Umpqua Bank donates $420,000 to local nonprofits
Umpqua Bank has awarded $420,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations.
Second Harvest will use the $300,000 it received to launch a new program to ensure students at three elementary schools in Spokane County have enough to eat. The effort includes access to food over the weekends and distribution via mobile food banks and in-class snacks.
Another nonprofit, called Excelerate Success, will receive $120,000 to boost the readiness of kindergartners by distributing books and creating parent support networks.
The charitable gifts were announced Thursday.
Umpqua Bank purchased Sterling Financial Corp., which had been headquartered in Spokane.
The Portland-based bank’s charitable foundation typically awards community grants of $2,500 to $10,000 focused on youth development, education, community development and arts access.
USDA announces new farm payment programs
DES MOINES, Iowa – Farmers can start as early as next week signing up for new safety net programs that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said replace the much-criticized direct payments with government payouts based on the risks farmers face.
Vilsack announced the rollout of the programs Thursday. The programs were established in the 2014 farm bill and will allow farmers to protect themselves against commodity price drops and from lower revenue in poor crop years.
Payouts this year could be significant because anticipated record corn and soybean harvests have sent prices plummeting. At current prices, many farmers are likely to lose money, a scenario that will enable them to collect government payments.
The new programs cover this year’s harvested crop. Farmers will receive payment in October 2015. The programs are in addition to crop insurance farmers may buy to cover losses from flooding, drought, hail and other natural disasters.
Vilsack said farmers can sign up as soon as Monday, but he expects they will take several months to research their options. He said no firm deadline has been set but farmers likely will be given until early next year to make enrollment decisions.
Farm owners first must make some decisions about establishing the number of acres and yield history they’ll submit to the USDA to be used to compute coverage through 2018. Next, producers of major row crops – mostly corn, soybeans, wheat and rice – must decide between a price loss coverage program that pays when commodity prices drop below specified levels and an agriculture risk coverage program that pays when their revenue falls below certain levels.
Chrysler ignition switch recall affects 350,000 SUVs, cars
DETROIT – Chrysler is recalling nearly 350,000 older cars and SUVs to fix defective ignition switches that can cause the vehicles to stall.
The new recall covers Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee SUVs, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans and Dodge Magnum wagons from the 2008 model year. All were built before May 12, 2008.
Chrysler says the ignitions, after being rotated to the “start” position, may not fully return to the “on” position. If the switches lodge between “start” and “on,” the windshield defroster and wipers may not work. If the switches move to “accessory” or “off,” the engine could shut off and knock out power-assisted steering and other features.
Chrysler knows of one crash and no injuries from the problem.
The company still is determining the cause of the switch problem and what repairs will be needed, a spokesman said Thursday. In the meantime, Chrysler is telling owners to use the key without a keychain or other attachments and confirm that the switches return to “on” after starting their cars.