End of FEMA program affects drinking water, building code updates, tornado shelter in SD
Drinking water upgrades for Mobridge, efficiency boosting software systems for Rapid City and a tornado shelter for Chancellor are among the South Dakota projects that now count as formerly funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA announced the axing of its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program last month in a press release lambasting the Biden-era creation as 'wasteful' and 'politicized.'
The 2021 program aimed to direct $1 billion in funding toward infrastructure projects to help communities across the U.S. 'reduce their hazard risk' as they 'build capability and capacity.'
Go to the Federal Fallout page for Searchlight coverage of Trump administration firings, funding freezes, spending cuts, grant cancellations, tariffs and immigration enforcement.
The press release from the Trump administration's incarnation of FEMA says all awards from 2020 through 2024 are rescinded, and that all the money that hasn't been distributed won't be. The unspent $882 million will flow into the U.S. Treasury or be reallocated by Congress, the release says.
FEMA falls under the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary and former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem.
The program 'was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters,' the FEMA release says. 'Under Secretary Noem's leadership, we are committed to ensuring that Americans in crisis can get the help and resources they need.'
The South Dakota Democratic Party issued a press release of its own on the cessation of the grant program, one trashing Noem's agency and Trump's policies as damaging to South Dakota communities.
'Because of these cuts, city and county leaders will now have to scramble to either figure out where the rest of the money will come from, or ditch their projects altogether, leaving their communities vulnerable to disasters' wrote Shane Merrill, chair of the state party.
According to a tally of federal cuts compiled and updated weekly by the administration of Noem's successor, Gov. Larry Rhoden, $8.9 million in South Dakota projects were set to benefit from BRIC grants. Based on South Dakota Searchlight calls to local governments involved in the projects, it's unclear if that total figure represents the amount of grant money lost, or the total project costs including other funding sources.
Some BRIC money was collected and spent before the shuttering of the program. The city of Mobridge got $311,000 for phase one of a three-phase project to replace the piping that delivers Missouri River water from Lake Oahe to the city's water treatment plant on its way to residents' taps.
That first round of BRIC money paid for engineering, planning and a dive team survey, all undertaken in preparation of the second round of BRIC funding, which Mobridge Finance Officer Heather Beck said would've set the physical piping upgrade portion of the project in motion.
'We had been told by the FEMA folks that if phase one is awarded, they had never seen the second phase not get awarded,' Beck said.
The anticipated grant assistance with the pipe rebuild was a boon to Mobridge's larger $11.2 million drinking water project. Water bills paid by the north-central South Dakota community's residents are enough to keep the city 'self-sustaining' for the most part, Beck said, but the cost of major upgrades can be a heavy one to spread around.
We had been told by the FEMA folks that if phase one is awarded, they had never seen the second phase not get awarded.
– Heather Beck, Mobridge city finance officer
'With only 3,200 people, it takes more from them to be able to pay for these projects,' Beck said.
The city's on the lookout for more state or federal funding sources now, Beck said. The city had taken in some grant funding from the American Rescue Plan Act for the wider water treatment project already, but 'a lot of that $11.2 million has had to be borrowed.'
City leadership has reached out to South Dakota's congressional delegation in hopes that some of the grant funding can be restored through a program that's not shuttered.
Mobridge's nearly $4 million BRIC-funded project, with grant funding passed through to the city by Walworth County, was the largest project on the $8.9 million list of grant-supported projects in South Dakota. The city was set to pay 20% of the cost, meaning it lost out on about $3.2 million.
The project with the second-highest price tag on the state's tally of lost grant funding was $2.6 million. That project was meant to help Rapid City cover the labor costs of updating its fire codes, pay for software that would allow citizens or companies to submit documents like building permits or developer plans online, and to upgrade its computing systems to connect departments and avoid duplicate work between departments managing development and permitting.
A letter from Mayor Jason Salamun to the U.S. Senate majority leader, South Dakota Republican John Thune, says the work aligns 'with the priorities of the Trump-Vance administration.'
Noem's honorary degree sparks protest; meanwhile, a student she's trying to deport earns a doctorate
'Our project was specifically designed to enhance operational efficiency within our local government, ultimately saving taxpayer dollars and reducing administrative burdens for both city staff and the general public, including housing developers,' the letter reads.
Rapid City's share of the project was $623,093; the BRIC program was set to cover a little under a million dollars.
The city also hoped to create an inventory of potentially hazardous buildings, although Grants Division Manager Jamie Toennies said decisions on what the city might do to address those buildings would come later.
'Opportunities are there to proactively keep the buildings from getting in worse shape,' she said.
The city is on the lookout for more funding sources, Toennies said, as 'we had identified this need before this grant.'
The third-largest South Dakota project was $485,973 for the town of Chancellor, home to 316 people and one large ethanol production plant. According to a map of FEMA-funded mitigation projects maintained by the state, the town was in line for BRIC support of a severe wind and tornado shelter.
Hill City, a city of around 1,000 in Pennington County, had asked for, but wasn't awarded, money for a floodplain study of Spring Creek, which runs through town. Finance Officer Stacia Tallon said the federal share of the $167,200 project would have helped the city determine where to put replacement box culverts to mitigate flood risk, and to map out areas that might be safe for building.
The box culvert piece of the project in particular is still necessary, Tallon said, although it's unclear when or how the city will be able to move forward with the plans.
'We're still looking at them, but they've been kind of put on the back burner,' Tallon said.
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USA Today
3 minutes ago
- USA Today
Columbia University to pay $200 million fine in new agreement with Trump administration
On Thursday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Columbia University has struck another deal with the Trump administration. A federal judge has rejected the Justice Department's bid to unseal grand jury testimony tied to Florida-based investigations of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Plus, Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly told President Donald Trump in May that he was named multiple times in the government's files on Epstein. And the House Oversight Committee will subpoena Epstein files and documents from the Clintons and others. USA TODAY National Security & World Affairs Reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman discusses why a handful of tech executives are joining the Army and what critics are worried about. A notorious Idaho killer was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison. Victims' families gave powerful testimony in court. USA TODAY Congress Reporter Savannah Kuchar breaks down a Republican redistricting plan out of Texas. We remember Amelia Earhart on her birthday. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Thursday, July 24th, 2025. This is USA TODAY's The Excerpt. Today, breaking down Columbia's latest deal with the Trump administration, plus what tech executives are doing in the Army, and how a potential map redraw in Texas could kick off a coast-to-coast redistricting battle. ♦ Columbia University has struck another deal with the Trump administration. The Ivy League school in New York City announced it will pay a massive $200 million fine over three years to the government to settle allegations it violated federal civil rights laws and failed to protect members of its Jewish community from discrimination. It will also jointly appoint an independent monitor to update the federal government on its compliance with new policies and pay an additional $21 million fine to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agreement marks the second major concession from the university in its negotiations with the government. The school previously agreed, among other things, to bolster campus law enforcement, appoint a new administrator to oversee its Middle Eastern Studies Department, and retool its protest policies in an effort to play ball with the White House. The announcement also comes after the Trump administration pushed the University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school, to agree to a series of demands related to preventing transgender athletes from competing. Similarly, that deal was reached to restore massive amounts of federal money. ♦ A federal judge in Florida yesterday rejected a bid from President Trump's Justice Department to unseal grand jury testimony tied to a two-decades old investigation and to convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department asked the federal court in the Southern District of Florida to release transcripts from grand jury investigations that took place in West Palm Beach in 2005 and 2007, but a judge ruled that she doesn't have the power to order the records' release. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Trump in May that he was named multiple times in the government's files on Epstein according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and CNN. A White House official did not dispute Trump's name as mentioned in the Epstein files, telling USA TODAY that briefing binders Bondi prepared for MAGA influencers in February included the president's name, but the official rejected any suggestion that Trump engaged in wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. And the House Oversight Committee voted yesterday to subpoena the Justice Department for files related to Epstein, answering calls from lawmakers and voters alike for more information on the disgraced financier and sex offender. The committee also moved to request documents related to Epstein investigations from a swath of other well-known figures, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former Attorney General Merrick Garland. ♦ Several tech executives are joining the Army as reserve officers. I spoke with USA TODAY National Security and World Affairs reporter, Cybele Mayes-Osterman to learn more about their expected roles. Cybele, thanks for joining me. Cybele Mayes-Osterman: Happy to be here. Thanks, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: All right, so what has the Army announced about these tech executives in the military and who are they? Cybele Mayes-Osterman: The Army has announced that four tech executives are going to be directly commissioned in as officers in the Army Reserve. These include one executive who's from Palantir. One of them is from Meta, which used to be Facebook. One is from OpenAI, and the other is from Thinking Machines Lab, but he used to work with Palantir and one of the other companies as well. Taylor Wilson: I mean, how unprecedented is this? Do we have any historical context? Cybele Mayes-Osterman: It's not totally unprecedented for the Army to directly commission business people. It did happen in World War II. The most extreme example was an auto executive from Ford Motors who was commissioned in as a general, which is a higher rank. And outside experts are also frequently brought into the military under this title, Highly Qualified Expert, which is unique to the Pentagon. But that being said, directly commissioning in tech executives and at this rank of lieutenant-colonel, which takes around 17 years to achieve from the bottom up, is not something that is so common Taylor Wilson: In terms of the Army perspective here, why does the Army say this is necessary? How is this part of the broader Army Transformation Initiative? Cybele Mayes-Osterman: The Army says that these executives are going to bring good insight and advice as they undertake this big shift that's called the Army Transformation Initiative. Now this was ordered by Pete Hegsath, the Secretary of Defense, and he wants the Army to get rid of some equipment that he calls obsolete, like heavy ground vehicles, and get more of this newfangled technology like AI and drones, which are the area of expertise of these executives. Taylor Wilson: And in reporting this piece about, did you hear from the tech execs themselves? Cybele Mayes-Osterman: I did, yeah. I talked to one of the executives from Palantir, who was actually the one that first pitched the idea of joining to the Army and recruited the others, and he said that they won't actually be working on tech and AI. And they're going to be working, according to the Army, on totally separate things like recruitment is one category, human performance. This executive said that they need to stay away from those spaces, tech and AI, in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Taylor Wilson: And what concerns do critics have here, Cybele? Cybele Mayes-Osterman: Critics say that there's a lot of ethical issues with bringing these executives in. These companies that they're from already hold each hundreds of millions of dollars in defense contracts with the army. And critics are concerned that the executives could either get inside information that would make it easier for them to win future contracts, or they'd be in a position where they could influence the army to buy things in the future from their companies or feel like they need to. Taylor Wilson: All right. So what's next for this work and this conversation going forward? Cybele Mayes-Osterman: The executives I've been told are going to arrive in Fort Benning by the end of the month to start training. The Army says they're going to undergo the same training that anybody else would and they're going to be subject to the same physical fitness requirements. In fact, I heard from one Army official that they're going to be teaching them which hands that they need to salute with to be officers. Taylor Wilson: All right, interesting stuff. Folks can find the full version with a link in today's show notes. Cybele Mayes-Osterman covers National Security and World Affairs for USA TODAY. Thanks, Cybele. Cybele Mayes-Osterman: Thanks so much. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, receiving the ruling after hours of emotional statements from family and friends of the victims. Loved ones of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin honored the students in court and spoke about the anger and devastation they felt after the killings. Those killed were all aged 20 or 21 years old. Olivia Goncalves: Do you feel anything at all or are you exactly what you always feared? Nothing. You didn't win, you just exposed yourself as the coward you are. Taylor Wilson: That was some of what Olivia Goncalves, sister of Kaylee Goncalves, had to say. You can read and hear more from victims' loved ones with the link in today's show notes. ♦ Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has requested at the White House's urging that the legislature consider redrawing lines for a handful of Texas's 38 congressional districts, giving Republicans the chance to flip seats red in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. I spoke with USA TODAY Congress Reporter Savannah Kuchar for more and to hear how Democrats are pushing back. Savannah, thanks for hopping on. Savannah Kuchar: Thanks for having me. I always love talking about my home state. Taylor Wilson: Yeah. Well, let's get into this redistricting proposal from Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans. What does this actually entail? Savannah Kuchar: What we're looking at is right now, Texas state lawmakers are at the start of a special session, and in that special session they will evaluate quite a few things that the governor has specifically asked them to look at. And one of those things is a proposal to redraw the congressional map in Texas, which is pretty rare for in the middle of the decade. It's typically every 10 years after a census data comes out. But Governor Greg Abbott in Texas has asked lawmakers to take a look at the congressional maps, potentially redraw some of the boundaries, and change up where districts are, which could affect elections as soon as next year's midterm elections. Taylor Wilson: Could this kick off a coast-to-coast redistricting battle nationwide? What really are the national implications here? Savannah Kuchar: Obviously this is happening right now in Texas, but it pretty quickly garnered reaction from, like you said, coast-to-coast. Democrats in states like California as well as New York are looking at how they can respond in a sense if Texas Republicans redraw the map to give themselves a boost in a handful of districts. Maybe California, New York, some other blue states will do basically an equal and opposite reaction. And then of course, that could set off other states, such as Florida and New Hampshire, it would be possible to redraw there. Ohio has to redraw their maps before 2026 due to their state constitution. So it's set off as interesting arms race of redistricting across the country. Taylor Wilson: Well, Savannah, as you said, Democrats are vowing to respond. Just more specifically, I mean, do Dems in Texas have any power to push back, and how is the party approaching this on a national level? Savannah Kuchar: Democrats in Texas really don't have a whole lot of tools to respond. The main one that they have used in history before is a walkout. So fleeing the state, not being there in person, would break a quorum and the state legislature couldn't move forward on agenda items. There are fees associated with that, so it will be curious to see if they do employ the strategy, but state Democrats have said they will do what they can to block this move. That'll be interesting to see how much they are able to move. At a national level, Democrats are responding in full, absolutely, or at least promising a tit-for-tat response of, "If you do this, we will respond," to try to cancel out what Texas Republicans are doing. Taylor Wilson: All right. And what has the President said about all this? Savannah Kuchar: It did originate from the White House and Trump's team has been pushing this idea and was asking Governor Greg Abbott to move forward on this. And so Trump wants Republicans to do this, to bump their numbers in 2026 and help the House out. President Trump has said that if they do redistricting in Texas, Republicans could maybe pick up as many as five districts is what he said. Taylor Wilson: All right. Well, we know midterms are really just around the corner, just over a year out at this point. What's next for this conversation? Savannah Kuchar: In the immediate future, state lawmakers in Texas are in that special session for 30 days. They're a few days in so far. So right now we're watching to see any maps to come out, how exactly Republicans want to redraw the map, we're waiting for specific map proposals to come out. And then like you said, midterm elections are right around the corner next year. And I think the other interesting thing is, along with Democrats saying they will actively respond, they're also warning that this could backfire on Republicans. If they move Republican voters from one district to a blue district to flip that seat, the district that those voters left could be potential pickups for Democrats. So the interesting thing to watch next year and heading into the election will be who does have the advantage? Did Republicans, if they change the map, did they help themselves out or did they shoot themselves in the foot? That would be the interesting to watch. Taylor Wilson: Great insight for us as always. Savannah Kuchar covers Congress for USA TODAY. Thanks, Savannah. Savannah Kuchar: Thank you, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: And before we close this episode, let's take a moment to remember Amelia Earhart on her birthday. The trailblazing aviator was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932. She also advocated for women's roles in aviation, broke barriers in the air and on the ground, and inspired generations. When she disappeared in 1937, she was setting out to be the first woman to complete a circumnavigation flight around the globe. ♦ And coming up later today, millions of Americans struggle with acute insomnia, an inability to fall or stay asleep for several days at a time. But what can you do about it? Jennifer Senior: I did all the things. I took Tylenol PM, which did not work. I did acupuncture, which were lovely, but did not work. I listened to a meditation tape that a friend gave me, did not work. Taylor Wilson: That's Jennifer Senior, staff writer at The Atlantic, sharing what she learned as she looked into her own experience with insomnia and what could be done to alleviate it. You can catch my conversation with her right here on this feed today, beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. ♦ And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. If you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. As always, you can email us at podcasts@ I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.


USA Today
3 minutes ago
- USA Today
'South Park' skewers Paramount over Colbert cancellation, mocks Donald Trump in premiere
Trey Parker and Matt Stone aren't holding back. The "South Park" creators tore into President Donald Trump − and their bosses at Paramount − in the animated show's Season 27 premiere, which referenced everything from the company's controversial settlement with the president to its shock decision to cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Comedy Central, where "South Park" airs, is owned by Paramount. The episode depicts Trump literally getting into bed with Satan, his lover, using actual photos of the president crudely placed on an animated body. It's the same depiction that Saddam Hussein received in 1999's "South Park" movie, and Satan even comments that Trump and Saddam are "exactly alike." In the episode, Trump is portrayed as a thin-skinned bully who threatens to sue anyone who gets on his bad side. The main plot revolves around the supposed death of "wokeness" and the president pushing Christianity in classrooms by having Jesus physically appear at the boys' school. When the parents of South Park get angry and push back, Trump decides to sue the town. The episode goes on to take aim at Paramount for its controversial settlement with Trump over a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris, which he alleged was deceptively edited. A pair of "60 Minutes" anchors are shown covering the protests in South Park, but they nervously praise Trump and insist they don't agree with the protesters, as if they are worried he will sue again. All seasons of 'South Park' have a new streaming home. Where can you watch? Eventually, Jesus arrives at the South Park protest and, speaking nervously with clenched teeth, reveals he came to the kids' school "because it was part of a lawsuit and the agreement with Paramount." "(Trump) can do whatever he wants now that someone backed down," Jesus continues, adding, "You guys saw what happened to CBS? Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert? ... Just shut up, or we're going to get canceled, you idiots!" The episode aired less than a week after the cancellation of Colbert's "Late Show," which CBS said was for financial reasons. But critics accused the network, which Paramount owns, of canceling the show to appease Trump amid a proposed merger with Skydance that requires Trump administration approval. Colbert is a vocal Trump critic and mocks him on almost every episode of "The Late Show." Colbert's cancellation: A ratings crisis or a political bribe? We investigate The season premiere ends with the people of South Park settling with Trump and agreeing to do pro-Trump messaging as part of their agreement. So the show cuts to a supposed pro-Trump public service announcement, in which Trump, in live-action, is shown crawling through a desert completely nude. With its surprisingly pointed critique of Paramount, the episode also aired on the same day that Paramount announced a five-year agreement with Parker and Stone for 50 new episodes of "South Park."

Los Angeles Times
3 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Congress requires fundamental reforms to regain its relevance to the people
To the editor: The story of President Trump chiseling away at Congress' power is hardly news anymore ('With gavel in hand, Trump chisels away at the power of a compliant Congress,' July 21). The decline of Congress as an effective institution has been happening for years — slowly at first but accelerating in recent times. What succeeded in the 18th century doesn't address the realities of the 21st. The last and only instance in which Congress declared war before significant hostilities began was in 1812. In today's fast-paced world, it is nearly impossible for more than 500 legislators to make swift, well-informed decisions, especially on matters of national security. Fundamental change is long overdue. For Congress to reclaim its role as an equal partner among the three branches of government, it must be restructured to meet the demands of our era. While the United States is more of a republic than a direct democracy, Congress could — and should — embrace republican principles of delegation and efficiency, particularly in areas like national security. Only through such reforms can Congress regain its relevance and effectively serve the nation. Jack Kaczorowski, Los Angeles .. To the editor: As Lisa Mascaro writes, there is a 'transfer of political power, from Capitol Hill to the White House as a compliant Congress is ceding more and more of its prerogative to the presidency.' What happened to the balance of power? What happened to legislators representing the will of their constituency? Sadly, we are witnessing and feeling the effects of an imperial presidency. His whim is their command. His power overrides the law. Fearful legislators no longer have the well-being of constituents as their guiding principle. The 'No Kings' protests voiced our concerns that authoritarianism should not control our lives and well-being. We continue to hope for justice to restore balance to this democracy, not a kingdom. Lenore Navarro Dowling, Los Angeles