ADT Commercial Enters Electronic Article Surveillance Market
To Deepen Retail Security Capabilities

Strategic partnership with WG Security Products, Inc. is expected to provide U.S. customers complete electronic article surveillance (EAS) solutions

ADT Commercial, a premier provider of commercial security, fire, life safety and risk consulting services in the U.S., announced today its expansion into the electronic article surveillance (EAS) market through a strategic alliance with WG Security Products, Inc.

ADT Commercial will install and service WG Security Products' comprehensive EAS portfolio in the U.S., including a full range of detection systems, hard tags, specialty tags, disposable labels, deactivation devices and detachers.

Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight below.


ADT: Super Serving Our Communities Through ADT Cares

Earlier this month, ADT teams gathered in Tampa for the Big Game to participate in the Super Service Challenge and help tackle hunger. Food, shoes, and socks were distributed to 1,000 families in need.

Wearing masks and staying safely apart, team members distributed thousands of new shoes and socks to residents in vehicles lined up in a parking lot. Volunteers from Feeding Tampa Bay also loaded four bags of groceries, many containing fresh vegetables, into each car and truck.

In addition to the volunteerism, the team was honored to make a $10,000 gift to Feeding Tampa Bay on behalf of ADT. Read More Here

 

---

Protests & Violence

Minneapolis' Post-Riot Recovery
Torched in riots, Highland Plaza is up and running again in Minneapolis

Insurance companies have been slow to pay commercial-property claims

After an eight-month hiatus, Cost Cutters and three other Highland Plaza tenants reopened last week, marking a major post-riot turnaround in an area devastated during several nights of violence. Mall owner Tom Roberts, who is spending $5 million on the rebuilding effort, expects several more tenants to open their doors in the coming weeks.

Though many landlords are still deciding whether or not to rebuild in the wake of the riots, Roberts charged ahead shortly after the fires were extinguished at Highland Plaza. The mall is one of more than 1,200 commercial properties ransacked or destroyed in Minneapolis and St. Paul in May, generating more than $500 million in estimated damages.

So far, however, insurance companies have been slow to pay claims. According to the most recent report from the Minnesota Commerce Department, $163 million of $293 million in commercial-property claims were paid as of December, or 55% of the total. By contrast, 89% of personal auto claims have been paid. startribune.com

Court of Appeals won't intervene in Derek Chauvin trial on March 8
Prosecutors did not establish a basis for the court's involvement, said a Friday ruling.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Friday that it would not intervene in the case against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with killing George Floyd, and delay his trial from March until the summertime as prosecutors had requested.

Prosecutors argued that the COVID-19 pandemic made it unsafe to hold Chauvin's trial in March. They asked the Court of Appeals to hold a hearing so they could argue their case orally, or, to skip a hearing and immediately issue a "writ of prohibition" to stop the trial. startribune.com

NYC: BLM protest Friday turns violent, leaving 2 NYPD cops injured, 11 arrested
A Black Lives Matter march through Midtown Manhattan turned violent Friday night, with 11 protesters arrested. The NYPD reported that two officers suffered minor injuries during the protest, which was attended by about 100 marchers; officials could not immediately say how the cops were hurt.

At least some of those arrested were accused of attacking Daily News photographer Sam Costanza at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street in the mistaken belief that he was a cop, sources said. foxnews.com

Georgia bill would increase penalties for crimes committed during protests
Months after Atlanta was the site of weeks of unrest in response to police brutality across the country, a Republican senator and former police officer has filed legislation that would increase penalties for people who commit crimes during a protest. Senate Bill 171 would increase the penalties for crimes such as blocking a highway, assaulting someone or damaging property when gathered in groups of two or more. ajc.com

Chicago PD Identifies 20 'Weaknesses' In Its Response To Last Summer's Protests, But Doesn't Mention Brutality Allegations
Protesters in Chicago claimed they were brutalized by police, business owners had their stores ransacked and Chicago cops complained of a lack of planning and leadership over the summer during the most stressful days of their policing careers. Now, the Chicago Police Department has completed its own assessment of how it handled the protests and looting.

The "after-action" report, which was published last week by CPD, identifies nearly 20 "weaknesses" in the department's response - but the internal review makes no mention of the brutality alleged by activists and glosses over complaints from officers that department failures put cops at risk.

The internal review comes as a court-appointed monitor is investigating how the Chicago Police Department handled the protests and as activists sue the city for alleged misconduct and brutality by dozens of officers. In a lawsuit filed last fall, 60 activists claimed the department's response to the protests were "brutal, violent and unconstitutional."

According to the CPD report, nearly 600 complaints of misconduct were filed against officers for alleged actions between May 29 and June 11, when the city saw massive protests and widespread looting after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. wbez.org

St. Louis agrees to $5 million settlement with Black officer beaten by police at protest

Rochester, NY police outline revised protest strategy to police board

Portland protesters hit cops with snowballs, break businesses' windows

LA protester lost testicle after he was shot with rubber bullet: lawsuit
 

---

---

The Legal Landscape Starts to Unfold

State Governments' Legal Powers - Biggest Test in a Century
Challenges to Covid-19 Lockdowns Have Been Mostly Losing in Court
Judges generally uphold restrictions on businesses and the scope of freedom, in biggest test of state governments' legal power in a century.

A long line of defeats for businesses and individuals challenging lockdown rules and state emergency measures intended to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Together, the roughly 300 civil liberties lawsuits related to Covid-19 represent the most significant test in more than a century of the emergency powers of state governors and the scope of liberty in dire times.

A review of rulings on emergency measures shows that federal and state courts have been reluctant to second-guess governors, upholding widespread restrictions on travel, gatherings and commerce.

When judges did push back against state orders, their sharpest scrutiny was reserved for restrictions on religious worship and abortion access. wsj.com

Insurers Being Directed to Accept Claims of Some Front-Line Workers
Why So Many Covid-19 Workers' Comp Claims Are Being Rejected

Employees who allege they contracted coronavirus on the job can face a high bar to prove their cases

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.

The data also suggest that carriers are denying a significant percentage of claims related to Covid-19, even in states with the so-called presumptive-eligibility rules. Through these measures, insurers are directed to accept the Covid-19-related claims of some front-line workers, bypassing the usual step in which workers have to prove their accident or illness occurred while at work.

Continue Reading: Workers Comp Payments - Legal Ambiguity - "Occupational Disease"
- Thousands of Cases - Case-by-Case
 

Winter Storm Pummels Large Part of U.S.

Icy Storm Barrels Across Central U.S., Leaving Millions Without Power

The snowstorm covered a huge part of the country, including states unaccustomed to slick roads and a deep freeze.

A massive winter storm bulldozed its way across the southern and central United States on Monday, leaving millions of people without power amid freezing temperatures, sending vehicles crashing into one another on ice-glazed highways and bringing blizzard-like conditions to places where snowfall is usually the news from elsewhere.

The storm was notable for its enormous reach - 150 million people were under storm warnings - and for a particularly perilous element it brought nearly everywhere: ice. It left a treacherous varnish on roads across a midsection of the country, including places where driving on ice is a rarity.

It was as confounding a storm as it was punishing. Snow blanketed Gulf of Mexico beaches and people went ice sledding on the roads of southern Louisiana. Alabama was warned of brutal ice storms in some places and of possible tornado outbreaks in others. Temperatures were lower in Austin than in Anchorage, Alaska.

The state of Texas woke up on Monday to the worst winter onslaught in decades. The state was blanketed by one of its largest snowfalls on record and grappling with hundreds of thousands of power outages, flight cancellations and urgent warnings from government leaders and emergency supervisors to stay put and reduce electric consumption. The 8 degrees recorded in Austin was the lowest in 32 years, forecasters said, and the 6.4 inches of snow dumped on the city overnight was reported to be the deepest in 55 years.

Across the country, at least 11 people have died since the storm intensified in the middle of last week; 10 have been killed in car crashes on Kentucky and Texas roads, including a pileup in Fort Worth, attributed to slippery roads, involved more than 100 vehicles and killed six people.

Business Impact
Walmart temporarily closes over 600 stores, Amazon shuts down delivery stations as businesses confront tough weather

Grocery stores and shopping centers closed early or didn't open at all Monday

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, approximately 628 Walmart and Sam's Club stores from Oregon to Florida have temporarily closed while the company's emergency operations center monitors the storms and "other potential disasters." The retailer put together an interactive map to help shoppers determine if their neighborhood location was open or not. Some closed stores continued to operate curbside pickup and delivery. Its closings spanned 10 states, including Texas.

And if you didn't see Amazon delivery trucks in your neighborhood Monday, the online retailing giant closed its delivery stations in Dallas-Fort Worth to protect its drivers from navigating treacherous roadways.

Businesses faced with unprecedented nasty weather across Texas, and elsewhere around the southern U.S., had to decide Monday if worker safety outweighed expectations that they'd be open for customers needing food and other essentials.

The prospects of a second snowstorm makes decisions trickier during what's shaping up to be a week of sub-freezing temperatures. dallasnews.com foxbusiness.com

Houston-area grocery stores closed, reducing hours due to weather and outages

Hardware stores working around the clock amid winter storm

Central Texans cleaned out grocery stores ahead of winter storm

Winter Storm Not Over Yet For Much Of The Country

Storm slows vaccine rollout as clinics close and deliveries stall
 

Study: The food safety-environment dilemma
COVID-19 has disrupted the status quo, accelerated trends and created a new landscape of consumer concerns and needs, redefining the ground rules for the industry and creating new paradigms.

Not surprisingly, COVID-19 is the number one concern for consumers worldwide, as evidenced in Tetra Pak's latest consumer research study. Against this backdrop, economic worries have seen a sharp upturn, reflecting widespread uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic on the economy, particularly employment.

Here are 10 takeaways from the study that show what it means for the food and beverage industry.

1: COVID has transformed the consumer landscape 2: Interplay between food safety & the environment 3: Transparency & trust more important than ever 4: Food waste is rising up the agenda 5: Consumers want to help - but labelling is key

6: Concern for the environment remains strong 7: Sustainable packaging matters 8: Convergence is increasing 9: What consumers want 10: Key conclusion  supermarketnews.com

Westfield Properties Getting Out of the US:
"Our exposure to the US will be minimal, if not zero."

Ahold Delhaize USA Grows Micro-Fulfillment Capabilities

Cruise ship visits to Canada now banned until February 2022

Carnival Cruise Line - Holland America & Princess Cruises Pause Sailings to Alaska Until May-June


Quarterly Results
CVS Health Q4 comp's up 5.3%, Front Store down 1.8%, Retail/LTC Segment revenue up 6.6%, revenue Pharmacy revenue up 1.9%, total revenue up 4%
CVS Health FY 2020 Front Store Revenue up 1.2%, Retail/LTC Segment revenue up 5.3%, Pharmacy revenue up 0.3%, total revenue up 4.6%
CVS Health Care Benefits Segment Q4 revenue up 11.4%, FY 2020 revenue up 8.4%

Canada's Indigo Books and Music Q3 retail channel down 27%, e-commerce up 92%, revenue down 5%


Last week's #1 article --

Close Call for Mike Pence, U.S. Senators
New security footage shows harrowing details of Capitol attack
The new footage, released on the second day of Trump's Senate trial, takes advantage of Capitol security cameras positioned around the complex, depicting both the violent intentions of the mob and the heroics of several Capitol Police officers, including Eugene Goodman, who diverted the mob away from senators on the chamber floor.

Among the revelations from the new footage: Goodman is seen racing down a second floor hallway toward the Senate chamber, where he bumps into Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who is fleeing toward the Rotunda. Goodman appears to redirect Romney back toward the chamber - and safety.

Some of the new footage was taken from the dozens of security cameras that are positioned inside the Capitol and the connected House and Senate office buildings as well as around the Capitol grounds.

The clear timeline reveals just how close a call it was for Pence. thehill.com
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Sr. Manager, AP Operations job posted for Bath & Body Works in Columbus, OH
Management position responsible for the management of Asset Protection system-based initiatives, analytics, AP training/education and center investigations. Position typically reports to the Director of Asset Protection and directly manages field and office-based associates. Provide oversight and direction to support investigations being conducted into internal and external theft/fraud. To include training, coaching, and developing a team of analysts and field manager(s). careers.lb.com