the day before.

The total number of cases of the virus in the U.S. is more than 3.1 million, accounting for nearly 25 percent of the world’s cases. The country with the next largest number of cases is Brazil, with just over 1.7 million.

In the U.S., the surge in cases has largely been limited to southern and western states. The latest victims have tended to be young people, whose symptoms are generally less severe. Some states, like Texas, have reclosed bars and nightclubs frequented by young people.

Encouraging news about treatment drug

Gilead Sciences has more news about its experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, and it’s encouraging. The drug company says the drug appears to reduce the risk of death in patients with the most severe symptoms of the virus.

The company said use of the drug not only reduced the risk of death by 62 percent, but it is also associated with “significantly improved clinical recovery.” The conclusions are based on an analysis of 312 patients enrolled in a Phase 3 clinical trial.

“While not as vigorous as a randomized controlled trial, this analysis importantly draws from a real world setting and serves as an important adjunct to clinical trial data,” said Dr. Susan Olender of Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Pandemic’s effect on fuel prices may be ending

One silver lining to the pandemic has been extremely low gasoline prices throughout the spring, but that bonus may be ending, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It reports that oil demand was sharply lower in the first half of 2020 because of the economic shutdown associated with the coronavirus.

Going forward, the IEA said demand will still be lower, but the decrease should be about half of what it was in the first half of the year. It notes that the industry has already started to recover.

Consumers, meanwhile, continue to enjoy gasoline prices about 60 cents a gallon cheaper than at this time last year. AAA reported Friday that the national average price of regular gasoline is $2.19 a gallon, just two cents more than a week ago.

Researchers hope antibody treatment can be done outpatient

Texas researchers say they are investigating whether plasma from COVID-19 survivors can be used in outpatient settings to prevent the onset and progression of the virus. Currently, the treatment is administered to hospital patients, in many cases those in intensive care units (ICU).

Two clinical trials are underway at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The tests will determine whether convalescent plasma can prevent infection or severity of disease in outpatients, including health care workers who have had a high-risk exposure to COVID-19.

Some health experts believe the combination of blood plasma antibody treatments and remdesivir could serve as a bridge until a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 is approved.

Gottlieb: ‘We’re not counting nearly all the cases’

Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has long suggested that the U.S. has a lot more COVID-19 cases than are being counted. In an appearance on CNBC this morning, Gottlieb suggested one in 150 people in the U.S. have been infected.

“We must have well over 700,000 infections a day, even though we’re only diagnosing about 60,000,” Gottlieb said.

The former FDA commissioner said the U.S. should have had a national policy to contain the virus, suggesting early reopenings in some states are now posing threats to states where aggressive action was taken. 

Around the nation

• New York: The pandemic has already had an effect on New York City’s rental market. According to industry sources, rents are falling because tenants are leaving the city in droves. The city’s apartment vacancy rate in June was double that of June 2019.

• Michigan: New outbreaks of the coronavirus are not just happening in the South and West. Michigan’s top medical official says that the state is seeing an alarming rise in cases. “So right now, the data is not looking so good,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.

• Virginia: Doctors addressing a Richmond School Board meeting said reopening schools probably would not contribute to a spike in coronavirus cases. Dr. Danny Avula, the Director for Richmond and Henrico County health districts, gave a virtual presentation suggesting that schools are not a significant source of community transmission.

The sign at the cash register at the convenience store reads: “Because of the national coin shortage, exact change is appreciated.”

Among other disruptions to daily life caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19), you can now add a lack of coins to make change. When stores can’t give a cash customer the exact change back because of a lack of pennies, they’re rounding it up and giving back more than required.

At East Coast convenience store chain WaWa, customers paying with cash are given the option of rounding up their purchase to the nearest dollar and donating the change to the WaWa Foundation.

How did the pandemic create a shortage of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters? The Federal Reserve points to a number of different factors.

Fed task force

When retail stores and restaurants shut down for several weeks in March and April, it caused a disruption in the normal supply chain of coins. Physical money didn’t circulate like it normally does. According to the American Bankers Association (ABA), the Fed has established a task force to look for solutions.

“The Federal Reserve is working on many fronts with our industry partners, including the U.S. Mint, to minimize supply constraints and maximize coin production capacity,” the Fed noted recently. “We are encouraging depository institutions to order only the coin they need to meet near-term customer demand and to remove barriers to customer coin deposits.”

The government has also been producing fewer coins lately. One U.S. Mint facility closed for a time during the shutdown. Other facilities are operating with fewer employees due to social distancing requirements.

Consumers to the rescue

Consumers have also spent less money since the pandemic hit. That jar of loose change on the bedroom dresser has remained full and mostly untouched since March, but businesses say they could really use it now. Banks are also desperate to get their hands on coins, and they say some consumers are helping.

“We have people coming in about every 15 minutes which we are so thankful for,” Sarah Engels, operations manager at Amarillo National Bank told a local TV station. “We do provide coin to a lot of businesses in the Panhandle so we are just so grateful.”

Consumers can help by always carrying ample pocket change when making cash purchases so they can pay with exact change. Using a credit or debit card eliminates the need for a merchant to make change, but it does nothing to put much-needed coins back into circulation.

The Fed says the issue will be resolved once the economy has fully reopened, but no one can say when that will be. The central bank acknowledges that until that happens, the coin shortage may persist.

Amazon has asked employees to delete TikTok from their work phones due to unspecified “security risks,” according to a company email seen by the New York Times. Employees who fail to delete the app by Friday will lose access to their Amazon email, the company said. 

“Due to security risks, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email,” Amazon said. “If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email. At this time, using TikTok from your Amazon laptop browser is allowed.” 

Amazon didn’t elaborate on what kind of security risk the video app poses, but the app’s security has come into question lately following the discovery of glitches. 

Privacy concerns 

TikTok, which is owned by China-based tech company Bytedance, was recently found to have improperly accessed user clipboard data when running in the background. 

“Following the beta release of iOS 14 on June 22, users saw notifications while using a number of popular apps. For TikTok, this was triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behavior,” a company spokesperson said last month. 

Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, told Fox News on Monday that the Trump administration is considering blocking some Chinese apps, including TikTok, calling them a risk to national security.

TikTok said it doesn’t understand why Amazon decided to demand that employees remove the app, but the company says it is willing to have a discussion on the matter.

“While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community,” a spokesperson said in a statement. 

TikTok said last month that it’s “committed to protecting users’ privacy and being transparent about how our app works.” 

A new study conducted by researchers from Penn State found that women who deliver their first babies via C-section are less likely to conceive future children than those who deliver naturally. 

Based on their observational study, it’s unclear why getting pregnant is harder the second time around for these women, though the researchers hypothesized several reasons for why this could be the case. 

“It is possible that pelvic or [fallopian] tubal scarring as a result of being exposed to open air and contaminants may affect subsequent attempts at getting pregnant,” said researcher Dr. Richard Legro. “It is also possible that scar formation from the surgical wound in the uterus, though not in an area where pregnancies implant, may have lingering effects on the process of implantation.” 

What happens after the first baby?

To better understand why women who have C-sections are less likely to conceive after their first child, the researchers followed over 2,000 women through the first three years after they gave birth. All of the women were under the age of 35 when the study began, and approximately 600 of them delivered their first child via C-section. 

Over the course of the study, the women reported on both their successful conceptions and unprotected intercourse. The study revealed that women who delivered naturally were about 80 percent likely to be pregnant again within three years. However, those who delivered via C-section were under 70 percent likely to conceive a second time. 

The researchers explained that those who had C-section deliveries for their first babies were more likely to have other conditions that could make pregnancy complicated, including obesity and older age, among others. While these factors could certainly come into play, the researchers took several factors into account when analyzing these findings, including age, weight, and predisposition to conditions like diabetes and blood pressure. 

The study ruled out excessive pain or trauma post-C-section as an underlying cause, as the women in the study were all trying to get pregnant a second time. With all things considered, those who delivered with C-sections were still around 10 percent less likely to get pregnant a second time. 

For those who may be thinking about opting for a C-section over a natural delivery the first time around, these findings highlight the difficulties many women face in future conception. 

“It’s important that women who elect to have a C-section know that there is a chance they may have difficulty conceiving in the future,” Dr. Legro said.  

Google has announced that it will ban advertisements for products or services that secretly track or monitor people. 

In an update to its “Enabling Dishonest Behavior” policy, Google said the changes will apply to spyware and technology used for “intimate partner surveillance,” including tech used to monitor texts, phone calls, or browsing history. 

The update will also apply to GPS devices touted as tools for spying on someone without their knowledge, as well as surveillance equipment such as cameras, audio recorders, dash cams, and nanny cams. 

“We constantly evaluate and update our ad policies to ensure we are protecting users,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement. “We routinely update our language with examples to help clarify what we consider policy violating. Spyware technology for partner surveillance was always in scope of our policies against dishonest behavior.” 

The ad policy change will go into effect globally on August 11. 

“Stalkerware” use on the rise during lockdown

COVID-19 lockdowns have led to a rise in the use of GPS trackers and surveillance software marketed with the sole purpose of spying.

Earlier this week, cybersecurity software firm Avast reported that there was a 51 percent increase in the use of spyware and stalkerware from March through June when compared to the period between January and February. 

“Stalkerware is unethical software that allows people to track someone's location, access their personal photos and videos, intercept emails, texts and app communications such as WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as eavesdrop on phone calls and make covert recordings of conversations over the internet, without the target's knowledge or consent,” the company said. 

In 2018, a group of researchers discovered tens of thousands of ads in the Google ecosystem that promoted software designed to monitor an intimate partner without their consent. 

The ads discovered included: “How to catch a cheating spouse with his cell phone” and “Track My Wife’s Phone — Want to Spy on your Wife? Track your Wife without her knowing. Discover Who Are They messaging. Download! 24-Hour Support Price Superiority No Jailbreaking and App Results Guaranteed.”

Google said its ad policies already prohibit ads for products and services that enable users to gain unauthorized access to systems, devices, or property. The update now loops in spyware and surveillance technology designed to provide unauthorized access to intimate partners’ devices.

Misinformation was circulating around the internet well before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, since the start of the pandemic, popular sites like Facebook and YouTube have been in the news for contributing to the spread of misinformation about the virus. 

Now, a new study conducted by researchers from MIT shows that it’s consumers’ natural inclination to share things on social media that is a big factor in the spread of misinformation. 

“There is just something more systemic and fundamental about the social media context that distracts people from accuracy,” said researcher David Rand. “I think part of it is that you’re getting this instantaneous social feedback all the time. Every time you post something, you immediately get to see how many people liked it. And that really focuses your attention on: How many people are going to like it? Which is different from: How true is this?” 

Thinking critically about social media posts

The researchers conducted two online experiments to understand how false COVID-19 information is spread on social media. In the first study, over 850 participants were split into two groups and shown 30 Facebook-style news posts related to COVID-19; half of the posts contained misinformation while the other half were pieces of factual news content. 

The researchers wanted to gauge two measures with this study. First, they wanted to see which of the stories were the participants more inclined to share to their own personal social media feeds. Secondly, they wanted to know whether the participants could identify which news stories were accurate. 

When it came to sharing stories, the participants were split pretty evenly between sharing the stories that were true and ones that were fabricated. However, the group who had to determine the accuracy of the posts did so correctly nearly 70 percent of the time. 

The second study took things a step further. Another 850 participants were shown the same headlines as the first group. The main difference is this study was that participants looking for accuracy first looked at a news headline unrelated to COVID-19 and then were asked to identify the true or false pandemic-related stories. 

Taking this extra step, considering a non-COVID headline and being pressed to discern factual information, turned out to be an effective practice; the group outperformed those in the first study who were asked to perform the same task. 

“The idea is, if you nudge them about accuracy at the outset, people are more likely to be thinking about the concept of accuracy when they later choose what to share,” Rand said. “So then they take accuracy into account more when they make their sharing decisions.” 

Social media distraction 

Rand and his team think these patterns have emerged with COVID-19 misinformation for two main reasons: social media lends itself to fast news and easy shares, and consumers already have a heightened sense of anxiety around the pandemic. 

“A lot of people have a very cynical take on social media and our moment in history, that we’re post-truth and no one cares about the truth anymore,” said researcher Gordon Pennycook. “Our evidence suggests it’s not that people don’t care; it’s that they’re more distracted.” 

As airlines try to gain a profitable footing in the middle of the COVID-19 conundrum, United Airlines is following in American, Delta, Southwest, and JetBlue’s footsteps by cutting a deal with its 13,000-strong pilots union on furloughs and early retirement packages.

Full details have yet to be published, but in a note sent to the pilots by the union and viewed by CNBC, the next step is the ratification of the plan, which could come as soon as next week.

The move is of particular value to United given its aggressive posture of tripling its daily departures. Having fewer paychecks to write can go a long way. The likely scenario is that United and the union will carbon copy much of what the airlines signed off on. As an example, Delta’s deal included partial pay for three years or age 65 (whichever comes first).

“Unfortunately, this may not be the full extent of the furloughs, and we must be prepared for more based on the Company’s plan to be 30 percent smaller next summer,” Capt. Todd Insler, chairman of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, wrote to members on Thursday.

A juggling act

Both airlines and airline employees are looking at a fish-or-cut-bait deadline of September 30 -- the date they agreed on to keep employees on the payroll, not furlough, or reduce the hourly pay scale. The agreement was the airline industry’s half of the bargain under the Payroll Support Program, which has helped keep them in business during the pandemic.

When the airlines signed off on that promise, the country’s way out of the coronavirus outbreak was starting to look promising, but that’s all changed.

CNBC reports that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told his staff in a company memo that the July Fourth weekend was a paltry 20 percent of the passenger load it flew last year. While United is gung-ho about scheduling new flights, Bastian says he’s hesitant about Delta expanding its schedule.

“And while we’re adding back about 1,000 flights systemwide this month, we’re still operating just about 30 percent of our normal July schedule,” Bastian said. “The continued growth of the virus through the Sun Belt, coupled with quarantine restrictions being implemented in large markets in the northern part of the country, give us renewed caution about further schedule additions at this time.”

Amazon has agreed to pay $134,523 to settle its potential civil liability over “multiple” alleged sanctions violations. 

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement on Wednesday that the charges apply specifically to items and services sent to people located in Crimea, Iran, and Syria between November 2011 and October 2018. These countries and regions are covered by Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions. 

“As a result of deficiencies related to Amazon’s sanctions screening processes, Amazon provided goods and services to persons sanctioned by OFAC; to persons located in the sanctioned region or countries of Crimea, Iran, and Syria; and to individuals located in or employed by the foreign missions of countries sanctioned by OFAC,” the statement said.

Additionally, the Department added that “several hundred” Amazon transactions weren’t disclosed in a timely manner. 

“Amazon also failed to timely report several hundred transactions conducted pursuant to a general license issued by OFAC that included a mandatory reporting requirement, thereby nullifying that authorization with respect to those transactions,” the Treasury Department said. 

“The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Amazon’s apparent violations were non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed, and further reflects the significant remedial measures implemented by Amazon upon discovery of the apparent violations. 

Not malicious lawbreaking

The Department added that it doesn’t believe Amazon deliberately engaged in unlawful activity. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Amazon’s system “failed to fully analyze all transaction and customer data relevant to compliance.” 

In 2019, Apple paid around $467,000 to settle similar allegations. The tech giant voluntarily disclosed the alleged violations and said it was an accidental oversight. 

"In 2017, we found that we had inadvertently paid a developer on [the] U.S. Treasury's List of Specially Designated Nationals," an Apple spokesman said last year. "We reported it to the authorities and fully cooperated with their investigation, which has now been completed."

The recent steady rise in gasoline prices appeared to stall this week as a number of states reported a surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.

The AAA Fuel Gauge Survey shows the price of regular gas is $2.19 a gallon, two cents more than last week. The average price of premium gas is $2.79 a gallon, just a penny more than last Friday. The average price of diesel fuel remains nearly the same as last week -- $2.44 a gallon.

In spite of last weekend’s Independence Day holiday, gasoline demand remained tepid over the last few days. Analysts suggest that the sharp rise of cases in Arizona, California, Texas, and Florida may have caused many people to reconsider holiday outings.

“Independence Day weekend gas prices were nearly 60 cents cheaper than last year and on top of that, they were the most inexpensive prices seen for the holiday since 2004,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA’s spokesperson.

Most states reported stable prices at the pump over the last week. In areas where prices did rise, it wasn’t always a matter of supply and demand. Several states increased their gasoline tax effective July 1, including California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina and Maryland.

The states with the most expensive gas

These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Survey:

• Hawaii ($3.23)

• California ($3.10)

• Washington ($2.75)

• Nevada ($2.63)

• Oregon ($2.62) 

• Alaska ($2.51)

• Colorado ($2.47)

• Pennsylvania ($2.44)

• Illinois ($2.40)

• Idaho ($2.34)

The states with the cheapest regular gas

The survey found these states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas:

• Mississippi ($1.83)

• Louisiana ($1.85)

• Arkansas ($1.88)

• Texas ($1.88)

• Alabama ($1.89)

• Missouri ($1.89)

• Oklahoma ($1.90)

• South Carolina ($1.92)

• Tennessee ($1.94)

• Virginia ($1.98)

Polaris Industries of Medina, Minn., is recalling about 28,000 model year 2019 - 2020 Ranger XP 1000 & model year 2020 General XP 1000 Utility Vehicles (UTVs) in the U.S., and Canada.

The throttle can fail to return to the idle position after the engine stalls and is restarted in gear without switching the key to the off position due to a software problem, causing the vehicle to accelerate suddenly, posing a crash hazard to the user.

No incidents or injuries are reported.

This recall involves model year 2019 Polaris Ranger XP 1000 EPS, Ranger CREW XP 1000, and model year 2020 Polaris Ranger XP 1000, Ranger CREW XP 1000, General XP 1000 Deluxe and General XP 4 1000 Deluxe.

The vehicles were sold in gray, blue, white, red, green camo, orange, sand and maroon, and have two or four seats.

“POLARIS” is stamped on the front grille and “Ranger” or “General” is printed on the sides of the rear cargo area. Vehicle identification numbers (VIN) included in this recall can be found stamped into the left rear vehicle frame below the cargo box.

The following model names are included in this recall:

The UTVs, manufactured in the U.S., Mexico and Poland, were sold at Polaris dealers nationwide from June 2018, through March 2020, for between $15,890 and $29,000.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled vehicles and contact a Polaris dealer to schedule a free inspection and repair. Polaris is notifying dealers and contacting registered owners directly.

Consumers may contact Polaris at (800) 765-2747 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday or online at www.polaris.com and click on “Off Road Safety Recalls” at the bottom of the page for more information.

Chrysler is recalling 32,972 MOPAR steering 4x4 drag link assemblies (part number 68369907AA), and the associated components: jam nuts (part numbers 06510749AA and 06510750AA), drag link inner (part number 68111304AA), drag link outer (68111301AA), and drag link adjuster (part number 68111302AA).

The parts were sold for replacement use on Heavy Duty Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks.

The outboard steering linkage jam nut may loosen, allowing one end of the drag link to separate. The drag link assemblies may have been installed as part of a vehicle repair.

A drag link separation can cause a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of crash.

The drag link assemblies installed during vehicle manufacturing were subject to an earlier recall.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will check the steering linkage jam nut tightness, replacing the drag link assembly or welding the nut to the adjuster sleeve free of charge.

If an owner bought any of these components at the counter of a dealer and it was not installed, the dealer will reimburse the owner. If the part has been installed, dealers will inspect the jam nut tightness free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin August 14, 2020.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at (800) 853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is W49.