WASHINGTON, March 13 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest about $138 million of financial assistance from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act--the largest climate investment in history--in 138 new climate-smart conservation easements, through which farmers and ranchers are conserving wetlands, grasslands and prime farmlands. These selected Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) projects ar  more

WASHINGTON, March 15 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Census Bureau issued the following news release on March 14, 2024: More U.S. counties experienced population gains than losses in 2023, as counties in the South saw faster growth and more Northeast and Midwest counties had population losses turn to gains, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2023 estimates of population and components of change released today. Approximately 60% (1,876) of U.S. counties gained population from 2022 to 2023, an i  more

WASHINGTON, March 15 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release on March 14, 2024: Today, March 14, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized 103 U.S. manufacturing plants that earned the agency's ENERGY STAR certification in 2023, a designation reserved for manufacturing plants in the top 25% of energy efficiency in their sector. Together, these plants prevented more than 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the emission  more

WASHINGTON, March 15 -- The Federal Communications Commission Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued the following public notice (PS Docket No. 23-237; WT Docket 02-378) on March 14, 2024: * * * The Region 54 (Southern Lake Michigan)1 700 MHz and 800 MHz Regional Planning Committees (RPCs) will hold two virtual planning meetings via Microsoft Teams on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 9:00 am (Central Time). The deadline for new applications to be filed for the Spring meeting is April 1,   more

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, March 15 -- The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis issued the following analysis on March 14, 2024, by research associate Amy Smaldone and Mark L.J. Wright, economist and senior vice president: * * * From its founding, the United States of America has been almost synonymous with the concept of limited government./1 It is perhaps surprising, then, to find that there is a large number of governments in America: The U.S. Census of Governments estimates that there are more than  more

WASHINGTON, March 15 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration issued the following news release on March 14, 2024: The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced that it has awarded $900,000 to three entities through the Interstate Rail Compacts (IRC) Grant Program. Created by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the IRC Program provides new opportunities to entities implementing IRCs to advance multi-s  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, March 15 -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following news release on March 14, 2024: Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced legislation that would protect workers from retaliatory conduct by employers, strengthen current protections under state law and codify the authority of Raoul's Workplace Rights Bureau to investigate and hold employers who retaliate or threaten to retaliate accountable. "Currently, workers who want to assert their basic workplace  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 14 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 13, 2024, involving Regional Office of Education No. 16 covering Dekalb county. Here are excerpts: * * * INTRODUCTION Our report covers the financial audit for the period ending June 30, 2023. * * * AUDITORS' OPINION Our auditors state the Regional Office of Education #16's financial statements as of June 30, 2023 are fairly presented in all material respects. This financial audi  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 14 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 13, 2024, involving Regional Office of Education No. 26 covering Fulton, Hancock, McDonough, and Schuyler counties. Here are excerpts: * * * FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS INADEQUATE INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER RECEIPTS The Regional Office of Education #26 (ROE) did not have adequate internal controls over receipts. Auditors noted 11 of 25 receipts tested (44%), totaling $163  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 14 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 13, 2024, involving Regional Office of Education No. 44 covering McHenry County. Here are excerpts: * * * FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS NONCOMPLIANCE WITH GRANT REQUIREMENTS The Regional Office of Education #44 (ROE) did not comply with grant requirements. The ROE submitted 3 of 12 (25%) expenditure reports untimely, ranging from 31 to 40 days late. Item 5 of Section A  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 14 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 13, 2024, involving Regional Office of Education No. 53 covering Mason, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. Here are excerpts: * * * FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER BANK RECONCILIATION PROCESS The Regional Office of Education #53 (ROE) lacked adequate controls over the bank reconciliation process. The ROE maintained 5 bank accounts. During the audit,  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 14 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 13, 2024, involving Regional Office of Education No. 54 covering Vermilion County. Here are excerpts: * * * FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL STATEMENT PREPARATION The Regional Office of Education #54 (ROE) had inadequate controls over receipts. Auditors noted 6 of 40 receipts tested (15%), totaling $24,425, had no documentation when the checks were   more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 14, 2024, involving the Illinois State Board of Education. Here are excerpts: * * * FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS LACK OF ADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER THE REVIEW OF INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER SERVICE PROVIDERS The Illinois State Board of Education (Agency) had not implemented adequate controls over its service providers. The Agency utilized service providers for hosting services  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following compliance examination on March 14, 2024, involving Labor Relations Board. Here are excerpts: * * * INTRODUCTION This digest covers the Illinois Labor Relations Board's (Board) Compliance Examination for the two years ended June 30, 2023. * * * FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS UNTIMELY SUBMISSION OF REQUIRED REPORTS The Illinois Labor Relations Board (Board) failed to timely submit required rep  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following compliance examination on March 14, 2024, involving the State Universities Retirement System. Here are excerpts: * * * INTRODUCTION This digest covers the Compliance Examination of Census Data for Chicago State University, Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University, Illinois State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, University  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following compliance examination on March 14, 2024, involving Teachers' Retirement System. Here are excerpts: * * * INTRODUCTION This digest covers the compliance examination audit of the Teachers' Retirement System (System) for the two years ended June 30, 2023. A digest covering the System's Financial Audit as of and for the year ended June 30, 2023, was previously released on January 18, 2024. * * * FINDINGS, CON  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following financial audit on March 14, 2024, involving Western Illinois University. Here are excerpts: * * * INTRODUCTION This digest covers Western Illinois University's (University) Financial Audit as of and for the year ended June 30, 2023. A digest covering the University's Single Audit was separately released. In addition, a separate digest covering the University's Compliance Examination for the year ended June   more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Auditor General issued the following single audit on March 14, 2024, involving Western Illinois University. Here are excerpts: * * * INTRODUCTION This digest covers Western Illinois University's (University) Single Audit for the year ended June 30, 2023. A separate digest covering the University's Financial Audit was separately released. In addition, a separate digest covering the University's State compliance examination for the year ended Jun  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Senate Democrats issued the following news: In order to mitigate increased health risks associated with adults who are unable to take care of themselves, State Senator Laura Fine advanced a measure that implements a procedure for developing a treatment plan suitable to the patient's needs. "Although our state has made progress in advancing clinical care, we need to enhance procedures for protecting adults who may not be able to take care of them  more

ROCK ISLAND, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Senate Democrats issued the following news: State Senator Mike Halpin helped secure nearly $100,000 in funding heading to Carl Sandburg College to help increase the number of professional nurses in Illinois. "If we want better health care access, we have to make strategic investments in the health care workforce," said Halpin (D-Rock Island). "There is a pressing need for professional nurses in hospitals and medical centers across Western Illinoi  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Senate Democrats issued the following news: The rise of co-branded alcoholic beverages - like Hard Mountain Dew and Spiked Sunny-D - has piqued the interest of children. Whether the marketing is intentional or not, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford is working to put a stop to the issue by restricting the location certain alcohol items can be displayed and sold. "We are taking steps to underscore our commitment to safeguarding the well-  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Senate Democrats issued the following news on March 14, 2024: In an effort to safeguard the rights and well-being of the state's youngest citizens, State Senator Robert Peters passed legislation out of the Senate Labor Committee on Wednesday. "This initiative is about taking care of issues we have seen associated with child labor," said Peters (D-Chicago). "It lays out updated guidelines that look out for our kids - their rights, their schooling, and  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, March 15 -- The Illinois Senate Democrats issued the following news: To increase public safety, State Senator Doris Turner is sponsoring a measure that would suspend EMS professionals who have been charged with a crime while performing their duties. "We have to ensure people's safety is our number one priority," said Turner (D-Springfield). "When there's an emergency, we need to be able to trust the professionals who respond and take care of us." Senate Bill 3134 would   more

WASHINGTON, March 15 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Department of Labor issued the following weekly report entitled "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims" for week ending March 14, 2024. Here are excerpts: * * * SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending March 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 209,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 7,000 from 217,000 to 210,000. The 4-week moving average was 20  more

BALTIMORE, Maryland, March 15 -- Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown issued the following news release: Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in opposing a state law in Idaho that blocks the ability of transgender youth to access critical, lifesaving gender-affirming care. The plaintiffs in Poe v. Labrador, two transgender minors and their parents, sued to block Idaho's House Bill (HB) 71, which criminalizes medical treatment for trans  more

LANSING, Michigan, March 15 -- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following news release: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the federal government's request for review of a lower court decision invalidating commonsense "ghost gun" regulations. The Final Rule, issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), clarifies that the definitions   more

WASHINGTON, March 15 -- The White House issued the following news release on March 14, 2024: Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his Administration: * Jennifer Lynn Homendy, Nominee for Chair and Member of the National Transportation Safety Board * Kelly Adams-Smith, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Moldova * Jeremey Neitzke, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipo  more

MENLO PARK, California, March 15 -- The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory issued the following news release on March 14, 2024: * * * Lynbrook High School and Joaquin Miller Middle School will continue on to nationals from the regional event hosted at SLAC. * * * San Francisco Bay Area students challenged their knowledge of science and math - as well as their camaraderie - during the Regional Science Bowl at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, part of the Nati  more

BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 14 -- The U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration's New England Division issued the following news release: ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis County, Missouri pediatrician was indicted Wednesday and accused of prescribing pain pills and other controlled substances in exchange for sex acts or cash. The indictment charges Craig A. Spiegel, 67, with 17 counts of illegal distribution of controlled substances and six counts of making false statements related to  more

WASHINGTON, March 14 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of State has selected four distinguished scientists to serve as new U.S. Science Envoys in 2024: Dr. Rumman Chowdhury; Dr. Stephanie "Steffi" Diem; Dr. Sian Proctor; and Dr. Dawn Wright. Through the U.S. Science Envoy Program, eminent U.S. scientists and engineers leverage their expertise and networks to forge connections and identify opportunities for sustained international cooperation to   more

WASHINGTON, March 15 -- The White House sent to the Senate on March 14, 2024, the nominations of five individuals for positions in the federal government: * * * NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE: * Jennifer L. Homendy, of Virginia, to be Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board for a term of three years. (Reappointment) * Jennifer L. Homendy, of Virginia, to be a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board for a term expiring December 31, 2029. (Reappointment) * Kelly Adams-  more