Local & State

Midlands

Haley releases guidelines

for Work Ready initiative

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday that the application and guidelines are now available for counties that want to participate in the South Carolina Work Ready Communities initiative, her office announced in a press release. South Carolina was one of four states selected by ACT to participate in its Work Ready program, which is a measure of the quality of a county’s workforce, the release said. Counties must meet goals for high school graduation, soft skills development, business support and National Career Readiness Certificate holders to qualify. The application and guidelines are available at www.scworkready.org.

Nation & World

Feds seize domain names selling knockoffs on Cyber Monday

BUFFALO, N.Y. Federal law enforcement authorities have announced the seizure of 132 domain names in several countries to stop them from selling counterfeit merchandise online. The Cyber Monday crackdown comes on what was expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations coordinated the effort with Europol and police in Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania and the United Kingdom. Authorities say it’s the third consecutive Cyber Monday that websites selling knockoff sports jerseys, DVDs and other goods have been targeted. They say sites were seized after copyright holders confirmed that products purchased there by investigators were illegal.

Duke Energy taps retiring Rep. Shuler

CHARLOTTE Retiring U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is staying in Washington, but he will have a new job as a lobbyist for the country’s largest electric company. Shuler said Monday he’ll work on federal issues for Charlotte-based Duke Energy immediately after completing his current term in the U.S. House next month. Duke Energy has 7 million customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

Buffett renews call for tax on ‘ultrarich’

OMAHA, Neb. Billionaire Warren Buffett is again calling for higher taxes on the “ultrarich” and he’s urging Congress to compromise on spending cuts and tax increases. Buffett expressed his views on fiscal policy Monday in an opinion article that appeared in The New York Times on the same day Congress returned from the Thanksgiving holiday. In the article, Buffett mocked the idea that investors would pull back if capital gains taxes increase. Buffett said he’s never seen that happen even with capital gains taxes above 25 percent early in his investing career.

Cuomo: Sandy cost N.Y. $42 billion

ALBANY, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says Superstorm Sandy ran up a $42 billion bill on New York and the state and New York City will make big requests for disaster aid from the federal government. The cost includes $32 billion for repairs and restoration but also includes an additional accounting of $9 billion for mitigation of damage and for preventive measures for the next disastrous storm. The delegation, Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will now draw up a request for federal disaster aid.

The Associated Press contributed.