In business news, the Bloomberg news agency has revealed that the world’s largest appliance manufacturer, Whirlpool, has managed to avoid paying federal income taxes over the past three years. The company reported $18 billion in worldwide sales last year, but it received a tax benefit of $64 million from the federal government. Whirlpool’s headquarters are in the cash-strapped city of Benton Harbor, Michigan, where the city’s elected mayor and city commissioners were recently stripped of all power by an unelected emergency financial manager appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.