Current Events in October 2020

Ford Motor Company is recalling 839 model year 2017-20 Mustang Shelby GT350s and GT500s in Canada only

The daytime running lamps may not activate as required, possibly making the vehicle may be less visible to other drivers during the day and increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will update the body control module software.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at (866) 436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20C21.

Rideshare leaders Lyft and Uber must now classify their drivers as employees. A California Court of Appeals reaffirmed that decision on Thursday. 

The judges gaveled home their view that the public’s interest is better served if the damage is corrected rather than the companies -- and their shareholders -- protected.

“When violation of statutory workplace protections takes place on a massive scale, as alleged in this case, it causes public harm over and above the private financial interest of any given individual,” the appellate court said in its ruling, according to a report by the Sacramento Bee.

It ain’t over yet

The ruling is a setback to Uber and Lyft, which spent more than two years contending that the law does not apply to them. Both companies even went so far as to threaten to leave California altogether if they were forced to define their drivers as employees.

However, there are still a few more hoops for those companies to jump through before the dust finally settles. One is a ballot measure giving voters a say on the November 3 election day. The other is that the case will be sent back to the trial court. Before being reassigned to a court, the companies can go even further and appeal to the California Supreme Court.

Vote for us and set us free

It will be interesting to watch how many Californians jump through the election day hoop and side with Lyft and Uber. The two companies and their allies have reportedly spent nearly $200 million to curry the favor of voters on Proposition 22, a measure that would allow ridesharing and food delivery companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors. 

The pros and cons that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, et al are pitching shake out like this:

• The pros include that the measure would save rideshare and delivery services, plus hundreds of thousands of jobs. It would provide drivers new benefits, and guaranteed earnings. The advocacy groups behind the measure say it has the support of an overwhelming majority of drivers, community, public safety, and small business groups.

• The cons on Prop 22 for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash is that they can no longer write their own exemption to California law and profit from it. Plus, it would deny their drivers rights and safety protections they deserve: sick leave, healthcare and unemployment. The proposition’s naysayers say the companies will profit, but the exploited drivers will lose rights and protections. 

In recent polling conducted by the University of California - Berkeley, voters are swaying toward voting for the measure, but only by a smidge. The poll showed 39 percent of likely voters supporting it, 36 percent opposing it, and about 25 percent undecided.

Still facing serious headwinds

Of course, no news story these days would be complete without a reference to the pandemic, and this one is no different.

Ridesharing companies face quite a headwind, likely at the hands of consumers who have health safety concerns riding in a car that a person with COVID-19 could have been in earlier.

A CarGurus survey conducted early in the pandemic found an immediate sharp decline in the number of consumers planning to use a ride-sharing service. It found that 40 percent of consumers wanted to use rideshares less or not at all, while 49 percent said they would instead use their own vehicle.

Apple has announced that it will open up more “Express” stores to make it easier for consumers to pick up orders amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reports. 

At “Express” locations, consumers will see a wall built in front of the main Apple store with sales counters protected by plexiglass. Customers can quickly pick up an order they placed online or speak with an Apple associate behind the glass for in-person service. 

The retailer started testing the store format last month in California, calling it “a swifter way for us to serve customers.” 

“It allows us to maintain all the appropriate social distancing and maintain all of our health protocols within our stores,” retail SVP Deirdre O’Brien told Reuters.

Apple has now opened 20 Express stores across the U.S. and Europe and plans to have more than 50 Express locations by the end of October. The launch of the new format coincides with the launch of the company’s new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, as well as the holiday season. 

The retailer’s past efforts to keep customers safe during the pandemic have included temporarily closing all of its retail stores outside of China. Apple has reopened most of its stores in recent months, although some have temporarily closed again due to spikes in COVID-19 cases. A list of the stores currently open can be found on Apple’s website. 

With federal and state governments suing pharmaceutical companies and drug store chains in connection with the opioid crisis, Walmart isn’t waiting to be the government’s next target.

The retailer is suing the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), asking the courts to clarify the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacies under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

Walmart filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. It comes just days after the Department of Justice announced an $8.5 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma over its marketing of the opioid painkiller Oxycontin.

In a statement, Walmart said its pharmacists, following company policy, have refused to fill hundreds of thousands of opioid prescriptions they thought could be problematic. The company said it has also blocked thousands of questionable doctors from having their opioid prescriptions filled by any Walmart.

In other words, the retailer said it has been doing its part to stem the opioid addiction crisis.

‘Chasing headlines’

“Unfortunately, certain DOJ officials have long seemed more focused on chasing headlines than fixing the crisis,” Walmart charged. “They are now threatening a completely unjustified lawsuit against Walmart, claiming in hindsight pharmacists should have refused to fill otherwise valid opioid prescriptions that were written by the very doctors that the federal government still approves to write prescriptions.”

The company said it resorted to filing the lawsuit because there is no federal law requiring pharmacists to interfere in the doctor-patient relationship to the degree it said the Justice Department is demanding. It says federal and state health agencies have, in fact, told the company it’s not allowed to do that.

“Walmart and our pharmacists are torn between demands from DEA on one side and health agencies and regulators on the other, and patients are caught in the middle,” the company statement said.

The suit is asking the court to clarify the roles and legal responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacies in filling opioid prescriptions.

As many consumers are looking to follow healthier diets, experts continue to find how the things we put into our bodies can affect everything from our immune response to life expectancy. 

Now, researchers from Princeton University have discovered that the development of obesity and disease could stem from evolutionary diet changes. They explained that our bodies were made to digest the types of food our ancestors ate; however, because present-day diets have shifted so much from that, our metabolisms struggle to keep up, which increases the likelihood of disease. 

“Humans evolved in a very different environment than the one we’re currently living in,” said researcher Amanda Lea. “No one diet is universally bad. It’s about the mismatch between your evolutionary history and what you’re currently eating.” 

Observing dietary changes

For this study, the researchers studied the Turkana population in Kenya. In recent years, the group has split in two: the remote portion of the population continues to rely on the animals and plants around them for food, while another portion has moved into more urban areas and has incorporated more processed foods and carbohydrates into their diets.  

“We realized that we had the opportunity to study the effect of transitioning away from a traditional lifestyle, relying on almost 80 percent animal byproducts -- a diet extremely protein-rich and rich in fats, with very little to no carbohydrates -- to a mostly carbohydrate diet,” said researcher Julian Ayroles. “This presented an unprecedented opportunity: genetically homogenous populations whose diets stretch across a lifestyle gradient from relatively ‘matched’ to extremely ‘mismatched’ with their recent evolutionary history.” 

In addition to analyzing the diets of both groups, the researchers also evaluated several different biomarkers that could be linked to disease, including body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, blood pressure, and body fat percentage, among others. 

They learned that those who had maintained the traditional Turkana diet had the lowest disease risk and the greatest health outcomes compared to those who had adopted a more current diet and lifestyle. Those in the latter group were more likely to develop high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes, among several other conditions.  

“There’s a cumulative effect,” Lea said. “The more you experience the urban environment -- the evolutionarily mismatched environment -- the worse it’s going to be for your health.” 

Moving forward, the researchers don’t recommend that all consumers follow the Turkana diet. Instead, the goal is personal: what part of our ancestors’ diets could most benefit our health and wellness today? 

“One of the most remarkable things about the Turkana if that if you and I went on the Turkana diet, we would get sick really quickly!” Ayroles said. “The key to metabolic health may be to align our diet and activity levels with that of our ancestors, but we still need to determine which components matter most.” 

Heads up, personal data protectors! Amazon is inviting its customers to take part in a “shopper panel” -- a program where they can earn rewards simply by taking part in surveys and by sharing receipts on purchases they've made outside of Amazon’s platform. 

In other words, Amazon wants to dive deeper into how you’re shopping, where you’re shopping, and the kinds of things you’re shopping for. 

The Amazon Shopper Panel is purely an opt-in, invitation-only program. It’s up to the consumer to decide if they want to share their personal shopping data. 

How it works

According to its website, the Shopper Panel plays out like this:

Rewards: To earn rewards, participants need to upload 10 eligible receipts per month via the Amazon Shopper Panel app, either by taking photos of paper receipts or by forwarding email receipts to the panel. Amazon says the participants who do will earn $10 towards their choice of either an Amazon available funds balance or as a donation to a specific charity. Customers will continue to earn rewards each month they participate and every survey they complete.

To get the hang of things, according to MobileMarketer, Amazon will use “machine learning” to process the receipts, overseen by human reviewers for "a small sample of submissions" to help train the system.

Surveys: The surveys are supposedly your standard fare stuff like opinions on brands and products. The number of surveys and earnings per survey will change month to month. 

How Amazon will use the data

Before anyone signs up for the program, they should know exactly how Amazon intends to use what it tracks. According to the company, its uses “may” include the following:

Advertising measurement: “We may use your purchase information to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns to help advertisers understand the relationship between ads and product purchases at an aggregate level. We will never share any personal information collected via the Amazon Shopper Panel with third parties.”

Inform models used for advertising: “We may use the information you provide to help us build models about which groups of customers are likely to be interested in certain products.”

Research: “We may use survey responses to help brands get feedback on new or existing products and help advertisers understand how customers respond to ads. We will never share any of your individual survey responses with third parties.”

Product and content selection: “We may use your purchase information and survey responses to improve the product selection on Amazon.com and affiliate stores such as Whole Foods Market and to improve the content offered through Amazon services such as Prime Video.”

Privacy issues?

Of course, given its record and past data breaches, the big question is how much will Amazon glean from following its customers’ purchases?

“Participation in the Amazon Shopper Panel is voluntary and panelists can stop using the app, sharing receipts, or answering survey questions at any time,” the company said. “Amazon only receives information that panelists explicitly choose to share via the Shopper Panel, such as the information extracted from any uploaded receipts (including product or retailer names) or survey responses.”

Amazon says it will delete any sensitive information -- using as an example, prescription information from drug store receipts -- and, according to MobileMarketer’s research, all information will be deleted after one year. 

Panelists also have the option to delete previously uploaded receipts at any time. 

“Amazon securely stores panelists’ personal information and handles it in accordance with Amazon’s Privacy Notice,” the company said.

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

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 8,413,274 (8,342,228)

Total U.S. deaths: 223,087 (222,263}

Total global cases: 41,829,333 (41,341,755)

Total global deaths: 1,138,955 (1,133,032)

FDA approves remdesivir as coronavirus treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Gilead Sciences’ drug remdesivir to treat the coronavirus (COVID-19). It is the first and only approved treatment for the virus in the United States.

Since April, however, the drug has been widely used to treat COVID-19 patients under the FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA). That status was granted while the FDA reviewed the antiviral drug for official approval. 

The drug has been cleared for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 88 pounds, in COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization. The FDA says remdesivir should only be administered in a hospital or in a healthcare setting capable of providing acute care comparable to inpatient hospital care. 

Signs of ‘deterioration’ in the Sun Belt

The White House Coronavirus Taskforce has expressed growing concern about the rapid rise of coronavirus cases in a number of states. In its report, obtained by CNN, the group said there are "early signs of deterioration in the Sun Belt and continued deterioration in the Midwest and across the Northern States."

A growing number of governments and health department officials have expressed similar concerns, especially in states where hospitalizations have suddenly spiked. The national average of new daily cases has climbed to just under 60,000. That’s the highest it’s been since early August.

At the same time, an analysis of data by NBC News shows the U.S. recorded 77,640 new cases of the virus Thursday. That’s a record one-day increase, eclipsing the old record set in late July.

Pandemic takes center stage at final presidential debate

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met Thursday night in their final debate of the campaign and the subject of the pandemic and how the president has handled it was a frequent topic of discussion.

Trump said his administration had taken tough steps to deal with the pandemic, including shutting down what had been a thriving economy. He said the strategy has worked and that the country had “rounded the corner.”

Biden said Trump is responsible for the coronavirus death toll and should not remain as president. He said Trump lacks a national strategy and has misled Americans about the severity of the crisis.  

Scientists say ‘microdroplets’ are not efficient virus spreaders

A team of international researchers concludes that aerosol microdroplets that float in the air longest after we talk, cough, or sneeze, do not appear to be extremely efficient at spreading the virus that leads to COVID-19.

Writing in Physics of Fluids, scientists at the University of Amsterdam said they used laser technology to measure the distribution of droplets released when people speak or cough. While the lingering microdroplets are certainly not risk-free, due to their small size, the researchers found they contain less virus than the larger droplets that are produced when someone coughs, speaks, or sneezes directly on us.

“Based on the current insights, we actually see that aerosol-wise, it’s relatively safe to go into well-ventilated modern buildings, such as airports, train stations, modern offices, etc.,” said Daniel Bonn, one of the authors.

Movie theaters may continue to face hard times

AMC and Regal have been crushed by the pandemic and movie theaters around the world have been closed, or open only to limited seating. And a new report suggests the pain could extend long after the pandemic is over.

The latest Colling Media Snapshot Survey found many consumers say they aren’t that interested in going back to theaters but instead have found plenty of entertainment from video streaming services and video games.

"We may be seeing a fundamental change in how people are consuming entertainment," says Brian Colling, CEO of Colling Media. "Only time will tell if the movie theater industry will return to full health, but it must certainly be troubling to Hollywood that a large number of consumers appear to have shifted to in-home entertainment consumption which could become permanent. We have seen many brands maximize this unprecedented time with strategic programmatic and integrated channel partnerships."

Around the nation

• New Jersey: Woodbridge Township schools opened in early October using a hybrid model that allows students to take turns attending classes for half-days. But after 36 students and teachers tested positive for the coronavirus, four schools have had to switch back to virtual learning.

• Kentucky: Republicans are subjecting Gov. Andy Beshear to more scrutiny when it comes to invoking emergency powers. State Treasurer Allison Ball has urged lawmakers to put limits on the Democratic governor's ability to take executive action in an emergency like the pandemic.

• Oregon: State health officials have reported a worrisome trend. Workplace outbreaks increased to 78 this week, up from 73 last week. The largest active outbreak remains at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario.

Recent studies have highlighted the benefits of getting quality sleep each night, while others have shown how a lack of sleep can affect everything from consumers’ diets to cognitive functioning. 

Now, a new study conducted by researchers from Washington State University has found that sleep could be the key to better mental health following a traumatic event. According to their findings, increasing sleep time after a trauma was linked with fewer negative effects. 

“People with PTSD oftentimes experience nightmares and other types of sleep disturbances, such as frequent awakenings and insomnia,” said researcher William Vanderheyden. “One thought was that those sleep disturbances may cause further cognitive impairment and worsen the effects of PTSD or the initial trauma. So we wanted to see whether repairing the sleep disturbances associated with trauma exposure could help alleviate the symptoms of PTSD.” 

The power of sleep

Over the course of a three-day study conducted on mice, the researchers sought to understand how sleep can affect mental health outcomes following a trauma. On the first day, the mice heard a sound and then were immediately shocked in the foot. After they had grown used to this experience, the next two days were devoted to having them forget that memory, by having the sound played without the shock. 

In terms of their sleeping habits, half of the mice were given optogenetic stimulation prior to the three-day experiment, which allows a sleep-related hormone to be released in greater quantities and aids in longer sleep times. The other half of the group received no interventions and slept as they normally would. 

The researchers learned that the group that had received optogenetic stimulation not only slept longer over the course of seven days, but they were also better at forgetting the traumatic experience of getting shocked in the foot during the three-day experiment. 

The mice in the control group had a harder time forgetting the shock, and would freeze in place after hearing the sound that had signaled the shock was coming. Conversely, the mice who had gotten more sleep were better at breaking the association between the sound and the traumatic experience. 

In thinking about how these findings could apply to humans and traumatic situations, the researchers believe that sleep-related interventions could be beneficial. However, the researchers do wonder about the role that time plays, as they hypothesize that the greatest success will come immediately following a traumatic event and not in trying to heal past traumas. 

“This highlights that there is a time-sensitive window when -- if you intervene to improve sleep -- you could potentially stave off the negative effects of trauma,” Vanderheyden said. “Conversely, it seems likely that if you are kept awake after a trauma, this could potentially be harmful to your cognitive function, though we haven’t directly tested this as part of our study.” 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports a large increase in the number of Americans falling victim to scams originating on social media. The FTC said the spike began almost as soon as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit.

The agency says the number of complaints about scams that started on social media more than tripled in the last 12 months. People reported losing more than $117 million to these types of scams in just the first six months of 2020 compared to $134 million for all of 2019, according to the FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight.

Online shopping topped the list of complaints from consumers who reported a scam to the FTC that originated on social media. During those first few weeks in the spring when nearly everyone was sheltering in place, scammers ran social media ads for home delivery of all sorts of household products that never arrived.

An overwhelming majority of victims -- 94 percent -- said the scams were delivered on either Facebook or Instagram. Those two platforms were also favorite vehicles for romance scams.

Bogus income opportunities

Other common scams revolved around economic relief or income opportunities. The FTC says people who suddenly lost their jobs were the most likely to be victimized.

“As people seek more ways to earn money, reports about multi-level marketing (MLM) companies and pyramid schemes – including blessing circles and other gifting schemes – on social media have increased,” the FTC said in its latest Data Spotlight. “The numbers were up a staggering fivefold in the second quarter of 2020.”

Social media proved to be a powerful tool for scammers running these types of schemes. The FTC said the pitch was often distributed through hacked Facebook accounts so it would appear a friend was recommending the pyramid scheme.

In a few cases, the FTC said some people who bit on the scammer’s pitch distributed it to their friends, legitimately believing it to be a good opportunity in economically uncertain times.

The FTC says the use of social networks to target victims gives a scammer added power. It says scammers can obtain trust by breaking into one of these networks of people who know one another.

Tips for avoiding scams

To protect yourself from scams launched from social media platforms, the FTC offers this advice:

• Check out the company before you buy anything based on a social media ad. Type its name in a search engine with words like or “scam” or “complaint.”

• Never send money to a love interest you have not met in person.

• If you get a message from a friend about a way to get some financial relief, call them. Did they forward it to you? If not, tell them their account may have been hacked. If so, check it out before you act.

• Before paying to enroll in an income “opportunity,” check out ftc.gov/mlm

• Don’t make it easy for scammers to target you – check your social media privacy settings to limit what you share publicly.

Motorists are still driving less during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, so demand for gasoline continues to fall. That means there’s little to push up prices at the pump.

The AAA Fuel Gauge Survey shows the national average price of regular gas is $2.16 a gallon, a penny less than last Friday. It’s two cents lower than it was a month ago.

The average price of premium gas is $2.77 a gallon, two cents less than a week ago. The average price of diesel fuel is $2.37 a gallon, down from $2.38 last week.

This week’s Petroleum Industry Report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows U.S. gasoline supplies rose by 1.9 million barrels for the week to October 16. Gasoline production last week averaged 8.9 million barrels a day, compared with 9.2 million barrels a day a week earlier.

Since they were turning out less gasoline, U.S. oil refineries ran this week at only 72.9 percent of capacity. During normal time, refineries usually operate at 93 percent of capacity.

With supplies rising and demand falling, prices have remained stable across much of the nation. Kentucky and Washington DC saw the biggest fluctuations during the week. The gas average price is five cents a gallon higher in Kentucky but five cents a gallon less in the nation’s capital.

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 ($3.28)

• California ($3.19)

• Washington ($2.77)

• Nevada ($2.61)

• Oregon ($2.58)

• Alaska ($2.51)

• Pennsylvania ($2.47)

• Utah ($2.38)

• Idaho ($2.35)

• Illinois ($2.27)

The states with the cheapest regular gas

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

• Mississippi ($1.84)

• Texas ($1.86)

• Missouri ($1.84)

• Arkansas ($1.87)

• Oklahoma ($1.86)

• Alabama ($1.90)

• Louisiana ($1.89)

• South Carolina ($1.90)

• Tennessee ($1.92)

• Kansas ($1.93)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) is so new that health experts continue to learn about it and redefine measures for people to take to protect themselves.

In the latest revision, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has redefined what it means to be in “close contact” with someone who has the virus.

Until now, close contact was defined as someone who spent at least 15 minutes within six feet of a person with a confirmed case. The CDC now says a close contact is someone who has been within six feet of an infected person for a total of at least 15 minutes over a 24-hour period.

The distinction may seem minor but is important. If you have come within six feet of someone who is infected for a few minutes in the morning, a longer period at mid-day, and for a time in the afternoon -- as long as it adds up to at least 15 minutes -- then you have been in close contact and need to quarantine and be tested for the virus.

In a study published this week, the CDC determined that those multiple short exposures to people confirmed to have COVID-19 have led to the transmission of the virus.

The revision was largely driven by a case in Vermont. In August, a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a male correctional facility employee was reported to the Vermont Department of Health (VDH). A couple of weeks before, the correctional officer had multiple brief encounters with six incarcerated or detained persons while their SARS-CoV-2 test results were pending. 

The employee later tested positive for the virus, even though he had not spent 15 minutes at a time with the infected prisoners. However, the cumulative time spent within six feet of the prisoners exceeded 15 minutes.

Some infected persons were not wearing masks

The report also noted that some of the prisoners who were suspected of being infected were not wearing masks during their close contact with the correctional officer.

“The correctional officer reported no other known close contact exposures to persons with COVID-19 outside work and no travel outside Vermont during the 14 days preceding illness onset,” the CDC authors write. “COVID-19 cumulative incidence in his county of residence and where the correctional facility is located was relatively low at the time of the investigation, suggesting that his most likely exposures occurred in the correctional facility through multiple brief encounters -- not initially considered to meet VDH’s definition of close contact exposure."

Caitlin Rivers, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told NPR that the change in the CDC definition will "mostly impact workplaces, schools and other places where people spend all day together off and on." She says it could also increase the number of people who, in the future, will be asked to quarantine.

Jakks Pacific of Santa Monica, Calif., is recalling about 162,300 MorfBoard Skate & Scoot Combo scooters with “Y” handlebars.

The “Y” handlebar joint can break, posing a fall hazard.

The company has received 18 reports of the “Y” handlebars breaking with one injury when a child fell resulting in a bloody nose.

This recall involves Morfboard Skate & Scoot Combo scooters with “Y” handlebars.

The skateboard system has interchangeable parts that convert into a scooter by inserting the ‘Y” handlebar into the base board.

The scooters were sold in a variety of colors, including cyan (blue), chartreuse (yellow), lava (red) and mint (green).

An 8-character alphanumeric manufacturing date code is located on the bottom side of each skate deck that is sold as part of the Skate & Scoot Combo.

Only scooters with the following manufacturing date codes are included in the recall: 0049VE01, 0128VE01, 0238VE01, 0328VE01, 0598VE01, 0718VE01, 0878VE01, 1068VE01, 1168VE01, 1278VE01, 1458VE01, 1508VE01,1598VE01, 1858VE01, 2068VE01, 2328VE01, 2398VE01, 2478VE01, 2548VE01, 2508VE01, 2568VE01, 2958VE01, 3198VE01, 3258VE01, 3537VE01, 3628VE01.

The scooters, manufactured in China, were sold at Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Meijer, BJ’s Wholesale Club stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com and morfboard.com from February 2018, through August 2020, for about $100.

What to do

Consumers should immediately take these recalled scooters with the “Y” handlebars away from children and contact Jakks Pacific to receive a free replacement “T” handlebar.

Consumers may contact Jakks Pacific toll-free at (855) 602-5464 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday, or online at www.jakks.com and click on “Safety Notices” at the bottom of the page or for more information.

Ford Motor Company is recalling about 700 model year 2020 Ford Escapes.

The tire pressure monitoring system may function in a reduced capacity and intermittently fail to give the driver an adequate warning of low air pressure in the rear tires.

Driving with low tire pressure could lead to poor vehicle handling and control, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Ford will contact owners, and dealers will replace the body control module.

Owners may contact Ford customer service at (866) 436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S59.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the turkey industry’s Thanksgiving forecast is anything but good -- and looking at nearly 50 years of steadily growing turkey consumption, about to completely evaporate. 

In a survey of the situation, ConsumerAffairs found several potential trouble spots. For one, turkey farmers are upside down trying to figure out processing plans that the pandemic has cast a shadow over, such as whether Americans will travel home to risk the downside of large celebrations.

Grocers are also shifting toward pre-prepped meals, turkey sold by the pound, and plant-based options. And the industry is overrun with an overstock of large turkeys and not enough smaller-sized turkeys.

There are a myriad of trickle-down effects on the consumer that the turkey industry’s trouble spots are causing. Here’s how those play out…

Celebration size

One of the major shifts is in celebration size. A spokesperson at Butterball told the Washington Post that it was expecting an upward tick in celebrations, but with "immediate-family-only."

The Post also reported that Butterball’s consumer-helping Turkey Talk Line is expecting more incoming calls than ever before because there will be more people making their own turkeys for the very first time.

Demand for plant-based options

Another headache the turkey industry is facing is a downward trend in demand. Normally, more than 45 million turkeys are consumed around Thanksgiving, and that number has nearly doubled in the last 50 years with people eating about 16 pounds each. 

In its analysis of the situation, FoodDive found that the kinds of meals served at the Thanksgiving table are starting to favor plant-based products. Tofurky, a plant-based turkey replacement product, sold 5 million of its vegan Thanksgiving roasts in 2018, and told the Washington Post it already has seen an increase in 2020 Thanksgiving orders. 

And, despite the fact that a turkey is not really a turkey if it’s made from a blend of wheat protein and organic tofu, turkey processing kings Butterball, Perdue Farms, and Tyson Foods have all said that they have been working on creating plant-based options for the standard-issue Thanksgiving bird. 

Too many big birds

While U.S. turkey farmers are at their wit’s end trying to predict demand and processing schedules, their overriding fear is that they will be stuck with too many big turkeys and not enough small ones, a particularly nasty problem for fresh turkey producers.

For the holidays, turkey producers usually shoot for a mixture of about 80 percent hens (females) which average 16 pounds, and 20 percent toms (males), which grow over 20 pounds. Demand is skewing smaller this year and the bigger the bird, the bigger the problem.

"We didn't have the foresight that there might be changed consumer preferences," Drew Bowman, a turkey farmer who raises 70,000 free-range turkeys annually, told FoodMarket. "And if you're growing a tom, if you kill it early, it's going to be very bony and not appetizing-looking. They don't have a lot of meat on their bones when they are smaller."

Not to worry says the National Turkey Federation

ConsumerAffairs reached out to the National Turkey Federation to get its take on the situation.

“The turkey industry has been working hard to make sure there are plenty of turkey products available for consumers. While celebrations may look a little different this year with more ‘first-timers’ cooking or a smaller guest list, turkey will continue to be the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal,” Beth Breeding, the Federation’s Vice President of Communications & Marketing, told ConsumerAffairs.

“Some consumers may opt for a smaller turkey or a turkey breast, but we still expect many families to purchase their traditional turkey,” Breeding said. “Plus, don’t forget about the turkey leftovers and the many delicious uses for any extra turkey!”

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

Total U.S. confirmed cases: 8,342,228 (8,277,961)

Total U.S. deaths: 222,263 (221,150}

Total global cases: 41,341,755 (40,914,651)

Total global deaths: 1,133,032 (1,126,562)

Midwestern states reeling from the pandemic

A number of states in the Midwest have seen new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) surge over the last few weeks, and state officials have begun to take steps to curb activity that could spread the virus.

"Folks, please stay home," Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement. "Help us protect our communities from this highly-contagious virus and avoid further strain on our hospitals."

Reuters reports that deaths from COVID-19 hit daily records this week in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky reported record numbers of new cases.

CDC sees ‘distressing trend’

Top health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned that cases of the coronavirus are increasing in about 75 percent of the U.S.

Dr. Jay Butler, who serves as deputy director for infectious diseases at CDC, said there has been a "distressing trend" in which coronavirus case numbers are on the rise.

"This past week, we've seen nearly 60,000 cases a day on average, as well as 700 deaths," he said, blaming “pandemic fatigue” for Americans becoming less vigilant.

Why the death rate is falling

Health officials are worried about the spike in COVID-19 cases across the country. But while more people are getting sick, the death rate hasn’t risen as fast. Researchers at NYU Langone Health think they know why.

"Our findings suggest that while COVID-19 remains a terrible disease, our efforts to improve treatment are probably working," said study lead author Dr. Leora Horwitz. "Even in the absence of a silver-bullet treatment or vaccine, we are protecting more of our patients through a host of small changes."

The researchers’ investigation showed that by mid-August the death rate for those hospitalized with the virus had dropped from 27 percentage points to about 3 percentage points. The study also showed that a younger, healthier group of people were getting infected and were arriving at the hospital with less-severe symptoms than those infected in the spring.

A slight reduction in layoffs

If new claims for unemployment benefits are any indication, there was a slowdown last week in companies laying off workers. The Labor Department reports initial claims were 787,000 last week, a marked improvement from the last few weeks.

The number reflects a decline of 55,000 claims from the previous week’s revised total of 842,000 new unemployment claims. It marked the lowest number of jobless benefit claims since March 14, just before the pandemic shut down the economy.

The improving job situation may take some of the pressure off Congress to pass the next round of pandemic aid and stimulus. On-going talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have failed to reach a compromise agreement.

Target introduces holiday safety measures

Recent surveys suggest consumers won’t visit stores as much as in the past and will do more of their holiday shopping online. But Target is taking steps to make consumers feel safer when they visit its stores this holiday season.

Improvements include contactless self-checkout and technology that allows shoppers to avoid waiting in line. Target said it also plans to double the number of drive-up spots at its stores. 

"As we've navigated the pandemic, our focus has evolved to ensure we're also creating the safest place for our guests to shop," said Target CEO Brian Cornell. "As we approach the holidays, guests can feel confident in choosing Target – a safe experience, incredible value, and a differentiated assortment that will help them celebrate the joy of the season."

Around the nation

• Arizona: The state’s COVOD-19 count is rising again. Dr. Cara Christ, Arizona Department of Health Services director, says the state is at a pivotal moment. "A lot of it is going to depend on the upcoming weeks," Christ told The Arizona Republic.

• Louisiana: The rise in coronavirus cases in some states has been linked to the resumption of in-classroom school, but not in Louisiana. “Thankfully, we are not seeing large centers of transmission in the K-12 environment that some people feared,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, an official at the state Office of Public Health.

• New Mexico: Electronic signs along major highways urge motorists to “protect NM hospitals and say home.” Hospitals, which are normally 65 percent full, this week reported 81 percent of their beds are occupied. 

Instacart is partnering with ALDI to offer consumers the option of paying for grocery delivery and pickup services using their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. 

Instacart users will be able to add ALDI’s EBT SNAP-eligible products to their cart. Before checking out, customers can select how much of their benefits they would like to allocate to the order.

The option will launch first in Georgia in the next few weeks and will be added to more than 60 ALDI stores after that. In the coming months, SNAP EBT participants will be able to use their benefits at more than 570 stores across Illinois, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

Making groceries more accessible

This is the first time Instacart shoppers have been able to use their government assistance benefits, and it coincides with a period of increased food insecurity in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Earlier this year, a Feeding America study found that more than 54 million people (including 18 million children) may experience food insecurity in 2020.

“The introduction of Instacart’s EBT SNAP payments comes at a time when food insecurity in the U.S. has compounded as the nation continues to be impacted by COVID-19,” Instacart said in its announcement. “In Georgia specifically, food insecurity impacts 12.5% of the population and disproportionately affects communities of color.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working for some time to make online grocery more accessible to SNAP recipients through an online purchasing pilot program. 

Amazon and Walmart recently launched the option to pay for online grocery delivery using SNAP benefits, in part to reduce the need for low-income consumers to put their health at risk by shopping in-person during the pandemic.

Whether it’s coffee or tea, many consumers start their mornings with a caffeinated drink. Now, a new study has found that this daily ritual could come with some unexpected health benefits. 

According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), drinking green tea or coffee each day is linked with a lower risk of death for consumers with type 2 diabetes. 

“In this prospective study, we found that higher green tea and coffee consumption was significantly associated with decreased all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes,” the researchers wrote. “This association remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders: the impact of each beverage on mortality was independent.” 

Benefits of caffeinated beverages

To understand the health benefits associated with drinking green tea and coffee, the researchers tracked the health of over 4,900 participants with type 2 diabetes for five years. The participants self-reported on their daily food and drink consumption, and the researchers evaluated their height, weight, and blood pressure. 

The researchers learned that drinking green tea and coffee -- particularly in large quantities -- was associated with the lowest risk of death from any cause. While it may seem like too much caffeine, the study revealed that those who drank at least four cups of green tea and at least two cups of coffee each day reduced their risk of death by over 60 percent. 

Even choosing just one of the beverages was linked with a lower risk of death; however, the more the participants drank each day, the more they reduced their risk of death. For example, having one cup of green tea every day lowered the risk of mortality by 15 percent, but increasing the green tea intake to four cups a day reduced the risk of death by 40 percent. The findings were similar with coffee, as having one coffee per day lowered the risk of death by 12 percent, but having two or more coffees reduced the risk of death by 41 percent. 

The researchers are unsure why this trend emerged between green tea, coffee, and diabetes health risks, but they explained that the biological make-up of both beverages are associated with anti-inflammatory properties, which could be why they’re so beneficial to consumers’ health. 

“The mechanisms underlying reduced mortality with green tea and coffee consumption are not fully understood,” the researchers wrote. “Green tea contains a number of beneficial substances, including phenolic compounds, theanine, and caffeine. Coffee also contains numerous bioactive components, including phenolic compounds and caffeine, which have been suggested as contributing to the associated favorable effects.”