Telephone coops get grants for broadband
Three Tennessee telephone cooperatives will get federal grants to help build high-speed internet through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., announced Thursday that the Ben Lomand Rural Telephone Coop, North Central Communications and Highland Communications will collectively share in $2.4 million in federal funds to upgrade rural broadband services.
“These grants are good news for people living in parts of Marion, Morgan, Grundy and Trousdale counties, who currently don’t have access to high-speed internet,” Alexander said.
The USDA approved $850,700 in grant funding to Ben Lomand Rural Telephone Cooperative to build a broadband network to serve residents on Palmer Mountain in Grundy County and residents in Greentown in Marion County. It also approved a separate $850,032 grant for North Central Communications to construct a fiber optics facility in the northern part of Trousdale County. A third $723,593 grant will go to Highland Communications to help build a fiber optics facility to serve residents in southern Morgan County.
Jobless claims drop to five-month low
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits last week felt to the lowest level since mid-April, another sign that workers are enjoying job security despite sluggish economic growth.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for jobless aid slid by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 249,000. The less volatile four-week average dropped 2,500 to 253,500, lowest since December 1973. Overall, 2.06 million Americans are collecting unemployment checks, down more than 7 percent from a year ago.
Mortgage rates stable and lowest since July
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates didn’t move this week, remaining at their lowest levels since mid-July as a lure to prospective home buyers.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged from last week at 3.42 percent. The benchmark rate is down from 3.76 percent a year ago and close to its all-time low of 3.31 percent in November 2012.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, popular with homeowners who are refinancing, stayed at 2.72 percent.
Government says Mylan overcharges on EpiPens
Even the federal government is apparently paying too much for EpiPens.
The skyrocketing price of the life-saving allergy shot, which has triggered a storm of criticism, is only part of the problem. Now the federal government says Medicaid has been paying too much for EpiPens for years because the emergency shot is classified incorrectly as a generic medicine.
The federal government says EpiPen is a branded drug, which means the drug’s maker, Mylan, should have been paying the government a far higher rebate under the government’s complex pricing rules.
Mylan denies wrongdoing but could face steep penalties.