Brian Melley

Associated Press

Latest in Regulation
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September 9, 2025
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Labor Department Watchdog to Audit BLS Jobs, Inflation Reports
September 11, 2025
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Court Finds Trump's Tariffs an Illegal Use of Emergency Power
September 2, 2025
Rebecca DeWhitt charges her electric vehicle on Sept. 30, 2022, in the driveway of the Portland, Ore., home she rents.
Oregon Could Join Hawaii in Mandating Pay-Per-Mile Fees for EV Owners As Gas Tax Projections Fall
August 29, 2025
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Marty McFly's 'hoverboard' maybe isn't quite ready for consumers. The government says it will be cracking down on any two-wheeled, self-balancing scooters that don't meet recently enacted safety standards, considering the internet is 'littered with photos and videos of hoverboards on fire and spewing black smoke,' says the AP.
Regulation
Gov't Cracks Down on Hoverboards
In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, Superintendent Jackie Ratliff, a coal miner, holds coal running through a processing plant in Welch, W.Va. For the long-suffering communities that depend on coal, a recent Supreme Court ruling temporarily blocking greenhouse gas reductions was seen as a rare victory.
Operations
Reality Tempers Optimism in Coal Country
Nutrition Labeling 56be32282da71
Supply Chain
House Backs Bill to Ease Calorie Labeling Requirements
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Security Breach Podcast
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A new video series from Manufacturing.net - Security Breach, looks to offer the insight and tools needed to ready your company's defenses. Stay up-to-date on today's vital cybersecurity topics by subscribing here.
September 9, 2025
A Los Angeles federal grand jury on Wednesday, Dec. 15 charged a Houston-based oil company and two subsidiaries for the oil spill off the California coast in October.
Safety
Texas Pipeline Company Charged in California Oil Spill
Prosecutors said companies failed to respond to eight leak detection alarms over a 13-hour period.
December 16, 2021
In this Oct. 22, 2012, file photo provided by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the platforms Ellen and Elly stand offshore near Long Beach, Calif., in the BSEE's Pacific Region. Oil production in federal waters in the Pacific is down 90% over the past several decades and no new drilling leases have been sold in the region since the early 1980s.
Operations
Aging Equipment, Spills Test Ties Between Oil, California
A recent incident has renewed calls to end drilling in coastal waters.
October 15, 2021
Workers in protective suits walk by as dead marine life washed off on a beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.
Safety
California Pipeline Likely Damaged Up to a Year Before Spill
Investigators will pore over a year of data on ship movements near the area of the break.
October 11, 2021
Workers clean oil from the sand south of the pier in Newport Beach, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. A leak in an oil pipeline caused a spill off the coast of Southern California, sending about 126,000 gallons of oil into the ocean, some ending up on beaches in Orange County.
Safety
Ship's Anchor May Have Caused Massive California Oil Spill
Federal transportation investigators said the pipe was split open at a depth of about 98 feet.
October 6, 2021
This Jan. 12, 2017, file photo shows gas gathering plant on a hilltop at the Southern California Gas Company's Aliso Canyon storage facility near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles. Attorneys for families sickened and forced from their Los Angeles homes after the nation's largest-known natural gas leak have reached a $1.8 billion settlement with the utility.
Regulation
Gas Blowout Near Los Angeles Leads to Up to $1.8B Settlement
The blowout led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history.
September 28, 2021
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 file image made from video from the Office of the Governor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations to Black Americans in Sacramento, Calif. A conservative legal group announced Monday, Oct. 5 that it sued to block California's first-in-the-nation law that requires hundreds of corporations based in the state to have directors from racial or sexual minorities on their boards.
Operations
Group Sues to Block Boardroom Diversity Law
The new measure cited statistics showing few of the 662 public corporations headquartered in California had Blacks or Latinos on their boards.
October 6, 2020
Light traffic and a mostly empty parking lot is seen along Pacific Coast Highway at the Santa Monica Pier, Monday, March 23, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif.
Supply Chain
Calif. Scrambles for Protection Gear
The state is trying to acquire about 1 billion sets of gloves and hundreds of millions of gowns, surgical masks and face shields.
March 24, 2020
About 15 people protest Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, in Los Angeles outside the headquarters of the regulatory body for domain names, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The company that controls the dot-org online universe is putting the registry of domain names up for sale, and the nonprofits that often use the suffix in their websites are raising concerns about the move. ICANN is meeting this weekend and is expected to rule by mid-February on plans by private-equity firm Ethos Capital to buy the Public Interest Registry for $1.1 billion.
Software
Protesters Have Fears Over Dot-Org Sale
Some fear soaring costs if for-profit company is in charge of registering .org websites.
January 27, 2020
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, second from left, arrives at U.S. District Court Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, in Los Angeles. Musk is going on trial for his troublesome tweets in a case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly dubbed a pedophile.
Regulation
Cave Explorer Describes Humiliation Following Musk Tweet
He helped rescue a dozen boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave last year.
December 6, 2019
In this frame grab from video, Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves court, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, in Los Angeles. Musk denied that he meant to call a British cave diver a pedophile when he dubbed him 'pedo guy' on social media.
Product Development
Musk Says Insult Provoked ‘Pedo Guy’ Tweet
The Tesla CEO was upset the spelunker had belittled his efforts to build a mini-submarine to transport the boys to safety.
December 4, 2019
In this March 14, 2019, file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. Musk is going on trial for his troublesome tweets in a case pitting the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly dubbed a pedophile.
Regulation
Musk Faces Defamation Trial Over Tweet
The case pits the billionaire against a British diver he allegedly branded a pedophile.
December 3, 2019
In this Oct. 31, 2019, file photo, smoke from a wildfire known as the Maria Fire billows above Santa Paula, Calif. A new technology being tested by California utilities is aimed at diagnosing problems before they could cause power outages or spark wildfires. The technology invented by Texas A&M University was designed to provide greater reliability for utility customers, but its biggest selling point could be its use in preventing disasters.
Product Development
Technology Could Help Prevent Wildfires
The tool was originally developed to detect power line problems before blackouts and bigger disasters.
December 2, 2019
Carlos Lama of Bayside Cafe, which was among businesses to lose power due to PG&E's public safety power shutoff, uses an LED lamp and light from his phone at the counter of the restaurant in Sausalito, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. More than a million people in California were without electricity Wednesday as the state's largest utility pulled the plug to prevent a repeat of the past two years when windblown power lines sparked deadly wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes.
Safety
Millions Waiting for Electricity
PG&E has warned that they might have to do without power for days after the winds subside because "every inch" of the power system must be inspected.
October 10, 2019
In this May 8, 2009 file photo, Liu Zhongtian, the Chinese billionaire chairman of the China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, celebrates at the company's listing ceremony in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Liu has been charged in Los Angeles in a complex scheme to avoid $1.8 billion in aluminum tariffs, U.S. prosecutors said, Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Liu and the aluminum company he previously headed, were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.
Supply Chain
Billionaire Indicted in Import Scheme
It was a complex scheme to avoid $1.8 billion in tariffs.
August 1, 2019