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Vice President Biden welcomed Environmental Protection Agency employees returning to work Thursday at the agency's headquarters, providing muffins as well as handshakes and hugs. Ninety-four percent of EPA workers were furloughed during the 16-day partial government shutdown, bringing the agency's operations to a standstill. The employees entering the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, which stands outside a Federal Triangle Metro station exit, also received a memo from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy reminding them that all government travel is canceled through Oct. 20, and they should turn off their "out of office" phone and e-mail messages. Biden, who brought high-end "Coffee...

We had to know: What sort of muffin could we bake if we spent $16 a pop? How good is a $16 muffin? Find out for yourself Last week's news that the government supposedly paid $16 apiece for breakfast muffins at a Justice Department conference set off critics of government spending. Hilton Worldwide, the hotel company that hosted the 2009 confab in Washington, disputes the accuracy of the claim in a report by the Justice Department's inspector general. The hotel called it an accounting thing, explaining that the price included various drinks and gratuity charges, in addition to the muffins....

The Justice Department spent more than $120 million in fiscal 2008 and 2009 to host law enforcement conferences across the country, many of which featured "extravagant and wasteful" costs for food, beverages and event planning, including spending $16 on each of 250 muffins served at an August 2009 legal conference in Washington, D.C., a report said Tuesday... ... another conference featured a lunch that cost $76 per person and coffee costing more than $1 per ounce. Other costly items cited in the report included a $32-per-person snack break consisting of Cracker Jacks, popcorn and candy bars, $7.32 Beef Wellington hors...

DOJ AUDIT: $16 muffins, cups of coffee for $8.25… (First column, 2nd story, link ) Related stories: Spent $121 million on conferences in two years.. Read the original here: DOJ AUDIT: $16 muffins, cups of coffee for $8.25…

U.S. Justice Department agencies spent too much for food at conferences, in one case serving $16 muffins and in another dishing out beef Wellington appetizers that cost $7.32 per serving, an audit found. “Some conferences featured costly meals, refreshments, and themed breaks that we believe were indicative of wasteful or extravagant spending,” the Justice Department’s inspector general wrote in a report released today. The inspector general reviewed a sample of 10 Justice Department conferences held between October 2007 and September 2009 at a cost of $4.4 million. The Justice Department spent $73.3 million on conferences in fiscal 2009, compared with...

IDAHO FALLS - An Idaho Falls woman is the cover girl of a calendar that is creating a scandal in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tami Roberts posed for the controversial calendar called "Hot Mormon Muffins" which features 12 moms who claim to be a part of the LDS church. Each month is accompanied by a muffin recipe. The idea stems from the calendar "Men on a Mission" featuring LDS men sporting the signature Mormon missionary white shirt while showing some skin. Later, the calendars entrepreneur, Chad Hardy, of Las Vegas, was excommunicated from the church. Roberts...

CURVY Brits Nigella Lawson and Kate Winslet are more of an inspiration for women than skinny stars like Girls Aloud or Keira Knightley, a poll claims. Those wanting to lose weight see 33-year-old Titanic actress Winslet's hourglass figure as their ideal rather than waif-like model Kate Moss. The survey of 2,000 girls found curvy figures were back in fashion - with 65 per cent wanting the "in-and-out" shape. Brits were also inspired by well-maintained older women such as Helen Mirren and Judi Dench. The poll was carried out by Kellogg's Special K. Most admired celeb shapes - 1. Nigella Lawson;...

TUKWILA, Wash. -- Coffee-stand owner John Cambroto couldn't compete against the beautiful bikini-clad women selling espresso up the road. "We had a much better atmosphere, good coffee. Unfortunately, they ran around half-naked and we didn't," said Cambroto, who finally threw in the towel last spring and sold his business to his rival, the operator of six Cowgirls Espresso stands in the Seattle suburbs.