Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Two former postal clerks charged; one allegedly stole at least 200 mailed gift cards
Two former U.S. Postal Service clerks in New York were charged on Sept. 25, 2026, in a scheme to take gift cards out of the mail. Prosecutors say Pian Pian Wong-Tam, 59, took at least 200 of them, worth $25 to $500 each, from mail she handled at the White Plains processing center. William Wong,…
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A coalition of 45 states and territories is seeking preliminary court approval of generic-drug price-fixing settlements with Ascend, Mayne and Citron before a February 2027 trial
A coalition of 45 states and territories has asked a federal court to approve settlements with three generic-drug companies, Ascend Laboratories, Mayne Pharma and Citron Pharma. The settlements are small, and one of them involves no money at all. They matter because they are the latest step in a long price-fixing case that heads to…
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A court-appointed guardian agency owner is charged with keeping $180,000 from a ward’s home sale and spending $87,000 of a ward’s money on a van
A Michigan probate court trusted TriState Guardian Services to manage the affairs of people who could not manage them. Federal prosecutors say the company’s owner, Kijuana Evans, 54, of Clinton Township, and a manager took their money. An indictment announced Oct. 1 accuses them of keeping $180,000 from the sale of a ward’s home and…
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Cook County has scheduled a Dec. 15 tax sale for unpaid 2023 property taxes
Cook County will hold its tax sale on Dec. 15, 2026, and the properties in it are the ones with unpaid Tax Year 2023 property taxes. The Cook County Treasurer’s website lists how to avoid the December 15, 2026 tax sale and publishes lists of properties with delinquent 2023 taxes. For a homeowner in Chicago…
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Alabama farms can skip the state utility gross receipts tax on power for poultry houses, greenhouses and pivot irrigation through Aug. 31, 2029
Alabama farmers who run poultry houses, greenhouses or pivot irrigation can stop paying the state’s utility gross receipts tax on the electricity or natural gas those operations use. The break started Sept. 1, 2026 and ends Aug. 31, 2029. It is not automatic, though. A farm has to get a state certificate and hand it…
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Alabama’s new tax of 10 cents per milliliter on vape liquid took effect Oct. 1
Alabama began charging a state tax on vape liquid on Oct. 1, and the rate is 10 cents for every milliliter. The Alabama Department of Revenue, which collects it, calls it a state excise tax on consumable vapor products. A 30-milliliter bottle of nicotine liquid carries $3.00 of tax under that rate, by the arithmetic.…
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Montana cuts its top income tax rate for 2027 and widens a lower bracket
Montana taxpayers with a decent-sized income will see a smaller state tax bill starting in tax year 2027. The state’s top income tax rate drops from 5.65 percent in 2026 to 5.4 percent in 2027, and the income that is taxed at the lower 4.7 percent rate grows by $35,000 for couples filing together. The…
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Louisiana state employees and retirees face higher health premiums on Jan. 1 across every Pelican and Magnolia plan, with enrollment open until Nov. 15
Health premiums for Louisiana state workers and retirees go up on Jan. 1, and the window to change plans closes first. The Office of Group Benefits, the agency that runs the state’s health plans, says all Pelican and Magnolia health plans carry a 7.75% premium rate increase effective Jan. 1, 2027. Annual enrollment runs from…
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Oregon’s SNAP rolls fell to 639,261 people in 395,448 households in August, from more than 740,000 people the state reported in September 2025
Oregon had 639,261 people on SNAP in August 2026, living in 395,448 households. A year earlier the picture was different. In a Sept. 30, 2025 release, the Oregon Department of Human Services said more than 740,000 people in the state were receiving SNAP, the federal food benefit once called food stamps. What the state’s data…
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Iowa and West Virginia SNAP shoppers can still buy soda because a court vacated both states’ bans, leaving 5 of 23 listed states blocked
SNAP shoppers in Iowa and West Virginia can still use their cards to buy soda, because a federal court wiped out the approvals behind both states’ bans. Iowa and West Virginia are two of five states where the order applies. USDA’s list shows 23 states with food restriction waivers, so five of them are blocked…