The Catholic Diocese of Fresno received taxpayer-funded loans exceeding $5.1 million as part of the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, according to documents from the Small Business Administration. That's part of at least $1.4 billion in forgivable coronavirus aid obtained by the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, which used a special...
Fresno’s Chuck E. Cheese to Reopen Friday. Company Hopes to Squeak Through Bankruptcy.
Fresno's two kid-friendly Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurants will reopen their dining rooms Friday with limited seating and other safety procedures in place, local managers said. Most of the stores' electronic games will be operational, but mascot Chuck E. Cheese himself will remain in lockdown for the time being. Like...
Q&A: With Rock-Bottom Prices, Will the Oil Industry Recover?
NEW YORK — With a barrel of crude oil costing less than a New York pizza, many U.S. shale producers are being pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and experts are wondering when, and if, the oil industry will recover. The price of benchmark U.S. crude oil closed at $12.34...
PG&E to Plead Guilty to Lethal Crimes in 2018 Wildfires
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for a swath of death and destruction left behind after its fraying electrical grid ignited the 2018 wildfire that destroyed three Northern California towns and drove the nation's largest utility into bankruptcy. The plea...
PG&E Pleading Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in Wildfire
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric said Monday it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California that killed 84 people and decimated three towns. The utility said in a statement it will also admit to a single count...
PG&E's $23B Bankruptcy Financing Package Approved by Court
BERKELEY — Pacific Gas & Electric on Monday won court approval to raise $23 billion to help pay its bills over destructive California wildfires after Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped his opposition to a financing package designed to help the nation's largest utility get out of bankruptcy. The milestone reached during...
PG&E Settles Key Battle Over $13.5B Wildfire Victims' Fund
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric told a federal bankruptcy judge Tuesday that it has settled a dispute with disaster-relief agencies that threatened to siphon money away from a $13.5 billion fund earmarked for victims of catastrophic wildfires in California caused by the nation's largest utility. The breakthrough disclosed...
Regulators Boost PG&E's Wildfire Fine to $2.1 Billion
SAN FRANCISCO — California power regulators on Thursday slapped Pacific Gas & Electric with a $2.1 billion fine for igniting a series of deadly wildfires that landed the beleaguered utility in bankruptcy. The record penalty imposed in an administrative law judge's decision boosts a previously agreed upon $1.7 billion settlement...
Plaintiffs' Attorneys Take Aim at Boy Scouts' 'Dark History'
SALT LAKE CITY — Like millions of other Americans in the 1950s and '60s, Duane Ruth-Heffelbower spent his formative years learning to tie knots, build campfires and pitch tents with the Boy Scouts, whose wholesome, God-fearing reputation was burnished by Normal Rockwell's magazine-cover paintings of fresh-faced Scouts, brave, courteous and...
Pier 1 Files for Bankruptcy Protection Amid Online Challenge
Pier 1 Imports Inc. — the once-trendy supplier of home goods like papasan chairs and throw pillows — filed for bankruptcy protection Monday after years of sliding sales. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company has been struggling with increased competition from budget-friendly online retailers like Wayfair and Amazon and discount stores...