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Ikea takes a poke at high-end cousin
The 2007 Ikea catalog dropped with a global 80,000-ton thud a few weeks ago. Though its arrival hardly rates on the American cultural calendar, it's something of a phenomenon in Europe, where shelter catalogs aren't so plentiful.
Still, publishing 160 million catalogs a year worldwide (20 million in the United States) is a retail achievement nonpareil. By way of comparison, three years after its release, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has about 60 million copies in print.
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FEATURE-In Iraq, contractor deaths near 650, legal fog thickens
WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The war in Iraq has killed at least 647 civilian contractors to date, according to official figures that provide a stark reminder of the huge role of civilians in supporting the U.S. military.
The contractor death toll is tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor on the basis of claims under an insurance policy, the Defense Base Act, that all U.S. government contractors and subcontractors working outside the United States must take out for their civilian employees.
In response to questions from Reuters, a Labor Department spokesman said there had been 647 claims for death benefits between March 1, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2006. The Defense Base Act covers both Americans and foreigners, and there is no breakdown of the nationalities of those killed.
iSoft was key to Accenture's NHS withdrawal
Healthcare software provider iSoft has emerged as the central cause for Accenture's withdrawal from the NHS' massive IT rehaul. Accenture confirmed on Thursday afternoon that it was pulling out of most of its 2bn contractswith NHS Connecting for Health, the department responsible for implementing the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). .
Contractor gets another good deal
It looks as though Derry, N.H., contractor John Burke is finally going to start to pay for his part in a scheme to defraud the federal government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in home-repair contracts. But he's still getting a good deal. Burke, who first pleaded guilty to bribery charges in March 2005, has managed to delay his sentencing until the end of this month. Burke paid about $100,000 in bribes over five year to former Veterans Administration loan specialist Robert Mayer of Salem, N.H., in exchange for home-renovation contracts worth $3.1 million. Mayer, a former Salem Planning Board member, faked invoices to make it appear several contractors had been awarded the jobs repairing homes the VA was renovating or selling. In fact, those contracts went only to those who paid him bribes.
Today last day to apply for safe room rebate
Today is the last chance this year for Panhandle residents to apply for the Residential Safe Room Rebate Program to help construct a tornado shelter. The $2.25 million for the program, funded by grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will help 900 residents in the Panhandle area construct shelters. The city of Amarillo and the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission began accepting applications for the Residential Safe Room Rebate program, which reimburses half the cost of a shelter up to $2,500, in August. John Kiehl, PRPC director of regional services, said the commission has received applications for only about half of the 750 rebates appropriated to the PRPC. "Right now, it's out of sight, out of mind. People aren't thinking about dangerous spring weather," Kiehl said.
McCoy To Barbour: Prove That Modular Tax Cut Will Help Consumers
A top lawmaker says he wants a guarantee from Gov. Haley Barbour that consumers, rather than contractors, will benefit from the governor's proposed tax cut on modular housing - the sole issue in a special legislative session that starts Thursday. "Usually, the homeowner does not pay the tax directly," House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, said in a written statement Wednesday. "Instead, it is paid by the contractor when he buys the modular home and simply becomes a part of the cost of construction. The homeowner never sees it." Barbour says decreasing the tax rate on modular homes could help speed up rebuilding in south Mississippi, where thousands of people are still waiting to rebuild their homes more than 13 months after Hurricane Katrina. The governor's spokesman, Pete Smith, said lowering the tax rate would benefit home buyers.
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