TRUMP ORDERS END TO TAXPAYER-FUNDED BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL FOREIGN NATIONALS

Thursday, February 20, 2025
By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor

President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed federal agencies to stop funding public benefits for foreign nationals living illegally in the U.S.

The order cites federal law, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, that “generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.”

Title IV of the law states that it’s national policy that "aliens within the Nation's borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs," and that "[i]t is a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits."

Since the law was enacted, Republican and Democratic administrations “acted to undermine the principles and limitations directed by the Congress through that law,” the order states. “Over the last 4 years, in particular, the prior administration repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources.”

“My Administration will uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans,” Trump said.

The order directs federal agencies “to prevent taxpayer resources from acting as a magnet and fueling illegal immigration to the United States, and to ensure, to the maximum extent permitted by law, that no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.”

All federal agency heads were directed to identify all federally funded programs their respective agencies administer “that currently permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit” and take appropriate actions to align such programs with the order’s directive and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.

They are also directed to ensure that federal payments to states and localities “do not, by design or effect, facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration, or abet so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation;” and “enhance eligibility verification systems, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure that taxpayer-funded benefits exclude any ineligible alien who entered the United States illegally or is otherwise unlawfully present in the United States.”

The order also instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Administrator of the United States DOGE Service, in coordination with the assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, to identify all sources of federal funding for illegal foreign nationals and recommend additional agency actions to align federal spending with the purposes of the order.

Agencies were also directed to refer any improper receipt or use of federal benefits to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security for appropriate legal action to take.

The order was issued after several states sued to block taxpayer money from funding benefits for illegal foreign nationals.

In 2021, Texas and 13 states sued to ensure that a federal public charge rule remained in effect, which requires foreign nationals to prove they can financially support themselves prior to being admitted to the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Kansas recently sued to halt a Biden administration plan to provide free taxpayer-funded health care to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, arguing the plan was illegal. A federal judge agreed, halting it, The Center Square reported.

One estimate put the cost of taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal foreign nationals at roughly $120 billion a year before the Biden administration border crisis, The Center Square reported. By 2023, a U.S. House report estimated that housing and shelter, public school education, health care and several welfare programs cost taxpayers more than $451 billion.

That’s in addition to another report estimating that every year, $42 billion is spent on one or more welfare programs for illegal foreign nationals and $69 million on public school education for illegal foreign national children; and a Medicare report found that "emergency services for undocumented aliens" cost $7 billion in fiscal 2021 and $5.4 billion in fiscal 2022, with taxpayer money funding at least $8 billion in improper Medicaid payouts (10% of the nation's total of $80 billion), The Center Square reported.

Total costs of benefits for illegal foreign nationals is expected to be in the trillions going back decades.

$100 BILLION IN COVID-ERA UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD TARGETED BY REPUBLICANS

Thursday, February 20, 2025
Thérèse Boudreaux | The Center Square

Legislation that would give the U.S. Department of Justice more time to track down and punish pandemic-era unemployment insurance (UI) fraud is on its way to the U.S. House floor.

The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., provides a five-year extension on the statute of limitations for criminally prosecuting those who committed CARES Act related UI fraud.

According to the DOJ, there are still 157,000 open UI fraud complaints and 1,648 open investigations. If no congressional action is taken, the current statute will expire on March 27, leaving thousands of Americans unreimbursed for stolen benefits and potentially hundreds of fraudsters would be let off the hook.

“Given the volume of existing cases currently under investigation, there is no reason that Congress should not act to ensure law enforcement stays on this beat and goes after these criminals,” Smith told lawmakers. “If we don't extend the statute of limitations, every one of these investigations will end and those that perpetrated the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history will not be brought to justice.”

While the Government Accountability Office estimates that upwards of $100 billion in unemployment benefits were lost to fraud during the pandemic, only $5 billion have been recovered.

“Fraudsters ran rampant during COVID, taking advantage of states like California that had weak fraud protections in their unemployment insurance systems,” U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said. “We can’t let them off the hook by letting the statute of limitations expire.”

Currently, more than 2,000 individuals have been charged with, and over 1,400 convicted of, unemployment insurance fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The bill has 25 cosponsors, all Republican, and is part of the GOP’s efforts to address waste, fraud, and abuse connected to the federal government

RURAL COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS WANT TO SECEDE FROM THE DEMOCRAT-RUN STATE; LAWMAKERS IN INDIANA SAY ‘WE’D LIKE TO INVITE YOU'

Wednesday, February 19, 2025
BRADLEY CORTRIGHT | Contributor of The New York Sun.

Indiana lawmakers are moving forward with the initial stages of a bill that would absorb several counties in Illinois where voters no longer feel represented by their state government.

On Monday, a committee in the Indiana House voted 11-1 to approve Indiana House Bill 1008, which would create a five-member commission to explore the idea of adjusting the state’s border with Illinois to incorporate several counties that have voted to secede from the Prairie State in recent years.

The idea for absorbing parts of Illinois into Indiana came after November when seven counties voted to secede from the state and become America’s 51st state. Since 2020, 33 out of 102 counties have voted in favor of splitting up the state.

The author of the bill, Speaker Todd Huston of the Indiana House, argues that instead of those nearly three dozen counties forming a new state, they should become part of Indiana. In testimony on Monday, Mr. Huston said roughly 100,000 people have moved to Indiana from Illinois since the Covid pandemic.

“We don’t want to see our neighbors to the west languish. Ultimately, their success or failure affects our own success or failure,” Mr. Huston said. “To the Illinois counties and residents feeling unheard and unrepresented, we hear you, and we’d like to invite you to come back home again to Indiana.”

A Democratic state lawmaker, Ragen Hatcher, said she voted for the bill as she expressed optimism that the legislation would let the more liberal Lake County leave Indiana to become part of Illinois.

“I hope that possibly this is a two-way street,” Ms. Hatcher said. “Maybe this is a start for everyone.”

The chairwoman of a group that has been influential in the secession push, New Illinois, G.H. Merritt, told Indiana lawmakers on Monday, “Our biggest grievance is that we are not represented. We don’t have government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our governor accuses us of wanting to kick Chicago out of Illinois. Not so, we want to kick ourselves out of Illinois.”

Ms. Merritt insists the divide is not partisan but focused on differences between urban and rural lifestyles. She says the counties that want to leave have more in common with Indiana than Chicago.

Still, she said her organization’s ultimate goal is the creation of a new state.

In the early 1800s, what is now the state of Illinois used to be part of the Indiana Territory. However, the Illinois Territory was separated off in 1809.

The idea of various counties breaking away from states is not a new concept in America. In 2018, an initiative to break up California into three different states received enough signatures to make it onto the ballot in that year’s election. However, the California Supreme Court took the initiative off the ballot, citing “significant questions” about “the proposition’s validity.”

Earlier this month, a state representative in Oregon introduced a measure to explore the impact of transferring 13 conservative counties in the eastern part of the state to Idaho.

In American history, there is some precedent for the breaking up of states. However, it has not happened since the Civil War when Virginia voted to secede from the Union. The western counties of the state disagreed with the decision and decided to form their own state government. In 1863, West Virginia was admitted as a state after it added the abolition of slavery to its constitution.

For the Indiana scheme to succeed, the bill would have to be approved by both chambers of the Indiana and Illinois legislatures. A commission would then draft a plan for the changing of the borders, which the legislatures would have to agree to. And Congress would have to approve of the plan.

Even if the bill is approved by Indiana, leaders in Illinois seem unlikely to support the plan.

The attorney general of Illinois, Kwame Raoul, said in November, “It is my opinion that non-home-rule counties… do not have the authority to secede from the state of Illinois and join another state. Accordingly, any referendum on the issue of county secession would have no binding legal effect.”

In January, Governor Pritzker said, “It’s a stunt. It’s not going to happen.”

“But I’ll just say that Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn’t protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people in need, and so I don’t think it’s very attractive for anybody in Illinois,” he said.

The full Indiana House is yet to schedule a vote on the bill.

A RADICAL ABOUT-FACE ON UKRAINE EMERGES IN TRUMP’S PROPOSED GUNS-FOR-MINERALS DEAL

Wednesday, February 19, 2025
JAMES BROOKE |James Brooke is a Contributor for the Sun

President Trump’s proposed guns-for-minerals deal with Ukraine reflects a radical about-face in Washington’s relations with Kyiv. Details emerge of a minerals grab that, if consummated, would rank alongside annexing Greenland or retaking the Panama Canal.

Long gone is the talk of shared values, democracy, independence, and blocking Russia’s Western expansion. In its place is the hardball language of commerce, percentages of revenues, New York law, and “payback.”

A Yale history professor and Ukraine specialist, Timothy Snyder, warns that America is fast shifting from ally to exploiter. “It could well be,” he writes after attending the Munich Conference, “that the United States intends to use the threat of Russian violence in order to seize Ukrainian wealth — ‘we could stop the war, but we need your resources first.’ A protection racket, in other words.”

“Colonialist” is the label used by the press in Britain, a country with centuries of experience with the practice. “Transactional” is the politer euphemism used by Americans to describe Washington’s new way of dealing with the world.

“Trump’s demand is iron-fist coercion by a neo-imperial power against a weaker nation with its back to the wall, and all for a commodity bonanza that exists chiefly in Trump’s head,” the Telegraph’s international business editor, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, writes Monday from London.

Writing for the conservative newspaper, he calculated in respect of a draft contract: “If this draft were accepted, Trump’s demands would amount to a higher share of Ukrainian GDP than reparations imposed on Germany at the Versailles Treaty.” In 1919, the victors in World War I imposed that treaty on Germany, the defeated party. The Russia-Ukraine war is widely viewed as a standoff.

“Team Trump’s shakedown diplomacy — America has just tried to grab Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth,” headlined the London-based news site, the Economist. “The proposal demanded his country’s mineral wealth in its entirety. Mr Zelensky had ‘an hour’ to agree.”

Another conservative voice, Canadian business writer and Ukraine observer Diane Francis writes: “Trump also plans to ruthlessly take advantage of Ukraine…His Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented Zelensky with an outrageous and one-sided resource deal granting Washington a 50% interest in Ukraine’s resource income, including oil and natural gas, graphite, lithium, and uranium. It was a loan shark take-it-or-leave-it arrangement.”

The showdown came Friday morning at the Munich Security Conference. Aides to Vice President Vance reportedly threatened: No signature, no meeting with the vice president. Apparently, the American side backed down. The meeting took place in the afternoon. Now, the Ukrainian side is “reviewing” the proposal.

Originally, the idea came from President Zelensky. He recalled that in 2017 his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, ingratiated himself with President Trump, then beginning his first term, by buying coal from Pennsylvania, a swing state. This purchase led to Mr. Trump approving the transfer to Ukraine of Javelin shoulder-held, anti-tank weapons.

Last September, as candidate Trump’s campaign picked up steam, Mr. Zelensky suggested as part of his “Victory Plan,” a minerals-for-security deal with the United States. Only 12 days ago in Kyiv, in an interview with two Reuters correspondents, he unrolled in his office a once-classified mineral map of Ukraine. Poring over the map, he said: “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal. We are only for it.”

“The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most,” he continued. “And they should have this priority, and they will. I would also like to talk about this with President Trump.”

Ukrainian reserves include Europe’s largest known deposits of titanium as well as large deposits of lithium. Mr. Zelensky said less than 20 percent of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including about half its rare earth deposits, are under Russian occupation. Mining has been slow to develop in post-Soviet Ukraine due to red tape, corruption, lack of security, and infighting among oligarchs.

Ukraine’s mineral wealth also has caught the eye of Europe. In three years of war, Europe has supplied slightly more military aid to Ukraine than America, according to figures released Friday by Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Six months before Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine, the European Union and Ukraine signed a memorandum of understanding covering critical raw materials vital for aerospace, defense, electronics, automotive, and renewable energy.

Ukraine could displace China as the EU’s top “supplier of raw materials and components for these technologies of the future for Europe,” Vice President Maroš Šefčovič of the European Commission told Interfax-Ukraine after he signed the document. “You can do better than China.” He said Europe supports Ukraine building “the entire vertically integrated supply chain around critical raw materials and added value stays in Ukraine as much as possible.”

So it was with shock that Mr. Zelensky learned last Wednesday in Kyiv that he had one hour to review a contract and sign it with Treasury Secretary Bessent, then visiting in Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky reportedly protested. “We are not a raw materials country. It’s about investment — not just taking our resources.”

Senator Graham said that the contract can be tweaked to create a win-win for both countries. Mr. Trump “can go to the American people and say, ‘Ukraine is not a burden, it is a benefit,’” he told reporters in Munich. “If we sign this minerals agreement, Putin is screwed, because Trump will defend the deal.”

After Munich, Mr. Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz, told Fox News Sunday that the deal is “protection in and of itself. I can’t think of any better security guarantee than being co-invested with President Trump.”

“The American people deserve to be recouped, deserve to have some kind of payback for the billions they have invested in this war,” he continued. “I think that Zelensky would be very wise to enter into this agreement with the United States.”

According to Ukrainians, the document is dangerously fuzzy on details for security guarantees. Ukraine has been burned on that before. In the 1990s, Ukraine shipped to Russia its entire Soviet legacy nuclear arsenal — 1,700 atom bombs. In return, they got the Budapest Memorandum. The three foreign signatories — America, Britain, and Russia — promised to guarantee Ukraine’s borders.

This time around Ukraine envisions security in the form of continued military aid, the stationing of Western nation troops to defend an armistice line, and numerous mining and processing joint ventures with American companies. This intertwining of the two economies would create an enduring American interest in defending Ukraine.

However, without serious security guarantees, private Western mining companies are unlikely to risk their money in Ukraine. “This is about investments,” Mr. Zelensky told reporters in Munich. “You can think about how you can distribute profits when the security guarantees are clear. So far, I haven’t seen it there.”

To nudge Ukraine along, Mr. Trump seems to have made a veiled threat, telling reporters: “They may make a deal. They may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday. Or they may not be Russian someday. But I want this money back.”

JUDGE ORDERS NEARLY $1B IN PANDEMIC FUNDS SHOULD GO TO OHIOANS

Tuesday, February 18, 2025
J.D. Davidson | The Center Square

Ohio Democrats are pushing Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to distribute nearly $1 billion in federal COVID-19 unemployment funds following a court ruling.

A Franklin County judge ruled recently the state must reinstate its participation in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation fund and get nearly $900 million the state passed on when DeWine decided to stop the program in June 2021.

The program offered an extra $300 per week to those unemployed between Dec. 27, 2020, and Sept. 6, 2021. DeWine said the program was discouraging Ohioans from returning to work.

Twenty-four other states also opted out of the program.

In 2021, a Franklin County judge ruled for the state, but an appeals court overturned that ruling. By the time the case reached the Ohio Supreme Court, the benefits had expired, and the court said the case was moot.

In 2024, Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook allowed plaintiffs to bring an amended claim. This week, Holbrook ruled the state violated state law and ordered it to “take all necessary” steps to get and distribute the money to those eligible.

Lawmakers are urging DeWine not to appeal the decisions and distribute the money.

“These are dollars that belong in Ohio communities, helping families make ends meet and stimulating local economies, not left sitting in Washington while Ohioans struggle,” said Rep. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood. “Families and small businesses today are still feeling the impact of the pandemic and these funds will help bring needed relief.”

In a letter to DeWine, Senate Democrats pointed to rising inflation and few job expectations as key needs for the additional funds.

With the cost of living at an all-time high, inflation on the rise, and the job market slowing down with fewer jobs than expected being added to the economy, now is the time to support Ohio’s workers in limbo by offering them temporary assistance during their job searches,” the letter reads.

CBS NEWS' MARGARET BRENNAN DENOUNCED FOR GENOCIDE COMMENTS

Tuesday, February 18, 2025
BRADLEY CORTRIGHT |nysun.com

The embattled CBS News host Margaret Brennan is facing calls for her firing after she awkwardly claimed that free speech empowered the Nazis to kill millions in the Holocaust.

On Sunday, Ms. Brennan interviewed Secretary of State Rubio and challenged him about Vice President Vance’s criticism of European officials’ efforts to curb free speech.

She noted that Mr. Vance’s comments were made at the Munich Security Conference and then made a historically inaccurate claim that the Nazis “weaponized” free speech to carry out the Holocaust. Munich was the birthplace of the Nazis and a major hub of Nazi activity during their rule.

“[Vance] was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide, and he met with the head of a political party that has far-right views and some historic ties to extreme groups,” Ms. Brennan said. “The context of that was changing the tone of it. And you know that. That the censorship was specifically about the right…”

Mr. Rubio interjected to point out the inaccuracy of the statement, saying, “Well, I have to disagree with you…Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide.”

“The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian Nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated Jews and they hated minorities…they had a list of people they hated, but primarily the Jews. There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was none. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany…So that’s not an accurate reflection of history,” he said.

Ms. Brennan did not respond to being called out for her statement, as she said she was being told that they were out of time for the segment and had to go to a commercial break.

Ms. Brennan’s assertion that free speech was “weaponized to conduct a genocide” appeared to be an effort to put Mr. Rubio on the spot about his colleague and potential rival for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Vance.

Her command of the facts was shaky. Rather than being a bastion of free speech, Nazi Germany is recorded in history as a repressive society that censored speech critical of the governing regime or its vision for the world. In 1933, students across 34 towns in Germany burned more than 25,000 books that were deemed to be “Un-German.” After Hitler took power, there was zero tolerance for dissent among Germans. Non-Jewish dissidents and political opponents were some of the first inmates in the Nazi’s nascent system of concentration camps, where they were imprisoned under extremely harsh conditions and where many of them were murdered.

Meanwhile, free speech advocate Greg Lukianoff notes that the Weimar Republic’s restrictions on speech were seized upon by the Nazis, before they came to power, to “claim they were being targeted for exposing the international conspiracy to suppress ‘true’ Germans,” which helped them gain support.

CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. As of Monday morning, Ms. Brennan had not posted on X to respond to the controversy either. On Sunday afternoon, she tweeted out the full interview with Mr. Rubio, but did not tweet out separate moments from the interview, as she did with other segments from the broadcast.

Ms. Brennan has a history of tussling with Mr. Vance. During the vice presidential debate, Mr. Vance called her out for “fact checking” him despite CBS News promising not to do so during pre-debate negotiations. Mr. Vance has continued to give Ms. Brennan interviews, during which he’s called her out for bias and inaccuracies. During their sparring, Mr. Vance has repeatedly corrected Ms. Brennan’s facts.

As for Ms. Brennan’s remarks on Sunday, Mr. Vance shared the clip and wrote, “This is a crazy exchange. Does the media really think the holocaust was caused by free speech?”

Elon Musk wrote, “One of the first things Hitler did upon gaining power was apply aggressive censorship.”

The influential tech investor who’s a co-host of the hugely influential “All In” podcast, David Sacks, wrote on X that “This represent[s] the entire Legacy Media. Their pathological hatred of Trump has led them into a cul-de-sac of absurdity and irrelevance. They have zero credibility left.”

A conservative writer at National Review, Michael Brendan Dougherty, said, “This is the first time I’ve heard the theory that the Holocaust wasn’t conducted with gas chambers but with free speech zones.”

Some suggested the comment should lead CBS News to fire Ms. Brennan. Conservative commentator Mark Davis wrote, “She cannot keep this gig. Even @CBSNews must have a shred of self-awareness.”

Another user, Morgan Warstler, wrote, “CBS HAS TO FIRE Margaret Brennan…The public airwaves cannot be licensed to a company that believes ‘free speech can be weaponized.’ She needs to apologize or be removed.”

Ms. Brennan’s interview was not the only time on Sunday that CBS made its views clear about Germany and free speech. Hours later, CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the news division’s flagship program with exponentially more viewers than “Face the Nation,” aired a glowing segment about Germany’s restrictions on speech.

In one clip, CBS News journalists tagged along with “six armed officers” as they raided someone’s apartment for allegedly posting a racist cartoon online. The officials seized the suspect’s laptop and phone. The segment also noted that “at the same time” as that raid occurred, there were more than 50 similar raids happening across Germany.

A prosecutor who leads one of the 16 task force units aimed at enforcing Germany’s speech laws, Michael Laue, told “60 Minutes” that his office alone handles about 3,500 cases per year.

The CBS correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, asked the head of a human rights organization in Germany, HateAid, Josephine Ballon, about concerns the enforcement of such restrictions “feels like the surveillance that Germany conducted 80 years ago.”

“There is no surveillance,” Ms. Ballon responded.

Ms. Ballon also dismissed concerns that speech restrictions are a threat to democracy as she insisted that “free speech needs boundaries.”

“Without boundaries, a very small group of people can rely on endless freedom to say anything that they want, while everyone else is scared and intimidated,” Ms. Ballon said.

TRUMP TURNS UP THE PRESSURE ON ‘60 MINUTES,’ DEMANDING REAMS OF PRIVATE DOCUMENTS FROM CBS NEWS IN $20 BILLION LAWSUIT OVER HARRIS INTERVIEW

Saturday, February 15, 2025
BRADLEY CORTRIGHT | Warwick, Rhode Island

President Trump’s legal team is turning up the pressure on CBS as it pushes forward with Mr. Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against the Tiffany Network over how CBS News’ “60 Minutes” edited an interview with Vice President Harris is the final weeks of the 2024 campaign.

Kamala Harris sits down with Bill Whitaker for her '60 Minutes' interview

Mr. Trump’s legal team sent a 27-page letter to CBS, which was obtained by Fox News, asking for more than 100 different forms of communication.

The letter specifically seeks “all documents in CBS Interactive’s possession, custody, or control, wherever located, including documents in the possession of its representatives, attorneys, or other persons directly or indirectly retained by CBS Interactive, or anyone else acting on its behalf or otherwise subject to its control” that are related to the October interview.

Additionally, Mr. Trump’s legal team wants any communication between CBS and the FCC, the Biden administration, the Harris campaign, or the DNC from September 22, 2024 to February 11, 2025.

The demand also asks for communications between the executive editor of “60 Minutes,” Tanya Simon; the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens; the anchor of “Face The Nation,” Margaret Brennan; or journalist Bill Whitaker, who interviewed Ms. Harris.

CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment.

Mr. Trump is suing CBS News for $20 billion over its editing of Ms. Harris’ “60 Minutes interview.”

His lawsuit claims that the network “manipulated” Ms. Harris’ response to a question about Prime Minister Netanyahu to eliminate “word salads” that “made no sense” to help her presidential aspirations.

“Defendants’ tampering went way beyond the exchange about Prime Minister Netanyahu,” the filing says. “This was a full-blown cover-up of an incompetent candidate in Harris, substantially motivated by commercial gain and rabid partisanship.”

Despite winning the election, Mr. Trump amended his lawsuit earlier this month to state that he is now seeking $20 billion, up from the original $10 billion, as he claimed the network damaged his social media company’s revenue.

After months of refusing to release the transcript of the “60 Minutes” interview, CBS relented after the new chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, ordered it to.

The transcript showed that CBS did edit the vice president’s answer, removing her immediate, circuitous comments in response to the question, and cutting immediately from a shot of Mr. Whitaker asking the question to a shot of Ms. Harris answering it coherently. The version that aired on TV was shorter and more coherent than her complete response, the transcript showed.

The network has defended how it edited the interview and insisted the editing was “consistent with 60 Minutes’ repeated assurances to the public — that the 60 Minutes broadcast was not doctored or deceitful.”

“In reporting the news, journalists regularly edit interviews — for time, space, or clarity. In making these edits, 60 Minutes is always guided by the truth and what we believe will be most informative to the viewing public — all while working within the constraints of broadcast television,” the network said.

CBS sought to have Mr. Trump’s lawsuit dismissed as it argued it is “completely without merit.”

However, the judge overseeing the case, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative judge best known for briefly suspending FDA approval of mifepristone, denied the motion to dismiss the case while stressing that his order should not be “construed as a determination on the merits of either Plaintiffs’ or Defendants’ substantive arguments and claims in the Motions or Amended Complaint.”

OHIO SENATE SENDS HIGHER ED BILL TO HOUSE

Friday, January 14, 2025
J.D. Davidson | The Center Square

A plan to ban diversity, equity and inclusion, faculty collective bargaining and mandates certain courses at public colleges and universities is a step closer to becoming law in Ohio.

All that stands in the way of Senate Bill 1 is the House of Representatives, where it stalled during the last General Assembly. However, new House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, has said he expects passage, and Republicans hope to get it on Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk by March 1.

The bill easily passed the Republican-majority Senate 21-11 late Wednesday – with two Republicans voting against it – after only two hearings and nearly 900 people, organizations and student groups testified on it earlier this week.

College students dressed in funeral attire silently protested a committee vote Wednesday morning. Other students chanted immediately after the Senate vote and were escorted out of the Statehouse by security.

Fourteen witnesses testified in support of the bill.

Sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, says SB1 gives what he calls free speech to students and faculty.

"No student should ever be ostracized, canceled, or have to worry about a failing grade for merely daring to have a difference of opinion with classmates or a professor," Cirino said. "It is essential for students to learn how to think rather than what to think, and how to listen to opposing views with a respectful but critical ear."

Cirino says the legislation does not ban discussion of any subjects, but opponents say it’s a form of censorship that limits what students and faculty can discuss by forbidding institutions of higher learning from taking positions on any controversial topics.

“Make no mistake, this bill will harm our students in Ohio,” said Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson. “When universities lose the ability to operate independently, when faculty are silenced, when staff lose their right to advocate for better conditions, our students are the ones who suffer, and Ohio will suffer right along with them. Students want lower tuition and better job opportunities, not big government mandates on classroom discussions.”

With regard to ban diversity, equity and inclusion, the bill bans courses, training, litmus tests, required statements, and spending for initiatives or programs.

It sets parameters around discussions about what it calls controversial topics. Named are climate polices; electoral politics; foreign policy; ban diversity, equity and inclusion; immigrant policy; and marriage and abortion.

“This is about enhancing public education," Cirino said. "Certainly, I would never take part in anything that would destroy it.”

Others, though, believe it will harm the state’s higher education system and drive students, faculty and business partners from the system that has nine schools ranked in the top 200 public institutions in the country, according to U.S. News.

“Senate Bill 1 is a politically motivated attack on Ohio’s institutions of higher education,” said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood. “Rather than imposing ideological restrictions and attacking faculty, we should focus on finding solutions to real issues like college affordability, student recruitment, and workforce development. This bill does not contribute to improving the institutions of higher education in Ohio, but will, I fear, erode them.”

JFS REPORTS SURPLUS FUNDS AND ASKS FOR DECISION ON BEST LOCATION FOR GEAUGA YOUTH CENTER

Thursday, February 13, 2025

A week ago Executive Director of Geauga County’s Job and Family Services, Craig Swenson, came to the Board of County Commissioners to certify the placement of two levies on the Geauga County May 2025 primary election, roughly half the dollar amount to be collected, according to Swenson, by Department of Aging on the same May primary ballot.

On Tuesday, February 11, Director of Family First Council, Tim Kehres, and Swenson came to report on Agenda Item # 13 regarding the Family First Council Mutual Funding Agreement, over which JFS is the financial agent, according to comments by Swenson. Kehres, an employee since December 2020, and Swenson, employed since 2015 as Executive Director of JFS, both identified a happy anomaly: there are no juveniles in residential treatment in Geauga County. Both Kehres and Swenson have been trying to figure out why there have been no referrals for counseling when so many other counties in Ohio are experiencing a backlash of alienated juveniles trying to deal with the aftermath of isolation caused by closed schools during the Covid outbreak of some five years ago. Both men agreed that in other counties, including Cuyahoga, there has been such a noticeable post-Covid increase in juvenile treatment that children are sleeping in the lobbies of County Job and Family Services--- but not so the case in Geauga County. Kehres humbly acknowledged that he could not attribute the elimination of county juvenile therapeutic needs for troubled to only the skill of Geauga County First Family Staff. Therefore, “[t]he Family First Council Mutual Funding Agreement, which includes Job and Family Services, Mental Health and Recovery Services, Boart of Developmental Disabilities and the Commissioners, will not be collecting funding for the period January 1, 2025 through June 30, 20259 2^nd Half FY 2025, due to a temporary surplus in funding resulting from lack of Geauga youth in residential treatment.

Both gentlemen agreed that this particular anomaly is “a happy problem” for Geauga County because it demonstrates that there is no need for extra funding from Geauga taxpayers at this time and the fair way to deal with the current situation. Nevertheless, Swenson emphasized that by waiting for legitimate need before asking for additional funding, taxpayers will recognize the validity of any financial requests that JFS may make now and in the future.

Swenson, as sole presenter of Agenda Item #14, asked the Commissioners “to discuss the options regarding the location of the New Geauga County Youth Center. “ Readers may recall that several months ago, Swenson came to the board to share plans for his long-held vision for a new and improved County Youth Center. Currently, there are three possible parcels on which the construction may occur. The first location is on the parcel that houses the current youth center; the second tangible location is across the street from the current location on Aquilla Road; the third possible location is across the street from JFS on Ravenwood.

The first possible parcel is also the location of two residential homes with occupants who can observe all construction preparation. Significant amounts of dirt would need to be removed, and in the end, the cost for all construction testing would exceed $1 million; the second location on Aquilla Road would not require any expense for tree removal, but at least $1million for site preparation. A known expense of $500,000 did not include any utility expense. The third parcel, across the street on Ravenwood, is anticipated to entail $400,000-$500,000 but is understood to involve about $500,000 less expense than either the first two parcels described,

Of the three possible locations, the third parcel is viewed to be the least expensive to achieve the same quality in finished product.

GEAUGA DOG WARDEN SHOWS UP TO EXPLAIN SHELTER CLOSING AND REPLACING OF DOGS POSSIBLY EXPOSED TO DISTEMPER

Friday, February 7, 2025

Several weeks back Dog Warden Matt Granito showed up to a public meeting attended by over 300 members of the public ready to support him psychologically in the presence of several professional Cleveland television camera crews. Although the majority of these public attendees were on-site as early as an hour before the actual original meeting, Tuesday’s meeting of February 4, 2024 found Granito’s appearance unannounced on the 17-Item Agenda. Nevertheless, as Granito explained, his unannounced appearance followed a Press Release explaining that a resident hound-type canine picked up by the warden as a stray, had been transferred to a veterinary hospital for treatment after showing some signs of distemper. It became necessary for the vet to put down the dog in question on or about February 3, creating the necessity of providing new temporary housing for all shelter dogs that may have been exposed.

Distemper, once an exposed animal tests positive to the condition, has no cure. It is known to be carried by raccoons.

Warden Granito noted that his volunteers were already in the process of bleaching all dog cells to make the dog shelter ready ASAP for its usual activities.

GEAUGA JFS AND DEPARTMENT OF AGING FORMALLY IDENTIFY CERTIFICATE OF NEED FOR MAY LEVIES IN BOTH DEPARTMENTS

Friday, February 7, 2025

Attendees of the 2+ hour Geauga Commissioner meeting on February 4, 2025, found themselves involved in a marathon, and sometimes painful, unfolding of events that created more questions about procedures and outcomes than they answered.

The February 4, 2025, meeting got off to a timely beginning, as has become customary since Commissioner Carolyn Brakey’s January swearing in. As a licensed attorney, she has demonstrated her skills for good organization, logical development of her argument , and a refreshing sense of good humor while maintaining those objectives.

Jessica Bolt, Director of the Department on Aging, found herself presenting Agenda Items #4 and #5 Certificate of Estimated Property Tax Revenue in preparation for registered Geauga County voters as they decide in the May Geauga County Primary Election on passage/ failure of the 1.0 mill levy to maintain senior citizen services in Geauga County. Bolt noted in response to Mrs. Brakey’s questioning that the levy on the May ballot will generate about $3,330,000. When asked to explain what “full collection” might mean to voters, Bolt acknowledged that she did not know.

Job and Family Services Director, Craig Swenson, directly followed with Agenda Items #6 and #7, cheerfully responding that the revenue he expected to have generated from his .5 Mill renewal was “50% of hers [Bolt’s] for “any operations or capital improvement expenditure necessary for the support of children services and care and placement of children.” Swenson was still there for #7, “Declaring it Necessary to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation and to Provide for the Necessary Requirements of JFS , per ORC 5705.05 and 5705.24.

So Aging will have one levy and JFS will have two levies on the May primary. Best remember those issues if you are a registered voter in Geauga County. The fitst Tuesday in May comes up very quickly during an already expensive year for Geauga taxpayers, particularly those on fixed sources of income after a very challenging Six-Year Revaluation covering tax year 2023 from the State Auditor for registered voters who are also property owners.

PORTAGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FILE AGAINST GEAUGA COMMISSIONERS FOR LEAVING PORTAGE COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER IN SEPTEMBER 2024

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Back on September 5, 2024, then-Geauga Commissioners Lennon, Spidalieri, and Dvorak voted unanimously in Agenda Item #15 to withdraw from the Joint Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention Board including its cash investment in the tangible building and in Agenda Item #16 to execute a contract between Juvenile Court of Lake County, effective the very same day because Portage County Juvenile Detention Center’s daily rate for each Geauga County juvenile detainee has become too prohibitive, per the judgment of Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell. At that point in time Geauga County Commissioners were still waiting for a refund as a result of having invested several hundred thousand dollars in the actual detention center.

Back at that time the Geauga Commissioners, then County Administrator Gerry Morgan, and Prosecutor Jim Flaiz were aware that Portage County had hired outside legal assistance to explore the possibility of filing litigation to avoid making a payment to Geauga County. After almost five months of studying the possible outcomes, the Board of Portage County Commissioners filed a legal complaint against Geauga County on January 22, 2025. Their complaint alleges that Geauga Commissioners could not withdraw from the Joint Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention Center without prior approval from Portage County Commissioners. Additionally, Geauga Commissioners could not legally sell back their financial interest in the building without first getting Portage County’s approval.

As a result, the Portage County complaint claims that Geauga County owes $458,900, its share of the yearly cost of operation, as well as an estimated $107,000 to in insurance and liability to convert the Portage County Juvenile Detention Center back into a facility serving only Portage County.

Although Flaiz suggested that free mediation services offered through the Ohio Supreme Court could be useful and convenient for both sides, the Portage County outside attorney never responded to Flaiz’s idea before finalizing the complaint.

For almost a year the Geauga Commissioners have believed that their county should be reimbursed based on the Portage County Auditor’s appraisal value of the detention center. Because the decision to withdraw from the Portage County Juvenile Detention Center occurred on September 5, 2024, and thus Geauga County ignored third and fourth quarter assessments, Portage County argues that by December 31, 2024, Geauga County owed $292,649. Adding the $107,000 for conversion of the Center and possibly $96,250 and $70,000 for roof replacement, the total possible liability that Geauga County could conceivably exceed half a million dollars in liabilities plus the cost of continuing to house Geauga disorderly youth at the rate of $225 per incident per night in Lake County Detention Center.

THIS COUPLE'S PROPERTY WAS PUT UP FOR SALE WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE

Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland

BOSTON HEIGHTS, Ohio — Sometimes, a sign says it all.

Earlier this month, Scott Schleider felt forced to put up a sign on his 2-acre vacant lot in Boston Heights after he learned someone tried to sell it out from under him.

"Got a call from somebody at Village Hall, and they said 'You listed the property? For this amount of money?'" Schleider recalled. "They were quite surprised."

Boston Heights Police told News 5 that the property was listed “For Sale” by a local agent at Howard Hanna. Police say that the agent communicated with someone claiming to be Scott and Marla Schleider. But data from the digital signatures show the Schleiders were not behind it.

"The best thing I have is possibly the email address originated somewhere over in Europe and Germany," Officer Cameron Bryce said. "This was my first encounter with something like this."

Last year, the Ohio Department of Commerce warned about the rise in fake real estate listings and deed fraud.

"You think this couldn't happen to me or this only happens in Florida or they prey upon older people or something but you never really think this is something that happens, especially here in this area," Marla Schleider said.

That same day, Bryce said they had the listing pulled before any offers were accepted or money changed hands, but that didn’t stop potential buyers from this steal of a deal.

Scott and Marla Schleider told News 5 that the two-acre property was listed for sale for $130,000 despite being valued between $250,000 and $300,000.

"We're still getting calls and letters about this property wondering if I'm selling it or not," Scott Schleider said. "I put the sign on the lot because there was just a lot of people coming out here to check out the lot and see it for themselves, and I just wanted them all to know it's not for sale."

Scott and Marla Schleider bought the property on Meghan's Lane 12 years ago and own it free and clear. They initially planned to build on the property.

"We kept hoping we would live here," Marla Schleider explained.

The Summit County Fiscal Office even placed a “Do Not Transfer” note on the property’s records as a layer of protection.

TThe Schleiders told News 5 they’re not sure what’s next for the land, and it’s not clear why this specific property was chosen by someone overseas to scam.

But they do understand what may have made it attractive.

"If your house or your vacant land is paid off, no mortgage, no lien, that makes it a target," Scott Schleider said. "They were looking for a very fast, no-strings-attached cash sale right away. We're lucky."

Here's why it’s getting easier to steal someone’s home -- and what you can do about it.

Police confirmed an agent at Howard Hanna made the initial listing. Leadership at Howard Hanna have not responded for this story.

How can you protect yourself from deed theft and fraudulent listings?

Experts told News 5 that time is crucial in cases like this. The more time a criminal has to sell your property and run off with the money, the harder it gets to recover. That’s why many Ohio counties offer free property alerts, a way to notify you if any properties of yours have transferred the day it happens.

To sign up for a free property alert provided by your county of residence, click on your county where your property is located below:

Ashtabula County

Cuyahoga County

Geauga County

Lake County

Lorain County

Medina County

Portage County

“CITIZENS FOR PROPERTY TAX REFORM” USE PETITIONS TO BRING PROPERTY TAX FREEZE FOR OHIO TAX PAYING SENIORS

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Lake County Commissioner John Plecnik, who is also a tax professor at Cleveland State University, told the crowd that property taxes are the number one complaint he gets at his office.

“The number one concern from my neighbors in Lake County is that they're being taxed out of their homes," said Plecnik. "We've had enough. Because where does it stop? It doesn't stop until we make them stop."

Plecnik said he wants Columbus politicians to focus on property tax reform.

He proposes valuations based on real value, not unrealized gains, and he would like to see a 100% freeze in the property values of senior citizens.

“It often literally kills our seniors when you tax them out of their home," said Plecnik. "So it's not just an inconvenience, it's not just a terrible or unfair thing. We are killing seniors with these oppressive taxes."

GEAUGA AIRPORT AUTHORITY SUBMITS GRANT REQUEST AGAIN

JANUARY 25, 2025

After winding up in a debate with Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri about redlining on a grant contract for the County Airport Authority on Tuesday, January14, 2025, newly-elected Commissioner Carolyn Brakey found herself making decisions with just Commissioner Jim Dvorak because Spidalieri was not present to discuss the latest Airport Authority request for grant money.

According to this latest and “final piece.” as noted by the Airport Authority’s Ric Blamer, the Authority was requesting approval and authorization

“to execute the Grant Contract under the FY 2025 Ohio Airport Improvement Program Matching Grant Application . . .between the Geauga Airport Authority and the Ohio Department of Transportation, Office of Aviation for FAA Project . . .[for] Parallel Taxiway A pavement and LED Lighting phase 2/2 in the amount of $176,365.00.”

The $176.365.00 represents the ODOT Match for the $3+ million project.

Commissioners’ Clerk Christine Blair explained to this writer that Mr. Blamer had brought the voluminous contract to her the day before and that it represented an application to be approved by the Office of Aviation.

This writer was profoundly surprised by Mr. Spidalieri’s absence this meeting, given his conclusion on January 14 that the Airport Authority members, not the Geauga County taxpayers, were entitled to any funds rebated back them for any projects/activities they decided on, rather than to the taxpayers who had supplied them in the first place. Ms. Brakey cited Geaugans being challenged to make ends meet .

This time Mrs. Brakey asked Blamer to explain to her as the new Commissioner on the block how average taxpayers in Geauga County will benefit from the upgrades to the County Airport that they have subsidized.

Fairly quickly, Blamer mentioned “free rides to kids.” Which kids are these? Are they related to individuals like Commissioner Spidalieri, who owns at least one helicopter? How will these kids impact the average Geauga taxpayers Ms. Brakey referenced?

From that point Mr. Blamer seemed a little hesitant. Gratefully, Commissioner Dvorak revived Blamer’s train of thought with mention of hope of establishing a school of aeronautics to be developed at the Geauga campus of Kent State University. That event has not occurred yet. Blamer perked up as he remembered to recount how he had spoken with someone at Hiram College about offering the same training.

In general, the explanation did not seem to offer the average Geauga taxpayer a great deal of comfort as he/she comes to grip with paying his real estate tax bill in just a couple of weeks; no one will provide the taxpayer with a rebate because after a struggle he/she manages to pay the taxes by the due date. Worse yet, if the tax payment arrives in the Treasurer’s Office just a day late, there is no rebate granted. Oh, no, there is a 10% penalty slapped right on, and the second real estate tax bill in July, penalty added, will again need to be paid right on time-- with no rebate granted for good effort.

SO FAR, EXPECT TO CAST YOUR VOTE ON TWO GEAUGA RENEWAL LEVIES AT PRIMARY (MAY 2025). DON”T FORGET TO VOTE YOUR HONEST OPINION AND YOUR WALLET WITH AT LEAST ONE MORE LEVY THAT WE KNOW ABOUT FOR NOVEMBER 2025

Saturday January 25, 2025

Get used to the fact that if you are a registered Geauga County voter, you will be hit with levies in the Primary 2025 Election ( May 2025), the November General Election, and the Primary 2026 (May 2026).

At the Commissioners Thursday, January 23, public meeting, we heard Craig Swenson, Job and Family Services Director, state that unemployment in Geauga County is only 2.6% We did not hear him cite his source of information; was the comment an attempt to make taxpaying residents feel good about out-of-control inflationary prices they are paying for groceries, home insurance, and vehicle insurance? With Geauga County real-estate tax payments due in Treasurer Hitchcock’s office by Wednesday, February 26, will we realize that these have continued to rise as well? We will keep track and get back to you with our analysis.

We watched and listened as Jessica Boalt, Department on Aging Director, in response to Commissioner Carolyn Brakey’s request to hear the 2025 budget cash carryover of funds, reported that the carryover number is $2,335,533.14. That number is, according to Ms. Boalt, $400,000 more than planned for at 2025 budget time. Why? According to Ms. Boalt the $400,000 represented the Department of Aging’s success in receiving cash reimbursements based on matching grants.

Nevertheless, Ms. Boalt. Sitting next to her Fiscal Officer, noted that they were there to present Agenda item #10:

“The Department on Aging is requesting the Board approve and execute Resolution #25-013 Certificate of Need as Authorized by O.R.C. 5705.03 [and 5 sub-paragraphs thereof] for renewal of the 1.0 mill levy for the purpose of providing or maintaining senior citizens[sic] services of facilities.”

Ms. Boalt explained that the 1.0 mill Senior Services Levy from the Department on Aging levy was originally offered to Geauga County voters in 1995. Ms. Boalt, although she did not specify approval as Primary Election or General Election, was renewed in 2009, and during her tenure as director in 2014 and 2014. When Commissioner Dvorak asked her if the same levy is being renewed one year early, Ms. Boalt clearly specified that the last year of collection of this same 1.0 mill levy is 2025.

Although Ms. Boalt indicated that May 2025 approval of 1.0 mill will again be collected in 2026, she did NOT clarify whether the said May 2025 ballot measure would be a continual, clearly hinting that the new 1.0% measure, if approved, will be much more expensive for Geauga County taxpayers for at least two reasons: 1) it is no longer a renewal measure and 2) it will likely be a continual source of income revenue.

We noticed that Mr. Hasting, identified as Department of Aging’s Fiscal Officer, was silent about any fiscal details of the revenue that the Department would be receiving.

Commissioner Brakey noted that although the 2025 timeline of events for the Department of Aging was too close at hand to delay any levies until the November General Election, she was setting the guideline that the Department of Aging place levies on the General Ballot from here on in, especially since West Geauga Schools will also be asking for a substantial financial issue to pay for demolition of multiple school buildings that will be replaced with brand new school buildings at great expense to West Geauga School District taxpayers.

Ms. Boalt speculated out loud that the more levies placed before taxpayers at the same time, the less expensive the cost to do so, although she offered no tangible idea about that cost.

Voters can expect a double whammy in May from the Department of Job and Family Services. Director Craig Swenson presented three items. Although Agenda Item # 12 asked for re-appointment of the incumbent members of the Family Services Planning Committee for one year, Commissioner Brakey suggested that next year at time when the same re-appointments can be expected, that Mr. Swenson, prepare a detailed list of said members’ accomplishments and strengths (as well as weaknesses) so that Commissioners do not become guilty of rubber-stamping the appointments.

Agenda Item #14, presented by Mr. Swenson, stands to become a much more critical item during 2025. reading as follows:

“The Department of Job and Family Services is requesting the Board approve and execute Resolution #25-014, Certificate of Need as Authorized by O.R.C. 5705.03 [and 6 sub-paragraphs thereof] for renewal of the 0.5 mill levy for the support of children [sic] services and the care and placement of children.”

Both County Budget Director, Adrian Gorton, and JFS Director Swenson emphasized that the .5 mill JFS levy had been suppressed to resolve the crisis caused by the 2023 windfall taxes that accumulated to local school systems, primarily West Geauga and Kenston Local at the sacrifice of Geauga homeowners, who were savaged by the property revaluation. Eventually, according to Gorton, the Commissioners had made JFS whole with an influx of money as a result of that windfall. Although, Geauga taxpayers will be asked to decide the fate of the .5 mill levy in May 2025, the same time as the vote for the West Geauga Issue, the Department of Aging 1 mill levy (still unclear details).

On top of these financial issues, JFS will be asking Geauga voters to decide its .7mill levy, in the words of Craig Swenson in the General Election of 2025 or the Primary Election of 2026. Just in case you are eager for one more financial whammy, we understand that right about the same time, the Department of Developmental Disabilities will be asking you to approve more money for them as well.

Again, answerability to district/county taxpayers and respect for those taxpayers’ election costs is a critically important topic that bears watching during this time of spiraling inflation and debt ceilings locally as well as federally.

As taxpayers, we cannot afford to take any financial demands that are short on total explanation in Geauga County for granted. As we all have learned, multiple times in this county the hard way, money is very finite and does not grow on small bushes for the mere plucking.

AUBURN TRUSTEES DISREGARD GEAUGA PLANNING RECOMMENDATIONS TO APPROVE ZC2024-02, ZC2024-03, ZC2024-04 ON JANUARY 20, 2025

Friday, January 24, 2025

After healthy participation by Auburn residents during a 7 pm public hearing regarding three zoning amendments prepared by the Auburn Township Zoning Commission and its paid contractor, David Detrick, on Monday, January 13, 2025, trustees totally disregarded written concerns from the Geauga County Planning Commission and voted 3-0 approval on three zoning amendments.

In the cases of ZC2024-02 (approval for family cemeteries) and ZC2024-04 (viticulture and accessory building heights), the county planning commission had actually suggested, with few modifications, passage. Totally ignoring the calls to leave accessory building heights unrestricted at 23 feet, trustees approved the lower accessory building height of 18 feet to discourage the possibility that an individual might be able to sleep/survive in an agricultural barn.

In the case of ZC2024-03 (mobile food units), the county planning commission recommended total denial as written and instead require that food truck vendors be registered under Ohio Revised Code Section 505.94 (“Registration and regulation of transient vendors”).

All three Auburn Township Zoning Commission- initiated amendments become recorded in the Geauga County Recorder’s Office on January 25, 2025. These amendments “shall become effective in 30 days after the date of adoption (February 20, 2025) unless a referendum petition is presented to the board of township trustees within the 30 day time period.”

The next meeting of the Auburn Township Board of Trustees will be held at 7 pm on February 3, 2025, at 11010 East Washington Street, Auburn Township, Ohio 44023.

COMMISSIONERS REJECT GRENDELL BILLS ON JANUARY 14

Tuesday, January 16, 2025

Carolyn Brakey, Esq., assumed her seat on the Geauga County Board of Commissioners on January 7, 2025, during which Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell’s request for $300,000 in attorney fees in conjunction with Supreme Court adjudication failed to be approved. . That case, will be heard before the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus at 9am on Thursday, February 13, 2025; this appeal, formally known as an Order to Show Cause, is identified as 2024-1409 (originally 2022- 45).

During the January 14, 2025, Budget and Finance Officer, Adrian Gorton, presented to the Commissioners for payment a $454 bill for food and lodging submitted on behalf of Judge Grendell as a result of obligations incurred in his appeal 2024-1409. The final recommendation of the Board of Professional Conduct in its 70 page Findings of Fact recommended “Timothy Joseph Grendell be suspended from the practice of law in Ohio for a period of 18 months.” Additionally, “the Supreme Court’s disciplinary order [should] include a provision immediately suspending Respondent [Grendell] from judicial office without pay, for the duration of his disciplinary suspension.” In addition to the completion of “eight hours of ethics education that includes the appropriate use of contempt power, “ the Board has recommended “Respondent be ordered to pay the costs of these proceedings.”

Commissioner Brakey, herself an attorney, rejected payment of the $454 bill because it was a result of 70-page Finding of Facts that identified professional weaknesses based on judicial requirements outlined in Gov. Bar R. X and Gpv. Jud R. IV. Although, the Board of Commissioners approved the rejection of Grendell’s $454 bill, Commissioner Spidalieri for the second week in a row offered the same argument: “If we don’t pay them, we will pay them later. It’s a slippery slope.”

The Supreme Court will grant Grendell’s legal representative, Stephen W. Funk, of Roetzel and Andress, LPA, the opportunity to present 15 minutes of oral testimony, followed by 15-minute oral testimony by attorneys for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Martha Apseff and Joseph Caligiuri.

GEAUGA COMMISSIONERS MUST DECIDE WHICH DRAFT AGREEMENT REGARDING PROPER USE OF $1,330,000.00 FOR AIRPORT AUTHORITY

January 15, 2025

At the December 17, 2024, Commissioner Meeting, the incumbent Commissioners (Lennon, Dvorak, and Spidalieri) found themselves dealing rather routinely, they thought, with Agenda Item #5:

The Airport Authority is requesting the Board approve an encumbrance and expenditure for January 2025 in the amount of $1,330,000.00 for the construction of a new T Hangar facility and upgrades to existing facilities at the Airport pending the execution of the Agreement for Capital Improvement Funding. (Emphasis submitted by editors)

With no public Commissioner Meeting until January 7, 2025, then County Administrator Gerry Morgan drafted his version of the stipulated Agreement for Capital Improvement Funding. Submitted to the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office for review, the Board of Commissioners, including the newly-elected Carolyn Brakey, Esquire, found themselves with a decision regarding what action to take once they returned from Executive Session at approximately 11 am. with the ousted former county administrator observing the proceedings as a spectator from the back row.

Acting County Administrator Linda Burhenne asked multiple times for direction regarding whether to stick with Morgan’s original draft of the Capital Improvement Funding Agreement or to utilize the edited version from Chief Assistant Prosecutor Laura LaChapelle. New Commissioner Brakey was quick to point out that the Commissioners are not a party to the agreement and bear no responsibility for any liabilities that present themselves with funding. Her primary concern was with language in the original draft which specified that once the T Hangar funding was accepted, the Airport Authority was entitled to keep the $565,000 for any project it wished. Commissioner Brakey quickly asserted concern that at a time when senior citizens and other taxpayers on fixed incomes in Geauga County are having trouble dealing with spiraling inflationary costs, the Airport Authority should not have the privilege of free-use of those taxpayer-generated funds.

Acting County Administrator Burhenne opined that the redlining from the Prosecutor’s Office created a draft document distinctly different from Morgan’s document. Commissioner Brakey noted further the redlined draft appears to make the airport assume any resulting liabilities, thereby protecting the legal and financial interests of innocent taxpayers.

When Burhenne asked for a motion to accept the revised contract, Spidalieri suggested that the airport staff not be restricted because of restrictions placed on them by the revisions of the second contract and should not be micro-managed by the limitations placed on them by the Prosecutor’s revisions. Spidalieri expressed his sincerity in having airport staff report back to the Commissioners after he was able to talk to their board. Brakey continued to emphasize the need for airport staff to be accountable to the taxpayers.

For the present, acceptance of revisions from the Prosecutor’s Office were tabled, and this issue of airport hangar funding appears to be a breaking story, perhaps for the next public Commissioner meeting, scheduled for 9:30 am on Thursday, January 23, 2025.

ATTENTION AUBURN TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS: MONDAY. January 13, 2025, AT ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 11010 EAST WASHINGTON STREET 7 PM, 7:15PM. AND 7:30 PM FOR 3 (THREE) GEAUGA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION-REVIEWED ZONING AMENDMENTS WITH ACTION (APPROVAL OR DENIAL) FROM TRUSTEES TO FOLLOW

Posted Saturday, January 11, 2024

7PM PUBLIC HEARING ON AUBURN TOWNSHIP ZONING COMMISSION ZC2024-02 [FAMILY CEMETERIES]

This zoning amendment was initiated on November 10, 2024 by the Auburn Township Zoning Commission,, and forwarded for consideration/debate at the December 10, 2024, meeting of the Geauga County Planning Commission, at 12611 Ravenwood Drive., Suite 380, Chardon 44024. Per the enclosed letter addressed that day to the Secretary of the Auburn Township Zoning Commission (see copy of letter from County Planning Director, Linda Crombie) with recommendations for approval with modifications.)

7:15 PM PUBLIC HEARING ON AUBURN TOWNSHIP ZONING COMMISSION ZC2024-03 [MOBILE FOOD UNITS]

This proposed zoning amendment, initiated on November 14, 2024, and forwarded to the Geauga County Planning Commission on December 10, 2024; the Geauga County Planning Commission on that date “voted to recommend denial of of zoning language regarding Food Trucks. (See copy of letter from Planning Director Linda Crombie to Zoning Commission Secretary, Sarah Mulleman.)

7:30 PUBLIC HEARING ON AUBURN TOWNSHIP ZONING COMMISSION ZC2024-04, PREDOMINANTLY ISSUES ON BUILDING HEIGHTS, SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES, AND REFERENCES TO ZONING-EXEMPT AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS IN A TOWNSHIP, ESPECIALLY VITICULTURE (GRAPES GROWN, HARVESTED, AND/OR SOLD FOR WINE). AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS IN A TOWNSHIP DO NOT REQUIRE ZONING CERTIFICATES

Again, this proposed zoning amendment was initiated by the Auburn Township Zoning Commission on November 14, 2024, and discussed at the December 10, 2024, Geauga County Planning Commission meeting. (See attached December 10, 2024, Geauga County Planning Commission letter with its 4 language clarifications.)

NEXT PUBLIC AUBURN TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE MEETING: 7 PM on Monday, January 20, 2025, at 11010 East Washington Street.

Oral vote on the three zoning amendments, according to Revised Code 519.23, must come within 20 days after close of public hearings, presumably the 7 pm January 20, Trustee Meeting.

SPIDALIERI STUNNED: “TWO TO ONE, I LOSE,” AS COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR THANKS THE BOARD FOR REMOVAL OF “HUGE LOAD OFF MY BACK”

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

In a 23-item agenda that attracted about 50 observers in Suite 350, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Commissioners no sooner honored former Commissioner Timothy C. Lennon “for his dedication and commitment fo the residents of Geauga County, then they began the 2025 Annual Organizational Meeting.

At the beginning of the 2025 Organizational Meeting, Commissioners Spidalieri, Dvorak, and Brakey decided on how they would divide up responsibilities outside their weekly public commissioner responsibilities. Carolyn Brakey was named the primary Commissioner representative to the ADP Board with Commissioner Jim Dvorak the first alternate and Ralph Spidalieri the second alternate.

With regard to the Board of Revision, Commissioner Jim Dvorak was named the primary representative. Carolyn Brakey is the first alternate for 2025; Ralph Spidalieri is the second alternate; Linda Burhenne, Assistant County Administrator is third alternate.

The fireworks began about 10:20 am. Brakey and Dvorak voted no in response to the motion to appoint Gerry Morgan as County Administrator. That left a stunned Ralph Spidalieri acknowledging that “two to one, I lose.’’ This admission came after Dvorak recalled his dissatisfaction with Morgan at the January 8, 2024, Organizational Meeting.

Whatever his true personal reaction to his ouster, Gerry Morgan claimed in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout Suite 350, “This will probably be the first time that I’m truly, actually, saying thank you because it takes a huge load off my back.” He took a seat in the front row of Suite 350, as Assistant Administrator Linda Burhenne deliberately shook his hand in empathy on her way to the County Administrator’s appointed seat on the dais with Commissioner’s Clerk, Christine Blair, and the three Commissioners.

Then followed an Executive Session lasting from 10:35 to 11:12 am”for the purpose of discussing the discipline of a public employee.” Although Cleveland Channel 3 TV news person Danielle Wiggins and her cameraman had come to the meeting expecting to hear more about the outcome of Geauga Dog Warden Matt Granito, the only outcome announced at 11:12 in public session was “No action taken.”

So for now, Matt Granito is still the Dog Warden, but County Administrator Gerry Morgan is out.

NEW GEAUGA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DENIES GRENDELL REQUEST FOR $300K AND OUTSIDE LEGAL REP FOR HIS SUPREME COURT FEB. 2025 TESTIMONY

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Former Commissioner Timothy Lennon was an observer as newly-appointed Commissioner Carolyn Brakey noted that she had placed on the agenda #7. the discussion of Probate/Juvenile Court “supplemental request of $300,000.00 and request for additional Outside Counsel,” made late this fall in person by Judge Timothy Grendell, the subject of State Bar Association hearings in Columbus after ongoing investigations for exceeding his authority. Judge Grendell is slated to testify next month in Columbus. At the time of his personal appearance before the old Board of Commissioners, Grendell cited ORC 2477.07A1 as rationale for the then-Board of Commissioners to pay for his legal expenses.

Commissioner Jim Dvorak officially made the motion to deny Grendell’s request, at which time Commissioner SpidaIieri claimed that he felt betrayed by lack of discussion and lack of clarification as to the purpose of Item 7.

Mrs. Brakey, herself a trained and licensed attorney, noted that the law cited on video transmission by Grendell, was inconsistent with the actual reading of the ORC he had cited as a reason for receiving financial support from Geauga County taxpayers.

In an apparent effort to smooth over the financial impact of awarding the additional $300K of taxpayer support, Spidalieri concluded that “one way or another” the legal appointees expecting payment from Grendell “will get paid in the end.”

In response, Mrs. Brakey cited the dangers of setting precedents like forcing taxpayers to subsidize county elected/appointed authorities as unfair and unrepresentative burdens. She added that the whole issue brought forward by Judge Grendell is a gray area. As a result, she announced her intention to deny both motions, with only Spidalieri abstaining.

AUBURN TOWNSHIP AWARDS 2.5 % COLA INCREASES TO ALL EMPLOYEES AT JANUARY 6, 2025, ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

With the retirement of long-time employee Emrick Gordon, Michael Fenstermaker has assumed the role of Road Supervisor. In his first road report for 2025, Fenstermaker reported the use of 866 tons of road salt with 850 tons of salt remaining in the dome to get us through winter 2025.

As reported about December 31, Fiscal Officer had his budget meeting about 9 am in the back room of the Auditor’s Office in regards to the events to the ill-fated erroneous payment of a road levy. The two-paragraph Certification of Findings of the Geauga County Board of Revision, with signatories, Auditor Charles E. Walder and Caroline Mansfield representing Treasurer Christopher Hitchcock, testified that

“The Board [of Revision],upon reviewing the fact, determined that the Auburn Township Road Levy was erroneously collected as a result of a clerical error. The Board certified this finding to the County Auditor for correction, in accordance with R.C. 319.36”

Newly-appointed Road Supervisor Fenstermaker announced that slightly more than half of the 2024-25 salt supply in the dome has been used already, with 866 tons used up thus far and about 850 tons remaining.

During his report, Fiscal Officer Dan Matsko announced investment savings of about $2.65 million.

During the Organizational Meeting, which followed the regular meeting and lasted about an hour. Full time and part-time employees have been awarded a 2.5% Cost of Living Raise. Trustees’ compensation will be based on “salary method for the year with payment from General Fund assets.” As an example of the difference that the COLA will make, the Office Administrator will be receiving $63,245 for 2025.

In other business, adult cemetery plots for residents are hereby increased to $250 per individual [residential rate] and $600 per non-resident. Additionally, Zoning Amendment fees are at $800 and Board of Zoning Appeal hearing fees are a minimum of $540 per issue.

Public evening meetings, unless otherwise noted, are changed to 7 pm. Trustee meetings, typically the first and third Mondays of the month, will observe that 7 pm starting time at the Administration Building. Additionally, there is a public hearing scheduled for January 13^th at 7 pm for input on three zoning amendments: 2024-02, 2024-03, and 2024-04.

Finally, it is our understanding that ODOT will be holding a meeting at Adam Hall on Thursday, January 9, starting at 5:30 pm to hear public opinion about traffic patterns concerning Auburn Township.

HALF OF ALL U.S. STATES GOING BANKRUPT

Sunday, January 5, 2025
Ethan Huff | NaturalNews.com // 5.9K Views

The future of America hangs in the balance as the country's financial state is not exactly strong.

A recent report from Truth in Accounting has revealed that 27 states across America, more than half, ended fiscal year 2023 with a deficit, meaning they did not have enough money on hand to cover their financial obligations.

While many states are still rolling in the dough from all the cash that was sent their way during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic," all that money will soon run out. By 2026, federal funds are expected to "dry up," which means many states will have to drastically change the way they manage money and provide services to the public.

"During the pandemic, federal support to states exceeded $800 billion, allowing states to temporarily cut taxes and increase spending," reports The Economic Times of India. "However, these surpluses were short-lived."

"This financial strain could lead to higher taxes, reduced public services, and cuts to benefits programs, leaving many Americans concerned about the future."

(Related: Did you know that Megabus, America's largest private bus company, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year?)

Unfunded retirement liabilities killing America

The states currently in the worst shape financially include Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois and Massachusetts. These states are expected to face the largest impacts once the hammer drops, possibly leading to more tax increases and cuts to public services.

The biggest factor contributing to state debt is unfunded retirement liabilities, reports indicate. Upwards of 86 percent of state and local government workers had access to their pensions as of March 2022. The private sector, conversely, is basically the other way around with very limited access.

While public workers need pensions, as does everyone for that matter, Oliver Giesecke from Stanford University warns that they are a costly form of debt that diverts funding away from public projects and infrastructure.

The short of it is that the more time that passes, the worse things are going to get for everyday Americans who will have to pay increasingly more for increasingly less. This means poverty will increase along with all the other horrors that typically accompany it.

"Some Americans are already moving from high-tax states with financial challenges to low-tax states with better fiscal stability," reports explain. "This trend may accelerate if tax hikes and benefit cuts intensify in states like Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey."

"Families seeking better opportunities may increasingly prioritize states with balanced budgets and lower tax burdens."

Alaska and Wyoming are among the states that are in better financial shape compared to their counterparts, which is why those with means are fleeing there. Everyone else will get to see firsthand what many decades of Wall Street greed and other corruption does to a nation in the end.

"We find that about $70 out of a $1,000 in allocated [federal] aid ended up in pension contributions," says Oliver Giesecke, a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution.

To avoid pointing the finger at the true culprits, i.e., the private Federal Reserve and the crooks who have run America into the ground, CNBC is instead blaming deferred maintenance on infrastructure, extreme weather from "climate change," and an aging population on these state budget shortfalls.

"Virtually every state made a tax cut," adds Justin Theal, a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts' Fiscal 50 project, about what COVID prompted many states to do as far as their budgets are concerned. "Virtually every state also increased employee pay for public employees."

"The implication is that fiscal flexibility is really declining across the states."

The U.S. economy is toast once all the dust settles.

AGE TO RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS INCREASES

Sunday, January 5, 2025
Rudy Blalock

The retirement age for many Americans to qualify for Social Security payments will increase by two months, effective Jan 2.

The change does not apply to individuals born between 1943 and 1954, for whom the full retirement age was set at 66 by the Social Security Administration (SSA). For those born after 1954, the age for retirement then increases in two-month increments for each birth year thereafter.

The gradual increase in the full retirement age is part of a long-term plan implemented by the SSA to cut costs due to financial challenges that emerged partially due to increasing life expectancies, according to information on the administration’s website.

For example, those born in 1955 can fully retire at the age of 66 and two months, 1956 birth years at age 66 and four months, and the same for each year thereafter until the full retirement age reaches the maximum of 67 years, which is for those born in 1960 and later.

In 2025, those born in the first four months of 1958 reached their full retirement age of 66 and 8 months last year, and those born in the last eight months of that year will reach full retirement age in 2025. Those born in 1959 will reach full retirement age near the end of 2025, under the same rules.

While the full retirement age is increasing, Americans still have the option to claim their benefits as early as age 62. However, choosing to do so before reaching full retirement age will permanently reduce monthly payments.

For example, those born in 1958 who choose to start their payments at age 62 will see their monthly payments reduced by about 28.3 percent compared to what they would receive at their full retirement age of 66 and 8 months.

Conversely, those who delay claiming their benefits beyond their full retirement age will see an increase in their monthly payments. The administration adds 8 percent per year to the benefit amount for each year an individual delays claiming up to age 70.

On the SSA’s information page about retirement benefits, the administration emphasizes that the decision of when to start receiving payments is a personal one and depends on various factors, including health, financial situation, and retirement plans. The SSA encourages all Americans to take advantage of the resources available on the SSA website when making their decision.

The change in full retirement age does not affect Medicare eligibility, which remains at age 65. The administration advises individuals to sign up for Medicare three months before their 65th birthday, even if they plan to delay retirement payments.

The SSA has stated that Social Security was never intended to be the sole source of retirement income and recommends that individuals consider other forms of retirement savings and investments.

Those seeking more information about the benefits and how they work are encouraged to create a “my Social Security” account on the SSA’s website at ssa.gov/myaccount.

WHO IS NEW ORLEANS ATTACK SUSPECT SHAMSUD-DIN JABBAR? 6 THINGS WE KNOW SO FAR

Thursday, January 2, 2025
Jack Phillips

FBI officials named Shamsud-Din Jabbar as the suspect of the apparent terrorist attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 people dead and more than 30 injured on New Year’s Day.

In the incident, a driver behind the wheel of a pick-up truck rammed New Year’s revelers in the city’s Canal and Bourbon streets at around 3:15 a.m., the FBI and other officials said. It’s investigating the matter as an “act of terrorism,” according to the FBI.

After the vehicle stopped, the suspect emerged from the truck and opened fire on responding officers, New Orleans police said in a statement. Jabbar died on the scene.

Other Individuals Possibly Involved

In a news conference Wednesday, FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said Jabbar is unlikely the only person involved in the attack.

“We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates,” she said.

Duncan then asked the public to contact the FBI if they have any information on whether another suspect was involved in the suspected terror attack.

“That’s why we need the public’s help. We’re asking if anybody has any interactions with Shamsud-Din Jabbar in the last 72 hours that you contact us,” she said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “The FBI is asking for the public’s help. We’re asking anyone who has information, video or pictures to provide it to the FBI.”

An American Citizen

The FBI said that Jabbar was an American citizen from Texas, following online speculations that the suspect may have entered the United States from Mexico in recent days before carrying out the attack.

Based on the FBI’s statement, it’s not clear whether Jabbar was naturalized or was born inside the United States. It’s also unclear if he spent significant amounts of time in another country.

Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) told ABC News that Jabbar appears to have “lived or spent some time” in the New Orleans area. Carter did not provide any other details.

“My understanding is there may have been some identification that indicated that the suspect had a local residence and so that information is being tested,” he said.

The vehicle used in the attack had a Texas license plate, Carter said. Video footage and photos appear to confirm that the truck, a Ford F-150 model, had Texas plates.

ISIS Flag Found

In its statement, the FBI said that “an ISIS flag” was found in the suspect’s truck. Later, officials said at a news conference that the flag was hitched to the suspect’s truck.

Video footage and photos of the vehicle show a white pole hitched to its back that was attached to what appears to be a black flag. The ISIS terrorist group’s flag is black with Arabic writing on top and a white circle below with Arabic inside the circle.

“An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” the FBI said.

During the Syrian Civil war, ISIS had taken control over swaths of Syria and Iraq starting in the early 2010s before it was largely dismantled in the latter part of that decade. The group would often produce videos, distributed on social media, that showed brutal executions of its captors, including American journalist James Foley in 2014.

ISIS affiliates have emerged in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in Afghanistan’s Khorasan region in recent years, according to a U.S. State Department report produced earlier this year.

Rental Truck

Car-sharing marketplace Turo confirmed on Wednesday that the truck used in the attack was rented via its company, a type of peer-to-peer service.

“We are heartbroken to learn that one of our host’s vehicles was involved in this awful incident,” Turo spokesman Steve Webb said in a statement to media outlets Wednesday. “We are actively partnering with the FBI. We are not currently aware of anything in this guest’s background that would have identified him as a trust and safety threat to us at the time of the reservation.”

According to its website, Turo describes itself as a peer-to-peer car-sharing company that allows private car owners to rent their vehicles through an app or online to other people.

“Unlike rental car companies, Turo is a peer-to-peer car rental marketplace where you can rent directly from trusted local car owners in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and France. Turo does not own any vehicles—Turo hosts share their own personal cars and set their own prices, discounts, vehicle availability, and delivery options,” the company says.

Improvised Explosive Devices Also Found

FBI officials said they found weapons and a possible IED, or improvised explosive device, in the truck at the time of the attack. The type of weapons or IED was not specified in the statement.

“Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter” in New Orleans, the agency said. “The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe,” the statement read.

Two explosive devices were rendered safe, Duncan said Wednesday.

Investigated as a Terrorist Attack

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell declared the incident was a “terrorist attack” that was intentionally carried out.

“This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said at a press briefing on Wednesday. “It was not a DUI situation. This is more complex and more serious.”

The chief said that the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

In its first statement on the matter, the FBI said: “This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

1 DEAD, 7 INJURED AFTER CYBERTRUCK FILLED WITH FIREWORKS EXPLODES OUTSIDE TRUMP HOTEL IN LAS VEGAS

Thursday, January 2, 2025
Rachel Acenas

One person was killed and seven others were injured after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning.

Officials said that the vehicle was observed completely engulfed in flames in the valet area of the hotel.

A person inside the Tesla died, while seven other people in the surrounding area suffered minor injuries, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference. Two of those injured were transported to a local hospital.

Guests of the hotel were immediately evacuated and transferred to the Resorts World Hotel, according to the sheriff.

Tesla founder Elon Musk later said that explosives were discovered inside the rented vehicle.

“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” Musk wrote in a post on the X social media platform. “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.”

Gas canisters and large fireworks mortars were found in the vehicle, authorities confirmed in a Wednesday evening press conference.

The sheriff also noted that the walls of the electric vehicle remained fully intact during the explosion and that damage to the surrounding area was limited because of “the fact that this was a Cybertruck.”

The front glass doors of the Trump hotel “were not even broken,” McMahill said.

McMahill said the vehicle was rented in Colorado, arrived in Las Vegas at 7:30 a.m., and “went up and down” Las Vegas Boulevard before finally parking at the Trump Hotel. It was parked for 15–20 seconds before it exploded.

Authorities know the identity of the person who rented the Cybertruck and declined to release details.

The fiery explosion happened as authorities were already on high alert after a deadly terrorist attack earlier on Wednesday morning in the iconic French Quarter of New Orleans. Federal investigators identified Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, as the man who purposely rammed a rented pickup truck carrying a black ISIS flag and explosives into a crowd around 3:15 a.m. on Bourbon Street as people were celebrating the new year. Authorities said 15 people were killed.

Musk speculated that the Las Vegas incident was perhaps “linked in some way” to the New Orleans attack, noting that both the vehicles were borrowed from rental car company Turo. Authorities have not connected the two incidents.

“Appears likely to be an act of terrorism. Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo. Perhaps they are linked in some way,” Musk wrote on X.

The sheriff also said that so far there is no indication that the explosion was linked to ISIS.

In discussing the New Orleans attack in a nationwide address Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden said that law enforcement and the intelligence community are also probing the Las Vegas incident and the “possibility” that the two are linked, also reiterating that so far there is no evidence that they are connected.

Eric Trump, executive vice president of The Trump Organization and the second son of President-elect Donald Trump, confirmed the vehicle fire on New Year’s Day, and said that the incident happened in the valet area in front of the hotel.

“Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas,” Eric Trump wrote in a post on X. “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism.”

Images of the vehicle fire quickly circulated on social media, showing what appeared to be an explosion as the vehicle caught fire near the entrance to the hotel. Some witnesses reported online that they heard a loud bang and saw clouds of smoke near the hotel.

One witness and hotel guest posted a video shot from inside the hotel lobby.

“Cybertruck blew up in front of Trump hotel in Las Vegas,” the user wrote in a post on X. “Those are our luggage by the door and that’s where we were when it happened.”

According to local media outlet KSNV, the explosion was reported at 8:40 a.m. local time.

The Trump Hotel is located at 2000 Fashion Drive, which is on the north end of the famous Las Vegas Strip. Many people had traveled to the city to ring in the New Year.

According to local media outlet KTNV, Fashion Show Drive is closed in both directions from Sammy Davis Jr. Drive to Las Vegas Boulevard while authorities investigate the incident.

Authorities confirmed there is no further threat to the public.

“I just want to remind the community that everything is safe now,” the sheriff said.

The incident happened as authorities were already on high alert after a deadly terrorist attack earlier on Wednesday morning in the iconic French Quarter of New Orleans, which is also considered a popular tourist destination.

Police are urging the public to avoid the area around the hotel as they investigate the deadly vehicle fire.