West
This California city will stay in the 'doom loop' in 2024 as businesses flee and crime rises, resident warns
Burgeoning crime, struggling businesses and underfunded police have turned Oakland, California, into a “ghost town,” said a local safe neighborhoods advocate who believes the city’s decline is set to continue into 2024.
“We’re in a doom loop,” Seneca Scott, founder of Neighbors Together Oakland, a nonprofit focused on safety issues, told Fox News. “The doom loop means businesses leave because of the crime and problems, there’s less money to hire more police to solve the problem, and down you tumble.”
There have been over 14,500 motor vehicle thefts in Oakland this year, according to police data. That averages to nearly two thefts per hour. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
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“2024 is sadly going to continue the trajectory that we’re on now,” he continued, adding that Oakland will become “less livable and less safe.”
Violent crime in Oakland increased 22% this year, according to the most recently available police data, which also show a nearly 10% increase in commercial burglary. In September, over 200 business owners shut down their stores to strike against the government’s handling of public safety amid rising crime. The protest was held days after city officials admitted to missing a deadline to apply for state funding to fight retail theft.
COMMUNITY ADVOCATE WARNS OAKLAND WILL BE CAUGHT IN A ‘DOOM LOOP’ IN 2024:
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That same month, Oakland city leaders launched a grant program to provide funding for small business owners to hold events — like workout classes, musical performances and movie nights — to draw customers to local shops that have seen a decrease in patrons due to crime.
“Community safety is one of my administration’s top priorities, and this program will boost foot traffic and help our City create safe, welcoming, inclusive, and thriving communities,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said.
Oakland police investigates a shooting. Robbery with a firearm is up 49% in Oakland this year, police data show. (Getty Images )
But Oakland is not thriving, Scott told Fox News.
“Oakland is now a ghost town, and people are scared to go outside,” he said. “So we’re hunkering down, and we’re sheltering in place due to the escalating violence and unsafety in our city.”
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The Oakland Police Department, meanwhile, has been without a head since February, when Thao fired then-Chief LeRonne Armstrong after an independent investigation found he mishandled a misconduct probe. On Wednesday, Thao rejected the police commission’s entire list of potential replacements, forcing the months-long process to restart.
And the defund the police movement led to more crime in Oakland, Scott previously told Fox News.
There have been over 14,500 reported motor vehicle thefts in Oakland, according to police data. On average, nearly two cars are stolen every hour in the city.
A BLM protester projects “Defund The Police” onto the Oakland Police Department in January 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Further, lax prostitution laws have also led to “open-air sex trades and drug markets that would shock people,” Scott said. Earlier this year, sex workers were caught on camera working outside a Catholic school.
“So we’ve lost all rule of law in Oakland, which leads to a situation where you would think elected officials would change their course,” Scott told Fox News. He said that despite the rising crime, city officials’ approach to the problems remains unchanged.
“The only thing that has gotten better is that finally neighbors are waking up and organizing and getting ready for the 2024 election cycle to kick the crazy people out of office and restore,” Scott said. “All of these [problems] are results of failed progressive policies.”
Oakland’s City Hall did not respond to a request for comment.
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SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The widow of Afa Ah Loo, the man killed during a No Kings Rally in Salt Lake City, filed a lawsuit against protest organizers and the man accused of firing the fatal shot.
Laura Ah Loo filed the lawsuit Monday, claiming the armed “peacekeeper” and the protest organizers’ negligence caused the death of her husband.
The protest was part of the No Kings Rally, which was held in every state nationwide on June 14, 2025. The National 50501 organization led the movement, with local groups organizing protests in their respective states.
In Salt Lake City, an estimated 10,000 people showed up to protest.
During the event, Matthew Alder, a member of the security team, allegedly fired into the crowd after spotting a protester carrying a rifle. Prosecutors said he shot three times, striking the armed protester and killing a bystander.
The widow of the man killed is now suing Alder for negligence, with the lawsuit saying it “should have been obvious that any errant shot fired would pose a lethal danger to bystanders.”
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The lawsuit claims that there was no imminent threat, but even if he believed there to be one, Alder could have moved several feet to the west and shot against a wall and not into the crowd.
“Defendant Alder, with little to no known training in crowd control or de-escalation, failed to clear an area behind Gamboa and instead simply started to fire his gun,” the lawsuit reads.
Laura Ah Loo is also suing organizers, claiming they didn’t properly train or vet all the members of the security team, nor did they inform law enforcement and the public of the armed peacekeepers.
“Defendants’ breaches of these duties resulted in a perfect storm of negligence that caused the only known fatality among a march of millions of Americans,” the lawsuit reads.
She is seeking damages for pain and suffering, lost wages and economic support, and funeral costs.
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Monday, March 9, 2026 6:59PM
CHICAGO (WLS) — Miss Ruth Washington is staying active at 90-years-young!
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Washington is a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher. She taught from 1969 to 1993.
She spent the last 10 years of her career teaching Pre-K at Fort Dearborn Elementary School on Chicago’s South Side.
She jumps rope with the 40+ Double Dutch Club in Pullman.
The organization was created to give women a fun outlet to improve physical and mental health.
Her advice on staying active into your 90s is: “pray to God, find an activity you love, and remember to treat others with the love that our civil rights leaders taught us.”
To learn about the 40+ Double Dutch Club, click here.
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
The 2026 Wyoming prep girls’ basketball season is nearly done. Two state champions were crowned in Classes 1A and 2A last Saturday. Southeast won the 1A title for the third consecutive season, and Sundance won the 2A title for the first time in eight years. Class 3A and 4A held their regional tournaments, which qualified teams for the state tournament later this week in Casper.
WYOPREPS WEEK 12 GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDINGS 2026
These are the girls’ basketball team records for all games played through March 7, 2026. For all but 16 teams, this is the final record of the season. Those squads will play in the 3A-4A state tournament starting on Thursday in Casper.
1A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Burlington 24-5, 8-0
Riverside 14-10, 6-2
Dubois 11-10, 4-4
St. Stephens 3-16, 1-7
Meeteetse 1-20, 1-7
1A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cokeville 23-4, 10-0
Little Snake River 23-4, 8-2
Farson-Eden 16-12, 5-5
Saratoga 13-11, 5-5
Ft. Washakie 8-13, 2-8
Encampment 3-19, 0-10
1A Northeast: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Upton 16-7, 10-0
Kaycee 13-12, 7-3
Hulett 12-13, 7-3
Arvada-Clearmont 9-12, 4-6
Casper Christian 4-13, 2-8
Midwest 1-16, 0-10
1A Southeast: (Overall Record, followed by Reg. Season Points)
Southeast 24-5, 40 points
Lingle-Ft. Laramie 17-11, 31 points
Lusk 15-13, 26 points
H.E.M. 13-11, 24 points
Rock River 6-14, 12 points
Guernsey-Sunrise 2-18, 4 points
2A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Thermopolis 16-13, 5-1
Greybull 16-15, 4-2
Rocky Mountain 9-17, 2-4
Shoshoni 11-18, 1-5
2A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wyoming Indian 23-7, 6-0
Big Piney 8-16, 4-2
Kemmerer 2-21, 1-5
Wind River 2-23, 1-5
2A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Sundance 23-4, 5-0
Big Horn 21-6, 4-1
Tongue River 18-11, 3-2
Pine Bluffs 17-12, 2-3
Moorcroft 7-18, 1-4
Wright 3-23, 0-5
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3A West: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cody 24-0, 10-0
Lander 21-4, 9-1
Pinedale 20-5, 7-3
Powell 16-9, 6-4
Lovell 16-10, 4-6
Worland 9-16, 2-8
Lyman 10-11, 2-8
Mountain View 4-19, 0-10
3A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wheatland 22-4, 10-0
Buffalo 13-11, 8-2
Douglas 14-11, 6-4
Burns 16-13, 5-5
Torrington 10-11, 5-5
Glenrock 12-13, 3-7
Newcastle 1-22, 1-9
Rawlins 2-21, 0-10
4A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Green River 23-2, 6-0
Natrona County 9-16, 4-2
Kelly Walsh 8-15, 2-4
Rock Springs 5-20, 0-6
4A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Star Valley 16-7, 5-1
Evanston 16-10, 5-1
Riverton 7-19, 1-5
Jackson 3-19, 1-5
4A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cheyenne East 21-3, 11-1
Cheyenne Central 16-9, 10-2
Sheridan 14-10, 7-5
Thunder Basin 14-10, 6-6
Laramie 12-11, 6-6
Campbell County 1-19, 1-10
Cheyenne South 1-21, 0-11
*The second Campbell County-Cheyenne South girls’ game was canceled.
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