Calif

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) _ California’s attorney general has filed a civil lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp., claiming the mortgage lender used misleading advertising and other unfair business practices to trick borrowers into taking on risky home loans they didn’t fully understand. The Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit comes on the [...]

Gay rights advocates asked California's highest court Friday to keep off the November ballot a citizens' initiative that would again ban same-sex marriage. Lawyers for Equality California filed a petition arguing that the proposed amendment to the California Constitution should be invalidated because its impact was not made clear to the millions of voters who signed petitions to qualify the

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dozens of gay couples were married Monday night after California became the second state to allow same-sex nuptials, offering a preview of the euphoria and anger to come as gay couples from across the nation head west to wed…. Related posts No related posts.

Police say the wife of rapper Snoop Dogg has been arrested in California’s Orange County for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol. Fullerton police Lt. Craig Brower says officers stopped 32-year-old Shante (Shahn-taye) Broadus of Sherman Oaks about 12:15 a.m. Saturday and took her to jail. She was cited and then released pending a [...]

A California county clerk says she’ll stop performing all marriage ceremonies shortly before a state Supreme Court order legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect. A newspaper says the move came after the clerk received advice from Kern County lawyers who said marriages cannot be performed in a discriminatory fashion. The Bakersfield Californian says Clerk Ann Barnett said Wednesday [...]

Foi realizada na noite desta sexta-feira em Inglewood, na Califórnia, Estados Unidos, a terceira Corrida de Biquínis. A corrida anual reuniu 16 garotas para correr em uma pista de corridas de cavalo - como determina a competição - vestindo somente biquínis.O evento ocorreu entre corridas de cavalo. Nesta edição, elas correram 400 m. O apresentador do evento anunciou seus nomes, apelidos, al

Califórnia, este é o nome do novo roadster da Ferrari. O novo modelo já pode ser ouvido pela internet, através de quatro arquivos de áudio que aguçam a curiosidade e demonstram o potencial do 'carro'.    Também já foram liberadas três imagens oficiais do novo GT, que pertence à família dos 8 cilindros. A previsão é que seja lançado no Salão do Automóvel de Paris. Tanto a carroce

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Targeting what most teenagers lust for, California lawmakers may ban dropouts from driving in a last-ditch attempt to entice them back to school. The approach, if signed into law, would mark the first time California has used driving as leverage to get kids to stay in school. Tech Tags: children's newswatch children's news kids news children kids youth

As políticas neoliberais estão a destruir as escolas públicas em todo o lado onde são aplicadas. Na Califórnia, a redução drástica dos gastos com as escolas públicas está a conduzir milhares de professores para o desemprego e a aumentar o número de alunos por turma. Leia o resto da notícia no Los Angeles Times.Blog sobre avaliação de professores, avaliação de escolas e materiais para todas as áreas curriculares

California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037, scientists said Monday in the first statewide temblor forecast. New calculations reveal there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike in the next 30 years. The odds of such an event are higher in Southern [...]

No, they haven't decided to start paying claims quickly and for a fair amount. That would be like a Lewis Carroll fairytale. Rather, the Dept. of Insurance has ordered Allstate to cut rates by 15%. Allstate had requested permission for a 7% rate cut. The Department of Insurance wanted a 19% rate cut, according to its calculations. An administrative law judge ordered the 15% rate cut. Allstate contends it is being unfairly singled out because it is in a fight with the DOI about its homeowners rates. Singled out? I think the decision by the judge supports that the DOI was much closer to the right number than Allstate was. So, if you are an Allstate insured, expect to see a rate cut from Allstate - assuming it does not appeal.

A year ago Irvine, Calif., was still riding high on the subprime boom; then almost overnight the industry and more than 4,000 good paying jobs vanished. The former headquarters of New Century Financial in Irvine, Calif., pictured here on April 2, 2007, the day the company filed for bankruptcy. IRVINE, Calif. (CNNMoney.com) — The subprime mortgage meltdown [...]

By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES - The former Symbionese Liberation Army fugitive who hid for years by posing as an ordinary housewife has been released from prison after serving time for trying to bomb police cars, corrections officials said Thursday.   Sara Jane Olson, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, walked out of the Central Women’s [...]

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer WEST COVINA, Calif. - A woman made a 911 call from her suburban mansion to report an attempted break-in, but her pleas were interrupted by gunshots, then silence: She had been shot to death. The woman told the dispatcher late Wednesday morning that someone was trying to break into her [...]

LOS ANGELES — In August 2007, investigator Eric Bremner found evidence in a shredder at Olympic Escrow that he says confirmed borrowers’ complaints that they had never signed the mortgage documents that pushed them into a financial hell. Bremner found pieces of documents that had been cut to remove signatures and notary seals. Loan applications, escrow [...]

The Navy must abide by limits on its sonar training off the Southern California coast because the exercises could harm dozens of species of whales and dolphins, a federal appeals court ruled. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night rejected the Navy's appeal of restrictions that banned high-powered sonar within 12 nautical miles of the coast and set other limits that could affect

Comcast Corp. said Friday it will establish a customer-service and operations campus in Livermore, Calif., that initially will employ 200 but could hire more over time. The campus has three buildings with 220,000 square feet among them. Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA,CMCSK) will use one building for a call center and the other two to house its Livermore technical operations team and its regional office staff, which now is based in San Ramon, Calif. Comcast plans to renovate the empty buildings and construct a new parking lot on the property. It expects the call center to be opened in August and to have the other two buildings occupied by December. Comcast is based in Philadelphia. It is the nation's largest cable-television company with 24.1 million customers. It also has 13.2 million Inte

Calif. McDonalds tries feng shui theme February 24, 2008: 02:31 PM EST Feb. 24, 2008 Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex – HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. AP - The only familiar signs at the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

California real estate licenses dropped last month from the year before for the first time since March 1999, ending a 7 ½ upswing in which licensees increased by 81 percent.The California Department of Real Estate reported that the state had 548,959 licensees last month.

SAN DIEGO — As a dozen fires raged along the coast of Southern California Tuesday for a third day, San Diego County took the brunt of the wind-whipped fury that forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 houses, encompassing nearly 950,000 people based on average household size, including 10,000 evacuees huddled in QualComm stadium. Fire has burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing two people, destroying more than 1,300 homes and prompting one of the biggest evacuations in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes.Krista Flynn, of Rancho Bernardo, who was holed up at QualComm stadium, home of the NFL's San Diego Chargers, said she fled Monday morning with her dog, Emma, when the evacuation order came. "Somebody came and pounded on my door and said we had to get out. My neighbors said everybody's leaving," she said. Like thousands of others, Flynn was anx

San Jose employee who tested positive may have put 4,000 at riskSAN FRANCISCO - About 4,000 customers could be at risk after a worker at a Jamba Juice store in San Jose, California, developed hepatitis A, the chief medical officer for Santa Clara County said on Thursday.“During the time she was infectious, she was also working at Jamba Juice, so we were concerned that even though there is a corporate policy of good hand washing, you can’t be 100 percent sure,” Martin Fenstersheib said in an interview.“There is a potential risk for people who were in that facility drinking the Jamba juice during the time she worked,” he added.Link to complete story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20415845/ ~Sandy G.

Teri Hatcher is the newest face of Badgley Mischka , a partnership that brought together old friends. Hatcher bumped into Mark Badgley and James Mischka on the red carpet of the “American Idol” finale in May. She reminded them that they were the first to create a gown for her when she starred in the ’90s TV [...]

An Elvis Presley fan wants to give Graceland a run for the money by refurbishing the King's old desert home as a tourist attraction.Reno Fontana and his wife, Laura, bought the Palm Springs home site unseen in November."I want this to be Elvis of California," he said.The Spanish-style white stucco home has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, with a sunken tub and a pool. Elvis and Priscilla Presley bought the home in April 1970. The family, including daughter Lisa Marie, lived there part-time.After his death, Presley's lawyer took control of the estate. It was not immediately known whether anyone lived in the house before the Fontanas bought it.The house is already a bit of a tourist draw."I get asked probably six times a day to see the inside of the Elvis house," said Bill Davis, owner of Celebrity Tours in Palm Springs."In fact, last week I had a woman from Poland, and all she could say was: 'inside Elvis house,'" he said. "People want to see what's inside."Fontana says he'll pr

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - An Elvis Presley fan wants to give Graceland a run for the money by refurbishing the King's old desert home as a tourist attraction.Reno Fontana and his wife, Laura, bought the Palm Springs home site unseen in November."I want this to be Elvis of California," he said.The Spanish-style white stucco home has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, with a sunken tub and a pool. Elvis and Priscilla Presley bought the home in April 1970. The family, including daughter Lisa Marie, lived there part-time.After his death, Presley's lawyer took control of the estate. It was not immediately known whether anyone lived in the house before the Fontanas bought it.The house is already a bit of a tourist draw."I get asked probably six times a day to see the inside of the Elvis house," said Bill Davis, owner of Celebrity Tours in Palm Springs."In fact, last week I had a woman from Poland, and all she could say was: 'inside Elvis house,'" he said. "People want to see what's inside.

We thought this was some very interesting news which was posted today by usatoday.com SAN FRANCISCO — California is pioneering what could be the next battleground against global warming: filing suit to hold cities and counties accountable for greenhouse gas emissions caused by poorly planned suburban sprawl. The unprecedented action is being closely watched by states that have taken aggressive steps to combat climate change — including New York, Massachusetts and Washington. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has sued San Bernardino County, the USA’s largest in land area and one of the fastest growing, for failing to account for greenhouse gases when updating its 25-year blueprint for growth.   IN ‘INLAND’ EMPIRE: 25-year growth plan needs revisions, critics say “It’s ground-breaking. California is just leading the way for other states and jurisdictions that will ultimately follow,” says Richard Frank of the Center for Environmental Law

Speaking of RealtyTrac, the Irvine-based data tracker just released its May 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which says: • Nationwide "a total of 176,137 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, up 19 percent from the previous month and up nearly 90 percent from May 2006. The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 656 U.S. households during the month. • In California, with 39,659 foreclosure-related filings, "foreclosure activity increased 30 percent from the previous month and more than 350 percent from May 2006, boosting the state’s foreclosure rate to third highest in the country. California documented one foreclosure filing for every 308 households, more than twice the national average." In the previous post, I wrote that RealtyTrac is revising its figures amid criticism of double counting. It's more accurate to say the company will provide more data

Wild Wild West Hackers attempted to swipe $450,000 after stealing login credentials associated with bank accounts run by the city of Carson, California. Police are working on the theory that the password for the general fund account was stolen after miscreants planted key-logging spyware onto a PC used by city treasurer Karen Avilla.… Read more…

A firm based in El Centro, Calif. has agreed to pay $9,027 for demolishing a structure without notifying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as required by federal Clean Air Act asbestos regulations.CT EL Centro, LLC, owner of a property located at 1523 W. Main Street in El Camino, and its contractor, Action Environmental Enterprises, Inc., failed to notify the EPA of a demolition taking place at said location as required under the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants regulations.“When a building is demolished, asbestos must be properly removed in order to protect the health of the public and immediate community,” said Deborah Jordan, director of the EPA’s Air Division for the Pacific Southwest. “Appropriate regulatory agencies must be notified in advance so they can ensure that the required safeguards are in place.”The EPA has classified asbestos, a known carcinogen, as a hazardous air pollutant. Individuals exposed to asbestos fibers are at risk of

I Remember When I Lost My Mind… for PowersandMorrison.com Thursday, September 21, 2006. The Great Blue State of California is pursuing a great lawsuit. They have filed a lawsuit against Ford, GM, Toyota, and three other carmakers. The lawsuit says that these car companies have cost the state millions of dollars with their gas emissions from the vehicles they make. Smoggy L.A. Image:interet-general.info The Reason is because Global Warming is a real and major problem facing not only California, but the world. These carmakers and gas companies are letting their paychecks get in the way of saving the planet. They think only of the present and not the future. That kind of thinking will soon shorten the present. The lawsuit charges that vehicle emissions have contributed significantly to global warming and harmed the resources, infrastructure and environmental health of the most populous state in the United States. Source:Reuters(news.yahoo.com) ———————————â