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Last week, LAPD Officer Sean Dinse divulged that the Kenneth Fire— one of the six tormenting the Los Angeles basin— was under criminal investigation.
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A homeless individual, allegedly an illegal alien, was subdued by residents within minutes and miles of the fire’s origin. Witnesses reportedly saw him wielding a blowtorch while shouting, “I am doing this.”
Later detained on a felony probation violation due to insufficient evidence, this individual appeared to harbor an intent to harm the community—an intent as unmistakable as the internal demons with which he struggles.
Consider this alongside the reality that, according to LAFD data, there were 13,909 fires in the L.A. region linked to homelessness. That’s nearly double the number reported in 2020.
MAN ARRESTED NEAR LA FIRES WITH POSSIBLE BLOWTORCH IS AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: ICE SOURCES
This juxtaposition underscores the escalating and enormous risk to public safety posed by our nation’s homeless policy— Housing First— that rejects a naked truth: mental illness, and substance abuse disorder, frequently accompany homelessness.
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Full-throated advocates of Housing First include Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Supervisor Mitchell of Los Angeles County, who preside over the most devastating and costly wildfires in history and America’s most troubled state, county, and city regarding homelessness.
Fires are raging, lives are being lost, and communities are being devastated. It’s time to confront the undeniable truth: Housing First has failed as a primary approach to homelessness.
Homeless individuals face dense and often interwoven challenges, including underemployment or non-employment, the absence of a high school diploma, the unavailability of a support network, and for the female population in particular, domestic violence.
Predominantly, they also grapple with mental illness and addiction despite erroneous federal government data.
During my 13-year tenure as CEO of Northern California’s largest program for homeless women and children, a documented 77% of our women struggled with addiction and 60% with mental illness. In the broader homeless population, the federal government claims this number to be 37%, but the UCLA Policy Lab found otherwise… it is 78% of the chronically homeless that struggle with these issues.
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LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: HOMEOWNERS CONFRONT MAN THEY BELIEVE IS ARSONIST AS CELEBRITIES FUEL FIREBUG THEORIES
Faced with these challenges, many homeless individuals resort to criminal activity as a means of survival. Conversely, criminal behavior can also catalyze homelessness.
In my program, 55% of our women had criminal records. In the overall homeless population, estimates range from 20-70%. Based on front-line experience and a broader context where premature jail and prison releases have surged while rehabilitation efforts have diminished, the 70% estimate is much more likely.
The great news is that most homeless can build the resilience and skills necessary to transform their lives and overcome these complex challenges. I have witnessed this first-hand in thousands of cases, and my confidence remains unwavering.
Nevertheless, such profound transformation has not and will never occur under the nation’s Housing First approach.
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Adopted in 2013, Housing First is a public policy approach to connect the homeless to permanent housing as quickly as possible.
It was a great sound bite and hard to argue with… at least initially.
It meant that American taxpayers were on the hook to provide all homeless with housing for life— in the form of permanent housing— without any requirements such as sobriety, engagement in treatment services, or pursuit of work, ever.
LOS ANGELES IN HOT WATER FOR SPENDING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS ON WORSENING HOMELESS CRISIS
Shelters with structured rules, transitional housing programs, and treatment services were rendered virtually obsolete. Their funding was eliminated to expand the number of “in perpetuity, unconditional housing vouchers.”
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Most non-profits serving the homeless bent the proverbial knee to the federal government approach, as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the largest funder of homelessness.
President Obama promised Housing First would end homelessness in a decade, Yet, 11 years later, the number of homeless Americans soared to the highest level ever recorded, accompanied by a 238% increase in the homeless mortality rate.
California— the only state to fully adopt Housing First (2016)— now ranks amongst the worst states in the nation.
Beyond these abysmal outcomes was the quiet release of the only long-term study of Housing First that demonstrated it to be ineffective and often deadly. Over the 14-year analysis, nearly half of the individuals died by year five, and only 36% remained housed after year five.
Fires are raging, lives are being lost, and communities are being devastated. It’s time to confront the undeniable truth: Housing First has failed as a primary approach to homelessness.
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Free Up Foundation has developed a Human First public policy framework grounded in real-life experience and the understanding that humans are both complex and resilient.
The incoming Trump administration should adopt the Free Up framework as follows:
1. Eliminate Housing First as the nation’s exclusive approach to homelessness.
2. Redefine success from “housed” to helping people realize their full, God-given potential.
3. Refund temporary residency programs that instill community, accountability, and growth. Shelters with rules, transitional housing programs, and sanctioned encampments, all of which facilitate the efficient delivery of treatment services should be included. (Only 10-20% of the homeless population are likely to need “subsidized for life” housing.)
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4. Fund and require (as needed) treatment services including mental health and substance abuse counseling, and employment training.
5. Ban unsanctioned encampments which are often plagued with crime, drugs, sexual abuse, and are increasingly the source of fires.
6. Re-engage the faith-based and law enforcement communities that were ostracized by HUD as it emerged as homelessness’ CEO.
7. Regularly measure and report progress towards success. Fund and reward success.
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Over the last decade, Americans conceded their authority to the hard-left’s approach to homelessness. Across the board, the more a region embraced Housing First, the more homelessness climbed and decimated everything in its path— the homeless, the taxpayers, public spaces, and public safety.
Free Up’s Human First framework will foster individual productivity and public safety while restoring normalcy and returning billions annually to the taxpayers who earned it.
Washington’s recycling system may soon get a makeover.
A proposal to require companies to reduce unnecessary packaging and fund statewide recycling services is making its way through the Legislature this year.
The goal is to give more people the opportunity to recycle more types of products and to incentivize packaging producers to use sustainable materials, said bill sponsor Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle. Currently, what can be recycled differs by city, and 11 counties have no recycling services at all. Under this proposal, everyone in the state would use the same system.
“Recycling will become really affordable, really convenient and really equitable,” Berry told the Standard. “It will create this circular, sustainable economic model for recyclable materials.”
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Berry’s bill is similar to laws passed recently in Maine, Oregon, California, Colorado and Minnesota. Different versions of the legislation have been debated in Washington during the past two years but never became law.
Under the program, manufacturers, brands and importers must join a statewide “producer responsibility organization.”
Producers are required to pay membership fees to that organization to cover the cost of a new recycling system. Fees vary based on the types of products a company uses. If a producer uses more sustainable materials, for example, they would likely pay less.
If a producer does not want to join the statewide organization, they must register as an individual and pay annual fees to the state.
A national producer responsibility organization already exists to help implement this type of system in California, Colorado and Maryland.
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By March 2029, producers who are not members of the organization or registered with the state could not sell their products in Washington.
Under the bill, the Department of Ecologywould develop a list of recyclable materials in Washington. Most plastic packaging and paper products sold, distributed or shipped into and within the state would likely be covered.
The Department of Ecology would also work on a new education campaign — paid for by producer fees — to make sure all residents know what products they can recycle.
Brenda Fincher, a Kent City Council member, said that the statewide education piece will help clear up confusion.
“It’s uncountable the number of times that I’ve heard that recycling is not happening or that everything can be recycled,” Fincher said at a Thursday press conference. “It’s confusing for the residents right now.”
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There would be some exemptions under the proposal. Government entities and charitable organizations would not have to take part. Packaging on infant formula, nutritional supplements, medical equipment and drugs, and hazardous products would be among those not covered.
If the bill passes, residents could expect to see a change in how they recycle within the next five years, Berry said. The program would be fully implemented within 10 years of passage.
‘Streamlined’ bill
This year’s proposal is supported by environmental groups, cities and counties, labor unions, medical professionals and some producers.
Dr. Mark Vossler, with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, said plastic pollution is having negative health effects, especially for those who live close to industrial sites.
“This is a tremendous environmental justice concern,” Vossler said at a Thursday press conference. “Accountability measures will incentivize companies to move away from toxic or harmful packaging materials.”
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Berry said she is hopeful this is the year the proposal finally passes. This version is “shorter and more streamlined” than in the past, and it’s mostly based on the Minnesota bill that became law last year and had broad support, she said.
Berry added that she’s worked on the bill for years and has found many compromises with those who were previously opposed.
“I’m really hoping that members of the Legislature will see how isolated the opposition is at this point and understand that what we’re trying to do is something positive for our state,” she said.
The bill is expected to receive a public hearing in the House Environment and Energy Committee on Tuesday.
Pushback
Despite broad support, the legislation could still run into stiff opposition, particularly from manufacturers, businesses and waste management companies.
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Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, said in a statement that she and other Republicans have concerns that the bill would enact “expensive mandates” that could increase costs for consumers.
“I believe we need to spend wisely by targeting investments to underperforming counties to increase recycling,” Dye said. “We do not need to put new fee increases on packaged products during our current affordability crisis.”
Dye is among those supporting a different recycling bill that does not require businesses to pay.
That proposal would require producers to register and report their paper products and packaging to the Department of Ecology, which would create a public list of recyclable materials. The bill would also set new standards for how much recyclable material must be in certain products. And it would provide recycling discounts for low-income households.
Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, is sponsoring this other bill, which has bipartisan support. In a hearing on Thursday, it received backing from business groups, waste management companies, and food and hospitality organizations. Local government organizations, environmental groups and utilities were among those who testified against the bill.
BOTTOM LINE: Wyoming visits UNLV after Obi Agbim scored 26 points in Wyoming’s 79-63 loss to the Colorado State Rams.
The Rebels are 8-1 in home games. UNLV is ninth in the MWC in rebounding averaging 30.7 rebounds. Jeremiah Cherry leads the Rebels with 5.3 boards.
The Cowboys are 2-5 in MWC play. Wyoming is seventh in the MWC with 31.2 rebounds per game led by Jordan Nesbitt averaging 7.2.
UNLV’s average of 7.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.2 more made shots on average than the 6.9 per game Wyoming gives up. Wyoming has shot at a 45.0% clip from the field this season, 1.9 percentage points above the 43.1% shooting opponents of UNLV have averaged.
The Rebels and Cowboys match up Tuesday for the first time in MWC play this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Dedan Thomas Jr. is scoring 15.8 points per game and averaging 2.1 rebounds for the Rebels.
Nesbitt is averaging 8.4 points and 7.2 rebounds for the Cowboys.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rebels: 7-3, averaging 70.8 points, 31.4 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 6.0 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.7 points per game.
Cowboys: 4-6, averaging 66.0 points, 27.1 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 3.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.5 points.
___
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — TikTok restored its service on Sunday after a temporary shutdown Saturday night that left 170 million American users unable to access the app. The outage also disrupted many influencers who rely on the platform for their livelihoods.
San Francisco content creator Anna Brown, known to her 2.4 million TikTok followers as “AnnaTwinsies,” says the ban was worrisome. Her content often shows her daily life with her two sets of twins.
Brown tells ABC7 News she earns between $5,000 and $20,000 per branded post and 90% of her income comes from TikTok.
“The last couple of weeks, everyone has been talking about it,” Brown said. “But I was literally thinking they will figure something out to prevent it. Some say maybe a VPN will work, or you could have someone abroad manage the account, but no one for sure knows what’s going to happen.”
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TikTok thanks Trump after it begins restoring service to US users
Brown noted that she has a backup plan if TikTok becomes unavailable.
“Luckily for me, my Instagram account started taking off this year,” she said. A check of her Instagram shows over one million followers. “I would probably be able to make it without TikTok.”
TikTok released a statement thanking former President Donald Trump, who is expected to issue an executive order delaying any potential ban for 90 days. However, the details of such an order remain unclear. The law allows for a president to do that as long as Tiktok’s Chinese owners are in the process of selling. But parent company ByteDance has said it will not sell.
Trump previously issued an executive order in 2020 aiming to remove TikTok from U.S. app stores, citing national security concerns.
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