Expert: Per-gallon price to drop back below $4 by Halloween
By Rob Nikolewski, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
October 17, 2019
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2019-1…
Op-Ed Column by Thomas Elias, CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD
October 14, 2019
https://www.chicoer.com/2019/10/14/gasoline-gouging-9-0-same-as-earlier…
For the ninth time in the last five years, gasoline prices spiked this fall in California, with per-gallon pump charges briefly leaping above $5.15 at many stations around the state.
By Staff Writers, ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 12, 2019
http://www.startribune.com/california-governor-signs-bill-limiting-oil-…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a law intended to counter Trump administration plans to increase oil and gas production on protected public land.
By Staff Writers, SCRIPPS NATIONAL
October 11, 2019
https://www.10news.com/news/national/prudential-to-start-charging-same-…
A change is coming to some people’s life and health insurance policies that will make them more expensive.
Prudential recently announced it will consider e-cigarette users the same as traditional smokers.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from company named in complaint
By Jeff McDonald, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
October 4, 2019
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-10-04/jud…
By Staff Writers, INSURANCE JOURNAL
October 2, 2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/10/02/541727.htm
Mercury Insurance Co. has agreed to pay more than $41 million to end a two-decade long battle with the California Department of Insurance battle over the Los Angeles-based carrier improperly tacking fees onto auto insurance policies and over false advertising claims.
By Dan Walters, THE MERCURY NEWS
A dad who says his infant’s lungs were ‘blown up’ by malpractice and Consumer Watchdog propose nullifying it
October 2, 2019
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/02/walters-new-battle-over-250k-cap…
California’s longest-running single-issue political battle, over limits on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, is about to heat up again.
By Rob Nikolewski, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
September 30, 2019
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2019-0…
First, it was a missile attack in Saudi Arabia. Now, it’s another spate of refinery closures. Regardless of the reasons, San Diego motorists are being greeted by an unwelcome sight when they pull into the service station: The return of $4-a-gallon gasoline.
Consumer Watchdog filed a new ballot measure Thursday to make a frontal assault on the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, known as MICRA, a 1975 law capping non-economic medical negligence damages at $250,000,
By Malcolm Maclachlan, THE DAILY JOURNAL OF LOS ANGELES
September 27, 2019
By Y. Peter Kang, LAW 360
September 27, 2019
https://www.law360.com/california/articles/1203371/calif-group-seeks-to…
Law360 (September 27, 2019, 9:18 PM EDT) -- A consumer advocacy group has launched a ballot initiative that would significantly raise California’s cap on pain-and-suffering damages in medical malpractice cases, five years after a similar proposal was shot down by voters.
By Staff Writers, INSURANCE JOURNAL
September 26, 2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/09/26/541369.htm
Several families of inured patients on Thursday filed proposed initiative for the November 2020 ballot to raise California’s medical malpractice cap.
The cap is set by the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, MICRA, passed in 1975.
The Fairness for Injured Patients Act was filed with the Secretary of state.
By Dakota Smith, LOS ANGELES TIMES
September 26, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-26/dwp-pricewaterhouse…
The city of Los Angeles moved Thursday to abandon its high-profile lawsuit against PricewaterhouseCoopers in what amounts to a stunning defeat for City Atty. Mike Feuer, who had tried to blame the consulting firm for the massive overbilling debacle at the Department of Water and Power.
"We are the most progressive state in the country with the most regressive medical malpractice laws in the country," the president of Consumer Watchdog says.
By Cheryl Miller, THE RECORDER
September 26, 2019
https://www.law.com/therecorder/2019/09/26/caps-on-medical-malpractice-…
By Adam Beam, ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 26, 2019
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2019-09-26/…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A proposed California ballot initiative would let patients get more money in medical malpractice lawsuits.
By Alex Gangitano, THE HILL
September 26, 2019
https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/463124-industry-spends-big-to…
Major players in the self-driving car industry are boosting their lobbying presence to convince policymakers in Washington the vehicles are safe for the road.
By Angela Hart, POLITICO PRO
September 26, 2019
SACRAMENTO — A deep-pocketed lawyer and a coalition led by Consumer Watchdog are launching a November 2020 ballot initiative that would multiply the amount medical negligence victims stand to receive in court, potentially resurrecting a political dogfight involving attorneys, hospitals and doctors.
By Timothy Darragh, BESTWIRE
September 25, 2019
http://news.ambest.com/newscontent.aspx?altsrc=108&refnum=220466
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
Saying discounts offered to affinity groups in California exacerbate disparities in auto insurance rates that lead to higher costs for lower-income families and communities of color, the California insurance commissioner is looking into their legality.
By Staff Writers, INSURANCE JOURNAL
September 23, 2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/09/23/540852.htm
Consumer Watchdog has written California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the District Attorneys of Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles counties, calling for an investigation of money laundering and bribery relating to the fundraising scandal engulfing California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara.
By Hannah Wiley, SACRAMENTO BEE - CAPITOL ALERT
September 19, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article23…
When an industry executive reached out on May 1 to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s department staff, he emailed with two meeting requests: a “formal policy discussion” and a “political meeting.”
By Pat Thurston, KGO 810 AM Radio - Berkeley, CA
September 19, 2019
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment: http://www.kgoradio.com/2019/09/19/consumer-watchdogs-jamie-court-talks…
Consumer Watchdog reporter Jamie Court explains why gas prices are going up so quickly. Listen for details with Pat Thurston.
By Staff Writers, INSURANCE JOURNAL
September 19, 2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/09/19/540547.htm
Calendar entries and documents show that California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, not his fundraiser, made first contact with an agent of a workers’ compensation insurance company offering political support in conjunction with seeking approval for a change of control in the company, according to Consumer Watchdog.
Consumer Watchdog asks state Attorney General’s Office, local prosecutors to examine political contributions
By Jeff McDonald, THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
September 19, 2019
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-09-19/adv…
By Michael Finney & Renee Koury, KABC TV-7 San Francisco, CA
September 18, 2019
https://abc7news.com/society/bottle-deposits-go-unclaimed-as-recycling-…
DALY CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- The sudden shutdown of the state's largest recycling company has sparked outrage among consumers who say they've lost any reasonable way to redeem the deposits on their bottles and cans.
Insurers, consumer advocates at odds over use of algorithmic models to assess risk
By Nicole Friedman, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 16, 2019
https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-one-can-agree-on-how-to-price-californi…
Finding home insurance in wildfire-prone parts of California is getting more difficult and more expensive. No one can agree on how to make it any easier.
By Janet Wilson, THE DESERT SUN
September 13, 2019
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2019/09/13/california-…
California has issued no permits for fracking since late June, according to records reviewed by The Desert Sun and watchdog groups.
James Shannon, 36, is suspected of stealing from his neighbors, co-workers, and others, police said.
By Eric Leonard, Philip Dreschler and Andrew Blankstein, KNBC TV-4 Los Angeles, CA
September 12, 2019
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Suspected-ID-Thief-Rented-Luxu…
By John Phillips, RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
September 11, 2019
https://www.pe.com/2019/09/11/state-insurance-czar-wants-us-to-pay-the-…
I hope you’re sitting down, because I just heard about a scheme to rip off California taxpayers using the railroad … and it’s worse than the bullet train!
By The SACRAMENTO BEE Editorial Board
September 11, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article234952877.html
Will Ricardo Lara survive his first term as California’s insurance commissioner? We can’t say for sure.
By Hannah Wiley, CAPITOL ALERT - SACRAMENTO BEE
September 10, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article23…
California’s top regulator of insurance companies sought campaign contributions from the industry and partied with one of its lobbyists after winning his election last year, according to records and social media posts obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
By Staff Writers, INSURANCE JOURNAL
September 10, 2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/09/10/539402.htm
Consumer Watchdog is calling on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the district attorneys for Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco counties to launch an investigation over the potential theft of public funds.
Op-Ed Commentary by Jamie Court for the SACRAMENTO BEE
September 10, 2019
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article234899717.html
The ugliest sausage made in Sacramento gets ground up in the last week of legislative session.
By Staff Reporters, INSURANCE JOURNAL
September 4, 2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/09/04/538887.htm
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has offered an apology for accepting campaign contributions from the insurance industry.
Lara in a letter that was reportedly sent on Tuesday acknowledged that his campaign solicited contributions from the insurance industry, despite a campaign pledge not to do so.
By Timothy Darragh, BESTWIRE
September 4, 2019
Sacramento, CA -- California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has suspended campaign fundraising for the rest of 2019 after repeated news media revelations that his campaign accepted funds from individuals with ties to the insurance industry.
Lara, in a letter sent to consumer advocates and posted on his campaign website, apologized for taking contributions from industry sources after pledging during his campaign not to do so.
Model 3 runs into back of unoccupied fire truck
By Michael Strong, THE DETROIT BUREAU
September 3, 2019
https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2019/09/ntsb-confirms-autopilot-engage…
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a Tesla Model S that hit the back of a fire truck was in Autopilot mode and the driver was not holding the steering wheel when it hit the parked vehicle.
