National

Three-year student loan default rate drops in Missouri

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Missouri’s three-year loan default rate decreased two-tenths of a percent, keeping Missouri’s rate lower than many of its neighboring states and on par with the national rate. Missouri’s student loan default rate dropped… more

Missouri expected to have record-high voter turnout

This year, Missouri election officials are predicting the state’s largest voter turnout in decades. Local election jurisdictions are expecting more than 3.2 million people to cast ballots in Tuesday’s general election, according to figures provided by the secretary of state’s… more

Parent company of Oak Park Mall files for bankruptcy

Two owners of a combined 130 or so malls across the US have filed for bankruptcy, including CBL Properties, owner of Oak Park Mall located in the Kansas City metro. CBL Properties and PREIT filed for Chapter 11 on Sunday… more

Coping with COVID: Online dashboard launches to show how COVID-19 funds are spent in Kansas

The launch of a new online investment dashboard now allows individuals to look at how COVID-19 funds are being spent in the state. Just over $1 billion in federal CARES Act investments were approved by the Governor’s SPARK taskforce and… more

Federal Reserve releases 2019 noncash payments data

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday published detailed noncash payments data from the 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS). The additional data, estimated from surveys covering 2012 through 2018, supplement the noncash payments overview provided by the top-line data released… more

Missouri noted among best state governments for efficient data and technology use

Missouri has been recognized as a national leader in digital technology best practices, according to a released 2020 Digital States Survey from the Center for Digital Government (CDG). The CDG is a national advisory and research institute on information technology policies… more

U.S. economy surges in third quarter

Growth in the U.S. economy during the third quarter sparked enthusiasm, data from the U.S. Commerce Department revealing a growth of 33.1 percent in annualized pace. Aided by a lift in business and production restrictions caused by COVID-19, growth seen… more

Longtime Cerner executive to step down

Marc Naughton, last executive member at Cerner Corp. to serve under co-founder and former CEO Neal Patterson, is set to leave next year, according to an announcement from the company this week. After 28 years at Cerner Corp. and the… more

Coping with COVID: Missouri and Kansas among states showing growth in viral spread

Data analysts tracking the spread of COVID-19 have made adjustments to their model, and now offer a sobering picture for the nation: As of today, in only one state—Mississippi—is the virus spreading slowly enough to consider cases decline. Using a… more

Rapid COVID-19 testing to be available at 1,000 CVS pharmacies by end of year

CVS Health plans to add rapid COVID-19 testing at 1,000 pharmacies by the end of the year, according a Wednesday news release from the company. The sites will offer a self-swab test that takes about 30 minutes to deliver results, and… more