News

The wages of government involvement

Thomas Mitchell

February 4, 2009 - 6:53 am

First the government sets the minimum wage and now President Obama proposes to set a maximum wage for companies that take a federal bailout.

"If the taxpayers are helping you, then you've got certain responsibilities to not be living high on the hog," Obama said Tuesday.

How much tax money is going to universities and school districts? How much is being handed out in grants to research companies? Energy companies of various kinds are getting tax breaks. Local governments, too. Shouldn't the feds set maximum pay for university presidents, energy company CEOs, county managers, etc.?

If government can set a minimum wage and now a maximum wage, why not set all wages? Everyone gets the same. I suspect your embrace of this concept depends on whether your current pay lies below or above the new only wage.

Timbisha Shoshone tribal members join a march ending at the visitor center to celebrate the 25t ...

Tribal members in Death Valley celebrate landmark law’s 25th anniversary

By Alan Halaly / RJ

January 30, 2026 - 8:08 pm

The Timbisha Shoshone tribe celebrated the anniversary of a landmark act of Congress that returned 7,800 acres of its land in the national park.

‘Missing in Nevada Day’ seeks to name unidentified bodies found over the years

By Bryan Horwath / RJ

January 30, 2026 - 7:27 pm

John and Jane Doe bodies in Clark County represent hundreds of unsolved mysteries. Organizers for Missing in Nevada Day hope to identify over 300 unclaimed bodies in the state.

The Palo Alto-based company Pivotal has been developing the technology since 2009 and is nearly ...

Dream of owning a flying car? This California company is already selling them

Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times

January 30, 2026 - 1:08 pm

A future with flying cars is no longer science fiction — all you need to order your own is about $200,000 and some hope and patience.

Scotty's Castle continues to be repaired from massive flood damage a decade ago on Friday, Jan. ...

This con man’s striking Death Valley castle is closer than ever to a reopening date

By Alan Halaly / RJ

January 30, 2026 - 12:22 pm

After surviving floods and fire, Scotty’s Castle is two to three years off from a grand reopening, rangers say.

FILE - Catherine O'Hara, a cast member in the Apple+ series "The Studio," poses ...

Catherine O’Hara, ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Home Alone,’ star dies at 71

The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 10:38 am

Catherine O’Hara, the Emmy-winning actor known for comedic roles across the decades — from Kevin’s beleaguered mom in “Home Alone” to the iconic Moira Rose in “Schitt’s Creek” — died Friday at 71.

A sign marks the Utah state line in Hildale, Utah, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Rick Bo ...

Towns once run by Warren Jeffs’ polygamous sect emerge from court supervision transformed

By Jacques Billeaud The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 9:56 am

These days, Colorado City, Arizona, and neighboring Hildale, Utah, look much like any other town in this remote and picturesque area near Zion National Park

FILE - Documents that were included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Ep ...

Justice Department releases massive trove from its Jeffrey Epstein files

By Eric Tucker, Michael R. Sisak and Alanna Durkin Richer The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 3:11 pm

The files, posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December.

A photo of Alex Pretti is displayed during a vigil for Alex Pretti by nurses and their supporte ...

DOJ opens federal civil rights probe into the death of Alex Pretti, deputy AG says

By Michael Biesecker and Rebecca Santana The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 8:50 am

The development followed confirmation by the Department of Homeland Security earlier in the day that the FBI would now lead the probe into Pretti’s death.

FILE - Kevin Warsh, speaking to the media about his report on transparency at the Bank of Engla ...

Trump names former Federal Reserve official Warsh as the next Fed chair

By Christopher Rugaber The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 7:57 am

The 55-year-old is currently a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

FILE - A sign is displayed outside the Internal Revenue Service building May 4, 2021, in Washin ...

Trump sues IRS and Treasury for $10B over leaked tax info

By Fatima Hussein The Associated Press

January 30, 2026 - 7:47 am

The suit, filed in a Florida federal court Thursday, includes the president’s sons Eric Trump and, Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump organization as plaintiffs.