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from Addicting Info
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New Leak Discovered At Hanford; Governor Inslee Releases Statement________
from Natural Society
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from The Spokesman-ReviewShawn Vestal: Restoration of Ridpath’s glory days adds to mix of ideas for faded hotel
Britain finds horsemeat in school meals, hospitals
FDA approves implant for eyes
Technology may eventually help wide number of vision problems
Rising against abuse
In Spokane, and worldwide, women focus on the scourge of sexual assault
Budget plan has slim chances
Senate Democrats call for mix of cuts, tax increases
New owl species found
Researchers notice bird’s unique whistle
N.Y. mayor to push ban on styrofoam
Obama seeks to expand preschool
President wants free early education for lower-income families
Drone test sites are step toward more in skies
Human drugs can alter fish behavior
Detainee protests searches of his cell
Bill says property tax penalties are unneeded
County treasurer, lawmaker push to ease ‘usurious’ delinquency fines
Bill would extend signature gathering time on initiatives
House committee rejects tighter rules for urban renewal districts
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In brief: From Wire Reports
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service has a message for taxpayers eager to learn the status of their tax refund: Please don’t check the IRS website every five minutes – once a day is enough.
The IRS says its “Where’s my refund?” website and smartphone app are being overwhelmed by eager taxpayers. The agency says its systems are only updated once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available on the website, the IRS2go smartphone app and IRS toll-free phone lines.
The IRS provides three updates: when the tax return is received, when the refund is approved and when the refund is sent. To avoid delays, the agency says the best time to check on refunds is evenings and weekends.
Rig owner pleads to misdemeanor charge
Transocean Deepwater Inc., an oil drilling company, formally pleaded guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor charge and will pay $400 million in criminal penalties, the latest action in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo in New Orleans accepted the guilty plea to violating the Clean Water Act plea and imposed sentence, the Justice Department announced Thursday. Transocean agreed last month to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge and to pay $1 billion in civil penalties along with the criminal penalty. Another judge will decide whether to accept the civil penalty portion.
The penalties totaling $1.4 billion represent the second-largest recovery in an environmental case, following the $4 billion criminal sentence imposed on BP Exploration and Production Inc. in connection with the same oil spill, the Justice Department said.
Transocean owned the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded on April 20, 2010, and sank over BP’s Macondo well. Eleven workers were killed.
The explosion also led to the nation’s worst environmental disaster. The well spilled an estimated 4.9 million barrels in the Gulf before it was capped July 15, 2010. The well was declared sealed two months after that.
Still pending is the civil phase against BP.
Motrin suit settled for $63 million
BOSTON – Health care company Johnson & Johnson has been told to pay a Massachusetts teenager and her parents $63 million after she suffered a life-threatening drug reaction and lost most of her skin when she took a children’s pain reliever nearly a decade ago.
A Plymouth Superior Court jury Wednesday decided Johnson & Johnson and its McNeil-PPC Inc. subsidiary should pay Samantha Reckis and her parents a total of $109 million, including interest.
Family attorney Brad Henry said Samantha was 7 when she was given Motrin brand ibuprofen. She suffered a rare side effect known as toxic epidermal necrolysis and lost 90 percent of her skin and was blinded.
Airbus 350 won’t use lithium-ion batteries
NEW YORK – Airbus is dropping lithium-ion batteries from its new A350 airplane because of uncertainty surrounding the technology that has led to the grounding of Boeing’s 787.
The European planemaker said late Thursday that it has decided to revert to nickel-cadmium batteries for the A350. The plane is a wide-body jet rival to the 787 and is expected to make its first flight around the middle of the year.
Probe of Penguin merger ends
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has closed an investigation of a proposed merger between Penguin and Random House and will take no action to stop the deal that would create the world’s largest publisher of consumer books.
Media company Pearson seeks to merge its Penguin Books division with Random House, which is owned by German media company Bertelsmann. The proposed publishing house would have about a quarter of the consumer book market.
Penguin and Random are two of the so-called “big six” publishers in the United States. Their merger will bring together such Random House authors as E L James and John Grisham and such Penguin writers as Patricia Cornwell and Elizabeth Gilbert.
The merger is widely seen as an effort to counteract the power of Amazon.com, which has worried publishers by aggressively cutting prices on e-books. Deals struck with Apple in 2010 that gave publishers more control over e-book costs led to a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit in the spring of 2012. Penguin, one of the five publishers sued, has settled since the merger was announced last fall.
Word of the U.S. government’s decision on the merger came from the companies, and Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona confirmed it on Thursday.
Bertelsmann will own 53 percent and Pearson 47 percent of shares in the proposed publishing house, which will encompass all of Random House and Penguin Group’s publishing units in the U.S. and six other countries.
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Duncan competency hearing wraps up
Federal judge expected to issue decision soon
Hanford safety issues ignored, manager says
Suit latest complaint about N-site cleanup
What to expect from airliners’ merger plan
Fares may rise, but expanded network offers more options
Buffett, 3G buying Heinz
$23.3 billion a food industry record
Boeing issues alert on 737 engine instability
Investigators suspect possible contamination of jet fuel
Toyota settles safety lawsuit
American Samoa, states will share $29 million
Editorial: Restore momentum for Heritage Center
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from Washington Policy Center (State)
Washington State Public School Achievement Index
Almira Coulee Hartline: 5: B (Very Good)
Almira Elementary: 3.6: D (Fair)
Coulee City Elementary: 2.85: D (Fair)
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from The Wenatchee World
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| Before it was transformed into a Bavarian theme town, this is how Leavenworth appeared in the summer of 1965. |
By Wilfred Woods Chairman of the Board
Gay marriage support risky for GOP lawmakers
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