Politics

Farmers suffering from this summer's dry, hot weather could get some help through the state treasurer's office.

Treasurer Clint Zweifel says he is offering emergency 24-hour approvals of low-interest loans through the Missouri Linked Deposit Program because of the drought conditions.

Under the program, the state deposits money at low rates in banks, which in turn can supply low-interest loans to farmers or businesses. Zweifel says it normally takes about 10 days to approve a deposit for a loan, but that can be speeded up in emergencies.

Missouri officials say state payrolls declined by 4,000 jobs in June while unemployment simultaneously decreased to 7.1 percent.

Department of Economic Development officials say much of the decline in Missouri non-farm payrolls came in the local government sector, which shed 3,100 jobs in June.

The state unemployment rate has declined or held steady each month since June 2011. The jobless rate last month is the lowest in Missouri since December 2008.

The commission that picks finalists for the Missouri Supreme Court will interview 18 applicants to replace Judge William Ray Price Jr.

The commission said the pool includes three women and one racial minority. The commission selects three finalists, and Gov. Jay Nixon makes the final appointment.

Applicants include at least five who have worked for Nixon or his administration.

Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is backing Sarah Steelman in Missouri's Republican U.S. Senate primary.

Steelman touted Palin's endorsement as a potential boon in a GOP primary in which all three main candidates have been trying to appeal to conservatives.

Palin's statement praised Steelman as a "commonsense conservative woman" who has stood up to the political establishment "to stop out of control spending and the destructive debt it leaves in its wake."

Officials at the Missouri Lottery have no strategy to generate an additional $35 million that legislative budget writers and Gov. Jay Nixon's administration had hoped would help avoid cuts to government services.

The Missouri attorney general's office has deposited the state government's $38 million share of a national mortgage settlement.