Las Vegas lawyer indicted in $460M 'slip-and-fall' scheme
A longtime Las Vegas attorney was indicted Wednesday on federal charges that he orchestrated a $460 million Ponzi scheme spanning multiple states, from Nevada and Utah to California and Arizona. The eight-count indictment accusing Matthew Wade Beasley of wire fraud and money laundering comes almost one year to the day after the personal injury attorney was shot and wounded by FBI agents at his $1.1 million home in Las Vegas, leading to a four-hour standoff that ended with his arrest. Beasley has been in federal custody since the standoff — during which prosecutors have said the lawyer, then 49, “repeatedly confessed” to his involvement in the investment scheme while on the phone with a negotiator.
news.yahoo.comCalifornia may end travel ban to states with anti-LGBT laws
Seven years later, after a surge in anti-LGBTQ legislation in mostly Republican-led states, California now bans state-funded travel to nearly half of the country. “That's a pursuit that would have made teen Toni — that southwest Virginia girl afraid to be herself back then — so proud.”California's travel ban has been in effect since 2017. The law applies to state agencies, departments, boards, authorities and commissions — including the schools that are part of the University of California and the California State University systems. The team got around the ban because the NCAA, not California taxpayers, is footing the bill for the team's travel. The ban has also impeded academic researchers who often have to travel to other states for their work.
wftv.comCalifornia may end travel ban to states with anti-LGBTQ laws
When North Carolina in 2016 banned transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity in public buildings, California retaliated by banning state-funded travel to that state and any other state with laws it deemed discriminatory against LGBTQ people. Seven years later, after a surge in anti-LGBTQ legislation in mostly Republican-led states, California now bans state-funded travel to nearly half of the country. The prohibition has caused travel hitches for state employees as well as academic researchers and sports teams at public colleges and universities, prompting state Senate leader Toni Atkins to call Wednesday for the travel ban to come to an end.
news.yahoo.comDebt ceiling impasse: McCarthy presses Biden to negotiate
The White House has emphasized that Biden is not willing to entertain proposed cuts in programs simply in exchange for lifting the debt limit. But McCarthy and Republicans are insisting he must for debt ceiling legislation to move ahead. “Nearly two month ago, you and I sat down to discuss a path forward on the debt limit,” McCarthy wrote in a letter to Biden dated Tuesday. “It's time for Republicans to stop playing games, pass a clean debt ceiling bill, and quit threatening our economic recovery,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. They are portraying the White House as inviting the standoff and hoping to shift the blame for any damage to the economy that may result.
wftv.comPush in states for $20 minimum wage as inflation persists
The federal minimum wage in the United States has stayed at $7.25 per hour since 2009, but states and some localities are free to set higher amounts. A growing number of states across the political spectrum have passed legislation that will take their minimum wage above that amount in the next few years, including Florida, Nebraska and Illinois. A bill in New York would raise the state’s minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026, and then adjust it each year going forward for inflation. Right now, minimum wage workers in New York City get paid $15, while the rest of the state is at $14.20. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, proposed tying minimum wage increases to inflation, but with a cap on how much wages could rise in any one year.
wftv.comCalifornia farmers flood fields to boost groundwater basin
Hoping to reverse that trend, valley water agencies have built basins to try to capture water in rainy years and allow it to seep back into the ground. Groundwater recharge projects are a “critical, important part of our infrastructure future,” Crowfoot said. “They are the solution.”The idea of using farmland to recharge groundwater has percolated for years. Gavin Newsom signed an order this month making it easier for farmers to divert floodwater to their fields. While some farmers like Cameron are ready to flood their fields now, many others aren't.
wftv.comCalifornia farmers flood fields to boost groundwater basin
A field that has long grown tomatoes, peppers and onions now looks like a wind-whipped ocean as farmer Don Cameron seeks to capture the runoff from a freakishly wet year in California to replenish the groundwater basin that is his only source to water his crops. Taking some tomatoes out of production for a year is an easy choice if it means boosting future water supplies for his farm about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Fresno. “We knew long-term if we didn’t have water, we’d be out of business,” Cameron said.
news.yahoo.comRare beetle species named after ex-California governor Brown
BERKELEY, Calif. — (AP) — Scientists are naming a rare species of beetle in honor of former California Gov. The beetle is brown and tiny at about 5 millimeters (0.20 inch) long, although that is still larger than other Bembidion beetles. Under magnification “it glows with a green and gold metallic shimmer,” according to UC Berkeley. The beetle was named in honor of Brown and his wife, Anne Brown. “I’m very glad that (my ranch) is advancing science in some interesting and important ways,” Brown said in the UC Berkeley statement.
wftv.comCalifornia lawmakers OK potential fines for high gas prices
Instead, Newsom and lawmakers agreed to let the California Energy Commission decide whether to penalize oil companies for price gouging. Instead, it's the reams of new information oil companies would be required to disclose to state regulators about their pricing. California's gas prices are always higher than the rest of the country because of the state's taxes and regulations. “There's truly no other explanation for these historically high prices other than greed,” said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Democrat from Chatsworth. Gavin Newsom, said the state has plenty of supply, noting California oil refineries exported 12% of their product to other states last year.
wftv.comMan accused of killing cat by smashing animal on windshields
A California man is accused of killing a cat after smashing the animal on windshields in Huntington Beach, authorities said. According to Jessica Cuchilla, a spokesperson for the Huntington Beach Police Department, officers responded to a call of disturbing the peace on Tuesday at about 8 p.m. PDT, The Orange County Register reported. Officers said that Watson allegedly smashed the cat against parked cars, breaking two windshields and killing the animal, according to the newspaper. Watson was arrested on Tuesday and bail was set at $20,000, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Office online booking records. Watson is expected back in court for a pretrial hearing on April 4, the Register reported.
wftv.comHome Depot employee accused of stealing $80K worth of merchandise
HAYWARD, Calif. — A Home Depot employee in California is accused of stealing approximately $80,000 worth of merchandise, authorities said. >> Read more trending newsOfficials found about 600 items after executing a search warrant at the employee’s home in Patterson on Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. Authorities also found $90,000 in cash, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Investigators with Home Depot’s loss prevention department at the Hayward store estimated that the store lost approximately $300,000 in merchandise, according to the newspaper. Officials believe the worker stole the merchandise when the store was closed.
wftv.comCalifornia eases water restrictions, but drought isn't over
Californians did reduce their water use, but only by 6.2% overall, according to data from the State Water Resources Control Board. Newsom never ordered statewide, mandatory water restrictions — but he did require water agencies to impose some limits on their customers. Now, water districts that serve 27 million people will get at least 75% of the water they requested from state supplies. Lund said the drought is over from many perspectives in California, including urban water supply and reservoirs. It dried up wells in rural areas and state officials had to truck in water supplies for some communities.
wftv.comSurge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action
Warford, then a 15-year-old starting volleyball player, bought a food scale and began replacing meals with energy drinks hawked by social media stars. Stories like Warford’s are why lawmakers in Colorado, California, Texas, New York and elsewhere are taking big, legislative swings at the eating disorder crisis. Every year over 10,000 die from an eating disorder, according to data cited by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. The slew of legislation follows a spike in eating disorder cases as pandemic lockdowns pushed youth into long bouts of isolation. Binge eating disorder is a compulsion in the other direction.
wftv.comCalifornia's relentless rains impact farm workers, strawberry prices
A spate of heavy rains in California that have interfered with the strawberry harvest is negatively impacting farm workers and may soon hit consumers in the wallet, too. "For the farms that were flooded, this catastrophe hit at the worst possible time," California’s Strawberry Commission President Rick Tomlinson said in a statement. California's farm workers are also feeling the effects. The community is composed largely of Latino farm workers, and many saw their homes destroyed. Inhalation of wildfire smoke is also harmful to farm workers, and working in extreme heat is a growing health hazard .
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