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An Internal Revenue Service conference in California in 2010 has achieved quick notoriety for its “happiness expert” and its goofy videos spoofing “Gilligan’s Island” and “Star Trek,” complete with Planet Notax.But the IRS, which had enough problems on its hands before details of the conference surfaced this week, is far from the first government agency to be taken to task for questionable spendin...
The tornado that struck El Reno, Okla., on Friday night was the widest on record in the United States at 2.6 miles across, the National Weather Service reported on Tuesday.The May 31 twister beat the previous record, a 2.5-mile wide storm that struck Hallam, Neb., on May 22, 2004.The Friday tornado and its resulting flooding claimed 18 lives, including six children and a dozen adults, the Oklahoma...
President Obama today nominated a federal judge, a university law professor and an appeals court attorney to fill three vacancies on the 11-seat U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka applauded the nominations and urged the U.S. Senate “to move expeditiously to confirm these nominees.” In a statement, he said:The D.C. Circuit is extremely important to working families. The court hears more significant labor-related cases—workplace safety cases, wage and hour cases, unfair labor practice cases and other regulatory cases—than any other Circuit Court of Appeals.
A Colorado judge ruled Tuesday that Aurora massacre suspect James Holmes can change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, paving the way for an independent mental health evaluation.It's unclear when experts will begin examining the grad-school dropout, but the results probably won't be ready for months.Holmes, 25, asked last month to change his plea but also challenged the state law that m...
After the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington State, Ironworkers General President Walter Wise called on Congress to break the unprecedented gridlock and make immediate investment in rebuilding the country's crumbling infrastructure. Wise noted numerous reports in recent years highlight addressing America's infrastructure is long overdue. Most recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave United States infrastructure a grade of D+.
