Free Republic

New state and local increases are boosting paychecks in Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and other locations this week. Workers in about 15 locations nationwide are about to receive a boost in their paychecks, thanks to minimum wage increases that went into effect this week around the country. On Tuesday, July 1, minimum wage increases went into effect in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. Additionally, 12 cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, are doing the same. The minimum wage hasn’t changed on a federal level since 2009. It remains stuck at $7.25. However, local governments have been moving the needle...

News came this past week that the former Florida governor was canceling $3 million in TV ad buys in the crucial early-voting states of Iowa and South Carolina, a concession to financial and political reality that has been a long time coming. Bush aides may have hoped to bury the news by dropping it during a holiday week when people are paying little attention to politics. And they sought to spin it in the best possible light: The campaign would be sending 50 more staffers into the four states with the first contests to beef up its already strong on-the-ground...

Doug Reuhl, president and CEO of American since 1988, blamed an unforgiving economy, especially over the past five years, for the closure and said the company would begin a going-out-of-business sale Thursday to liquidate its entire inventory of furniture, electronics and appliances. "While this is a sad moment, it is also a proud moment," Reuhl said in a news release. "It's a moment to be proud of our efforts and to be proud of what we have delivered to the community." A switchboard operator at American TV refused to answer additional questions Monday or transfer a reporter to anyone else,...

Loehmann’s, a specialty retailer that has had a presence in Georgia for years, is going out of business and closing its 39 locations, including two in metro Atlanta. *** Loehmann’s blamed declining economic conditions in key markets, including New York, California, Florida and the Midwest, for a drop in business.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- With his good looks Dr Sashi Tharoor could have been a star in the Indian film industry. Instead, he choose to be a career diplomat and spent the last 28 years serving the United Nations (UN). Now he cherishes another ambition -- to lead the UN, the world's largest and vital organisation. The 50 year-old diplomat is India's official candidate for the UN secretary-general's post which falls vacant when Kofi Annan completes his second and final five-year term in December this year. The London-born United States-educated Indian, who will join three other Asian candidates...