OAKLAND, California, May 10 -- California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following news release on May 8, 2024: California Attorney General Rob Bonta today led a multistate coalition of 15 attorneys general urging congressional leaders to remove preemption language in the current draft of the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA), a proposed federal data privacy bill. The preemption clause currently in the APRA would result in California's landmark privacy law being replaced with weaker pro  more

LENEXA, Kansas, May 10 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release: EPA Region 7's Environmental Justice (EJ) Program invites the public to join its quarterly Community Stakeholder Meeting that is open to all community members in Region 7, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and nine tribal nations. EPA will hold the virtual meeting on Thursday, May 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. "Environmental justice" means the just treatment and meaningful involvement of   more

ATLANTA, Georgia, May 10 -- Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr issued the following news release: Attorney General Chris Carr is challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) unconstitutional power plant rule that threatens the reliability of energy production nationwide. The new regulations include costly and unattainable emissions standards, such as unrealistic compliance timelines, in an attempt to kill coal-fired units while endangering the construction of natural gas plants  more

BOISE, Idaho, May 10 -- Idaho Attorney General Raul R. Labrador issued the following news release: Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador joined a coalition of 25 states in a lawsuit asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review and declare unlawful the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently-released rule on existing coal, natural gas, and oil-fired power plants. The rule would force power plants fueled by coal, oil, or natural gas to capture smokestack emissio  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced a $10.25 million settlement with AT&T Mobility, Cricket Wireless, T-Mobile USA., Cellco Partnership, Verizon Wireless, and TracFone Wireless. This settlement closes investigations by 47 attorney general offices into the phone companies' deceptive advertising practices. "Phone companies have a duty to connect Iowans with the truth,  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today joined a 25-state lawsuit challenging the Biden EPA's new mandate that threatens existing coal-, natural gas- and oil-fired power plants. The mandate forces coal and natural-gas power plants to use unproven technology or face mass shutdowns. Biden's mandate will force Iowans to pay more for electricity and grapple with California-style blac  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued the following statement on May 9, 2024: * * * Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today released the following statement in response to the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice's challenge to Iowa's immigration law: "When Biden fails to do his job and secure our border, States have to take matters into their own hands". "Iowa's law is not unique; it simply enforces immigration laws while Biden refuses to. Iowa stands ready   more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today joined a 23-state coalition in challenging the Biden EPA's mandate to torch coal-fired electricity. EPA's mandate imposes harsh limits on coal-plant emissions, which are already well below any threshold that would affect public health. The mandate threatens to shut down coal plants for no reason other than to advance Biden's fight against f  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Economic Development Authority issued the following news: The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced $250,000 in Inspire Iowa grants to projects in Linn, Polk, Scott, Shelby and Woodbury counties. The Inspire Iowa program was launched by the Iowa Tourism Office and Iowa Arts Council, both divisions of the IEDA, to elevate the perception of Iowa as a cultural destination and promote out-of-state visits and extended stays, which in turn can gene  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Department of Education issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: The Iowa Department of Education today announced Christopher Kaftan as the next superintendent for Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Iowa School for the Deaf. He is replacing John Cool, who is retiring after 34 years of service to Iowa School for the Deaf and 12 years of service to Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, most recen  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: Today, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the following bills into law: SF 2436: A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations to the judicial branch, including by modifying the judicial retirement fund, and including effective date provisions. SF 2443: A bill for an act relating to state government and finances, including by making, modifying, limiting, or reducing appropriations, distrib  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued the following news release on May 9, 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 finalizin  more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued the following news release: The DNR invites the public to provide comments on the 2024 report for the sulfur dioxide (SO2) Data Requirements Rule (DRR). The DRR requires an annual assessment of recent SO2 emissions in any area where air quality modeling of actual emissions provided the basis for designating the area attainment for the 2010 1-hour SO2 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). Two areas in Iowa are   more

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 9 -- Iowa Secretary of State Paul D. Pate issued the following news release on May 8, 2024: Today, Governor Kim Reynolds signed HF 2466 into law. Under this new law, the Iowa Secretary of State's office will dedicate new resources to the training of Iowa's poll workers, implementing a statewide training program. Poll workers play a critical role in ensuring Iowa's elections are run safely and smoothly - they check in voters, handle ballots, assist voters, answer questions,  more

AMES, Iowa, May 10 -- The Iowa Transportation Commission issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: The Iowa Transportation Commission will hold its next business meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in the Materials Conference Room at the Iowa Department of Transportation's headquarters at 800 Lincoln Way in Ames. Table: Business meeting agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 Informal workshop session The Commission will meet informally with staff from the Iowa DOT on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in pe  more

WASHINGTON, May 10 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Department of Labor issued the following weekly report entitled "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims" for week ending May 8, 2024. Here are excerpts: * * * SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending May 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 231,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 208,000 to 209,000. The 4-week moving average was 215,000, a  more

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, May 10 -- Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued the following news: Attorney General Liz Murrill joined a 24-state coalition in a letter to Congressional leadership, urging Congress to permanently cut all funding to the terrorist-embedded United Nations Relief and Works Agency ("UNRWA"). On October 7, 2023, dozens of UNRWA staff participated in the largest attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust. UNRWA's ties to terrorism are not just the work of a fe  more

BALTIMORE, Maryland, May 10 -- Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: Attorney General Anthony Brown today announced his office entered into settlements with AT&T Mobility, LLC, Cricket Wireless, LLC, T-Mobile USA, Inc., Cellco Partnership (d/b/a Verizon Wireless), and TracFone Wireless, Inc. (collectively, the "wireless carriers"), which resolve an investigation into the wireless carriers' advertising practices. The settlements were joined   more

BISMARCK, North Dakota, May 10 -- North Dakota Attorney Drew Wrigley issued the following news: North Dakota Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, along with 21 other states have filed a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, challenging the Biden EPA's unconstitutional overreach aimed at killing North Dakota's coal fired energy production. This recent Federal rule would require certain air toxin em  more

NEW YORK, May 10 -- New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following news release on May 9, 2024: New York Attorney General Letitia James and a multistate, bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general today secured more than $10.22 million from AT&T Mobility, LLC and its subsidiary Cricket Wireless, LLC (AT&T); T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile); and Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless and its subsidiary TracFone Wireless, Inc. (Verizon), for deceptively marketing wireless service   more