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The Looming “Schumer Shutdown”

LA County Response To Deadly Fires Slowed By Lack Of Resources, Outdated Alert Process

A lack of resources and an outdated emergency alert process led to delays in warning residents about the need to evacuate as flames began consuming neighborhoods during the deadly Los Angeles wildfires in January. That's according to an outside report commissioned by Los Angeles County supervisors after the Eaton and Palisades fires killed more than 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The report released Thursday says a series of weaknesses, including “outdated policies, inconsistent practices and communications vulnerabilities,” hampered the effectiveness of the county’s response. The county says it's not intended to investigate or assess blame.

Do any media sources cover political violence without bias?

Dozens Of Masked People Smash Cases, Steal Jewelry In CA Robbery

At least two dozen people wearing masks and some carrying pickaxes and handguns smashed jewelry cases and made off with bags full of items during a robbery at a San Francisco Bay area jewelry store, authorities said. Video from the Monday robbery shows a stream of people wearing masks covering their faces entering the store and using the pickaxes to crack the glass cases and clear them out. The shop's doors locked after the robbers were inside because of security measures put in place after the store was previously robbed, and at least one of the people fired a handgun at the door to get out, police said. No one was injured, according to police. Messages seeking more information were left Thursday with authorities. The robbers then fled to cars waiting in a nearby lot, the San Ramon Police Department said. Officers tracked the vehicles from the air and were able to arrest several suspects, according to police. In a statement posted to social media, Heller Jewelers expressed gratitude for “an outpouring of kindness” since the robbery and said it planned to reopen on Saturday.

The Left's Violent, Anti-Ice Rhetoric is Dangerous for the Country

President Trump has Changed the Republican Party Forever

Police gather at funeral for 3 Pennsylvania detectives ambushed by gunman

Hundreds of police officers were on hand Thursday to honor and escort the remains of three Pennsylvania detectives shot and killed last week by a man who had been inside the home of a woman he was accused of stalking. A phalanx of mourners was outside Living Word Community Church in Red Lion ahead of the services expected to get underway at noon. A motorcade brought the flag draped caskets for Northern York County Regional Police detectives Cody Michael Becker, Mark Edward Baker and Isaiah Emenheiser from a funeral home. Riderless horses followed the hearses. The event is not open to the public but the church is streaming the service online. It's the second time this year that the church has hosted services for police killed in the line of duty. Autopsy results released this week indicated that all three officers died of multiple gunshot wounds. A prosecutor said the stalking suspect, 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, fired on the officers as they opened the door to the woman’s home. The three were killed and two other officers were seriously wounded. York County District Attorney Tim Barker said he believes Ruth, who died in the exchange of gunfire, had planned to ambush the woman he was accused of stalking. The three veterans of the police force have been remembered as devoted to their families and community. Becker, 39, a resident of Spring Grove, had been a star multisport athlete in high school. Baker, 53, who lived in Dover, was a computer forensics investigation specialist. Emenheiser, 43, of York, was called a perfectionist with dreams of opening a gym. Becker served as sergeant of detectives and had been on the Northern Regional force for 16 years. His obituary recounted how in 2010 he climbed to the second story of a burning building to catch children who were escaping through a window. He is survived by a wife and two children. A second service, a public funeral for Becker, will be held Sunday at Spring Grove Area High School in Spring Grove. Baker, a U.S. Army veteran, spent three years with the Philadelphia Police Department before he joined Northern Regional in 2004, first as a patrol officer and then in computer forensics. He had been a detective for 15 years. He was an Eagle Scout and an adult Scouting leader. Survivors include a wife and four children; a fifth child predeceased him. Emenheiser was a York College criminal justice graduate and served in the U.S. Secret Service before being hired by Northern Regional. He made 104 DUI arrests in 2010 and was named officer of the year, among other professional honors over two decades with the department. In 2005, Emenheiser broke a window in a burning mobile home in Thomasville and carried a man to safety. Emenheiser's interests included fitness, home renovations and coaching youth soccer. His surviving family includes a wife and two children.

Tesla urges Trump not to repeal vehicle emissions rules, climate finding

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla urged the Trump administration not to repeal vehicle emissions standards or the long-standing U.S. finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health.

Justice Department To Ask Grand Jury To Indict Former FBI Director Comey

The Justice Department is preparing to ask a grand jury to indict former FBI Director James Comey. Prosecutors have been evaluating whether Comey lied to lawmakers during his 2020 testimony related to the investigation into ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The five-year statute of limitations would be next Tuesday, but an indictment is expected before then. Last weekend, the president directed the DOJ to investigate Comey and other perceived political enemies.

Trump says Justice Dept will decide on any Comey indictment

“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen, because I don’t know,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump assertion that London could introduce Sharia law is ‘nonsense,’ says Starmer

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s recent assertion that there was a push to apply Islamic Sharia law in London.

Officials: Dallas ICE Shooter Hated U.S. Government, Wanted To Incite Terror

The suspected gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas had searched for apps in August that track the location of ICE agents and had downloaded a list of local Department of Homeland Security facilities, the FBI director said on Thursday. The director, Kash Patel, also said in a social media post that investigators had determined the 29-year-old suspect, Joshua Jahn, researched video of the highly publicized conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination before the Texas attack. The evidence gathered thus far, Patel said, "indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning." Officials have said the attack appeared to be targeting ICE, which has been the primary enforcement agency of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown. According to Patel, a handwritten note recovered from Jahn's home read: "Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, 'Is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?'" He did not provide photos or other documentation of the evidence. The gunman shot "indiscriminately" at the field office in northwest Dallas early on Wednesday morning from a nearby building's rooftop, killing one detainee and badly wounding two others, officials have said. No law enforcement agents were injured at the office, where detainees were processed rather than housed. The suspect took his own life after the attack, authorities said. An unused bullet found near his body had the words "ANTI-ICE" written on it, according to a photo that Patel released on Wednesday. The Dallas shooting came two weeks after Kirk, co-founder of the conservative student political group Turning Point USA and a close ally of Trump, was shot dead by a rooftop sniper during a speaking event in Utah, fueling fears of a new wave of violence in the United States. Kirk's murder set off a firestorm of political recriminations, with Trump blaming the left for the violence before a suspect was even detained. The incident deepened concerns among Trump's critics that the Republican president would use the violence to justify going after his perceived political opponents. Trump and members of his administration immediately blamed left-wing activists for Wednesday's attack, even though there has been no evidence released to suggest the suspect was linked to any outside groups or individuals. On his Truth Social platform, Trump accused "Radical Left Democrats" of stoking anti-ICE violence by "constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to Nazis." He said he would sign an executive order to go after "these domestic terrorism networks." In a joint statement, Democratic leaders in the House condemned the attack and called for less divisiveness. "The political and ideologically-motivated violence in America has reached a breaking point this year," they said. "We need leaders who bring the country together in moments of crisis – and that is what is required right now." Political violence has risen in the United States in recent years, with high-profile attacks targeting figures on both the right and the left, including Trump himself, who endured two assassination attempts during his 2024 presidential campaign. The older brother of the suspect in the Dallas attack spoke with a Reuters reporter on Wednesday as Joshua Jahn's name began circulating online in connection with the shooting. Noah Jahn, 30, said he was not aware that his brother harbored any negative feelings about ICE. "I didn't know he had any political intent at all," said the older brother, who lives in McKinney, Texas, around 30 miles north of Dallas, as did his sibling.

Trump says US will distribute aid to farmers until tariffs kick in to their benefit

“We’re going to take some of that tariff money and give it to our farmers,” Trump said at the White House.

White House Budget Office Tells Agencies To Draft Mass Firing Plans Ahead Of Potential Shutdown

The White House is telling agencies to prepare large-scale firings of federal workers if the government shuts down next week. In a memo released Wednesday night, the Office of Management and Budget said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next week, is not otherwise funded and is “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” That would be a much more aggressive step than in previous shutdowns, when federal workers not deemed essential were furloughed but returned to their jobs once Congress approved government spending. A reduction in force would not only lay off employees but eliminate their positions, which would trigger yet another massive upheaval in a federal workforce that has already faced major rounds of cuts this year due to efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and elsewhere in the Trump administration. Once any potential government shutdown ends, agencies are asked to revise their reduction in force plans “as needed to retain the minimal number of employees necessary to carry out statutory functions,” according to the memo, which was first reported by Politico. This move from OMB significantly increases the consequences of a potential government shutdown next week and escalates pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The two leaders have kept nearly all of their Democratic lawmakers united against a clean funding bill pushed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans that would keep the federal government operating for seven more weeks, demanding immediate improvements to health care in exchange for their votes. In statements issued shortly after the memo was released, the two Democrats showed no signs of budging. “We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings,” Jeffries wrote in a post on X. “Get lost.” Jeffries called Russ Vought, the head of OMB, a “malignant political hack.” Schumer said in a statement that the OMB memo is an “attempt at intimidation” and predicted the “unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back.” OMB noted that it held its first planning call with other federal agencies earlier this week to plan for a shutdown. The budget office plays point in managing federal government shutdowns, particularly planning for them ahead of time. Past budget offices have also posted shutdown contingency plans — which would outline which agency workers would stay on the job during a government shutdown and which would be furloughed — on its website, but this one has not. The memo noted that congressional Democrats are refusing to support a clean government funding bill “due to their partisan demands,” which include an extension of enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, plus a reversal of Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans’ big tax and spending cuts law. “As such, it has never been more important for the Administration to be prepared for a shutdown if the Democrats choose to pursue one,” the memo reads, which also notes that the GOP’s signature law, a major tax and border spending package, gives “ample resources to ensure that many core Trump Administration priorities will continue uninterrupted.” OMB noted that it had asked all agencies to submit their plans in case of a government shutdown by Aug. 1. “OMB has received many, but not all, of your submissions,” it added. “Please send us your updated lapse plans ASAP.”