All posts tagged: contractor

Key Bridge Nightmare: Contractor Dropped After Costs Spiral

Key Bridge Nightmare: Contractor Dropped After Costs Spiral

Published by Jenni Sidey

Left-wing Gov. Wes Moore’s claim that the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild is the “fastest-moving large infrastructure project in the United States” just hit a major roadblock. Fox Baltimore’s Gary Collins reports that Maryland officials canceled Kiewit Infrastructure Co.’s contract for Phase 2 of the bridge rebuild, the construction phase, after the contractor’s proposal reportedly far exceeded state estimates. BREAKING NEWS: The contract for Phase 2 for the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild has been officially cancelled. The contract is expected to go up for rebid beginning in May. https://t.co/WdquWgcvg8 — Gary M. Collins (@realgarycollins) April 28, 2026 This massive setback raises new questions about whether Moore’s administration can actually control costs, properly manage the rebuild, and deliver the “fastest-moving large infrastructure project in the U.S.,” given ballooning expenses. Collins quoted U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who explained the decision to remove Kiewit after its Phase 2 proposal “far exceeded” state estimates. Those estimates have surged from roughly $1.8 billion to more than $5.2 billion. Phase 2 of the rebuild would have included final design …

Former Meta Contractor Sama to Lay off More Than 1,000 Workers in Kenya

Former Meta Contractor Sama to Lay off More Than 1,000 Workers in Kenya

Published by Sam Flores

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A company that was sued by Facebook content moderators in Kenya over poor working conditions said Thursday that more than 1,000 workers will be laid off after Meta, Facebook’s parent company, ended its contract. Meta and its local contractor Sama have been in court since 2022 after former content moderators accused them of paying low wages and not offering sufficient mental health support. Sama has since changed its business model and stopped offering content moderation services to Meta, but has remained focused on services such as AI data labeling for the tech giant. Sama said in a statement Thursday that it received formal notice from Meta to end a “major engagement at its Nairobi office.” Sama said it has issued a formal layoff notice that would affect 1,108 staffers, adding that it was “actively supporting affected employees with care and respect.” In 2023 some 200 former content moderators sued Sama over the exploitation of workers by offering low pay, little mental health support for the grueling work they do, and long …

NBCUniversal and Contractor Rehire Union Janitors, Averting Protest

NBCUniversal and Contractor Rehire Union Janitors, Averting Protest

Published by Daniella Wilson

The drums were ready. So were the signs, the horns, the purple shirts and the protestors. Enough to fill three school buses, which before the protest at noon dropped off picketers who joined many more arriving on their own. But on Thursday, NBCUniversal and its subcontractor ABM Industries averted a major protest from janitors by rehiring more than 100 that their union claimed had been unjustly laid off at the beginning of the week. And so a demonstration staged by Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW) at Studio City’s South Weddington Park that originally was intended to shame the major entertainment company became instead a celebration of the deal. Negotiations between NBCU, ABM and the union continued nearly right up until the protest’s noon start time. After pumping the crowd up in the park, with 10 Universal City Plaza looming in the backdrop, union president David Huerta delivered the news to his members in Spanish that the parties had agreed that janitors could be rehired and would receive backpay. “They knew the workers …

Kanye West ordered to pay former contractor 0,000 for mansion work

Kanye West ordered to pay former contractor $140,000 for mansion work

Published by Sam Flores

A jury found Ye, the controversial music impresario formerly known as Kanye West, liable in the legal dispute brought by his former contractor and ordered him to pay $140,000. Tony Saxon, who also worked as Ye’s security guard and caretaker at the Malibu property, sued the rapper in Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2023, claiming a slate of labor violations, nonpayment of services and disability discrimination. The $140,000 judgment announced Wednesday is far less than the $1.7 million in damages that Saxon’s lawyers had originally requested. Ye will also have to pay for Saxon’s legal fees, which is expected to put the total sum that West will have to pay at more than $1 million. Although Saxon’s attorneys at the Los Angeles-based firm West Coast Trial Lawyers called the verdict a “mixed” one, they characterized it as as a “vindication for our client.” “Ye’s lawyers called him a liar, a fraud, and a malingerer in court. His medical records, bank records, and personal family history were dissected, mocked, and vilified,” said attorney Ronald Zambrano …

An iPhone-hacking toolkit used by Russian spies likely came from U.S military contractor

An iPhone-hacking toolkit used by Russian spies likely came from U.S military contractor

Published by skeptic

A mass hacking campaign targeting iPhone users in Ukraine and China used tools that were likely designed by U.S. military contractor L3Harris, TechCrunch has learned. The tools, which were intended for Western spies, wound up in the hands of various hacking groups, including Russian government spooks and Chinese cybercriminals. Last week, Google revealed that over the course of 2025 it discovered that a sophisticated iPhone-hacking toolkit had been used in a series of global attacks. The toolkit, dubbed “Coruna” by its original developer, was made of 23 different components first used “in highly targeted operations” by an unnamed government customer of an unspecified “surveillance vendor.” It was then used by Russian government spies against a limited number of Ukrainians and finally by Chinese cybercriminals “in broad-scale” campaigns with the goal of stealing money and cryptocurrency.  Researchers at mobile cybersecurity company iVerify, which independently analyzed Coruna, said they believed it may have been originally built by a company that sold it to the U.S. government. Two former employees of government contractor L3Harris told TechCrunch that Coruna …

Contractor indicted in leak case tied to search of Washington Post reporter’s home

Contractor indicted in leak case tied to search of Washington Post reporter’s home

Published by Sam Flores

A government contractor who allegedly leaked classified information in a case linked to the search of a Washington Post journalist’s home was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday.  Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones is charged with five counts of unlawfully transmitting and one count of unlawfully retaining classified national defense information, according to the Department of… Source link

New Hampshire contractor sentenced to up to 30 years for theft to support gambling activity

New Hampshire contractor sentenced to up to 30 years for theft to support gambling activity

Published by skeptic

A New Hampshire contractor, 54-year-old Gerald Thibault, has been sentenced to up to 30 years for theft of funds to use in gambling activity. Thibault was sentenced on January 20 by the Rockingham County Superior Court to between 10 and 30 years in the New Hampshire State Prison, after pleading guilty to 23 counts of Class A Felony Theft by Unauthorized Taking. The thefts took place across Rockingham and Strafford County, with Thibault using his position as the owner of Thibault’s Handyman & Renovation Service, LLC and TR-Roofing LLC to take advance payments for work he never completed. An investigation found that Thibault stole over $1.5 million from 23 victims in advance payments for his renovation businesses, only to never go on to fulfil the work contracts he agreed to. Thibault went on to use the money taken from would-be customers to gamble, often shortly after receiving them. He also solicited such payments while actively gambling. On eleven of the theft charges, Thibault was sentenced to between 7.5 and 15 years, with 2.5 years suspended …

Ankeny contractor sentenced to prison after gambling away customers’ money

Ankeny contractor sentenced to prison after gambling away customers’ money

Published by skeptic

An Ankeny contractor who admitted to blowing customer money on “gambling” and “irresponsible spending” was sentenced on December 18, 2025, to three years in federal prison. According to court records, he was punished for lying during bankruptcy proceedings. Louis Grant Peterson, who also went by “Chip Peterson,” is 61 and formerly owned Legacy Siding and Windows, an exterior construction company based in Ankeny. Prosecutors say Peterson collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits from customers for home improvement projects he never finished. He later told the FBI that he spent much of that money on gambling and other personal expenses. Ankeny Man Sentenced to Three Years’ Imprisonment for Bankruptcy Fraud https://t.co/ddb1hfUE7S — US Attorney Office – Southern District of Iowa (@USAO_SDIA) December 23, 2025 Court records also show this wasn’t the first time Peterson had run into trouble. In 2024, he was convicted of theft in Woodbury County after taking more than $50,000 upfront for construction work that was never done. Unfavorable reviews show pattern of behavior According to a Yelp review, one user …