How To Reach Us:
St. Louis Front Page
P.O. Box 1354
St. Louis, MO 63188
Voice: 314-771-0200
Fax: 314-771-0300
To submit news, contact:
editor@slfp.com
To advertise, contact:
advertising@slfp.com
|
|
|
ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, Arril 2, 2006
|
Missouri Gains Lead to Improved Legal Climate
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 2, 2006 - Gov. Matt Blunt's success enacting meaningful litigation reform is, as anticipated, having a positive impact on Missouri's legal climate. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Missouri has jumped from the 40th spot for best legal climate in the country to the 35th spot.
"As a candidate, I recognized that our existing tort system was strangling our state's economy and pledged to support litigation reform that would help eliminate injustice in our legal system," Blunt said in an announcment. "I am pleased that the meaningful laws I signed last year are improving Missouri's legal climate and as a result protecting our employers' right to create jobs without the threat of outrageous, job-killing legal awards hanging over their heads."
Missouri's five spot jump is a result of the comprehensive litigation reform enacted under Blunt's leadership. The reform implemented new limits on joint and several liability, restrictions on venue shopping and new limits on punitive and non-economic damages. The state's jump in rank is indicative of the many success stories resulting from Blunt's pro-family, pro-jobs initiatives.
The governor's Quality Jobs Act continues to attract high quality, family supporting jobs to Missouri. Since it became available in August, 34 companies have taken advantage of the program, promising to create or retain an estimated 7,500 jobs.
In addition Blunt kept his promise to restore fairness to Missouri's workers' compensation system, through valuable workers' compensation reform that protects rights of injured workers without threatening Missouri jobs. Reforms championed by the governor have restored balance to the system and have been cited by companies that have recently chosen to invest or reinvest in Missouri's working families like Chrysler, GM and Express Scripts.
A report issued by the Missouri Department of Economic Development showed that Missouri's employers and entrepreneurs created more than 32,000 new jobs since Blunt took office.
New Light Truck Economy Standards to Save 10.7 Billion Gallons of Fuel
BALTIMORE, MD, (SLFP.com), April 2, 2006 - New fuel economy standards for light trucks will save 10.7 billions of gallons of fuel and include, for the first time ever, the largest sport utility vehicles, according to the Department of Transportation.
The changes to the fuel economy standards represent the second time the Bush Administration has increased the mileage standards for light trucks and the first complete reform of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program for pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and minivans since its inception in 1979, Mineta said.
In a statement, Secretary Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said, "The new standards represent the most ambitious fuel economy goals for light trucks ever developed in the program's twenty-seven year history. And more importantly, they close loopholes that have long plagued the current system."
Mineta said the new rules save two billion more gallons of fuel than an earlier proposal released in August, 2005 by including the largest SUVs and strengthening the final miles per gallon target. The new standards also set individual miles-per-gallon goals for all passenger trucks sold in the United States, requiring manufacturers to install fuel saving technology on all passenger trucks.
In addition, the light truck fuel economy standards will save more than 250 million gallons a year just by including the largest sport utility vehicles on the market today, those that weigh between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds. Mineta said these large SUVs will be included in the CAFE program starting in 2011, adding that "we worked hard to make sure that no single SUV gets a free pass under these new standards."
The new fuel economy standards also strengthen the miles-per-gallon target for light trucks, Secretary Mineta said. The light truck targets will increase from 21.6 to 24 miles per gallon, the highest level ever for the program. Mineta added that more was being asked of automakers because they now have to factor in 240,000 of the least efficient SUVs for the first time.
"We took a good, close look at automakers' plans, examined new technology that is in use or under development - like hybrids and the latest generation of diesel-burning engines - and decided that we could ask more of the manufacturers than we proposed last August," Mineta said. He added that the new standards mean that some light trucks will now have to meet a fuel economy target of 28.4 milers per gallon, which is higher than today's standard for passenger cars.
Edward Jones Named a Top Company by Training Magazine
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire, April 2, 2006 - For the sixth consecutive year, the financial-services firm Edward Jones ranked as a top company for training its associates, according to Training magazine's 2006 Top 100 edition.
"This brokerage firm added field trainers, new requirements for graduation and more on-demand learning to its new investment representative (IR) training," according to the March 2006 edition of Training magazine.
Training magazine cited Edward Jones for offering a high number of training hours per associate. Each Edward Jones associate on average receives an estimated 95 hours of training each year. This mark was well above the average 52 hours per employee annually logged by the Top 100 companies ranked on the list.
Edward Jones consistently has earned high marks as an employer of choice in other national publications. The firm ranked within the top 10 of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" six times, with the most recent ranking in January. Registered Representative magazine rated Edward Jones No. 1 for the 13th consecutive year among the nation's leading brokerages in an anonymous survey of the firm's own brokers.
|
STL-News is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group as a special feature of the Saint Louis Front Page for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com
All rights reserved world wide
© 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group .
|
|
Click here for
AD Rates
Archived St. Louis News:
|
|
