Tag: california

Wells Fargo investigated by California for possible identity theft | Money CNN

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Wells Fargo is being investigated for alleged identity theft linked to the bank’s fake account scandal.

The California attorney general served Wells Fargo with a search warrant on October 5 seeking a heap of documents linked to the bank’s creation of as many as 2 million unauthorized accounts, CNNMoney confirmed.

The L.A. Times first reported the existence of the search warrant, the latest in a string of legal challenges facing Wells Fargo (WFC).

The search warrant said there is “probable cause” to believe Wells Fargo employees committed “identity theft” by using unlawfully obtained customer information to open bank accounts, credit cards and other products that customers didn’t request.

The California investigation is being run by Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is running for U.S. Senate.

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Judge rejects $100 million settlement between Uber and drivers | Money CNN

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A federal judge has rejected a proposed $100 million settlement between Uber and its drivers.

The deal between Uber and drivers in California and Massachusetts did not compensate drivers enough, the judge ruled.

The April settlement was three years in the making. Its rejection could force Uber to dig deeper to reach a deal.

The lawsuits had charged that the drivers should be treated as employees, rather than independent contractors. That would have entitled the drivers to a variety of benefits, including overtime and health insurance. It also might have put Uber on the hook for some of the drivers expenses, such as gas and tolls.

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The Rain That’s Saving the West Is Drowning the South | WIRED

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THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI River watershed is awash with rainwater. Houses flooded, roads washed away, and peoples’ lives in soggy ruin. The only logical thing to do is blame California.

Seriously. Sort of. The weather system that parked near the Lower Mississippi watershed arrived after a California drive-by. But the Golden State’s massive massifs squeezed most of the moisture out of the system. It would have been fine if it hadn’t straddled Mexico for an extended bout and replenished its moisture from the humid waters on either side of the isthmian nation.

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10 Reasons New York Is ‘Greener’ Than California | Live Science

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Frank Sinatra, the epitome of cool, said that if you can make it in New York City, you can make it anywhere. But what if you can’t make it there? Well, then, you’ll probably run away to California, like so many others before you.

With its ample sunshine and eco-friendly reputation, California does provide New York with some stiff competition when it comes to doing what’s right for the environment. But while Cali may have the, like, totally organic-free-range-vegan-gluten-free reputation, New York has done more to lead the way to a cleaner future. With its no-nonsense attitude and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic, New York has been turning the Golden State green (with envy) by making serious greenbacks and by doing a great job of going green.

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California drops plan for 50% cut in petroleum use | BBC News

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California has dropped plans to halve petroleum use in vehicles by 2030, after intense oil industry lobbying.

Governor Jerry Brown and other senior lawmakers had included the proposal in a climate change bill, but were forced to retreat amid growing opposition.

State senate leader Kevin de Leon, who supported the cut, accused oil firms of deploying “scare tactics”.

The leaders have vowed to push ahead with other reforms, including boosting renewable electricity use.

“I’d say oil has won the skirmish, but they’ve lost the bigger battle,” Mr Brown said.

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California Farms Are Using Drilling Wastewater to Grow Crops | Bloomberg Business

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California’s epic drought is pushing Big Oil to solve a problem it’s struggled with for decades: what to do with the billions of gallons of wastewater that gush out of wells every year.

Golden State drillers have pumped much of that liquid back underground into disposal wells. Now, amid a four-year dry spell, more companies are looking to recycle their water or sell it to parched farms as the industry tries to get ahead of environmental lawsuits and new regulations.

The trend could have implications for oil patches across the country. With fracking boosting the industry’s thirst for water, companies have run into conflicts from Texas to Colorado to Pennsylvania. California could be an incubator for conservation efforts that have so far failed to gain traction elsewhere in the U.S.

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Epic Drought in California Unlikely to Ease | Scientific American

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California will remain in the stranglehold of drought at least until September, even as a climate system in the tropical Pacific Ocean that would have brought rainfall to the parched state appears to be weakening, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s monthly climate update released yesterday.

Weather watchers had been hoping that an El Niño, which occurs when an area of the tropical Pacific Ocean warms by at least 0.5 degrees Celsius above normal, would bring moisture to the West Coast

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Californians willing to pay for infrastructure improvements | California Economy, California Economic Summit

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A whopping 80 percent of survey respondents expressed a willingness to pay at least something to better maintain and improve California’s infrastructure, including paying increased gas and property taxes. Where respondents varied was on how much and by what method everyone should pay. 21 percent of survey takers felt tying who pays to who uses the infrastructure would be the most fair.

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Does Radioactive Tuna Mean Fukushima Was Worse than Expected? | LifesLittleMysteries.com

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Radioactive isotopes from Japans Fukushima nuclear disaster turned up in bluefin tuna caught off California in August, a new study reports. The 15 fish that were tested contained 10 times the background levels of radioactive cesium, including a short-lived isotope that the fish must have absorbed while swimming in contaminated waters near Japan before migrating east across the Pacific.

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