Candidates sought: Qualifying for the spring municipal elections begins Wednesday and runs through 4:30 p.m. Friday. Races will take place in 35 parishes including East Baton Rouge, where the 19th Judicial District Court Division H bench is up for grabs. The spring primary elections will be held Saturday, March 24, with general elections to follow on Saturday, April 28. Additionally, a special election will be held Feb. 17 to fill the House of Representatives District 86 seat held by Republican Rep. Chris Broadwater of Hammond. Broadwater announced last week that he is resigning to spend more time with family.
Under fire: Amazon has once again found itself in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, who tweeted today that the U.S. Postal Service should charge Amazon “MUCH MORE” for the delivery of packages. The post office, Trump says, is “losing many billions of dollars a year” while it makes “Amazon richer.” In the seconds after the tweet, shares of Amazon, which had been trading higher before the opening bell, began to fade and went into negative territory. The stock remained down almost 1% in late trading this afternoon. Amazon is owned by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. Read more.
On the rise: An unexpected fall in American output and in commercial crude inventories has helped lift U.S. oil prices to their highest level since mid-2015, Reuters reports. The price of oil surpassed $60 a barrel on the final day of trading this year. International benchmark Brent crude futures also rose 17%, supported by ongoing supply cuts by top producers OPEC and Russia as well as strong demand from China. U.S. West Texas Intermediate is 12% higher. Read more
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed on Monday, Jan. 1, in observance of New Year’s Day. Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will return on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Have a safe and happy holiday.
