LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, March 29 -- Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement on March 28, 2024: * * * Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued the following statement after announcing that he and seven other state attorneys general are asking the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas to take additional action against a Texas based robocaller for violating permanent robocall and telemarketing bans: "In March of last year, my office obtained  more

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, March 29 -- Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement on March 28, 2024: * * * Following announcements by the attorneys general of Kansas and Missouri that they are each filing lawsuits challenging the Biden administration's latest efforts to cancel student debt, Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement: "Arkansas was part of the original coalition that sued the Biden administration over its first unlawful debt-cancellation   more

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

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued the following enforcement news release: CFTC Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger, sponsor of the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC), today announced that the EEMAC will hold a public meeting from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (CDT) on Wednesday, April 10 at the University of Missouri - Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo. Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually or in person, if space permits.   more

CLARKSDALE, Mississippi, March 29 -- The Delta Regional Authority issued the following news release: The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) has awarded more than $10 million in investments toward 23 projects across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee through the Delta Workforce Grant Program (DWP). Funding for this program was made possible, in part, by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden -- a key part of his Investing in Ame  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration issued the following news release on March 27, 2024: Research teams from universities nationwide are working on a variety of aviation environmental topics including sustainable aviation fuels, aircraft emissions, and noise impacts with support from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grants. The FAA is awarding $27.2 million to 11 U.S. universities as part of its Aviation Sustainability Center (ASC  more

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, March 29 -- The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis issued the following analysis on March 28, 2024, by economist Yu-Ting Chiang and research associate Mick Dueholm: * * * In this article, we document the inflation uncertainty felt by households in the Eighth Federal Reserve District over time./1 Specifically, we show that after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Eighth District respondents to the New York Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) were significantly more uncerta  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release: Gamma Healthcare Inc. (Gamma), a laboratory located in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and three of its owners, Jerry W. Murphy, Jerrod W. Murphy and Joel W. Murphy (the Murphys), have agreed to pay the United States $13,619,660.18 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by submitting or causing the submission of claims to Medicare for lab tests that were not ordered by health care pro  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The U.S. Department of Labor issued the following weekly report entitled "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims" for week ending March 28, 2024: * * * SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending March 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 210,000 to 212,000. The 4-week moving average was 211,000, a decrease of 750 from t  more

LANSING, Michigan, March 29 -- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to take stronger action against John Caldwell Spiller II after Spiller violated permanent robocall and telemarketing bans. Nessel filed alongside seven other state attorneys general represented on the original March 2023 judgment against Spiller for directing billions  more

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, March 28 -- The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued the following news release on March 27, 2024: The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced today the school districts and individual school buildings that earned the 2024 Missouri Purple Star designation -- the third round of designees in this statewide program: 2024 Purple Star School Districts * Crocker R-II School District * Warren Co. R-III School D  more

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, March 29 -- Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued the following statement on March 28, 2024: * * * Today, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced a lawsuit against the President's latest illegal loan "cancellation" plan and issued the following statement: "I'm extremely pleased to see Kansas is leading a multi-state coalition in challenging President Biden's latest attempt to unlawfully transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in Ivy League debt o  more

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, March 28 -- The Missouri House issued the following news on March 27, 2024: The House has voted to bar discrimination based on how people style their hair, specifically natural hair textures and cultural styles. For several years now, legislators have been asked to pass the "Missouri Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair," or "Missouri CROWN Act." House Bills 1900, 1591, & 2515 would specify that no person may be discriminated against based on hair tex  more

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas, March 28 -- The U.S. Air Force Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (16th Air Force) issued the following news: Approximately 50 percent of Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio's military and support personnel is comprised of women. Therefore, it is fitting that the 2024 theme of Women's History Month be "Women Who Have Made Great Achievements." One of the highly professional women within Navy Medicine is Cmdr. Rachel Werner, Dental Corps, NAMRU Sa  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

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

KANSAS CITY, Missouri, March 29 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: A Kansas City, Mo., man who boasted about having associates selling cocaine in several local bars and nightclubs was sentenced in federal court today for distributing cocaine. Manuel A. Contreras, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered C  more

KANSAS CITY, Missouri, March 29 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: A Russian national was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to use stolen identities to file thousands of federal income tax returns that claimed more than $11 million in fraudulent refunds. Anton Vikharev, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The   more

COLUMBIA, Missouri, March 29 -- The University of Missouri System issued the following news release: In his annual State of the State address, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson released his budget recommendations for fiscal year 2025, which include a 3% increase to the core budget of higher education. The governor also proposed a third round of capital funding, which will support projects at all four University of Missouri System universities. "We are grateful for Governor Parson's leadership and his   more