Panama Canal expansion could impact Missouri ports

MODOT officials say the widened canal will open more freight shipment opportunities to Missouri.

Franklin School construction proceeds as planned

The $10 million project is being constructed next to the old school. It will open for the 2012 school year.

Dino's Pizza damaged by fire

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department estimates $250,000 in damages, but the building is not a total loss.

Mississippi River Basin nitrate pollution remains high

Nitrates flowing from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico contribute to the formation of areas known as dead zones.

Showing posts with label Travis Ford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travis Ford. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sun Security Bank taken over by Great Southern Bank

ELLINGTON, MO (KRCU) - Ellington-based Sun Security Bank is no more.

The bank’s board of directors chose to turn Sun Security over to the Missouri Division of Finance last Friday because the bank was on the brink of insolvency.

Great Southern Bank, which is based in Springfield, then agreed to take over Sun Security.

Missouri Division of Finance spokesperson Travis Ford says the bank’s failure is a common story.

"The demise of this bank is mainly attributed to overly aggressive and risky lending strategies. And that’s usually what brings down a bank. Making loans to folks who cannot repay. In this case, it was commercial and real estate development," Ford said.

The bank had assets valued at 350 million dollars, which Ford says makes it an average-sized Missouri bank. Great Southern has 3 billion dollars in assets.

Sun Security had 27 branches, primarily in southern Missouri, including Fredericktown, Marquand, Arcadia, Pilot Knob, Viburnum, Annapolis, Lesterville and Piedmont.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Missouri receives $21M grant to set up insurance exchange

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCUR) - Missouri has received a $21 million federal grant to build an online health insurance exchange, or marketplace.

Travis Ford with the Missouri Department of Insurance says if set up correctly, an exchange would enable Missourians to view multiple insurance plans online at once, to more easily compare policies and prices.

Under the federal health law, states can either develop their own exchanges, or opt out and have the federal government step in and create one instead. Ford says the grant allows Missouri to get a head start on the process.

"If Missouri’s leaders elect to build, create and operate a state-run online market place like this, then we need to be ready," Ford says. "This grant money allows us to do the work and put the IT structure in place necessary for us to be ready."

The federal health law requires the exchanges to be up and running by 2014.

The Missouri house unanimously passed exchange legislation last session, but it never made it to a vote in the Senate.

The Senate’s insurance committee, meanwhile, is preparing to hold hearings across the state this month and next on whether and how to set one up.

Elana Gordon, KCUR