Feb 1, 2016

FBI Probes Flint Water Scandal: Latest Agency to Join Investigation of Crisis That’s Devastated City

The FBI is the latest agency to join the Flint water crisis investigation, after weeks of public criticism over the Environmental Protection Agency’s conduct with respect to the probe. The statewide investigation into the Michigan city came after revelations the drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014, while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. Gina …


Residential School Survivor ‘Elated’ by Settlement Talks

A woman from Nain—one of 1,200 former residential school students from this province suing for damages—says she’s elated by a decision to halt the trial in a class action lawsuit so settlement talks can be held. “I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m very happy,” said Cindy Dwyer. “After eight years of all this waiting, I’m actually elated.”


Seagate Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Failure Rates of 3TB Drives

A class-action lawsuit was filed against storage drive maker Seagate today, alleging that certain 3TB models are failing more than they should. The complaint alleged that the drives failed “at an unprecedented rate,” and consumers who bought the defective drives faced broken hardware and significant loss of data. And while Seagate promised purchasers that it would replace the failed hard …


This Man Wants to Upend the World of High-Frequency Trading

When developers at a top U.S. stock exchange needed help debugging a program that puts time stamps on quotes and trades in July, they could have hired a high-profile consulting firm. Instead, they called a customer who runs a company out of a small office in a Chicago suburb who had weeks earlier called the exchange’s dealings with high-frequency trading firms “completely illegal” on Twitter. …


UC Berkeley Students File Lawsuit Against Google Alleging Illegal Scanning of Emails

In March 2014, Google fell under fire for scanning emails in Apps for Education, a collection of online tools and services that include Google Drive and Google Mail. Now, nearly two years later, four UC Berkeley students and alumni filed a lawsuit against Google Inc. on Wednesday, alleging that UC Berkeley emails were the target of such data mining between 2012 and 2014. In 2014, nine …



Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Plans $30M Credit for Flint Water Customers

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will propose $30 million in state funding to help pay the water bills of Flint residents facing an emergency over the city’s lead-contaminated water supply. Snyder will brief Flint officials and pastors about the plan Wednesday and outline it to lawmakers next week as part of his 2016-2017 budget proposal, according to a statement the governor’s office …


Lyft, Uber Drivers Shouldn’t Be Treated Like Employees

Credit: Janitors / photo on flickrRecently the ridesharing company Lyft, Uber’s largest competitor, settled a pending lawsuit for $12.25 million. Lyft can continue to classify its drivers as independent contractors—a designation that is crucial to the sharing economy’s success. But the settlement may lead to additional difficulties for other sharing-economy companies.


Criminal Charges Filed Against Utility in Southern California Gas Leak

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles prosecutors filed misdemeanor criminal charges Tuesday against a utility for failing to immediately report a natural gas leak that has been gushing nonstop for nearly 15 weeks. District Attorney Jackie Lacey said the charges aren’t a solution to the problem, but Southern California Gas Co. needs to be held responsible for the leak that has uprooted more than 4,400 …


‘No Mas Bebés’ Recalls L.A. Mexican Moms’ Involuntary Sterilizations

A very painful episode in the Los Angeles, California Mexican-American community is the subject of a documentary airing Monday, Feb. 1 on PBS. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, some Mexican and Mexican-American women who were admitted to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for an emergency caesarian faced an agonizing choice. If they wanted painkillers, or if they wanted to proceed with …