Does the NFL (or its member teams) need exemption from local taxes to make the Super Bowl a viable economic activity? Could the $184 million NFL, and its multiple teams valued at a billion dollars or more, have survived paying $800,000 in taxes to local New Orleans governmental units?

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ state treasurer was accused Monday of taking at least $36,000 in cash — sometimes stashed in a pie box — from a broker who later came to manage a large share of the state’s $3.3 billion investment portfolio.

The three great issues of our time in the Capital Region are these: 1) protecting our turf in the global economy by using any government means necessary to score jaw-dropping wins in the retail and hotel sectors; 2) whether the luring of big-box behemoth Costco secures Baton Rouge a much-coveted seat at the exclusive table of world-class cities (out of our way, Venice!)

With $1,000 down, Mr. Beisel says he got a two-year lease for total out-of-pocket payments of $7,009, a deal that reflects a $7,500 federal tax credit.

As a resident of Georgia, Mr. Beisel is also eligible for a $5,000 subsidy from the state government. Now, he says, his out-of-pocket costs for 24 months in the Leaf are just over $2,000. Factor in the $200 a month he reckons he isn’t paying for gasoline to fill up his hulking SUV, and Mr. Beisel says “suddenly the car puts $2,000 in my pocket.”

Flabeg Solar U.S. Corp., a mirror manufacturer based in Pennsylvania, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday after it could not afford to pay several former employees their severance packages, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Flabeg is reported to have received millions of dollars in financial assistance from federal and sate governments. Pennsylvania helped the mirror manufacturer build its plant near Pittsburgh with $9 million in grants and loans. The Obama administration awarded Flabeg $10.2 million in tax credits, according to the Post-Gazette.

The 10 News Investigators found a number of communities shortened their already-safe intervals to the new minimums. In some cases, FDOT mandated longer yellow lights, but seemingly only at intersections that hadn’t been in compliance for years.  Around Greater Tampa Bay, the yellow interval reductions typically took place at RLC intersections and corridors filled with RLC cameras.

FDOT’s change in language may have been subtle, but the effects were quite significant. The removal of three little words meant the reduction of yellow light intervals of up to a second, meaning drastically more citations for drivers. A 10 News analysis indicates the rule change is likely costing Florida drivers millions of dollars a year.

We are all too familiar with the often repeated mantra “broaden the base and lower the rates” as a solution to our behemoth tax code. Weighing in at roughly 4 million words and incorporating more than 200 separate tax expenditures, commonly referred to as “tax loopholes,” it is not hard to understand why reform is needed. Unfortunately, the reality is that each one of the 200 separate expenditures is tied to a special-interest group.

As DOE approved a permit for the Cheniere terminal, more applications streamed in; it didn’t take long for government officials to realize they were dealing not with a single plant but a potential economic movement. DOE decided to put a temporary halt to its process of examining LNG permit applications. A DOE official tells C&EN the agency thought it prudent to take a break and consider the cumulative impact of selling large amounts of the nation’s newfound surplus of natural gas abroad.

U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum won the first-phase construction contract for California’s high-speed rail.

That’s from the California Political Review, and the rest can be found here.