Jeff Horwich

The fiscal cliff was hardly the only important deadline today in Washington. Today's the day for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to tell states whether their plans for health insurance exchanges pass muster.

The Senate deal permanently raises income taxes for individuals making more than $400,000 a year. It delays -- for just two months -- most of those automatic spending cuts that were set to kick in. And it includes a number of other provisions to stave off the most pressing aspects of the fiscal cliff.

Educators continue to experiment -- trying to find formats that engage kids and help prep the workforce of the future. One new private school near Minneapolis offers a particularly "Minnesota"-style approach.

Amidst the fiscal cliff festivities, we'll hear about one part of the government that is making money -- and a lot of it. We'll also talk about record profits at OPEC. And in California, prospective bosses can no longer make you log them into your Facebook account.

After four years the Tribune Company emerges from bankruptcy today. The media conglomerate includes the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune, a handful of TV stations and a big slice of the Food Network.

New data capture the scope of profits at the U.S. Federal Reserve, estimated to be $90 billion this year.

After a quick update on the strike that almost was, we'll talk about the end of that payroll tax break you probably forgot you were even getting... we'll see how this whole fiscal cliff thing is playing overseas, find out why kids in eastern Montana are putting off college. And the iPhone -- now available in Brazil. And Apple ain't happy.

We've told you about the energy boom unfolding in the Northern plains states. Centered in North Dakota, the industry is quickly spilling over into Montana.

We head into the weekend facing not one, but two possible shocks to the economy. There's the fiscal cliff, of course. And then there's the ports. Unionized longshoremen at 14 ports from Maine to Houston threaten to strike at midnight on Saturday, over a pay dispute.

Toyota announces a big settlement, the EPA will have a new director, and we all keep waiting for the inevitable fiscal cliff on the horizon.