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California State Analysts Recommend Delaying Governor's Proposal Expediting $20 Billion Water Project

California State Analysts Recommend Delaying Governor's Proposal Expediting $20 Billion Water Project

Epoch Times01-06-2025
California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), an independent government agency, has recommended that policymakers wait to implement Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent proposal to expedite the state's Delta Conveyance Project.
'Deferring actions would allow the Legislature more time and capacity for sufficient consideration of the potential benefits, implications, and trade-offs,' the LAO said in a
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What to know about the troops and federal agents in LA's MacArthur Park
What to know about the troops and federal agents in LA's MacArthur Park

Associated Press

timean hour ago

  • Associated Press

What to know about the troops and federal agents in LA's MacArthur Park

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. military troops and federal immigration officers made a brief but mighty show of force Monday at a Los Angeles park in a neighborhood dubbed the 'Ellis Island of the West Coast' for its large immigrant population. The operation left local officials and organizers with many questions. Here is a look at what we know. What happened and was anyone arrested? About 90 National Guard troops and dozens of federal officers descended on MacArthur Park in the morning. But it was nearly empty, since word spread of a potential raid. Mayor Karen Bass said she pulled over on her way to City Hall to witness officers on horseback and soldiers in tactical gear walking past a playground as children at a summer day camp were rushed indoors so they would not be traumatized. The troops and officers left after about an hour. The Department of Homeland Security did not say whether anyone was arrested. Associated Press journalists who arrived as the troops and agents entered the park did not see anyone detained. Some activists showed up to take videos and record the scene. When asked about the appearance in MacArthur Park, the DHS said in an email that the agency would not comment on 'ongoing enforcement operations.' The Defense Department referred all questions to DHS. Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a political stunt and spectacle meant to intimidate the city's immigrant communities. What's the history of MacArthur Park? The park dates back to the late 19th century when the city received a mudhole and trash dump spanning 35 acres in a land swap, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. After a 'generous application of fertilizer,' it said the area was turned into Westlake Park with a small boating lake. In 1942, the name was changed to MacArthur Park for Army General Douglas MacArthur, who fought in WWII. Since the 1980s, the Westlake neighborhood has evolved into a densely populated immigrant neighborhood with the settlement of Indigenous people from Mexico and Central America and other groups. It is also home to several immigrant rights organizations and legal aid offices. Eunisses Hernandez, a council member whose district includes MacArthur Park said the park 'was chosen as this administration's latest target precisely because of who lives there and what it represents: Resilience, diversity and the American dream. It is no coincidence that the president would target a place that so clearly embodies the values he has spent his time in office trying to destroy.' In recent years, the park has drawn homeless encampments. Outreach teams work there regularly, treating people with drug addiction. In 2007, the park was the site of large May Day rallies to demand amnesty for immigrants without legal status that ended with police firing rubber bullets at protesters. Demonstrators later sued the city and received a $12.8 million settlement. What did the Guard do? Defense officials had said 90 National Guard troops and over a dozen military vehicles were sent to protect immigration officers. The defense officials told reporters that it was not a military operation but acknowledged that the size and scope of the Guard's participation could make it look like one to the public. That is why the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details about the raid before it happened. The operation in the large park about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of downtown LA included 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, two ambulances and the armed soldiers, defense officials said. The decision to have the soldiers provide security on the raids moves troops closer than ever before to carrying out law enforcement actions such as deportations, as President Donald Trump has promised as part of his immigration crackdown. Why were military troops in Los Angeles? Trump ordered the deployment of about 4,000 California National Guard troops and 800 active duty Marines against the wishes of Newsom in early June to respond to a series of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles. The federal troops' domestic deployment has raised multiple legal questions, including whether the administration would seek to employ emergency powers under the Insurrection Act to empower those forces to conduct law enforcement on U.S. soil, which they are not permitted to do except in rare circumstances. The Marines are primarily assigned to protect federal buildings while hundreds of the National Guard troops accompany agents on immigration operations. Newsom has sued the administration over the deployment and the case is ongoing. How did the community react? Immigration advocates urged people to avoid the area before the heavily armed troops and federal officers arrived in armored vehicles. Betsy Bolte, who lives nearby, came to the park after seeing a military-style helicopter circling overhead. She said it was 'gut-wrenching' to witness what appeared to be a federal show of force on the streets of a U.S. city. 'It's terror and, you know, it's ripping the heart and soul out of Los Angeles,' she said. 'I am still in shock, disbelief, and so angry and terrified and heartbroken.' Chris Newman, legal director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said he received a credible tip about the operation Monday. The park is normally busy with families picnicking and vendors hawking food and toys but since federal agents have been making arrests around Los Angeles, Newman said fewer people have been going out. 'The ghost town-ification of LA is haunting, to say the very least,' he said. ____ Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Damian Dovarganes and Eugene Garcia in Los Angeles; Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California; Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California; and Tara Copp in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Albany will slice a lifeline for New York's abused kids — unless Kathy Hochul takes a stand
Albany will slice a lifeline for New York's abused kids — unless Kathy Hochul takes a stand

New York Post

time2 hours ago

  • New York Post

Albany will slice a lifeline for New York's abused kids — unless Kathy Hochul takes a stand

Want to report a case of child abuse? Better be prepared to give your name and phone number, too. The state Legislature last month passed a bill that would outlaw anonymous reports to the state's central hotline for child abuse and neglect. The bill now awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul's signature. Advertisement But the governor should think twice before putting her stamp of approval on this one: The claims of activists pushing this legislation don't hold up to scrutiny — and discouraging reports of child maltreatment will put more kids in danger. For years, advocates have claimed that anonymous reports are nothing more than a means of facilitating harassment of innocent parents. They have insisted that embittered exes, devious landlords seeking to oust tenants, even nosy 'Karens' who don't like the way another person parents can use anonymous reports to unfairly put families in the authorities' crosshairs. Advertisement 'False reports waste time and resources that could be spent on actual cases of child abuse,' California state Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer wrote of a similar law that recently passed in the Golden State. 'They compound the suffering of families that are already struggling.' 'This bill will transform people's lives,' asserted Juval Scott of The Bronx Defenders, a public-defense nonprofit, who used Juneteenth as a pretext to claim the new rules will protect 'thousands of families from the threat of family surveillance and separation.' Scott, along with many other advocates, claims that anonymous reporting perpetuates racial bias. Advertisement As the bill language itself argues, 'meritless' anonymous allegations drive 'inexcusable racial disparities that disproportionately impact Black and Brown families,' subjecting them to child-welfare investigations 'that can forever change a family.' Advocates are correct that anonymous reports are less likely to be substantiated than reports from social-service workers. They are far less likely to cause children to be taken immediately into foster care. But when you look at the long-term outcomes of anonymous calls, the picture shifts radically. A recent paper in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect found that, according to national data, children who have been reported anonymously are more likely to be re-reported to authorities than those reported by social service workers — and also more likely to end up in foster care at a later date. Advertisement In other words, anonymous reports are not frivolous reports. Only a very small percentage of kids who are reported for abuse and neglect ever wind up in foster care. Those who do must be investigated thoroughly by a child welfare agency — and a judge must sign off on any removal. The study, published in March, found that kids who are reported anonymously are ultimately more likely to be removed from their families than kids who are reported by medical personnel, law enforcement, child-care workers or education personnel. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters So who are these anonymous callers? It's hard to tell, but the data indicate that anonymous reporters most closely resemble another category of people commonly known to raise alarms in child maltreatment cases: friends and neighbors. Why would friends and neighbors want to remain anonymous? The same reason anyone reporting a crime might want to do so: They do not want to anger the perpetrators — and in some cases, they might fear for their personal safety. Proponents of New York's rule change say that the hotline's reports will remain 'confidential,' even if reporters are required to give their names to the state. But many potential reporters will rightly be nervous anyway. If you hear your violent neighbor beating his kids, would you want to leave your name with authorities? Advertisement There's no doubt that some anonymous calls to state child-abuse hotlines are fraudulent. But the same is true of any crime. The answer to such an egregious abuse of the system is to investigate and punish anyone who uses it to make false claims — not to remove a potential lifeline for children at grave risk. Suppressing calls to a child-abuse hotline only helps adults. Hochul should remember the real victims as she considers this ill-advised measure. Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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