WASHINGTON, March 28 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the following news release: Projects Funded by President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act Will Lower Energy Costs and Create Revenue for Rural Business Owners and Farms OMAHA, Neb., March 28, 2024 - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is investing $124 million in renewable energy and fertilizer production projects in 44 states to lower energy costs, generate new income and create   more

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, March 29 -- Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Attorney General Ashley Moody is leading a multistate coalition of state attorneys general in probing whether MSCI, Inc., a large investment company, is embracing the boycott, divestment and sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel. At least 38 states in the U.S. have taken actions to oppose the BDS movement. Attorney General Ashley Moody said, "Israel is our greatest  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, March 29 -- Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Governor Reynolds has announced that eight troopers and two sergeants from the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) will deploy March 31, 2024 to Texas in support of Operation Lone Star and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The deployment will last 28 days and conclude on April 27, 2024. The Iowa National Guard will deploy on two missions to support Operation Lone Star. The firs  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, March 29 -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued the following news release: The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is accepting public and stakeholder comments regarding the Section 401 Water Quality Certification of the new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Regional Permit 7. Regional Permits are general permits authorizing certain activities under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, which involve discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, March 29 -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued the following agency statement on March 28, 2024: * * * DNR staff work with individuals, businesses and communities to help them protect our natural resources by complying with state and federal laws. This approach is very effective. In the few cases where compliance cannot be achieved, the DNR issues enforcement actions. The following list summarizes recent enforcement actions. Find the entire, original orders on DN  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, March 29 -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: The DNR Air Quality Bureau has the following draft permits up for review. The permits help protect Iowans' health and the air where we live. DNR's permitting staff review the applications to ensure facilities comply with state and federal air quality standards. The public has the right and is encouraged to comment on draft permits. DNR considers public comments before fina  more

TOPEKA, Kansas, March 28 -- Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach issued the following news release: Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is leading a coalition of all Republican attorneys general in asking the Environmental Protection Agency to drop a proposed regulation that would cost meat and poultry processors millions. Under the proposed rule, the EPA will regulate meat and poultry processing plants with indirect wastewater discharges, or wastewater that goes through a city sewage treatment  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Producers surveyed across the United States intend to plant 90.0 million acres of corn in 2024, down 5% from last year, according to the Prospective Plantings report released today by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Planted acreage intentions for corn are down or unchanged in 38 of the 48 estimating states. A  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: As of March 1, there were 74.6 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, up 1% from March 2023 but down 2% from Dec. 1, 2023, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). * * * [View chart in the link at bottom.] * * * Other ke  more

SACRAMENTO, California, March 29 -- The Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Assistance issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Small nonfarm businesses in 57 Missouri counties and neighboring counties in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas are now eligible to apply for low interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced Francisco Sanchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business   more

SACRAMENTO, California, March 29 -- The Small Business Administration issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Small nonfarm businesses in 57 Missouri counties and neighboring counties in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas are now eligible to apply for low interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced Francisco Sanchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration. These loans offs  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Surface Transportation Board issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman today announced that, with the approval of the Board, he has appointed members to the newly formed Passenger Rail Advisory Committee (PRAC). The new members of the PRAC will advise the Board on issues impacting passenger rail service during their terms. "I am pleased that the Board received so m  more

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, March 29 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa issued the following news release: Nicholas Janvrin, 32, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Janvrin pled guilty March 27, 2024, in federal court in Sioux City. Janvrin was previously convicted of burglary, third degree, in the Iowa District Court for Hamilton County, in 2021. This type of conviction prohibits Janvrin  more

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, March 29 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: A man who trafficked over 300 pounds of ice methamphetamine in the Dubuque, Iowa, area was sentenced today to more than 11 years in federal prison. Jason Laufenberg, age 39, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 5, 2023 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detect  more

RICHMOND, Virginia, March 29 -- Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Attorney General Jason Miyares today joined an 18 state coalition of attorneys general probing whether Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI, Inc.), a large investment company, is embracing the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. "Investment companies making political stands with consumers' money in the name of 'environmental, social,  more