Father-daughter duo brings hope to Western North Carolina, one RV at a time



As Woody Faircloth found out, sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impact in storm-ravaged Western North Carolina.

Faircloth’s charity, EmergencyRV.org, has delivered nearly 60 campers and larger recreational vehicles to shelter families made homeless by the unprecedented flooding and mudslides caused by Hurricane Helene.

A curly-fur puppy small enough to curl up in one of Faircloth’s knit winter caps might well have had the biggest emotional impact on the storm victims he helped over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The pup, which rode along with Faircloth and his daughter Luna from Colorado, was just the prescription for the Phillips family in Burnsville, N.C. The family lost multiple homes during the floods and mudslides that rocketed down the mountains in late September.

'We’re going to give this to a family who needs some kind of a little light.'

Faircloth earlier arranged for an RV to be delivered to Makisha Phillips and her children. In addition to stress from the storm damage, Phillips is mourning the death of her sister, Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy Michelle Quintero, who was swept away in the floods on Sept. 27.

“We met her father and cried and prayed with him in the parking lot,” Faircloth said. “Her oldest daughter was in the truck, and I took [the puppy] over and handed it to her and then went and talked to the father.

“When I came back, the puppy was sitting on her shoulder like a parrot,” Faircloth said. “She had the biggest smile on her face. And I said, ‘That's your puppy now.’ And she said, ‘My mom told me. I can't believe y’all are doing this.’”

Faircloth had not planned to buy a puppy or bring it along on the Thanksgiving mission of mercy. But when he drove by a flea market north of Denver, something made him stop and look at a car full of puppies for sale.

“I walked over there, and there was this little puppy, the one we ended up getting, sitting in the back of the crate and had dog poop all over it,” he said. “They were all scrambling. I just picked it up, and I held it up to the lady and I said, ‘Tell me about this puppy.’”

Luna Faircloth, 12, cares for a puppy on an EmergencyRV.org trip to deliver donated RVs to Western North Carolina storm victims.Photos courtesy of Woody Faircloth

The owner said the dog was born on Sept. 25, the day the pre-hurricane rains began soaking Western North Carolina.

“I just looked up at the sky, and I went, ‘Okay, I guess we’ll take it.’ So we fell in love with the puppy on the way there, and we’re really struggling with that,” Faircloth said before gifting the dog. “But we had talked about it that we’re going to give this to a family who needs some kind of a little light.”

Tragedy strikes home

Deputy Quintero was in the process of leaving her Burnsville home along Brown Creek to head to the Madison County jail to help in any way she could during the storm.

“She had had her vest on, and she had her backpack and her gun and everything, and her house had started flooding,” Phillips said in a phone call with Faircloth that was posted on YouTube. “So she grabbed the keys. She wasn’t scared, but she grabbed everybody’s keys so that if anybody needed the keys, she would have them.”

When Quintero stepped out the back door, she was struck by a wall of water. It swept her into the raging river. A neighbor threw a rope to her, but then a tree fell, causing them both to submerge.

“By the time she had come up — she was about five [foot] four — he said she was already waist-deep in mud,” Phillips said. “So he grabbed her and was pulling and pulling and he said all of a sudden she stopped.”

Just as Quintero told the neighbor, “It’s all right,” another tree fell and submerged them both. She never re-emerged.

“They found her a little bit ways down the river, and it was too late,” Phillips said. “They couldn’t … there was nothing that they could do. We had to bury her within, I guess, 24 hours of it because we couldn’t embalm her.”

Phillips also told Faircloth about her 3-year-old, who is suffering from retinoblastoma that caused the child to lose an eye. Phillips wanted to get an implant that will match her daughter’s other eye, but she said Medicaid would not cover it. Because so many people in Western North Carolina are hurting from the storm, Phillips didn’t want to do an online fundraiser.

Faircloth stepped in again to help.

“I shared your story with one of our donors,” he told Phillips. “And I said, ‘Hey, I know this is not kind of our normal thing, but we want to help this family.’ We got you covered for that surgery.”

Phillips burst into tears.

“Oh my God,” Phillips said between sobs. “You have no idea the worry, the worry that you have for your children. Oh, Lord."

“You have no idea what you’ve done. You’ll never know the gratitude and the prayers that will go up for y’all,” she said. “You'll never know.”

Nan Collins (second from right) and family of Burnsville, N.C., next to the donated RV from Woody Faircloth and daughter Luna (first and third from left) from EmergencyRV.org.Photo courtesy of Woody Faircloth

Faircloth and daughter Luna congratulated each other for looking past the love they have for the puppy in order to gift it to a hurting family. Phillips reported back the next day, saying the family decided to name the dog Luna.

“I was crying, and I walked back to the truck. I said, ‘Luna, they just named the puppy Luna,’” Faircloth said. “And she started laughing so hard. And I said, ‘Why are you laughing? I’m over here crying.’ She said, ‘Because it’s a boy.’”

When Faircloth spoke to Makisha’s father, Cash Phillips, he discovered the family patriarch also lost his home in the floods.

“He said, ‘All I want is y’all to pray for us,’” Faircloth said. “‘That's all we need up here.’”

The next day, EmergencyRV.org delivered an RV to Cash Phillips. Makisha texted Faircloth the next day.

“She said, ‘I can’t believe y’all did that for my dad. He’s my hero. He’s the best man I’ve ever met. And you just blessed him in a way that I can’t even … I can’t ever say thanks.’”

Home-state boy helps out

Although Faircloth and his charity have been providing free RVs to disaster victims since the huge California wildfires of November 2018, the storm damage in Western North Carolina was especially personal for him.

Faircloth grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C. His father coached football at Wake Forest University.

“That’s where I went to college and went to high school, in Winston-Salem, which is just a couple hours away from where all this was going on,” he said. “So when this [storm] happened, I just said, ‘Hey, we’re all in on Western North Carolina.’ I know those people. I know their language. I know their customs. These are my people.”

'He said he couldn’t get his tires wet.'

Faircloth has learned many lessons over the years of doing disaster relief work. He makes sure the RVs they provide are in good shape so that the recipient families don’t have to contend with repairs, leaks, or non-functioning appliances. Volunteers stock each RV with food and supplies.

He also learned that the government is not the answer. Local people end up doing the rebuilding, the supporting, and the grieving along with all of their neighbors, he said.

“Amazing that just regular people can do more than the government in this work,” he said.

— (@)

EmergencyRV.org brought an RV to a veteran in Bat Cave, N.C., whose property was devastated by the floods even though it sits high above the creek that turned into a violent river.

The man told Faircloth that FEMA refused to inspect his property because it required agents to drive a truck through the creek that is barely two feet deep.

“No, they wouldn’t drive through the creek,” the man told Faircloth in a video posted on social media. “I’ll try not to cuss, but I told the dude, I said, ‘What would he do if it was raining? How would you get here?’ He said he couldn’t get his tires wet.”

Faircloth made a video of himself driving a pickup truck across the shallow creek.

“Well, FEMA, here’s how we do it. Watch, watch,” Faircloth said as the truck rolled through the water. “You just crossed the river. It’s a veteran, for God’s sake. Look, actually, it’s two rivers, but it’s actually a creek. Come on, people. It’s not that hard.”

The veteran said he cares for his daughter who has Down syndrome, so the RV shelter would be especially appreciated.

'It was so unbelievably sad seeing people in tents.'

Not far away on the veteran’s property, a farmer from Minnesota and a New York City firefighter worked together to clear debris. Both men said they felt called by God to come to North Carolina and help the storm victims.

Faircloth said he gets frustrated because of the huge demand for shelter at a time when FEMA is scaling back its presence in the devastated region. And he knows of large lots in Florida where hundreds of brand-new FEMA campers have been sitting so long that grass grew up around them.

Before Hurricane Helene, Faircloth said he offered to buy some of the FEMA campers sitting in a Florida Division of Emergency Management lot. He said he would have staged them around the country. The Florida officials refused, he said.

“They had 1,600 up there, and I think they deployed 300 of them during Helene relief, and they denied us,” he said. Denied even when Faircloth asked for a single camper to house a 103-year-old World War II veteran who was living in his truck.

“You deny a guy like that? We were trying to help, and we helped him,” Faircloth said. “We were able to get an RV to that guy the next day from another citizen. It’s just, it’s crazy.”

Woody Faircloth about to drive across a shallow creek that a storm victim said FEMA officials refused to cross in order to inspect his property. “It’s actually a creek,” he said. “Come on, people.”Photo courtesy of Woody Faircloth

Blaze News asked FEMA about the lots full of campers in Florida and why they are not being used to help in North Carolina. A FEMA official said some of the RVs would be going to North Carolina. “FEMA currently has units staging in Florida that are being readied to deploy to survivors in the state,” the official said in a statement.

EmergencyRV.org has delivered 57 RVs to survivors in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. The charity averages about one new placement per day. Anyone wishing to donate an RV in good condition, support the work financially, or volunteer to drive donated RVs to North Carolina can do so on the EmergencyRV fundraising page.

Faircloth said the work is hard and takes its toll. When he asked Luna if she wanted to take a break from the traveling, there was no hesitation.

“She snapped right up. She said, ‘Dad, don’t you ever say that again. That’s not what this is about. We’re going to keep helping people.’”

So the dynamic duo will again head for Western North Carolina at Christmas. Because the need is only growing.

“We’re going to be there the week of Christmas to New Year’s delivering RVs again,” he said. “I told the people who stepped up and said they would help us that are boots on the ground there early on. I said, ‘Look, guys, I hope you know that this is going to get worse before it gets better, and this is going to be a long, long haul of work that needs to be done. These people are going to need help for a long time.’”

Hurricane Helene flooding devastated the property of Nan Collins in Burnsville, N.C. She lost five living spaces, a bus, RVs, a barn, and a garden.Photo courtesy of Woody Faircloth

Among the victims assisted by EmergencyRV was a homeless U.S. Navy veteran who was displaced when the Asheville shelter where he lived was destroyed. He and some 200 other vets suddenly needed a place to live.

Faircloth delivered as many RVs as he could to the Statesville RV Park in Statesville, N.C. “I’ve never had nothing like this,” the veteran told Faircloth in a video posted online. “I lived in motels most of my life.”

The man knows all about storms. He worked many of them over the years doing “tree work.” The rescue shelter of an RV was deeply appreciated, he said.

“This is really nice,” he said. “I mean, it’s more than I expect.”

Faircloth and Luna are fueled by the good work they do, but it sometimes exacts an emotional toll.

“We had a big cry together in Swannanoa the other day,” he said. “It was so unbelievably sad seeing people in tents. Seeing some people weren’t in tents but were in substandard shelter and standing around fires, eating the hot dogs off sticks.

“She just started weeping,” Faircloth said. “I was like, ‘Honey, it’s okay. We’re going to help a lot of these people down here.’ She said, ‘Dad, we can’t help them all.’”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Houston’s Ongoing Homelessness Crisis Is A Damning Indictment Of ‘Housing First’ Policy

The problem with the Housing First approach to homelessness is that it's a one-size-fits-all policy that ignores human nature.

Fed up business owners sue California city over homeless encampments — used syringes, human waste, rats



A group of California small-business owners filed a lawsuit against the City of Berkeley this week for allegedly allowing the streets around their businesses to become overrun with homeless encampments littered with used syringes, human waste, and rats.

The lawsuit was filed in Alameda County by eight businesses, which include a brewing company, a winery, a theater set production company, an automotive repair shop, a bagel shop, and a mobility equipment supplier.

'She left only to return two minutes later with a 10-foot metal pole swinging it at customers and employees.'

The county has become a hotspot for homelessness and criminal activity in recent years, largely due to soft-on-crime progressive politicians.

The owners claim that the Berkeley leaders have failed to comply with the city's nuisance laws, claiming it has "invited, permitted, and/or maintained a sprawling public encampment of tents and RVs on Harrison Street between Fifth and Ninth streets, as well as off of Harrison Street along Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Streets."

The complaint noted that encampments have been allowed to take over parts of Harrison Street and the Lower Dwight Neighborhood "because of its erroneous interpretation" of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's ruling in two cases, which stated criminal charges cannot be filed against individuals camping in public when no shelter space is available.

However, the lawsuit argued that the rulings did not permit the city to violate public nuisance laws. Furthermore, the business owners argued that shelter space has been available.

Additionally, earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the lower court's decision, stating that municipalities are allowed to dismantle public encampments regardless of available shelter space. Despite that, the makeshift tent cities in Berkeley remain.

The complaint included images taken after the city engaged in a so-called "clean up" effort, showing that the encampments were not dismantled. Instead, tents remained lined up against the side of the street, often obstructing sidewalk access.

Emily Winston, a Berkeley resident and the owner and operator of a local bagel shop told KTVU, "It's tough. It's filthy. There's trash everywhere."

"It's not safe for our customers or our staff," Winston stated. She noted that she was "not eager" to file the lawsuit.

"This was certainly not my idea of a good time. I wish the city would just have cleaned it up anyway," Winston added.

The business owners are concerned about the health and safety issues posed by the sprawling encampments. They fear that the unsightly and unsanitary conditions are driving away customers.

Barry Braden, a brewery owner, told KTVU that a woman recently entered his establishment asking for food.

"When the manager on duty offered help, she left only to return two minutes later with a 10-foot metal pole swinging it at customers and employees; she was chased out of the building by customers and ultimately arrested by police," Braden explained.

In 2018, the same year Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) took office, there were an estimated 131,000 homeless individuals residing in California. Since then, that number has reportedly reached a projected 172,000.

The city attorney did not respond to KTVU’s request for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Why Democrats are crushing democracy: The billion-dollar scam behind blue cities



What explains the Democrats’ anti-democratic turn?

The underlying issue is that "democratic" governments are actually wildly democratically unpopular.

Basically, Washington, D.C., and its Western European satellite states would not retain control — or the ability to steal as much money from their people — if they allowed truly free speech and free markets.

Blues are getting innocent people, largely minorities, addicted to drugs in order to make money for their NGOs. They're also letting innocent people get attacked on the streets. Blues are befouling their own neighborhoods for a quick buck. This is genuinely evil behavior.

And that's why they've become so anti-democratic:

  • Building one-party states (e.g., California)
  • Faking the news (e.g., Russiagate)
  • Censoring the internet (e.g., Hunter Biden story)
  • Show trials of political opposition (e.g., Trump)
  • Weaponizing commercial law (e.g., Elon Musk and Delaware)
  • Arresting tech founders (e.g., France)
  • Imprisoning people for tweets (e.g., U.K.)
  • Blowing up Nord Stream, then covering it up
  • Funding COVID-19, then hiding that too
  • Fomenting war and cold war everywhere

The list goes on and on. This is also why they blather so much about democracy. Censoring the Hunter Biden story during the 2020 election shows they're about as genuinely "democratic" as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Indeed, communist states also called themselves democratic repeatedly for very similar reasons. Just as "communism" meant one-party rule by the Communist Party, this type of "democracy" just means one-party rule by the Democratic Party — or the Democrats' wholly owned blue subsidiaries in places like the U.K. and France.

To prove it, ask a partisan Democrat if he would push for actual democracy in the sense of competitive multiparty elections. Of course not — if Democrats reduced gerrymandering, they might elect a Republican! And that of course would be an attack on "democracy." Thus does the epistemic loop close.

Anyway, the whole point of Western anti-democracy is to frustrate the democratic voice of the people in favor of one-party control by an illegitimate, parasitic regime. But why?

But why?

Why do Blues care about control so much? Are they simply sadists who want to see the streets of their own capitals covered in filth while innocents are assaulted by criminals?

That's surely part of it. Another huge part is that Blues are more interested in stealing money from people via $100 billion trains to nowhere than in any kind of genuine public service. And that is why they will fight so bitterly to retain control: Blues are looting historic amounts of money and want to continue doing that.

The blue business model

This is a huge concept, but you can get the idea in just one graph from the city of San Francisco. Note how the budget of this homeless "prevention" agency went from $200 million to over $1 billion per year, while the homeless population skyrocketed?

That's because these Democrat drug dealers get paid for increasing the homeless population.

They do the marketing by putting up billboards for hard drugs. They manage the supply chain by handing out syringes. They secure the real estate in the form of "safe injection sites." And they handle compliance by suing in the courts and abolishing the police.

And that is why blue cities have become s**tholes: because Blues get paid for making them into s**tholes! This is the Democrat scam. They are McKinsey for MS-13, essentially management consultants for murderous drug dealers.

Blues have their smarts, though. The primary blue business model innovation is to avoid taking a small cut of a $10 fentanyl transaction in lieu of taking all of the $1 billion-plus for fentanyl "prevention."

Blues are, in short, criminals posing as cops. Like the Communist Party, the Democrat Party is a pack of government criminals. You can see it from their sympathies — among other things, this is why Blues wanted to abolish the real police, so they could loot in peace.

That's also why they destroy democracy in blue-controlled areas like California: By turning them into one-party states, they avoid all accountability for their crimes.

Prove and scale

Once the homeless industrial complex model was proven in San Francisco, it was scaled to the rest of the U.S. and the world.

Going from $200 million to $1 billion per year is huge! It's more than Uber makes in SF. If that was a venture-backed business, you'd scale it everywhere.

And so the Blues did. Thus you get San Francisco on the Seine. Paris imported not just the tech of California but the woke of California as well.

Now you might say: Well, this is unethical!

And of course, the Blues who do this completely lack ethics. Blues are getting innocent people, largely minorities, addicted to drugs in order to make money for their NGOs. They're also letting innocent people get attacked on the streets. Blues are befouling their own neighborhoods for a quick buck. This is genuinely evil behavior.

But we know that kind of person exists. After all, that's why drug dealers exist. And that's why Democrat drug dealers exist.

That’s why they do it

So that's why Western anti-democracies will fight so hard to remain in power: because they want to steal your money because of the blue business model.

And the blue business model isn't limited to Democrat drug dealing, of course. There are endless variations, both American and foreign. Some examples:

a) Blues made money from the $100 billion California train to nowhere, which produced billions for unions and zero miles of rail.

b) Blues made money by forgiving student loans for Blues while imposing punishing taxes on Reds.

c) Blues make money from every bill they pass, which always include appropriations for blue-controlled universities or subsidies for blue-controlled nonprofits.

d) And above all, Blues make money by literally making money — by printing money via the Fed. This is the largest theft in human history, and the printed bucks go largely to Blues.

There's more I can say, but you start to get the point. Western anti-democracies are cracking down on democracy because they want to protect the blue business model. Many Blues just wouldn't have as much money or as much status without their parasitic states. So trillions of dollars are at stake, and they will play for keeps.

PS: There's only one force that's stronger than blue, and that's orange. But that's a topic for another day.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on X (formerly Twitter).

Historic 'A League of Their Own' ballpark burns down amid rampant homelessness: 'It's just fallen in disarray'



The baseball park used in the classic film "A League of Their Own" tragically burned down, leaving locals devastated with some saying they heard an explosion.

Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario, California, burned to the ground in a five-alarm fire completely destroying the bleachers and dugouts that were seen in the movie. The scoreboard is still standing.

The park was the backdrop for the 1992 movie starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna (among others) on an all-women's baseball team that struggled to help their league succeed without men during World War II.

'In the past, they've broken into the building and cut the gas line so they could hook up their own gas.'

In a press release, the Ontario Fire Department said that 51 personnel responded to the fire and contained it to building of origin.

The fire department added that the ball park was a local landmark for nearly 90 years and featured all-wooden grandstands that were constructed in 1937.

No victims were located, and the fire's main cause remained under investigation at the time of this writing.

— (@)

At least one local resident suspected foul play; Aaron Matthiesen, president of the Ontario Eastern Little League, told Fox 11 Los Angeles that homelessness has been rampant in the park.

"We constantly have issues with the homeless at the park," Matthiesen said. "In the past, they've broken into the building and cut the gas line so they could hook up their own gas."

"It's just fallen in disarray, and I unfortunately think that's what happened," he added.

The little league president said that another resident had told him "they heard an explosion" and then saw the flames.

"I'm hoping no one was inside. But yeah, homelessness has been a huge problem here at the park."

Matthiesen told reporters from ABC 7 that local residents were crying in the streets over the ordeal as so many children play there.

"There's a president from a neighboring league across the street who I was just talking with. One of the parents, one of our coaches is down the street. He's sitting there crying on the side of the road because this ball park has been the heart of Ontario," the baseball lover went on.

"It's a historical ball park place to play for our kids. And now, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to get a chance to play in it anymore."

Ontario's director of communications, Dan Bell, spoke on the significance of the park's history in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"It's a terrible loss for our community," he told the outlet. "Everyone here either played or had relatives or kids who played on that field over the years. In its 87 years of existence, a lot of people played on that field."

The official added that the city will have to take a close look at how to move forward with the field due to its historical significance.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Bay Area leftist candidate who advocates for homeless apparently has campaign money stolen by brazen homeless woman



The campaign for a left-leaning candidate running for city council in Oakland, California, got off to a bad start after a homeless woman apparently stole a bag full of donations during a campaign kickoff rally over the weekend.

On Sunday, Charlene Wang, 33, hosted an event at a local park to launch her campaign for the open seat on the Oakland City Council. As the event wrapped up, a women described as homeless and "clearly mentally disturbed" by the California Globe suddenly began swiping several bags and purses, reports claimed.

'Tirelessly fighting for disadvantaged communities by launching new social programs at all levels of government for homelessness, education, healthcare, and environmental justice.'

Wang was able to wrestle most of the purses, including her own and her mother's, back. However, the homeless woman apparently kept hold and wouldn't let go of the bag containing a host of donation checks collected at the rally.

According to video, Wang and her team attempted to reason with the woman in hopes of convincing her to give the bag back — to no avail.

"I very much tried to have a de-escalatory conversation with her to convince her to hand over the bag," Wang said, according to KGO. "Offer her a warm meal at the grocery store, even give her money in exchange for the bag, but that did not work out."

Wang also attempted to solicit the help of those involved with the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland Program, which offers "community response ... for non-violent, non-emergency 911 calls" in the city. Unfortunately, the ostensible social workers weren't available during the weekend, KGO indicated.

Finally, fearing that the situation was escalating out of control, Wang resorted to contacting law enforcement. Unfortunately, police weren't available to respond either.

"They said there were 250 calls ahead of us, and they said they would actually come by to take a report afterwards," Wang told KGO.

After allegedly throwing food and, in the words of the California Globe, "flashing her whatevers," the suspected thief reportedly wandered away, donation bag still in hand.

Wang estimated that the bag contained about $1,000 worth of checks. According to the California Globe, Wang has asked donors to stop payment on those checks.

Despite the apparent theft, Wang harbors no ill will against the suspect. "I am not angry at her or anything like that," she insisted.

"I can only imagine the trauma she is going through having to live on the streets."

Wang, who is running on a platform of reducing crime and helping the homeless, was left frustrated and confused by the silence from Oakland police. As of Wednesday, they still had not come to investigate the issue, Wang claimed.

"I think this is yet another example of first responder service. I was left to fend for myself in an essence," she said.

The New York Post reached out to the police department for comment.

Wang's campaign website brags about her work on campaigns for former President Barack Obama and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as well as her previous work to help the homeless in Massachusetts. The website further notes that Wang identifies as LBGTQ+ and claims that she has dedicated her life "to tirelessly fighting for disadvantaged communities by launching new social programs at all levels of government for homelessness, education, healthcare, and environmental justice."

Even with those leftist bona fides, Wang is still surprised by the association between leftists and anti-cop sentiment. "I’m frustrated by the idea that progressives are automatically anti-police, that we don’t care about public safety," she said, per the California Globe.

"That is the state of the first responders in Oakland, and that’s why I’m running."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Newsom threatens to pull funding from cities, counties that don’t solve homeless crisis: ‘I want to see results’



California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) plans to pull funding for cities and counties that fail to address the homeless crisis, warning Thursday he will redirect the money to those cities working on the problem.

The threat follows his executive order last month that requires local jurisdictions to “urgently address homeless encampments." He demanded that cities and counties “do their job.”

'We’ll send that money to counties that are producing results.'

Newsom claimed the decision to implement the action was due to a June Supreme Court ruling that found laws restricting people from sleeping in public areas are not unconstitutional.

At the time that he issued the executive order, Newsom stated that solving California’s homelessness problem is one of his primary concerns; however, the problem has only escalated under his leadership.

According to Cal Matters, the state has roughly 181,000 homeless individuals and only 71,000 emergency shelter beds.

On Thursday, Newsom stated that local governments that fail to comply with his recent executive order will have their state funding pulled, CNN reported. He noted that he expects cities and counties “to adopt humane and dignified policies to urgently address encampments on state property” that deliver “demonstrable results.”

Newsom claimed that local jurisdictions have received “unprecedented resources” from the state.

“No more excuses. You’ve got the money, you got the flexibility, you got the green light, you got support from the state, and the public is demanding it of you,” he stated. “I’m here on behalf of 40 million Californians that are fed up. I’m here because I’m one of them. I want to see results.”

Newsom claimed that the executive action was “not about criminalization.”

“What’s criminal, is neglecting people who are struggling and suffering and dying on our watch,” he continued. “This is a sincerely held belief that we need local government to step up. This is a crisis, act like it.”

According to the governor, the state could start “redirect[ing] money” in January when it begins working on budget proposals.

“I’m a taxpayer, not just a governor. It’s not complicated,” Newsom said. “We’ll send that money to counties that are producing results.”

Last month, Newsom vetoed an assembly bill that would have required him to provide annual evaluations of funds the state provides to its Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program.

Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher slammed Newsom for shooting down the legislation, stating, “Gavin likes to spend. Oversight? Not so much.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'They're drug zombies': UFC's Sean Strickland says he has zero tolerance for the homeless, is willing to 'fight a bum'



UFC contender and recent champion Sean Strickland explained that he has no sympathy for homeless people and noted his "zero tolerance" policy for them in his neighborhood.

The former middleweight champion has no qualms about expressing his political and moral views online for all readers to pick apart and was fresh off of a rant against Democratic voters the day before.

'They bring drugs and crime around your children.'

"Democrats have to be the stupidest group of people on earth[.] You understand that your elected officials are actively preparing for war that the American people don't [want] and yet you will still vote for them..... I don't get it," he wrote on X.

A day later, Strickland sounded off about not understanding "compassion" for homeless people if they are drug users.

"I just don't understand the love and compassion for homeless people. These people are drugged out zombies," Strickland said. "They're not down on [their] luck trying to get better, they're drug zombies[.] They bring drugs and crime around your children."

He then asked his audience to "man up and sack up."

— (@)

Sports reporter and beloved mixed martial arts journalist Helen Yee replied to the fighter with a snippet of her own experience:

"Not necessarily true for all of them. When I volunteered at the homeless shelter, I got to hear their stories and you'd feel sad for how some people end up the way they do," Yee said.

Strickland acquiesced a bit in his response, admitting there is "a difference between the guy at a shelter looking for a job and a guy doing the crack zombie walk past a park... big difference," he wrote.

— (@)

Strickland responded to fans, telling one that he was once forced by a judge into community service at a homeless shelter, but it is hard to tell whether Strickland was kidding.

The 185-pound fighter then remarked on his own neighborhood, saying that he has "zero tolerance" for homeless where he lives.

"I'll burn down a tent, fight a bum [I don't care]," he ranted. "But there is a homeless guy here who is black. I just don't know if I feel right saying 'we don't want you here' why can't he be a white bum," the fighter joked.

— (@)

Strickland's home state of California has begun clearing out homeless encampments after the Supreme Court ruled it legal to ban sleeping and camping in public areas.

The approach by certain municipalities has been seen as aggressive by some, with San Francisco Mayor London Breed saying the homeless are being offered nearby shelters after being told they cannot stay in the streets.

According to the Associated Press, a local activist accused the city of confiscating people's property, survival gear, and medications.

As for Strickland, he has been busy challenging Navy SEALs to fitness tests and even recently posted a video of himself receiving water torture.

The fighter is currently waiting for his next shot at the UFC middleweight title and is hoping to fight the winner of an upcoming bout between champion Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Portland homeless advocate allegedly stabbed to death by homeless person



The self-appointed "sheriff" who screened homeless people to determine who could live on his street in Portland, Oregon, has now apparently died at the hands of one of those he tried so hard to help.

His name was Kenny Housman.

Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, Housman reportedly was trying to referee an argument between two homeless people when suddenly one of them apparently stabbed Housman in the throat.

'He does not have the authority to monitor the public street bordering his property.'

Housman was raced to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. He was 73.

Reports indicate that two other homeless campers apprehended a person described as a "suspect" in Housman's fatal stabbing and held that person down until police arrived. However, that individual later was released from custody without being charged. The person was said to be "cooperating" in the investigation.

Blaze News reached out to detectives assigned to the case to see if the apprehended individual was ever considered a suspect, and Portland Police public information manager Mike Benner issued Blaze News the following statement:

At this point there is not enough evidence to charge the detained individual with a crime, and that explains the release from custody. The individual is cooperating with authorities, and the investigation is ongoing. We have nothing further to add.

Last September, KATU-TV featured a story on Housman, who owned the block that stretched the length of Clinton Street. Housman had dubbed himself "Sheriff of Clinton Street" and permitted homeless residents to set up camp along the street so long as they passed his inspection.

"You don't want those kinda people that steal catalytic converters and gas," he told the outlet at the time. "You don't want them on your street. If there are those kinda people, then you have to take steps to get them out."

Though RVs and tents lined his street, Housman banned loud generators and late-night parties. He also provided some homeless residents with electricity.

By all accounts, Housman — a Vietnam veteran — adamantly believed he could help at least some people. "They gotta live someplace. ... The good ones have to live someplace," he said. "The others? They can't live here."

Neighbors complained about violent crime spikes in the area, and data supports their concerns. KATU independently verified that the neighborhood had an "above average number of assaults, stolen cars and weapons violations," though those numbers could not necessarily be directly tied to the homeless encampments.

The Street Services Coordination Center for the City of Portland also was frustrated with Housman's autonomous zone. "Mr. Houseman [sic] has been known to contact city workers and attempt to enable people to stay on the block, though he does not have the authority to monitor the public street bordering his property," a 2023 statement from the agency read in part.

Housman seemed to believe his naysayers overgeneralized about homeless people and perhaps had overlooked their good qualities. "They just see a motorhome. They think, 'Oh no, homeless, crime, drugs ...' They don't see Tim, who I think works, I'm not sure, but he won't steal from them or anything else. They don't see, I don't know Jim very well; old man Steve, living on Social Security, needs a place to stay," he explained.

He also denied that his approved campers engaged in behaviors often associated with homelessness. "You don't find any car thieves here," he told KATU. "You don't find people laying around doing drugs ... You shouldn't find any needles; all of the trash is in one place for [waste removal] to pick up."

Now, at least one of the Clinton Street campers is mourning the loss of Housman. "He did things to try and help them out," Michael Zamora, who lives in an RV, recalled.

"He didn’t have to die."

(H/T: The Post Millennial)

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Leftists wail as New Hampshire city addresses homelessness problem just days after landmark SCOTUS ruling



The largest city in New Hampshire has already begun to clean up its streets just days after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pivotal ruling likely to have a significant impact on the country's growing homelessness problem.

While much of the focus on homelessness has been on California and other West Coast states, Manchester, New Hampshire, has had a major homelessness problem of its own in recent years. Perhaps as many as 140 Manchester residents are homeless, and another 400 or so are living in shelters, the city website said.

'During walks with my kids, we've encountered human excrement. I've had to teach them to be looking out for needles.'

"I'll be frank with you," said Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg. "This has been a strain on this police department and this community as a whole for the last several years."

Last Friday, SCOTUS justices ruled 6-3 that cities can ban sleeping and camping in public areas such as streets and parks. By Tuesday evening, Manchester leaders had already voted to change the city's local ordinances to make public areas safer.

The previous ordinance in Manchester banned public sleeping and camping only from sunrise to sunset, a measure that could be enforced only when space was available at local shelters.

On Tuesday, Mayor Jay Ruais and the city's aldermen met and voted overwhelmingly, 14-1, to ban public camping entirely, effective immediately. The measure gives police the option to impose a $250 fine on violators, and the city also allotted police an extra $500,000 to help with enforcement.

Despite the apparent enthusiasm for the new ordinance from local leaders, some residents spoke out against it during the public comment portion of the meeting. Often echoing tired platitudes, these critics expressed deep sympathy for the homeless population but seemingly little concern for area families.

"We cannot arrest our way out of homelessness," said one man.

"Unhoused people need homes, not handcuffs," added a woman.

One woman has even bragged that she regularly visits homeless encampments and does not believe they pose a threat to public safety. "I often walk through the homeless encampments while walking around town," said Phoebe Youman. "I'm a young woman. I'm under five feet tall, and I walk alone most times, and not once have the people living on the streets or living in their cars made me uncomfortable or harassed me, let alone caused a safety risk."

An area father and business owner took a decidedly different view. "I've seen camps set up on school property where our children, where my children, should feel safe and secure," said Adam Alvarez, a Manchester native.

"During walks with my kids, we've encountered human excrement. I've had to teach them to be looking out for needles."

Mayor Ruais has since defended the measure and slammed those accusing him and others of unfairly attacking the homeless.

"This is not criminalizing [homelessness]," he said. "Nobody's going to jail as a result of this. This is the deterrence effect."

Ruais also noted that the city does offer assistance to those who want and ask for it. "What we won't tolerate is people breaking our laws or ignoring our ordinances," he said.

Police Chief Aldenberg added that homeless residents may use public parks like anyone else — so long as they abide by the rules.

"If they want to be in the parks as well and act appropriately and not drink there, not urinate there, not sleep there, then they're more than welcome to be there, as well," he said.

Aldenberg also indicated that the new ordinance will allow all Manchester residents to enjoy their beautiful city: "People that want to come and sit in the park with their family on a nice day like today ... [will] feel more comfortable doing so."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!