Source: US State of New York Federal Reserve
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Source: US State of California
Alert emphasizes the importance of lawful and consistent processing of Builder’s Remedy applications across California
OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a legal alert to help California local officials understand the importance of the consistent statewide interpretation and application of California’s Housing Accountability Act (HAA) — including local governments’ responsibility to timely process Builder’s Remedy applications. In the alert, Attorney General Bonta analyzes two recent court cases involving the cities of La Cañada Flintridge and Goleta to explain these responsibilities and highlight that local governments’ faithful and expedient discharge of their duties is essential to resolving California’s housing shortage crisis and making housing more affordable for all Californians.
“California courts have been very clear about the interpretation of California housing law and the responsibility of local governments to follow the law and swiftly process Builder’s Remedy applications,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The legal alert today is intended to ensure local governments understand their responsibility to facilitate affordable housing: California expects nothing less and is committed to ensuring that all cities and counties are part of the solution — no exceptions.”
Background on Housing Element and the Builders Remedy
Under the state’s Housing Element Law, every city and county in California must periodically update its housing element to meet its share of the regional and statewide housing needs. Among other things, a compliant housing element must include an assessment of housing needs, an inventory of resources and constraints relevant to meeting those needs, and a program to implement the policies, goals, and objectives of the housing element.
Under California’s HAA, failure to adopt a timely and compliant local housing plan triggers the so-called “Builder’s Remedy.” Under the HAA’s Builder’s Remedy provision, local governments subject to the Builder’s Remedy may not deny certain housing projects — in particular, those that include certain thresholds of low- or moderate-income units — for inconsistency with zoning or land use designation. While developers have submitted dozens of Builder’s Remedy applications in the past years, many noncompliant jurisdictions have been failing to process those applications in a timely fashion, leaving the state of California no choice but to step in.
In the legal alert today, Attorney General Bonta highlights the results of two cases that make clear local governments’ responsibility and legal duty to process builders remedy applications.
Cal. Housing Defense Fund v. City of La Cañada Flintridge
In 2023, Attorney General Bonta, Governor Newsom, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) filed a request to intervene in Cal. Housing Defense Fund v. City of La Cañada Flintridge, in order to uphold California’s housing laws, and reverse the City of La Cañada Flintridge’s denial of a mixed-use affordable housing project after it failed to comply with Housing Element Law between October 15, 2021 and November 17, 2023 — also the time period in which the project’s application was considered. The affordable housing project, pursuant to the Builder’s Remedy, would bring approximately 80 mixed-income residential dwelling units, 14 hotel units, and 7,791 square feet of office space to the community.
In 2024, the court held that La Cañada Flintridge did not have a housing element in substantial compliance with state law at the time a Builder’s Remedy application was submitted and ordered the City to process the application in accordance with the law. La Cañada Flintridge appealed this decision and was subsequently ordered to either post an appeal bond of $14 million or dismiss its appeal. La Cañada Flintridge dismissed its appeal.
The key takeaways in this case include:
Shelby Family Partnership, L.P. v. City of Goleta
In 2024, Attorney General Bonta filed an amicus brief in support of a proposed affordable housing project in Goleta — a city located in Santa Barbara County that is experiencing an acute housing shortage. A housing development project by the Shelby Family Partnership would have created 56 single-family homes, 13 of which would be affordable to lower-income households. In 2023, Goleta unlawfully refused to process an SB 330 preliminary application, seeking to add the aforementioned affordable homes, based on its theory that SB 330 applies only to “new” projects.
On February 26, 2025, the superior court issued an order requiring Goleta to process the at-issue affordable housing project pursuant to state law, finding that:
The legal alert goes on to explain consequences for the failure to properly implement in the Builder’s Remedy, such as a referral to and intervention by the Attorney General and penalties under the HAA — including a minimum fine of $10,000 per unit of the proposed project. If a local government appeals a court order finding that the local government violated the HAA, the local government must post an appeal bond or dismiss its appeal. The appeal bond guarantees that a project remains financially viable if the city or county loses the appeal. In 2024, La Cañada Flintridge appealed the decision ordering it to process a lawful builder’s remedy application, and was ordered to either post an appeal bond of $14 million or dismiss its appeal. La Cañada Flintridge dismissed its appeal. These consequences emphasize the importance of the HAA and California’s intent to further promote housing development projects.
The full legal alert can be found here.
Source: US State of California
Following a final sentencing hearing today, all 14 defendants convicted in a large-scale federal dog fighting case in Albany, Georgia, have been sentenced to a total of 343 months in prison for dog fighting and other charges.
“Dog fighting is an odious form of organized crime, and it’s a magnet for other criminal activity,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Justice Department and its local partners, such as the Seminole County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, will not tolerate this callous criminal activity.”
“The brutality of dog fighting, combined with armed drug distribution, negatively affects our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker for the Middle District of Georgia. “The collaboration among law enforcement agencies at every level during this investigation and prosecution was essential in bringing these defendants to justice and rescuing abused animals.”
“The Office of Inspector General is committed to working with all of our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners in pursuing individuals who choose to participate in animal fighting activities and engage in violations involving animal welfare,” said Special Agent in Charge Miles Davis of the Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG).
Details of the total sentencings is below:
In addition to prison sentences, the court also imposed restitution for the costs of care of dogs rescued in this investigation. Under federal law, it is illegal to fight dogs in a venture that affects interstate commerce and to possess, train, transport, deliver, sell, purchase or receive dogs for fighting purposes.
According to court documents filed in this case, defendants from three states all converged on a property in Donalsonville, Georgia, on April 24, 2022, where they held a large-scale dog fighting event. Law enforcement disrupted the event after a 911 call and rescued 27 dogs that night, including one found in the blood-soaked fighting pit with severe injuries who soon died. The participants used their cars to store injured dogs who had already been fought, as well as those whose handlers were awaiting their turn in the fighting pit. Law enforcement personnel also seized a distribution quantity of methamphetamine.
Seized cell phones in this case contained evidence of some of the participants’ extensive participation in the dog fighting “industry,” including large group dog fighting text message chains, fight reports, and dog fighting videos and photos, including one of a dog who had been hung to death in a garage. Authorities seized and rescued 78 pit bull-type dogs altogether in this investigation, including 51 recovered during search warrants executed with arrest warrants this spring, sparing them from similar fates.
The USDA-OIG and detectives with the Seminole County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Detectives with the Bay County, Florda, Sheriff’s Office also provided assistance.
Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy and Trial Attorney Leigh Rendé of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case with assistance from Criminal Chief Leah McEwen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morrill and Paralegal Kristi Cote for the Middle District of Georgia handled a parallel civil forfeiture proceeding to ensure that the dogs did not have to be returned to the defendants. The Seized Canine Program of the U.S. Marshals Service cared for the rescued dogs pending legal process.
Source: United States Attorneys General 7
Following a final sentencing hearing today, all 14 defendants convicted in a large-scale federal dog fighting case in Albany, Georgia, have been sentenced to a total of 343 months in prison for dog fighting and other charges.
“Dog fighting is an odious form of organized crime, and it’s a magnet for other criminal activity,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Justice Department and its local partners, such as the Seminole County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, will not tolerate this callous criminal activity.”
“The brutality of dog fighting, combined with armed drug distribution, negatively affects our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker for the Middle District of Georgia. “The collaboration among law enforcement agencies at every level during this investigation and prosecution was essential in bringing these defendants to justice and rescuing abused animals.”
“The Office of Inspector General is committed to working with all of our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners in pursuing individuals who choose to participate in animal fighting activities and engage in violations involving animal welfare,” said Special Agent in Charge Miles Davis of the Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG).
Details of the total sentencings is below:
In addition to prison sentences, the court also imposed restitution for the costs of care of dogs rescued in this investigation. Under federal law, it is illegal to fight dogs in a venture that affects interstate commerce and to possess, train, transport, deliver, sell, purchase or receive dogs for fighting purposes.
According to court documents filed in this case, defendants from three states all converged on a property in Donalsonville, Georgia, on April 24, 2022, where they held a large-scale dog fighting event. Law enforcement disrupted the event after a 911 call and rescued 27 dogs that night, including one found in the blood-soaked fighting pit with severe injuries who soon died. The participants used their cars to store injured dogs who had already been fought, as well as those whose handlers were awaiting their turn in the fighting pit. Law enforcement personnel also seized a distribution quantity of methamphetamine.
Seized cell phones in this case contained evidence of some of the participants’ extensive participation in the dog fighting “industry,” including large group dog fighting text message chains, fight reports, and dog fighting videos and photos, including one of a dog who had been hung to death in a garage. Authorities seized and rescued 78 pit bull-type dogs altogether in this investigation, including 51 recovered during search warrants executed with arrest warrants this spring, sparing them from similar fates.
The USDA-OIG and detectives with the Seminole County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Detectives with the Bay County, Florda, Sheriff’s Office also provided assistance.
Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy and Trial Attorney Leigh Rendé of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case with assistance from Criminal Chief Leah McEwen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morrill and Paralegal Kristi Cote for the Middle District of Georgia handled a parallel civil forfeiture proceeding to ensure that the dogs did not have to be returned to the defendants. The Seized Canine Program of the U.S. Marshals Service cared for the rescued dogs pending legal process.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Robert Diab, Professor, Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University
The new Liberal government has tabled its first bill in Parliament, the Strong Borders Act, or Bill C-2. Buried within it are several new powers that give police easier access to our private information.
The bill responds to recent calls to beef up the enforcement of our border with the United States. It gives customs and immigration officials new powers: to search items being exported, like potentially stolen vehicles, and to deport migrants believed to be abusing Canada’s refugee protections.
But while facing pressure from the U.S. to act, the Canadian government is using the apparent urgency of the moment to give police and intelligence agents a host of new powers to search our private data — powers that have nothing to do with the border.
Some of them are already controversial and will no doubt be tested in the Supreme Court of Canada, if and when they’re passed. But many have also been on the wish list of previous governments, as part of “lawful access” bills that would make it easier for police to obtain details about a person’s online activity in cases involving child pornography, financial or gang-related crime.
Why now? Why make another attempt to lower the barriers to police access to private data? And what is the controversy over these new powers?
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the right to privacy of anyone in Canada. Police need authority — explicit permission set out somewhere in the law — to carry out a search or seizure of our private data for an investigative purpose.
A law that allows police to do this must itself be reasonable, in the sense of striking the right balance between law enforcement and individual privacy.
For the first 20 years of the web, it wasn’t clear what the police could or couldn’t do to gather information about us online.
The Supreme Court held in 2014 that when police ask Shaw or Telus to give them a name attaching to an online account, this amounts to a search. While a person’s name and address may not reveal much on its own, the court held, it opens a door to something very private: a person’s entire search history.
But the court in that case did not decide what kind of power police needed to make this demand, only that police need permission in law to make it.
In 2024, the Supreme Court held that when police ask for an internet protocol (IP) address linked to a person’s online activity, even that is private because it can open a window onto a lot more personal information.
Police have been using warrant provisions in the Criminal Code to make a demand for an IP address, or the name and address linked to an online account. To get a warrant, in most cases, they need to show a judge they have reason to believe a crime has been committed that is linked to the account — in other words, they must show probable cause.
Police have complained about how difficult this can be in some cases. They’ve long been calling for more tools.
The Strong Borders Act makes it easier for police and other state agents in a few ways.
It will be easier to get a warrant because the new bill allows police to ask service providers like Shaw or Telus — without a warrant — whether they have information about an IP address or a person’s account.
To then obtain that information, police need a warrant — but on the lower standard of reasonable suspicion of a crime, instead of probable cause. This can also apply to foreign entities like Google or Meta.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents can ask a provider like Shaw or Google whether they have information about an account holder on no grounds at all. But in this case, the person of interest can’t be a citizen or a permanent resident.
More concerning are powers in the bill compelling companies like Google or Apple, along with Shaw and Telus, to assist police in obtaining access to private data.
Any company that provides Canadians with a service that stores or transmits information in digital form — pretty much anything we do on a phone or computer — can be ordered to help police gain immediate access to our data.
The bill does this by stipulating that a company can be told to install “any device, equipment or other thing that may enable an authorized person to access information.”
There are important limits on this. Police can only gain access if they have a warrant or other lawful permission. And a service provider need not comply with any order that would “introduce a systemic vulnerability,” like compelling them to install a backdoor to encryption.
But the point is that these new powers compel companies to implement “capabilities” for “extracting… information that is authorized to be accessed.” They turn the brands we have an intimate relationship with — gmail, iCloud, Instagram and many others — into tools of the state.
For some of us, the thought that Apple or Google can now be conscripted to serve as a state agent to facilitate ready access to private data is unsettling. Even if there are safeguards.
Courts will have to decide at some point whether searches conducted under these new powers strike a reasonable balance between law enforcement and personal privacy. Courts have held that our privacy interest in personal data is high.
Whether police interest in quicker and easier access to that data in certain cases is equally high is an open question. But one thing is clear: it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the border.
Robert Diab does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. The proposed Strong Borders Act gives police new invasive search powers that may breach Charter rights – https://theconversation.com/the-proposed-strong-borders-act-gives-police-new-invasive-search-powers-that-may-breach-charter-rights-258257
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
LOMÉ, Togo, June 5, 2025/APO Group/ —
The Board of Directors of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) (www.Ecobank.com), the parent company of the Ecobank Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ayo Adepoju, the current group chief financial officer (CFO), to the Board as Group Executive Director, effective June 4, 2025.
Ayo brings two decades of broad-based leadership experience and deep institutional knowledge as a proud product of the Ecobank Group. His expertise spans financial management, capital markets, strategic planning, capital raising and structuring, treasury management, investor relations, business performance management, governance, enterprise transformation, financial due diligence, internal control, and risk-based audit.
As a distinguished finance executive, he has been instrumental in shaping the Group’s financial transformation, capital strategy, and long-term resilience. Since joining Ecobank in 2012, he has held several key leadership positions, including Group Financial Controller, Group Head of Business Performance and Analytics, and currently Group CFO.
Over the years, Ayo has led numerous strategic initiatives, including landmark capital market transactions such as Eurobonds, Basel III-compliant instruments, and sustainability-linked debt. These efforts have significantly enhanced Ecobank’s presence in international capital markets and strengthened transparency and investor engagement.
Prior to joining Ecobank, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in London and Lagos, serving in the Financial Services Practice.
Commenting on the appointment, Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, Chairman of the Ecobank Group, stated: “On behalf of my fellow directors, I commend Ayo for his outstanding performance and warmly welcome him to the ETI board. His proven leadership has fostered trusted relationships with the Board and made this appointment both natural and strategic for the Group’s future. I believe that Ayo embodies Ecobank’s renewed talent philosophy, a homegrown leader with global exposure and a compelling track record. His intellect, integrity, and impact-driven leadership have long been evident. His appointment to the Board is a testament to our belief in recognizing and elevating excellence from within.”
Jeremy Awori, Group Chief Executive Officer, added: “Ayo has played a critical role in strengthening Ecobank’s financial resilience and enabling sustainable business growth. His ability to manage complexity, innovate in financial strategy, align finance with enterprise-wide transformation, and lead collaboratively has made him a critical member of our executive team. I look forward to deepening our partnership as we drive forward our Growth, Transformation and Returns strategy.”
Ayo holds a First-Class Honours degree from the University of Lagos and is a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK. He also holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Regent University, USA.
He has completed executive education programs at Wharton, London Business School, and most recently in 2024, the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. An official member of the Forbes Finance Council, he is also a published author and respected thought leader in finance and organizational strategy.
This appointment reinforces Ecobank’s continued commitment to nurturing internal talent and promoting leadership excellence across Africa.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced the Strategic Grazing to Reduce the Risk of Wildfire Act, which would direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to collaborate with grazing allotment holders, States, Tribes, and local fire departments to create a strategy to use targeted grazing to manage hazardous fuels and reduce risks from wildfires.
“As the West continues to face the threat of wildfires, it’s essential that we look for ways to protect our communities from devastation,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This bill takes a wildfire prevention and mitigation strategy that’s been proven to work and puts it in place at the federal level. We must make sure there’s an overarching plan to combat these fires that have become all too frequent.”
Lisa Levine, Director of the Nevada Rural Electric Association said, “We applaud Senator Cortez Masto for bringing forward this common-sense approach to reducing and mitigating wildfires. Nevada has a rich history of cattle grazing that this legislation utilizes for vegetation management. Delivering affordable electricity that is reliable and resilient is the mission of NREA members. Wildfires pose significant risks to communities and the power grid, preventative tools such as this are key to combatting them. That is why we strongly support this bill.”
David Cochran, Reno Fire Department Chief said, “Managing risk associated with wildfire is a collaborative effort that requires state, local, and federal agencies to work together to ensure the safety of communities in high-risk areas and protect the livelihoods of people who depend on public lands. Senator Cortez Masto’s Strategic Grazing to Reduce Risk of Wildfire Act would create a framework through which local fire departments, like the Reno Fire Department, can work with grazing allotment holders and federal land management agencies to strategically reduce hazardous fuels in areas likely to be affected by wildfire. Strategic grazing is a proven tool in the fight against wildfire and this legislation would help to promote its use.”
Vinson Guthreau, Executive Director of the Nevada Association of Counties said, “The threat of wildfire in Nevada is ever present, and our Counties are on the front lines of responding to those disasters. NACO’s statewide, 17 county membership appreciates this innovative wildfire mitigation approach to prevent fires before they start while also providing grazing opportunities to the agriculture industry which plays a significant role in our state’s economy. We commend Senator Cortez Masto for bringing this beneficial and important legislation forward.”
Martin Paris, Executive Director of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association said, “Livestock grazing is a proven and cost-effective tool to reduce both the occurrence and severity of wildfires. It helps decrease hazardous fuel loads and prevent the spread of invasive annual grasses. The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association greatly appreciates Senator Cortez Masto for addressing the needs of livestock producers while helping to prevent the devastating impacts of wildfire on rangelands, wildlife, and urban areas alike.”
Kaitlynn Glover, Executive Director of the Public Lands Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Natural Resources said, “Ranchers and researchers alike know that grazing prevents wildfires. Not only is livestock grazing proven to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, but grazing also reduces the intensity and speed of fire if one breaks out. Western ranchers stand ready to be partners with the federal government in reducing catastrophic wildfire, and Senator Cortez Masto’s strategic grazing legislation is welcomed by rural communities across the West that know all too well the threat that wildfire poses.”
Historic drought conditions across the West have led to devastating fires that grow in scale and intensity every year. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, since 2015, wildfires have burned over 75 million acres across the West. In Nevada specifically, 8.8 million acres have burned in the past two decades, threatening people’s safety, homes, and livelihoods. They also pose tremendous risk to wildlife and the landscapes that serve as their habitats.
Pilot programs across the United States, including some in Nevada, have shown that the use of strategic grazing can reduce hazardous fuels and slow the spread of a wildfire. The Strategic Grazing to Reduce the Risk of Wildfire Act directs federal agencies to consider the following in the development of the strategic grazing framework:
Read the full bill here.
Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts to support Nevada firefighters and combat the wildfire crisis in the West, securing billions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to support wildfire risk reduction and new firefighting equipment. In November, she visited the burn scar of the Davis Fire and discussed key resources she’s delivered for wildfires fuels reduction in Northern Nevada. She also ensured all federal wildland firefighters – including many working in Nevada – got a significant pay raise in 2023 and helped designate the Sierra and Elko Fronts as Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscapes for wildfire prevention efforts.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) led nine of her Senate Democratic colleagues in writing a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.-04), demanding that Republicans stop their attempt to create burdensome red tape for people claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a tax credit that supports working-class Americans. Alongside gutting Medicaid and other essential federal programs, Congressional Republicans want to make the EITC harder to claim in order to pay for tax cuts for corporations and billionaires. Nonpartisan experts have confirmed the Republicans’ billionaire tax cut bill actually raises taxes on Americans making under $30,000 per year.
“As you know, the EITC is a longstanding tax credit available for low- and moderate-income Americans that aims to promote work and provide tax relief for the working class,” wrote the Senators. “As currently written, the House reconciliation bill would direct the Treasury Secretary to establish a new process requiring taxpayers to obtain precertification from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) before claiming the EITC. This new precertification program would be an additional requirement for eligible taxpayers to claim the EITC on top of existing tax filing requirements.”
They continued by outlining the hurdles that workers already face in trying to claim the EITC, writing, “nearly 20 percent of eligible workers already do not claim the EITC. Many of these workers do not claim the credit due to its complexity and because they are not aware of their own eligibility or even that the EITC exists. The House reconciliation bill’s new precertification program would thus only exacerbate the EITC’s existing shortcomings by creating more red tape and complexity for workers hoping to claim the credit. This will lead to fewer eligible workers claiming the EITC, resulting in an effective tax increase on America’s working families.”
They concluded by urging Thune and Johnson to abandon this anti-worker policy and instead improve the EITC, writing, “We urge you to work with House and Senate Republican tax writers to abandon the creation of a new precertification program and instead pursue reforms that will strengthen the EITC for American workers and families. Potential reforms include simplifying the administration of the EITC, cracking down on shady tax preparers that prey on EITC claimants, and expanding benefits for childless workers.”
In April, Senator Cortez Masto introduced legislation to expand the EITC. Her Tax Cuts for Workers Act would nearly triple the tax break childless EITC recipients receive and extend eligibility to workers under the age of 24 and over the age of 64. This expansion would give 136,000 working Nevadans an added tax break. No Republicans have supported this tax break for working people, instead choosing to push for tax breaks for corporations and billionaires.
The full text of the letter is available here.
Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported efforts to cut taxes and lower costs for hardworking Nevadans. She helped pass critical expansions to the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue plan, and has been fighting to permanently increase this vital relief for working families. Cortez Masto also helped pass the No Tax on Tips Act to exempt tipped wages from federal income tax through the Senate. Additionally, Senator Cortez Masto supports raising the federal minimum wage and eliminating the minimum wage gap for tipped workers nationally.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
*** VIDEO of Senator Murray’s questioning HERE***
Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing to consider pending education and labor nominations, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a former chair and senior member of the HELP Committee, questioned Deputy Secretary of Education nominee Dr. Penny Schwinn, and Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) nominee Kimberly Richey. Senator Murray pressed Dr. Schwinn on whether she’ll ensure the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) annual Condition of Education report, which is required by law and is overdue, is finally submitted—and NCES fulfills its requirement to administer the National Assessment of Educational Progress, (NAEP). Senator Murray pressed Ms. Richey on how firing half the staff at OCR could possibly help reduce the 25,000 case backlog.
[PENNY SCHWINN]
Senator Murray began by asking Dr. Schwinn about the Condition of Education report which the Department is required by law to publish: “For nearly 160 years, the federal government has published the Condition of Education report, which is really critical to help us understand how students and schools are doing. But this year, for the first time ever, the National Center for Education Statistics missed its June 1 deadline to publish the report, which is actually required by law. This happened after the Department fired almost all of the National Center for Education Statistics staff and canceled contracts that was needed to complete that work. Now all we have is a bare bones ‘highlight’ document with no explanation to Congress or to the public. And that is really unacceptable—students, families, teachers all deserve to see a full report. And this is not just about one report. NCES is also responsible for administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP, which you referred to Dr. Schwinn, also required by law as you know. I have written the Secretary on this issue and not yet received an adequate response. And the Department has not yet provided a promised briefing to me on NAEP. So, Dr. Schwinn I want to ask you, if you’re confirmed, will you ensure that NCES finally, and fully, and promptly produces a complete Condition of Education report, and has the staff that it needs to carry out all of its statutory required duties, including NAEP?”
Dr. Schwinn responded, “If confirmed, I will absolutely ensure that we follow all of the laws that you all have passed and certainly want to reinforce our commitment to NAEP and its full execution.”
“Clearly, the decimation of NCES has compromised its ability to provide the data that we in Congress and the public rely on. So, I hope you will work to see that those cuts are reversed. Cause we can’t afford to fly blind when it comes to knowing how our students and our schools are doing. I look forward to working with you on that,” said Senator Murray.
Senator Murray turned to questioning Ms. Schwinn about the Department’s low rate of review for schools identified as needing additional support, following complaints: “Dr. Schwinn, the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, which we wrote on this committee under Senator Alexander, I helped write that as well with him. It requires states to identify and support their most struggling schools. But according to the GAO now, less than half of the schools that were identified for additional support have compliant improvement plans. The Department has only reviewed three out of five states total so far this year—and with no plans for further oversight. And it’s really hard to imagine that the rate of review improves because of the massive staff cuts we’ve seen across the Department. So, I wanted to ask you what is your proposal to improve the Department’s rate of review—and therefore help our nation’s struggling schools and students?”
“I think the most important thing in your question is to say that there must be a commitment to showing our most struggling schools improve because our students deserve that. If confirmed, one of my top priorities is going to be looking at any of the departments within the Department of Education and ensuring that we know our statutory obligations, certainly to Congress, that we have the most efficient practices in place, and that we meet our obligations. And I look forward to working with you on any of those,” replied Dr. Schwinn.
“Would you commit to publicly reporting the Department’s monitoring findings and state responses, so Congress, and educators, and students, and families can see where struggling schools are?” asked Senator Murray.
Dr. Schwinn answered, “I would certainly want to discuss that with Secretary McMahon, but I would absolutely want to work with your office on that project.”
[KIMBERLY RICHEY]
Senator Murray continued her questioning by addressing the backlog of cases at OCR, “Ms. Richey, do you believe that the staff at OCR are important to protect students’ civil rights?”
“I do Senator,” replied Ms. Richey.
“And do you believe that every complaint must be investigated in a timely way?” asked Senator Murray.
“I do,” responded Ms. Richey.
Senator Murray inquired, “Well, earlier this week, Secretary McMahon, appearing before another committee, told me the current backlog is 2,500 cases. The Department later clarified to me that it is actually 25,000 backlog. This administration has fired more than half of the staff at OCR and President Trump is now asking in his budget to slash that $49 million next year. So, explain to me how those firings and that funding cut will help reduce that backlog? I want to understand how you’re going to square that circle.”
Ms. Richey avoided the question, “As you can imagine, as a nominee I do not have access to information with regard to the decisions that are being made at the Department. I am not in communication with OCR leadership or the Secretary. One of the reasons why this role is so important to me is because I am always going to advocate for OCR to have the resources it needs to do its job. I think that what it means is that I am going to have to be really strategic, if I’m confirmed, stepping into this role, helping come up with a plan where we can address these challenges.”
“I think it’s pretty clear if you have a 25,000 case backlog, and you fire half the staff and cut the budget by 36 percent, it’s going to be pretty hard to get those cases through,” Senator Murray concluded.
A senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.
Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
McALLEN, Texas – A Mexican illegal alien was sentenced for his role in possessing with intent to distribute nearly $3 million in methamphetamine concealed inside cabbages following an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Hidalgo County Constable’s Office.
Jose Angel Ibarra-Rojas, 36, was sentenced on June 4 by U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton to serve 132 months in federal prison. At the hearing, the court heard how the narcotics were packaged in a sophisticated manner. The heads of the cabbages were removed, and balls of methamphetamine were then inserted into the leaves in order to conceal them. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. Ibarra-Rojas pleaded guilty Nov. 6, 2024.
“This sentencing sends a strong message: any criminal who colludes with terrorist organizations to smuggle dangerous drugs into our communities will face harsh consequences. Thanks to the joint efforts of HSI, CBP, and local partners, we dismantled a dangerous operation and took a major quantity of meth off the streets,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Rio Grande Valley Deputy Special Agent in Charge Mark Lippa.
According to court documents, on June 18, 2024, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on a tractor trailer in Pharr. Ibarra-Rojas was the passenger. A search of the vehicle revealed 1,154 plastic-wrapped packages containing a crystal-like substance concealed within cabbages in the cargo area. Authorities determined the substance was methamphetamine and had a total weight of approximately 1,356 kilograms. The drugs had an estimated street value of over $2.8 million.
Ibarra-Rojas admitted he knew the trailer contained narcotics and was aware it had recently entered the United States. He claimed he expected to be paid $1,000 to arrange the transport of the trailer and its narcotics farther north into the United States. Ibarra-Rojas also said he had arranged similar transports several times in the past.
Ibarra-Rojas will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexa D. Parcell from the Southern District of Texas prosecuted the case.
Source: US FBI
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Damisha Brown, 32, of Charleston, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Brown received $15,625 in proceeds from a criminally derived Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loan, guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
According to court documents and statements made in court, co-defendant Kisha Sutton conspired with Brown and others to obtain fraudulent PPP loans. Sutton submitted a PPP loan application on Brown’s behalf on April 25, 2021. The application listed Brown as a sole proprietor hair dresser who received $75,000 in gross income in 2020. The application was filed with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040, Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business, stating that the applicant had earned $75,000 in 2020. As part of her guilty pleas, Brown admitted that she never earned $75,000 as a hair dresser in one year and that the IRS Form 1040 submitted with her application was fraudulent and created solely to obtain the PPP loan.
A PPP lender in California approved Brown’s loan application. The $15,625 in loan proceeds was deposited in Brown’s personal bank account on April 30, 2021. Brown admitted that she knew the $15,625 represented proceeds from the fraudulent PPP loan. Between April 30 and May 27, 2021, Sutton received $3,500 from Brown as her share of the fraudulent PPP loan proceeds. Brown transferred the money to Sutton using a digital wallet application. Brown admitted that she transferred the $3,500 as Sutton’s compensation for facilitating the submission of her fraudulent loan, in keeping with their agreement. Brown further admitted that she spent the remainder of the loan proceeds on ineligible personal expenses.
The CARES Act made forgivable PPP loans available to qualifying sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed individuals adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to replace their normal income and for certain other eligible expenses. Applicants were required to certify that they were in operation on February 15, 2020, and provide documentation showing their prior gross income from either 2019 or 2020.
Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2025, and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine. Brown also owes $12,125 in restitution.
Brown and Sutton, 44, of Jersey City, New Jersey, are among seven individuals indicted by a federal grand jury on charges alleging they and others conspired, as well as aided and abetted one another, to obtain fraudulent PPP loans totaling $140,625. On March 25, 2025, co-defendant William Powell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and co-defendant Jasmine Spencer pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting bank fraud. Powell, 35, of Huntington, and Spencer, 32, of Charleston, are scheduled to be sentenced on July 9, 2025. The indictment against Sutton and the other defendants remains pending. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the West Virginia State Police – Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and the West Virginia State Auditor’s Office (WVSAO) Public Integrity and Fraud Unit (PIFU).
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan T. Storage and Jennifer D. Gordon and former Assistant United States Attorney Holly Wilson have prosecuted the case.
Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:24-cr-192.
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Source: US Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA)
CARNEGIE, PA — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) celebrated that $991,758 in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funds have been awarded to Crafton Borough. The grant will support the Broadhead Sewer Separation Project—a $7.4 million project that will separate the sanitary and stormwater sewer systems. This infrastructure improvement will prevent combined sewer overflows—when heavy rainfall overwhelms a sewer system and forces raw sewage into local waterways. It will improve water quality and public health in the Chartiers Creek and Ohio River watersheds.
“Everyone should have peace of mind that the water in their local creeks and rivers is clean and safe,” said Congressman Deluzio. “But our outdated infrastructure can make that hard. This federal investment will support local construction jobs and help clean up Chartiers Creek and the Ohio River, keeping dangerous pollution from getting into our water and making us all safer and healthier. I thank former Congressman Conor Lamb for his work back in 2022 in the 117th Congress supporting this project.”
The project includes the installation of new storm sewer pipes, inlets, and manholes, and the reconstruction of streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and handicap ramps. Project bid documents are currently being finalized.
“We are thrilled and deeply grateful to receive federal funding towards the Broadhead Ave Sewer Separation Project, which represents a crucial investment in protecting the health of our local waterways and the broader Allegheny County creek and river systems. This project will make a meaningful difference for our community’s environmental future, and we truly appreciate Congressman Deluzio’s unwavering support for Crafton and our entire region,” said John Oliverio, Crafton Borough Council President.
The funding was awarded by an act of Congress, the Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which allocated $1.47 billion for 715 water infrastructure projects administered through EPA’s community grants. The funding bill was signed into law in December of 2022, and the EPA has now completed its reviews and formally announced grant awardees.
The Trump Administration’s efforts to freeze funding and pause federal grants has created significant uncertainty for grantees, varying by agency and program. As of now, the courts have paused many of these freezes. However, Congressman Deluzio will continue to monitor these developments and fight to make sure this congressionally-authorized funding continues going to projects that make life better for Western Pennsylvanians. If you are the recipient of a federal grant and have been notified that this funding is no longer available to you or are experiencing other issues accessing your lawfully appropriated funds, please share your concerns with Congressman Deluzio’s office at PA17Grants@mail.house.gov.
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US Senate News:
Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, issued the following statement on a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) showing 16 million people will lose coverage from the Republican reconciliation plan, including their failure to extend premium tax credits that Americans use to buy affordable health insurance:
“Millions of Americans will lose coverage, health care costs will rise, and people will get sick and lose their lives – that’s the sad reality of the Republican agenda. Congressional Republicans keep peddling lies about their plan, but the facts are the facts. This bill would dismantle the Affordable Care Act, gut Medicaid, take food away from kids, families, and seniors, and make life harder for New Mexicans.
“We should be expanding access to care – not ripping it away. I’ll keep fighting to protect New Mexicans’ health care, lower costs, and build a healthier America. The American people need to see this for what it is: an attack on their health and livelihoods. I won’t stop sounding the alarm — and I won’t stop fighting for New Mexicans.”
The letter from CBO can be found here.
CBO’s score can be found here.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Preserving Emergency Access in Key Sites (PEAKS) Act. The PEAKS Act would ensure Critical Access Hospitals in mountainous areas receive fair compensation for ambulatory services and modify distance requirements.
“As residents of the Mountain State, we are proud of our beautiful peaks, however, we are also aware of the transportation challenges—especially for ambulances—that exist due to our mountainous topography. I’m proud to introduce the PEAKS Act to address this challenge and ensure even our most rural residents can depend on ambulance services, as well as ensure our critical access hospitals are able to provide the best care possible,” Senator Capito said.
“Far too often, people in mountainous regions struggle to receive timely, affordable emergency care when they need it most,” said Senator Padilla. “California’s 37 Critical Access Hospitals help fill critical coverage gaps by providing emergency medical services in these rural areas, yet with two thirds of them operating in the red, we need to act quickly to prevent more ambulance service closures. Our bipartisan PEAKS Act would make commonsense updates to help Critical Access Hospitals in mountainous areas get Medicare reimbursements for the emergency care they provide.”
The Preserving Emergency Access in Key Sites Act would:
The Preserving Emergency Access in Key Sites is supported by the West Virginia Hospital Association, California Hospital Association, Arkansas Hospital Association, Hospital Association of Oregon, Utah Hospital Association and Wyoming Hospital Association.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced a bipartisan bill to improve access to care for seniors and people with disabilities who are living with eating disorders. The bipartisan Nutrition CARE Act would expand access to medical care for Medicare beneficiaries with eating disorders by including coverage of outpatient medical nutrition therapy through Medicare Part B, which will provide patients with a more comprehensive, specialized approach to combating eating disorders than what is currently offered under Medicare.
“Eating disorders can have life-threatening impacts on Americans’ health, including for older people and individuals who experience disabilities, and it’s important to ensure that all Americans have access to the tools necessary to lead healthy lives,” said Senator Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation will better support seniors and people who experience disabilities who are struggling with eating disorders so that they can get the help that they need.”
“Eating disorders are complex and often overlooked illnesses that can severely impact Alaskans of all ages, including our seniors and those living with disabilities. We are reintroducing the bipartisan Nutrition CARE Act to enhance access to medical nutrition therapy, which is particularly important in states like mine where resources are limited. This legislation will offer tailored treatment options that address specific needs, promoting recovery and improving health outcomes. We must continue to break the stigma surrounding eating disorders and ensure that everyone receives the comprehensive care they deserve,” said Senator Murkowski.
“Eating disorders harm the health of millions of Americans, regardless of their age or background. Our bipartisan legislation will ensure that seniors and people living with disabilities who struggle with eating disorders have access to medical nutrition therapy and life-saving treatment options through Medicare, to get them on the road to recovery,” said Senator Klobuchar.
“Eating disorders can affect anyone. They can also be particularly life-threatening for elderly Americans and those living with disabilities. The Nutrition CARE Act will expand access to medical nutrition therapy services for Medicare beneficiaries with eating disorders, helping them get the care they need to begin the path to recovery and live healthy lives,” said Senator Capito.
“I am very thankful to Senator Hassan for her unwavering dedication to championing and reintroducing the Nutrition CARE Act. For far too long, individuals struggling with a mental health disorder they never chose have been left without the support they need,” said Johanna Kandel, Founder and CEO of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders. “This crucial legislation will ensure that older adults and individuals with disabilities battling eating disorders finally gain access to medical nutrition therapy, a vital component of the treatment process.”
“Eating disorders are often overlooked or undertreated. The Nutrition CARE Act increases equity in eating disorders care and will directly save lives of seniors and those with disabilities,” said Jess Rude, Executive Director, Alaska Eating Disorders Alliance. “Senator Murkowski is dedicated to efforts for lasting recovery for eating disorders, and we are grateful she is leading legislation that includes nutrition therapy, a critical component in providing effective treatment of eating disorders alongside mental and physical health care.”
The bipartisan Nutrition CARE Act would allow physicians, registered dieticians, nutrition specialists, and mental health professionals to provide medical nutrition therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries. Currently, Medicare beneficiaries who have an eating disorder can access psychiatric, therapy, and medical services. The expanded services would include 13 hours of medical nutrition therapy – including a one-hour initial assessment and 12 hours of reassessment and intervention – during the first year that the beneficiary begins receiving services. The beneficiary would then be able to access four hours of medical nutrition therapy services during each subsequent year.
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act to combat the obesity crisis in the United States by providing regular screenings. The bill would also prevent diseases associated with obesity through expanded coverage of new health care specialists and chronic weight management medications for Medicare recipients.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diseases associated with obesity such as heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes, and certain types of cancer are the leading causes of preventable death in the U.S. The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act would work to directly prevent these comorbidities.
The legislation is led by U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) Alongside Heinrich and Luján, the legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Chris Coons (D-Del.).
The following organizations have endorsed the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Academy of Pas, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, American Diabetes Association, American Gastroenterological Association, American Medical Group Association, American Psychological Association, American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, American Society for Nutrition, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, Black Woman’s Health Imperative, Boehringer-Ingelheim, ConscienHealth, Currax, Diabetes Leadership Council, Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, Eli Lilly and Company, Endocrine Society, Gerontological Society of America, Global Liver Institute, Healthcare Leadership Council, HealthyWomen, Intuitive Surgical, MedTech Coalition for Metabolic Health, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, National Consumers League, National Council on Aging, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Kidney Foundation, Novo Nordisk, Obesity Action Coalition, Obesity Medicine Association, Ro, Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, The Obesity Society, Trust for America’s Health, WW Weight Watchers International, and YMCA of the USA.
Source: United Nations – Peacekeeping
Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, and Liberia were elected on Tuesday to serve as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, with two-year terms beginning in January 2026.
They will serve through the end of 2027 on the UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
They will join the five non-permanent members elected last year – Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia – who will serve through 2026. The incoming members will succeed Algeria, Guyana, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia, whose terms end in December 2025.
The Security Council has 15 members: five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – who hold veto power, and ten non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for staggered two-year terms.
Elections are held annually by secret ballot, with seats allocated by regional group. Candidates must secure a two-thirds majority in the 193-member General Assembly to be elected.
A total of 188 Member States participated in the election, which required only one round of balloting.
In the African and Asia-Pacific group, Bahrain received 186 votes, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) garnered 183 votes, and Liberia received 181 votes, with one country abstaining.
In the Eastern European group, Latvia received 178 votes while 10 countries abstained.
In the Latin America and the Caribbean group, Colombia received 180 votes, with eight countries abstaining.
Latvia will take a seat on the Council for the first time in its history.
With the exception of Latvia, all the elected countries have previously served: Colombia seven times, the DRC twice, and Bahrain and Liberia once each.
The non-permanent seats on the Security Council are distributed according to four regional groupings: Africa and Asia; Eastern Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Western European and other States group.
This year’s election filled five seats: two allocated to Africa, one to Asia-Pacific, one to Eastern Europe, and one to Latin America and the Caribbean.
By Vibhu Mishra
Source: NASA
A team from Auburn University took top honors in NASA’s 2025 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Competition Forum, where undergraduate and graduate teams competed to develop new concepts for operating on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Auburn’s project, “Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER)” advised by Dr. Davide Guzzetti, took home top prize out of 14 Finalist Teams from academic institutions across the nation. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University took second place overall for their concept, “Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM),” advised by Dr. Kevin Shinpaugh. The University of Maryland took third place overall with their project, “Servicing Crane Outfitted Rover for Payloads, Inspection, Operations, N’stuff (SCORPION),” advised by Dr. David Akin, Nich Bolatto, and Charlie Hanner.
The first and second place overall winning teams will present their work at the 2025 AIAA Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery (ASCEND) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in July.
The RASC-AL Competition, which took place from June 2-4, 2025, in Cocoa Beach, Florida, is a unique initiative designed to bridge the gap between academia and the aerospace industry, empowering undergraduate and graduate students to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world challenges in space exploration. This year’s themes included “Sustained Lunar Evolution – An Inspirational Moment,” “Advanced Science Missions and Technology Demonstrators for Human-Mars Precursor Campaign,” and “Small Lunar Servicing and Maintenance Robot.”
“The RASC-AL Competition cultivates students who bring bold, imaginative thinking to the kinds of complex challenges we tackle at NASA,” said Dan Mazanek, RASC-AL program sponsor and senior space systems engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “These teams push the boundaries of what’s possible in space system design and offer new insights. These insights help build critical engineering capabilities, preparing the next generation of aerospace leaders to step confidently into the future of space exploration.”
As NASA continues to push the boundaries of space exploration, the RASC-AL Competition stands as an opportunity for aspiring aerospace professionals to design real-world solutions to complex problems facing the Agency. By engaging with the next generation of innovators, NASA can collaborate with the academic community to crowd-source new solutions for the challenges of tomorrow.
Additional 2025 Forum Awards include:
Best in Theme: Sustained Lunar Evolution: An Inspirational Moment
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Project Title: Project Aeneas
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Shinpaugh
Best in Theme: Advanced Science Missions and Technology Demonstrators for Human-Mars Precursor Campaign
Auburn University
Project Title: Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars ECLSS Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER)
Advisor: Dr. Davide Guzzetti
Best in Theme: Small Lunar Servicing and Maintenance Robot
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Project Title: Adaptive Device for Assistance and Maintenance (ADAM)
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Shinpaugh
Best Prototype: South Dakota State University
Project Title: Next-gen Operations and Versatile Assistant (NOVA)
Advisor: Dr. Todd Letcher, Allea Klauenberg, Liam Murray, Alex Schaar, Nick Sieler, Dylan Stephens, Carter Waggoner
RASC-AL is open to undergraduate and graduate students studying disciplines related to human exploration, including aerospace, bio-medical, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and life, physical, and computer sciences. RASC-AL projects allow students to incorporate their coursework into space exploration objectives in a team environment and help bridge strategic knowledge gaps associated with NASA’s vision. Students have the opportunity to interact with NASA officials and industry experts and develop relationships that could lead to participation in other NASA student research programs.
RASC-AL is sponsored by the Strategies and Architectures Office within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and by the Space Mission Analysis Branch within the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley. It is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace.
For more information about the RASC-AL competition, including complete theme and submission guidelines, visit: http://rascal.nianet.org.
National Institute of Aerospace
Source: NASA
Earth scientist Compton J. Tucker has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his work creating innovative tools to track the planet’s changing vegetation from space. It’s research that has spanned nearly 50 years at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he is a visiting scientist after retiring in March.
Tucker’s research began with identifying wavelengths of light that are absorbed or reflected as plants undergo photosynthesis, and has evolved into calculating the health and productivity of vegetation over time with satellites.
“I’m honored and surprised,” Tucker said of his election. “There were opportunities at the Goddard Space Flight Center that have enabled this work that couldn’t be found elsewhere. There were people who built satellites, who understood satellite data, and had the computer code to process it. All the work I’ve done has been part of a team, with other people contributing in different ways. Working at NASA is a team effort of science and discovery that’s fun and intellectually rewarding.”
Tucker earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Colorado State University, where he worked on a National Science Foundation-funded project analyzing spectrometer data of grassland ecosystems. In 1975, he came to NASA Goddard as a postdoctoral fellow and used what he learned in his graduate work to modify the imager on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorological satellites and modify Landsat’s thematic mapper instrument.
He became a civil servant at the agency in 1977, and continued work with radiometers to study vegetation – first with handheld devices, then with NOAA’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite instruments. He has also used data from Landsat satellites, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instruments, and commercial satellites. His scientific papers have been cited 100,000 times, and one of his recent studies mapped 10 billion individual trees across Africa’s drylands to inventory carbon storage at the tree level.
“The impact of Compton Tucker’s work over the last half-century at Goddard is incredible,” said Dalia Kirschbaum, director of the Earth Sciences Division at NASA Goddard. “Among his many achievements, he essentially developed the technique of using satellites to study photosynthesis from plants, which people have used to monitor droughts, forecast crop shortages, defeat the desert locust, and even predict disease outbreaks. This is a well-deserved honor.”
The National Academy of Sciences was proposed by Abraham Lincoln and established by Congress in 1863, charged with advising the United States on science and technology. Each year, up to 120 new members are elected “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” according to the organization.
In addition his role as a visiting scientist at Goddard, Tucker is also an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and a consulting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s University Museum. He was awarded the National Air and Space Collins Trophy for Current Achievement in 1993 and the Vega Medal by the Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography in 2014. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union, and won the Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service in 2017, among other honors.
By Kate Ramsayer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Source: NASA
What happens when the universe’s most magnetic object shines with the power of 1000 Suns in a matter of seconds? Thanks to NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), a mission in collaboration with ASI (Italian Space Agency), scientists are one step closer to understanding this extreme event.
Magnetars are a type of young neutron star – a stellar remnant formed when a massive star reaches the end of its life and collapses in on itself, leaving behind a dense core roughly the mass of the Sun, but squashed down to the size of a city. Neutron stars display some of the most extreme physics in the observable universe and present unique opportunities to study conditions that would otherwise be impossible to replicate in a laboratory on Earth.
The magnetar 1E 1841-045, located in the remnants of a supernova (SNR Kes 73) nearly 28,000 light-years from Earth, was observed to be in a state of outburst by NASA’s Swift, Fermi, and NICER telescopes on August 21, 2024.
A few times a year, the IXPE team approves requests to interrupt the telescope’s scheduled observations to instead focus on unique and unexpected celestial events. When magnetar 1E 1841-045 entered this brighter, active state, scientists decided to redirect IXPE to obtain the first-ever polarization measurements of a flaring magnetar.
Magnetars have magnetic fields several thousand times stronger than most neutron stars and host the strongest magnetic fields of any known object in the universe. Disturbances to their extreme magnetic fields can cause a magnetar to release up to a thousand times more X-ray energy than it normally would for several weeks. This enhanced state is called an outburst, but the mechanisms behind them are still not well understood.
Through IXPE’s X-ray polarization measurements, scientists may be able to get closer to uncovering the mysteries of these events. Polarization carries information about the orientation and alignment of the emitted X-ray light waves; the higher the degree of polarization, the more the X-ray waves are traveling in sync, akin to a tightly choreographed dance performance. Examining the polarization characteristics of magnetars reveals clues about the energetic processes producing the observed photons as well as the direction and geometry of the magnetar magnetic fields.
The IXPE results, aided by observations from NASA’s NuSTAR and NICER telescopes, show that the X-ray emissions from 1E 1841-045 become more polarized at higher energy levels while still maintaining the same direction of propagation. A significant contribution to this high polarization degree comes from the hard X-ray tail of 1E 1841-045, an energetic magnetospheric component dominating the highest photon energies observed by IXPE. “Hard X-rays” refer to X-rays with shorter wavelengths and higher energies than “soft X-rays.” Although prevalent in magnetars, the mechanics driving the production of these high energy X-ray photons are still largely unknown. Several theories have been proposed to explain this emission, but now the high polarization associated with these hard X-rays provide further clues into their origin.
The results are presented in two papers published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, one led by Rachael Stewart, a PhD student at George Washington University, and the other by Michela Rigoselli of the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics..
“This unique observation will help advance the existing models aiming to explain magnetar hard X-ray emission by requiring them to account for this very high level of synchronization we see among these hard X-ray photons,” said Stewart. “This really showcases the power of polarization measurements in constraining physics in the extreme environments of magnetars.”
Rigoselli, lead author of the companion paper, added, “It will be interesting to observe 1E 1841-045 once it has returned to its quiescent, baseline state to follow the evolution of its polarimetric properties.”
IXPE is a space observatory built to discover the secrets of some of the most extreme objects in the universe. Launched in December 2021 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a Falcon 9 rocket, the IXPE mission is part of NASA’s Small Explorer series.
IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. IXPE is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.
Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here:
https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe
Media Contact
Elizabeth LandauNASA Headquarterselizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov202-358-0845
Lane FigueroaMarshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov256.544.0034
Source: NASA
A lot can change in a year for Earth’s forests and vegetation, as springtime and rainy seasons can bring new growth, while cooling temperatures and dry weather can bring a dieback of those green colors. And now, a novel type of NASA visualization illustrates those changes in a full complement of colors as seen from space.
[embedded content]
Researchers have now gathered a complete year of PACE data to tell a story about the health of land vegetation by detecting slight variations in leaf colors. Previous missions allowed scientists to observe broad changes in chlorophyll, the pigment that gives plants their green color and also allows them to perform photosynthesis. But PACE now allows scientists to see three different pigments in vegetation: chlorophyll, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. The combination of these three pigments helps scientists pinpoint even more information about plant health. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite is designed to view Earth’s microscopic ocean plants in a new lens, but researchers have proved its hyperspectral use over land, as well.
Previous missions measured broad changes in chlorophyll, the pigment that gives plants their green color and also allows them to perform photosynthesis. Now, for the first time, PACE measurements have allowed NASA scientists and visualizers to show a complete year of global vegetation data using three pigments: chlorophyll, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. That multicolor imagery tells a clearer story about the health of land vegetation by detecting the smallest of variations in leaf colors.
“Earth is amazing. It’s humbling, being able to see life pulsing in colors across the whole globe,” said Morgaine McKibben, PACE applications lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It’s like the overview effect that astronauts describe when they look down at Earth, except we are looking through our technology and data.”
Anthocyanins are the red pigments in leaves, while carotenoids are the yellow pigments – both of which we see when autumn changes the colors of trees. Plants use these pigments to protect themselves from fluctuations in the weather, adapting to the environment through chemical changes in their leaves. For example, leaves can turn more yellow when they have too much sunlight but not enough of the other necessities, like water and nutrients. If they didn’t adjust their color, it would damage the mechanisms they have to perform photosynthesis.
In the visualization, the data is highlighted in bright colors: magenta represents anthocyanins, green represents chlorophyll, and cyan represents carotenoids. The brighter the colors are, the more leaves there are in that area. The movement of these colors across the land areas show the seasonal changes over time.
In areas like the evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest, plants undergo less seasonal change. The data highlights this, showing comparatively steadier colors as the year progresses.
The combination of these three pigments helps scientists pinpoint even more information about plant health.
“Shifts in these pigments, as detected by PACE, give novel information that may better describe vegetation growth, or when vegetation changes from flourishing to stressed,” said McKibben. “It’s just one of many ways the mission will drive increased understanding of our home planet and enable innovative, practical solutions that serve society.”
The Ocean Color Instrument on PACE collects hyperspectral data, which means it observes the planet in 100 different wavelengths of visible and near infrared light. It is the only instrument – in space or elsewhere – that provides hyperspectral coverage around the globe every one to two days. The PACE mission builds on the legacy of earlier missions, such as Landsat, which gathers higher resolution data but observes a fraction of those wavelengths.
In a paper recently published in Remote Sensing Letters, scientists introduced the mission’s first terrestrial data products.
“This PACE data provides a new view of Earth that will improve our understanding of ecosystem dynamics and function,” said Fred Huemmrich, research professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, member of the PACE science and applications team, and first author of the paper. “With the PACE data, it’s like we’re looking at a whole new world of color. It allows us to describe pigment characteristics at the leaf level that we weren’t able to do before.”
As scientists continue to work with these new data, available on the PACE website, they’ll be able to incorporate it into future science applications, which may include forest monitoring or early detection of drought effects.
By Erica McNamee
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Source: NASA
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps retired May 30, after nearly 16 years of service with the agency. Epps most recently served as a mission specialist during NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, spending 235 days in space, including 232 days aboard the International Space Station, working on hundreds of scientific experiments during Expedition 71/72.
“I have had the distinct pleasure of following Jeanette’s journey here at NASA from the very beginning,” said Steve Koerner, acting director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Jeanette’s tenacity and dedication to mission excellence is admirable. Her contributions to the advancement of human space exploration will continue to benefit humanity and inspire the next generation of explorers for several years to come.”
Epps was selected in 2009 as a member of NASA’s 20th astronaut class. In addition to her spaceflight, she served as a lead capsule communicator, or capcom, in NASA’s Mission Control Center and as a crew support astronaut for two space station expeditions.
“Ever since Jeanette joined the astronaut corps, she has met every challenge with resilience and determination,” said Joe Acaba, NASA’s chief astronaut. “We will miss her greatly, but I know she’s going to continue to do great things.”
Epps also participated in NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation) off the coast of Florida, conducted geologic studies in Hawaii, and served as a representative to the Generic Joint Operations Panel, which addressed crew efficiency aboard the space station.
The Syracuse, New York, native holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Le Moyne College in Syracuse. She also earned master’s and doctorate degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in College Park. During her graduate studies, she became a NASA Fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles about her research. Epps also received a provisional patent and a U.S. patent prior to her role at NASA.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
Source: NASA
Jack Kaye [NASA HQ—Associate Director for Research, Earth Science Division (ESD)] has decided to retire on April 30, 2025, following 42 years of service to NASA – see Photo 1. Most recently, Kaye served as associate director for research of the Earth Science Division (ESD) within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). In this position, he was responsible for the research and data analysis programs for Earth System Science that addressed the broad spectrum of scientific disciplines from the stratopause to the poles to the oceans.
A New York native, Kaye’s interest in space was piqued as a child watching early NASA manned space launches on television. He would often write to NASA to get pictures of the astronauts. In high school, he started an after school astronomy club. Despite a youthful interest in Earth science, as he explained in a 2014 “Maniac Talk” at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Kaye pursued a slightly different academic path. He obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in chemistry from Adelphi University in 1976 and a Ph.D. in theoretical physical chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1982. For his graduate studies, he focused on the quantum mechanics of chemical reactions with an aim toward being able to understand and calculate the activity.
Following graduate school, Kaye secured a post-doctoral position at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where he studied the chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere with a focus on stratospheric ozone. It was while working in a group of meteorologists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center that Kaye returned to his roots and refocused his scientific energy on studying Earth.
“NASA had a mandate to study stratospheric ozone,” Kaye said in an interview in 2009. “I got involved in looking at satellite observations and especially trying to interpret satellite observations of stratospheric composition and building models to simulate things, to look both ways, to use the models and use the data.”
Kaye has held numerous science and leadership positions at NASA. He began his career at GSFC as a researcher for the Stratospheric General Circulation and Chemistry Modeling Project (SGCCP) from 1983–1990 working on stratospheric modeling. In this role, he also worked on an Earth Observing System Interdisciplinary proposal. His first role at NASA HQ was managing as program scientist for the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program (ACMAP), as well as numerous other missions. In this role, he was a project scientist for the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS) series of Shuttle missions. While managing ATLAS, Kaye oversaw the science carried out by a dozen instruments from several different countries. He also managed several other Earth Science missions during this time. See the link to Kaye’s “Maniac Talk.”
Kaye entered the Senior Executive Service in 1999, where he continued to contribute to the agency by managing NASA’s Earth Science Research Program. In addition, Kaye has held temporary acting positions as deputy director of ESD and deputy chief scientist for Earth Science within SMD. Throughout his career he has focused on helping early-career investigators secure their first awards to establish their career path—see Photo 2.
On numerous occasions, Kaye spoke to different groups emphasizing the agency’s unique role in both developing and utilizing cutting-edge technology, especially remote observations of Earth with different satellite platforms – see Photo 3. With the launch of five new NASA Earth science campaigns in 2020, Kaye stated, “These innovative investigations tackle difficult scientific questions that require detailed, targeted field observations combined with data collected by our fleet of Earth-observing satellites.”
Kaye has also represented NASA in interagency and international activities and has been an active participant in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), where he has served for many years as NASA principal of the Subcommittee on Global Change Research. He served as NASA’s representative to the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology and chaired the World Meteorological Organization Expert Team on Satellite Systems. Kaye was named an honorary member of the Asia Oceania Geoscience Society in 2015. He previously completed a six-year term as a member of the Steering Committee for the Global Climate Observing System and currently serves an ex officio member of the National Research Council’s Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, as well as a member of the Roundtable on Global Science Diplomacy.
NASA has honored Kaye with numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal in 2022 and the Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service in 2004, 2010, and 2021. In 2024 he was awarded the NASA-USGS Pecora Individual Award honoring excellence in Earth Observation. He was named a Fellow by the American Meteorological Society in 2010 and by the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2014. Kaye was elected to serve as an office of the Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Science section of the AAAS (2015–2018). AGU has recognized him on two occasions with a Citation for Excellence in Refereeing.
Over the course of his career Kaye has published more than 50 papers, contributed to numerous reports, books, and encyclopedias, and edited the book Isotope Effects in Gas-Phase Chemistry for the American Chemical Society. In addition, he has attended the Leadership for Democratic Society program at the Federal Executive Institute and the Harvard Senior Managers in Government Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
“The vantage point of space provides a way to look at the Earth globally, with the ability to observe Earth’s interacting components of air, water, land and ice, and both naturally occurring and human-induced processes,” Kaye said in a November 2024 article published by Penn State University. “It lets us look at variability on a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and given the decades of accomplishments, has allowed us to characterize and document Earth system variability on time scales from minutes to decades.”
Source: NASA
Dr. Stanley Sander dedicated more than five decades to atmospheric science at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, beginning his JPL career as a graduate research assistant in 1971. A leading figure in atmospheric chemistry, Stan made foundational contributions to our understanding of stratospheric ozone depletion, tropospheric air pollution, and climate science related to greenhouse gases.
His pioneering work in laboratory measurements—particularly of reaction rate constants, spectroscopy, and photochemistry—was designed to forge consensus among often disparate measurements. His steadfast application of the scientific method was essential for furthering scientific research, as well as for providing sound advice for use in air quality management and environmental policies. His expertise extended beyond Earth’s atmosphere, with studies of methane chemistry on Mars, halogens on Venus, and hydrocarbons in Titan’s atmosphere.
Stan’s scientific output was vast. He authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications, beginning with his 1976 paper on sulfur dioxide oxidation. His work spans major aspects of atmospheric chemistry—from chlorine, bromine, and nitrogen oxides to sulfur compounds and peroxides. The rate constants, cross-sections, and photochemical data produced in his lab form the cornerstone of atmospheric modeling crucial to the scientific foundation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. He played a central role in the widely used JPL Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for Use in Atmospheric Studies reports, which have collectively garnered over 10,000 citations. His spectroscopic research, which included development of novel spectrometers and polarimeters, resulted in insightful data from sites at JPL, the Table Mountain Facility as well as the California Laboratory for Remote sensing (CLARS). These activities have contributed significantly to the calibration and validation of satellite missions like TES, OCO, OMI, and SAGE, helped advance remote sensing technologies, and informed local air quality metrics.
Stan was not only a brilliant scientist but a deeply respected mentor and leader. He guided 40 postdocs at JPL, 14 graduate students at Caltech, and 14 undergraduate researchers. At JPL, he held key leadership roles including Supervisor of the Laboratory Studies and Modeling Group, Chief Engineer and Acting Chief Technologist in the Science Division, and Senior Research Scientist. Those of us lucky enough to be fostered by Stan in this capacity will always remember his kindness first approach and steadfast resolve in the face of challenges.
Stan’s contributions were recognized with numerous honors, including two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals, a NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and elected as a fellow for both the American Geophysical Union (2021) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2024). Although the announcement of his AAAS Fellowship came posthumously, he was informed of this honor before his passing.
Stan was a rare combination of scientific brilliance, humility, and kindness. He was not only a leader in his field, but also a generous collaborator and cherished mentor. His loss is profoundly felt by the scientific community and by all who had the privilege of working with him. His legacy, however, will endure in those he mentored and the substantial contributions he made to scientific knowledge.
Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency
Headline: FEMA Assistance Extended To July 25 for Kentuckians Affected by April Storms
FEMA Assistance Extended To July 25 for Kentuckians Affected by April Storms
FRANKFORT, Ky
– Kentucky homeowners and renters who suffered uninsured or underinsured damage to their property from the April severe storms, flooding, straight-line winds, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and mudslides now have until July 25 to apply for FEMA assistance
Survivors are encouraged to file insurance claims for damage to their homes, personal property and vehicles before they apply for FEMA assistance
FEMA Individual Assistance cannot duplicate insurance benefits or other sources of assistance
How To Apply for FEMA AssistanceThere are several ways to apply for FEMA assistance:Online at DisasterAssistance
gov
Visit any Disaster Recovery Center
To find a center close to you, visit fema
gov/DRC, or text DRC along with your Zip Code to 43362 (Example: “DRC 29169”)
Use the FEMA mobile app
Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362
It is open 7 a
m
to 10 p
m
Eastern Time
Help is available in many languages
If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service
FEMA works with every household on a case-by-case basis
FEMA representatives can explain available assistance programs, how to apply to FEMA, and help connect survivors with resources for their recovery needs
When you apply, you will need to provide:A current phone number where you can be contacted
Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying
Your Social Security Number
A general list of damage and losses
Banking information if you choose direct deposit
If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name
Survivors should keep their contact information updated with FEMA as the agency may need to call to schedule a home inspection or get additional information
Disaster assistance is not a substitute for insurance and is not intended to compensate for all losses caused by a disaster
The assistance is intended to meet basic needs and supplement disaster recovery efforts
For more information about Kentucky flooding recovery, visit www
fema
gov/disaster/4860 and www
fema
gov/disaster/4864
Follow the FEMA Region 4 X account at x
com/femaregion4
martyce
allenjr
Thu, 06/05/2025 – 12:47
Source: US State of California 2
What you need to know: California is launching the CalAssist Mortgage Fund on June 12, 2025, to provide $105 million in relief offering up to $20,000 to homeowners whose homes were destroyed in recent disasters, including the Los Angeles firestorms.
LOS ANGELES — California is launching the CalAssist Mortgage Fund on June 12, 2025, to provide grants up to $20,000 to homeowners whose homes were destroyed or left uninhabitable in recent fire, floods, and other disasters. This includes those individuals whose homes were destroyed by the LA-area firestorms earlier this year.
Governor Gavin Newsom
This new disaster mortgage relief program, managed by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), will be paired with $25 million in additional housing counseling support through CalHFA’s National Mortgage Settlement Housing Counseling Program, and none of the funds impact the proposed 2025-2026 budget.
The CalAssist Mortgage Fund provides relief for the most vulnerable homeowners whose homes have been destroyed or left uninhabitable as the result of a disaster that received a State of Emergency proclamation by the Governor or a Major Disaster Declaration approved by the President between January 2023 and January 2025, such as the Eaton Fire, Palisades Fire, Park Fire and San Diego floods.
When applications open on June 12, eligible homeowners can apply for grants covering up to three months of mortgage payments, up to $20,000 total.
“When disaster strikes and families lose their homes, every step toward recovery makes a meaningful difference,” said Tomiquia Moss, Secretary of California’s Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. “The CalAssist Mortgage Fund will provide more than $100 million in valuable support to help ease the financial pressure survivors face, giving them a little more breathing room as they navigate the challenging path of rebuilding their lives.”
To provide time for affected homeowners to get prepared to apply, application and eligibility information about the CalAssist Mortgage Fund is now available at CalAssistMortgageFund.org. These grants do not have to be repaid and applying to the program is free. Grants will be sent directly to the approved homeowner’s mortgage servicer.
“For communities affected by disasters, the CalAssist Mortgage Fund will provide homeowners with financial assistance that allows them to focus on healing and recovery,” said Rebecca Franklin, Chief Deputy Director at CalHFA. “Hard-working families across the state, from Altadena to Chico, deserve relief as they work to recover from these devastating events.”
Homeowners can call the CalAssist Mortgage Fund for in-depth, one-on-one assistance with preparing and completing their application. Call 800-501-0019 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Additionally, homeowners can also access free support and services from HUD-certified housing counseling agencies.
The Governor previously had secured commitments from more than 400 financial institutions, including five major lenders (Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo), to offer homeowners impacted by the L.A. wildfires a 90-day forbearance of their mortgage payments, without reporting these payments to credit reporting agencies or charging late fees.
Governor Newsom has provided unprecedented support to assist Los Angeles’ recovery from this year’s firestorms. In addition to recently announcing a new AI tool to supercharge the approval of building permits, Governor Newsom issued an executive order to streamline the rebuilding of homes and businesses destroyed — suspending permitting and review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act. The Governor also issued an executive order further cutting red tape by reiterating that permitting requirements under the California Coastal Act are suspended for rebuilding efforts and directing the Coastal Commission not to issue guidance or take any action that interferes with or conflicts with the Governor’s executive orders. Additionally, he signed an executive order to cut more red tape and continue streamlining rebuilding, recovery, and relief for survivors. The Governor also issued an executive order removing barriers, extending deadlines, and providing critical regulatory relief to help fire survivors rebuild, access essential services, and recover more quickly.
To help provide the Los Angeles community with a stronger voice in the rebuilding and recovery efforts, Governor Newsom launched Engaged California, a new platform that gives Californians a unique opportunity to share their thoughts and connect with other people on topics that are important to them. It creates new opportunities for Californians to connect with their government to inform and shape policy through honest, respectful discussions. The program was launched in February with the first use case focusing on the impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires.
Source: Amnesty International –
In response to President Trump imposing a new discriminatory travel ban on visitors from Afghanistan, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and a partial ban on people from another seven countries, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said:
“President Trump’s new travel ban is discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel. By targeting people based on their race, religion, or nationality, from countries with predominantly Black, Brown and Muslim-majority populations, this blanket ban constitutes racial discrimination under international human rights law. It also spreads hate and disinformation, reinforcing the notion that these populations are more likely to pose security risks or engage in acts of violence.
“This arbitrary travel ban also violates the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution and the US obligation to protect them under international and national refugee law. With the right to seek asylum already non-existent at US borders, it will further inflict terrible suffering on people who are fleeing war-torn regions, massive human rights violations and other dangerous situations and seeking safety in the United States.
This travel ban is yet another iteration of the Trump administration’s persistent trampling on the rights of immigrants and those seeking safety.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
“This travel ban is no different than the ones that President Trump put into place in his first term. It is based on racism and xenophobia and has nothing to do with national security or keeping anyone safe.
“Through targeting and detaining immigrants for exercising practicing their right to free speech, separating families, mass deportations and more, President Trump’s actions have already put tens of millions of people in the United States at risk. And now, this travel ban is yet another iteration of the Trump administration’s persistent trampling on the rights of immigrants and those seeking safety.
“Communities thrive when governments prioritize the safety of all people, regardless of nationality, religion, or race. Amnesty International will never stop fighting for a world in which everybody is treated with dignity, immigrants and people seeking safety are welcomed and recognized for their contributions to society, and communities are united.”
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Eugene Y. Chan, Associate Professor of Marketing, Toronto Metropolitan University
If you’ve seen videos of people tearing into tiny toy packages online, or noticed teens obsessing over pastel-coloured figurines at the mall, you’ve probably encountered the global craze for blind box toys.
These small collectibles — usually figures of cartoonish characters — are sold in sealed packaging that hides which specific item is inside. You might get the one you want, or you might not. That uncertainty is part of the thrill.
Unlike traditional toys, these figures are marketed as collectibles. Many are part of themed series, with some designs labelled as “rare” or “secret,” appearing in as few as one in every 144 boxes. This sense of exclusivity fuels repeat purchases and has spawned a resale market where rare figures can command hundreds of dollars.
Popular among children and adults alike, blind box toys have grown into a billion-dollar industry. One of the more popular brands is Pop Mart, a Chinese toy company founded in 2010 known for its collectible designer toys sold in mystery packs.
Gen Z consumers, in particular, have embraced blind box toys both as a nostalgic pastime and as a form of legitimate collecting. The proliferation of unboxing videos on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, where creators open dozens of blind boxes on camera, has added to their appeal.
For many fans, these toys offer more than just cuteness: they also provide suspense, surprise and a rush of dopamine with every box opened. But how did this niche product become a global obsession?
The origins of blind box toys trace back to East Asia. Capsule toy vending machines called gashapon originated in Japan in the 1960s. By the 1980s, they had become a cultural fixture. These machines dispense small toys in opaque plastic balls, with customers never quite sure which item they’ll receive.
In the early 2010s, Chinese companies like Pop Mart adapted the gashapon model for the mainstream retail space. Instead of vending machines, they began selling artist-designed vinyl toys in blind boxes at dedicated boutiques.
Pop Mart’s success helped transform the blind box into a mainstream commercial phenomenon. Characters like Molly, Skullpanda and Dimoo became instant hits, combining Japanese kawaii esthetics with western pop art sensibilities.
Pop Mart figures have since developed a cult-like following. Many consumers treat the toys as affordable art objects, displayed in cabinets, on purses or traded online.
Today, blind box retail stores have expanded globally from Asia to Europe and North America. In October 2024, Pop Mart opened its first store in the Midwestern United States, located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile at The Shops at North Bridge. The store offers exclusive products and taps into the growing demand for collectibles among American consumers.
What makes blind box toys so hard to resist?
Their success relies on a psychological principle known as variable-ratio reinforcement — the same reward pattern that makes slot machines so addictive.
You never know exactly when you’ll score the item you’re after, but the possibility that the next box might contain it keeps people coming back. This unpredictability keeps people engaged, especially when the potential reward is framed as rare or valuable.
Cconsumer psychology research also suggests that anticipation plays a major role. Studies show that dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical, spikes not just when we get what we want, but when we anticipate it. The sealed packaging, the suspense of unwrapping and the hope for a rare figure all heighten this effect.
For younger collectors, the excitement of “the chase” can foster compulsive buying habits. This effect is amplified by the social influence of watching unboxings online or seeing friends complete their sets, and it becomes a powerful loop.
Even when buyers don’t get the figure they want, the sunk cost fallacy — the feeling that they’ve already invested too much time or money to walk away — keeps them buying more.
As blind box toys surge in popularity, they have drawn criticism from consumer advocates, psychologists and environmentalists alike.
Some worry that blind boxes normalize gambling-like behaviours, especially among children. The randomness, excitement and promise of rare rewards closely mirror the mechanisms behind loot boxes in video games — another product that has sparked global concern over youth exposure to gambling psychology.
Several countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands, have regulated loot boxes under gambling laws. Blind boxes, though currently unregulated, may be next in line for scrutiny.
Read more:
Blind bags: how toy makers are making a fortune with child gambling
There are also environmental concerns. Many blind box toys come in excessive packaging — plastic wraps, foil bags, cardboard boxes — most of which is discarded immediately. The collectibles themselves are often made of non-recyclable plastics, raising questions about sustainability in an era of rising consumer awareness over waste.
Even among adult fans, some critics question whether blind boxes are designed less to bring joy and more to trigger compulsive consumption. The joy of collecting, they argue, is increasingly overshadowed by the mechanics of engineered desire.
Blind box toys are not inherently harmful, and for many, they’re a source of fun, nostalgia and self-expression. They also offer an accessible way for consumers to engage with designer art in a collectible, miniature form, as many of them are created by individual artists.
But blind box toys also raise deeper questions about how modern marketing leverages psychological triggers associated with gambling, especially when it comes to children.
As these toys continue to gain traction in the West, it’s worth asking more critical questions, like: are we buying into mystery or are we being sold obsession and compulsion?
The blind box trend reflects broader shifts in how products are marketed, how value is perceived and how consumer behaviour is shaped in a digital, attention-driven economy. Understanding the forces at play may be the first step toward more informed — and perhaps more mindful — collecting.
Eugene Y. Chan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Labubus, Sonny Angels and Smiskis: Are blind toy boxes just child’s play or something more concerning? – https://theconversation.com/labubus-sonny-angels-and-smiskis-are-blind-toy-boxes-just-childs-play-or-something-more-concerning-257611
Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
ICE acting director demands that politicians “stop putting my people in danger” with rhetoric to rile up activists.
“These are real people with real families you’re hurting with your ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments, and it’s time to remember that.”
#shorts #shortsfeed #shortvideo
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen, co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Comprehensive Care Caucus, announced the introduction of a pair of bipartisan bills to expand access to palliative and hospice care. The Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act with Senators Barrasso (R-WY), Baldwin (D-WI), and Fischer (R-NE) would establish a demonstration project through Medicare to expand access to palliative care at the time of diagnosis of serious illness or injury. The Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act with Senators Barrasso (R-WY) and Baldwin (D-WI) would carve out payment for transfusion services within the Medicare hospice benefit, allowing for separate billing to Medicare for transfusions. This would improve access to hospice care for patients who rely on transfusion care to maintain quality of life.
“Having stepped away from my career to take care of my aging parents and in-laws, I know just how important it is that families have access to high-quality palliative and hospice care for their loved ones,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m glad to work across party lines to introduce these bipartisan bills and help make palliative care more accessible and available.”
“As a doctor, I have seen firsthand how important palliative care is for the comfort of patients and their families,” said Senator Barrasso. “Making sure patients have access to this care as soon as possible is critical to their quality of life. Our bipartisan bill ensures patients in Wyoming and across the country receive this care when they need it most.”
“Having been by my grandmother’s side as she aged and served as her caretaker, this issue is deeply personal for me,” said Senator Baldwin. “I know the challenges both patients and those who are providing this specialized care face, and we need to better support both of them. I am proud to work with Democrats and Republicans to expand and improve palliative care for American families because everyone deserves to know that if they need it, this kind of care is within reach.”
“The reintroduction of the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act is a meaningful step toward ensuring patients and families can receive high-quality care when and where they need it. Building on the success of the Medicare Care Choices Model, we believe a concurrent care approach within hospice should be developed for national dissemination,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home. “We also appreciate Senator Rosen’s leadership on the Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act, which addresses a key access challenge. The Alliance is proud to support these efforts to expand person-centered, community-based care.”
“The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) has long championed a Medicare payment model designed to close the gaps in care for individuals with serious illness, as well as their families and caregivers. This model aims to support palliative care teams of all sizes, structures, and regions in delivering high-quality, patient-centered care,” said Kristina Newport, MD FAAHPM, HMDC, AAHPM Chief Medical Officer. “We are proud to endorse the bipartisan Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act, which proposes testing a community-based palliative care model. We commend Senators Rosen, Barrasso, Baldwin, and Fischer—co-chairs of the Senate Comprehensive Care Caucus—for their leadership in introducing this vital legislation and their dedication to expanding access to palliative care. This effort will help align treatments with patients’ unique goals and preferences, enabling more care to be delivered in the settings where patients live.”
“We commend Sens. Rosen, Barrasso, and Baldwin for the introduction of the Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act,” said Belinda R. Avalos, MD, president of the American Society of Hematology. “This bill will support critical access to transfusions for patients with blood cancers in hospice and will make great strides in guaranteeing comprehensive palliative care.”
“The Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies applauds Senators Rosen, Barrasso, and Baldwin for reintroducing the Improving Access to Transfusion Care for Hospice Patients Act,” said Debra BenAvram, FASAE, CAE, AAB CEO. “The Association is committed to advancing patients’ access to safe blood transfusions throughout the continuum of care, and this bill addresses an important barrier for patients receiving care under the Medicare hospice benefit.”
“Blood transfusions are a proven palliative measure that can significantly enhance the quality of life for many patients,” said Kate Fry, CEO of America’s Blood Centers. “This legislation bridges a gap in care, ensuring patients can receive transfusions while also benefiting from the holistic support provided under the Medicare hospice benefit. It’s a compassionate step forward in patient-centered care that recognizes the complex needs of those navigating serious illnesses.”
Senator Rosen has been working to increase access to affordable, high-quality health care for Nevada’s seniors. Last month, she introduced the Lowering Costs For Caregivers Act to lower costs for caregivers and help families afford medical expenses. Senator Rosen has also introduced the Physicians for Underserved Areas Act and the Train More Nurses Act to address the shortages of medical professionals in Nevada that are reducing access to care and driving up costs.
