JOSH BOAK, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says she’s prepared to let the unemployment rate fall from its current 5.8 percent to exceptionally low levels, saying doing so should help cause inflation to rise closer to the Fed’s 2 percent target.

A forecast provided by Fed policymakers indicates that the unemployment rate is expected to slip below 5 percent in 2017. This suggests that unemployment would run below what economists call its “natural rate,” in theory the lowest level the economy can sustain for the long run. Pushing unemployment below its natural rate could help lift inflation from its current ultra-low 1.3 percent level.

“A slight period of unemployment below natural rate will facilitate return of inflation to objective,” Yellen said at a news conference after policymakers ended their December meeting.

A Tulsa woman who used the Internet to market what she called her “secret sauce” to cancer victims in Kansas and elsewhere was indicted Wednesday on 13 counts of wire fraud.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says a federal grand jury returned a 13-count indictment against Maureen Long, 64, Tulsa, Okla.

The indictment alleges Long’s Internet-based business, Camelot Cancer Care, Inc., preyed on people who were desperately seeking cures for cancer by selling them infusions of drugs that were misbranded and not approved for treating cancer.

Long, who was not a physician, a nurse or any other kind of licensed medical professional, used her Web site and email to create the false impression she was running a legitimate medical clinic. She sold clients drugs that the Food and Drug Administration – she called it the “Federal Death Administration” — had not approved for treating cancer.

Eleven Kansas residents paid more than $128,000 total for Long’s treatments. Residents of Kansas towns including Lenexa, Spring Hill, Hartford, Prairie Village, Hesston, Ottawa and Mt. Hope were among the victims. They had been diagnosed with illnesses including ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, rectal and lymph cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cervical cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, brain tumor and breast cancer.

The indictment also alleges Long:
* Falsely claimed that Camelot had a 60 percent success rate resulting in either remission of cancer or stopping a tumor’s growth.
* Marketed something she called the “DMSO Protocol,” which was supposed to consist of DMSO, Vitamin C and Vitamin B-17 (also known as Amygdalin or Laetrile). A forensic chemical analysis of some of the products, however, found neither DMSO nor Laetrile.
* Distributed marketing materials claiming the infusion she sold would cut through malignancy “like a scythe through a wheat field.”
* Charged $12,000 or more for a first round of treatment and $3,600 for each subsequent round.
* Instructed clients to forego traditional treatments of radiation and chemotherapy.

If convicted, Long faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has ended the state of emergency that he declared for the St. Louis area ahead of unrest over the Ferguson grand jury decision.

By doing so Wednesday, Nixon removed the Missouri National Guard from duties in Ferguson, the city of St. Louis and other nearby communities.

Nixon issued his executive order on Nov. 17. Protests, including some that turned violent, broke out on Nov. 24 after St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that a grand jury wouldn’t indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

Twelve businesses in the Ferguson area were burned during the unrest immediately after McCulloch’s announcement, but Nixon credited the work of police and the National Guard in preventing any protest-related deaths.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A new Missouri education commissioner has been chosen to replace a leader who faced frequent criticism while dealing with struggling districts.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Wednesday that the State Board of Education has promoted deputy commissioner Margaret Vandeven to the role of education commissioner. Vandeven replaces Chris Nicastro, who announced in September that she was resigning at the end of the year. Despite criticism that intensified in the past year, Nicastro has said no one asked her to retire other than her husband.

One issue for Nicastro was an August auditor’s report that found the department’s process for seeking bids from consultants to study a possible overhaul of the Kansas City school district was biased and included potential conflicts of interest.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas governor’s office insists that the public doesn’t have the right to know who it’s considering to fill two new positions on the Saline County Commission.

The Salina Journal reports Gov. Sam Brownback’s office on Monday rejected the newspaper’s third request for the names of candidates the governor has interviewed for the posts. Voters in November expanded the governing body from three members to five.

The Journal contends the public has the right to know who is being considered to fill 40 percent of its commission positions. Brownback press secretary Eileen Hawley says the governor isn’t required to disclose the names of the candidates because it’s a personnel matter.

Journal editor and publisher M. Olaf Frandsen says the newspaper will fight for disclosure “as long as it takes.”

ST. LOUIS (AP) – An execution date of Jan. 28 has been set for a man who fatally stabbed a St. Louis County woman during a 1998

burglary.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday set the execution date for 45-year-old Marcellus Williams. It would be Missouri’s first execution in 2015, after a state record 10 inmates were put to death this year.

Lisha Gayle was killed at her home in University City. Williams was burglarizing the home when he discovered that Gayle was in the shower. He took a knife from the kitchen and attacked her when she came downstairs, stabbing her more than 20 times before stealing a laptop computer and other items.

Gayle was a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 11 years before leaving the paper in 1992.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are accusing Sprint Corp. of illegally billing its wireless customers tens of millions of dollars in unwanted charges for text message alerts and other services.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday it has sued the telecom company over billing for unauthorized charges, a practice known as “cramming.” The agency said Sprint failed to oversee third-party companies, allowing illegal charges to be put on customers’ bills.

The bureau said the charges ranged from one-time fees of 99 cents to $4.99, to monthly subscriptions costing $9.99 a month. It said Sprint received up to 40 percent of the revenue from the charges.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Communications Commission is expected to fine Sprint a record $105 million for the alleged violations.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A new audit faults the Missouri Department of Agriculture for failing to inspect some grain and petroleum devices and giving sizable pay raises to several employees.

But Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich  says those are “relatively small” concerns. Schweich says the Agriculture Department audit released Wednesday is probably the best of any major state agency during his four years in office.

State audits don’t typically list positive findings, just areas of concern.

The audit questioned the need for significant salary increases given to six employees during the 2013 budget year and to four employees during 2014. The department said the raises were generally due to increased job responsibilities.

The department pointed to staff shortages for failing to complete inspections of some petroleum devices and grain meters.