St. Louis – October 12, 2026 -- Labrador Retrievers kept lean from puppyhood lived a median of 1.8 years longer than heavier matched littermates, according to findings from the 14-year Purina Life Span Study, which the Purina Institute is revisiting on the study's 25th anniversary.

Erie – October 12, 2026 -- Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ: ERIE) will report third-quarter 2026 financial results after the market close on Thursday, October 29, followed by a pre-recorded audio webcast for the financial community at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, October 30.

Council Bluffs – October 12, 2026 -- Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC (SIRE), a farmer-owned ethanol producer, has acquired GreenAmerica Biofuels Ord LLC, lifting its combined capacity to approximately 230 million gallons of ethanol per year across two plants in Iowa and Nebraska.

Burlington, N.J. – October 12, 2026 -- Eighty percent of U.S. adults expect to spend the same amount or more on holiday shopping this year than last, even as 58% of those respondents worry about exceeding their budgets, according to a Wakefield Research survey commissioned by off-price retailer Burlington Stores.

Fort Worth – October 12, 2026 -- Professional freestyle wrestling league RAF has named Fort Worth-based Dollamur the Official Mat of RAF and RAF NEXT GEN, its youth division, locking in a single supplier for competition surfaces as the league expands in the US and abroad.

RAF Co-Founder and CEO Chad Bronstein described Dollamur as the only manufacturer able to keep pace with the league's growth. He said the company has acted as a true partner from the start.

Fargo – October 12, 2026 -- Sharp Biomedical, a medical device company building manual procedures for outpatient pain clinics, has closed its pre-seed funding round, led by North Dakota venture fund gener8tor 1889 with participation from several physician angel investors. The announcement did not disclose the round size.

New York – October 12, 2026 -- Debra L. Laskin, PhD, a member of the Expert Panel for Fragrance Safety, has been named to the Forbes 2026 50 Over 50: Innovation list after a career of more than 40 years and over 350 published journal articles, reviews, book chapters and reports.

Chicago – October 12, 2026 -- JLL Income Property Trust declared an October 2026 distribution of $0.0525 per share and unit, equal to an annualized $0.63 and a distribution rate of about 5.6% on a NAV per share of $11.27.

Payout is due October 27 to holders of record on October 22

The Board of Directors approved the distribution as of October 1, 2026. The daily NAV REIT will pay it on or around October 27, 2026 to stockholders and unitholders of record as of October 22, 2026.

Santa Clara – October 12, 2026 -- Smarter Balanced has appointed Dr. Karen Barton as Deputy Executive Director, effective October 12, 2026, adding a leader with more than two decades of assessment and learning experience to its senior team.

Barton to oversee major operational portfolios under Executive Director Tony Alpert

Barton will work closely with Executive Director Tony Alpert. Her remit covers major operational portfolios, coordination across teams, and the alignment of resources with the Consortium's strategic priorities and member needs.

Reston – October 12, 2026 -- Leidos has completed Jailbreak Sprint 1.5 at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, bringing its ALPS surveillance system into the U.S. Army's new Reveille Forge integration and testing environment, following three Leidos systems tested at the first sprint in June.

Reveille Forge follows the Army's Operation Jailbreak exercise held earlier this year. It is intended to surface system interoperability problems earlier in development, before technologies reach soldiers in the field.