GV Wire

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A bill to allow insurance companies to monitor California drivers’ behavior in exchange for potential discounts on their premiums would change the state’s longstanding insurance law, drawing opposition from the Insurance Department as well as consumer and privacy advocates.

A Utah judge on Wednesday barred parts of a recorded interview with the roommate of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer from being played in court after a defense lawyer said prosecutors would portray the clips as “confessions” and jeopardize the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

Fresno police are asking for the public’s help locating a 32-year-old Fremont man who was last seen Monday morning in the city. Alexandro B. Villalobos was last seen at about 7:35 a.m. near Fresno and M streets, according to the Fresno Police Department. Police said Villalobos is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs about 208 pounds, and has short black hair and a beard. He was last seen wearing a light blue shirt. Villalobos is from Fremont and is unfamiliar with the city of Fresno, police said.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an immediate halt to all trade with NATO ally Spain, escalating tensions over defense spending and the Iran war, despite European Union rules requiring trade negotiations to be conducted as a single bloc.

If the numbers hold true, the effort to put a transportation tax on the Fresno County November ballot will reach the necessary threshold of signatures Wednesday, says the county’s elections overseer. However, that may not be the last hurdle for the Better Roads Safe Streets initiative as Fresno County Supervisors — who still need to authorize the petition — can request further studies, potentially pushing the approval vote past the final Aug. 7 deadline.

Justin Bieber and Burna Boy will perform at the inaugural halftime show for the World Cup final on July 19, FIFA and the show’s producer, Global Citizen, announced on Wednesday, joining an already crowded and eclectic lineup that includes Shakira, Madonna and BTS. FIFA, the global governing body of soccer that every four years hosts the World Cup, hopes that by introducing a halftime musical performance at this year’s final it can replicate the broad cultural success of the Super Bowl.

A former Mt. Whitney High School campus employee in Visalia was sentenced Wednesday to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges involving two teenage students. The Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, sentenced Dejaun Jones, 40, for lewd acts involving two 15-year-old girls. According to prosecutors, the crimes occurred between September 2022 and April 2023 at Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia, where Jones worked as a campus employee.

Paramount has said it will not close its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros before July 22, the Oregon attorney general’s office said, pushing out the timeline for the deal’s closure by an additional week. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s office is asking a court in Multnomah County on Wednesday to order the company to hand over records ​and delay the deal by 60 days so the state can review them.

he Kerman Police Department responded to 17 contacts related to illegal fireworks over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, with 15 occurring on Saturday, according to the department. Police said the contacts resulted in two citations for illegal fireworks violations. Officers also made one arrest on charges related to driving under the influence and firearms.

California is ordering thousands of driver’s license holders to retake tests demonstrating knowledge of the rules of the road after irregularities were discovered on the results of those exams, state officials said. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles did not elaborate on the nature of the discrepancies, which it said affected about 11,000 Californians. More than 35 million people have driver’s licenses or identification cards issued by the state.