Air travelers around the country are anticipating delays as furloughs for air traffic controllers begin.

The sequester-based furloughs — which effect 47,000 FAA workers including the controllers — began over the weekend, USA Today reports.

While no major delays have been seen initially, travelers in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York have been warned that delays will eventually occur. Airlines are predicting a higher likelihood of delays as the busier weekday travel schedule begins Monday morning. Read 

Two dozen people working for the Internal Revenue Service have been arrested for allegedly stealing federal and state assistance benefits.

According to CNN, the workers — all but one of whom resided in Tennessee — received more than $250,000 worth of benefits illegally.

“According to the allegations in the indictment, while these IRS employees were supposed to be serving the public, they were instead brazenly stealing from law-abiding American taxpayers,” said Edward Stanton, a U.S. Attorney. Read 

Citing the National Rifle Association’s “distorted values” an heir to the Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD) family has quit the organization.

Adolphus Busch IV — who was CEO of Anheuser-Busch when it was sold to InBev in 2008 — is upset with the NRA over the lobbying firm’s efforts to defeat the gun control bill, The Washington Post reports.

“The NRA I see today has undermined the values upon which it was established,” Busch wrote in a letter to the NRA. “Your current strategic focus places a priority on the needs of gun and ammunition manufacturers while disregarding the opinions of your 4 million individual members.” Read 

On Wednesday, gun control advocates in the U.S. Senate failed to rally enough votes to pass a bill designed to increase government oversight of gun sales.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had brokered a deal with Republicans to put the bill expanding background checks for gun sales before the senate without amendments. In order to pass, the bill needed at least 60 votes. Despite being considered the mildest of recent gun control measures, the bill only garnered 54 votes, the New York Times noted.

Gun control took a prominent place in President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda for the new year after a mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., school late last year that killed 20 children. Read 

More than 3,500 people who won the lottery in Michigan benefited from welfare payments following their win.

The winners — who were identified when a 2012 law began requiring asset-testing of welfare recipients — either received welfare or lived with someone who received welfare, The Detroit Free Press reports.

The new law was passed after a man was found to be using food stamps following his $850,000 windfall. According to a report by Michigan’s Department of Human Services approximately 14% of lottery winners met the requirements for assistance. Each of them won at least $1,000, and on average won $6,800. Read 

The FBI is investigating a letter mailed to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker after early tests signaled the presence of a lethal poison.

On Tuesday, the suspicious letter was quarantined at the Senate’s mail handling facility. Federal authorities were summoned when the letter showed signs of contamination with ricin, a deadly substance that can kill people with tiny doses, Reuters noted.

However, sources said the early tests actually showed mixed results and that the letter had been taken to a federal lab for more comprehensive testing. The letter bore a postmark from Memphis, Tenn. Authorities cautioned senate offices to look for any suspicious correspondence. Read