Plaintiffs in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill have reached a $211 million settlement with Transocean, the rig owner involved in the environmental disaster. The Swiss-based oil drilling contractor company announced that it has reached agreements with a group of individual plaintiffs and BP, the oil company that operated the rig. “These settlements together…
According to a new report, the average worker needs to earn at least $30.92 an hour to afford the rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment in Orange County. The “Out of Reach” report, released May 19 by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition and the Kennedy Commission, says the typical fair market rent for a two-bedroom…
Attempting to persuade the Chargers to stay in San Diego, a mayoral committee proposed a financial plan this week for building an approximately $1.1-billion new NFL stadium. The plan includes major public contributions, but not a tax increase, officials said, and would include $300 million from the Chargers, $200 million from the NFL, $173 million…
THE Los Angeles City Council approved a long-awaited plan to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Under the plan, which passed on Tuesday, May 19, LA will increase its required wage year-by-year over the next five years to reach a minimum of $15 hourly by July 2020. The council voted 14-1 on…
THE Los Angeles City Council approved a long-awaited plan to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Under the plan, which passed on Tuesday, May 19, LA will increase its required wage year-by-year over the next five years to reach a minimum of $15 hourly by July 2020. The council voted 14-1 on…
ON July 17, 1955, Disneyland theme park opened up its doors for the first time in Anaheim, California. The 160-acre park, formerly a field of orange groves, was so crowded that refreshment stands ran out of food and drinks. Sixty years later, Disneyland is celebrating its diamond anniversary with a bustle of new attractions, decorations,…
PRESIDENT Barack Obama warned in a speech on Wednesday, May 21, that the threat from global warming poses a national risk rivaling that of terrorism, and should be seen as a top security priority. In a commencement address for new graduates at the US Coast Guard Academy, the President declared that “confronting climate change is…
Boxing fans across the country and their lawyers are calling the much-anticipated fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. a “fraud,” and want their money back. At least 32 lawsuits seeking class-action status allege Pacquiao should have disclosed a shoulder injury to the Nevada Athletic Commission before the May 2 fight, which Mayweather won in…
AN alliance of Asian American groups filed a federal complaint on Friday, May 15 against Harvard University, claiming that the school and other Ivy League institutions are using racial quotas to admit students other than high-scoring Asians. “We are seeking equal treatment regardless of race,” said Chunyan Li, a professor and civil rights activist, who…
TWO Filipino male former registered nurses in San Diego were sentenced to jail last week on Tuesday, May 12, for reportedly engaging in lewd sexual acts in front of their then 98-year-old patient. Alfredo V. Ruiz and Russel Torralba, both 43, each pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of inflicting mental suffering on…
TWO Filipino male former registered nurses in San Diego were sentenced to jail last week on Tuesday, May 12, for reportedly engaging in lewd sexual acts in front of their then 98-year-old patient. Alfredo V. Ruiz and Russel Torralba, both 43, each pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of inflicting mental suffering on…
LOS ANGELES officials voted Tuesday, May 19 on a fiercely debated plan to hike the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Under a plan endorsed by a key panel of City Council members, Los Angeles will increase its required wage year-by-year for the next five years to reach a minimum of $15 hourly by…
PRESIDENT Barack Obama is cutting back on shipments of military equipment to local police forces, nine months after multiple complaints about officers using riot gear and armored vehicles to confront protestors after the events in Ferguson, Mo. Obama’s new policies countering the “militarization” of local law enforcement will ban the Pentagon and other federal agencies…
OVER 2,000 Asian-American national leaders, advocates, artists and community organizers gathered in Washington, DC on Tuesday, May 12 for the first-ever White House Summit on AAPIs—the groundbreaking gathering for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since its re-establishment in 2009. The all-day program included panel discussions featuring community organizers and cabinet…
LOS ANGELES officials voted Tuesday, May 19 on a fiercely debated plan to hike the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Under a plan endorsed by a key panel of City Council members, Los Angeles will increase its required wage year-by-year for the next five years to reach a minimum of $15 hourly by…
The Food and Drug Administration is outlining its plan to end the nation’s lifetime ban of blood donations from gay and bisexual men, a policy in place for 32 years that many medical groups and gay activists say is “no longer justified.” The FDA released proposed guidelines on Tuesday, May 12 for screening blood donors…
To protect consumers against fraud and cyber-theft, JPMorgan Chase is planning to update more than 70 percent of its credit and debit cards with new microchip technology by the end of 2015, the bank announced on Tuesday, May 12. Chase is the latest US bank to convert its debit cards from those with the traditional…
FILIPINO shadow play performer group El Gamma Penumbra was named the first-ever winner of the first season of “Asia’s Got Talent,” the pan-Asian talent search based in Singapore. The group closely beat their rivals, Mongolian ethnic band Khugsugtun. Herminio Coloma, a spokesman for President Benigno Aquino III, congratulated El Gamma Penumbra as a glowing symbol…
A FEDERAL jury sentenced Dzhokar Tsarnaev to death on Friday, May 15 for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. He will be transferred to a super-max federal prison and will face death by lethal injection. For several weeks, the 12-member jury in the Boston Marathon bombing trial heard testimony to deliberate whether to…
STUDENTS at the University of California are getting a two-year reprieve from threats of tuition increases, as a result of a large infusion of new state funds to the 10-campus university system in Governor Jerry Brown’s spending plan proposal. UC officials confirmed the two-year freeze of tuition for state residents as the “highlight” of an…
DESPITE California leading the nation in expanding healthcare insurance to include everybody, nearly 1.8 million of its residents remain uninsured. According to research from teams at University of California, Los Angeles and UC Berkeley, about 1.5 million undocumented Californians would qualify for health programs under the Affordable Care Act, which remains off-limits to undocumented immigrants….
TWO foreign ambassadors, including a Filipino, were among seven killed in a helicopter crash on Friday, May 8, in northern Pakistan during an emergency landing. The military helicopter was due to inspect a new tourism project in the mountainous northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan, when the MI-17 aircraft crashed into a school in Gilgit and caught…
OVER the first few days in May, three new candidates were added to the GOP’s growing list for the official party nomination of the 2016 presidential race. A total of six contenders are running for the Republican Party ticket. Ben Carson Retired neurosurgeon and conservative star Ben Carson, 63, announced his official run for president…
PARENTS nationwide have been expressing their concern for the new Common Core state standards, which proponents say focus on critical thinking and problem solving. In California, which first adopted the standards in 2010, the rigorous standards put emphasis on skills, such as critical reasoning and communication, and in creating more space for technology. However, parents…
A lawsuit by the city of Los Angeles claims Wells Fargo Bank employees opened unauthorized accounts for customers, sticking them with bogus fees and damaging their credit to meet rigid sales quotas. The civil complaint filed Monday, May 4 in state court was by City Attorney Mike Feuer, who says the largest California-based bank encouraged…
THE Senate marched ahead on a compromise to the Republican budget on Tuesday, May 5 that calls for future cuts in spending while immediately boosting Pentagon accounts by an additional $38 billion. The House of Representatives approved the non-binding blueprint last week, and a final Senate vote that afternoon would complete the action. The chamber…
EXTENDING state-subsidized healthcare coverage to undocumented immigrants could cost the state of California as much as $740 million annually, according to a Senate fiscal analysis released Monday, May 4. If passed, Senate Bill 4, authored by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and introduced last December, would allow more than a million low-paid undocumented immigrants to…
A lawsuit by the city of Los Angeles claims Wells Fargo Bank employees opened unauthorized accounts for customers, sticking them with bogus fees and damaging their credit to meet rigid sales quotas. The civil complaint filed Monday, May 4 in state court was by City Attorney Mike Feuer, who says the largest California-based bank encouraged…
Why it’s important to get enough vitamin D ACCORDING to a study from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, spending enough time in the sun could protect against pancreatic cancer. Researchers found that rates of the cancer were highest in countries with the least amount of sunlight, due to a lack of…
THE minimum wage issue both in the federal and state governments has been long debated, and multiple legislations have been written and changed as different economic, labor and political groups attempt to raise the wage. SEIU United Healthcare Workers West is seeking passage of a ballot measure in November 2016 that would raise California’s minimum…
