Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday joined officials from the Ford Motor Company at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit for the unveiling of the all-new 2015 Ford F-150, which will be built at the company’s Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo. The Governor applauded Ford’s significant and growing footprint in Missouri, which has created thousands of new manufacturing jobs over the past several years.

“Missouri’s highly skilled workforce, low taxes and smart investments continue to bring new jobs and new opportunities to the Show-Me State,” Gov. Nixon said. “This next-generation Ford pickup is another example of how the Missouri auto industry is leading the nation in innovation and excellence, and driving our economy in the right direction.”

The 2015 Ford F-150 boasts an all-new high-strength steel frame, a high-strength aluminum-alloy body, and greater efficiency with a 2.7 liter EcoBoost engine.  The F-150 is part of the Ford F-Series, the best-selling vehicle in the nation for 32 years.

“Today’s unveiling of the new Ford F-150 is another example of how the highly skilled workers of the UAW continue to drive America’s economy forward,” said Gary Jones, Director of UAW Region 5. “The UAW has been proud to work with Governor Nixon and others to strengthen Ford’s presence in Claycomo and create thousands of good family-supporting jobs in this region.  Today, we see how this successful partnership continues to pay dividends for working families in Missouri and across the nation.”

Gov. Nixon has made revitalizing Missouri’s automotive manufacturing industry a top priority of his administration, and on his watch this sector has seen tremendous growth. On his first day as Governor in 2009, Gov. Nixon established an Automotive Jobs Task Force to make recommendations on strategies to attract automotive investment in Missouri.

In 2010, Gov. Nixon called the Missouri General Assembly into special session to pass the Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act, which contained new incentives specifically geared to Missouri auto manufacturers and suppliers. The Governor and members of his economic development team also traveled to Detroit on numerous occasions to meet with leadership at Ford.

In October 2011, Ford announced its $1.1 billion expansion at the Kansas City Assembly Plant, which included production of the Ford Transit van for the first time in the U.S. and the addition of a second production line for its popular F-150 pick-up.

In 2013, Ford announced a third production shift at the plant for the Ford F-150, to meet the increased demand.  With Ford F-Series sales up for the year, a third production shift at its Kansas City Assembly Plant will help Ford meet this demand while creating an additional 900 auto manufacturing jobs.

 

(AP) – Missouri’s secretary of state is preparing to unveil what he calls the “most comprehensive” ethics package in recent history.

Secretary of State Jason Kander and Rep. Kevin McManus, both Kansas City Democrats, scheduled a news conference Tuesday to outline the legislation.

Missouri is the only state with no limits on campaign contributions or lobbyist gifts and no revolving-door ban on lawmakers becoming lobbyists immediately after leaving office.

The Democrats’ measure is unlikely to gain traction in Missouri’s Republican-dominated Legislature, where Democrats have pushed such bills in the past. Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has also previously urged the Legislature to reinstate campaign contribution caps.

There are GOP bills to institute a revolving-door policy and measures that would institute caps on campaign contributions.

 (AP) — Authorities say an argument over texting in a Florida movie theater ended with a retired Tampa police captain fatally shooting a man sitting in front of him.

The former police captain, 71-year-old Curtis Reeves, has been charged with second-degree murder. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he has retained an attorney.

Pasco County Sheriff’s officials said the shooting happened Monday when Reeves asked 43-year-old Chad Oulson to stop texting at the theater in Wesley Chapel, a suburb about a half hour north of downtown Tampa.

Charles Cummings, who was in the theater and witnessed the shooting says Reeves and his wife were sitting behind Oulson and his wife. Oulson told Reeves he was texting with his 3-year-old daughter.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — About 20 million DirecTV customers nationwide are without The Weather Channel because of a dispute over fees between the channel and the satellite service.

The two companies pointed fingers at each other late Monday night after a midnight EST deadline for renegotiation of carriage fees passed without an agreement.

In a statement, David Kenny, CEO of The Weather Channel’s parent company, The Weather Co., said it offered DirecTV the best rate for its programming. Kenny accused the satellite provider of putting profits ahead of its customers’ needs.

DirecTV called the loss of The Weather Channel “regrettable” in a statement, adding that it would continue to provide its customers with weather news on its WeatherNation channel.

 

U.S. farmers produced a record-high 13.9 billion bushels of corn last year, but demand from livestock and ethanol producers is helping support corn prices and may provide modest selling opportunities for producers in the coming months, according to a Kansas State University agricultural economist.

“The markets responded positively to the corn data,” said Dan O’Brien, crops marketing specialist with K-State Research and Extension, referring to gains posted in corn futures after the Jan. 10 release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Crop Production 2013 Summary. “The corn production number (at 13.9 billion bushels) came in at the low end of market analysts’ estimates. That coupled with (USDA’s estimated) increases in feed and ethanol usage had the effect of lowering projected carryout stocks.”

Corn for March 2014 delivery at the CME Group closed up 19-3/4 cents at $4.31-3/4 bushel on Jan. 10 after the report was released. December futures closed up 17 cents at $4.58-1/4.

“We still have a very large crop, but this demand adds a bit of support and might give producers at least marginally attractive selling opportunities,” said O’Brien, who is based at K-State’s Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby.

USDA reported corn carryout at 1.631 billion bushels, which was also below analysts’ expectations, O’Brien said, noting that although USDA did not change its average projected corn price of $4.40 per bushel, the data reflected a tightening of the stocks-to-use ratio.

The 13.9 billion bushel corn estimate for 2013 is 29 percent higher than production in 2012. USDA also estimated the average U.S. yield at 158.8 bushels per acre, down 1.6 bushels from earlier USDA estimates, but up 35.4 bushels from the 2012 yield of 123.4 bushels.

Grain sorghum

The USDA cut its estimate for 2013 U.S. grain sorghum production and ratcheted down its ending stocks and stocks-to-use ratio, which should support grain sorghum prices – particularly important in Kansas, the largest U.S. grain sorghum producer, the economist said.

The report estimated 2013 U.S. grain sorghum production at 389 million bushels, down 6 percent from its December estimate, but up 58 percent from the drought-ravaged 2012 crop.

Soybeans

Last year’s U.S. soybean production was pegged at 3.29 billion bushels, up from the USDA’s last estimate and up 8 percent from 2012. That makes the 2013 crop the third largest on record. The average yield per acre was estimated at 43.3 bushels, 3.5 bushels above the previous year’s average. The number of acres harvested was down slightly from 2012 to 75.9 million acres – the fourth highest on record.

“What we’re seeing in soybeans is strong exports for the time being,” O’Brien said of the response of soybean futures to the USDA data.

As competitors to U.S. soybeans on the global market, Brazil and Argentina’s crops will be very influential in the coming months, he added, noting that March soybean futures closed up 4-3/4 cents at $12.78-1/2 on Jan. 10 after the report’s release, while new crop November 2014 futures closed down 1-3/4 cents at $10.99-3/4 a bushel.

“Soybean prices are expected to be pushed lower by U.S. production and South American production as we move further into 2014,” O’Brien said.

Winter Wheat

Also in a Jan. 10 report, USDA estimated that U.S. winter wheat seeded area for harvest in 2014 was 41.9 million acres, down 3 percent from 2013. The data included estimates for hard red winter (HRW) wheat seeded area – the class grown in Kansas – at 30.1 million acres, up 2 percent from 2013. Soft red winter wheat seeded acreage was down 16 percent to 8.44 million, and white winter wheat seeded acreage was down 3 percent to 3.39 million.

“The seeded acreage number for winter wheat was down,” O’Brien said of USDA estimates. “Typically that would be positive (for prices) but USDA estimated less wheat being fed to livestock and raised wheat ending stocks to 608 million bushels.”

“That means ending stocks-to-use went up to 25.3 percent, but it’s still the tightest wheat stocks-to-use figure in several years,” the K-State economist said. “The market is focused on the increase in domestic supplies and stocks relative to use since the USDA’s December reports. The supply-demand balance sheets projected growing stocks relative to use compared to a month ago.”

On Jan. 10 after the report, HRW wheat for March delivery closed at $6.26 a bushel, down 13 cents from the previous day’s close. July closed at $6.20-1/4 a bushel, down 12-3/4 cents.

“The accumulation of stocks here and abroad is having a negative impact on projected prices,” O’Brien said, adding however, that the smaller winter wheat acreage number may curb the downward potential of prices later in 2014.

One thing O’Brien is watching closely is the outlook for another year of drought in key wheat-growing areas. He referred to a Dec. 31 report www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/mdo_summary.html which indicated that drought conditions could persist in western Nebraska, western Kansas, western Oklahoma and west Texas.

“There’s not complete confidence that we’ll avoid another year of drought in the U.S. Great Plains region. That leaves a lot of uncertainty in the wheat market,” he said.

More information about agricultural economics, including information from O’Brien is available at www.agmanager.info.

(AP) – More older than younger people in Missouri have been signing up for health insurance through a federally run website.

Figures released Monday by the U.S. government show about 33,000 individuals in Missouri selected a plan through the HealthCare.gov website as of Dec. 28. Of those, about 58 percent were age 45 or older.

Younger adults ages 18-34 accounted for one-quarter of the enrollees in Missouri. That’s similar to the national average.

People who are younger or healthier typically pay more into an insurance system than they take out, thus helping to offset the health care costs of older adults.

The new federal figures also show that more Missouri women than men are signing up for insurance policies through the federal website. That also is similar to the national average.

(AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a southeast Kansas woman with defrauding the city of Havana, Kan., and a church in Caney.

A criminal information filed Monday in U.S. District Court charges Havana city clerk Diana Cox with bank fraud and wire fraud.

Calls to Cox’s home were unanswered, and court records showed no attorney.

Prosecutors say that, as city clerk, Cox went to Arvest Bank in Caney with a document purporting to be City Council minutes stating that only one signature was required on the city’s checks.

Acting on the document, the bank allowed nearly $15,000 worth of city checks made out to Cox to be cashed or deposited into her personal account.

Prosecutors also charged Cox with defrauding Cross Point Baptist Church in Caney of more than $44,000.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement today regarding reports that an airplane landed at the wrong airport in Missouri last evening. Blunt serves as Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over the safety, security and infrastructure of the country’s freight and passenger transportation networks. 

“I’ve landed at this airport and it’s tough to navigate in small planes – let alone in an aircraft this size. People have every right to assume that they will arrive at their correct destination. As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, I will insist that federal regulators do a thorough investigation to find out exactly what happened in Southwest Missouri.”

Blunt also serves as a member of the Commerce Subcommittees on:

Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance