Efforts to expand electric vehicle infrastructure in the Kansas City are hitting a roadblock amid pushback from state regulators.  Early in 2015, Kansas City Power & Light announced it would install about 1,100 electric-vehicle charging stations in the greater Kansas City area. At the time, it apparently was the largest such undertaking in the country. The utility indicated that it wanted to give a nudge to the electrification of vehicles – a potential boon for KCP&L and electric utilities in general. But KCP&L is backing away. [node:read-more:link]

Could a nearly obsolete technology of the past — the humble pay phone — hold lessons for how utility regulators answer a key policy question about the future of utilities? The Missouri Public Service Commission's staff thinks so. The PSC is expected to vote today on an Ameren Missouri pilot project to build and operate six electric-vehicle charging stations between St. Louis and Jefferson City, Mo., in an effort to spark the EV market by helping eliminate so-called range anxiety. [node:read-more:link]

Police in Hope, Ind., found the woman unconscious from an overdose Saturday. She was sprawled behind the steering wheel of her car, head tilted back, sunglasses over blonde curls pulled into a ponytail.  Needle still in hand. Her 10-month old son crying in the back seat. This child, the local town marshal said, is the face of the most helpless victims of Indiana's drug crisis. [node:read-more:link]

 
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Bayer AG Chief Executive Werner Baumann Wednesday defended the company’s planned $57 billion acquisition of U.S. agrochemical group Monsanto Co. amid concerns the deal could face an uphill battle with regulatory authorities over antitrust issues. “This step is entirely logical,” Mr. Baumann said of the merger with Monsanto. “The two companies are a perfect fit and complement each other ideally.”  Mr. Baumann said the German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant would submit its application to EU regulatory authorities in the first quarter of 2017 and to U.S. [node:read-more:link]

OHio House Representative Brian Hill, R-Zanesville,is serving his second term and chairs the Agriculture and Rural Development committee. He is the last active farmer in the House.  One focus of his is House Bill 551, along with the latest water quality laws. House Bill 551 is geared toward those who conduct inspections of retail food establishments and food service operations.It is very unusual because both the restaurant association and those inspectors (normally at odds with each other) both came to us,” Hill said. [node:read-more:link]

Global Egg Corporation has agreed to purchase Cargill’s egg processing facility in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. Terms of the sale are not being disclosed.  The majority of the facility’s 53 employees will be offered positions with Global Egg. Displaced employees will receive severance and other support from Cargill. Consummation of the transaction is anticipated to conclude this fall. Cargill has owned the facility since 2006.  [node:read-more:link]

Rural bankers in states Nebraska, Iowa and surrounding states haven’t felt this sour since the economy was in the throes of the recession.  Creighton economist Ernie Goss said bankers’ dread is being fueled by low commodities prices and is further exacerbated by the ripple effects being felt in rural economies.  Accordingly, the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index fell again in October. [node:read-more:link]

Sitting in the northeast corner of the state, Jackson County is ground zero for Alabama's drought that's now consumed the entire state. While dry conditions and sparse rain have spread from the Shoals to the coast, Jackson County has suffered longer and harder than any other region.  "It's an agricultural disaster," said Jackson County farmer Phillip Thompson.  "It's epic. It's really bad," said Themika Sims, Jackson County coordinator of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. [node:read-more:link]

Signaling a cutback in water supplies for farming and cities, California regulators on Wednesday issued a new scientific analysis that proposes overhauling the management of the Sacramento River and devoting more water to Northern California’s dwindling fish populations.  The State Water Resources Control Board, in a widely anticipated report crafted by its staff, said it’s considering allowing much more of the flow from the Sacramento River and its tributaries to wash out into the ocean. The board avoided issuing a specific recommendation on how much additional water should go to fish. [node:read-more:link]