Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

5 Charged in $580M Southern California Scheme Involving Workers’ Comp

Nov 30 2015 // Five people, including a former hospital executive and two surgeons, are charged with a massive kickback scheme that resulted in billing $580 million to the government and insurance companies, authorities announced.Two...

Major Fault Near California Reactors Links to Second Crack

Nov 30 2015 // The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and earthquake faults have been uneasy neighbors for decades. Even before the twin reactors produced a single watt of electricity, the plant had to be retrofitted after a submerged...

Marijuana Processing Draws Seasonal Workers to California

Nov 25 2015 // The annual march of migrant marijuana workers throughout California’s pot-rich North Coast is in full swing but, like the pot industry itself, reaction to the workers’ presence is mixed.Some residents say the...

Federal Transportation Officials Want Self-Driving Cars Sooner

Nov 25 2015 // Federal transportation officials are rethinking their position on self-driving cars with an eye toward getting the emerging technology into the public’s hands, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of...

Uber Drivers’ Class Action Raises Worker Classification, Arbitration, Liability Issues

Nov 24 2015 // Fifty seven and a half cents for every mile logged.That’s the latest demand from Uber Technologies Inc. drivers in California suing to be treated like employees. Whether the drivers can pursue pay for mileage on...

Google Compare for Mortgages Launched in California, Other States to Follow

Nov 23 2015 // Google has officially launched the newest addition to its suite of Google Compare products: mortgages.Google Compare for Mortgages was announced​ earlier this year, and is now being made available in California with more...

Three California Men File Suits After E-Cigarette Batteries Explode

Nov 23 2015 // Three California men have filed lawsuits against manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of electronic cigarettes, claiming the products’ batteries exploded, causing severe injuries.The Los Angeles Daily News...

California Worker Injury Rate Lowest in 13 Years

Nov 20 2015 // The California Department of Industrial Relations has posted the state’s 2014 occupational injury and illness data, which offers a look at employer-reported injuries involving days away from work.The data shows that...

Court Denies Uber’s Appeal of Class Action Filed by Aspiring Employees

Nov 20 2015 // A U.S. appeals court this week denied ride service Uber’s request to immediately appeal an order approving class certification in a lawsuit filed by drivers who wish to be deemed employees.The ruling, from the 9th...

States Graded ‘A’ to ‘F’ for Extreme Weather Preparedness

Nov 20 2015 // Many states across the country are unprepared to face the risks posed extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events, according to a new report card.Only a small number...

California School Security Officer Arrested for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Nov 19 2015 // Valentino H. Douglas, 45, of Rialto, Calif., was arrested and booked into the West Valley Detention Center on multiple counts of felony insurance fraud after receiving more than $112,000 in workers’ compensation...

Heffernan Executive Named California Trucking Association Chair

Nov 19 2015 // Tanner Fornesi, assistant vice president at Heffernan Insurance Brokers, has been named vice chairman for the Sacramento chapter of the California Trucking Association.Fornesi’s new duties will include attending...

Regulators Ding California Nuke Plant Operator over Seismic Check

Nov 18 2015 // Federal regulators have hit the owner of California’s last operating nuclear power plant with a low-level violation for bungling an earthquake-related safety evaluation when it was swapping out important...

Registration of California Tour Bus That Crashed Questioned

Nov 18 2015 // California regulators are investigating whether a double-decker tour bus that crashed and injured 20 in San Francisco was properly registered with state authorities.The California Public Utilities Commission said this week...

California DMV’s Pedestrian Pace on Self-Driving Car Rules Makes Google Antsy

Nov 17 2015 // Hustling to bring cars that drive themselves to a road near you, Google finds itself somewhere that has frustrated many before: Waiting on the California Department of Motor Vehicles.The tech titan wants the freedom to...

Report: Workers’ Comp Reform Saving California’s System $770M Annually

Nov 17 2015 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau released this year’s evaluation of California’s workers’ comp reform law.The WCIRB Cost Monitoring Report — 2015 Retrospective Evaluation is part...

El Nin᷈o Talk Growing Louder Amid Southern California Storms

Nov 16 2015 // A whopper of a winter appears to be brewing for the Western U.S. and more conversations are turning to preparations for what could be one of the strongest El Nin᷈os on record.Strong rains throughout much of California...

Confie Acquires California Insurance Specialists

Nov 16 2015 // Confie has acquired California Insurance Specialists, Confie announced on Monday.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wayne Pratt, who joined CIS in 1976, and Randy Parker, who joined in 1993, will continue as president...

WCIRB: Los Angeles Workers’ Comp Claims Outlier in California

Nov 16 2015 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau released a study in November showing significant differences in the costs of claims among the state’s regions – particularly Los...

Wildfires, and Now El Niño, May Boost Californians’ Appetites for Surplus Lines

Nov 16 2015 // There’s little question that the drought and the recent wildfire season that it unleashed pushed more California homeowners into the surplus lines market.Now with what appears to be a strong El Niño on the horizon...