A Navy petty officer stationed in Lemoore, California is charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl and forcing her to have sex with multiple men. According to the Fresno Bee, Charles Ray Benavidez, 32, was arrested April 17, but police are coming forward now to solicit help from the…
The troubling privacy implications of increasingly common eye tracking technology
With eye tracking technology becoming increasingly common in everything from phones to computers, some individuals and groups have raised troubling concerns about the privacy implications involved. … Read More
Term limits ‘encourage legislative myopia’ and jeopardize fiscal health: study
Conservatives have pushed for term limits to rein in government largesse and a majority of Americans support the idea. But the cure could be worse than the disease. Research by Jeff Cummins, a political science professor at California State University in Fresno, found that term limits for…
Farmworkers fired for seeking shelter from California wildfire
At least 15 workers at Crisalida Farms in Oxnard, California, found themselves struggling to breathe last week as the Camarillo Springs wildfire blackened the sky with smoke and ash. The blaze damaged more than a dozen houses, threatened 4,000 homes, and burned a store of highly toxic pesticides that caught fire at an agricultural property.Located just 11 miles south of the fire, workers at the Southern California strawberry farm had a difficult time breathing as they laboriously worked in the fields. Their boss had warned them that taking a break would compromise their jobs, and they were faced with a dilemma.“The ashes were falling on top of us,” one of the workers told NBC LA. “[But] they told us if we leave, there would be no job to return to.”On the evening of May 2, the Camarillo fire had reached about 10,000 acres and was only 10 percent contained. About 11,500 people had been evacuated at this point as hazmat teams warned locals not to inhale the smoke – especially since it contained toxic chemicals from the pesticides that had caught on fire.But this warning was ignored by the management team of Crisalida Farms. The workers ultimately had to choose between their health or their jobs – and a group of 15 chose to walk off of the fields on May 2 to seek shelter from the suffocating smoke and ash.When the workers returned to the fields on the morning of May 3, they found out that they had all been fired.“While it hurts to lose work, one’s health is more important,” said one terminated farm worker.Distressed about the situation, the laborers contacted the United Farm Workers union. Even though none of them were union members, the group tried to help them as best as they could. Lauro Barrajas, a UFW representative, met with the farm’s management team and argued that no laborers should be forced to work under dangerous conditions where health or safety is at stake.“The smoke was very bad. [There’s] no doubt about that,” he told NBC.A representative for Crisalida Farms argued that the workers left without permission and needed to file orders before walking off the job, according to the American television network Telemundo, which broadcasts in Spanish.After negotiations, the farm company came to an agreement with the union and offered to rehire all 15 of the laid-off workers – but only one chose to return to the company that put its workers’ health at risk. … Read More
LAPD to split $1mln Dorner reward among three parties
The Los Angeles Police Departmenton Tuesday announced that $800,000 of the reward would go to the couple that was found tied up in their cabin in Big Bear, Calif. Jim and Karen Reynolds said that Dorner confronted them with a gun, bound and gagged them in their mountain cabin, and stole their car. The LAPD claims that the information they provided “directly led to the hot pursuit and capture of Dorner.”“Had Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds failed promptly to escape their restraints and contact law enforcement, it is likely Dorner would have escaped,” stated the 12-page LAPD report that announced the division of the reward.But two others received a portion of the reward, which was highly anticipated and sought by at least 12 people who claim they provided information that was crucial in the manhunt. The man who found Dorner’s burning truck in the Big Bear area will receive about $150,000, and the remaining $50,000 will be awarded to the truck driver who reported seeing Dorner at a gas station.The division of the reward may be disappointing to those who may have expected the entire $1 million, and those who claim they provided a useful tip but received nothing for their help.The reward was coordinated through about 30 agencies, including the FBI, LA Dodgers, and the University of Southern California. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced it during the heat of the multi-state manhunt.But because details of the offer were never recorded, it was unclear if and how the reward would be divided after Dorner was captured or killed. For months after his death, there were competing legal claims for the reward.Last week, camp ranger Rick Heltebrake, whose truck was taken by Dorner, filed a lawsuit seeking the entire $1 million reward. Heltebrake “notified law enforcement of Dorner’s exact location and whereabouts, provided a description of the vehicle he was fleeing in, and was a substantial factor in the apprehension and capture of Dorner at the cabin location,” the lawsuit states.The decision was ultimately given to a panel of judges, who wrote that they awarded the money according to the “comparative value of the information provided and how directly it causally led to Dorner’s capture.” Heltebrake received no part of it because he failed to submit a claim under the reward’s process, the document states.The first installment of the reward will be paid out on Friday, May 10, the LAPD said in its report. Recipients have so far refused to comment to the media about the judges’ decision. … Read More
