Dinuba Ca

The city won a $6.4-million settlement from several oil companies, including Kern Oil and Refining, officials said. The city's drinking water supply is threatened by the gasoline additive MTBE, a suspected carcinogen that was added to gasoline in California during the last decade to help clean the air. The chemical is being phased out of the state's gasoline, but MTBE has leaked into many lakes and wells.

The city won a $6.4-million settlement from several oil companies, including Kern Oil and Refining, officials said. The city's drinking water supply is threatened by the gasoline additive MTBE, a suspected carcinogen that was added to gasoline in California during the last decade to help clean the air. The chemical is being phased out of the state's gasoline, but MTBE has leaked into many lakes and wells.

A tiny Central Valley city agreed Thursday to pay $6 million to the family of a farm worker shot to death by a SWAT team with little experience that stormed his home in search of a shotgun they didn't find. The settlement brings an end to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city of Dinuba by the estate of Ramon Gallardo Sr., a case his family hopes will force small municipalities nationwide to think twice about whether they need special weapons teams.

A tiny Central Valley city agreed Thursday to pay $6 million to the family of a farm worker shot to death by a SWAT team with little experience that stormed his home in search of a shotgun they didn't find. The settlement brings an end to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the city of Dinuba by the estate of Ramon Gallardo Sr., a case his family hopes will force small municipalities nationwide to think twice about whether they need special weapons teams.

The family of a Dinuba man who was shot to death during a police raid has been awarded $12.5 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit. The civil lawsuit was filed against the city of Dinuba and the officers after Ramon Gallardo Sr. was shot 15 times during a raid at his home on July 11, 1997. A federal jury awarded $5 million to Gallardo's estate and $5 million to his wife, Carmen, who was in the bedroom with her husband during the raid.

Louis Flores Ruiz, who transformed a tiny family business that sold homemade enchiladas into the largest manufacturer of frozen Mexican food in the U.S., has died. He was 88. Ruiz, who had been in failing health for the last three years, died Sunday at his home in Dinuba, Calif., his family announced. The massive growth of Ruiz Foods -- founded in 1964 in the San Joaquin Valley -- reflected the rise of the Latino population in the U.S. and the country's growing appetite for ethnic food.

The family of a Dinuba man who was shot to death during a police raid has been awarded $12.5 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit. The civil lawsuit was filed against the city of Dinuba and the officers after Ramon Gallardo Sr. was shot 15 times during a raid at his home on July 11, 1997. A federal jury awarded $5 million to Gallardo's estate and $5 million to his wife, Carmen, who was in the bedroom with her husband during the raid.