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Tina Kotek wants to scrap a plan to implement tolls on large sections of two Portland-area interstates, she said Monday. Kotek sent a letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission on Monday saying the Regional Mobility Pricing Project for Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 should be halted, KGW-TV reported. Kotek’s letter came a few weeks after a survey found a majority of Oregon voters opposed the Regional Mobility Pricing Project tolls, KOIN-TV reported. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesThe move also came after the Oregon Department of Transportation produced a report on the equity impacts of tolling and the agency’s plan to mitigate the impacts on low-income Portlanders. Beyer said “metro leadership views on tolling have changed” and “local and regional opposition to tolling makes clear that Oregon is not ready for regional tolling."

Persons: Tina Kotek, Kotek, ”, Julie Brown, Lee Beyer, Kris Strickler, Beyer, Strickler, ” Brown, ” Kotek, Washington that’s Organizations: —, Oregon Transportation, Oregon Department of Transportation, ” Oregon Transportation, Washington Locations: PORTLAND, — Oregon, Portland, Oregon, ” Oregon

☆ L.A. poultry firm hired kids as young as 14 to work with sharp knives, Labor Dept. says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"The Exclusive Poultry and owner Tony Bran willfully withheld workers' hard-earned wages, endangered young workers and retaliated against employees to conceal their wrongdoing," said Jessica Looman, administrator of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. Labor investigators repeatedly went to the company's poultry processing locations and said in affidavits they saw young workers they estimated were 14 to 17 years of age, but the workers refused to talk and would run from them. The Labor Department told NBC News it subsequently confirmed that some of the workers were as young as 14. Workers allegedly told investigators that minors who worked at the company were hidden in closets and bathrooms when the investigators arrived so they would not be found. In fall 2022, the department found more than 100 children, some as young as 13, cleaning slaughterhouses for a Midwestern firm.

Persons: Tony Bran, Jessica Looman, Anthony McClaren, McClaren, Bran, Biden Organizations: Labor Department, Aldi, Ralphs, Kroger, Labor, NBC, NBC News, Department of Labor, Workers Locations: Los Angeles

☆ A US Air Force spy plane built in 1962 had to make an emergency landing in Qatar. It's the latest in a string of incidents for the ancient fleet of aircraft.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A US Air Force spy plane flying for the 55th Wing made an emergency landing in Qatar on Monday. The US Air Force did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. It eventually joined the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base outside of Omaha in 1981 and is still flying more than 40 years later. The Air Force stands behind its incident-prone fleetThe Air Force says it plans to make upgrades to its RC-135 fleet, expecting the planes to fly for another 20 to 30 years. "I have complete confidence in flying this aircraft," 55th Wing vice commander Col. David Berg told the World-Herald in 2018.

Persons: it's, —, Michael Andrews, Steve Lynes, Qatar —, Heather Wilson, Wilson, Frank Strickler, Al Udeid, We've, Todd Feeback, John Rauch, David Berg Organizations: US Air Force, Wing, Service, Boeing, OMAHA, Air Force, Soaring, KC, US Air Forces Central Command, Herald, Offutt Air Force Base, Air, FAA, American Airlines, Al Udeid, Base, Kansas City Star, Tribune, Getty, Air Force Safety Center Locations: Qatar, Wall, Silicon, Bahrain, Nebraska, Omaha, England, Greece, Japan, Persian

☆ Is China really buying up U.S. farmland? Here’s what we found
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Laura Strickler | Nicole Moeder | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In fact, the total amount of U.S. agricultural land owned by Chinese interests is less than three-hundredths of 1%. NBC News was able to review filings on foreign purchases and leases of agricultural land, meaning both farm and forestry land, from 35 states since Jan. 1, 2022. The vast majority of the transactions were European wind power companies leasing land from U.S. farmers to build wind turbines. One Italian wind company disclosed 40 new leases of farmland in just one rural Illinois county. "Ownership of U.S. agricultural land is not one of them."

Persons: Jim Monroe, Syngenta, Saswato Das Organizations: NBC, U.S . Department of Agriculture, NBC News, Smithfield Foods, U.S, Syngenta Locations: U.S, Italian, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, China, Iowa, Florida, California, Swiss

Several individuals involved in the voting systems breach in Coffee County are among those who may face charges in the sprawling criminal probe. They have gathered evidence indicating it was a top-down push by Trump’s team to access sensitive voting software, according to people familiar with the situation. That group included members of Sullivan Strickler, a firm hired by Trump’s attorneys to examine voting systems in the small, heavily Republican Georgia county, according to text messages obtained by CNN. Friess then notified operatives who carried out the Coffee County breach and others working directly with Giuliani that Trump’s team had secured written permission, the texts show. Coffee County was the only county in Georgia that failed to certify its election results due to issues raised by Hampton at the time.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Fani Willis, Trump, Brad Raffensperger, Willis, Joe Biden’s, ”, Misty Hampton, Trump’s, Rudy Giuliani –, –, Sidney Powell, Willis ’, Giuliani, ’, Katherine Friess –, Sullivan Strickler, Friess, Coffee County , Georgia ”, Bernie Kerik, Kerik, Sullivan, “ Rudy Giuliani, Robert Costello, “, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney, ” “, Former New York Mayor Giuliani, Hampton –, Hampton, Cathy Latham, Latham Organizations: CNN, Fulton, Republican Coffee, Trump, Georgia, White, Republican, NYPD, Former New York, Washington Post, Hampton Locations: Atlanta, Georgia, Coffee County, Fulton County, Coffee, Fulton, Republican Georgia, Coffee County , Georgia, ”, Hampton

☆ Senators ask 27 CEOs to make sure their companies comply with child labor laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The company entered into an agreement with the agency pledging compliance with child labor laws and consented to third-party oversight. This is the second Senate inquiry citing NBC News reporting on child labor. JBS has zero tolerance for child labor, discrimination or unsafe working conditions for anyone working in our facilities. In a local newspaper editorial, Hearthside CEO Darlene Nicosia wrote the revelation of child labor was "a shock and major disappointment to us." Hearthside is in the midst of a 60-day independent review of child labor practices by an outside law firm, according to a spokesperson.

☆ Biden administration to crack down on child labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

More than 3,800 children were found to be working at U.S. companies last year in violation of federal law, the Labor Department said Monday in announcing a crackdown on child labor. Some 835 companies were founded to be illegally employing minors last year, the Labor Department said, and more than 600 child labor investigations remain ongoing. In stepping up its efforts to target companies that use child labor, the Labor Department will use new strategies to launch investigations where child labor violations are most likely to occur. The agency called on Congress to increase the maximum penalty for child labor violations, which is currently $15,000. "That's not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies," the Labor Department said in a press release.

☆ Federal officials find more than 100 children working in dangerous jobs for slaughterhouse cleaning firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Laura Strickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Packers Sanitation Services has paid a $1.5 million fine for the violations. The Labor Department says the children who were working overnight shifts used "caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws." "Our investigation found Packers Sanitation Services' systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags. The company signed a consent decree in December with the Labor Department and agreed to abide by child labor laws after federal investigators documented 50 children working at slaughterhouses for it. The compliance specialist will conduct child labor audits, which will be shared with the Labor Department for three years.

☆ After baby formula problems, Abbott Laboratories under DOJ investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Senior Investigative Producer | Reporter For Nbc News. She Is Based In Washington. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Abbott Laboratories is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the company confirmed Friday, almost a year after it shut down a Michigan baby-formula plant after illnesses were reported. Abbott did not specify what aspect of the company is under Justice Department scrutiny. “DOJ has informed us of its investigation and we’re cooperating fully,” an Abbott spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. The Abbott manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Mich., on May 13, 2022. Abbott voluntarily shut down production at its Sturgis infant formula manufacturing plant on Feb. 17, 2022, after infants who consumed formula made at the plant became sick.

☆ Federal government investigating possible human trafficking of children who cleaned slaughterhouses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Laura Strickler | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julia-Ainsley-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

There is no indication DHS is investigating the company that hired the children, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., or PSSI, for human trafficking. The Labor Department’s Child Labor Regulations designate many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors. The Labor Department says its investigation, which began in August, is ongoing as it scours company records from 50 locations. I don’t anticipate unless there are severe ramifications for this that it will actually change policies.”The Labor Department has issued no penalties or fines to date. Labor DepartmentQuestions about child labor at PSSI in Grand Island and Worthington are not new.

The House Ways and Means Committee plans to release Donald Trump’s tax returns on Friday, a spokesperson for the Committee said Tuesday. The assortment of six years of the former president's personal returns and some of his business returns are expected to be placed into the Congressional record on Friday as part of the House’s pro-forma session. The clock is ticking for the committee, which will turn over control to Republicans when the new Congress is sworn in next week. The committee obtained the returns in November, following a years-long court fight for the closely-held documents that other presidents have routinely made public for the last four decades. A 39-page report from the Joint Committee on Taxation released last week showed Trump had been paying relatively little in taxes, including paying only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 and none in 2020.

“It’s an utter betrayal,” his son, Kevin Gnida, said in an interview from his home in Edmonton, Canada. “I know with 100 percent confidence that my dad would have never participated in this,” Kevin Gnida added. “I’m glad they got caught.”Evan, 64, and Josh Edwards, 30, were arrested at their home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Dec. 14. Josh Edwards is taken into custody outside the Edwards family’s New Smyrna Beach home on Dec. 14, 2022. “They came to my dad because they had no money.”Joy Edwards, Evan and Mary Jane Edwards, and Josh Edwards.

☆ New York Attorney General Letitia James sues owners of Long Island nursing home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Senior Investigative Producer | Reporter For Nbc News. She Is Based In Washington. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the owners of a Long Island nursing home who also have stakes of dozens of other facilities nationwide. It is the third suit she has filed in six weeks alleging financial fraud and abuse of nursing home residents. Among other allegations, the lawsuit states that one resident was at the facility for five months and received just three showers. One of the previous lawsuits targeted Fulton Commons Nursing Home in East Meadows, N.Y. The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center in Albion, N.Y., was sued by the attorney general at the end of November.

"There are grave medical concerns," Erin Hyde told a federal judge in Orlando on Wednesday, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by NBC News. Things took a stranger turn when the judge turned his attention to Josh Edwards, who did appear in the courtroom. Josh Edwards is taken into custody outside the Edwards family’s New Smyrna Beach home on Wednesday. Jon Levy / AFP via Getty ImagesThe 13-minute hearing ended with Evan Edwards’ lawyer telling the judge there were grave concerns around his health. The case centers on a Paycheck Protection Program loan application Josh Edwards filed in April 2020.

ASLAN International was ultimately approved for an $8.4 million loan. Agents escorted Josh Edwards out of the home and into a law enforcement vehicle, his hands cuffed behind his back. Josh Edwards is taken into custody outside the Edwards family’s New Smyrna Beach home on Dec. 14, 2022. The Edwards family did missionary work in Turkey for many years before moving to Florida in 2019. The Edwards family did not challenge the seizure.

☆ The company accused of employing dozens of minors in slaughterhouses on the graveyard shift reaches agreement with the feds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Laura Strickler | Julianne Mcshane | Laura Strickler Is A Washington-Based Investigative Reporter With The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

An industrial cleaning company accused by federal investigators of hiring dozens of children to clean slaughterhouses during the graveyard shift has resolved the allegations with the U.S. Department of Labor, according to a federal court filing filed Tuesday morning. The company will also provide a new child labor provision in its contracts with clients and will notify the Labor Department as to how many employees it terminated as a result of its compliance with child labor laws. Allegations of child labor at a slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska, date back to 2016, according to a previously unreported local police report obtained by NBC News. At least three chiildren suffered chemical burns as a result of working in the slaughterhouses, according to that complaint. The Department of Labor’s Child Labor Regulations designates many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors.

☆ Executives at ‘fintechs’ made hundreds of millions handing out PPP Covid cash, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Washington-Based Investigative Reporter With The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The report says Reis is not Black or a veteran. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis$80 billion in fraudIt’s well known that the $800 billion PPP program was plagued by fraud, with some fraud estimates as high as $80 billion. In a text message obtained by the committee, Reis commented on his company’s success, noting it made nearly $1.5 billion in less than six months processing PPP loans. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus CrisisThe report cited a text message in which Kristen Spencer described the anticipated windfall from processing PPP loans. In July 2021, two months after the last PPP loans went out the door, the Spencers bought an $8 million, 10,975-square-foot mansion, according to local property records.

☆ Brett Favre files motion to dismiss lawsuit in Mississippi welfare fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Washington-Based Investigative Reporter With The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Attorneys for former NFL star Brett Favre filed court papers in Mississippi on Monday seeking to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him tied to a state welfare fraud scandal. Favre was sued in May by the state welfare agency after he received $1.1 million in federal welfare funds intended to lift children out of poverty in the poorest state in America. Favre’s attorneys say that he and his organization, Favre Enterprises LLC, repaid the funds and that Mississippi officials are to blame for the misspending. "Mr. Favre never had any control over how Mississippi spent its welfare funds. Six people have been charged in what state and federal officials call a massive fraud scheme to misspend state welfare funds, including the former director of the state welfare agency, who is cooperating with the FBI and federal prosecutors.

☆ Brett Favre helped an experimental drug maker get $2M in welfare money. Experts doubt the drug can work.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

And he did more than evangelize, court records show — he successfully lobbied Mississippi state officials who granted the company $2.1 million in federal welfare money that was intended to help poor families. The payment was illegal, state officials allege in a lawsuit — part of a huge Mississippi welfare misspending scandal that has tarnished Favre’s reputation. Favre, who is being sued by Mississippi, has consistently said that he did not know the money he was seeking from the Mississippi Department of Human Services—the state welfare agency—was welfare money. Six people have been charged in what state and federal officials call a massive fraud scheme, including the former director of the state welfare agency, who is cooperating with the FBI and federal prosecutors. Favre is among 38 defendants in a civil lawsuit by the state seeking to recoup the welfare money, including the funds devoted to the volleyball facility and the unproven concussion drug.

A California couple who fled the country after being convicted in a multimillion-dollar Covid relief scam have been extradited from Montenegro, the Justice Department said Friday. They are expected to appear at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon. They were among eight members of a California crime ring convicted of stealing more than $18 million in Covid relief loans. Following their conviction in June 2021, the couple cut off their ankle monitoring bracelets and fled their home, leaving behind their three children. It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the couple’s extradition, but the Justice Department said in a press release that the government of Montenegro provided significant assistance.

NBC News, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, interviewed more than 40 current and former employees of contractors at military bases. According to an NBC News analysis, at least 10 companies with substantiated trafficking violations since 2007 have received billions in new government contracts. ‘Mad scramble’Foreign workers are crucial for the more than 700 military bases with U.S. service members around the world. One company that continues to get work at Middle East bases despite past violations documented in an Army compliance agreement is Tamimi, Abdulla’s employer. Lusambu Karim, a 50-year-old Ugandan, told NBC News about trafficking violations he said he encountered working for Aegis in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2020.

Prosecutors with the 18th Judicial District and DEA agents seized 114 pounds of pure fentanyl in Colorado. A spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, which made the initial discovery of the fentanyl, provided a blunt account of the botched operation. But after this story was published, a DEA official confirmed the seizure of 114 pounds of fentanyl. "DEA is relentlessly pursuing the individuals that were involved in the trafficking of the seized fentanyl and will continue to do so." “We’ve got a record amount of fentanyl involved here, in fact, enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the state of Colorado,” Figliuzzi said.

☆ Brett Favre told Mississippi governor he would not ‘take No for answer’ over volleyball stadium, court filing shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Phil Bryant on Sept. 4, 2019 about funding the volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi’s main campus in Hattiesburg. “Use of these funds (is) tightly controlled,” Bryant texted Favre on July 28, 2019, according to the filing. Favre also secured $3.2 million for a drug company in which he had invested, according to court records. Favre has also denied wrongdoing through his lawyer, who acknowledged that the ex-Packer has been interviewed by the FBI. He added that Favre behaved honorably and never knew the state grants he was seeking were from the federal welfare program.

The welfare funds in question were part of the $86 million Mississippi is given each year by the federal government to lift families out of poverty. The state auditor uncovered $77 million in misspent welfare funds in February 2020. The text messages, which were part of a filing by New's attorney, do not establish that Favre knew the public funds discussed were welfare money. The newly released text messages indicate Bryant, a Republican, was much more involved in the project as governor than previously known. She would pay Favre $1.1 million in state funds directly and he would do a few radio ads.

The Mississippi state auditor said Favre never gave the speeches and demanded the money back, with interest. In an interview with the website Mississippi Today, Bryant said he never knew the grants came from welfare money. The former head of the state welfare agency, John Davis, has pleaded not guilty to state charges of bribery and conspiracy, and law enforcement officials say the investigations continue. Favre defended himself in a series of tweets last year against allegations from White, the state auditor, that he accepted state money for speeches he never intended to give. Marcus Dupree, a former college football star, also received $370,000 in welfare funds, which prosecutors say partly went to fund his horse ranch.

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