Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/559706
ByJackGillum and Ted Bridis The Associated Press WASHINGTON Hundreds of U.S. government em- ployees — including some with sensitive jobs in the White House, Congress and law enforcement agen- cies — used Internet con- nections in their federal offices to access and pay membership fees to the cheating website Ashley Madison, The Associated Press has learned. The AP traced many of the accounts exposed by hackers back to federal workers. They included at least two assistant U.S. at- torneys; an information technology administrator in the Executive Office of the President; a division chief, an investigator and a trial attorney in the Jus- tice Department; a govern- ment hacker at the Home- land Security Department and another DHS employee who indicated he worked on a U.S. counterterrorism response team. Few actually paid for their services with their government email ac- counts. But AP traced their government Internet con- nections — logged by the website over five years — and reviewed their credit- card transactions to iden- tify them. They included workers at more than two dozen Obama administra- tion agencies, including the departments of State, Defense, Justice, Energy, Treasury, Transportation and Homeland Security. Others came from House or Senate computer networks. The AP is not naming the government subscrib- ers it found because they are not elected officials or accused of a crime. Hackers this week re- leased detailed records on millions of people regis- tered with the website one month after the break-in at Ashley Madison's parent company, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc. The website — whose slogan is, "Life is short. Have an af- fair" — is marketed to facil- itate extra-marital affairs. Many federal customers appeared to use non-gov- ernment email addresses with handles such as "sex- lessmarriage," "soonto- besingle" or "latinlovers." Some Justice Department employees appeared to use pre-paid credit cards to help preserve their an- onymity but connected to the service from their of- fice computers. "I was doing some things I shouldn't have been doing," a Justice De- partment investigator told the AP. Asked about the threat of blackmail, the in- vestigator said if prompted he would reveal his actions to his family and employer to prevent it. "I've worked too hard all my life to be a victim of blackmail. That wouldn't happen," he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was deeply embarrassed and not authorized by the government to speak to re- porters using his name. The AP's analysis also found hundreds of transac- tions associated with De- partment of Defense net- works, either at the Penta- gon or from armed services connections elsewhere. ASHLEY MADISON Websitesubscribers included federal workers By Jim Salter and Jim Suhr The Associated Press ST. LOUIS The police chief Thursday unapologetically defended the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old who was killed by two white offi- cers in a confrontation that drew protesters and unrest back to the streets. Protesters pledged to stand firm. Said the direc- tor of a group called the Organization for Black Struggle: "We will not go away." Mansur Ball-Bey, who police said had a handgun, was shot as officers raided a home in a violence-plagued part of north St. Louis. Within an hour of Wednes- day's shooting, more than 100 people converged on the scene, taunting officers and decrying the use of deadly force. A vacant building and at least one car were torched, police said. Officers re- sponded with tear gas. The scene unfolded less than two weeks after vi- olence marred the an- niversary of the day Mi- chael Brown was fatally wounded by a white offi- cer in nearby Ferguson. His death launched the na- tional Black Lives Matter movement. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the crowd-control tactics were justified because officers were being hit with bottles and bricks and protesters refused to clear out of the roadway. "I'd certainly much rather our officers focused in the neighborhoods in- terceding violence before it happens," Dotson said Thursday, noting that some in the neighborhood im- plored police to leave them alone. "It's kind of ironic that we're in that neighborhood where police services are most needed, and people are telling us not to do our jobs." Activists vowed to con- tinue their efforts. "We have a right to live in freedom and specifically free from fear," said Mon- tague Simmons, executive director of the Organization for Black Struggle. "This can't go unchecked. We're going to stay in the street. No matter what (police) put forward, we are not going to stop." The latest shooting hap- pened while officers were serving a search warrant. They encountered Ball-Bey and another suspect run- ning from the home, police said. Ball-Bey turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, who shot him, au- thorities said. He died at the scene. The handgun found in the dead man's possession had one round in the cham- ber and 13 more in the mag- azine, Dotson said. Some protesters ques- tioned the police claim that the suspect was armed. Dis- trust of police accounts has been common since Brown's death. On the night of the Brown's anniversary, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr. was wounded by plain- clothes officers in Fergu- son when he allegedly first fired at them. His father la- beled that account "a bunch of lies" and insisted his son was unarmed. Later, police released surveillance video recorded moments before the shoot- ing that appeared to show the younger Harris pulling a handgun from his waist- band and running in the di- rection of the officers. INCIDENT AT INTERSECTION St . Lo ui s po li ce c hi ef d ef en ds fatal shooting by officers JEFFROBERSON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Adam's Market owner Sanad Motan stands inside his ransacked store Thursday in St. Louis. The store is near where officers arrested several people and deployed tear gas amid protests in St. Louis following the death of a black 18-year-old. By Ken Sweet The Associated Press NEW YORK The U.S. stock market endured its worst performance in 18 months on Thursday, driven lower by another slump in Chi- nese shares and heavy sell- ing by technical traders. The global rout started in China, where sharp declines in energy and property stocks pushed the Shang- hai Composite down more than 3 percent. That selling soon spread to European and U.S. markets, where the Standard & Poor's 500 index moved further below a closely watched trading level. Investors, facing screens full of red, retreated to their usual places of safety: bonds, gold and cash. "Theemergingmarketsre- ally got slammed overnight andthatquicklyspreadtothe rest of the world," said J.J. Ki- nahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. The Dow plunged 358.04 points, or 2.1 percent, to 16,990.69. The S&P 500 lost 43.88 points, or 2.1 percent, to 2,035.73 and the Nasdaq composite lost 141.56 points, or 2.8 percent, to 4,877.49. It was the biggest per- centage decline for the Dow and S&P 500 since Febru- ary 2014. The blue-chip av- erage is now at its lowest level since October 2014. WALL STREET Worst day in 18 months for stock market Paramásdetallesllameal1-800-660-6789 • 詳情請致電 1-800-893-9555. NOTICE OF EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS REGARDING PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY'S REQUEST TO INCREASE YOUR RATES FOR COSTS RELATING TO DIABLO CANYON SEISMIC STUDIES AND RENEWABLES PORTFOLIO STANDARD (A.15-02-023) September 10-11, 2015 Starting at 10:00 a.m. at the address below: California Public Utilities Commission Courtroom State Office Building 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 Summary On February 27, 2015, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) submitted an application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requesting to increase its electric rates. This application requests approval to recover costs associated with two separate issues. 1. Seismic studies performed at Diablo Canyon Power Plant 2. Consultant fees incurred by the CPUC, which are billed to PG&E, for studies related to California's Renewable Portfolio Standard PG&E was directed by the CPUC to include the review, and recovery, of these costs in its annual Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA) Compliance proceeding. Background TheDiabloCanyonPowerPlant(DCPP)seismicstudieswereconductedinresponsetoboththeCalifornia Energy Commission's recommendations and Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing requirements. In Decisions 10-08-003 and 12-09-008, the CPUC approved PG&E's proposal for enhanced seismic studies to assess the potential vulnerabilities at DCPP due to a major seismic event. These decisions also directed PG&E to submit the costs for review of the studies in the ERRA Compliance proceeding. In Decision 14-08-032, the CPUC directed PG&E to include any costs associated with PG&E's Long-Term Seismic Studies Program in the ERRA Compliance proceeding. This application will also address costs associated with independent consultants hired by the CPUC to support the implementation and administration of the Renewables Portfolio Standard. The Renewables Portfolio Standard is a state mandate that requires utilities to provide a minimum percentage of their power from renewable energy resources by a certain date. PG&E pays its portion of the costs from independent consultants once the invoices are reviewed and approved by the CPUC. These costs are included for review in this application, as authorized in Decision 06-10-050. In its ERRA Compliance application, PG&E has requested to collect $8.933 million in rates from customers who receive electric generation as well as transmission and distribution service from PG&E, known as bundled service customers. Rates for customers who purchase electricity from other suppliers (such as direct access and community choice aggregation) and rates for departing load customers will not be affected by these specific costs. EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS At the evidentiary hearings noted above, PG&E and other formal parties to the proceeding will present their evidence through testimony and will be subject to cross-examination before an Administrative Law Judge (Judge). The hearings are open to the public, but only those who are formal parties are permitted to present evidence and/or cross-examine witnesses. After considering all proposals and evidence presented during the formal process, the Judge will issue a proposed decision which may accept PG&E's proposal, modify it or reject it.Any one of the five Commissioners may also issue an alternate decision based on the record.The proposed decision and any alternate will be acted upon at a CPUC Voting Meeting where the Commissioners will decide whether to adopt the proposed or an alternate decision. As a party of record, the Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) reviewed this application. ORA is the independent consumer advocate within the CPUC with a legislative mandate to represent investor- owned utility customers to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. The ORA has a multi-disciplinary staff with expertise in economics, finance, accounting and engineering. Other parties of record will also participate in the CPUC's proceeding to consider this application. For more information about ORA, please call (415) 703-1584, e-mail ora@cpuc.ca.gov or visit ORA's website at http://ora.ca.gov/default.aspx. If you would like a copy of PG&E's filing and exhibits, please write to: PG&E, Costs Relating to Diablo Canyon Seismic Studies and Renewables Portfolio Standard (A.15-02-023), P.O. Box 7442, San Francisco, CA 94120. A copy of PG&E's filing and exhibits are also available for review at the CPUC, 505Van NessAvenue,San Francisco,CA 94120,Monday – Friday,8 a.m.– noon.PG&E's filing (without exhibits) is available on the CPUC's website at www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc. Please note: The Commission Courtroom is wheelchair accessible. If you wish to attend and need specialized accommodations, please contact the Public Advisor's Office (PAO) (noted below) at least five business days prior to the hearing date. Any changes to the dates, times and locations of the hearings will be posted to the CPUC's Daily Calendar. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND OPINIONS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE CPUC If you would like to follow this proceeding, or any other issue before the CPUC, you may use the CPUC's free subscription service. Sign up at: http://subscribecpuc.cpuc.ca.gov/. If you would like to learn how you can participate in the proceeding, or if you have informal comments or questions about the CPUC processes, you may access the CPUC's Public Advisor's Office (PAO) webpage at www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc and click on "Public Advisor" from the CPUC Information Menu. You may also contact the PAO as follows: Write: CPUC Public Advisor's Office, Room 2103 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 Email: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov Phone: 1-866-849-8390 (toll-free) or 1-415-703-2074 TTY: 1-866-836-7825 (toll-free) or 1-415-703-5282 FacebookPage 4,263fans + 18 this week .. and growing, every week! 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