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Feds say 3 California debt-relief companies bilked students of $12.5 million

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

Federal regulators have halted student debt-relief programs offered by three Orange County businesses that allegedly bilked students out of more than $12 million. Complaints filed April 24 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana by the Federal Trade Commission target SL Finance LLC, BCO Consulting Services Inc. and SLA Consulting Services Inc, alleging the companies used deceptive claims about repayment programs and loan forgiveness that didn’t exist.The actions were filed under the Federal Trade Commission Act and Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, among other legal protections.The FTC said the companies falsely claimed to be or be affiliated with the Department of Education, telling students the illegal payments would count toward their loans. The court has temporarily halted the schemes and frozen the assets of the three companies.Representatives with the businesses could not be reached for comment Monday, May 8.Samuel Levine, director of the agency’s Bureau o...

Republican Rep. George Santos in federal custody as feds unseal 13-count indictment

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed federal charges against Rep. George Santos and the New York Republican is in custody.Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.He was taken into custody in Melville on Long Island, where the FBI is housed, a law enforcement source told CNN. From there, he was taken to the courthouse in Central Islip.Santos is expected to appear later Wednesday at federal court in New York’s Eastern District.The congressman’s attorney declined to comment to CNN on Tuesday. Spokespeople for the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment.Santos was en route back to New York Tuesday night, skipping House votes for the evening, according...

Prep roundup: Valley, Mitty to meet for WCAL baseball tournament title

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

BaseballWCAL playoffsValley Christian won the West Catholic Athletic League’s regular-season championship last week.Thursday, the Warriors will go for the outright title.They advanced to the final on Tuesday with a 9-2 victory at home over Archbishop Riordan as Michael Castaneda and Jacob Hudson hit home runs to lead the way.Valley (25-3) will face Archbishop Mitty, which won on its home field 8-3 over St. Francis on Tuesday behind two hits from Luka Brocilo and two RBIs from Makoa Sniffen.If Mitty (21-6) wins at Valley on Thursday, the teams will share the league title.The playoff format was set up differently than previous years because four teams – Bellarmine, Sacred Heart Cathedral, St. Ignatius and Serra – tied for fourth place.The league receives five automatic qualifiers for the Central Coast Section playoffs and would likely get a sixth team into the postseason as an at-large.But a seventh team advancing seems unlikely.So instead of holding a traditional eight-team bracket, ...

New bill could allow ranked choice voting in Santa Clara County

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

A new state bill from two Silicon Valley legislators could put Santa Clara County one step closer to adopting ranked choice voting.Assembly Bill 1227 has already cleared the assembly and is now headed to the state senate. The bill, by Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-San Jose) and Alex Lee (D-San Jose), would allow the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to decide if they want to adopt ranked choice voting for county elections.The voting method, which has picked up steam in recent years and is being used in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro, has been controversial — especially after the Alameda County Registrar of Voters incorrectly tabulated the ranked choice voting results in an Oakland school board election last year.California law dictates that only cities — not counties — can change their voting methods on their own, which is why state legislation is needed before Santa Clara County could proceed with the change.Lee called ranked choice voting a ...

Are Santa Cruz County drivers more pleasant than either Bay Area or LA drivers?: Roadshow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

Q: Hey Mr. Roadshow Dude, I’m enjoying your readers’ comments comparing L.A. to Bay Area drivers. Having lived most of my life in the Bay Area and several years in L.A., I did not experience tangible differences between drivers in the two regions. Just over a year ago, my wife and I moved from the Bay Area to the Central Coast in southern Santa Cruz County. I can confidently report that drivers in this region are, overall, 10 times better drivers than in either of the two large metropolitan areas. It is rare to witness the flipping of the bird, tailgating or even horn honking. Driving on heavily traveled non-freeway county roads is an amazing experience as most drivers leave plenty of space between cars when going 45 mph or above. I chalk it up to the chill-out beach mentality of the region.J.D. Sorensen, CorralitosA: Let’s move to Corralitos … your traffic sounds great.Q: Highway 17 is a mountain road, not a freeway, and drivers have to realize that common s...

Pittsburg’s 1991 football team that beat De La Salle going into Hall of Fame

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

NEW: PREP SPORTS MAILBAGThe Bay Area News Group is introducing a high school sports mailbag in May. Get your questions in as soon as possible. Our debut edition is an open forum. Got questions about spring sports playoffs, coaching changes, an early peek at football season, etc.? Send them to [email protected]. Please include “mailbag” in the subject line.The team that orchestrated one of the most memorable victories in the long and storied history of Pittsburg High School football will be honored this weekend.Thirty-two years after their victory over De La Salle at the Oakland Coliseum in a North Coast Section championship game, the 1991 Pirates are being inducted into the school’s football Hall of Fame on Saturday.Their 35-27 win in the 3A final is still relevant because not a single team from the NCS has beaten De La Salle since then.The link between the Pirates of that era and the modern-day team remains intertwined as Charlie Ramirez, a sophomore linebacker in 19...

Rep. Rashida Tlaib Asks Congress to Condemn “Israel’s Ongoing Nakba” Against Palestine

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

A day after Israeli bombs ripped through residential buildings in the Gaza Strip, Rep. Rashida Tlaib introduced a resolution calling on Congress to recognize “the ongoing Nakba and Palestinian refugees rights.” Tlaib’s resolution comes ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that is widely used to describe the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes through violent raids in 1948.The resolution asks Congress to “condemn all manifestations of Israel’s ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people, including Israel’s illegal theft of Palestinian land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; Israel’s displacement of Palestinians by destroying their homes and forcing them from their land; and the daily brutality and violence inflicted by the Israeli military and Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.”In addition to memorializing the Nakba, Tlaib’s resolution calls for a prohibition on U.S. weapons being used to ...

US Rep. George Santos of New York faces charges of wire fraud, money laundering and lying to Congress

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — US Rep. George Santos of New York faces charges of wire fraud, money laundering and lying to Congress.Source

US attorney’s office says Rep. George Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges, case remains sealed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — US attorney’s office says Rep. George Santos has been arrested on federal criminal charges, case remains sealed.Source

Immersion: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:11 GMT

AVENTURA, Fla. (AP) — AVENTURA, Fla. (AP) — Immersion Corp. (IMMR) on Wednesday reported profit of $8.3 million in its first quarter.The Aventura, Florida-based company said it had profit of 25 cents per share.The touch-based technology company posted revenue of $7.1 million in the period._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on IMMR at https://www.zacks.com/ap/IMMRSource