Latest news with #CPRA
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vereigen Media Leads the Charge in Privacy-First B2B Marketing, Ensuring Compliance and Quality in Every Lead
Powering Compliant B2B Demand Gen with First-Party Data and Verified Engagement AUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As B2B marketers navigate an evolving digital landscape marked by increasing privacy regulations and shifts in data strategy, Vereigen Media is setting a new industry benchmark. While third-party cookies remain part of the ecosystem for now, the growing emphasis on data privacy and compliance is pushing marketers to future-proof their strategies. Vereigen Media leads this shift with a foundation built on first-party data, verified content engagement, and a zero-outsourcing model. This privacy-first approach ensures reliable demand generation that delivers real results without compromising compliance. According to Gartner's 2024 report on data privacy trends, over 60% of marketing leaders now rank compliance as a top priority for 2025. Growing regulatory pressure from laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act in India, and the expanded California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) in the U.S. has forced a reckoning in how companies collect and validate prospect data. In this environment, transparency, ethical data practices, and data quality are not just advantages, they are how verified, privacy-first leads drive real results!Connect with Vereigen Media today! 'Today's marketing leaders are no longer chasing volume, they're chasing clarity, trust, and control,' said Anuj Pakhare, CEO of Vereigen Media. 'Our clients come to us because we don't just deliver leads, we deliver certainty. Every engagement is verified, every contact is validated, and every data point is compliant with modern regulations.' Vereigen Media operates exclusively through first-party data collected across its owned and operated publisher ecosystem. This model gives clients full visibility into how leads are generated and ensures that every prospect provides explicit opt-in consent before accessing client content. Unlike vendors who rely on third-party sources or aggregators, Vereigen's leads are sourced and validated entirely in-house. A cornerstone of this approach is Verified Content Engagement, a process in which every prospect must actively engage with content before qualifying as a lead. This goes beyond a basic form fill; the user must spend measurable time with the content. If they don't meet a minimum engagement threshold, the lead is not passed along. This mechanism ensures that only genuinely interested prospects make it into the pipeline. Beyond digital engagement, every lead is further scrutinized through human verification by Vereigen Media's 200+ member validation team. Each record is manually cross-checked against public sources to confirm accuracy, eligibility, and alignment with the client's targeting criteria. This double-layered approach, first-party engagement followed by human validation, ensures not only compliance but also lead quality. 'The brands we work with want to move fast, but they cannot afford to move blind,' said Kari Martindale, Executive Director of Client Experience at Vereigen Media. 'They rely on us because we act as an extension of their internal teams. We're not just generating leads, we're protecting their brand, reputation, and ROI.' That trust is supported by performance. Recent client programs have demonstrated: More than 90% of leads converting to MQLs Fewer than 1% of records requiring replacement A return on ad spend (ROAS) 1.5x above industry benchmarks Forrester's 2025 B2B Data Report echoes this effectiveness, noting that 78% of organizations relying primarily on first-party data report stronger conversion rates and customer relationships compared to just 49% among third-party data users. With a global database of over 107 million validated first-party contacts, Vereigen Media supports enterprise clients across North America, EMEA, APAC, and Latin America. Industries served include cybersecurity, SaaS, finance, and other sectors where data sensitivity and decision complexity demand accuracy and accountability. As the demand generation landscape evolves, Vereigen Media is focused not just on adapting to change but leading it. Discover how verified, privacy-first leads drive real results!Connect with Vereigen Media today! About Vereigen Media Vereigen Media is a global leader in B2B demand generation, delivering outcome-driven programs through verified content engagement, programmatic advertising, and event registration. With an unwavering commitment to first-party data, zero outsourcing, and full transparency, Vereigen Media empowers marketing and sales teams to connect with real decision-makers—compliantly and confidently. Contact:Janvi Gandhi - Brand Marketing ManagerVereigen Media LLCEmail: marketing@ +1 512-240-2212 (US)Official Website: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$2 billion approved for Louisiana coastal projects, despite a paused major project
An aerial photo of Wax Lake Delta, one of the few areas of Louisiana's coast that is building land. Data from Wax Lake informed coastal restoration plans like the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator) The Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority voted Wednesday to fully fund its nearly $2 billion spending plan for next fiscal year, despite more than a quarter of that money being tied up in a project that might never happen. Gov. Jeff Landry ordered a 90-day pause last week on the nearly $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project, which would direct water and land-building alluvium from the Mississippi River into Barataria Bay. The governor has urged a decrease in the size and scope of the plan because of its expense and potential to adversely affect oyster beds and coastal fisheries The 2025-26 fiscal year budget the CPRA approved includes $573 million for the massive sediment diversion. The spending plan goes next to the legislature for final consideration. The majority of funding for the Mid-Barataria project comes from the nearly $8 billion in settlement money awarded to the state after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The money is held in a trust overseen by the U.S. Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Those trustees sent a letter to CPRA executive director Glenn Ledet Jr. in November indicating the $2.26 billion already awarded for the Mid-Barataria diversion would be clawed back should the project stop. That means the state would have to 'return those funds for future restoration activities.' The CPRA testified in an Oct. 2024 state senate hearing to already spending around $519 million on the Mid-Barataria plan pre-construction costs and mitigation measures for communities and wildlife that stand to be impacted. Around $394 million of the money already spent went toward construction costs. The diversion project has led to lawsuits and political disputes. A group of environmentalists and Plaquemines Parish business owners has challenged the project in court, arguing federal agencies issued permits without taking into account its impact on aquatic species and fisheries. Plaquemines officials have sued separately, arguing the diversion project will increase flood risks in the parish. CPRA Chairman Gordy Dove argued at Wednesday's meeting that approving next year's budget, despite the diversion project's uncertainty, was essential to support other developments the authority has in the works. Dove, a former Terrebonne Parish president who Landry appointed in 2024 to lead the authority, has openly balked at the price tag for the major diversion. 'This isn't the first time a project has been held up,' Dove said, adding that money could be reallocated from Mid-Barataria to the 149 other projects the CPRA has proposed. They include the Barataria Land Bridge, a structure made with sand dredged from the Mississippi River. Proponents say it's a less intrusive alternative to the river diversion, while its detractors insist the benefits will be at a far smaller scale and not as long-lasting. Other projects in the budget include flood risk management efforts in St. Tammany Parish, barrier Island restoration in Grand Isle and marsh creation projects in Bayou Cane and Lake Borgne. Dwayne Bourgeois, the CPRA member representing Terrebonne Parish, questioned whether it was appropriate to approve a budget with such a large portion of its spending in limbo. 'We're voting on something that has a big gap in it, that's undetermined. But I think at this point it's unavoidable,' Bourgeois said, noting the need to provide money for other CPRA work. 'We've got a pipeline running right now of all of these projects … I feel like I've got a gun to my head,' he added. While funding for Mid-Barataria remains in the plan, Dove reiterated there has been 'no decision made' on whether the project will get final approval. Advocacy groups showed up for the CPRA meeting at the State Capitol to support the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which is considered the cornerstone project of Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan. 'The state needs this project,' said Amanda Moore, senior director of the National Wildlife Federation's Gulf program. She said the project is 'science-based' and 'wildly popular' among Louisiana residents. Survey results from the advocacy group Restore the Mississippi River Delta released earlier this week show 83% of respondents approve of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion moving forward. Support for the project was bipartisan among the 800 registered Louisiana voters who responded to the surveys.
Los Angeles Times
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
How much did Bass and her acting mayor communicate while she was in Ghana?
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It's Julia Wick and David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government. As virtually every Angeleno now knows, Mayor Karen Bass was on a diplomatic trip to Ghana when the Palisades fire exploded. What remains hazier is how the mayor interacted with the person assigned to lead in her absence — City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who was the acting mayor during her trip, including the day the fire broke out. Following a protracted back and forth last month, The Times obtained some of Bass' text messages from the nearly 24 hours she spent in transit from Ghana to Los Angeles on Jan. 7 and 8. After initially saying the mayor's texts had been deleted, her staffers revealed they were able to recover them, providing about 125 messages, while also noting that an unspecified number of additional messages were 'redacted and/or withheld' based on exemptions to the California Public Records Act. The cache of messages was revealing. But one name was notably absent: Harris-Dawson. (The Times sued the city last month over the mayor's texts. Even though city officials ultimately provided some texts, The Times is contesting the city's argument that releasing them was not required under state law.) Back on March 10, while we were still waiting to see if Bass would provide any of her texts, we filed a separate public records request with Harris-Dawson's office, seeking all of his communications with Bass (via email and text message, as well as messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp) sent or received between Jan. 6 and Jan. 16. Three weeks later, Harris-Dawson's office said it had 'conducted a search and found no responsive records for this request.' It didn't seem possible that there weren't any messages between the two of them. Was the council president's office saying that he and the mayor did not communicate at all in writing during this period? Not even on Jan. 6, when the National Weather Service put out a warning that sounded downright apocalyptic? Or on Jan. 7 and 8, with Bass in transit during one of the worst catastrophes in city history? We asked Harris-Dawson's deputy chief of staff, Denise Jackson, on April 1 if the city was withholding any records. She did not respond. We followed up the next day with similar questions, asking if records had been deleted. And the next day. Still nothing. On April 4, Jackson responded, saying that if records had been withheld, her office would have specifically stated that. In this case, there were no records, she said. We asked again (and again) if emails or texts had been deleted. She did not respond. This week, we looped in Harris-Dawson's communications director Rhonda Mitchell, saying we were planning to write about the matter. Mitchell did not answer questions about whether Harris-Dawson had deleted messages or emails. 'I can only go by what the CPRA returned and the CPRA returned that there were no records found,' Mitchell said Friday, using an abbreviation to refer to a request made under the California Public Records Act. Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said Friday that 'the Mayor and the Council President communicated by phone multiple times during this period.' He declined to say whether any messages with Harris-Dawson were among those previously withheld by his office in response to our request for Bass' texts. He also did not address whether Harris-Dawson and Bass had emailed during this period. Which all brings us back to our original question: How was the mayor interacting with Harris-Dawson as he led the city in her stead? Yes, they spoke on the phone, but the seeming lack of written communication raises serious questions. If such messages exist, they're an important part of the historical record and a crucial piece of the puzzle in understanding Bass' response to the fire. If they exist, Harris-Dawson's office can't legally withhold them without providing a reason. If they were deleted, the public should be told that — along with why. And if Bass and Harris-Dawson really didn't communicate in writing, they should address why that was. The Times did obtain some emails between Harris-Dawson's team and the mayor's office. Last month, in response to a separate records request, Harris-Dawson released a collection of emails sent between Jan. 2 and Jan. 7 to and from his office regarding wildfire conditions, high winds, emergency preparations and the National Weather Service. Harris-Dawson was acting mayor on four of those days. The most significant communication from Bass' team was a Jan. 7 email from Thomas Arechiga, the mayor's deputy director of legislative affairs, asking Harris-Dawson to sign a declaration of local emergency. 'Note, there are no changes to the Mayor's planned return tomorrow morning,' Arechiga wrote. Harris-Dawson's office sent the signed document back to Arechiga about 10 minutes later. — SOBOROFF SIDELINED: In a sprawling exit interview, outgoing Chief Recovery Officer Steve Soboroff said he was shut out by the mayor's office, noting: 'They haven't asked me to do anything in a month and a half, nothing, zero.' He also raised concerns about the role of Hagerty, the city's recovery consultant. Soboroff and real estate executive Randy Johnson went into greater detail about their work in a six-page 'Report of the Chief Recovery Officer,' which was delivered to Bass this week. — NEW LEADERSHIP: Bass named a new deputy mayor for public safety Monday, installing former FBI official Robert Clark as her top aide overseeing police, fire and emergency preparedness. Clark's predecessor, Brian K. Williams, was put on administrative leave last year after being accused of making a bomb threat against City Hall. Williams is still on the city payroll but 'is retiring,' said Seidl, the Bass spokesperson. Seidl did not respond when asked how long Williams would remain on the payroll. Williams makes about $245,000 a year and has been paid nearly $75,000 since being placed on administrative leave, according to the City Controller's office. Clark will make a similar salary. — WHO'S RUNNING? With Bass looking increasingly vulnerable, chatter about who will run against her has reached a fever pitch. But it's unclear whether anyone will mount a serious challenge to an incumbent who still wields considerable clout. We surveyed the field. — SECURING HER BASE: But Bass is very much on the campaign trail. This week, she dropped by an Los Angeles County Democratic Party meeting to give a quick speech, and she met with Valley Democratic club leaders at El Mariachi Grill in Encino last weekend. — ALL SMILES: They could end up as rivals in next year's mayoral election. But on Thursday, Bass and her former opponent, real estate developer Rick Caruso, appeared together to announce a partnership for rebuilding the Pacific Palisades Recreation Center, which was severely damaged in the Palisades fire. — TASK MASTER: U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, recently appointed to oversee federal prosecutions in Southern California, announced the formation of a task force to look for potential fraud or corruption in homelessness programs. That work could create new headaches for Bass, depending on how wide-ranging the probe turns out to be. — THE TRUMP FACTOR: Essayli, whose boss is Trump's Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, has been a sharp critic of the state's approach to the crisis, making derisive references to 'the homeless industrial complex.' Bass, for her part, said she doesn't know 'what kind of Trump appointee' Essayli will be. 'Is he going to do a fishing expedition?' she told KNX earlier this week. 'Or is he going to actually look and study the system and work with us to correct it?' — TRASH TALK: The City Council endorsed a plan for five consecutive years of trash fee hikes — and the first one will be by far the largest. Single-family homes and duplexes will see a 54% increase next year, while triplexes and four-unit buildings will see their trash bills double by next year. — A WIN FOR LABOR: The City Council voted 14-1 to spend another $27.7 million on design and technical work on a planned expansion of the Convention Center. The vote provided a big win to the construction trade unions, who mobilized to keep the project alive amid a major budget crisis. Although this week's vote did not authorize the renovation itself, it showed the council is firmly behind an overhaul of the structure. — PERMIT PUSH: Los Angeles County failed to issue a single rebuilding permit in the three months since the Eaton fire devastated Altadena. Now, the Board of Supervisors is trying to speed up that process. — FIGHT FOR THE 1ST: Two candidates have emerged to challenge Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez in the 1st District, which stretches from Highland Park to Westlake and Pico-Union, in June 2026. Raul Claros, a former member of the city's affordable housing commission, announced his bid in a news release this week. Meanwhile, Sylvia Robledo, a onetime aide to former Councilmembers Jan Perry and Gil Cedillo, recently created her own campaign committee to run for the seat, according to ethics filings. — TWO WORDS: The council's rules committee moved ahead with a plan to prohibit the utterance of two slurs — one against Black people, the other targeting women — during the council's public comment periods. — HOUSING CRUNCH: L.A.'s so-called mansion tax, approved by voters in 2022, has likely led to a dropoff in the construction of apartments across the city, according to a report released by UCLA and Rand researchers. Joe Donlin, who represents the coalition that supported Measure ULA, responded by saying the report was based on 'highly questionable assumptions' and only furthers the interest of 'real estate millionaires and billionaires.' — FEEL THE BERN: Plan for plenty of traffic in the Civic Center area Saturday, with big crowds gathering for Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's rally in Gloria Molina Grand Park. Councilmembers Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado are expected to speak. It will also be a Spring Street homecoming for Sanders' communications director Anna Bahr, who started her political career in Mayor Eric Garcetti's office and ran communications for Bass during her mayoral primary.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Karen Bass' text messages about Palisades Fire were deleted: Report
The Brief Mayor Karen Bass' text messages from the first days of the January wildfires were deleted, according to a Los Angeles Times report. After a public records request for Bass' text messages from Jan. 7 and 8 related to the fires, the Times said the city had "no responsive records." City lawyer David Michaelson said Bass' phone is set to auto-delete messages. Michaelson argued state public record laws don't apply to text messages. LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' text messages from the early days of the Palisades Fire were deleted, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Times. What we know Bass was in Ghana when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out on Jan. 7, and spent much of the next day traveling the more than 7,500 miles back to Los Angeles. She and her office said she was in communication with city officials while she was traveling back to LA. In a March 7 report from the LA Times, the newspaper said it had filed a public records request to find out just what Bass and city officials were saying about the situation. SUGGESTED: Palisades, Eaton fires could cost local economy up to $9 billion, new report says Specifically, the Times said it had requested all text messages two and from the mayor about the fires and her travel plans, while she was traveling on Jan. 7 and 8. On Thursday, Bass' office told the Times that they had "no responsive records" to fulfill their request. Dig deeper The California Public Records Act allows any member of the public to request a public record. State law defines a public record as "any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics." There are exemptions to records requests, which are usually centered around privacy. Government agencies can deny requests for things like personnel and investigative records. Another big exception is "whenever the public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure." SUGGESTED: Mayor Bass opens up about trip to Ghana during LA fires: 'I felt absolutely terrible' But the law also says that when agencies deny requests, they have to say why. Agencies can also redact any exempt information from whatever records they deliver. In the case of Bass' text messages, however, the Times said that Bass' office didn't give them a reason, or say whether they were withholding any records. What they're saying David Michaelson, an attorney for the city, claims that these laws do not apply to text messages, telling City News Service that "the Mayor's phone is set to not save text messages — it auto deletes." Michaelson added that the CPRA is "not a record-retaining statute. There is no requirement that a city official or employee save text messages." Michaelson went on to cite an Attorney General ruling from 1981, that says for any public record to be kept, "it must have been made or retained by the public officer for the purpose of preserving its informational content for future reference." The backstory The Palisades Fire broke out in the Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7. As firefighters were fighting the rapidly-spreading flames amid deadly winds, Bass was halfway around the world in Ghana. Bass was there as part of a four-member U.S. delegation sent by President Joe Biden to attend the inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama. Bass returned to Los Angeles once she heard about the fires, getting back on Jan. 8. But, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, acting as mayor, had to sign the proclamation of a local emergency issued by Bass. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Mayor Bass removes Kristin Crowley as LAFD Chief Bass has faced loads of criticism for the trip, which she later admitted was a mistake. In an interview with FOX 11's Elex Michaelson, Bass said she wasn't aware before leaving for the trip that the fire forecast was so dire, and that she would not have left if she had known how bad it was. She partially blamed former LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley, saying Crowley never contacted her before she left for Ghana to warn her. Bass later fired Crowley over her fire response. The Source Information in this story is from a March 7, 2025, Los Angeles Times report, an interview with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Feb. 18, 2025, the state of California's website on the California Public Records Act, the California Attorney General's Office and previous FOX 11 reports.
