Tag: public

Experts say screening tips in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is ‘tremendous’ and critical work

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An Arizona sheriff’s department got more than 4,000 calls within 24 hours after the release of videos of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie’s porch. Many tips will be worthless. Others could have merit. Experts say one thing’s certain: They can’t be ignored.Tips can solve crimes — big or small — and eerie images of a mysterious male covered head to toe have been the most significant clues shared with the public during Guthrie’s nearly two-week-old disappearance in the Tucson area.“It’s a tremendous amount of work,” said Roberto Villaseñor, a former Tucson police chief.“In a situation like this, you really cannot do what’s been done without tips and public input,” he said. “They have processed the scene. But once that’s done and exhausted, it’s hard to move forward without additional information coming in.”Tens of thousands of tipsThe Pima County sheriff and the FBI announced phone numbers and a website to offer tips about the apparent kidnapping of Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Several hundred detectives and agents have been assigned to the case, the sheriff’s department said.The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day when Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff’s department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.”Every tip is reviewed for credibility, relevance, and information that can be acted upon by law enforcement,” the FBI said Thursday on X, adding that the effort is a 24-hour operation. It said it won’t comment on the tips received.Video above: FBI shares video in Nancy Guthrie caseTips have blown open investigations many timesMajor U.S. crimes for years have been cracked with a tip. In 1995, the brother and sister-in-law of Ted Kaczynski recognized certain tones in an anonymous, widely published anti-technology manifesto. Known by the FBI as the “Unabomber,” Kaczynski was found living in a shack in Montana and subsequently admitted to committing 16 bombings over 17 years, killing three people.The 1989 murders of an Ohio woman and two teen daughters in Florida were solved three years later when St. Petersburg police asked the public if they recognized handwriting found in the victims’ car. A former neighbor led investigators to Oba Chandler.Retired Detroit homicide investigator Ira Todd recalled how images from a gas station camera solved the disappearance and death of a 3-month-old baby — and stopped authorities from pursuing the wrong person in 2001. “A niece of this guy saw it on TV and says, ‘That’s my uncle,’” he said.The murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 generated nearly 40,000 tips to state and federal authorities. None had a direct role in the capture of Bryan Kohberger, but the public’s involvement nonetheless was “absolutely” important, said Lt. Darren Gilbertson of the Idaho State Police.“That’s one of the things that kept us going for weeks,” he said, while authorities awaited DNA and other evidence.Sorting the helpful from the conspiracyGilbertson said much of the early vetting was done by the FBI. He said agents and analysts who were screening tips had a good grasp of what information could be spiked and what should be handed up to key investigators. Some tips arrived by regular mail.“Aliens to bears to crazy conspiratorial ideas — don’t even pass that along,” Gilbertson said.Nancy Guthrie was last seen Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Hours before her family knew she was gone, a porch camera recorded video of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, jacket and gloves — images that were released by the FBI along with a public plea for help. The FBI on Thursday said the person, who they now consider a suspect, is a male, about 5-foot, 9-inches tall with a medium build. The agency also named the brand and model of the backpack.The sheriff’s department has not said whether any tips tied to the videos have advanced the investigation.“I’m hopeful,” said Villaseñor, the former Tucson chief. “I have seen cases where simpler and less detailed information has helped bring somebody about. Maybe someone recognizes clothing, maybe the bag. You never know what someone will key on.”

TUCSON, Ariz. —

An Arizona sheriff’s department got more than 4,000 calls within 24 hours after the release of videos of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie’s porch. Many tips will be worthless. Others could have merit. Experts say one thing’s certain: They can’t be ignored.

Tips can solve crimes — big or small — and eerie images of a mysterious male covered head to toe have been the most significant clues shared with the public during Guthrie’s nearly two-week-old disappearance in the Tucson area.

“It’s a tremendous amount of work,” said Roberto Villaseñor, a former Tucson police chief.

“In a situation like this, you really cannot do what’s been done without tips and public input,” he said. “They have processed the scene. But once that’s done and exhausted, it’s hard to move forward without additional information coming in.”

Tens of thousands of tips

The Pima County sheriff and the FBI announced phone numbers and a website to offer tips about the apparent kidnapping of Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Several hundred detectives and agents have been assigned to the case, the sheriff’s department said.

The FBI said it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, the day when Guthrie was reported missing. The sheriff’s department, meanwhile, said it has taken at least 18,000 calls.

“Every tip is reviewed for credibility, relevance, and information that can be acted upon by law enforcement,” the FBI said Thursday on X, adding that the effort is a 24-hour operation. It said it won’t comment on the tips received.

FBI via AP
This combo from images provided by the FBI shows surveillance footage at the home of Nancy Guthrie the night she went missing in Tucson, Ariz.

Video above: FBI shares video in Nancy Guthrie case

Tips have blown open investigations many times

Major U.S. crimes for years have been cracked with a tip. In 1995, the brother and sister-in-law of Ted Kaczynski recognized certain tones in an anonymous, widely published anti-technology manifesto. Known by the FBI as the “Unabomber,” Kaczynski was found living in a shack in Montana and subsequently admitted to committing 16 bombings over 17 years, killing three people.

The 1989 murders of an Ohio woman and two teen daughters in Florida were solved three years later when St. Petersburg police asked the public if they recognized handwriting found in the victims’ car. A former neighbor led investigators to Oba Chandler.

Retired Detroit homicide investigator Ira Todd recalled how images from a gas station camera solved the disappearance and death of a 3-month-old baby — and stopped authorities from pursuing the wrong person in 2001. “A niece of this guy saw it on TV and says, ‘That’s my uncle,’” he said.

The murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 generated nearly 40,000 tips to state and federal authorities. None had a direct role in the capture of Bryan Kohberger, but the public’s involvement nonetheless was “absolutely” important, said Lt. Darren Gilbertson of the Idaho State Police.

“That’s one of the things that kept us going for weeks,” he said, while authorities awaited DNA and other evidence.

Sorting the helpful from the conspiracy

Gilbertson said much of the early vetting was done by the FBI. He said agents and analysts who were screening tips had a good grasp of what information could be spiked and what should be handed up to key investigators. Some tips arrived by regular mail.

“Aliens to bears to crazy conspiratorial ideas — don’t even pass that along,” Gilbertson said.

Nancy Guthrie was last seen Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Hours before her family knew she was gone, a porch camera recorded video of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, jacket and gloves — images that were released by the FBI along with a public plea for help. The FBI on Thursday said the person, who they now consider a suspect, is a male, about 5-foot, 9-inches tall with a medium build. The agency also named the brand and model of the backpack.

The sheriff’s department has not said whether any tips tied to the videos have advanced the investigation.

“I’m hopeful,” said Villaseñor, the former Tucson chief. “I have seen cases where simpler and less detailed information has helped bring somebody about. Maybe someone recognizes clothing, maybe the bag. You never know what someone will key on.”

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February 13, 2026
Oregon Supreme Court Ruling Leads To Dismissal Of More Than 1,400 Criminal Cases Statewide – KXL

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The Oregon Supreme Court ruled this week that criminal cases must be dismissed if the state fails to provide a court-appointed attorney within set time limits, a decision that will immediately result in the dismissal of more than 1,400 cases across Oregon.

In its opinion in State v. Roberts, issued Tuesday, the court held that misdemeanor cases must be dismissed if a defendant is not appointed an attorney within 60 days, and felony cases must be dismissed if no attorney is provided within 90 days. The court said the remedy is required to protect defendants’ constitutional right to counsel.

State officials say the ruling will have an immediate and widespread impact. According to prosecutors, 1,465 cases statewide are subject to dismissal under the decision, including 915 cases in Multnomah County and 263 in Washington County.

The cases affected include charges such as drug trafficking, aggravated theft, firearms and weapons offenses, felony driving under the influence of intoxicants, and strangulation, prosecutors said. They warned that the dismissals will affect crime victims and public safety.

In a joint statement, prosecutors said they respect the court’s ruling and agree that access to legal representation is a fundamental right. However, they argued that the decision fails to account for the rights of victims and the public, and highlights what they describe as a long-standing breakdown in Oregon’s public defense system.

“Oregon’s public defense system is broken,” the statement said, adding that the state has struggled for years to ensure that defendants are appointed lawyers in a timely manner.

The ruling comes amid an ongoing shortage of public defenders in Oregon, which has left hundreds of defendants without legal representation at various points in the criminal process. State officials and lawmakers have convened work groups and emergency task forces in recent years to address the issue.

Prosecutors disputed claims that the crisis is driven by a lack of funding or an overwhelming number of cases. They pointed to state spending of more than $300 million per year on public defense, which they said is nearly four times the national per-capita average. They also noted that hourly rates for public defenders in Oregon rank among the highest in the country, and that statewide criminal case filings are about 15% lower than they were before the crisis began.

Despite those figures, the problem has persisted, they said.

Prosecutors said their offices have taken steps to reduce the strain on the system, including modifying charging practices, creating special resolution dockets, and implementing efficiency measures. They also said they have participated in legislative hearings and advisory groups and supported proposals they believed would help address the shortage.

After four years of what they described as a continuing crisis, prosecutors said they believe a long-term solution must come from state leadership. They welcomed Gov. Tina Kotek’s appointment of Jessica Sanchagrin as permanent director of the Office of Public Defense Services, but said immediate action is needed to prevent further case dismissals.

They called on the governor and the agency’s leadership to implement short-term solutions quickly, warning that the consequences of inaction are already being felt in courts across the state.

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Jordan Vawter

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February 6, 2026
Crews rescue dog from frozen creek in Maryland

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I’M KATE AMARA WBAL TV 11 NEWS. THANK YOU. A CHOCOLATE LAB IS RECOVERING AFTER A BITTER COLD BRUSH WITH DANGER EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS LAB NAMED GIZMO GOT STUCK ON A FROZEN CREEK FOR ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER HE SLID DOWN A HILL WHILE GOING FOR HIS MORNING POTTY BREAK. FIRST RESPONDERS WERE ABLE TO GET GIZMO BACK ON LAND BY USING A SPECIALIZED BASKET. THEY SAY HE WAS HYPOTHERMIC, BUT WAS ABLE TO EAT AND GOT TREATED IN THE AMBULANCE. GIZMO WA

Crews were called to a frozen creek in Maryland to help rescue a dog that was trapped on the ice. According to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, Monday morning, crews from their department, along with the Annapolis Fire Department, were called to Luce Creek for a reported chocolate lab stuck on the ice in Parole, Maryland, which is outside Annapolis and is around 27 miles from Baltimore.Crews arrived at the area and were able to locate the dog. They carefully went on the ice and used a Stokes basket in order to rescue the dog. Officials remind the public that the ice on area waterways is dangerously thin. Stay off the ice and if a person or pet falls through the ice, do not attempt a rescue on their own.

Crews were called to a frozen creek in Maryland to help rescue a dog that was trapped on the ice.

According to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, Monday morning, crews from their department, along with the Annapolis Fire Department, were called to Luce Creek for a reported chocolate lab stuck on the ice in Parole, Maryland, which is outside Annapolis and is around 27 miles from Baltimore.

Crews arrived at the area and were able to locate the dog. They carefully went on the ice and used a Stokes basket in order to rescue the dog. Officials remind the public that the ice on area waterways is dangerously thin. Stay off the ice and if a person or pet falls through the ice, do not attempt a rescue on their own.

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January 26, 2026
Supreme Court appears likely to strike down California law banning guns in stores and restaurants

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WASHINGTON — Do licensed gun owners have a right to carry a loaded weapon into stores, restaurants and other private places that are open to the public?

California and Hawaii are among five states with new laws that forbid carrying firearms onto private property without the consent of an owner or manager. But the Trump administration joined gun-rights advocates on Tuesday in urging the Supreme Court to strike down these laws as unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment.

Such a law “effectively nullifies licenses to carry arms in public,” Trump’s lawyers said.

If you “stop at a gasoline station, you are committing a crime,” Deputy Solicitor Gen. Sarah Harris told the court.

An attorney representing Hawaii said the issue is one of property rights, not gun rights.

“An invitation to shop is not an invitation to bring your Glock,” Washington attorney Neal Katyal told the court. “There is no constitutional right to enter property that includes a right to bring firearms.”

The justices sounded split along the usual ideological lines, with the court’s conservatives signaling they are likely to strike down the new laws in five Democratic-led states.

“You are relegating the 2nd Amendment to second-class status,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told Katyal.

He said the court had ruled law-abiding persons have a right to carry a firearm for self-defense when they leave home. That would include going to stores or businesses that are open to the public.

“If the owners don’t like guns, why don’t they just put up a sign?” Alito said.

Both sides agreed that business owners are generally free to allow or prohibit guns on their property. However, state officials said, the laws are important because business owners rarely post signs that either welcome or forbid the carrying of guns.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the 2nd Amendment should have the same standing as the 1st Amendment.

He said it was understood based on the 1st Amendment that a political candidate may walk up to a house and knock on the door or drop off a pamphlet. He questioned why the court should uphold a law that limits gun owners from entering places that are open to the public.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh said they too believed the “right to keep and bear arms” included the right to carry weapons, including into stores.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said property rights should prevail over gun rights.

“Is there a right to go on private property with a gun?” Sotomayor asked repeatedly. She said the court had never upheld such a broad right.

But with the possible exception of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, none of the conservatives agreed.

Four years ago, the court ruled law-abiding gun owners had a right to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense when they left home. They also said then that guns may be prohibited in “sensitive places” but they did not decide what that meant.

In the wake of that decision, California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and Maryland adopted new laws that restricted carrying guns in public places, including parks and beaches.

The laws also said gun owners may not take a gun into a privately owned business without the “express authorization” of an owner or manager. California’s law went a step further and said the owner must post a clear sign allowing guns.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the laws from Hawaii and California, except for the required posting of a sign in California.

Three Hawaii residents with concealed carry permits appealed to the Supreme Court and won the backing of the Trump administration.

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David G. Savage

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January 20, 2026
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of the nation’s oldest newspapers, shuttering

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will be shutting down its operations with a final edition slated for May 3, the newspaper’s owner, Block Communications, announced Wednesday.”We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement states.The Post-Gazette is the largest newspaper representing the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and traces its roots to 1786, forming under its current name in 1927.Block Communications said the closure comes after losing “more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette” over the past 20 years. In addition, Pittsburghsister station WTAE reports that they cited a November decision that ruled in favor of the paper’s union, restoring the terms of its 2014-17 contract. Workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh had been on strike for more than three years, then the longest active strike in the country.On Wednesday morning, the Post-Gazette’s publisher asked a court to freeze an order requiring the company to change its health insurance for union workers. Shortly after they were denied, the announcement came that the newspaper would close.In the announcement on Wednesday, Block Communications said the decision would require them to work under a contract that was “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.””We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement stated.The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh released a statement about the Post-Gazette shutdown, saying in part, “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh.”Post-Gazette staff learned about the closure during a Zoom meeting. In the video, which Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has seen, the president of Block Communications called it extremely difficult news as she made the virtual announcement that will end nearly two centuries of the P-G in Pittsburgh.”This is a seismic change for the entire region,” said Andrew Conte, managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. “We often talk about the local news crisis as a problem of the media, but really, it’s a crisis for all of us. It’s a community challenge because it affects how people interact with local news and information, and when something as large as the Post-Gazette goes away, it creates a huge void.”Conte worked as a journalist in the Pittsburgh area for decades. Like many Pittsburghers, he has watched the yearslong battle between Post-Gazette journalists and Block Communications and the recent end to a three-year strike.”People have been thinking about what it would mean to lose the Post-Gazette for a long time,” he said. “But when it actually happened today, it felt like a gut punch.”The Post-Gazette started out in 1786 as a weekly called The Pittsburgh Gazette and was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. As one of its first major stories, the Gazette published the newly adopted Constitution of the United States.Pittsburgh is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. County Executive Sara Innamorato called the decision to close “a major loss” for the area.”I’m deeply worried about the public’s ability to access trustworthy and fact-checked information at a time when misinformation is running rampant online,” she said in a statement.It is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the United States.Conte said it’s tough news for the journalists losing their jobs, as well as the community.”The real challenge is the work that journalists do that is accurate, objective, relevant to lots of people, that trained people are going out and asking these questions and finding out what’s going on and telling people, and that’s what’s being lost here is that we have fewer people doing that work,” he said.Announcement follows Supreme Court denial of bid to halt order Also on Jan. 7, 2026, the Supreme Court denied the Post-Gazette’s request to freeze a temporary injunction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit had issued more than nine months ago. In a November 2025 decision, the appeals court held that the company had bargained in bad faith and improperly declared an impasse in the bargaining process. It ordered the company to comply with remedies ordered by the National Labor Relations Board.PG Publishing Co. filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court to stay the order in response. In the Jan. 7 decision, which vacated a Dec. 22 stay from Justice Samuel Alito’s that had paused the 3rd Circuit’s injunction, justices did not explain their reasoning, Bloomberg Law reported.Second Pittsburgh paper to announce closing in one weekBlock Communications is the same company that owned the Pittsburgh City Paper, a free alt-weekly that announced it was closing on Dec. 31, 2025, after 34 years serving the city.In a statement to sister station WTAE’s news partners at the Trib, owner Block Communications said, in part, “The City Paper business model has not reached a level of financial performance that allows Block Communications to continue operating it responsibly.”Block Communications also owns The Blade, a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio.

PITTSBURGH —

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will be shutting down its operations with a final edition slated for May 3, the newspaper’s owner, Block Communications, announced Wednesday.

“We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement states.

The Post-Gazette is the largest newspaper representing the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and traces its roots to 1786, forming under its current name in 1927.

Block Communications said the closure comes after losing “more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette” over the past 20 years. In addition, Pittsburghsister station WTAE reports that they cited a November decision that ruled in favor of the paper’s union, restoring the terms of its 2014-17 contract. Workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh had been on strike for more than three years, then the longest active strike in the country.

On Wednesday morning, the Post-Gazette’s publisher asked a court to freeze an order requiring the company to change its health insurance for union workers. Shortly after they were denied, the announcement came that the newspaper would close.

In the announcement on Wednesday, Block Communications said the decision would require them to work under a contract that was “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.”

“We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement stated.

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh released a statement about the Post-Gazette shutdown, saying in part, “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh.”

Post-Gazette staff learned about the closure during a Zoom meeting. In the video, which Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has seen, the president of Block Communications called it extremely difficult news as she made the virtual announcement that will end nearly two centuries of the P-G in Pittsburgh.

“This is a seismic change for the entire region,” said Andrew Conte, managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. “We often talk about the local news crisis as a problem of the media, but really, it’s a crisis for all of us. It’s a community challenge because it affects how people interact with local news and information, and when something as large as the Post-Gazette goes away, it creates a huge void.”

Conte worked as a journalist in the Pittsburgh area for decades. Like many Pittsburghers, he has watched the yearslong battle between Post-Gazette journalists and Block Communications and the recent end to a three-year strike.

“People have been thinking about what it would mean to lose the Post-Gazette for a long time,” he said. “But when it actually happened today, it felt like a gut punch.”

The Post-Gazette started out in 1786 as a weekly called The Pittsburgh Gazette and was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. As one of its first major stories, the Gazette published the newly adopted Constitution of the United States.

Pittsburgh is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. County Executive Sara Innamorato called the decision to close “a major loss” for the area.

“I’m deeply worried about the public’s ability to access trustworthy and fact-checked information at a time when misinformation is running rampant online,” she said in a statement.

It is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the United States.

Conte said it’s tough news for the journalists losing their jobs, as well as the community.

“The real challenge is the work that journalists do that is accurate, objective, relevant to lots of people, that trained people are going out and asking these questions and finding out what’s going on and telling people, and that’s what’s being lost here is that we have fewer people doing that work,” he said.

Announcement follows Supreme Court denial of bid to halt order

Also on Jan. 7, 2026, the Supreme Court denied the Post-Gazette’s request to freeze a temporary injunction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit had issued more than nine months ago.

In a November 2025 decision, the appeals court held that the company had bargained in bad faith and improperly declared an impasse in the bargaining process. It ordered the company to comply with remedies ordered by the National Labor Relations Board.

PG Publishing Co. filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court to stay the order in response.

In the Jan. 7 decision, which vacated a Dec. 22 stay from Justice Samuel Alito’s that had paused the 3rd Circuit’s injunction, justices did not explain their reasoning, Bloomberg Law reported.

Second Pittsburgh paper to announce closing in one week

Block Communications is the same company that owned the Pittsburgh City Paper, a free alt-weekly that announced it was closing on Dec. 31, 2025, after 34 years serving the city.

In a statement to sister station WTAE’s news partners at the Trib, owner Block Communications said, in part, “The City Paper business model has not reached a level of financial performance that allows Block Communications to continue operating it responsibly.”

Block Communications also owns The Blade, a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio.

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January 7, 2026
POLICE: Public asked to avoid area due to police investigation in Clermont

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The Clermont Police Department is advising the public to avoid the area near 12th and Lake Minneola Drive on Thursday. An investigation is being conducted in the area known as West Park, CPD said. This may lead to traffic restrictions in the area.>> This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is released.

CLERMONT, Fla. —

The Clermont Police Department is advising the public to avoid the area near 12th and Lake Minneola Drive on Thursday.

An investigation is being conducted in the area known as West Park, CPD said.

This may lead to traffic restrictions in the area.

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You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

>> This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information is released.

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January 1, 2026
Person barricaded near shopping center in Winters, police say to avoid the area

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Person barricaded near shopping center in Winters, police say to avoid the area

Updated: 10:25 PM PST Dec 26, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Multiple law enforcement agencies are working to draw a barricaded person outside of a building in Winters, according to police. The Winters Police Department said there is no threat to the public, but is advising people to avoid the area of East Street, Edwards Street, Baker Street and East Abbey Street. The scene is near a shopping center in that area that includes a Round Table Pizza and Dollar General store. It is unclear what led to the person being barricaded or whether they are armed. This is a developing story. Stay with KCRA 3 for the latest. 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

Multiple law enforcement agencies are working to draw a barricaded person outside of a building in Winters, according to police.

The Winters Police Department said there is no threat to the public, but is advising people to avoid the area of East Street, Edwards Street, Baker Street and East Abbey Street. The scene is near a shopping center in that area that includes a Round Table Pizza and Dollar General store.

It is unclear what led to the person being barricaded or whether they are armed.

This is a developing story. Stay with KCRA 3 for the latest.

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

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December 26, 2025
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein

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At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakersThe missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.Scant new insight in the initial disclosuresSome of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.The gaps go further.The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountabilityAmong the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.”I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked contextFederal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.”For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.”I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.”There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) —

At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.

Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakers

The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”

Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.

Scant new insight in the initial disclosures

Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.

Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

The gaps go further.

The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability

Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.

The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.

There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.

That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.

“I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.

Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context

Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.

The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.

Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.

Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.

Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.

The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.

Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.

One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.

Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.

“For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”

The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.

Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.

He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.

“I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.

“There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.

Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

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December 21, 2025
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein

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At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakersThe missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.Scant new insight in the initial disclosuresSome of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.The gaps go further.The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountabilityAmong the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.”I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked contextFederal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.”For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.”I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.”There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) —

At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.

Related video above: Justice Department’s partial release of Epstein files frustrates lawmakers

The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Justice Department didn’t answer questions Saturday about why the files disappeared but said in a post on X that “photos and other materials will continue being reviewed and redacted consistent with the law in an abundance of caution as we receive additional information.”

Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: “What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.”

The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Department’s much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epstein’s crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.

Scant new insight in the initial disclosures

Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department’s initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.

Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions — records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

The gaps go further.

The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britain’s former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability

Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Department’s decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.

The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epstein’s homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.

There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton, but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors’ names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.

That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress, who fought to pass the law forcing the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epstein’s crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.

“I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us,” said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.

Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context

Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.

The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages of records in the department’s possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.

Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases, or Freedom of Information Act requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.

Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked “Grand Jury-NY,” likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.

Trump’s Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions, and no explanation was given for why any of them were together.

The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007, yet never charged him.

Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.

One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.

Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.

“For every girl that I brought to the table, he would give me $200,” she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. “I also told them that if they are underage, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.”

The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.

Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trump’s first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epstein’s accusers.

He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.

“I’m not saying it was the right view,” Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.

“There’s been a lot of changes in victim shaming,” Acosta said.

Associated Press journalists Ali Swenson, Christopher L. Keller, Aaron Kessler and Mike Catalini contributed to this report.

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December 21, 2025
WATCH: Motorist shows moments military plane crash lands

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A military plane crash-landed in a southeast Oklahoma City field on Thursday, with one motorist capturing the plane on video as he was driving in the area.In the video provided by Matthew Topchian, the plane, identified as an Air Force OA-1K Skyraider II, can be seen coming down just above the tree line before partially landing on a roadway.Oklahoma National Guard officials said the crash happened near Southeast 119th Street and South Sooner Road and that two crew members were on board. One of the crew members was a civilian contractor and the other an active-duty U.S. Air Force member.Neither were injured in the incident.Officials said the plane and the crew were assigned to the 492d Special Operations Wing that operates out of Will Rogers Air National Guard Base. They were on a training mission at the time of the crash-landing.

OKLAHOMA CITY —

A military plane crash-landed in a southeast Oklahoma City field on Thursday, with one motorist capturing the plane on video as he was driving in the area.

In the video provided by Matthew Topchian, the plane, identified as an Air Force OA-1K Skyraider II, can be seen coming down just above the tree line before partially landing on a roadway.

Oklahoma National Guard officials said the crash happened near Southeast 119th Street and South Sooner Road and that two crew members were on board. One of the crew members was a civilian contractor and the other an active-duty U.S. Air Force member.

Neither were injured in the incident.

Officials said the plane and the crew were assigned to the 492d Special Operations Wing that operates out of Will Rogers Air National Guard Base. They were on a training mission at the time of the crash-landing.

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October 27, 2025
This CEO Took His Company Public 2 Years Ago. Here’s His Best Advice for How to IPO

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But how does a company actually go public—and what does a CEO need to do to adapt their leadership style in the aftermath?

To learn more, Inc. spoke with Marc de Garidel, CEO of the publicly-traded biotech company Abivax, which focuses on developing treatments for patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. Abivax went public in 2015 on Europe’s Euronext exchange, then did so again in 2023—after de Garidel came aboard—with an American IPO on the Nasdaq, where its shares have since risen by more than 700 percent despite launching in the midst of a geopolitical crisis. Here’s what de Garidel had to say about his journey.

You became CEO in May of 2023, and the U.S. IPO came in October. How did that play out?

When I came in, the board told me, ‘You need to do an IPO as soon as possible, because we don’t have enough money to finish our phase three trials.’ So we built a business plan on how to build a premier company around inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, and how to disrupt the landscape. So there was much more ambition, more long-term thinking, and the intent to raise a large amount of capital in order to execute that strategy. We did basically two months of work, and we laid it out to the board. The board accepted it, and we started the traditional IPO process. We picked a number of banks who could be part of the bank syndicate. We picked the appropriate lawyers; we worked with Cooley to support the legal work. And off we went.

If you remember, in 2023 the market was starting to really be shaky. Before us, there were only 10 IPOs. We were going to be the 11th. We had meetings with maybe 50 or 60 investors at that time. We were pretty optimistic. Then, in the summer, the index started to further decline, and in October, as we were getting to go out for the IPO, the Gaza invasion occurred. Everything broke loose. Stocks went down. That week, there were three IPOs that were supposed to go, and in the end we were the only one that made it happen. But I can tell you, as the week progressed, we started to see the number of potential orders shrinking.

What was your approach with your employees and with shareholders during the IPO?

It’s a process that needs to be taken with a lot of care. Externally, you need three things. One, you need very good lawyers who are very accustomed to the process and have a good relationship with the SEC, because obviously you file your S-1 and need to make sure that the story you tell on the S-1 is okay from a legal standpoint, but also acceptable by the SEC. Two, you need to have a bank syndicate which will try to sell the story to investors, to their network, where you create a lot of demand so that when you do the IPO, you have an excess of demand for buying the shares. And the third piece is your investor base. This is why doing a prior crossover round was essential, because it anchored a set of top-notch U.S. investors who—even if the IPO environment was going to be bad—were ready to cover the financing needs of the company. This gave a lot of confidence to new investors, because one of the first questions they ask as part of the IPO process is how much of the IPO money the current investors would cover. If it’s only 10 or 20 percent, then they say, ‘Oh, it means that all these guys want to get out, and they don’t believe in the future of the company.’ In our case, we knew it would be nearly 100 percent; so there was a very, very strong syndicate through the crossover, ensuring that almost whatever happened, we could do this IPO.

How did you change your leadership style after you went public? Is it different running a public company versus a private one?

It requires more rigor. You have this cadence of reporting to investors. There are things you can say; things you cannot say. You need to be very careful about how you convey the information. You have to portray confidence, but what you don’t want is to over-promise and go into a situation where ultimately you don’t deliver what you said—and then you’re dead. What I say often is: “I do what I say, I say what I do.” I tend to not over-promise and not be too rosy, but try to be confident. You don’t want to be too aggressive with investors, but at the same time, you need to show that you still believe in your project and your venture. So it’s a dance.

The IPO market seems like it’s slowly opening back up, at least in the U.S. What advice would you give entrepreneurs and business leaders who are curious about going public and capitalizing on that opportunity?

It’s an exaggeration, but in this market, you have only one chance to go. Investors are very, very picky and very tough, because they are very uncertain. They are not doing too well. So if you go, be very, very prepared. Don’t go if you’re not prepared; you need to answer to many people, and you need to have milestones in the short term. If you have to wait two and a half years before you can demonstrate value, don’t go, because you’ll get creamed. In this current environment, you really need to set clear milestones which are tangible elements of value appreciation for the shareholder and for the investors. Otherwise, you’re cooked, and it’s better to continue the private path.

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Brian Contreras

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October 15, 2025
L.A. planners clear $2-billion project in Skid Row neighborhood

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A proposed mega-development in downtown Los Angeles, which would replace a cold storage facility with a $2-billion residential and commercial complex, cleared a major hurdle last week when the city Planning Commission backed it.

Commissioners unanimously recommended the construction of Fourth & Central in the Skid Row neighborhood.

The 7.6-acre compound along Central Avenue that would contain apartments, offices, shops and restaurants in 10 distinct buildings of various sizes that would change the city skyline. The City Council will consider final approval later this year.

The project, which would be built near the neighborhood’s boundary with the Arts District, is being proposed by property owner Larry Rauch, president of Los Angeles Cold Storage. His family has operated food chilling facilities at Fourth Street and Central Avenue since the 1960s and plans to move the business to a new location.

In its place would be 1,589 rental apartments with 249 affordable units, along with 401,000 square feet of creative office space and 145,748 square feet of retail or restaurant space. The complex was conceived by Long Beach architect Studio One Eleven.

In response to changing market conditions and reactions from community members, a number of revisions have been made to Fourth & Central since the project was initially proposed in 2021.

Rendering of Fourth & Central, a $2-billion mixed-use development planned to replace a cold storage facility in downtown Los Angeles.

(Tomorrow Inc)

The tallest building, an apartment tower, has been reduced to 30 stories from 44. With housing more in demand than lodging, the hotel originally planned for the project has been replaced by additional residential units, including more affordable housing units.

The open space design has been changed to create better pedestrian connections to the Little Tokyo Galleria shopping center north of the complex. The 2 acres of open space in the project will be accessible to the public, Rauch said.

Denver real estate developer Continuum Partners, which initially launched the project with Rauch, is no longer involved, Rauch said.

“Continuum has chosen to focus its resources elsewhere at this time; the Fourth & Central Project will be moving forward with LA Cold Storage at the lead,” he said in a statement.

If approved, it would probably take a year to 18 months to complete final plans for the project before starting work. Fourth & Central is moving through its preliminary stages at a time when many other developers have put residential projects in Los Angeles on hold because it’s difficult to find viable construction financing at current interest rates.

Many equity investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, are also reluctant to park money in L.A. because the rapidly changing rules make it impossible to predict profits.

Among investors’ concerns are public policies such as the United to House Los Angeles (Measure ULA) transfer tax on large real estate sales, and also temporary limits on evicting tenants that were enacted during the pandemic.

“We’ve spent years working on our plan to transform this industrial property into a mixed-use community, which made it so rewarding to hear city decision-makers agree with our vision,” Rauch said after the Planning Commission vote.

Among the organizations voicing support for the project were the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, the Little Tokyo Business Assn. and the Central City Assn.

“This project represents a significant stride toward addressing the region’s housing challenges,” said Nella McOsker, president of the Central City Assn. “Plus, the new retail and restaurant space will attract business and people to downtown.”

Fourth & Central is not the only mega project being planned on the east side of downtown.

In July, the City Council approved 670 Mequit, a $1.4-billion complex intended to have apartments, offices, a hotel, a charter elementary school, shops and restaurants. It is to replace a cold storage facility on the west side of the Los Angeles River with the mixed-use complex designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels Group.

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Roger Vincent

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October 15, 2025
Deadly rampage at UK synagogue was a terrorist attack, authorities say

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An assailant drove a car into people outside a synagogue Thursday in northern England and then began stabbing them, killing two and seriously wounding four in a terrorist attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year, police said.Officers shot and killed the suspect outside Manchester, police said, though authorities took some time to confirm he was dead because he was wearing a vest that made it appear as if he had explosives. Authorities later said he did not have a bomb.The Metropolitan Police in London, who lead counter-terrorism policing operations, declared the rampage a terrorist attack.Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said two other suspects were arrested, though he provided no further information on the arrests. He said police believe they know the identity of the man who carried out the attack but have not confirmed it.The attack took place as people gathered at an Orthodox synagogue in a suburban neighborhood of Manchester on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Police said the two people killed were Jewish.Antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have hit record levels following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, an advocacy group for British Jews that works to eliminate antisemitism.More than 1,500 incidents were reported in the first half of the year, the second-highest six-month total reported since the record set over the same period a year earlier.“This is every rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare,” said Rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue and head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain. “Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering.”Witnesses describe a car driving toward the synagogue and then a stabbing attackGreater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue around 9:30 a.m. — shortly after services had begun.Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the man drove directly at pedestrians outside the synagogue and then attacked them with a knife.Chava Lewin, who lives next to the synagogue, said she heard a bang and thought it might be a firework until her husband ran inside their house and said there had been a “terrorist attack.”A witness told her that she saw a car driving erratically crash into the gates of the house of worship.“She thought maybe he had a heart attack,” Lewin said. “The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue.”Minutes later, police fired shots, hitting the assailant.Video on social media showed police with guns pointed at a person lying on the ground beneath a blue Star of David on the brick wall of the synagogue.A bystander could be heard on the video saying the man had a bomb and was trying to detonate it. When the man tried to stand up, a gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground.On the sidewalk outside the synagogue gate nearby, the body of another person lay in a pool of blood.Watson credited security guards and congregants for their bravery in preventing the assailant from getting inside the prayer service.Police later detonated an explosion to get into the suspect’s car.Manchester was the site of Britain’s deadliest attack in recent years, the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.Authorities declare an emergencyImmediately after the attack, police declared “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack.”Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled by the attack and that additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the U.K.He flew back to London early from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer said on the X platform.King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “deeply shocked and saddened″ to learn of the attack “on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this appalling incident, and we greatly appreciate the swift actions of the emergency services,’′ he said on his social media feed.___Pylas and Melley reported from London.

MANCHESTER, England —

An assailant drove a car into people outside a synagogue Thursday in northern England and then began stabbing them, killing two and seriously wounding four in a terrorist attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year, police said.

Officers shot and killed the suspect outside Manchester, police said, though authorities took some time to confirm he was dead because he was wearing a vest that made it appear as if he had explosives. Authorities later said he did not have a bomb.

The Metropolitan Police in London, who lead counter-terrorism policing operations, declared the rampage a terrorist attack.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said two other suspects were arrested, though he provided no further information on the arrests. He said police believe they know the identity of the man who carried out the attack but have not confirmed it.

The attack took place as people gathered at an Orthodox synagogue in a suburban neighborhood of Manchester on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Police said the two people killed were Jewish.

Antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have hit record levels following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, an advocacy group for British Jews that works to eliminate antisemitism.

More than 1,500 incidents were reported in the first half of the year, the second-highest six-month total reported since the record set over the same period a year earlier.

“This is every rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare,” said Rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue and head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain. “Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering.”

Witnesses describe a car driving toward the synagogue and then a stabbing attack

Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue around 9:30 a.m. — shortly after services had begun.

Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the man drove directly at pedestrians outside the synagogue and then attacked them with a knife.

Chava Lewin, who lives next to the synagogue, said she heard a bang and thought it might be a firework until her husband ran inside their house and said there had been a “terrorist attack.”

A witness told her that she saw a car driving erratically crash into the gates of the house of worship.

“She thought maybe he had a heart attack,” Lewin said. “The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue.”

Minutes later, police fired shots, hitting the assailant.

Video on social media showed police with guns pointed at a person lying on the ground beneath a blue Star of David on the brick wall of the synagogue.

A bystander could be heard on the video saying the man had a bomb and was trying to detonate it. When the man tried to stand up, a gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground.

On the sidewalk outside the synagogue gate nearby, the body of another person lay in a pool of blood.

Watson credited security guards and congregants for their bravery in preventing the assailant from getting inside the prayer service.

Police later detonated an explosion to get into the suspect’s car.

Manchester was the site of Britain’s deadliest attack in recent years, the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.

Authorities declare an emergency

Immediately after the attack, police declared “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled by the attack and that additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the U.K.

He flew back to London early from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.

“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer said on the X platform.

King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “deeply shocked and saddened″ to learn of the attack “on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this appalling incident, and we greatly appreciate the swift actions of the emergency services,’′ he said on his social media feed.

___

Pylas and Melley reported from London.

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October 2, 2025
Police say four people injured after car ramming and stabbing outside UK synagogue

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Police say four people have been injured after a car was driven at members of the public and a man was stabbed outside a synagogue in the north of the UK city of Manchester.In a series of posts on X, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 a.m. by a member of the public. The caller said he witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.It said that minutes later shots were fired by firearms officers.“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.It said that four members of the public were being treated for injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, told BBC Radio the “immediate danger appears to be over.”The incident came as members of the Jewish community observe Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

MANCHESTER, England —

Police say four people have been injured after a car was driven at members of the public and a man was stabbed outside a synagogue in the north of the UK city of Manchester.

In a series of posts on X, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 a.m. by a member of the public. The caller said he witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.

It said that minutes later shots were fired by firearms officers.

“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.

It said that four members of the public were being treated for injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, told BBC Radio the “immediate danger appears to be over.”

The incident came as members of the Jewish community observe Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

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October 2, 2025
This Beverly Hills haven for the rich has a floating garden for the public. Here’s a sneak peek

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Everyone is now invited to come experience the high life in Beverly Hills.

New details about a floating public garden, which will be part of a nearly $5-billion luxury housing and hotel complex, were unveiled on Thursday by its London-based developer.

Cain, which started work on the high-rise One Beverly Hills project more than a year ago, released an updated look at the sprawling botanical gardens that will surround the complex at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, a project that has been in the making for more than two decades.

City officials agreed to let Cain build by far the two tallest towers in Beverly Hills with the understanding that stacking the condominiums high would leave open space for 8.5 acres of gardens on the 17.5-acre site.

A rendering of the planned “Ephemeral Pond” in the gardens at the One Beverly Hills.

(One Beverly Hills)

“We regard the gardens as the soul of the project,” said Jonathan Goldstein, chief executive of Cain.

More than half of the gardens will be open to the public.

One Beverly Hills is one of the biggest real estate developments by cost under construction in North America, Goldstein said.

It was conceived by London-based architect Foster + Partners. The firm is led by Norman Foster, an English lord perhaps best known for designing a landmark lipstick-like skyscraper in London known as the Gherkin and the hoop-shaped Apple Inc. headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

Slated to open before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the complex will also house some of the priciest condos and hotel suites in the country, as developers seek to capitalize on the city’s reputation for luxury and celebrity.

One Beverly Hills will be anchored by the Aman Beverly Hills, a 78-room, all-suite hotel that will be the brand’s first West Coast property.

The tower residences will also be branded and serviced by Aman, a Swiss company owned by Russian-born real estate developer Vlad Doronin, which Forbes describes as “the world’s most preeminent resort brand,” and attracts affluent guests such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and George and Amal Clooney.

The two towers — 26 and 32 stories — will have a total of fewer than 200 condos.

Interspersed among the property will be as many as 45 stores and restaurants, including a Dolce & Gabbana boutique and restaurants Casa Tua Cucina and Los Mochis.

The most public aspect of One Beverly Hills will be the gardens designed by Los Angeles architecture firm Rios, which also designed the 12-acre Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles and created a new master plan for Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge.

One Beverly Hills will contain as many as 45 retail and dining outlets, each set within a distinct environment.

(Foster + Partners)

One Beverly Hills will feature botanical gardens that reflect the diverse landscape of Southern California, with drought-resistant native plants fed solely on recycled water, including rainfall and the runoff from residents’ sinks and showers. The gardens are designed to have more than 200 species of plants and trees, including palms, oaks, sycamores, succulents and olives.

Set within the historic grounds of the former Beverly Hills Nurseries, which later became the Robinson-May department store, the gardens will feature two miles of walkways, trails, sitting areas and water features.

Rios’ design takes inspiration from the state’s distinct ecological zones — from shaded oak ridges to bright meadows and coastal bluffs.

Species once cultivated by the historic nursery will be reintroduced alongside new plantings. Visitors will encounter pollinator gardens alive with butterflies and hummingbirds, color-themed landscapes, and cascading water features, all designed to reflect the beauty of Southern California’s environment with scents of rosemary, jasmine and chaparral.

Rendering of One Beverly Hills, a nearly $5-billion complex under construction at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards.

(Foster + Partners)

Making the gardens feel natural instead of manicured was a design challenge because they will cover an underground garage for 1,800 vehicles and Merv Griffin Way, which connects Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards. The gardens will link One Beverly Hills with the existing Beverly Hilton hotel and Waldorf Astoria hotel.

The soil in the gardens can be no more than four feet deep, yet it must nourish trees that are trucked in from other locations and are between 50 and 100 years old so that the garden appears to have been around a long time.

“This shouldn’t feel like a rooftop garden,” said landscape architect John Pearson of Rios. “We want it to feel like it’s a botanical garden that just happens to be 40 feet in the air.”

It will also gently connect with sidewalks, which is part of the plan to encourage locals and tourists walking around Beverly Hills to wander in, said Rios founder, Mark Rios.

“It’d be really nice if the park became something you cut through,” Rios said, “We really want to create a sort of seamless experience where there’s this huge landscaped park in the middle of this urban area.”

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Roger Vincent

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October 2, 2025
Trump administration exploring ways to take over 9/11 memorial in NYC

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President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it is exploring whether the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City.The site in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed by hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001, features two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the memorial plaza and museum have been run by a public charity, now chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.The White House confirmed the administration has had “preliminary exploratory discussions” about the idea, but declined to elaborate. The office noted the Republican pledged during his campaign last year to make the site a national monument, protected and maintained by the federal government.But officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum say the federal government, under current laws, can’t unilaterally take over the site, which is located on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.The U.S. government shouldering costs and management of the site also “makes no sense,” given Trump’s efforts to dramatically pare back the federal bureaucracy, said Beth Hillman, the organization’s president and CEO.“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively,” she said, noting the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed some 90 million visitors since its opening.Last year, the museum generated more than $93 million in revenue and spent roughly $84 million on operating costs, leaving a nearly $9 million surplus when depreciation is factored in, according to museum officials and its most recently available tax filings.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, voiced her own concerns about a federal takeover, citing the Trump administration’s recent efforts to influence how American history is told through its national monuments and museums, including the Smithsonian.The takeover idea also comes just months after the Trump administration briefly cut, but then restored, staffing at a federal program that provides health benefits to people with illnesses that might be linked to toxic dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers — the families, survivors, and first responders who have carried this legacy for more than two decades and ensured we never forget,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he meddles with this sacred site, the President should start by honoring survivors and supporting the families of victims.”Anthoula Katsimatides, a museum board member who lost her brother, John, in the attack, said she didn’t see any reason to change ownership.“They do an incredible job telling the story of that day without sugarcoating it,” she said. “It’s being run so well, I don’t see why there has to be a change. I don’t see what benefit there would be.”The memorial and museum, however, have also been the target of criticism over the years from some members of the large community of 9/11 victims’ families, some of whom have criticized ticket prices or called for changes in the makeup of the museum’s exhibits.Trump spokespersons declined to respond to the comments.In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southwest Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the trade center’s twin towers.

NEW YORK —

President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it is exploring whether the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City.

The site in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed by hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001, features two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the memorial plaza and museum have been run by a public charity, now chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.

The White House confirmed the administration has had “preliminary exploratory discussions” about the idea, but declined to elaborate. The office noted the Republican pledged during his campaign last year to make the site a national monument, protected and maintained by the federal government.

But officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum say the federal government, under current laws, can’t unilaterally take over the site, which is located on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The U.S. government shouldering costs and management of the site also “makes no sense,” given Trump’s efforts to dramatically pare back the federal bureaucracy, said Beth Hillman, the organization’s president and CEO.

“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively,” she said, noting the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed some 90 million visitors since its opening.

Last year, the museum generated more than $93 million in revenue and spent roughly $84 million on operating costs, leaving a nearly $9 million surplus when depreciation is factored in, according to museum officials and its most recently available tax filings.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, voiced her own concerns about a federal takeover, citing the Trump administration’s recent efforts to influence how American history is told through its national monuments and museums, including the Smithsonian.

The takeover idea also comes just months after the Trump administration briefly cut, but then restored, staffing at a federal program that provides health benefits to people with illnesses that might be linked to toxic dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.

“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers — the families, survivors, and first responders who have carried this legacy for more than two decades and ensured we never forget,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he meddles with this sacred site, the President should start by honoring survivors and supporting the families of victims.”

Anthoula Katsimatides, a museum board member who lost her brother, John, in the attack, said she didn’t see any reason to change ownership.

“They do an incredible job telling the story of that day without sugarcoating it,” she said. “It’s being run so well, I don’t see why there has to be a change. I don’t see what benefit there would be.”

The memorial and museum, however, have also been the target of criticism over the years from some members of the large community of 9/11 victims’ families, some of whom have criticized ticket prices or called for changes in the makeup of the museum’s exhibits.

Trump spokespersons declined to respond to the comments.

In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southwest Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the trade center’s twin towers.

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September 5, 2025
Public Investing App, Get $100 Bonus with CLEAR
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Public Investing App $100 Bonus with CLEAR

If you are an existing member of CLEAR, you can receive a stock reward of up to $100 when you sign up for a Public brokerage account using “Verify with CLEAR.” Many readers have a CLEAR Plus membership thanks to the Amex Platinum cards which gives you an annul credit for the full price of $199.

This bonus offer is limited to new customers of Public who have never previously had a Public brokerage account. Here’s how it works:
1. Sign up for Public using “Verify with CLEAR.”
2. Open an approved brokerage account with Public Investing.
3. Deposit at least $20 into your brokerage account and hold it in your brokerage account for 5 or more business days.
4. Claim your reward from the button on the top right of your home screen. CLEAR Plus members will receive $100 in an asset of their choice while CLEAR Platform members will receive $50 in an asset of their choice.
To be eligible to claim your reward, you must be an existing CLEAR member, sign up for Public using “Verify with CLEAR,” open an approved Public Investing brokerage account, and successfully deposit and hold at least $20 into that account for five (5) or more business days.

From the terms it looks like you can stack this bonus with the $20 referral bonus as well.

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DDG

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August 28, 2024
San Diego is cracking down on groups for exercising outside without a permit

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They come in packs. They’re often crunchy. They’re chameleons: a downward-facing dog one moment, a cobra or child the next. (What versatility!) They do handstands and breathe peacefully. And we can’t have any of that.

At least, not on public land. By “they,” I’m referring to the world of yogis. And by “we,” I mean the city of San Diego, which revised its municipal code in March to prevent groups of four or more people engaged in commercial recreational activities—yoga, fitness classes, dog training, etc.—from convening in public spaces without a permit.

Law enforcement officers are zeroing in on rogue gatherings, breaking up beachside classes before they begin and issuing tickets to the teachers. And despite the city’s emphasis on “commercial” activities, park rangers are also busting those groups who meet with no cost of admission. “It’s really tragic that the city would take away the opportunity to come to a class for free, to be outside in a public park, and to enjoy nature,” Amy Baack, a yoga instructor, told San Diego’s KGTV station. And despite what might be the gut reaction here—”Just get a permit!”—it appears the city isn’t making that easy: “We are perfectly willing and ready to get a permit,” Baack added, “if the city would allow it.”

The law was originally tailored to target permitless food vendors. Reasonable people can and should debate the necessity or utility of preventing people from buying hot dogs from someone without a stamp of approval from government bureaucrats. But it would seem even more questionable to apply that concept to people who voluntarily meet by the water to do some stretching. Conjuring safety concerns there requires an active imagination.

Indeed, San Diego says the core issue at stake is safety. Officials expanded the code, which went into effect March 29, “to ensure these public spaces remain safe and accessible,” a city spokesperson said in a statement. What danger these groups pose while transitioning from, say, bridge pose to wheel pose remains unclear.

The idea that the code provision ensures accessibility, meanwhile, is richly ironic, as it explicitly excludes from access those taxpaying San Diegans who have the audacity to work out with other people sans a permit. That they have gathered together as opposed to separately, or to do a specific activity as opposed to something nebulous, should not suddenly necessitate approval from the government.

Whether or not the rule will survive is up in the air: An attorney for a group of yoga instructors on Friday served a cease-and-desist letter to city officials. Whatever the case, it’s an example of the government implementing a solution in search of a problem, which didn’t actually exist until city leaders created it.

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Billy Binion

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May 20, 2024
Austin Pets Alive! | Our 2024 Promise: We will be vigilant for…

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Last year was extremely challenging for animal shelters in the US, and Austin was no exception. The Austin of yesteryear found tremendous pride in leading the country in No Kill during a time when shelters struggled the most to save the lives of even half of the pets who entered their care. In this new era of humane struggles, where pets are guaranteed not to be killed while other pets are left on the streets, some living in crates for too long, and people struggle to keep their pets without support, our city must take the lead in progressive, lifesaving solutions. Austin Pets Alive! has been relatively quiet about these issues on public platforms as we wait for the much-needed shelter audit to bear fruit, and I regret that choice. APA! has been given a microphone for pets in our community over the last 15 years, and we need to help be the voice of animals in need both publicly and behind the scenes.

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January 26, 2024
‘This Is Me … Now: A Love Story’ Trailer, Reneé Rapp’s Public Persona, and Josh Radnor’s Wedding

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Juliet and Amanda kick off the week by breaking down their thoughts, feelings, and questions about the Jennifer Lopez documentary coming to Prime Video in February after watching the new trailer (1:00). Then they talk about the new Mean Girls musical movie remake with Reneé Rapp playing Regina George, as well as Reneé Rapp’s unfiltered public persona (14:00), Josh Radnor’s outdoor January wedding (29:53), the 21st Living Legends of Aviation Awards (37:19), and more!

Hosts: Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins
Producers: Sasha Ashall and Jade Whaley

Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher

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Juliet Litman

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January 22, 2024