U.S. justices to hear case on whether severance can be taxed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to consider whether severance pay in an involuntary layoff can be subject to federal payroll taxes in a case the Obama administration says could affect $1 billion in refund claims.
Senate votes to kill Republican request for talks to end shutdown
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Democratic-led Senate on Tuesday voted to kill Republicans’ latest attempts to modify an emergency government funding bill, just hours after federal agencies and national parks began shutting down.
Head of VW world works council to meet Tennessee workers: sources
DETROIT (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG’s most influential labor leader will meet with workers at the German automaker’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of the United Auto Workers union representing them, several sour…
Maryland delays enrollment through state healthcare exchange
(Reuters) – Maryland’s state-run Obamacare health insurance marketplace announced a four-hour enrollment delay on Tuesday, citing technical problems less than 10 minutes after the system was scheduled to begin signing up uninsured residents for coverag…
Despite reprieve, California fights prison crowding order
SACRAMENTO (Reuters) – As a deadline looms for California to comply with a federal court order to reduce crowding in its mammoth and troubled prison system, state officials are scrambling to fight – or at a minimum to delay – its implementation.
California’s Berkeley campus evacuated after electrical blast, outage
(Reuters) – Several people suffered minor injuries due to an explosion on Monday in an electrical vault at the University of California, Berkeley, and a related power outage led officials to evacuate the campus, a school spokesman said.
One in five American Jews say they have no religion, survey finds
CHICAGO (Reuters) – One out of five Americans who consider themselves culturally or ethnically Jewish say they do not believe in God or they do not follow any particular faith, in a sign of the changing nature of American Jewish identity, according to …
U.S. judge rejects government bid to kill ‘Fast and Furious’ suit
(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday refused to dismiss a lawsuit by Republican lawmakers who accuse Attorney General Eric Holder of wrongfully withholding documents tied to an investigation into a botched probe of gun trafficking on the U.S.-Mexican bor…
Rock slide kills five hikers in Colorado mountains
DENVER (Reuters) – Five hikers died on Monday when they were buried by rubble from a rock slide in the Colorado Rockies southwest of Denver but a 13-year-old girl was rescued, an official said.
Shooting of Louisiana pastor followed rape allegation, police say
(Reuters) – A pastor shot to death last week at his church in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was accused of rape just days before by the wife of the man who was charged with his killing, authorities said on Monday.
