Missouri

HOUSTON/ SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 1- Renewed strength in refining and chemicals led to higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings for Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, the two largest U.S. oil companies.

Feb 1- Mississippi River barge traffic remained congested on Friday near Vicksburg, Mississippi, where a barge accident and oil spill shuttered the major shipping artery on Sunday, but the backlog of boats was slowly declining.

ST. LOUIS-- The CEO of St. Louis- based Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. is retiring, 16 years after she founded the kid-friendly chain that now has more than 400 outlets worldwide. She was also a former executive of the old Venture Stores and the May Co.' s Famous-Barr stores. Clark is a trustee of Washington University and a national board member of Teach for America.

LINCOLN, Neb.-- Veterans' groups told lawmakers Thursday that Nebraska's tax on military retirement pay is driving people out of the state, while some lawmakers questioned whether the losses are influenced more by warmer climates and family connections elsewhere.

COLUMBIA, Mo.-- University of Missouri undergraduates who are state residents will pay 1.7 percent more in tuition next year as the four-campus system holds its annual hike to the rate of inflation. In Columbia, annual in-state tuition at the flagship campus will rise to $9,343, an increase of $158.

HOUSTON/ SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 1- Strength in refining and chemicals led to higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings for Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, the two largest U.S. oil companies.

Feb 1- Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, on Friday reported a higher-than-expected 6 percent increase in quarterly profit on stronger results at its chemical and refining businesses.

*McDouble price above $1 in LA, Manhattan and Chicago McDonald's promoting $1 Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger. Feb 1- McDonald's popular $1 McDouble cheeseburger, which has lured customers to the Golden Arches since 2008, is getting hard to sustain as rising beef prices threaten the company's profit margin.

*Nebraska the most drought-stricken state. Jan 31- The unrelenting drought gripping key farming states in the U.S. It's not a pretty picture, "said climatologist Mark Svoboda of the University of Nebraska's Drought Mitigation Center.

ST. LOUIS-- Energizer Holdings Inc. said Thursday that its first-quarter net income fell 10 percent due to restructuring costs. Net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 fell to $129.8 million, or $2.07 per share, from $143.8 million, or $2.15 per share in the year-ago quarter.

MINNEAPOLIS-- The NFL Players Association has appealed a judge's recent rejection of the union's claim that the league colluded to set a secret salary cap in 2010.. The NFLPA filed the appeal on Wednesday to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

Midwest rains lift Mississippi River water level. Plains states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Nebraska is expected to continue struggling through the worst drought in over 50 years into early February and perhaps longer, an agricultural meteorologist said on Thursday.

*River closed at Vicksburg, Mississippi, since Sunday. Jan 30- More than 1,000 barges were backed up on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Mississippi, on Wednesday after a weekend barge accident and oil spill forced the closure of the major shipping artery, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

ST. LOUIS-- In a story Jan. 29, The Associated Press reported that Peabody Energy Corp.' s adjusted fourth-quarter loss, excluding the cost of closing down mines and marking down the value of some of its assets, was $1.12 per share.

Jan 30- U.S. ethanol production has fallen to its lowest level since the government started collecting data more than two years ago, as poor demand and the high cost of corn prompt a series of plant closings. Gasoline demand is down and that is the big driver, "said R.J. O'Brien& Associates ethanol trader Julie Ward."

*Euro hits highest since December 2011, just below $1.35. NEW YORK, Jan 29- The euro scaled 14- month peaks against the dollar on Tuesday, gaining in three of the last four sessions, boosted by a more upbeat euro zone outlook and expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its ultra-easy monetary policy for some time.

TOPEKA, Kan.-- Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan told legislators Tuesday that Kansas must further reduce individual income tax rates to remain economically competitive, but he faced questions about whether it's fair to the poor to offset those cuts by scrapping deductions for homeowners and raising additional sales tax revenues.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.-- The Missouri Senate has given first-round approval to a measure that would reinstate tax credits for donations to pregnancy centers, child crisis nurseries and food pantries. The Senate also approved an amendment that would eliminate a tax incentive for adopting special needs children from outside Missouri.