Lennar project halted amid fraud allegations

Federal and state regulators are investigating reports that Tetra Tech, a Southern-California-based engineering and consulting firm contracted to oversee cleanup of Hunters Point Shipyard, misrepresented data about its work in decontaminating the toxic site. According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: “When tasked with obtaining soil samples to ascertain the amount of residual radioactivity in specific locations within Parcel C, Tetra Tech employees instead obtained soil samples from other areas that were suspected to be less contaminated.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a Sept. 13 letter, requested that the Navy cease transferring further lands to the city’s control until results of the investigation are in.

ESPN launching bilingual sports show

In an attempt to better serve its growing Latino audience, ESPN will debut its first bilingual sports news show on Sept. 26.  The one-hour program, which will air Mondays at 5 p.m. on ESPN2, will be called “Nación ESPN” and will be hosted by boxing reporter Bernardo Osuna, Los Angeles sports radio host Jorge Sedano and ESPNDesports.com journalist Marly Rivera.  The program will be presented in English, but featured guests will be welcome to speak in Spanish, with the hosts summarizing in English. Pre-recorded interviews conducted in Spanish will be aired with English subtitles. “Nación ESPN” will also be available on demand via the WatchESPN platform.

Assembly Bill protects janitors from sexual harrassment

AB 1978, which was drafted by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego and signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Sept. 15, comes on the heels of a large demonstration in Sacramento last month by immigrant women janitors calling for action against rape and sexual exploitation.  A report released by U.C. Berkeley in 2015 found that between one third and one half of women are harassed at some point during their career and that female janitors are particularly at risk because they work alone at off hours. AB 1978 mandates that janitorial employers provide sexual harassment and assault training and offer prevention programs.

Domestic workers stage demonstration in Washington D.C.

Over the weekend of Sept. 17-18, domestic workers and their allies from across the country descended on the capital to participate in the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) 2016 National Assembly.    The NWDA says that it has achieved “significant gains for low-wage women workers of color and immigrant women” but that there is much more work to be done in ending “violence, hate and racism” against domestic workers, 95 percent of whom are women and 46% of whom are immigrants. 

Record-breaking Big Sur fire continues

The Soberanes Fire, which has been ravaging Big Sur for nearly two months, is now the most costly wildfire to suppress in U.S. history according to new data from the National Interagency Fire Center. The U.S. Fire Service estimates that the cost of battling the fire is close to $200 million, beating out the former record-holding blaze, the 2002 Biscuit Fire, which cost $165 million. The Soberanes Fire began as an illegal unattended campfire on July 22 in Garrapata State Park and has now spread to 107,375 acres, destroying 57 homes.