Reaching further: In response to growing demand for quality children’s programming on multiple digital platforms, Louisiana Public Broadcasting and PBS will launch a free 24/7 multiplatform services for children on Jan. 16. The free services will be broadcast on LPB2 and a live stream on digital platforms, according to a news release. Viewers will also be able to watch broadcasts on LPB PBS Kids (LPB2) and access the live stream via lpb.org, as well as the PBS KIDS Video app.
On the way up: Long-term US mortgage rates ticked up again this week, staying at their highest levels since early 2014, The Associated Press reports. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans rose to an average 4.32%, up from 4.30% last week. That average is at its highest since April 2014. It’s a sharp increase from a 30-year rate that averaged 3.65% for all of 2016, the lowest level recorded from records going back to 1971. The average for a 15-year mortgage rose to 3.55% from 3.52% last week. Read the full story.
Talking jobs: President-elect Donald Trump took credit on Wednesday for a decision by Sprint to add 5,000 jobs in the United States. At his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump told reporters Sprint called him to say the company was taking the jobs from other countries and bringing them back to the United States, The New York Times reports. Sprint later said the jobs were part of a previously announced commitment by Japan’s SoftBank, which owns a controlling stake in the mobile phone carrier, to invest $50 billion in the United States and create 50,000 positions. That announcement was made earlier this month by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son following a meeting with Trump. Read the full story.
