West
California city experiencing 'perfect storm' of crime and scandal: 'Vacuum of leadership'
Residents of Oakland, California have been grappling with the “perfect storm” of crime and scandal, as Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who is facing a recall effort, just had her home raided by the FBI.
“In the movie ‘The Perfect Storm,’ two storms were colliding. This would be the perfect storm times three — it’s multiple crises all happening at one time,” Jim Ross, a Democratic political consultant based in Oakland, told the Washington Post. “For the city, I can’t think of a tougher time.”
While the homicide rate has come down in the city, robberies and car thefts have doubled and tripled respectively, compared to before what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, the outlet reported. Oakland’s murder rate is higher than the U.S. average rate.
Bishop Bob Jackson told the Post that there’s been more “lawlessness” in Oakland than he’s ever seen and added, “We need divine intervention at this point.”
FBI RAIDS HOME CONNECTED TO OAKLAND MAYOR SHENG THAO DAY AFTER RECALL EFFORT QUALIFIES FOR BALLOT
FBI agents get in their unmarked vehicles after a raid at a home associated with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)
“I think we need, from top to bottom, a brand-new slate of leaders for the city,” Jackson said. “We need a brand-new city council, a brand-new mayor, brand-new, brand-new, brand-new.”
Oakland has also experienced widespread homelessness and high housing costs, as the effort to recall Thao has garnered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Soon after the recall campaign to oust her from office qualified for the November ballot, the FBI raided her home. Thao’s attorney also abruptly quit, and her chief spokesperson resigned.
“The reality is there is a vacuum of leadership right now,” Justin Berton, former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s director of communications, told the Washington Post. “As residents, we’re not hearing from anyone. It’s leaving this unsettling feeling across the city that no one is driving the car.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Thao’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Oakland, California residents are seeing a “perfect storm” of scandal and crime, as Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who faces a recall effort, had her home raided by the FBI. (Left: (Photo by Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))
Retired Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who spearheaded the recall effort against Thao, told local media that she had “blood on her hands” amid rising crime, grand theft auto and instances of people being robbed on the street.
“Businesses were not leaving Oakland at this pace before she came into office,” Harbin-Forte told a local ABC affiliate in January.
After the FBI raided one of her homes, Thao forcefully denied any wrongdoing.
“Mayor Thao is ready, willing and able to cooperate fully with federal investigators. She has nothing to hide,” her attorney, Tony Brass, said.
Fox News’ Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.
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HONOLULU — The latest lava fountaining episode of an erupting Hawaii volcano reached 1,000 feet high Tuesday, prompting temporary closures at a national park and part of an important highway because of falling glassy volcanic fragments, including ash.
Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, has been dazzling residents and visitors for more than year with an on-and-off eruption that periodically sends fountains of lava soaring into the sky.
The fountaining that began Tuesday morning marked the eruption’s 43rd episode since it began in December 2024. A livestream showed two fountains of bright-red lava and smoke. It’s unclear how long the fountaining will last. Some episodes have lasted a few days and others a few hours.
Like other times, the molten rock was confined within Kilauea’s summit crater inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and hasn’t threatened homes or buildings.
But the lava fountains were creating trouble for neighboring communities and a highway where the volcanic fragments and ash, known as tephra, was falling. The tephra prompted temporary closures at the national park around the summit and a partial closure of Highway 11, an important route around the island, on either side of the park.
Hawaii County officials also opened a shelter at a district gymnasium for residents and tourists impacted by the road closure or falling tephra. There were no people using the shelter soon after it opened, said Tom Callis, a county spokesperson.
The National Weather Service issued an ashfall warning.
Volcanic tephra can irritate eyes, skin and the respiratory system, according to county officials. Tephra also can clog and cause other problems with water catchment collection systems, which are common in some parts of the Big Island, officials said.
Ash fell so heavily during a previous fountaining episode that some communities needed help from county civil defense workers to clean up ash that coated their homes, Callis said.
Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Smith’s employees are packing 5,000 meal kits for Clark County students through a partnership with Move for Hunger and Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada.
The event took place on March 10 at Decker Elementary School.
About 270 leaders from across seven states are also participating in building the kits. The donation is valued at approximately $50,000.
Feed The Need: Helping Southern Nevadans fight food insecurity
In the past year, Smith’s and its customers provided more than 16 million meals to nonprofit hunger-relief organizations throughout Nevada through donations.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
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