The Morning Cram [the me, myself and i edition]

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From NPR: More than half of shoppers are using holiday sales to self-gift, waiting until the Christmas season to buy extravagant items at reasonable prices. The National Retail Federation has found that shoppers who self-gift spend an average of $140 on themselves while many people are out shopping solely for friends and family.

Kentucky: The Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center Corporation Board agreed to a $180,000 settlement with CPA J. Patrick Kerr in an embezzlement lawsuit. Burley tobacco farmers in Kentucky and Tennessee are seeing their biggest paydays since 2004. Terry Holliday was elected president of a national education panel. Smokers in the state might eventually have to pay 40 cents more in taxes per pack of cigarettes. Delta Regional Authority says small businesses have led the way in job creation for the last 20 years. Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration gave away $31,000 in Olympics tickets.

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam blames President Barack Obama’s administration for refusing to answer health insurance exchange questions that have delayed a decision about health care in the state.