Southwest
Kyrsten Sinema did not hold a single public town hall as she spent $200K in taxpayer funds on private flights
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema spent over $200,000 on taxpayer-funded private flights since 2020 despite previously backing legislation to “hold Congress accountable” for luxury air travel. During this time, however, the independent Arizona senator did not hold a single public town hall with constituents.
Sinema has faced scrutiny over the use of the money from her Senate office budget on private air travel for her and her team members, including $116,000 in 2023 alone, according to past reports and figures verified by Fox News Digital.
The senator’s spokesperson defended the taxpayer-backed trips by saying that the funds had been used to maximize her time with constituents in her state.
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“Arizonans know it can take hours to get from Prescott to Yuma,” the spokesperson told the Arizona Republic in a written statement. “Senator Sinema maximizes her time in Arizona to connect with as many constituents in every corner of the state as possible.”
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Although the spokesperson said the private flights had been used to “connect with as many constituents” as possible, Sinema did not hold a single town hall open to the public as she burned through taxpayer cash on air travel.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has not said if she will seek re-election in 2024. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Sinema has participated in some tele-town halls over the years, but according to her website, the only in-person visit was to Honeywell in 2022, a group that has donated $75,000 to the senator’s Get Stuff Done PAC.
That town hall, however, was only open to employees of the company and closed to the public.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat running for Sinema’s seat in 2024, has hit the senator several times for her lack of town halls. On April 1st, commonly known as April Fools’ Day, Gallego posted a pretend flyer for what appeared to be a Sinema town hall.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.,is running for the Arizona Senate in 2024. (Bill Clark)
“Glad to see Kyrsten Sinema finally holding a town hall in Arizona,” the Democrat posted on X. “Arizonans deserve a senator who will meet with them.”
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Sinema used the taxpayer cash on private flights despite previously supporting legislation to hold Congress accountable for luxury travel.
In 2017, she openly supported the No Ongoing Perks Enrichment (NOPE) Act, which sought “to prohibit the use of funds provided for the official travel expenses of Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the legislative branch for first-class airline accommodations.”
Sinema has not said if she will seek re-election in 2024, as candidates on both sides of the aisle line up to battle for her seat this fall.
Sinema did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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