Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) – Legislation that would trim hundreds of millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service budget would force significant cuts in the services it provides taxpayers and cost the government $4 billion annually in lost revenue, the agency warned Congress on Monday.

In a letter to lawmakers, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said the budget cuts “would lead to noticeable degradation of both service and enforcement and would have a serious detrimental impact on voluntary compliance for years to come.”

The House Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would provide $11.5 billion for the IRS in fiscal 2012, which began Oct. 1.

Read more…

The U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission announced a voluntary recall of more than 1.6 million bottles of gel fuel due to flash fire hazards.

The recall announced this week is an extension of last week’s purging of gel fuel under various brand names.

This week’s announcement includes the recall of about 1.6 million bottles produced by Bird Brain Inc. of Ypsilanti, Mich., and 39,000 bottles produced by Marshall Group of Elkhart, Ind., under the brand name Marshall Gardens PatioGlo Bio-Fuel Gel.

Splattering gel fuel can ignite, causing dangerous flash fires, the commission said in a statement.

Consumers were advised to contact each of these firms for a full refund.

Marshall Group sold two brands from November 2010 until August 2011 for between $8 and $13.

Read more…

long-awaited milestone achieved

Associated Press

EVERETT, Wash. Boeing Co. handed over the key for its first 787 wide-body jet to All Nippon Airways on Monday after years of delays, marking a long-awaited milestone in the history of commercial flight.

Thousands of workers gathered for the ceremony at Paine Field, outside the building where the planes are assembled, with many finding shelter from the rain under the wings of two yet-to-be-delivered 787s. The actual first ANA 787 was nearby at the Future of Flight aviation center, where it was being prepared for a reception Monday night and its flight to Japan today.

The plane goes into service in November.

“You have no idea what you’ve achieved,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Jim Albaugh told the crowd.

Read more…

The nation’s latest reform of the patent system provides plenty of good news for Connecticut businesses, but failed to become the cure-all for the increasingly contentious world of patents.

The America Invents Act of 2011, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Sept. 16, should make patent reviews quicker, reduce litigation over patents, increase the quality of patents, and maybe encourage manufacturers to return their factories to the United States. But the law fails to address problems caused by the so-called patent trolls and the seemingly endless, overlapping fight over technology patents. <

Read more…

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) – Hundreds of soldiers and federal agents are raiding casinos in this northern city, authorities said Saturday, two days after an arson attack on a gambling house killed 52 people and stunned a country that had become numb to massacres and beheadings.

Security forces had so far confiscated about 1,500 slot machines at 11 casinos in Monterrey and its surroundings and arrested three people, Mexico’s tax agency said. It said the continuing operation was meant to verify whether casinos had paid taxes or introduced slot machines illegally.

Thursday’s arson attack by gunmen was a macabre milestone in a conflict that the government says has claimed more than 35,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug cartels in late 2006. Read more…

University of Central Michigan faculty members and administrators said they were pleased with a court order that allows picketing but prevents a strike.

University attorney Bob Vercruysse said, “We are pleased that our faculty will be in the classroom. We’re delighted that our children will be able to be in the classroom … and continue their education.”

“This court action ensures CMU students’ academic instruction will continue without further disruption,” Steve Smith, the university’s director of public relations, said in a statement, the Mount Pleasant, Mich., Morning Sun reported Saturday.

But President of the Faculty Association Laura Frey said, “We have had our First Amendment rights restored. I

Read more…