GE’s tax department is a company in itself: some 1,000 people working to minimize GE’s corporate tax liabilities, with huge success. In 2010, GE paid no taxes on $14.2 billion in profits. GE claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
Backgrounders
They Bring Good Schemes to Life:
Flagler’s Quality of Health Ranks It 17th in the State; Smoking and Obesity a Problems
Department of Health Administrator Patrick Johnson cautions that Flagler’s health rankings should not be overdramatized–for good or ill–but that they still point to trends that should clarify where the county’s health priorities should be.
Circuit Judge Julianne Piggotte, in Daytona Beach, Retiring After 21 Years
Piggotte has been a judge since 1990, and was chief judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, which includes Flagler County, from 2003 to 2005.
Flagler Firefighters Battling 2-Day, 300-Acre Brush Fire on Old Brick Road
The fire started Saturday, at the same time that firefighters were responding to the plane crash and ensuing brush fire at the Flagler County airport. The brush fire was 30 percent contained by Monday afternoon.
Yes, Stetson Kennedy Is Still Alive: Labor and Civil Rights Legend at Stetson Wednesday
Stetson Kennedy, who unmasked the Ku Klux Klan after infiltrating it and remains a prominent voice for unions, labor and civil rights, gives a free lecture at Stetson University. He is 94.
Our Legislature for Sale, Breastfeeding Stupidity, End of High School Sports: The Live Wire
Rick Scott’s sunshine problems, developers’ Florida free-for-all, return of the pythons in the Everglades, nuclear accidents, cave art, Hunter S. Thompson interviews Keith Richards, and more.
Flagler Beach Dog Lovers: “If We Wanted More Rules We’d Go To Palm Coast”
More enforcement of existing rules and more self-policing, but no change in Flagler Beach’s dogs-on-the-beach ordinance, city commissioners decided after hearing from 38 people over 90 minutes Thursday evening.
Florida Slush Funds, Radioactive Coulter, Corrupt Editors, Bullies and Body-Slammers: The Live Wire
The Australian anti-bully body-slammer talks, Ben Stiller on manchild syndrome, Ann Coulter thinks radiation is good for you, acts and pictures worse than Abu Ghraib, Willem de Kooning and more.
Murder-Suicide Shakes Community on Barkwood Lane in Northern Palm Coast
A middle-aged couple was found dead in their home on Barkwood Lane, off of Belle Terre Parkway, late Sunday afternoon. A shotgun was found at the scene next to the man.
School Board Member Salaries By County, 2010-2011
Complete list of Florida school board members’ salaries, county by county, as set by state law. Salaries are set by population–or according to the starting pay of a teacher, whichever is less.