When you check into a hotel and provide a photo ID, your expectation is that the hotel will be holding this info for its records in case you mess up the room or try to skip out on your bill. What you don’t expect is that the hotel management is taking its daily guest logs and turning them over to federal immigration officials. [More]
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Motel 6 Admits Some Locations Were Sharing Lists Of Guests With Immigration Officers On Daily Basis
By 9.15.17
Arizona Planning Lawsuit Against Former Blood-Testing Company Theranos
By 1.12.17
The vision of blood-testing company Theranos would have been great for patients, doctors, and even drugstores: mini-labs right inside stores, with a whole suite of blood tests available in a small machine and results available from a few drops of blood. Only the company’s tests proved inaccurate, and Arizona, the state where its labs set up shop, is planning to sue the company. [More]
Uber Packs Up Its Self-Driving Cars And Takes Them To Play In Arizona
By 12.22.16
Not even 24 hours after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registrations of 16 self-driving Uber cars that had been operating in San Francisco, the ridesharing company has announced it’s found a new sandbox where it can play with its toys. [More]
Walmart Employee Arrested For Attempts At Killing Coworkers, Setting Store On Fire
By 12.5.16
Authorities don’t know exactly what led a 24-year-old Walmart employee of an Arizona Walmart store to turn on her coworkers, but say that she had a series of potentially deadly plans for them that fell through. What began as a dispute inside the store could have turned tragic when she returned with a rifle, ammunition, a knife, and a torch. [More]
One State & One City Voted To Eventually Do Away With Sub-Minimum Wages For Tipped Workers
By 11.9.16
If you’ve never worked in the foodservice or hospitality industry, you may not know that employees who rely on tips often earn base pay that is significantly less than minimum wage (the federal minimum is currently $2.13/hour). Tips can certainly add up to much more than the minimum wage, but they can also be cyclical and unpredictable, which is problematic for people living paycheck to paycheck. Yesterday, voters in one state and one city decided it was time to phase in wage increases that will eventually get tipped workers earning base pay that is at least the minimum. [More]
Today In Hacks: Opera Sync, Voter Databases
By 8.29.16
If it’s a day that ends in Y, someone who shouldn’t have access to a system is trying to get access to that system. Unfortunately, today there’s news in the air of two big successes for the bad guys. One has hit 1.7 million web browser users; the other, at least 200,000 registered voters. [More]
GM Testing Self-Driving Chevy Bolts In Arizona
By 8.9.16
It’s only been five months since General Motors announced it would acquire self-driving car startup Cruise Automation, but the new partnership is already working to expand its tests of autonomous Chevy Bolts from San Francisco to Arizona. [More]
Walmart Shoplifter Uses Scooter To Fight Off Employee, Make Getaway
By 7.26.16
Those electric scooters at Walmart aren’t just for shopping. They can also apparently be used to shoplift, shake off store employees, and make a clean, if slow, getaway.
[More]
Scammy Used Car Dealer Also Employed By IRS
By 12.16.15
The owner of a former used car dealership in Arizona that admitted to defrauding dozens of customers just so happens to also be a long-time employee of the federal government, helping consumers with financial issues through an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. [More]
Man Uses LifeLock To Track Ex-Wife; Company Didn’t Care
By 11.23.15
Imagine you found out that your former spouse had opened a fake LifeLock credit monitoring account in your name, and then used it to follow your every financial move for two years? Then imagine that no one at LifeLock will take your query seriously, even after the police get involved. [More]
Burger King “Franchisee Of The Year” Cashes In Prize Corvette To Pay Bonuses To Workers
By 2.20.15
When the Arizona-based owners of two dozen Burger Kings was given the “Franchisee of the Year” award from the folks at BK HQ for his restaurants’ high marks on service and cleanliness, they could have just kept the new Corvette and Rolex watch they received for the honor. Instead, the owners turned those prizes into cash that they then paid out to more than 100 employees. [More]
Arizona Sues GM For $3B, Claiming Auto Maker Defrauded Consumers
By 11.20.14
So far this year General Motors has been party to a slew of lawsuits related to its massive ignition switch recall involving millions of vehicles with the potentially deadly defect. The latest case against GM was filed Wednesday by the State of Arizona, which alleges that the carmaker defrauded consumers out of an estimated $3 billion by knowingly selling defective vehicles. [More]
Wells Fargo Refusing To Honor Widow’s 30-Year-Old CD
By 11.19.14
In 1984, an Arizona man invested more than $18,000 in a Certificate of Deposit at First Interstate Bank, and then placed that CD away in his family’s personal records where it sat for 25 years. Then in 2009, after he passed away, his widow discovered the CD and attempted to cash it out, only to be denied by First Interstate’s new owner, Wells Fargo. [More]
Woman Attacked For Keeping Taco Bell Customer From Getting Breakfast
By 9.15.14
If you show up at a Taco Bell with only a few minutes to go before the deadline for placing breakfast orders, don’t get mad if a delay in front of you prevents you from getting the food you crave. And, more importantly, don’t pursue and then assault the customer you blame for preventing you from ordering breakfast. [More]
Why Would Arizona Allow Direct Tesla Car Sales? To Get A Tesla Factory In The State, Of Course
By 3.24.14
While other states like New Jersey are moving to ban direct sales of Tesla cars, Arizona is mulling over the idea of allowing the automaker to cut out the middleman. So what’s different in Arizona? [More]
Apple Asks Arizona Governor To Veto Bill That Would Let Businesses Refuse Service To Gay Customers
By 2.25.14
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has a few days to decide whether to veto or approve SB 1062, a piece of legislation that would allow businesses in the state to refuse service to a customer based on religious grounds. Following pleas from big players in the travel industry, Apple is the latest to ask the governor to put an end to the legislation. [More]
Arby’s Restaurant Processes Six Months Worth Of Purchases In Single Night
By 1.29.14
You know how sometimes you’ll make a debit or credit card purchase and it doesn’t show up on your statement right away? Some businesses process their transactions in batches, so it’s just a matter of time until it pops up. But what about when there is a six-month delay on those transactions being processed? [More]
Arizona Price-Matcher Was Banned From Walmart For Allegedly Threatening To Beat Up Employees
By 12.13.13
You might remember the national story from earlier this week about a man who went to the media with his tale of woe about how he was banned from Walmart for life just for bringing other retailers’ ads to price match. We thought there might be more to the story, and there was. Gosh, there was. [More]
