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But Fed officials on Monday said the jury is very much out. Bostic said businesses in his southeastern U.S. Fed district "are telling me we think you're close to overdoing it ... Investors have consistently bet that the central bank, due to some combination of recession or a faster-than-expected drop in inflation, will be cutting rates by later this year. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said the central bank probably has "more work to do on our end, to try to bring inflation back down." In addition, he says the full impact of Fed rate hikes has yet to be felt.

☆ It’s Been a Warm 2023 for the Eastern U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Talal Ansari | Suryatapa Bhattacharya | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

It was ice cream weather in Washington, D.C., in February. Photo: Anna Rose Layden/Bloomberg NewsThe eastern U.S. had a record warm start to the year, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia all had their warmest January to April on record, data from NOAA’s U.S. climate report show. Other Eastern states—Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina and West Virginia—posted their second-warmest period. NOAA and its predecessors have been recording weather data since the 1800s.

☆ FAA launches faster, high-altitude flight routes to avoid congestion along the East Coast
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Aviation Administration has launched nearly 170 new flight routes that are shorter and faster, aiming to cut down on congestion in the eastern U.S. It's part of a seven-year effort from the FAA and airlines to redraw high-altitude route maps for planes, the agency said Monday. The FAA launched the 169 new routes last week, and is abandoning older ones, which were longer and zigzagged more. Those longer routes were designed for planes relying on ground-based radar and not the GPS that modern aircraft use. The FAA estimated that the new routes would reduce about 6,000 minutes of travel time a year.

☆ How Unusual Was This Winter’s Snowfall Across the U.S.?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Zach Levitt | Elena Shao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Boston New York City 120 inches 120 80 80 Previous years since 2003 40 40 This year Oct. Dec. Feb. Apr. Oct. Dec. Feb. Apr. Philadelphia Washington, D.C. 120 120 80 80 40 40 Oct. Dec. Feb. Apr. Oct. Dec. Feb. Apr. Boston 100 inches Previous years since 2003 80 60 40 20 This year Oct. Dec. Feb. Apr.

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☆ Dominion Energy, National Grid pursuing pipeline sales - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 6 (Reuters) - Utility firms Dominion Energy (D.N) and National Grid Plc (NG.L) are separately considering a potential sale of parts of their natural gas pipeline networks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. National Grid on the other hand is exploring a possible sale of part of its pipeline network serving the Northeastern U.S. Eliminating natural gas appliances would mean transitioning to electric equipment such as heat pumps. Dominion and National Grid's shares on the New York Stock Exchange were trading 0.4% and 1% higher, respectively. Dominion and National Grid declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

☆ Fact Check-NOAA graphic does not show public threat from ‘deadly plume’ after Ohio train derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Weeks after the crash, a tweet sharing the NOAA graphic said: “This is how far the deadly plume from East Palestine, OH had traveled by Feb. 8. The image shows the “vertical distribution of air movement” away from the train derailment incident, Alison Gillespie, a NOAA spokesperson, told Reuters via email. “The concentration of pollution decreases dramatically as you go downwind,” which she said is not seen in the graphic shared online. The Feb. 24 NOAA post acknowledged that the graphic was removed from the original article, then restored unchanged, without explaining the removal. A NOAA graphic shared on social media shows a simulation of generic particle dispersion vertically into the atmosphere following an Ohio train derailment and fire but does not indicate air pollution levels or the risk they posed.

Trumzz | Istock | Getty ImagesOver the past two years, millions of low-income U.S. households have received broadband internet at a discount through two consecutive government programs. "Millions could be left in the dark without broadband service for the very same reasons they didn't have it in the first place." The Emergency Broadband Benefit, or EBB, which was approved by then-President Donald Trump in late 2020 and launched in February 2021, provided a $50 subsidy. That's considered an accomplishment, said Ken Garnett, chief strategy officer at Cal.net, a small internet service provider that serves rural inland areas of California. As of January, about $6.1 billion of the funds had been claimed by broadband service providers as reimbursement for discounting their services and products.

☆ Fact Check-HBAL617 balloon tracked online is from U.S. company Aerostar, not China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Despite claims on social media, the balloon that flew over Memphis in fact belongs to U.S. company Aerostar. HBAL617 was the third most-tracked flight on Flightradar24 on Feb. 3, with over 3,400 users tracking the balloon (here). However, HBAL617 in fact belongs to Aerostar, an aerospace company based in South Dakota, according to Anastasia Quanbeck, Aerostar’s Culture and Communications Manager. Flightradar24 also confirmed the HBAL617 balloon tracked on its site does not belong to China. HBAL617 belongs to U.S. company Aerostar.

☆ Fed directs big banks to disclose how they are preparing for climate change risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"The Fed has narrow, but important, responsibilities regarding climate-related financial risks – to ensure that banks understand and manage their material risks, including the financial risks from climate change," Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr said. "The exercise we are launching today will advance the ability of supervisors and banks to analyze and manage emerging climate-related financial risks." A financial stability report in late 2020 first discussed the possibility of the Fed examining how prepared the institutions it oversees are for economic impacts from climate change. In addition, banks are being asked to "consider the impact of additional physical risk shocks for their real estate portfolios in another region of the country." The final report will focus on aggregate information provided by the banks about how they are incorporating climate risks into their financial plans.

At least nine are dead and more deaths are expected after more than a dozen tornadoes tore through the Southeastern U.S. on Thursday, according to officials. Seven of the deaths were reported in Autauga County, Alabama, northwest of Montgomery, according to county Emergency Management Agency Director Ernie Baggett. Six of the deaths were reported the day the tornadoes made landfall in the state, and one was reported on Friday. The second fatality in Georgia was a Department of Transportation employee who was responding to storm damage, Governor Brian Kemp said in a news conference Friday. Governor Burt Jones took a helicopter tour of the damage Friday to also assess the damage resulting from tornadoes in the state.

☆ Omicron XBB.1.5 is rising in U.S. though revised CDC data shows slower increase than previously reported
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

XBB.1.5 made up 27.6% of sequenced Covid cases nationally for the week ending Jan. 7 compared with 18.3% for the week end Dec. 31. The CDC previously reported that XBB.1.5 made up about 41% of sequenced cases for the week ending Dec. 31, more than any other variant. Although the agency has revised its estimate downward, XBB.1.5 remains the only omicron subvariant showing significant growth in the U.S. right now. U.S. health officials should have more data soon on how much protection the omicron boosters provide against XBB.1.5., Jha said. Weekly Covid cases have increased by about 16% to 470,699 over the past week, according to CDC data.

☆ XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is the most transmissible version of Covid yet, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant that's currently dominating the U.S. is the most contagious version of Covid-19 yet, but it doesn't appear to make people sicker, according to the World Health Organization. "It is the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet," Van Kerkhove told reporters during a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday. It has been detected in 29 countries so far but it could be even more widespread, Van Kerkhove said. The WHO's advisory group that tracks Covid variants is conducting a risk assessment on XBB.1.5 that it will publish in the coming days, she said. "The more this virus circulates the more opportunities it will have to change," Van Kerkhove said.

☆ 46 killed as freezing temperatures and heavy snow wallop swaths of U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Mithil Aggarwal | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The full brunt of the storm was being felt in western parts of New York, which had become a “warzone,” New York Gov. A “band of heavy snow” in the Buffalo area was producing two to three inches of hourly snowfall, the National Weather Service said in a 3 a.m. bulletin, warning of rapidly deteriorating conditions. The deaths were recorded in 12 states: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin. The National Weather service said “hazardous travel conditions” were expected to continue over the next few days and that they would slowly ease over the new year. “The life-threatening cold temperatures and in combination with dangerous wind chills will create a potentially life-threatening hazard for travelers that become stranded, individuals that work outside, livestock and domestic pets,” the National Weather Service said in an earlier bulletin.

[1/6] Hoak's restaurant is covered in ice from the spray of Lake Erie waves during a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Hamburg, New York, U.S. December 24, 2022. Twenty-eight people have died so far in weather-related incidents across the country, according to an NBC News tally. The Buffalo airport had recorded 43 inches (109 cm) of snow as of 7 a.m ET (1200 GMT) on Sunday, Otto said. "Another one to two feet in general before Monday morning in the Buffalo area is expected," Otto said. "I guess you can say in some ways, the worst of it is over but there's still some pretty significant snowfall that's ongoing around the Buffalo region today."

☆ Wild winter storm envelops U.S., snarling Christmas travel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Buffalo suburb and surrounding area are expecting wind gusts over 70 miles per hour battering homes and businesses through out the holiday weekend. A wild winter storm continued to envelop much of the United States on Saturday, bringing blinding blizzards, freezing rain, flooding and life-threatening cold that created mayhem for those traveling for the Christmas holiday. The storm that arrived earlier in the week downed power lines, littered highways with piles of cars in deadly accidents and led to mass flight cancellations. The storm was nearly unprecedented in its scope, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.

☆ Live updates: Over 200 million under advisories or warnings from 'historic winter storm'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Nbc News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: 1 min

Over 200 million people or 60% of the population are under some form of weather warning or advisory from a “historic winter storm,” forecasters said Thursday. “Winter weather hazards will stretch from border to border across the central and eastern U.S. and from coast to coast from the east coast to the Pacific Northwest,” the National Weather Service said in a bulletin. Going into the holiday weekend, it added that the storm will have “increasingly widespread impacts to travel,” along with the “potential for power outages.”What to know Widespread record low maximum temperatures are possible Friday. The storm is expected to become a bomb cyclone early Friday. The severe weather is causing travel chaos across the U.S.

A blast of Arctic air will also plunge much of the country into bitter and, in some cases, dangerous cold, forecasters say. In some parts of this area, the wind chill could reach as low as minus 70 degrees, according to the Weather Service. Brief bursts of moderate to heavy snow lasting an hour or two are likely to occur immediately behind the Arctic front. Strong southerly winds, combined with the new moon-tide cycle, could also bring coastal flooding from northern New Jersey to northeast Massachusetts, the Weather Service said. Meteorologists warned local residents that this is not a normal lake effect event with a narrow band of heavy snow.

Hector Carvajal, 26, is the founder of Don Carvajal Cafe, a Dominican-sourced coffee roaster, and lives on $25,000 a year just outside New York City. Today, the 26-year-old runs Don Carvajal Cafe, a coffee roasting company out of the South Bronx that sources its beans from the Dominican Republic. "In the countryside of the Dominican Republic, we farm, we harvest, we roast coffee," he says. For the first three years of running his business, Carvajal lived rent-free with his mom in the Bronx in her rent-stabilized apartment. It's also why it's so important to him to source his coffee from farmers in the Dominican Republic.

☆ Watch: Russia Hits Ukraine Infrastructure, People Shelter in Kyiv Metro
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tornadoes in Louisiana, Mississippi Kill at Least Three Severe storms in the southeastern U.S. left a trail of destruction, killing at least three, damaging homes and knocking down electrical lines. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency. Photo: Jake Bleiberg/Associated Press

☆ Gulf Storms in Southeast U.S. Leave at Least Three Dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Suryatapa Bhattacharya | Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A tornado that tore through Killona, La., about 30 miles west of New Orleans, left a trail of destruction Wednesday. Severe storms in the southeastern U.S. left at least three people dead and others injured as dozens of tornadoes touched down in Louisiana and Mississippi late Tuesday through Wednesday, officials said. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center is tracking a system along the Gulf of Mexico and predicted strong tornadoes and damaging thunderstorm gusts late Wednesday across parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of the western Florida Panhandle.

Tropical Storm Nicole neared hurricane strength early Wednesday as it aimed for Florida's Atlantic coast and the Southeast U.S. Previously a subtropical storm, Nicole has worked its way up to a tropical storm and was all but assured to become a hurricane overnight, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane center warned the entire state to be prepared for heavy weather. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the National Hurricane Center said in a late-night public advisory. Storm surf is likely to affect a long stretch of U.S. coastline, from the east coast of Florida to the Southeastern U.S., the hurricane center said.

Nicole became a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday evening as the storm made landfall on Great Bahama Island. It is expected to remain a hurricane as it approaches Florida, according to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center. By The New York TimesThe National Hurricane Center said that areas along the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina coastlines could see life-threatening storm surge. Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water caused by strong winds from a storm pushing water toward the shore. Potential storm surge flooding 1 3 6 9+ feet The New York Times; storm surge flooding prediction by NOAA as of 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 9.

☆ U.S. faces highest flu hospitalization rate in a decade with young kids and seniors most at risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. is facing the highest flu hospitalization rates in more than a decade with children and the elderly most at risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flu and respiratory syncytial virus had receded during the Covid-19 pandemic due to mitigation measures such as masks and social distancing. About about 3 patients are being hospitalized with the flu out of every 100,000 people with the virus right now, which is the highest rate since 2010. Seniors and children younger than age 5 face the biggest risk right now, with hospitalization rates about double the general population, according to CDC data. In the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, H1N1 flu viruses are growing in circulation, he said.

☆ Cybersecurity Tops the CIO Agenda as Threats Continue to Escalate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Cyber and information security has been at the top of their agenda since 2020. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Gartner forecasts that worldwide information security and risk-management spending by end-users will reach $188.336 billion in 2023, up 11.3% from the current year. It’s what boards are talking about,” said Truist Financial Corp. Chief Information Security Officer Howard Whyte. He and Truist CIO Scott Case work closely to understand the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank’s changing attack surface and cybersecurity risk.

☆ Rising premiums, more restricted cyber insurance coverage poses big risk for companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Luke MacGregor | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAmong the many consequences of the rising number of costly data breaches, ransomware, and other security attacks are pricier premiums for cyber security insurance. The high demand for cyber coverage is in part fueled by greater awareness among companies of the threat cyber risk poses for businesses of all sizes, it said. The study said the cost of cyber insurance is based in part on the frequency, severity, and cost of cyber attacks, "all of which have been increasing. "But now, carriers are becoming less likely to include it, and are instead offering cyber coverage separately. "Also, companies that go bare on cyber liability may see an impact on revenue, as customers and suppliers increasingly make cyber coverage a requirement of doing business."

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