Former executives and directors of Pacific Gas & Electric have agreed to pay $117 million to settle a lawsuit over devastating 2017 and 2018 California wildfires sparked by the utility’s equipment, it was announced Thursday.

The 2nd Appellate District in Montes v. Young Men’s Christian Assn. of Glendale, California (2022 Cal.App.LEXIS 677) recently reaffirmed the application of the ‘open and obvious’ defense to premises liability claims, especially as they related to trial following an unsuccessful motion for summary judgment raising the defense.

Rescuers searched for a person missing in a mudslide Tuesday as big yellow tractors plowed through dark, thick sludge and pushed boulders off roads after flash floods swept dirt, rocks and trees down fire-scarred slopes, washed away cars and buried buildings in small mountain communities in Southern California.

Dozens of buildings burned and a major interstate was closed as gusty winds fanned a large wildfire in California’s Sierra Nevada and ignited another blaze nearby, authorities said Tuesday. The Mosquito Fire tore through 51 buildings, destroying 46 of them, in the small community of Michigan Bluff, west of South Lake Tahoe, Placer County Sheriff’s Lt. Josh Barnhart said in a statement.

Firefighters continue to battle the Mountain Fire and the deadly Mill Fire burning in Northern California, which grew minimally Monday night following explosive starts Friday in Siskiyou County. The Mill Fire has killed at least two residents, women ages 66 and 73, and has destroyed at least 91 buildings after igniting near the city of Weed on Friday afternoon and burning north into the community of Lake Shastina.

The Washington Supreme Court became the fifth state supreme court to rule in insurers’ favor Thursday in COVID-related business interruption litigation when it unanimously ruled against a dental practice.

Last month, thieves stole millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry from a Brink’s tractor-trailer in a late-night heist, and according to a new lawsuit filed by the security company, one of the drivers was asleep inside the vehicle during the robbery.

Residents in the McKinney fire burn area sued PacifiCorp this week, alleging that sparks from the utility’s high-voltage transmission lines and other equipment ignited the deadly blaze last month near the California-Oregon border.

It’s common knowledge that texting while driving is illegal in most places. But what about tapping the screen of your cellphone to accept a faster route suggested by Google Maps? What if your phone is mounted on the dashboard? What if you’re stopped at a red light?

A week ago, the scenic Northern California hamlet of Klamath River was home to about 200 people and had a community center, post office and a corner grocery store. Now, after a wildfire raged through the forested region near the Oregon state line, four people are dead and the store is among the few buildings not reduced to ashes.

GEICO has closed all of its 38 California agent offices that sell auto and homeowners policies and other lines and has also ended the practice of selling insurance through telephone agents in the state.

A wildfire in Northern California that exploded in size over the weekend has killed at least two people, forced thousands to evacuate and grown into the state’s largest wildfire this year, with lightning Monday threatening its further expansion.

On July 19, 2022, the California Court of Appeal offered some clarification on an employer’s duty to provide seating under Wage Order 7 in Meda v. Autozone, Inc. (2022 Cal.App.LEXIS 629, 2022 WL 2813819).

Tesla has expanded its insurance program to Utah and Maryland, taking the total number of states where it is available to 11. Tesla initially launched its insurance program in California in 2019, claiming that it is up to 30 percent cheaper than competing providers.

As damage assessment teams continue their work in the Oak Fire burn scare, the number of houses destroyed is going up.