West News

Geico Must Face California Class Action Claiming it Overcharged on Car Insurance

A federal judge on Monday said a lawsuit accusing Geico Corp. of overcharging more than 2 million California policyholders on car insurance early in the COVID-19 pandemic may proceed as a class action. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in …

California’s Mosquito Fire to Cost Utility PG&E $100 Million

PG&E Corp. recorded a $100 million third-quarter charge for a California wildfire that its equipment may have sparked last month in the Sierra Nevada mountains. California’s biggest utility said the costs of the Mosquito Fire should be largely offset by …

Man Whose Fireworks Led to Botched LAPD Detonation Sentenced

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A South Los Angeles man whose cache of illegal fireworks blew up a neighborhood in a bungled police bomb squad detonation, injuring 17 people and displacing dozens, was sentenced Wednesday to five months in federal prison. …

Forest Service Boss Decries Arrest of Worker in Planned Burn

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The head of the U.S. Forest Service has denounced the arrest by an Oregon sheriff of a Forest Service employee after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land. The criticism by Forest …

California School District Ordered to Pay $45 Million in Abuse Case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury ordered Southern California’s Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to pay $45 million to the family of autistic twins who were physically abused and restrained by an aide at their elementary school. The lawsuit filed …

Mechanical Issue May Have Caused Deadly Seaplane Crash

SEATTLE (AP) — A mechanical issue may have caused the seaplane crash that killed 10 people off an island in Washington state last month, U.S. investigators said Monday. The National Transportation Safety Board, the agency investigating the Sept. 4 crash …

Drag Story Time at Oregon Pub Draws Gun-Carrying Protesters

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Protesters, some of them armed, threw rocks and smoke grenades at each other outside a drag queen story time event at an Oregon pub, but the weekend show that was to have featured a child performer …

Fire-Stricken Rural New Mexico Warily Eyes Insurance Fight

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Manuel and Marcy Silva combed through the charred rubble that used to be their home, searching for any salvageable bits in the wake of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. Manuel found two of his …

Ariz Court: PTSD Claimant Missed Statute of Limitations for Bad Faith Claim

John C. France’s workers’ compensation claim cleared the way for Arizona first responders to receive workers’ compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress syndrome. But the former Gila County Sheriff’s Office sergeant cannot pursue a bad faith claim against the Arizona Counties …

US Forest Service Worker Arrested over Planned Oregon Burn

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. Forest Service employee in Oregon was arrested this week by a county sheriff after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land. It was the latest episode that underscores simmering tensions …

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