Crime rings target EBT cards, say police
Authorities arrested 10 immigrants from Romania and Italy on charges of "skimming" EBT cards to steal SNAP and welfare benefits from California recipients, a crime that has increased in the past couple of years and occurs nationwide. Since June 2022, more than $181 million in EBT benefits were stolen in California, mostly by unauthorized ATM withdrawals, said the Secret Service. (No paywall)
EPA reduces exclusion zone around pesticide applicators
The EPA finalized a regulation on Thursday that reduces the size of the buffer zones intended to protect people from pesticides being applied on the farm. EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler said the new regulation would be simpler and easier to follow than its predecessor.
Brown vetoes bill to regulate meal-kit delivery companies
California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have required employees at meal-kit delivery companies, like Blue Apron, to obtain food-handler cards for dealing with unpackaged ingredients, reports the LA Times. The bill was sponsored by the companies’ competitors, including the California Grocers Assn. and United Food and Commercial Workers State Council.