Why You May Wait Longer For Your Tax Refund This Year
Washington — In less than two weeks, taxpayers will be able to file their tax returns. But many taxpayers will have to wait longer to cash out their tax refunds thanks to new efforts from the IRS and state tax authorities to catch tax fraud. Last week, Illinois became the first state to announce that it will delay tax refunds to have more time to verify tax returns. State tax refunds won’t be issued until after March 1, the state’s...
Warm Weather Leaves Stores in the Cold
New York — The unseasonably warm weather has left some people feeling cold about holiday shopping. Rosemarie Nowicki, who lives in Berkeley Heights, N.J., finally spent some of her holiday budget last weekend buying coats online for her family because she hated the thought of being stuck in a store with such mild temperatures outside. “It’s hard to get into the holiday spirit; I’ve been walking around in short-sleeve shirts and capri...
No Snow, No Snow Business: Slow Start to Winter at Least Allows for Maintenance and Repairs
Enfield — On a gray, overcast afternoon last week Whaleback Mountain was bare. Rocks poked out of the mud, the water of Stony Brook at the mountain’s base rushed with the torrent of a spring thaw. Ski chairlifts dangled motionless from their lines. “I’ve been in the ski business since my youth in the late ’50s and early ’60s. I’ve seen some pretty lean years,” said Gerd Riess, mountain manager at Whaleback. He recalled “one year back...
‘Potion’ Bogs Down Cranberry Pest
Central Wisconsin’s picturesque cranberry country has become a testing ground for a new approach to pest control: birth control for bugs. Scientists are experimenting with a fake love potion that makes it nearly impossible for male moths to find females during early summer mating season. The research, now in its fourth season, aims to reduce insecticide use in cranberry bogs. The technique, called mating disruption, has proved...
The Business of Agriculture: Farmers Market Phenomenon Is Here to Stay
Over the past decade or so, agricultural leaders in both Vermont and New Hampshire have been effusively lauding the expansion in numbers of farms and the increase in volume of commodities moving into market channels within the states. Major drivers in both statistical areas have been the growth in the number of local farmers markets and of farm enterprises adopting the community supported agriculture, or CSA, model for connecting with...
