Declarations – West

Mouth Full of Niño

“There is considerable forecast uncertainty as to whether neutral or El Niño conditions will prevail, due largely to the inability to predict whether the warmer sea surface temperatures will result in the ocean-atmosphere coupling required for a sustained El Niño event.”

—The U.S. Climate Prediction Center’s way of saying that La Nina is gone but that it doesn’t know whether it will be followed by an El Niño event this year.

Jones Pleased

“I’m pleased the Court of Appeal summarily rejected two insurance company trade associations’ interim challenge to the department’s homeowners replacement cost regulations.”

—Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones commenting on the California Court of Appeal’s dismissal of a legal challenge by two insurance associations to regulations adopted by CDI last summer. The case now returns to Superior Court.

No Overtime for You

“In furtherance of its scheme, despite illegally paying the employee on a salary basis, Alaska Communications still forces its sales and marketing employees to complete false time sheets indicating that they do not work overtime hours.”

—A lawsuit alleges Alaska Communication Systems Group denied sales and marketing employees overtime pay by classifying them as salaried employees.

Testing the Waters

“We’ve been down this road before, and we’ve seen how unproductive and destructive lapses of the program can be.”

—Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont, commenting at a hearing examining the need for long-term reauthorization and reform of the National Flood Insurance Program, set to expire at the end of May.