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Business activity in the U.S. Midwest failed to return to growth in September as expected, but instead contracted on a decline in production and new orders, a report showed on Wednesday

The herky-jerky results of a nine-state economic survey suggest that recovery is at an uncertain stage in the Midwest and Plains. The Business Conditions Index for the Mid-America region slipped below growth neutral again in August, to 48.4, compared with 51.7 in July and 49.3 in June. An index of 50.0 is considered growth neutral. The latest figure surprised Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey of supply managers and other business executives. He said in a report released Tuesday that the August figures and other data point "to an economic recovery that is much more fragile than...

"I want every American to know that the path I'm laying out today is our best chance to make sure that the cars of the future are built where they've always been built -- in Detroit and across the Midwest--..." [26th paragraph of text]

Good Monday to you and thanks for visiting the KSPR Weather Blog! Severe weather will be possible starting tonight across the Ozarks. Before we get to that, we have a windy start to the week to discuss. A wind advisory was issued by The National Weather Service and is in effect until 7pm Monday. The storm system developing to our west will tighten the pressure gradient across our area today. This will lead to sustained winds anywhere from 20 to 30 miles per hour and gusts over 40 at times. There is a slight chance for an isolated storm today,...

I am very worried. I live in Ohio. The anger toward the Republicans is almost palpable. I work for GM. Management guys I have worked with during GOP campaigns are switching parties. Please read the article I have linked. I can not post it because of copy write laws. It will be hard enough to get through the next four years. Let's not destroy our chances in 2012. I hope you find the article interesting.

This map presents a telling breakdown of our country’s voting patterns from the previous General Election. Not only does it discount simplistic “Red State/Blue State” rhetoric, but clearly proves America’s divides are between cities, their suburbs and college towns, versus the rest of (rural) America. Democrats hold the former, while the GOP grabs the latter. And not too much should change this fall. But see the north-central portion of the USA. Continue here: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/upper-midwest-politics-as-blue-as-the-great-lakes/

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2008 – Missouri is the latest Midwestern state to see increasing numbers of National Guard citizen-soldiers and –airmen on duty in the face of the region’s worst flooding in 15 years. “Our priority is to protect the lives of Missouri’s residents and their property,” Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said during a visit to flood-affected areas with National Guard officials. “Then we will focus on recovery efforts.” “As Missourians continue to face the rising waters of the Mississippi, their Missouri National Guard stands beside them in the fight,” Army Maj. Gen. King Sidwell, the state’s adjutant general, said....

DES MOINES, Iowa - The American Red Cross said on Monday that its Disaster Relief Fund is wiped out and it's being forced to borrow money to help flood victims throughout the Midwest. Jeff Towers, the organization's chief development officer, said the balance for domestic disaster relief efforts is zero. He said the American Red Cross would borrow to keep workers and volunteers in the field helping flood victims. "The Red Cross remains committed to providing the scale of services that people expect of the Red Cross when disaster strikes, and the way that we are doing that right now...

Flooding in the Midwest has swelled rivers and submerged roads and rails, halting or delaying shipments of food, fuel and other goods. Manufacturers also have been forced to suspend production of everything from oatmeal to pork products. At the earliest, barge, road and rail traffic will get back to normal next week. But companies are focused on getting through the weekend, when at least one river is expected to crest at nearly 32 feet, making it possible that the transportation snags could drag on. Union Pacific Corp., the nation's biggest freight railroad, currently has six mainline tracks out of service...

If the terrible Midwest floods have a silver lining, it is the grit and self-reliance that residents have shown in coping with the disaster. Iowans in particular haven't blamed everyone else for their version of Katrina. They've been following orders on when to evacuate, volunteering to lay sandbags to protect still-dry areas, and are already planning how they'll clean up the mess when the floodwaters subside. The worst floods in 15 years have done enormous damage, especially in the industrial city of Cedar Rapids. The Cedar River crested at some 31 feet on Friday, compared to 19 feet during the...

LAKE DELTON, Wis. - Storms overnight added to swollen rivers and caused new levee breaks that swamped Illinois farms and homes — part of a week of severe weather that's claimed 15 lives and is expected to continue in the nation's heartland, impacting food prices across the country. Three levee breaks along the Embarras and Wabash rivers in Illinois were causing widespread flash flooding of nearby areas — including Lawrenceville, a town of 5,000, and several smaller communities. About 200 homes are in the immediately affected area, with water up to the roofs of some of them. Between 50 to...

Magnitude 4.5 Date-Time * Monday, April 21, 2008 at 05:38:30 UTC * Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:38:30 AM at epicenter Location 38.473°N, 87.823°W Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program Region ILLINOIS Distances * 8 km (5 miles) NW (323°) from Mount Carmel, IL * 12 km (7 miles) WSW (238°) from Allendale, IL * 12 km (8 miles) NE (37°) from Bellmont, IL * 35 km (22 miles) SW (230°) from Vincennes, IN * 60 km (37 miles) NNW (337°) from Evansville, IN * 211 km (131 miles) E (94°) from St. Louis, MO Location Uncertainty...

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana's May primary will have meaning in the race for president. Both democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have scheduled stops in the Hoosier state. It all starts on Saturday when Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting at Plainfield High School. "We're very excited. Senator Obama will...be in Plainfield tomorrow bringing his message of hope and change to the voters of Indiana because Indiana, for the first time in my adult life, is going to matter in the presidential primary season," said Obama campaign chairman Kip Tew. Indiana has 72 delegates up for grabs and...

In many ways, South Carolina has the future of the Republican Party in its’ hands. Up until now, the Republican primaries have only flirted with defining what the Republican Party wants. Independents in New Hampshire helped push McCain to victory in a small state with little Republican presence. Michigan rescued Romney and was the most populace stage for a Republican primary yet. However, even that win comes with an asterisk in a largely Democrat state with a fair share of activists who were urged to muddle with the Republican primary by fringe left leaders. But his margin of victory should...

McLean, VA - Senator Fred Thompson's campaign today announced the top leadership of its operation in the State of Illinois. State Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington will serve as the Chairman of the campaign's state organization and Congressman Don Manzullo will serve as its Vice-Chairman. Senator Brady has served in the Illinois Senate since 2002 and previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2006, and he has continued to travel throughout Illinois to help build a stronger Republican Party in the state. He has...

First things first: He didn't stumble, he didn't mumble, he didn't yawn and he didn't forget his lines, so Fred Thompson beat the incredibly low expectations facing him in his first Republican presidential debate yesterday. But Thompson did more than just pass a dumbed-down test...

Jeri Thompson: The woman behind the man Naperville-raised Jeri Thompson is GOP hopeful's biggest cheerleader Recent months have seen Jeri Thompson painted a variety of ways in the press, from doting mom to trophy wife. She says she knew that would happen, but because she has granted few interviews, it can be hard to tell who she really is. The Sun had an exclusive opportunity to get to know the 41-year-old Naperville native a little better one afternoon last week. She sat down to talk before attending a major Chicago fundraiser for her husband, Fred Thompson, 65. The recently...

Indianapolis — “I’m with Fred” enticed the placards set up here at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference at a table touting the noncampaign of actor, ex-senator and possible presidential candidate Fred Thompson. In exchange for a $250 check, the faithful and the curious could enter a private room to meet Thompson, a political insider playing the outsider who might be the nation’s next Ronald Reagan — or might not even run. Some walked away from the closed-door fundraiser on Saturday afternoon convinced. “He looks presidential,” said Jeff Cardwell, 47, a conservative Christian lumber and hardware retailer. “He talks about going...

Republican Fred Thompson says the terrorist threat from Islamic radicals is going to pose danger to the United States for a long time. He says "We have got to be more united and more committed than ever before." The former Tennessee senator and actor known for his role on NBC's "Law & Order" spoke last night at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference in Indianapolis. Before his speech, he said he's in a sound position to make a run for the Republican presidential nomination, even though he hasn't declared his candidacy and others in the crowded field announced months ago. Thompson...

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/ELECTION01/708190344 Due to copyright issues, link only....

Preacher Dan Smith turned a rap song about babes with booty into a spoof Internet hit, and used it to help create a new church for people who hate church. Dan Smith thinks Christians take themselves too seriously. Pastor Dan Smith's 'Baby Got Book' video, a big hit online, helped him start his Momentum Church. "We can be dorks," he says after Sunday service in suburban Cleveland. "We can be Ned Flanders and basically speak jargon that nobody understands." The 33-year-old pastor has made it his mission to turn the notion of earnest, boring, humorless Christianity on its head —...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Heavy rain from an already deadly storm system sent the Missouri River and other Midwest waterways over their banks Tuesday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate and bringing warnings that the region could see flooding close to the devastation of 1993. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and mobilized National Guard troops to help. At least 19 Kansas counties declared local disaster emergencies. River towns across much of Missouri were evacuating low-lying areas Tuesday or seeking help filling and stacking sandbags. "We're scrambling around here," said Steve Mellis, who was volunteering near the...

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 1219 PM CST FRI FEB 23 2007 ...MAJOR WINTER STORM TO TRACK ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY... .HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHERN WISCONSIN SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY. THE LATEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED ARE IN THE 6 TO 10 INCH RANGE. A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE FROM KANSAS TO WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY...THEN MOVE ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS INTO LOWER MICHIGAN THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. THIS IS A FAVORABLE TRACK FOR HEAVY SNOWFALL ACROSS SOUTHERN WISCONSIN. A BRIEF PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT...

With just days to go before national elections, Democrats in Congress today unveiled a comprehensive vision for America’s future, dubbed the ‘Contract with San Francisco.’ Presumptive House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, at a secret news conference in an undisclosed location, said, “This is a vision that springs from the heartland of the new America, and we intend to take these San Francisco values out to the Bible-belt, red-state fringes of the South and Midwest.” “What’s good for San Francisco is good for the nation,” she said, “And it’s about time our country got back to the fundamentals which shaped a...

img src=http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/Loop/centgrtlakes_loop.gif

ST. LOUIS - Winning votes in the Midwest will be crucial to Democratic hopes to regain power in Washington in November, party Chairman Howard Dean told about 400 young people at the College Democrats National Convention on Thursday. "We cannot be a national party unless we have the courage to ask every single American for their vote," Dean said. He said holding the convention in Missouri dovetails with his "50-state plan" to build Democratic support in states that have voted Republican over the last six years. Dean said the Democratic Party plans to knock on 2 million doors before November's...

An FBI report to be released Monday will say that violent crime reports in Minneapolis increased more last year than any other Midwest city and that the jump is among the tops in the United States. The crimes of homicide, rape, aggravated assault and robbery increased by 35 percent from 2004, compared to an average 5 percent increase for cities of similar size to Minneapolis across the nation, according to FBI crime statistics given to interim Police Chief Tim Dolan on Friday. Violent crime rose an average of 2 percent nationwide. Dolan said the numbers didn't surprise the department, which...

AP Reports Documents Detail Political Hiring Practices (CBS) CHICAGO -- Gov. Blagojevich is under fire, and hiring practices in Springfield are at the heart of the controversy. A newly discovered e-mail implied that all hiring and firings move through the governor's personnel office. CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports on reaction from the governor on accusations that his administration trades political favors for jobs. Blagojevich took office vowing to reform state government. His first act, Executive Order One, was a hiring freeze on all but essential positions. He vowed then, as he did last week, that politics would...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Business activity in the U.S. Midwest expanded at a faster rate than expected in May, with new orders and hiring bouncing back from weak April levels. The report defied weakness in some other regions' data recently and suggested the Chicago regional economy was staying strong well into the second quarter. The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago business barometer rose to 61.5 from 57.2 in April. Economists had forecast the index at 56.0. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, and the Chicago index has been above that level for more than three years.

This is a great site for Christmas recipes.

PIGGOT, ARK. Gary Howell peered around his quaint town and nonchalantly described how it would be decimated when a major earthquake erupted from the nearby New Madrid Fault. Most of the century-old brick buildings would topple. So would the police station. The emergency operations center for Clay County - housed in the courthouse - would be crushed from chunks of the concrete ceiling. And this is a place touted as a model for earthquake preparedness. "We're not ready," said Howell, the county's longtime chief executive officer. More than two decades after federal and state officials called for massive preparations for...

NOW that the air has chilled into what they like to call football weather, millions of Midwesterners are following an 80-year tradition, flooding every Saturday into the big university stadiums where their ancestors saw Knute Rockne, Red Grange and Benny Friedman. With professional football just a bunch of ragtag company-sponsored teams in the 1920's, the university squads could barely keep up with their growing fan base. To satisfy the demand, colleges scrambled to erect stadiums that could hold tens of thousands of people, especially in the Midwest. Today's teams could be the original group's great-grandsons, but they are often playing...

KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Donations of freezer pops from family and friends throughout the Midwest recently helped a noncommissioned officers’ organization here give security forces Airmen a refreshing break during their duty day. The organization, comprising E-5s and E-6s, wanted to do something special for security forces specialists guarding Kirkuk. Originally they considered handing out slushies or popsicles as a gesture of thanks to Kirkuk’s “frontline” troops. They eventually decided freezer pops would best survive the desert heat, but that presented a problem. The frozen treat seemed ideal because it is purchased in a liquid form packaged at...

CHICAGO - From where Phil James sits, the hullabaloo in Congress over Chinese investment in the United States makes about as much sense as the political hand-wringing in the 1980s over the so-called "Japanese invasion." What James knows is this: Without Chinese investors, he never would have been able to buy and resuscitate the ailing Ingersoll Production Systems machine-tool business in Rockford, Ill. And he wouldn’t have been able to do the same thing with a similar company in Michigan. All told, he figures, Chinese investment capital saved 155 jobs directly and supports many more at the U.S. companies Ingersoll...

When A. T. Burgum came to the Dakota Territory in 1880, the way to riches lay in the deep, rich soil of the Red River Valley. A generation later, his son J. A. Burgum founded an elevator company in a small town called Arthur (current population 400). The company remained in family hands, and after A. T.’s great grandson Doug Burgum graduated from Arthur’s high school, he left town to attend North Dakota State University and then Stanford. In 1983, after working in Chicago, he returned to North Dakota, lured back by another kind of natural resource: its people. “My...

Joe Schroeder is a man who isn't afraid to pull the trigger on an inventive idea. Living on a portion of his family's farm in Juneau, the self-employed 44-year-old used to spend time pondering ways to fire his shotgun at targets across the open spaces. But, an environmentally conscious shooting hobbyist, Schroeder could not bring himself to fire a single shot. "I couldn't shoot trap because of the crops. The shot was bad for an animal's digestion," said Schroeder, who also didn't want exploding clay targets, which contain significant levels of petroleum pitch, to sprinkle his mother's vegetable garden. His...

The Mandans were an Indian tribe that lived in the Midwest, present day western North Dakota. The Mandans were different from other Indian tribes when White explorers encoutered them. Instead of the red skin and black hair, the Mandans had blonde or red hair, blue eyes, and light skin. Some spoke Welsh. The Mandans gladly welcomed the White explorers. It is believed they came from a Welsh settlement in the Ohio River Valley, which was first established in the mid 14th century, about 300 years before the first White settlers came to America. Madoc a Welsh prince is though to...

She favours Boeing on Air Force contracts for hiring daughter and daughter's boyfriend and, later, to protect daughter, who got a poor performance reviewWhile overseeing contracts, she meet Boeing secretly for $422,000 job there HE had long insisted that her work decisions were strictly professional. Then, she failed a lie-detector test. Finally, Darleen Druyun, the No 2 weapons buyer for the US Air Force, admitted that her weapons-buying decisions were influenced by a desire to curry Boeing's favour for herself and her family. The career of Druyun, once the most powerful woman in the Air Force, is over. Last...

LA CROSSE, WIS. - In 2000, political pundits summed up the race in three words: Florida, Florida, Florida. Here's three words to consider this fall: Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. The trio of upper Mississippi River states narrowly backed Vice President Al Gore in 2000 and are, if anything, slightly more Republican four years later, raising the possibility that Democratic Sen. John Kerry could lose one or two of them. President Bush is targeting their combined 27 electoral votes — the same total as Florida, where a bitterly contested recount settled the last election. "They are states we lost last time,...

President Bush has "Lied to the American People" about his National Guard service during the Vietnam War, snarled U.S. Senator Tom Harkin at a September 9, 2004 press conference. Swift Boat veterans critical of John Kerry were also liars, Harkin claimed. Vice President Dick Cheney, said Harkin, was “a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War.” And those who brought up Kerry’s anti-war activities in the United States that encouraged the North Vietnamese Communists to continue fighting instead of negotiating peace, said Harkin, represent the “right-wing kooky fringe.” The hot-headed, gray-haired 65-year-old Harkin has lately become Democratic candidate...

MILWAUKEE -- For all the hoopla over Ohio as a political battleground, strategists on both sides of the presidential campaign are increasingly looking northward toward the Great Lakes region, eyeing three states -- Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan -- as crucial in a race that for now at least appears to be trending toward President Bush. In the last election, Vice President Al Gore won all three states, for a combined 39 electoral votes, and it is difficult to calculate a victory for Senator John F. Kerry without them this time around. Bush is campaigning aggressively in all three, forcing Kerry...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a seesaw campaign, President Bush has opened a lead over John Kerry in their drive to White House victory by making gains in the Midwest and solidifying his Southern base. The race is spread over 19 states, with the fiercest competition in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, according to state polls and interviews with strategists in both parties. Two months before Election Day, the president has 20 states firmly in his column and eight leaning his way, for a total of 237 electoral votes. It takes 270 to win the White House. The...

Machine tool sales are offering another sign of a manufacturing economy on the mend, although growth has been somewhat uneven and less than certain. Sales of machines that factories use to make everything from automobiles to appliances were up nearly 32% the first six months of 2004, a report released this week says. "We are doing pretty well right now, but what's scary is the majority of our work is for one customer," said Howie Taylor, an executive with Key Products Co., a machine-tool company in Milwaukee. Taylor has been in the toolmaking industry more than 30 years, and most...

COLUMBUS, OH – Today, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell issued the following statement in regards to the upcoming Democratic Convention: "With his convention just days away, John Kerry is beginning an extreme makeover. John Kerry will use the Democratic convention to attempt to re-invent himself for the American public. When he’s in the Midwest he claims to be the candidate who stands for conservative values, but when he is back in Boston he boasts that he is proud to be a liberal. It will be interesting to see which John Kerry shows up next week - will it...

CLOQUET, Minn. -- Reaching out to rural voters who overwhelmingly backed George W. Bush four years ago, John Kerry kicked off a holiday weekend bus tour through three Midwestern states Friday by asking residents here to help "bring an end to the Bush administration and march forward." Kerry lashed out at Republicans who have accused him of offering unfairly grim assessments of the economy, seizing on Friday's announcement from the Labor Department that the economy had added 112,000 jobs in June, far fewer than economists had predicted. "They say this is the best we can do," Kerry said, repeating a...

Standing before a capacity crowd Sunday night on the University of Akron campus, presidential hopeful John Kerry held something in his hand that spoke volumes about the importance of winning Ohio. It was a tiny buckeye. ``On the first day when I stepped foot in Ohio right after I came out of Wisconsin, I was handed a buckeye,'' said Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and likely Democratic nominee. ``And I have still got it with me, and I am carrying it right through to the White House.'' Ohio is expected to play a major role in the coming election as a...

President George W. Bush will be attacked no matter what tomorrow's employment report reveals about the U.S. jobs climate. If the economy sheds jobs Bush's tax cuts will be blamed for increasing federal deficits. If the economy adds jobs at a high monthly rate (more than 200,000) critics will charge that Bush has still presided over a net loss since taking office. If the gains are modest, as they have been in recent months, the chorus will sing that job gains were greater under Bill Clinton, who reigned over a budget surplus. But the loudest chorus could well come from...

Whether you are Republican, Independent, Democrat, South Asian, Hispanic, Italian, or Greek, at the end of the day, the economy is the most important issue. I believe the success of a Senator will depend largely on the results from this issue. Illinoisans expect to have a Senator who will provide leadership in this area and work hard to restore economic prosperity to our great state. It's time to shake up the status quo. My background as a businessman gives me the best experience to work on economic growth and job creation. Many of the Senate candidates will point to being...

On Friday morning, 7:30 a.m., February 2, Ohio's official groundhog, Buckeye Chuck of Marion, stepped out of his lair in snowy, overcast weather. He did not see his shadow. According to legend, Ohioans can expect an early spring. The first day of Spring, March 20, is 46 days from February 2. The groundhog, also referred to as a woodchuck or whistle-pig, is a rodent related to ground squirrels and prairie dogs. It's stout-bodied, weighing up to 14 pounds, with reddish-brown or brown fur and black feet. While on average, groundhogs live for two years, some live for five or six....

 Classifieds | Jobs | Autos | Homes | Rentals | Obits | Archives | Search     Tuesday, October 21, 2003  8:03 AM The Capital Times News Business Sports Opinion Features  Recent stories  Ask the Expert  Linda Brazill  Vows Linda Brazill , features editor Jacob Stockinger, culture desk editor Books Local links The Evjue Foundation Customer service  About us  Contact our staff  Letters to the editor  FAQ/Help  Privacy policy  Subscribe  Photo reprints  Archives Chapel cars spread good news of gospel By Linda Brazill October 20, 2003 Email this story to a friend Printer-friendly format Chapel Car Grace sits near Green Lake....