ReportWire

Tag: program

  • Project R.I.D.E. offers equine therapy in Elk Grove

    Project R.I.D.E in Elk Grove has been connecting riders and horses across the greater Sacramento area since 1979, offering equine therapy to people of all ages with special needs. “It’s hard to put in words unless you experience it,” Danny Ford, director of operations at Project R.I.D.E., said of the program’s impact. “I think it’s the happiest place on Earth. It’s better than Disneyland, in my opinion.”The nonprofit and therapeutic riding facility offers recreational riding to individuals with diagnosed physical, emotional and intellectual disabilities. The organization has a list of some of the diagnoses it accepts listed on its website.Five-year-old Rahi Parekh uses a wheelchair. KCRA 3 joined him for his lesson at Project R.I.D.E. late last month. He said he enjoys playing games while horseback riding and visiting with the barn cats, who also call the facility home.“I feel happy. Yeah. Happy. I feel happy,” he said.Ford noted horses have a special ability to connect with their riders.”They know completely how you’re feeling when you’re sitting in the saddle. They can actually sense and feel your heartbeat as well,” he said. “They will kind of match your senses, the way you’re feeling.”Ford began his work with the organization as a volunteer, but he first came through the barn doors as a dad. His son started riding at the facility as a toddler.”He’s now 21, has Down syndrome,” Ford said. “The sense of independence and that sense of control in life, I think, completely changes his life for 30 minutes, at least, every week.”For individuals who are unable to ride, Project R.I.D.E also has a fully interactive simulated horse, fondly named Buster Brady. “It’s hard to put into words exactly everything that we can do here, but it’s easy to see on the faces of our participants, I think, what the outcome of it all is,” Ford said.Project R.I.D.E. instructors are accredited through PATH International, the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship.”Come and sit in the stands, watch a lesson, and it’ll completely change your life to see the joy and the reward that some of these people get from the time that they spend with us,” Ford said.The organization is currently preparing for its annual steak dinner fundraiser on April 18. It relies on donations and a team of dedicated volunteers to keep the program active.As part of our 70 Years of Service initiative, we’re highlighting organizations that are making a difference all year long. See more stories in the series here.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    ELK GROVE, Calif. —

    Project R.I.D.E in Elk Grove has been connecting riders and horses across the greater Sacramento area since 1979, offering equine therapy to people of all ages with special needs.

    “It’s hard to put in words unless you experience it,” Danny Ford, director of operations at Project R.I.D.E., said of the program’s impact. “I think it’s the happiest place on Earth. It’s better than Disneyland, in my opinion.”

    The nonprofit and therapeutic riding facility offers recreational riding to individuals with diagnosed physical, emotional and intellectual disabilities. The organization has a list of some of the diagnoses it accepts listed on its website.

    Five-year-old Rahi Parekh uses a wheelchair. KCRA 3 joined him for his lesson at Project R.I.D.E. late last month.

    He said he enjoys playing games while horseback riding and visiting with the barn cats, who also call the facility home.

    “I feel happy. Yeah. Happy. I feel happy,” he said.

    Ford noted horses have a special ability to connect with their riders.

    “They know completely how you’re feeling when you’re sitting in the saddle. They can actually sense and feel your heartbeat as well,” he said. “They will kind of match your senses, the way you’re feeling.”

    Ford began his work with the organization as a volunteer, but he first came through the barn doors as a dad. His son started riding at the facility as a toddler.

    “He’s now 21, has Down syndrome,” Ford said. “The sense of independence and that sense of control in life, I think, completely changes his life for 30 minutes, at least, every week.”

    For individuals who are unable to ride, Project R.I.D.E also has a fully interactive simulated horse, fondly named Buster Brady.

    “It’s hard to put into words exactly everything that we can do here, but it’s easy to see on the faces of our participants, I think, what the outcome of it all is,” Ford said.

    Project R.I.D.E. instructors are accredited through PATH International, the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship.

    “Come and sit in the stands, watch a lesson, and it’ll completely change your life to see the joy and the reward that some of these people get from the time that they spend with us,” Ford said.

    The organization is currently preparing for its annual steak dinner fundraiser on April 18. It relies on donations and a team of dedicated volunteers to keep the program active.

    As part of our 70 Years of Service initiative, we’re highlighting organizations that are making a difference all year long. See more stories in the series here.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    Source link

  • L.A.’s defense industry is booming. Federal funding crunch could change that

    When former Space X engineer Josh Giegel launched his North Hollywood tech company Gambit in 2023, he had a vision for the battlefield of the future, one with fewer soldiers and more AI-driven assets.

    His software would allow unmanned tanks and swarms of armed drones to communicate and adapt in real time — without human intervention.

    The company now employs more than a dozen people and has contracts with the military, which is testing his software. But its growth has been clouded because of a funding dispute on Capitol Hill over the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which provides companies seed capital to develop new technology that can assist the government. Funding for it and related programs expired in September.

    The seed fund has been vital to many local tech startups. Gambit received $3.3 million from the program early on and was hoping to get another $5 million of the Small Business Administration money, which is allocated by the military.

    Workers at K2 Space in Torrance, where the startup is building high-capacity satellites for Medium Earth Orbit. (K2 Space)

    (K2 Space)

    “That funding really helps companies like ours that are putting tech into warfighters’ hands,” Giegel said. “Losing that money becomes more leg work to find other sources.”

    Gambit’s predicament is widely shared across Southern California, which has experienced a proliferation of tech startups launched by SpaceX alumni and other entrepreneurs with the support of SBA money.

    In 2024, 124 contracts worth $173 million were awarded to 71 California companies through SpaceWERX, an El Segundo-based arm of the Space Force that distributes SBA funding to innovative defense startups.

    The money also is disbursed by other branches of the military and departments of the government, which do not take stakes in the companies. Gambit received funds through the Air Force.

    Other local recipients of SBA funding include Costa Mesa autonomous weapons maker Anduril Industries, now valued at more than $30 billion; and satellite platform manufacturers K2 Space in Torrance and Apex Space in Los Angeles.

    The funds are allocated in phases, with initial feasibility awards up to about $300,000 and as much as $2 million for the development of prototypes. A maximum of $15 million is available through a companion SBA-funded program if the companies can bring in other funding.

    “I don’t know if I can name a single company that I work with, or that I know of, that did not start with SBIR” funding, said Maggie Gray, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Shield Capital, which invested in Apex. “We see SBIR as a crucial part of the defense-tech ecosystem. It’s kind of the way to get your initial foot in the door with the government.”

    Established in 1982, the SBA program provides more than $4 billion to government departments, with the military receiving the lion’s share. But SBA funding ran out on Sept. 30 as lawmakers clashed over proposed reforms.

    Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, introduced a bill that would set a $75-million lifetime cap on funds for individual companies and establish performance benchmarks. The bill also would beef up due diligence to prevent new technology falling into the hands of foreign adversaries and end diversity, equity and inclusion preferences in funds distribution.

    The legislation, however, has faced stiff opposition from Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, the ranking Democrat on the committee, who contends the reforms go overboard and would crimp innovation. A bipartisan House bill that would have reauthorized SBA funding for a year failed in the Senate amid opposition by Ernst, who is leaving Congress in a year.

    While negotiations have restarted on Capitol Hill, there is no guarantee SBA financing will be restored, though the military and other government agencies could fund startups through their own budgets.

    The SpaceWERX program, which has played a critical role in Southern California’s resurgent space economy, was established in 2020, just one year after the Space Force was founded.

    Director Arthur Grijalva said the program distributes several hundred million dollars in SBA funding annually across the nation and has not had an issue with foreign influence or companies receiving repeat awards without much to show for it.

    “Even though it might be small [funding] for a really big company, it’s really impactful for these small companies, these startups, where if they don’t have this funding, they might have to do layoffs, they might have to go into debt, or they might ultimately not be successful,” Grijalva said.

    Since September, $94 million in larger contracts has been held up for more than 25 companies, which follow funding for feasibility studies and prototypes, according to SpaceWERX.

    The impasse comes at an inopportune time for the Trump administration, which has been overhauling weapons procurement.

    Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced in November a policy to speed up weapons development by first finding capabilities in the commercial market before the government attempts to develop new systems. Last week he visited several L.A.-area defense companies, including Torrance startup Castelion, a manufacture of hypersonic missiles that received SBIR funding.

    Kirsten Bartok Touw, managing partner of New Vista Capital, which invested in Castelion, agreed the program may have flaws but said it plays an invaluable role in attracting venture capital to companies that have drawn the funding.

    “That is an important signal to the market, which says, ‘You should invest in more of these, because this is a technology we want and need,’” she said.

    A report this month by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that one dollar of the funding distributed by the military attracts more than four dollars of venture capital or other third-party investment.

    Markey’s office said last week he submitted a proposal to Ernst that includes making the SBIR program permanent, increased allocations, a performance metric, foreign due diligence standards and fellowships for underserved small businesses, among other provisions.

    “This bill is [his] second attempt at breaking the logjam and restarting these critical programs to ensure America’s most nimble allies — small businesses — are not decimated,” a Markey spokesperson said.

    A spokesperson for Ernst said last week that the senator “remains focused on ensuring taxpayer investments in R&D do not benefit China and actually deliver cutting-edge technology for our warfighters.”

    Giegel said that while he is optimistic future SBA funding might come through for Gambit, he is not counting on it. He now assumes he will have to look for other sources of money to grow the company, which already attracted undisclosed venture capital.

    “We’re trying to find operational relevance faster,” he said.

    Laurence Darmiento

    Source link

  • News We Love: Farm matches furry friends with older adults, veterans, first responders

    AND FIRST RESPONDERS. OUR JENNIFER FRANCIOTTI WAS THERE TO SEE THE REACTION. THEIR ANIMALS YOU’D EXPECT TO SEE ON A FARM. BUT ON THIS DAY. HAVE YOU BEEN HERE WHEN WE’VE HAD THE HORSES HERE BEFORE? MANY HORSES. AWESOME AND AMAZING, ALONG WITH MANY AND BELLE ARE MAKING A HOME VISIT TO RESIDENTS OF BRIGHTVIEW AVONDALE IN BEL AIR. WE BRING THEM IN BECAUSE WE WANT PEOPLE TO CONNECT WITH THEM. THERE’S SO MUCH INVOLVED. IT’S A FEEL GOOD, BUT IT’S ALSO A WONDERFUL WAY TO WORK ON TACTILE AND MOBILITY. THE MENAGERIE IS FROM WELLSPRING OF LIFE FARM IN MONKTON. THEIR MASH UNIT, WHICH STANDS FOR MOBILE ANIMAL SERVICES FOR HEROES, IS PROVIDED TO ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY VETERANS AND FIRST RESPONDERS THROUGH ITS HEROES, HORSES, HOUNDS AND HARRY GOATS PROGRAM. FOR SOME, IT’S THEIR FIRST TIME EVER BEING ABLE TO TOUCH A HORSE. FOR OTHERS, IT’S THEIR FIRST TIME INTERACTING WITH A CRAZY GOAT. AND SO IT’S A FUN TIME. BUT THERE’S ALSO A LOT OF MEANING BEHIND IT. WITH EVERY BRUSH AND SMILE FROM BOTH HUMAN AND CANINE, IT’S A WELCOME VISIT FOR RESIDENTS. I THINK IT’S REALLY COOL. THEY DIDN’T GET UPSET. THEY DIDN’T DO ANYTHING, AND I GOT TO PET IT AND I LOVE IT. IT’S LIKE BEING AT HOME. SO YEAH, SHE’S A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL. BUT ONE RESIDENT IN PARTICULAR IS TO THANK FOR THIS VISIT FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY. ARMY VETERAN RAY COLUMBO. AND RAY SAYS THE PROGRAM IS PARTICULARLY HELPFUL TO VETERANS SUFFERING FROM PTSD. MOST ANYTHING THAT WILL HELP GIVE THEM A SENSE OF CALM, PEACE, CONNECTION. OFTENTIMES, HUMANS CAN’T PROVIDE THAT, AND ANIMALS WHO DON’T TALK BACK DO PROVIDE THAT SENSE OF CALMNESS AND PEACE. IT’S A PEACE THAT YOU TOO CAN HELP PROVIDE. WELLSPRING OF LIFE IS LOOKING FOR MORE VOLUNTEERS. IT’S JUST A LOT OF FUN, BUT IT’S ALSO A WONDERFUL WAY TO GET HEALING BECAUSE YOU’RE YOU’RE GIVING BACK TO OTHERS. THESE GUYS CAN GO ANYWHERE. THEY CAN EVEN GO INSIDE HOSPITALS. SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE THE MASH UNIT TO COME TO YOU, JUST LOG ON TO O

    News We Love: Farm matches furry friends with older adults, veterans, first responders

    Updated: 9:14 PM PST Jan 15, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Residents at an older adult living facility in met some special visitors Thursday.Residents at Brightview Avondell in Bel Air, Maryland, got up close and personal to see farm animals, like mini horses named Minnie and Belle.The menagerie of animals came from Wellspring of Life Farm. The farm’s Mobile Animal Services for Heroes unit provides animal visits to active-duty military, veterans and first responders through its Heroes, Horses, Hounds and Hairy Goats program.”We bring them in because we want people to connect with them. It’s a good feeling, but it’s also a wonderful way to work on tactile mobility,” said Dawn Leung, the farm’s executive director and program coordinator. “For some, it’s their first time ever touching a horse. For others, it’s their first time interacting with the crazy goat. So, it’s a fun time, but there’s also a lot of meaning behind it.”With every brush and smile from everyone involved, it’s a welcome visit for residents.”I think it’s really cool. They didn’t get upset, they didn’t do anything. I got to pet them,” said Kathy Deane, a resident.Video below: Fluffy bunnies draw a crowd at farm show”I love it,” said Doris Lockwood, a resident. “It’s like being at home. She’s a beautiful little girl.”The residents have one neighbor in particular to thank for the animals’ visit: Army veteran Ray Columbo, who said the program is particularly helpful to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.”(The animals) help give them a sense of calm, peace, connection. Oftentimes, humans can’t provide that. Animals don’t talk back and they do provide that sense of calm and peace,” Columbo said.It’s a peace that anyone can help provide as Wellspring of Life seeks more volunteers.”It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a wonderful way to get healing and get back to others,” Leung said.The animals can go anywhere, even inside hospitals. So anyone who would like the MASH unit to visit can get more information at the following website.

    Residents at an older adult living facility in met some special visitors Thursday.

    Residents at Brightview Avondell in Bel Air, Maryland, got up close and personal to see farm animals, like mini horses named Minnie and Belle.

    The menagerie of animals came from Wellspring of Life Farm. The farm’s Mobile Animal Services for Heroes unit provides animal visits to active-duty military, veterans and first responders through its Heroes, Horses, Hounds and Hairy Goats program.

    “We bring them in because we want people to connect with them. It’s a good feeling, but it’s also a wonderful way to work on tactile mobility,” said Dawn Leung, the farm’s executive director and program coordinator. “For some, it’s their first time ever touching a horse. For others, it’s their first time interacting with the crazy goat. So, it’s a fun time, but there’s also a lot of meaning behind it.”

    With every brush and smile from everyone involved, it’s a welcome visit for residents.

    “I think it’s really cool. They didn’t get upset, they didn’t do anything. I got to pet them,” said Kathy Deane, a resident.

    Video below: Fluffy bunnies draw a crowd at farm show

    “I love it,” said Doris Lockwood, a resident. “It’s like being at home. She’s a beautiful little girl.”

    The residents have one neighbor in particular to thank for the animals’ visit: Army veteran Ray Columbo, who said the program is particularly helpful to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

    “(The animals) help give them a sense of calm, peace, connection. Oftentimes, humans can’t provide that. Animals don’t talk back and they do provide that sense of calm and peace,” Columbo said.

    It’s a peace that anyone can help provide as Wellspring of Life seeks more volunteers.

    “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a wonderful way to get healing and get back to others,” Leung said.

    The animals can go anywhere, even inside hospitals. So anyone who would like the MASH unit to visit can get more information at the following website.

    Source link

  • Saint John’s Program for Real Change offers hope to Sacramento women and children

    SAINT JOHN’S PROGRAM FOR REAL CHANGE HAS IMPROVED THE LIVES OF SACRAMENTO AREA WOMEN AND CHILDREN. THE NONPROFIT PROVIDES A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE AND AN ARRAY OF SERVICES FOR FREE. IT ALSO OFFERS A REAL COMMUNITY FOR WOMEN WHO ARE WORKING TO STABILIZE THEIR LIVES. KCRA 3’S LEE ANNE DENYER INTRODUCES US TO A LOCAL WOMAN WHO SAYS SAINT JOHN’S NOT ONLY KEPT HER FROM LIVING ON THE STREETS OF SACRAMENTO, BUT ALSO TRANSFORMED HER ENTIRE WAY OF THINKING. GET YOURSELF SET UP. EVEN WITH HER RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE KITCHEN AND HER CLASSES, THERE’S TIME FOR REFLECTION. SO WE ALL MIGHT HAVE DIFFERENT STORIES, AND WE ALL ARE DIFFERENT PLACES AT DIFFERENT TIMES. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE ALL KIND OF HAVE ENDED UP HERE AND WE ALL HAVE. THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING IN COMMON. LAUREN LOUDERMILK SAYS IT WASN’T ONE THING THAT LED HER HERE. I WAS PROBABLY ENTERING LIKE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN. I WAS ABOUT TO LOSE EVERYTHING. CHALLENGES WITH HER MENTAL HEALTH, HER PHYSICAL HEALTH AND EVICTION. BEING A SINGLE MOM WERE MOUNTING AND SHE HAD NOWHERE TO GO. AND I HAD MY CAT ON A HARNESS, AND I WAS TRULY PREPARED TO LIVE ON THE STREET OF SACRAMENTO IF I WERE NOT SAINT JOHN’S, I WOULD BE ON THE STREET. I WOULD BE. AND IT’S IT’S SCARY TO THINK, BECAUSE I WOULD NOT BE HEALTHY. THERE’S NOWHERE YOU CAN BE ON THE STREET AND BE HEALTHY. BUT A FAMILY MEMBER, SHE SAYS, CONNECTED HER WITH SAINT JOHN’S PROGRAM FOR REAL CHANGE IN SACRAMENTO. WHEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE STAYING HERE, WE PROVIDE ALL THE WRAPAROUND SERVICES THAT THEY WOULD NEED AS THEY’RE WORKING TOWARDS RECOVERY AND THEIR GOALS. SO THAT INCLUDES BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, EDUCATION, CHILDCARE, JOB TRAINING, FAMILY SERVICES, ALL OF THOSE THINGS KIND OF TOGETHER. THE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION HAS HELPED WOMEN FOR DECADES, GIVING THEM A SPACE TO LIVE, HEAL AND REBUILD WITH SUPPORT AND AT THEIR OWN PACE. THIS IS A PLACE WHERE YOU DO SOME HARD WORK. YOU REALLY HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU’RE AT, WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH YOUR FAMILY. CHANGE WAS EXACTLY WHAT LOUDERMILK NEEDED. SO MANY THINGS HERE TO REALLY HELP US LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES AND REALLY HELP US DIVE DEEP AND FIGURE OUT, LIKE WHAT WE’VE HAD THAT’S, YOU KNOW, CAUSING TRAUMA AND WHAT WE HAVEN’T HEALED FROM TO SOMEONE ELSE. MORE TASKS AFTER AN AFTERNOON LUNCH RUSH MIGHT BE SOMETHING ELSE THAT JUST NEEDS TO GET DONE. FOR LOUDERMILK, IT’S JOB TRAINING, IT’S STRUCTURE. IT’S A WAY TO GIVE BACK. AND THAT ALL STARTED WHEN SHE ASKED FOR HELP. WE ALL HAVE TO BE READY ON OUR TIME, BUT DO NOT BE ASHAMED TO ASK FOR HELP. DO NOT BE ASHAMED. THERE IS. THERE IS STRENGTH IN ASKING FOR HELP. SHE’S FINDING HER STRENGTH AND LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT AS SHE CONTINUES HER PROGRAM WITHIN SAINT JOHN’S. GRATEFUL TO BE A PART OF THIS COMMUNITY OF WOMEN BECAUSE LIFE HAPPENS ON LIFE’S TERMS AND YOU ARE RESILIENT FOR FOR MAKING THE CHOICE TO GET YOURSELF THROUGH IT. IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY, LEE ANNE DENYER KCRA THREE NEWS. FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN GETTING INVOLVED IN THE WORK THAT THEY’RE DOING THERE AT THE SAINT JOHN’S PROGRAM FOR REAL CHANGE, YOU CAN TAKE A TOUR, VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME, OR DONATE MONEY. PEOPLE CAN SUP

    Saint John’s Program for Real Change offers hope to Sacramento women and children

    Saint John’s Program for Real Change in Sacramento provides wraparound services and a supportive community to help women and children rebuild their lives.

    Updated: 12:28 AM PST Jan 8, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    For more than 40 years, Saint John’s Program for Real Change has been a lifeline for women and children in Sacramento, offering safe housing and a wide range of services to help them stabilize their lives.“The idea behind real change is that we are looking for people that really want to work towards change, for themselves and for their families,” said CEO Scott Richards. Lauren Loudermilk, 35, said she was on the verge of “breakdown”, had been evicted and was preparing to live on the streets of Sacramento when a family member connected her to Saint John’s.“I was about to lose everything,” she said. “If I were not at Saint John’s, I would be on the street. I would be. And it’s scary to think, because I would not be healthy. There’s nowhere you can be on the street and be healthy.”Loudermilk said, for the first time in her life, she’s felt able to combat the inner and outer challenges she has faced over the years. “What’s most beneficial to me here is the testimonies,” she said. “There are so many things here to really help us learn to take care of ourselves and really help us dive deep and figure out, like, what we’ve had that’s causing trauma, what we haven’t healed from.”Services offered to the women participating in the program range from behavioral health, to education, job training, and family services. Childcare and housing are also provided. “We provide the space to allow people to figure out where they want to go, help them give the resources and skills development that they need so they can reach those goals,” Richards said.As she continues her program within Saint John’s, Loudermilk is continuing to build her strength and resiliency — and looking for employment.“We all have to be ready on our time, but don’t be ashamed to ask for help. Do not be ashamed. There’s, there’s strength in asking for help,” she said.For those interested in supporting the work at Saint John’s Program for Real Change, opportunities are available to take a tour, volunteer, or donate to support individual clients, families, and specific programs.Saint John’s Program for Real Change is a nonprofit organization whose programming is possible due to city, county and state partnerships as well as private and corporate donations. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    For more than 40 years, Saint John’s Program for Real Change has been a lifeline for women and children in Sacramento, offering safe housing and a wide range of services to help them stabilize their lives.

    “The idea behind real change is that we are looking for people that really want to work towards change, for themselves and for their families,” said CEO Scott Richards.

    Lauren Loudermilk, 35, said she was on the verge of “breakdown”, had been evicted and was preparing to live on the streets of Sacramento when a family member connected her to Saint John’s.

    “I was about to lose everything,” she said. “If I were not at Saint John’s, I would be on the street. I would be. And it’s scary to think, because I would not be healthy. There’s nowhere you can be on the street and be healthy.”

    Loudermilk said, for the first time in her life, she’s felt able to combat the inner and outer challenges she has faced over the years.

    “What’s most beneficial to me here is the testimonies,” she said. “There are so many things here to really help us learn to take care of ourselves and really help us dive deep and figure out, like, what we’ve had that’s causing trauma, what we haven’t healed from.”

    Services offered to the women participating in the program range from behavioral health, to education, job training, and family services. Childcare and housing are also provided.

    “We provide the space to allow people to figure out where they want to go, help them give the resources and skills development that they need so they can reach those goals,” Richards said.

    As she continues her program within Saint John’s, Loudermilk is continuing to build her strength and resiliency — and looking for employment.

    “We all have to be ready on our time, but don’t be ashamed to ask for help. Do not be ashamed. There’s, there’s strength in asking for help,” she said.

    For those interested in supporting the work at Saint John’s Program for Real Change, opportunities are available to take a tour, volunteer, or donate to support individual clients, families, and specific programs.

    Saint John’s Program for Real Change is a nonprofit organization whose programming is possible due to city, county and state partnerships as well as private and corporate donations.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    Source link

  • Trump administration says it’s freezing child care funds to Minnesota after series of fraud probes

    President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday that it’s freezing child care funds to Minnesota amid ongoing investigations into fraud allegations. Related video above: Group of Minnesota House and Senate Republicans calling on Gov. Tim Walz to resign over fraud investigationsActing director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jim O’Neill announced on the social platform X that the step is in response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” he said.O’Neill said all payments through the Administration for Children and Families, an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, will require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before money is sent. They have also launched a fraud-reporting hotline and email address, he said.The announcement comes after years of investigation that began with the $300 million scheme at the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, for which 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors said the organization was at the center of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide food for children.A federal prosecutor alleged earlier in December that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Most of the defendants are Somali Americans, they said.O’Neill also called out a conservative influencer who had posted a video Friday claiming he found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud. O’Neill said he has demanded Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz submit an audit of these centers that includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has said fraud will not be tolerated and his administration “will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.”Walz has said an audit due by late January should give a better picture of the extent of the fraud. He said his administration is taking aggressive action to prevent additional fraud. He has long defended how his administration responded.Minnesota’s most prominent Somali American, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday that it’s freezing child care funds to Minnesota amid ongoing investigations into fraud allegations.

    Related video above: Group of Minnesota House and Senate Republicans calling on Gov. Tim Walz to resign over fraud investigations

    Acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jim O’Neill announced on the social platform X that the step is in response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”

    “We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” he said.

    O’Neill said all payments through the Administration for Children and Families, an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, will require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before money is sent. They have also launched a fraud-reporting hotline and email address, he said.

    The announcement comes after years of investigation that began with the $300 million scheme at the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, for which 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors said the organization was at the center of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide food for children.

    A federal prosecutor alleged earlier in December that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Most of the defendants are Somali Americans, they said.

    O’Neill also called out a conservative influencer who had posted a video Friday claiming he found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud. O’Neill said he has demanded Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz submit an audit of these centers that includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

    Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has said fraud will not be tolerated and his administration “will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.”

    Walz has said an audit due by late January should give a better picture of the extent of the fraud. He said his administration is taking aggressive action to prevent additional fraud. He has long defended how his administration responded.

    Minnesota’s most prominent Somali American, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.

    Source link

  • Apple, Google and others tell some foreign employees to avoid traveling out of the country

    Big Tech companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and ServiceNow, have warned employees on visas to avoid leaving the country amid uncertainty about changing immigration policy and procedures.

    Following an attack on National Guard members in Washington, the Trump administration expanded travel bans earlier this month, and beefed up vetting and data collection for visa applicants. The new policy now includes screening the social media history of some visa applicants and their dependents.

    Soon after the announcement, U.S. consulates began rescheduling appointments for future dates, some as late as summer 2026, leaving employees who required appointments unable to return.

    “Please be aware that some U.S. Embassies and Consulates are experiencing significant visa stamping appointment delays, currently reported as up to 12 months,” noted an email sent by Berry Appleman & Leiden LLC, the immigration firm that represents Google. The advisory also recommended “avoiding international travel at this time.”

    Business Insider earlier reported on the travel advisories.

    Microsoft’s memo noted that much of the rescheduling is occurring in India, in cities such as Chennai and Hyderabad, and that new stamping dates are as far out as June 2026.

    The company advised employees with valid work authorization who were traveling outside the U.S. for stamping to return before their current visa expires. Those still in the U.S. scheduling upcoming travel for visa stamping should “strongly consider” changing their travel plans.

    Apple’s immigration team also recommended that employees without a valid H1-B visa stamp avoid international travel for now.

    ServiceNow, a business software company, similarly issued an advisory recommending that those with valid visa stamps return to the U.S.

    Microsoft declined to comment on its memo. Apple, Google and ServiceNow did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Companies warned that delays due to enhanced screening is for H-1B, H-4, F, J and M visas.

    H-1B is a high-skilled immigration visa program that allows employers to sponsor work visas for individuals with specialized skills. The program, capped at 85,000 new visas per year, is a channel for American tech giants to source skilled workers, such as software engineers.

    Big Tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and Meta have consistently topped the charts in terms of the number of H-1B approvals, with Indian nationals as the largest beneficiaries of the program, accounting for 71% of approved H-1 B petitions.

    H-1B visas are awarded through a lottery system, which its critics say has been exploited by companies to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor.

    In September, the Trump administration announced a $100,000 fee for new H-1B employee hires. But after severe pushback, it clarified that it applied only to employers seeking to use the H-1B visa to hire foreign nationals not already in the U.S.

    The H-1B program is an issue that has not only animated the right but also splintered it. Those on the tech-right, such as Elon Musk and David Sacks, are strongly in favor of strengthening skilled immigration, while the core MAGA base is vehemently opposed to it.

    Proponents of the program often highlight that skilled worker immigration made the U.S a technological leader, and nearly half of the fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, creating jobs for native-born Americans.

    Nilesh Christopher

    Source link

  • More California students than ever are heading out of state for college. Here’s why

    Javier Perez, a senior at Benjamin Franklin Senior High School in Highland Park, dreams of studying computer science at Dartmouth College.

    “For me, it’s really important to be surrounded by the right people,” said Perez, who earlier this year spent two days on the New Hampshire campus during a spring college tour and said he felt a “genuine connection” with the people he met. Plus, he likes cold weather.

    He’s hardly alone. A Public Policy Institute of California report released this month found that the share of college-bound California high school graduates enrolling in out-of-state colleges has nearly doubled in the last two decades, rising from 8.5% in 2002 to 14.6% in 2022.

    West Coast and Southwest colleges in particular seek out students in population-rich California in their recruitment efforts. Making the move more enticing is that many public universities participate in a program offering Californians discounted tuition at public colleges in the West.

    In 2022, nearly 40,000 California high school grads enrolled in out-of-state colleges, roughly a third of whom flocked to Arizona, Oregon or New York, the researchers found in their analysis of enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics. In 2002, the number was closer to 15,000.

    In Arizona, the most popular universities included Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University — known for its online programs — and the University of Arizona. Oregon State University drew the highest number of Californians in that state.

    California grads who moved to New York for college were drawn to smaller, competitive private liberal arts colleges, usually with heftier tuitions than California’s public universities. Because of limitations in national enrollment data, the study couldn’t account for scholarships, making it hard to determine whether the California students were choosing out-of-state options because of financial aid incentives.

    The researchers found that most students leaving California attend colleges less selective on average than the competitive University of California system. About half attend colleges more selective than the California State University system, which will soon automatically admit students who meet requirements at 16 of its campuses.

    Lynda McGee, a recently retired Los Angeles Unified School District college counselor who spent more than two decades at Downtown Magnets High School, said she sees the trend as a positive development. She said she often urged students to look beyond California, as she felt out-of-state campuses would expose them to a more diverse range of people and experiences.

    Arizona State, the University of Arizona and Oregon State have strong name recognition, actively recruit in California and feel less intimidating to students because they’re relatively close to home, she said. Oregon State’s athletics programs are a particular draw.

    Under the right conditions, and after taking into account financial aid or merit-based scholarships, private colleges can sometimes end up costing less than a California public university, said Erica Rosales, executive director of College Match, a mentoring program for low-income students in Los Angeles.

    “For a low-income, first-generation student, a private institution that meets full need without loans is often the most affordable and most supportive option available,” Rosales said in an email.

    Rosales, who has spent nearly two decades helping students navigate the college admissions process, noted that Cal Grant income ceilings leave out some middle-class families unable to afford to send their children to a UC or CSU campus. Financial aid at CSU campuses typically covers tuition, not room and board, according to Rosales.

    The promise of full financial-need coverage is why Perez, who grew up in Guatemala and immigrated to the U.S. three years ago, is aiming to attend a private liberal arts college. He learned about his options through College Match. The program funded a two-week East Coast college tour this year and provided him with a laptop for his applications.

    Javier Perez, 18, takes public transit to a library. His three-hour round-trip commute to and from school involves a bike ride, two trains and a bus.

    (Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

    Perez said leaving California would enable him to experience life in a small college town surrounded by nature. He’d like to spend his days focusing on his studies instead of commuting to school. His current commute from his Koreatown home to his Highland Park campus takes three hours round-trip, and involves a bike ride, two trains and a bus.

    Perez, an ambitious programmer who leads his school’s competitive robotics team, intends to apply to 22 colleges, including Stanford University, Caltech and a handful of UCs and CSUs.

    But his hopes are set on moving to the East Coast, as reflected by many of the schools on his list: Middlebury College, Boston College, Bowdoin College, Columbia University, Brown University and his dream school, Dartmouth College.

    “I just want to explore as much as I can in my college life,” Perez said.

    Iris Kwok

    Source link

  • Why outrage is erupting over Trump plan to exclude nursing from ‘professional’ designation

    WASHINGTON — A coalition of nursing and other healthcare organizations are outraged over a Trump administration proposal that could limit access to federal loans for some students pursuing graduate degrees, because the government would no longer label their studies as “professional” programs.

    Without such a U.S. Department of Education designation, students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing and at least seven other fields, including social work and education, would face tighter federal student loan limits.

    The revamp is part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress, and is prompting anger and confusion, particularly among nurses who are lashing out online. Some social media posts have amplified inaccurate information about the changes — leading the Education Department to issue a “Myth vs. Fact” explainer on the proposed modifications.

    But it has done little to quell the furor. Nurses and others affected not only oppose potential limits on educational borrowing to advance their careers, but perceive the move as a semantic insult that disrespects the intense training that is required to achieve their professional credentials.

    One Instagram user — a self-described registered nurse with more than 250,000 followers on the platform — said that she had planned to attend graduate school to become a nurse practitioner, but the proposed loan caps may put that out of reach. “They don’t want us to continue our education,” she said. “They want women to be barefoot and pregnant.”

    Susan Pratt, a nurse who is also president of a union representing nurses in Toledo, Ohio, called the move “a smack in the face.”

    “During the pandemic, the nurses showed up, and this is the thanks we get,” she said.

    The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment about the proposed rule changes. But its explainer said that “progressive voices” had “been fear mongering” about the changes and spreading “misinformation.”

    The Trump administration has said limits on graduate school loans are needed to reduce tuition costs and believes that capping student loans will push universities charging higher-than-average tuition to look at lowering rates.

    What counts as a ‘professional’ program

    While graduate students could previously borrow loans up to the cost of their degree, the new rules would set caps depending on whether the degree is considered a graduate or professional program. For program without a “professional” designation, students would be limited to borrowing $20,500 a year and up to $100,000 total.

    Students in a designated professional program would be able to borrow $50,000 a year and up to $200,000 in total.

    To define what counts as a professional program, the department turned to a 1965 law governing student financial aid. The law includes several examples of professional degrees but says it isn’t an exhaustive list. The Trump administration’s proposal, by contrast, says only the degrees spelled out in the new regulation can count as professional programs.

    The Education Department would define the following fields as professional programs: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology.

    Left out are nursing, physical therapy, dental hygiene, occupational therapy and social work — as well as fields outside of healthcare such as architecture, education, and accounting.

    One in six of the nation’s registered nurses held a master’s degree as of 2022, according to the American Assn. of Colleges of Nursing.

    The federal fact sheet noted that a “professional degree” is merely an internal definition it uses “to distinguish among programs that qualify for higher loan limits.” It is “not a value judgement about the importance of programs … It has no bearing on whether a program is professional in nature or not.”

    The federal rules would take effect in July, but can still be changed by the Education Department after a public comment period.

    Nursing leaders decry the change

    Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Assn., decried the proposed changes, saying they would widen an already painful shortfall of advanced practice nurses — whose roles require graduate degrees. Among them are nurse practitioners, who are able to diagnose illnesses and write prescriptions.

    “Nurse practitioners provide the largest amount of primary care services in the United States,” she said. “We have a primary care shortage right now. And we’re going to continue [to have one]. Now we’re not going to fully allow nurse practitioners to get the funding they need.”

    Kennedy said the new rules would exacerbate the California and nationwide nursing shortage because in most cases a doctoral degree is required to teach other nurses.

    “We are short over 2,000 nursing faculty in the United States,” she said. “So this has a downward spiral effect.”

    But the Education Department’s “Myth vs. Fact” sheet, released Monday, argued that its data shows that “95% of nursing students borrow below the annual loan limit and therefore are not affected by the new caps.”

    “Further, placing a cap on loans will push the remaining graduate nursing programs to reduce their program costs, ensuring that nurses will not be saddled with unmanageable student loan debt,” the department said.

    Kennedy said it would be very difficult for graduate nursing programs to cut costs, because of their focus on hands-on training. “I’m not quite sure where the schools in nursing are supposed to cut, because the faculty are already underpaid, and those workloads are at a point where it’s keeping the public safe training new nurses,” she said.

    Lin Zhan, dean of the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing, said the proposed changes are “deeply concerning” and urged policymakers to reject them.

    “We cannot afford to create barriers that limit entry and growth in this essential profession and any policy changes must prioritize expanding access and enabling professional nurses to practice with knowledge and compassion,” Zhan said. “Graduate-prepared nurses play a critical role across health care. … Their expertise is vital, especially as care becomes more complex and patient needs grow.”

    A coalition of healthcare organizations has also urged the Education Department to change course and noted that fields being excluded are largely filled by women. According to a U.S. Census Bureau report in 2019, women made up about three-fourths of the full-time, year-round healthcare workers in the U.S. and accounted for a much higher share in jobs such as dental and medical assistants.

    Deborah Trautman, president of American Assn. of Colleges of Nursing, said in a statement to The Times that “reducing the federal student loan limit for nurses pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees will likely discourage many from advancing their education.”

    “Yet nurses prepared at these levels are essential to the workforce — as advanced practice nurses, faculty, researchers, and expert clinicians,” she said.

    Associated Press reporters Collin Binkley and John Seewer contributed to this story.

    Daniel Miller

    Source link

  • Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the Education Department

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday accelerated the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education with a plan to transfer key, legally required functions to other agencies, including oversight of its $18-billion, core anti-poverty program, Title 1.

    Critics said the move was politicized and counterproductive and fear future program cuts. California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said vital services to the state and nation’s most vulnerable students were likely to be disrupted.

    The steps move toward fulfilling a Trump campaign promise to eliminate the department, which some conservatives have long derided as wasteful, ineffective and unnecessary.

    “The Trump Administration is taking bold action to break up the federal education bureaucracy and return education to the states,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission.”

    President Trump called for the department’s elimination in a March executive order. Both he and McMahon have spoken of a broad goal of sparking innovation through local control.

    Even before this effort, states provided about 90% of their own funding for education, but federal investment is still crucial, advocates say. In particular, the federal role has focused on ensuring services are provided for overlooked students and students with higher needs, such as those facing discrimination and poverty, and students with disabilities.

    While slashing the Education Department workforce, which Trump officials have characterized as a bloated bureaucracy, the president has adopted an interventionist agenda in education as well. He has threatened pulling federal funding if states and schools don’t follow his directives to combat antisemitism, clamp down on campus protests, end diversity, equity and inclusion programs and oppose expanded rights for transsexual students, among other issues in keeping with his agenda.

    The strategy behind the moves

    The key strategy announced Tuesday creates partnerships with other federal agencies, which will take on Education Department responsibilities. The department would retain legal authority even as the actual work shifts elsewhere.

    These partnerships are meant to sidestep federal rules — under the jurisdiction of Congress — that place programs, including Title I, specifically within the Education Department.

    Title I is expected to shift to the Department of Labor, which is likely to absorb an unknown number of education workers with the necessary experience and expertise. The long-term goal is to win buy-in from Congress — and then to eliminate the Education Department entirely, which requires congressional approval.

    “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state,” McMahon said.

    She also spoke of working “with Congress to codify these reforms,” an acknowledgment that the Department of Education was created by an act of Congress.

    Administration officials insist that their actions to date are legal, citing as precedent earlier agreements between federal agencies, including one example from the Biden administration. The scale of the current effort, however, is a much larger order of magnitude.

    Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) questioned Trump’s authority to take this action. “Not only is dismantling the education department without congressional approval illegal, but they chose today because they knew the Epstein vote would dominate the headlines. They clearly didn’t want the public to see what they were doing to our kids’ futures.”

    Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Assn., the nation’s largest teachers union, accused the administration of “taking every chance it can to hack away at the very protections and services our students need.”

    How the action affects vulnerable students

    The changes will complicate efforts to get money and services where they are needed, Thurmond said.

    “This is an unnecessary, disruptive change that is going to harm students, especially the most vulnerable,” Thurmond said. “It is clearly less efficient for state departments of education and local school districts to work with four different federal agencies instead of one.

    “Experience also tells us that any time you move expertise and responsibilities, you disrupt services. There is no way to avoid negative impacts on our children and our classrooms with a change of this magnitude.”

    But administration officials talked of new efficiencies and synergies, asserting that associating education with workforce development in the Department of Labor would make education more relevant to a student’s employment future.

    What happens to other programs?

    The Labor Department would oversee almost all grant programs that are now managed by the Education Department’s offices for K-12 and higher education. That includes funding pools for teacher training, English instruction and TRIO, a program that helps steer low-income students to college degrees.

    Tuesday’s action leaves in place the Education Department’s $1.6-trillion student loan portfolio and its funding for students with disabilities.

    But ultimately moving these programs seems likely if the mission remains to shutter the department.

    Another transfer puts Health and Human Services in charge of a grant program for parents who are attending college, along with management of foreign medical school accreditation. The State Department will take on foreign language programs. Interior will oversee programs for Native American education.

    Federal officials said states and schools should see no funding disruptions. Liz Huston, White House assistant press secretary, said Tuesday the administration “is fully committed to doing what’s best for American students, which is why it’s critical to shrink this bloated federal education bureaucracy while still ensuring efficient delivery of funds and essential programs.”

    The Education Department tested this approach in June, announcing the transfer of adult education programs to the Labor Department. Working out essential details took some five months, officials said Tuesday.

    The administration’s plan immediately drew support from Tim Walberg, a Republican who represents a southern Michigan district.

    “The past few decades have made one thing clear: The status quo is broken,” Walberg said. “As the bureaucracy swelled, left-wing bureaucrats were emboldened to waste taxpayer dollars on a radical agenda. As a result, our students have been left in the dust. Test scores are plummeting, students can’t read, and college graduates leave school burdened by debt rather than equipped with workforce-ready skills.”

    But the Education Department — and its central programs — has bipartisan support.

    One Republican expressing concern is Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.

    “The United States Congress created the U.S. Department of Education for very good reason,” Fitzpatrick said. “And for millions of families, particularly those raising children with disabilities or living in low-income communities, the Department’s core offices are not discretionary functions. They are foundational. They safeguard civil rights, expand opportunity, and ensure that every child, in every community, has the chance to learn, grow, and succeed on equal footing.”

    Feds say programs’ funding will continue

    Department officials said programs will continue to be funded at levels set by Congress. But that doesn’t stop programs from running afoul of another portion of the Trump agenda. For example, the Tuesday announcement notes that a program to help with the education of the children of migrant workers will transfer to the Labor Department.

    However, on other fronts the Trump administration is trying to eliminate that program. The administration first tried to hold back funding approved by Congress. The administration relented under pressure. But the administration also cut funding for migrant education from its budget proposal for future years.

    Officials said they did not yet have details on whether the changes would bring further job cuts at the Education Department, which has been thinned by waves of layoffs and retirements under pressure.

    Blume is a Times staff writer. Binkley writes for the Associated Press. Times staff writers Daniel Miller and Michael Wilner contributed to this report.

    Howard Blume, Collin Binkley

    Source link

  • Trump administration suggests it may ‘raid school lunch money’ to cover SNAP benefits

    The Trump administration spent Friday fighting to avoid restoring $4 billion in food assistance in jeopardy due to the government shutdown, suggesting it might need to “raid school-lunch money” in order to comply with court orders.

    The claim was part of a break-neck appeal in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, where the government hoped to duck a court order that would force it to pay out for food stamps — formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — through November.

    “There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Brett A. Shumate wrote in the appeal.

    The administration’s only option would be to “to starve Peter to feed Paul” by cutting school lunch programs, Shumate wrote.

    On Friday afternoon, the appellate court declined to immediately block the lower court’s order, and said it would quickly rule on the merits of the funding decree.

    SNAP benefits are a key fight in the ongoing government shutdown. California is one of several states suing the administration to restore the safety net program while negotiations continue to end the stalemate.

    Millions of Americans have struggled to afford groceries since benefits lapsed Nov. 1, inspiring many Republican lawmakers to join Democrats in demanding an emergency stopgap.

    The Trump administration was previously ordered to release contingency funding for the program that it said would cover benefits for about half of November.

    But the process has been “confusing and chaotic” and “rife with errors,” according to a brief filed by 25 states and the District of Columbia.

    Some states, including California, have started disbursing SNAP benefits for the month. Others say the partial funding is a functional lockout.

    “Many states’ existing systems require complete reprogramming to accomplish this task, and given the sudden — and suddenly changing — nature of USDA’s guidance, that task is impossible to complete quickly,” the brief said.

    “Recalculations required by [the government’s] plan will delay November benefits for [state] residents for weeks or months.”

    On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island ordered the full food stamp payout by the end of the week. He accused the administration of withholding the benefit for political gain.

    “Faced with a choice between advancing relief and entrenching delay, [the administration] chose the latter — an outcome that predictably magnifies harm and undermines the very purpose of the program it administers,” he wrote.

    “This Court is not naïve to the administration’s true motivations,” McConnell wrote. “Far from being concerned with Child Nutrition funding, these statements make clear that the administration is withholding full SNAP benefits for political purposes.”

    The appeal could extend that deadline by as little as a few hours, or nullify it entirely.

    But the latter may be unlikely, especially following the appellate court’s decision late Friday. The 1st Circuit is currently the country’s most liberal, with five active judges, all of whom were named to the bench by Democratic presidents.

    While the court deliberates, both sides are left sparring over how many children will go hungry if the other prevails.

    More than 16 million children rely on SNAP benefits. Close to 30 million are fed through the National School Lunch Program, which the government now says it must gut to meet the court’s order.

    But the same pool of cash has already been tapped to extend Women, Infants and Children, which is a federal program that pays for baby formula and other basics for some poor families.

    “This clearly undermines the Defendants’ point, as WIC is an entirely separate program from the Child Nutrition Programs,” McConnell wrote.

    In its Friday order, the 1st Circuit panel said it would issue a full ruling “as quickly as possible.”

    Sonja Sharp

    Source link

  • News We Love: Dog training programs aim to give shelter pets, inmates a new ‘leash’ on life

    IT’S A PROGRAM TRULY GIVING PUPS A NEW LEASH ON LIFE AS THEY WALK THE CORRIDORS OF LOUISIANA PRISON. YEAH. THE PARTNERSHIP, A COLLABORATION WITH THE SPCA, THE DOG SCHOOL AND THE LOUISIANA CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE. AND THIS WHOLE THING OPENS THE DOOR TO MORE PETS FINDING FOREVER HOMES WHILE GIVING INMATES A GREATER PURPOSE. FROM BEHIND THE GLASS TO BEHIND BARS. THESE ARE DOGS PULLED FROM KILL SHELTERS. THESE ARE INMATES THAT HAVE DONE HEINOUS CRIMES. BOTH ARE THINGS THAT PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT OR DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT, BUT TOGETHER THEY FORM A UNIQUE PLACE FOR SECOND CHANCES. IT’S IT’S TOTALLY LIFE CHANGING FOR MY INMATE TRAINERS. A NEW LEASH ON LIFE FOR BOTH THE INMATES AT CIW AND SAINT GABRIEL. AND THESE DOGS FROM THE LOUISIANA SPCA THAT HAVE BEEN OFTEN OVERLOOKED. THE TRAINING PROGRAM, SPEARHEADED BY BROOKE DUFOUR, PITS THE TWO TOGETHER, HELPING THESE SHELTER PETS FIND FOREVER HOMES. AND IN RETURN GIVES THESE WOMEN PURPOSE. WE TAKE ABOUT 5 TO 6 DOGS. THEY’RE TAKEN FROM OUR FACILITY TO THE ACTUAL INSTITUTION, AND FROM THERE THEY’RE PAIRED WITH THEIR HANDLER, OR THEY’RE INCARCERATED INDIVIDUAL. THE HANDLERS TRAIN THE PUPS. EVERYTHING FROM POTTY TRAINING, DOOR TRAINING, KENNEL TRAINING, REALLY WHATEVER MANNERS THEY NEED TO GET ADOPTED. IF WE HAVE DOGS THAT ARE ROCK STARS, LIKE THEY’RE JUST LEARNING EVERYTHING, THEN WE TRY TO MAKE THEM SERVICE DOGS. AND AFTER THE SIX WEEKS ARE UP, THE DOGS GRADUATE. FETCHING THAT DIPLOMA AND HOPEFULLY A FOREVER FAMILY. I THINK IT’S A REWARDING EXPERIENCE. IT’S ALL ENCOMPASSING BUT ALSO A VERY REWARDING EXPERIENCE. AND IT’S AT THE HEART OF OUR MISSION AS WELL. A MISSION THAT’S ALSO UNLEASHING HEARTS, LEAVING EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH VALUABLE SKILLS FOR A STABLE FUTURE. RANDI RANDI WDSU NEWS. SO FAR, 18 DOGS HAVE GRADUATED SINCE THAT PROGRAM STARTED JUST ABOUT A YEAR AGO, WITH FIVE MORE SET TO JOIN THE RAN

    Louisiana dog training programs aims to give shelter pets, inmates a new ‘leash’ on life

    The New Leash on Life program is giving inmates and shelter dogs a second chance at success

    Updated: 12:52 PM EDT Nov 1, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    It’s a program giving pups a second chance as they walk through the corridors of Louisiana prisons. The New Leash on Life program is a partnership with the LASPCA, The Dog School and the Louisiana Correctional Institute. “These are dogs from kill shelters. These are inmates that have done heinous crimes. Both are things that people don’t want to think about or don’t want to talk about,” said Brooke Defore, who oversees the New Leash on Life program. For six weeks, 5 to 6 shelter dogs from the LASPCA live with inmates at LCIW in St. Gabriel. Their inmate handlers teach them everything from potty training, kennel training, door training, essentially whatever manners they need to get adopted. “I think it’s a rewarding experience. It’s all encompassing, but also a very rewarding experience,” said Christian Moon, with the LASPCA. “It’s at the heart of our mission as well.”If the dogs are exceptional, they could then go back to help veterans or those with special needs. “If we have dogs that are rock stars, like they’re just learning everything, then we try to make them service dogs,” said Defore. By taking dogs overlooked behind glass kennels and taking them behind bars, it’s opening the door to getting them into forever homes while also giving inmates a greater purpose. So far, 18 dogs have graduated, with about five more waiting in the wings.For more information about the program or The Dog School, visit https://thedogschool.net/.

    It’s a program giving pups a second chance as they walk through the corridors of Louisiana prisons.

    The New Leash on Life program is a partnership with the LASPCA, The Dog School and the Louisiana Correctional Institute.

    “These are dogs from kill shelters. These are inmates that have done heinous crimes. Both are things that people don’t want to think about or don’t want to talk about,” said Brooke Defore, who oversees the New Leash on Life program.

    For six weeks, 5 to 6 shelter dogs from the LASPCA live with inmates at LCIW in St. Gabriel. Their inmate handlers teach them everything from potty training, kennel training, door training, essentially whatever manners they need to get adopted.

    “I think it’s a rewarding experience. It’s all encompassing, but also a very rewarding experience,” said Christian Moon, with the LASPCA. “It’s at the heart of our mission as well.”

    If the dogs are exceptional, they could then go back to help veterans or those with special needs.

    “If we have dogs that are rock stars, like they’re just learning everything, then we try to make them service dogs,” said Defore.

    By taking dogs overlooked behind glass kennels and taking them behind bars, it’s opening the door to getting them into forever homes while also giving inmates a greater purpose.

    So far, 18 dogs have graduated, with about five more waiting in the wings.

    For more information about the program or The Dog School, visit https://thedogschool.net/.

    Source link

  • Concordia University told to reinstate women’s teams while Title IX lawsuit plays out

    Concordia University’s attempt to bolster athletics with one hand while slashing four sports with the other was hampered by a federal judge who granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Division II university from dropping the women’s swimming and tennis programs.

    Seven members of the women’s swimming and diving team and two women’s tennis players allege in a sex discrimination class action lawsuit filed in August that by dropping the programs, the Irvine school is violating Title IX.

    Judge Fred W. Slaughter agreed, ordering that the injunction remain in place for the duration of the lawsuit. Concordia must immediately reinstate the women’s teams and provide them “with funding, staffing, and all other benefits commensurate with their status as varsity intercollegiate teams,” Slaughter wrote in a 19-page ruling.

    Concordia announced the cuts of the men’s and women’s swimming and tennis teams in May, stating the school had “determined that the current model is not sustainable in the midst of increasing operational costs, facility limitations, and significant changes in the collegiate athletics landscape.”

    But the cuts came at a time when Concordia was plowing $25.5 million into upgrading the university’s athletic infrastructure. A week after athletic director Crystal Rosenthal calculated the cuts would save $550,000 a year, she sent an email to unaffected athletes boasting that major improvements would be made to Concordia’s athletics infrastructure.

    Rosenthal, who is also the school’s softball coach, wrote: “We are currently in the midst of a major $17.5-million construction project that includes a new 19,000-square-foot facility featuring a state-of-the-art weight room, locker rooms, and modern training room space. This facility represents our belief in the future of our athletic programs and our student-athletes.”

    She added that more than $8 million had been earmarked for upgrades to the baseball, softball and soccer/track/lacrosse facilities — including the installation of outdoor lights.

    The lawsuit followed in August and Slaughter issued the preliminary injunction Friday. Arthur Bryant, the lawyer representing the female athletes, said that women comprised 59% of Concordia’s students but received only 51.2% of the roster spots for sports.

    “The court’s thorough, compelling decision confirms what we said from the start: CUI’s decision to eliminate the women’s swimming and diving and tennis teams was a flagrant violation of Title IX,” Bryant said in a statement. “Concordia needs to add about 100 opportunities for women to reach gender equity. It should not be eliminating any women’s teams.”

    The concurrent spending on infrastructure was particularly galling to female athletes and some alumni, according to SwimSwam. The swimming and water polo teams train off-campus and place few operational demands on the school. The swimming program had 23 men and 25 women on its rosters last season.

    Concordia, a Lutheran-affiliated school with about 1,500 undergraduates that moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2017, is one of several universities whose efforts to trim athletic programs have been thwarted by courts.

    A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction against Stephen F. Austin State in August, preventing the school from eliminating its women’s beach volleyball, bowling and golf programs. According to Sportico, at least eight other schools since 2020 have been ordered to reinstate programs after Title IX challenges: Iowa, William & Mary, UConn, Dartmouth, Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina Pembroke and Dickinson College.

    Steve Henson

    Source link

  • Here’s how the 2025 legislative session closed: The lowdown on the environment

    Gov. Gavin Newsom wrapped up the 2025 legislative session with the usual flurry of activity, signing several important environmental, energy and climate bills and vetoing others ahead of Monday’s deadline.

    Among the newest laws in California are efforts to accelerate clean energy projects and advance the state’s position as a climate leader — but also decisions to ramp up oil drilling and reject the phase-out of forever chemicals.

    Here’s a look at what happened this year:

    In September, Newsom signed a blockbuster suite of bills including the reauthorization of California’s signature cap-and-trade program, which sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions and lets large polluters buy and sell emissions allowances at quarterly auctions. The Legislature extended the program by 15 years to 2045, rebranded it as “cap-and-invest” and specified how its revenues will be allocated for wildfire prevention efforts, high-speed rail and other projects.

    The greenhouse gas trading program is seen as essential for the state to meet its climate targets, including reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.

    “California really needed to act this year to decisively try to put in policies to meet our climate goals [and support] the economy and different sectors,” said Susan Nedell, senior western advocate with the nonpartisan policy group E2. She called state legislative efforts especially important as the Trump administration aims to erode California’s authority on tailpipe emission standards, electric vehicle initiatives and renewable energy projects, among others.

    “This is the time for California to lead, and I really feel like they came through on it as a state,” Nedell said.

    WHAT ELSE BECAME LAW

    • One of the more controversial bills of the year was Senate Bill 237, which makes it easier to drill up to 2,000 new oil wells in Kern County. It’s a tradeoff that also makes it more difficult to drill new oil or gas wells offshore. Legislators said it will help address the volatility of gasoline prices following announcements from oil companies Phillips 66 and Valero that they are shutting down two big refineries in the state. Environmental groups were quick to condemn the bill.
    • Also controversial was Assembly Bill 825, which will expand California’s participation in a regional power market — enabling the state to buy and sell more clean power with other Western states. Opponents feared that it will cede some control of California’s power grid to out-of-state authorities, including the federal government. Supporters said it will improve grid reliability and save money for ratepayers.
    • January’s firestorm in L.A. led to a renewed focus on the state’s approach to fires, including Senate Bill 254, which contains various policies to address California’s aging electric infrastructure and wildfire prevention goals. It will secure about $18 billion to replenish the state’s wildfire fund — a state insurance policy for utilities — which officials say will help protect ratepayers from excessive utility liability costs. It also will establish a program to speed up the construction of power lines needed for clean energy projects.
    • Assembly Bill 39 requires cities and counties with at least 75,000 residents to plan for more electrification infrastructure by 2030, including electric vehicle charging and building upgrades. The measures must address the needs of low-income households and disadvantaged communities.
    • Senate Bill 80 will create a $5-million fund to accelerate research and development for fusion energy. Fusion creates energy by slamming two atoms together. The state hopes to launch the world’s first fusion energy pilot project by the 2040s. “Fusion energy has the immense potential to provide consistent, clean baseload power on demand that will help us meet our clean energy goals,” said Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced), the bill’s author, in a statement.
    • Assembly Bill 888 creates a grant program to help low-income homeowners clear defensible space around their houses and install fire-safe roofs. It is “exactly the kind of proactive, people-first policy California needs,” said Eric Horne, California director for the nonprofit Megafire Action, which is geared to ending large wildfires.
    • Senate Bill 653 means that state agencies have to pay more attention to using native species in their fire prevention work and use science-based standards to avoid introducing invasive, fire-prone species.
    • Senate Bill 429 establishes the Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program at the California Department of Insurance, which will fund research into developing and deploying a public wildfire catastrophe model — a computer simulation that estimates property damage from large wildfires and helps communities better assess and prepare for risk.
    • Assembly Bill 462 streamlines approvals for accessory dwelling units on properties affected by the 2025 wildfires in the California Coastal Zone, requiring decisions on coastal permits within 60 days and eliminating some appeals.
    • Assembly Bill 818 accelerates local permitting for rebuilding homes and allows residents to place temporary homes, such as manufactured homes or ADUs, on private lots during reconstruction.
    • Assembly Bill 245 gives residents additional time to rebuild their homes or businesses in the wake of the 2025 wildfires without experiencing a property tax increase.
    • Senate Bill 614 will establish new regulations for the safe transport of carbon dioxide captured from large polluters or removed from the atmosphere. The legislation will authorize the development of dedicated pipelines to move CO2 to underground geological formations for permanent storage, and was described by Newsom as a vital next step for the state’s burgeoning carbon capture, removal and sequestration market.
    • Assembly Bill 14 expands the “Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program” statewide. The program encourages large vessels to voluntarily reduce their speed in designated areas in order to reduce air pollution and reduce the risk of fatal vessel strikes and harmful underwater acoustic impacts on whales.

    WHAT WAS VETOED

    • The governor vetoed Senate Bill 34, which would have required the South Coast Air Quality Management District to consider certain factors before implementing regulations at the region’s ports. Opponents, including health and environmental groups, said it would have ultimately weakened its authority and ability to meet clean air standards. In its place, the air district and the ports are pursuing a voluntary cooperative agreement that will include obligations for zero-emissions infrastructure and other clean-air efforts. “With the current federal administration directly undermining our state and local air and climate pollution reduction strategies, it is imperative that we maintain the tools we have,” Newsom wrote in his veto.
    • Assembly Bill 740 would have directed the state’s energy agencies to create an implementation plan for “virtual power plants” — networks of small energy resources such as smart thermostats, home batteries and rooftop solar panels that can help reduce strain on the grid. Newsom vetoed it earlier this month, stating that it would result in additional costs for the California Energy Commission’s already depleted operating fund. But Edson Perez, California lead at the nonprofit Advanced Energy United, called its veto a “costly mistake” and said the bill would have saved ratepayers more than $13 billion.
    • Newsom this week also vetoed Senate Bill 682, which would have phased out the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in consumer products such as nonstick cookwear and products for infants and children. The governor cited concerns about affordability in his veto.

    Earlier this year, the governor also signed the most significant reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, since it originally became law in 1970. Signed in June, Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131 exempt a broad array of housing development and infrastructure projects from CEQA in an effort to ease new construction in the state. Supporters said it will help address the state’s housing crisis, while many environmental groups were outraged by the move.

    “While California was able to advance on grid regionalization, strengthen energy affordability, uphold local air quality protection, and protect endangered species, we’re frustrated by the Governor’s vetoes of measures that would have banned forever chemicals, prioritized cost effective energy consumption, expanded virtual power plants to lower electricity bills, and banned microplastics,” said Melissa Romero, policy advocacy director with the nonprofit California Environmental Voters.

    Hayley Smith

    Source link

  • The Trump loyalist who picked up where Musk left off with slashing federal workforce: ‘We’re having fun’

    WASHINGTON — It has been four months since Elon Musk, President Trump’s bureaucratic demolition man, abandoned Washington in a flurry of recriminations and chaos.

    But the Trump administration’s crusade to dismantle much of the federal government never ended. It’s merely under new management: the less colorful but more methodical Russell Vought, director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.

    Vought has become the backroom architect of Trump’s aggressive strategy — slashing the federal workforce, freezing billions in congressionally approved spending in actions his critics often call illegal.

    Now Vought has proposed using the current government shutdown as an opportunity to fire thousands of bureaucrats permanently instead of merely furloughing them temporarily. If any do return to work, he has suggested that the government need not give them back pay — contrary to a law Trump signed in 2019.

    Those threats may prove merely to be pressure tactics as Trump tries to persuade Democrats to accept spending cuts on Medicaid, Obamacare and other programs.

    But the shutdown battle is the current phase of a much larger one. Vought’s long-term goals, he says, are to “bend or break the bureaucracy to the presidential will” and “deconstruct the administrative state.”

    He’s still only partway done.

    “I’d estimate that Vought has implemented maybe 10% or 15% of his program,” said Donald F. Kettl, former dean of the public policy school at the University of Maryland. “There may be as much as 90% to go. If this were a baseball game, we’d be in the top of the second inning.”

    Along the way, Vought (pronounced “vote”) has chipped relentlessly at Congress’ ability to control the use of federal funds, massively expanding the power of the president.

    “He has waged the most serious attack on separation of powers in American history,” said Elaine Kamarck, an expert on federal management at the Brookings Institution.

    He’s done that mainly by using OMB, the White House office that oversees spending, to control the day-to-day purse strings of federal agencies — and deliberately keeping Congress in the dark along the way.

    “If Congress has given us authority that is too broad, then we’re going to use that authority aggressively,” Vought said last month.

    Federal judges have ruled some of the administration’s actions illegal, but they have allowed others to stand. Vought’s proposal to use the shutdown to fire thousands of bureaucrats hasn’t been tested in court.

    Vought developed his aggressive approach during two decades as a conservative budget expert, culminating in his appointment as director of OMB in Trump’s first term.

    In 2019, he stretched the limits of presidential power by helping Trump get around a congressional ban on funding for a border wall, by declaring an emergency and transferring military funds. He froze congressionally mandated aid for Ukraine, the action that led to Trump’s first impeachment.

    Even so, Vought complained that Trump had been needlessly restrained by cautious first-term aides.

    “The lawyers come in and say, ‘It’s not legal. You can’t do that,’” he said in 2023. “I don’t want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office over whether something is legal.”

    Vought is a proponent of the “unitary executive” theory, the argument that the president should have unfettered control over every tentacle of the executive branch, including independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve.

    When Congress designates money for federal programs, he has argued, “It’s a ceiling. It is not a floor. It’s not the notion that you have to spend every dollar.”

    Most legal experts disagree; a 1974 law prohibits the president from unilaterally withholding money Congress has appropriated.

    Vought told conservative activists in 2023 that if Trump returned to power, he would deliberately seek to inflict “trauma” on federal employees.

    “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” he said. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work.”

    When Vought returned to OMB for Trump’s second term, he appeared to be in Musk’s shadow. But once the flamboyant Tesla chief executive flamed out, the OMB director got to work to make DOGE’s work the foundation for lasting changes.

    He extended many of DOGE’s funding cuts by slowing down OMB’s approval of disbursements — turning them into de facto freezes.

    He helped persuade Republicans in Congress to cancel $9 billion in previously approved foreign aid and public broadcasting support, a process known as “rescission.”

    To cancel an additional $4.9 billion, he revived a rarely used gambit called a “pocket rescission,” freezing the funds until they expired.

    Along the way, he quietly stopped providing Congress with information on spending, leaving legislators in the dark on whether programs were being axed.

    DOGE and OMB eliminated jobs so quickly that the federal government stopped publishing its ongoing tally of federal employees. (Any number would only be approximate; some layoffs are tied up in court, and thousands of employees who opted for voluntary retirement are technically still on the payroll.)

    The result was a significant erosion of Congress’ “power of the purse,” which has historically included not only approving money but also monitoring how it was spent.

    Even some Republican members of Congress seethed. “They would like a blank check … and I don’t think that’s appropriate,” said former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

    But the GOP majorities in both the House and Senate, pleased to see spending cut by any means, let Vought have his way. Even McConnell voted to approve the $9-billion rescission request.

    Vought’s newest innovation, the mid-shutdown layoffs, would be another big step toward reducing Congress’ role.

    “The result would be a dramatic, instantaneous shift in the separation of powers,” Kettl said. “The Trump team could kill programs unilaterally without the inconvenience of going to Congress.”

    Some of the consequences could be catastrophic, Kettl and other scholars warned. Kamarck calls them “time bombs.”

    “One or more of these decisions is going to blow up in Trump’s face,” she said.

    “FEMA won’t be capable of reacting to the next hurricane. The National Weather Service won’t have the forecasters it needs to analyze the data from weather balloons.”

    Even before the government shutdown, she noted, the FAA was grappling with a shortage of air traffic controllers. This week the FAA slowed takeoffs at several airports in response to growing shortages, including at air traffic control centers in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.

    In theory, a future Congress could undo many of Vought’s actions, especially if Democrats win control of the House or, less likely, the Senate.

    But rebuilding agencies that have been radically shrunken would take much longer than cutting them down, the scholars said.

    “Much of this will be difficult to reverse when Democrats come back into fashion,” Kamarck said.

    Indeed, that’s part of Vought’s plan.

    “We want to make sure that the bureaucracy can’t reconstitute itself later in future administrations,” he said in April in a podcast with Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was slain on Sept. 10.

    He’s pleased with the progress he’s made, he told reporters in July.

    “We’re having fun,” he said.

    Doyle McManus

    Source link

  • Cincinnati brings dominant offensive line into test vs. UCF

    (Photo credit: Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

    Coming off a win over then-No. 14 Iowa State on Saturday, its first over a ranked team in head coach Scott Satterfield’s tenure, Cincinnati is on the cusp of the AP Top 25.

    Cincinnati (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) is 2-0 in the Big 12 for the first time in three seasons as a Power Four program, and expectations are rising both inside and outside the program as it prepares to host UCF on Saturday.

    The Bearcats, for starters, are one of three teams in the country to allow only one sack through six weeks. Their offensive line has been named the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week three times, including for their performance this past week, when they paved the way for the Bearcats’ 260 rushing yards and 474 total yards in a 38-30 upset.

    Quarterback Brendan Sorsby has thrown for 12 touchdowns and just one interception this season, with that one interception coming against Nebraska in Week 1. He’s also rushed for 291 yards and five touchdowns.

    ‘This offensive line group is special. I believe that,’ Bearcats center Gavin Gerhardt said. ‘We have gotten better as time moves on.’

    ‘It starts with (offensive line) Coach (Nic) Cardwell. I don’t think there is a better offensive line coach in the country. I have had three offensive line coaches in my career, but Coach Cardwell is the best offensive line coach for many reasons.’

    Cincinnati’s offensive line will face a stiff test against the visiting Knights.

    UCF (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) boasts a strong defensive front, which has recorded nine sacks and 29 tackles for loss through five games. The Knights are coming off a 27-20 home loss to Kansas, where they were stuffed on three straight runs from the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter.

    Quarterback Tayven Jackson left with an injury in the third quarter and was wearing a sling on the sideline later in the game. This was one week after he left UCF’s game against Kansas State with a sprained left shoulder joint.

    If Jackson can’t go Saturday, it will be Cam Fancher at quarterback for the Knights.

    ‘This team is good enough to win some of these games, and we just have to be much better in all phases, and more consistent,’ head coach Scott Frost said. ‘We’re awfully close to where we need to be to win some of these games. We haven’t done it yet.’

    The winner of Saturday’s game will take the lead in the all-time series, 6-5. Cincinnati won last year’s meeting 19-13 on the road. Its last home win against UCF was in 2021, the same season Cincinnati went to the College Football Playoff.

    –Field Level Media

    Source link

  • Orlando, Orange County push back on DOGE wasteful spending accusations

    548. SEE YOU GUYS THEN. SEE YOU THEN. TONY. ALL RIGHT. THE STATE DOSE TEAM CONTINUES TO TARGET WHAT THEY CALL WASTEFUL SPENDING BY CITIES AND COUNTIES. ORLANDO IS TAKING THE LATEST HIT FROM REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP. BUT AS WESH TWO NEWS POLITICAL REPORTER GREG FOX EXPLAINS, THE STATE IS LEAVING OUT KEY INFORMATION. ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE. OUR PROPERTY TAXES ARE HIGH BECAUSE OF YOU. USING RHYME AND METER, REPUBLICAN CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER BLAISE INGOGLIA BLASTED SPENDING IN THE CITY OF ORLANDO DURING THE PAST TWO MONTHS, THE CFO AND STATE DOSAGE TEAM HAVE BEEN REVIEWING SPENDING IN THE CITY AND IN ORANGE COUNTY. THEY FLAGGED SEVERAL PROGRAMS, INCLUDING $460,000 SPENT COUNTING TREES, $150,000 SPENT ON ASSISTANCE FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS, $67,500 OVER FIVE YEARS FOR HOT YOGA CLASSES, AND $6,000 ANNUALLY FOR A POET LAUREATE. THE PEOPLE KEEP ASKING, WHERE DOES IT GO? THE COFFERS RUN EMPTY, YET TAXES STILL GROW IN THE HALLS OF THE CITY. ONE LESSON IS CLEAR WASTEFUL SPENDING ECHOES YEAR AFTER YEAR. I CAUGHT UP WITH MAYOR BUDDY DYER AND HE SAYS THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MAY HAVE WANTED TO DO A LITTLE MORE HOMEWORK BEFORE MAKING HIS REMARKS. IT’S ALL POLITICS. IT SHOULD BE BENEATH THEM. MAYOR DYER EXPLAINED THAT THE YOGA PROGRAM IS PART OF EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND WELLNESS, AND THE ASSERTION THAT THE CITY IS WASTING TAXPAYER MONEY. COUNTING TREES DOESN’T HOLD WATER. ACCORDING TO THE MAYOR, BECAUSE THE PROGRAM OF ENSURING THE HEALTH OF THE CITY’S TREE CANOPY ISN’T FUNDED WITH LOCAL TAX DOLLARS, STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING. AND WE HAVE A TREE TRUST FUND WHERE IF YOU TAKE DOWN A TREE, YOU’VE GOT TO PAY INTO IT. SO NO GENERAL FUND RELATED TO THAT. SO THEY DIDN’T DIG VERY DEEP IN TERMS OF THEIR ANALYSIS AND CRITICIZING MONEY SPENT ON THE CITY’S POET LAUREATE. SEAN, WELCOME. DURING THE PAST FOUR YEARS, THE MAYOR POINTS OUT IT WAS MODELED AFTER THE STATE’S POET LAUREATE PROGRAM THAT’S BEEN AROUND FOR NEARLY A CENTURY, AND MONEY THAT GOES TO THE ORLANDO CENTER FOR JUSTICE TO ASSIST THOSE WITH IMMIGRATION CASES IS NOT FROM THE GENERAL FUND, BUT THROUGH GRANTS. RESPONDING TO CONTINUED CRITICISM FROM THE CFO ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY SPENDING, MAYOR JERRY DEMINGS RELEASED A STATEMENT SAYING ORANGE COUNTY TAKES ITS RESPONSIBILITY TO TAXPAYERS SERIOUSLY, AND WE STAND BY THE INVESTMENTS WE MAKE IN OUR COMMUNITY COVERING ORANGE COUNTY. GREG FOX, WESH TWO NEWS. THE STATE HAS GIVEN NO TIMETABLE ON WHEN THEY

    Orlando, Orange County push back on DOGE wasteful spending accusations

    Updated: 6:56 PM EDT Oct 2, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    “Roses are red, violets are blue. Our property taxes are high because of you,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said during a Jacksonville news conference. The Republican used rhyme and meter to blast spending in the city of Orlando and Orange County, spending on programs that conservative leadership in Tallahassee considers wasteful and unnecessary. During the past two months, the CFO and state DOGE team have been reviewing spending in the city and county. Ingoglia flagged several programs in Orlando, including $460,000 spent “counting” trees, $150,000 spent on assistance for undocumented immigrants, $67,500 over five years for hot yoga classes and $6,000 annually for a poet laureate. Focusing on the poet laureate, Ingoglia said, “The people keep asking, where does it go? The coffers run empty, yet taxes still grow. In the halls of the city, one lesson is clear: wasteful spending echoes year after year.” WESH 2 News talked with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who said the CFO may not have done all the homework he should have before making his remarks, with Dyer adding, “It’s all politics. It should be beneath them.”Dyer explained that the yoga program is part of employee health and wellness, which is encouraged in cities and counties across the country. The assertion that the city is wasting taxpayer money counting trees doesn’t hold water, according to the mayor, because the program of ensuring the health of the city’s tree canopy isn’t funded with tax dollars, with Dyer adding, “That’s funded with state and federal grants. It is a State Department of Agriculture program that we’re doing, and we have a tree trust fund that, when you take down a tree, you have to pay into it. So there is no general fund in that. So they didn’t dig very deep in terms of their analysis.” Addressing the money spent on the city’s poet laureate, who has been Shawn Welcome during the past four years, the mayor points out that it was modeled after the state’s poet laureate program, that’s been around since 1927.It’s worth noting that the state does not pay a stipend to the poet laureate. Orlando had been paying less annually, but for the new poet laureate named this month, the annual stipend will amount to $6,000, up from $4,000 annually for Welcome. And money that goes to the Orlando Center for Justice, to assist those with immigration cases, is not from the general fund, but through grants. Responding to continued criticism from the CFO about Orange County spending, Mayor Jerry Demings released a statement saying, “Orange County takes its responsibility to taxpayers seriously, and we stand by the investments we make in our community.”

    ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

    “Roses are red, violets are blue. Our property taxes are high because of you,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said during a Jacksonville news conference.

    The Republican used rhyme and meter to blast spending in the city of Orlando and Orange County, spending on programs that conservative leadership in Tallahassee considers wasteful and unnecessary.

    During the past two months, the CFO and state DOGE team have been reviewing spending in the city and county.

    Ingoglia flagged several programs in Orlando, including $460,000 spent “counting” trees, $150,000 spent on assistance for undocumented immigrants, $67,500 over five years for hot yoga classes and $6,000 annually for a poet laureate.

    Focusing on the poet laureate, Ingoglia said, “The people keep asking, where does it go? The coffers run empty, yet taxes still grow. In the halls of the city, one lesson is clear: wasteful spending echoes year after year.”

    WESH 2 News talked with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who said the CFO may not have done all the homework he should have before making his remarks, with Dyer adding, “It’s all politics. It should be beneath them.”

    Dyer explained that the yoga program is part of employee health and wellness, which is encouraged in cities and counties across the country.

    The assertion that the city is wasting taxpayer money counting trees doesn’t hold water, according to the mayor, because the program of ensuring the health of the city’s tree canopy isn’t funded with tax dollars, with Dyer adding, “That’s funded with state and federal grants. It is a State Department of Agriculture program that we’re doing, and we have a tree trust fund that, when you take down a tree, you have to pay into it. So there is no general fund in that. So they didn’t dig very deep in terms of their analysis.”

    Addressing the money spent on the city’s poet laureate, who has been Shawn Welcome during the past four years, the mayor points out that it was modeled after the state’s poet laureate program, that’s been around since 1927.

    It’s worth noting that the state does not pay a stipend to the poet laureate. Orlando had been paying less annually, but for the new poet laureate named this month, the annual stipend will amount to $6,000, up from $4,000 annually for Welcome.

    And money that goes to the Orlando Center for Justice, to assist those with immigration cases, is not from the general fund, but through grants.

    Responding to continued criticism from the CFO about Orange County spending, Mayor Jerry Demings released a statement saying, “Orange County takes its responsibility to taxpayers seriously, and we stand by the investments we make in our community.”

    Source link

  • U.S. will consider new applications for DACA for the first time in years

    WASHINGTON — For the first time in four years, the federal government plans to begin processing initial applications for DACA, the Obama-era program that grants deportation protection and work permits to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

    The move, outlined in a proposal Monday by the Justice Department, would reopen DACA to first-time applicants in every state except Texas. The proposal was filed in response to an ongoing lawsuit in U.S. district court in Brownsville, Tex.

    According to the filing, Texas residents who already have DACA could continue receiving protection from deportation but would no longer qualify for employment authorization.

    Lawsuits over DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, have been ongoing since President Trump moved to end the program during his first term.

    Under the government’s proposal, DACA recipients who move into Texas would risk losing their legal ability to work, while moving out of Texas could allow them to resume qualifying for a two-year work permit.

    The proposal is pending a final decision by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen.

    “These proposals do not limit DHS from undertaking any future lawful changes to DACA,” the filing states.

    The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

    Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, deputy director of federal advocacy for United We Dream, said misinformation was circulating Tuesday on social media.

    “We’ve seen a lot of folks saying initial applications will start right away. That’s not true,” she said. “The status quo stays. If you are a DACA recipient right now, even in Texas, if you can renew you should renew as soon as possible because then you have another two years.”

    Other advocacy groups, such as the nonprofit Dreamers2gether, urged DACA recipients and hopeful applicants to leave Texas and file a change of address form with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

    More than 525,000 immigrants are currently enrolled in DACA. Texas follows California in the ranking of states with the highest number of program enrollees, according to USCIS.

    To qualify, applicants must prove they came to the U.S. before they turned 16 and have graduated from high school or were honorably discharged from the military. Applicants also cannot have serious criminal records.

    But for years the program has sat in a state of uncertainty, stoking anxiety for many recipients, amid court battles that stopped applications from being processed and left many younger people who would have aged into qualifying for DACA instead vulnerable to deportation.

    In this first term, Trump attempted to shut down the program, but the Supreme Court concluded in 2020 that his administration had acted improperly. The court did not rule on the program’s legality.

    Because of the court battle, the program has been closed to new applicants since 2021, though current recipients could still renew their work permits.

    Los Angeles resident Atziri Peña, 27, runs a clothing company called Barrio Drive that donates proceeds toward helping DACA recipients renew their applications.

    Peña, who also has DACA, said she knows many people in Texas who are thinking about moving out of state. The latest news is another example of how the immigration system breaks families apart, she said.

    “A lot of us who are DACA recipients, we don’t necessarily know what it was like to be undocumented before DACA, so most of us have careers that we won’t be able to continue,” Peña said.

    United We Dream has recorded at least 19 current DACA recipients detained by immigration agents in recent months. In one case in Texas, immigration authorities have kept Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago detained despite an immigration judge saying she cannot be deported.

    “It’s a way of making sure she can’t renew her DACA and then she becomes deportable,” said Macedo do Nascimento. In her view, the Department of Homeland Security’s attitude toward DACA recipients lately has diminished the protections it offers.

    “The bigger picture here is DHS is moving onto a new policy on DACA anyway — without having to go through the courts, the rulemaking process or taking DACA away altogether,” she said. “They’re really trying to end the program piece by piece, recipient by recipient.”

    Even so, immigrants across the country are looking forward to applying for DACA for the first time.

    “While we could still get detained, it’s a little bit of a sense of safety and hope,” Peña said. “I have heard of people who are just waiting for DACA to reopen. But let’s see what happens and let’s hope they don’t use this as a way to catch more of us.”

    Andrea Castillo, Rachel Uranga

    Source link

  • Fox News host apologizes for remarks about killing mentally ill homeless people

    “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade apologized Sunday for remarks he made last week that suggested using involuntary lethal injections to get mentally ill homeless people off the streets.

    Kilmeade’s comments came during a discussion last Wednesday on “Fox & Friends” about the Aug. 22 stabbing death of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, on a light rail train in Charlotte, N.C.

    Zarutska’s suspected killer, DeCarlos Brown Jr., is a homeless man with a long criminal record and is a paranoid schizophrenic, according to his family.

    The attack on Zarutska was captured on security cameras and circulated widely online. The incident has sparked a national debate on public safety policy and criminal sentencing.

    The topic led “Fox & Friends” co-host Laurence Jones to say that billions of dollars have been spent on programs to care for the homeless and mentally ill but many of those afflicted resist help.

    “A lot of them don’t want to take the programs,” Jones said. “A lot of them don’t want to get the help that is necessary. You can’t give them the choice. Either you take the resources that we’re going to give you, or you decide that you’ve got to be locked up in jail.”

    Kilmeade added: “Or involuntary lethal injection or something — just kill ‘em.”

    A clip of Kilmeade’s remarks started to circulate widely on X on Saturday.

    “I apologize for that extremely callous remark,” Kilmeade said during Sunday’s edition of the morning program. “I am obviously aware that not all mentally ill, homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina and that so many homeless people deserve our empathy and compassion.”

    Many online commentators pointed out that Kilmeade’s comments evoked the extermination of mentally ill and disabled people that was authorized by Adolf Hitler in 1939. The German chancellor’s euthanasia program killed more than 250,000 people ahead of the Holocaust.

    For now, Kilmeade has avoided the fate of political analyst Matthew Dowd, who lost his contributor role at MSNBC after commenting on the Wednesday shooting death of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

    Dowd told MSNBC anchor Katy Tur that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”

    Dowd, once a political strategist for President George W. Bush, described Kirk as a divisive figure “who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups.”

    The angry reaction on social media was immediate after Dowd’s comments suggested that Kirk’s history of incendiary remarks led to the shooting.

    Rebecca Kutler, president of MSNBC, issued an apology and cut ties with Dowd.

    Dowd also apologized in a post on BlueSky. “I in no way intended to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack,” he said.

    The top executives at MSNBC parent Comcast sent a company-wide memo Friday citing Dowd’s firing and told employees “we need to do better.”

    Stephen Battaglio

    Source link

  • Portland Police To Use Drones As First Responders In New Pilot Program – KXL

    Photo Courtesy Portland Police

    PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Police Bureau, in partnership with the Gresham Police Department, has launched a Drone as First Responder pilot program aimed at improving emergency response times, enhancing public safety and de-escalating potentially dangerous situations.

    The program will operate out of Portland Police’s East Precinct, where two of Gresham’s unmanned aerial systems have been installed on the roof. The drones will soon begin responding directly to certain emergency calls within a 2.5-mile radius — covering roughly 19 square miles.

    Unlike traditional drone use where devices are stored in vehicles and deployed by officers at the scene, the DFR model keeps drones in a “ready-to-launch” state. Pilots stationed in a control room — including both PPB and GPD personnel — will remotely operate the drones, which can reach calls at the edge of their range in under two minutes.

    The drones are intended to provide real-time situational awareness to officers en route, allowing for better coordination, faster decision-making and, in some cases, redirecting calls to non-police resources when appropriate.

    Gresham’s DFR program has been operational since May 2023 and includes a similar setup at City Hall and the Rockwood Public Safety Facility. Portland will not be purchasing new drones for the pilot; instead, it will use Gresham’s existing “drone-in-a-box” equipment. The only added cost will be staffing.

    The drones will not be used for general surveillance, and their use is bound by Oregon state law and PPB’s internal policies. Cameras are angled toward the horizon during flight and are only activated to record when there is a reasonable expectation of capturing evidence of a crime.

    Privacy concerns are being taken seriously, police officials said. Drones will not record or transmit images from private areas without a warrant or exigent circumstances. The devices are also prohibited from being weaponized, used for mass surveillance, or deployed in discriminatory ways.

    In the first seven months of 2025, PPB drones were deployed 426 times without receiving a single community complaint, according to the Bureau.

    The DFR program will initially run on a limited schedule and involve just two drones at East Precinct. If successful, officials say it could be expanded to other parts of the city — with full transparency and public reporting.

    More about:

    Grant McHill

    Source link

  • Brevard Schools fast-track students into careers with hands-on programs

    Brevard Public Schools showcased several programs at local schools meant to get students on a faster path to a career in medicine, engineering, culinary arts and even space.WESH 2 got an exclusive look at the career-centered programs giving these students hands-on experience to do crucial jobs.“I love this program, I wish my parents would have had this growing up,” senior Madison Fostvedt said.Her parents are both in the medical field. She’s part of the nursing program at Melbourne High School. It recently partnered with Health First to streamline students directly to jobs at their hospitals.“I’m gonna apply at Holmes Regional to start as a CNA,” Fostvedt said. “Then I’m gonna go to Eastern Florida or Keiser to start getting my nursing degree.”Over in the kitchen, the culinary program at Melbourne High has students catering local events. They whipped up some chocolate chip cookies and bananas Foster on Thursday.We then went to Palm Bay Magnet High School. Students in their fire academy practice search and rescue, and later this year, students like Bryce Medina will have an opportunity to complete a live burn for the first time.”This gives you a jumpstart more than anyone just joining,” Medina said. “It’s a great opportunity.”The school also has an engineering program that partners with NASA. It’s called the HUNCH program: High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware. It was one of NASA’s first engineering programs in Brevard County.”You see the big companies like SpaceX. You see big companies like Blue Origin– not just NASA jobs but commercial jobs because we are changing the way information moves right here in Brevard County,” Congressman Mike Haridopolos said. “These students are gonna have a bright future because high-paying jobs are waiting for them.”Congressman Haridopolos toured the programs on Thursday to see the impact of public dollars going toward our students.”To have this hands-on training, learning firsthand from the professionals who actually do it, really remarkable thing,” Haridopolos said.VyStar Credit Union is also partnering with the district to bring a business program to Melbourne High School.

    BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. —

    Brevard Public Schools showcased several programs at local schools meant to get students on a faster path to a career in medicine, engineering, culinary arts and even space.

    WESH 2 got an exclusive look at the career-centered programs giving these students hands-on experience to do crucial jobs.

    “I love this program, I wish my parents would have had this growing up,” senior Madison Fostvedt said.

    Her parents are both in the medical field. She’s part of the nursing program at Melbourne High School. It recently partnered with Health First to streamline students directly to jobs at their hospitals.

    “I’m gonna apply at Holmes Regional to start as a CNA,” Fostvedt said. “Then I’m gonna go to Eastern Florida or Keiser to start getting my nursing degree.”

    Over in the kitchen, the culinary program at Melbourne High has students catering local events. They whipped up some chocolate chip cookies and bananas Foster on Thursday.

    We then went to Palm Bay Magnet High School. Students in their fire academy practice search and rescue, and later this year, students like Bryce Medina will have an opportunity to complete a live burn for the first time.

    “This gives you a jumpstart more than anyone just joining,” Medina said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

    The school also has an engineering program that partners with NASA. It’s called the HUNCH program: High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware. It was one of NASA’s first engineering programs in Brevard County.

    “You see the big companies like SpaceX. You see big companies like Blue Origin– not just NASA jobs but commercial jobs because we are changing the way information moves right here in Brevard County,” Congressman Mike Haridopolos said. “These students are gonna have a bright future because high-paying jobs are waiting for them.”

    Congressman Haridopolos toured the programs on Thursday to see the impact of public dollars going toward our students.

    “To have this hands-on training, learning firsthand from the professionals who actually do it, really remarkable thing,” Haridopolos said.

    VyStar Credit Union is also partnering with the district to bring a business program to Melbourne High School.

    Source link