WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has imposed sanctions on four produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). These sanctions include suspending the businesses' PACA licenses and barring  more

WASHINGTON, March 28 -- The U.S. Department of Transportation issued the following news release: Funding made available by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced that the Department of Transportation is now accepting applications for approximately $5.1 billion in funding for projects of regional or national significance for three major discretionary grant programs. The application process has been streamlined into the singl  more

OAKLAND, California, March 29 -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following news release on March 27, 2024: California Attorney General Rob Bonta led 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (BAGLY), et al. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), et al. in support of the plaintiffs' motion to vacate the Trump Administration's 2020 federal rule (the Rule), which strips nondiscriminati  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

WASHINGTON, March 28 -- The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced $173.8 million in new grant and loan awards under its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), bringing the total funding awarded under this program to a total of $544 million, or more than 50 percent of funding being awarded through this program. The announcement was made today by HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne   more

CHICAGO, Illinois, March 29 -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of today a coalition of 19 attorneys general, today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts supporting a motion to vacate a 2020 federal rule that strips nondiscrimination protections from the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the brief (https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/News-Room/Current-News/  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

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- NASA issued the following news release: NASA is awarding approximately $3.7 million to 17 museums, science centers, and other informal education institutions as part of an initiative to ignite STEM excitement. The money will go toward projects that inspire students and their learning support systems to take an active role in the wonder of science, technology, engineering, and math. "We're excited to grow the community of informal education organizations through these 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: 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

SALEM, Oregon, March 28 -- The Oregon Senate Democrats issued the following news release on March 27, 2024: Today, Governor Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 1596, Oregon's Right to Repair reforms, into law. "This is a huge win for Oregon consumers and the Right to Repair movement, as a whole," said Senator Janeen Sollman (D - Hillsboro), who has championed Right to Repair legislation for years in the State Capitol. "With Governor Kotek's signature, our new Right to Repair law is a reasonable, com  more

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency has issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: * * * The nationwide Nursery Value Select program serves as great alternative as the Nursery Field Grown and Container program ends. * * * The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has expanded its Nursery Value Select (NVS) crop insurance program to all counties in all states, and the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) is encouraging interested nursery   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 seven Idaho counties and neighboring counties in Montana and Oregon 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 Adminis  more

SACRAMENTO, California, March 29 -- The Small Business Administration issued the following news release on March 28, 2024: Small nonfarm businesses in seven Idaho counties and neighboring counties in Montana and Oregon 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 offset econ  more

PORTLAND, Oregon, March 29 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon issued the following news release: A Portland man is facing federal charges after he was caught using Telegram, an encrypted messaging service, to sell various controlled substances to minors. Rocky Allan Rainwater, 24, has been charged by criminal complaint with distributing and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to   more