News of the World

[kyonides]

DEA’s most corrupt agent: Parties, sex amid ‘unwinnable war’

José Irizarry accepts that he’s known as the most corrupt agent in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration history, admitting he “became another man” in conspiring with Colombian cartels to build a lavish lifestyle of expensive sports cars, Tiffany jewels and paramours around the world.

But as he used his final hours of freedom to tell his story to The Associated Press, Irizarry says he won’t go down for this alone, accusing some long-trusted DEA colleagues of joining him in skimming millions of dollars from drug money laundering stings to fund a decade’s worth of luxury overseas travel, fine dining, top seats at sporting events and frat house-style debauchery.

The way Irizarry tells it, dozens of other federal agents, prosecutors, informants and in some cases cartel smugglers themselves were all in on the three-continent joyride known as “Team America” that chose cities for money laundering pick-ups mostly for party purposes or to coincide with Real Madrid soccer or Rafael Nadal tennis matches. That included stops along the way in VIP rooms of Caribbean strip joints, Amsterdam’s red-light district and aboard a Colombian yacht that launched with plenty of booze and more than a dozen prostitutes.
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Irizarry’s story, which some former colleagues have attacked as a fictionalized attempt to reduce his sentence, came in days of contrite, bitter, sometimes tearful interviews with the AP in the historic quarter of his native San Juan. It was much the same account he gave the FBI in lengthy debriefings and sealed court papers obtained by the AP after he pleaded guilty in 2020 to 19 corruption counts, including money laundering and bank fraud.

CVS Health reaches agreement in principle for global opioid settlement

CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) announced today that it has agreed in principle to a financial resolution designed to substantially resolve all opioid lawsuits and claims against the company by states, political subdivisions, such as counties and cities, and tribes in the United States.

If all conditions are satisfied and the non-monetary terms – which still need to be determined – are finalized, CVS Health has agreed it will pay approximately $5 billion ($4.9 billion to states and political subdivisions and approximately $130 million to tribes) over the next ten years beginning in 2023, depending on the number of governmental entities that agree to join the settlement.

The agreement would fully resolve claims dating back a decade or more and is not an admission of any liability or wrongdoing. CVS Health will continue to defend against any litigation that the final agreement does not resolve.
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The timing of cash settlement payments, spread over multiple years, allows the company to continue to invest in its strategic priorities.

 Is that supposed to be legal at all? I mean, nobody would go to jail nor will the company get heavily impacted by the down payments.

Biden Allocates $1.1 Billion to Keep California’s Nuclear Power Plant Operating

California’s last operating nuclear power plant was given another funding boost Nov. 21 as operators seek to keep it running for another eight years.

The U.S. Energy Department awarded Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant $1.1 billion from the Civil Nuclear Credit Program funded by an infrastructure bill passed by Congress in 2021.
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Nuclear power provides half of the nation’s carbon-free electricity, according to the agency. Since 2013, 13 reactors across the United States have shuttered.

Final terms of the funding will need to be finalized by the Energy Department, officials said. The plant produces about 15 percent of California’s renewable energy.

It produced about 9 percent of the state’s energy last year, according to the state’s energy commission.

Politicians applauded the funding that will help extend the life of the once-doomed power plant located in central California near San Luis Obispo.
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Newsom signed legislation Sept. 1 to reverse plans to terminate the plant, which was scheduled to close in 2025.

That's way too much for just 8 years of service or a little more.

California’s Education Funding to Drop by $2.2 Billion

LAO’s annual budget prediction, released earlier this month, anticipates the 2-percent decrease in education funding from the current year’s $128 billion “based upon recent signs of weakness in the economy.”

The predictions are a minimum guarantee, calculated by the state each year for public education funds based upon a set of formulas established in 1988 under Proposition 98.

These predictions typically provide the basis for the state’s budget planning, which is formally adopted by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the summer.

Meanwhile, California projects an overall state budget shortfall of $25 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. About 40 percent of the state’s general fund is usually allocated to public schools and community colleges.

Though funding is expected to drop, LAO forecasts a recovery in the 2023–24 school year if the state dips into its education reserve, making up for the shortfall and covering a projected 8.7 percent increase in inflation.

This means schools and community colleges will have enough money to sustain themselves through cost increases, but no funds for new programs.