In Other News: Tuna companies struggle to reach millennials; feds discover largest oil, natural gas reserve in history

Published 4:48 pm Friday, December 7, 2018

Editor’s note: “In Other News” is a list of state, national and global headlines compiled by the Daily Citizen-News staff. For links to these stories, visit dailycitizen.news. To suggest a story, email the appropriate link to inothernews@dailycitizen.news. The deadline is 3 p.m.

Trio allegedly made millions committing recycling fraud in California

An Arizona-based trucking company is accused of smuggling an estimated $16.1 million worth of recyclable beverage containers into the Golden State, according to the California Attorney General’s Office. Miguel Bustillos, owner of Bustillos’ Trucking, truck driver Anthony Sanchez and “suspected broker” Amaury Avila-Medina have been charged with felony recycling fraud, conspiracy and grand theft. California’s beverage container recycling program, which is overseen by CalRecycle, is financed by the California Refund Value program, which levies a surcharge on beverage containers when purchased from a retailer. — Merced Sun-Star

Census confirms: 63 percent of ‘non-citizen’ households on welfare

A majority of households headed by non-citizens are tapping into welfare programs set up to help poor and ailing Americans. An analysis of Census Bureau data found 63 percent of households headed by non-citizens are using at least one welfare program, and it grows to 70 percent for those here 10 years or more. Just 35 percent of households headed by citizens utilize one of these government assistance programs. — Washington Examiner

Tuna companies struggle to reach millennials

Per capita consumption of canned tuna has dropped 42 percent in the past three decades, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In a country focused on convenience, canned tuna isn’t cutting it with consumers, especially millennials. Many can’t be bothered to open and drain the cans, or fetch utensils and dishes to eat the tuna. “A lot of millennials don’t even own can openers,” said Andy Mecs, vice president of marketing and innovation for StarKist. — The Wall Street Journal

Feds discover largest oil, natural gas reserve in history

The Permian Basin’s Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations in West Texas and New Mexico hold the most potential oil and gas resources ever assessed, the U.S. Interior Department said. They have an estimated 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s new assessment. The basin is actually an older reserve, but officials say hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has expanded the amount of recoverable natural gas and oil tremendously. The U.S. is producing record volumes of oil and gas, and nearly one-third of the nation’s total crude oil volumes are coming from the Permian. — Houston Chronicle