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SF officials might be on the hook for $190m in homeless hotel costs after feds retract COVID funding promises

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SF officials might be on the hook for 0m in homeless hotel costs after feds retract COVID funding promises

The city of San Francisco might be forced to foot the bill for homeless hotel costs after federal officials backtracked on promises to fund the effort, according to reports. 

Officials in San Francisco believed the $190 million in COVID expenses would be paid by the federal government, which comes at a time when the city’s deficit is projected to reach more than $1 billion in a few years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Because Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) typically reimburses municipalities for unexpected expenses during natural disasters and other emergencies, the California city expected the federal government to foot the bill. City officials said the move by FEMA could “pose a significant potential risk” to San Francisco’s budget forecast. 

San Francisco and other cities across the state of California housed thousands of homeless people in empty hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow for social distancing. This was an effort to cut down on transmission rates of the virus in homeless shelters and on the streets, the S.F. Chronicle reported. San Francisco reportedly spent more than $423 million sheltering over 5,000 residents in hotels and other “non-congregate” facilities during the pandemic. 

$1.7 -MILLION TOILET PROJECT IN SAN FRANCISCO STILL NOT DONE AFTER 15 MONTHS: ‘WHY ISN’T THERE A TOILET HERE?’

A sanctioned and fenced-in homeless encampment is seen from this aerial view across from City Hall along Fulton Street between Hyde and Larkin Streets in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.  (Getty Images)

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“We are profoundly disappointed that FEMA is changing their plans for reimbursement,” Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for Mayor London Breed, said.

At first, FEMA said it would reimburse 75% of the costs, then the federal agency told counties it would cover the entire cost of the non-congregate shelter program through July 1, 2022, the S.F. Chronicle reported. After that, they pledged to cover 90% through May 11, 2023. 

JOE ROGAN SAYS HE’S GLAD BE LEFT CALIFORNIA BECAUSE STATE WENT ‘FULL COMMUNIST’

But, in October, FEMA officials sent a letter to the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) stating it would not reimburse many hotel stays of longer than 20 days between June 11, 2021, and May 11, 2023, the S.F. Chronicle reported. Bills incurred during this time period could cost San Francisco up to $114 million and more than $300 million for the state of California. The extra $76 million would come into play if FEMA didn’t pay reimbursement claims related to stockpiling vacant hotel rooms. 

Officials from both the city controller’s office and the state’s OES have both pushed back on the federal government, arguing FEMA changed its rules years after the fact and stated that if counties had known this was the case, they might have acted differently throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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“We intend to explore every option available to appeal any claims denied by FEMA Region 9 that we believe to be eligible for reimbursement, based on the guidance in effect at the time,” San Francisco City Controller Ben Rosenfield said Monday. 

SAN FRANCISCO SUED OVER GUARANTEED-INCOME PROGRAMS BLASTED BY CRITICS AS RACIST

California OES Director Nancy Ward sent a 95-page memo, which included letters from cities and counties from across California, responding to the change in FEMA policy, calling out the government agency for “inconsistently” applying its non-congregate shelter policies across the country, the S.F. Chronicle reported. She also pointed to numerous statements from FEMA and President Joe Biden where they committed to “fully cover” costs. 

San Francisco has sought more than $879 million in reimbursements from the federal government for its COVID response, which includes hotel rooms and other expenses, but the federal government has only reimbursed the city for about $301 million, which includes $148 million for non-congregate sheltering costs, according to the controller’s office, the S.F. Chronicle reported. 

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New Mexico

New Mexico confirms latest measles case at a local jail

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New Mexico confirms latest measles case at a local jail


The number of confirmed measles cases in New Mexico increased to six after the state’s Department of Health confirmed Wednesday a new case inside a local jail in Las Cruces.

A federal inmate being held in the Doña Ana County Detention Center is the latest person to have tested positive for measles. The New Mexico Department of Health said others may have been exposed to the highly contagious disease from this confirmed case if they visited the U.S. District Court building in Las Cruces on Feb. 24.

State heath officials are now urging anyone who was at the courthouse that day to check their vaccination status and report any measles symptoms from now until March 17 to a health care provider.

“The New Mexico Department of Health continues to urge people to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination,” Dr. Chad Smelser, New Mexico’s deputy state epidemiologist, said in a statement. “Vaccine is the best tool to protect you from measles.”

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Measles spreads through the air and people who contract the virus may experience symptoms such as runny nose, fever, cough, red eyes and a distinctive blotchy rash. These symptoms can develop between one and three weeks after exposure.

All of the six confirmed measles cases in New Mexico so far are federal detainees.

The first measles case was detected in the Hidalgo County Detention Center on Feb. 25, when a detainee, whose vaccination status was unknown, tested positive for the disease by the New Mexico Department of Health’s Scientific Laboratory.

Two days later, a second federal inmate in the same jail tested positive for the virus alongside two detainees in the Luna County Detention Center and another in the Doña Ana County Detention Center.

Both the Luna County and Doña Ana detention centers are local jails that also serve as holding facilities for federal immigration enforcement.

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New Mexico health officials said they are the state’s first confirmed cases of this year, following a statewide outbreak in 2025 that sickened 100 people from mid-February to mid-September.

With two measles cases reported on each of the three local jails, Smelser said that the New Mexico Department of Health has sent vaccination teams to all three facilities.

State health officials are also “coordinating with all the facilities to assure all quarantine, isolation, testing and vaccination protocols are followed to minimize risk of measles spread.”

According to the NBC News measles tracker, more than 1,000 cases have been counted nationwide just in the first two months of this year. That’s nearly half the amount of cases confirmed in the United States in all of last year.

As 2026 already stands as one of the three worst years for measles infections in the country since 2000, another measles outbreak was confirmed this week in Texas inside the nation’s largest immigration detention facility.

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On Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told NBC News that a least 14 cases of measles were confirmed inside Camp East Montana, which is located on the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso.

The people who tested positive for measles have been “cohorted and separated from the rest of the detained population to prevent further spread,” the ICE spokesperson said.



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Oregon

Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class

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Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class


With the winter evaluation period of high school football recruiting now behind us, we’ve seen some of the top recruiting sites update their rankings over the past few weeks and start to reset their boards for the 2027 class. In February, On3 shifted players around after getting fresh looks at the class, and 247Sports did the same earlier this week.

So with Oregon’s handful of commits getting new ratings, where does the Ducks’ class rank nationally in this cycle?

If you look at sites individually, it looks different, with 247Sports having Oregon sitting at No. 13 in the nation. At Rivals, though, they take the industry ranking, which factors in their own rankings, plus an average from 247Sports and ESPN.

In the industry rankings, Oregon sits at No. 9 in the nation, with five commitments.

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Going into the summer months, the Ducks are in a great spot, leading or among the top schools for a handful of the top prospects in the nation, like 5-star QB Will Mencl or 5-star WR Dakota Guerrant. We will see what movement Oregon can make in the coming months after official visits take place early in the summer.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions. 



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Utah

22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide

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22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide


LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Officials have identified a 22-year-old man as the suspect in a Las Vegas homicide case that killed two people in a Southern Highlands neighborhood.

Detectives say 22-year-old Ziaire Ham was the suspect in the case. According to officials, Ham was located on Tuesday, March 3, by the Ogden City Police Department and the Utah Highway Patrol.

Ham was taken into custody and booked into the Weber County Jail. Las Vegas authorities said he will be charged with open murder with the use of a deadly weapon and will be extradited back to the valley.

MORE ON FOX5: LVMPD corrections officer arrested on multiple felony charges

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The shooting occurred Monday night at the 11000 block of Victoria Medici Street, near Starr Ave and Dean Martin Drive.

According to police, officers were conducting a vehicle stop in the area when they heard gunfire. After searching nearby neighborhoods they found a car with bullet impacts with a woman and a toddler inside suffering from gunshot wounds.

The pair were transported to hospital where they later died. The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified them as Danaijha Robinson, 20, and 1-year-old Nhalani Hiner.



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