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.The problem with the Housing First approach to homelessness is that it's a one-size-fits-all policy that ignores human nature.'Sanctuary city' Denver sends illegal aliens to Utah: 'Completely unacceptable'
Denver, Colorado, a self-proclaimed "sanctuary city," has been sending illegal immigrants to Salt Lake City, Utah, according to a recent KUTV report.
Jon Ewing, with Denver Human Services, told the news outlet that illegal aliens arriving in the Colorado city are being bused and, in some cases, flown to other states across the nation.
'Fix this untenable situation.'
According to Ewing, individuals are not encouraged to relocate to any particular city or state but are provided with transportation services to continue to their destination of choice.
"Any individual who travels through our system makes their own decision on their destination," Ewing told KUTV. "We are simply helping people connect with family, friends, or existing support systems."
Ewing reported that Denver has provided roughly 2,000 bus tickets since late 2022 to send illegal aliens to Salt Lake City. He insisted that critics' claims that the city was moving a "problem" to Utah is "a misunderstanding of the situation and of people's needs." Ewing further noted that Denver is in "regular communication" with the cities where the illegal aliens are being relocated. He added that Denver plans to continue sending the individuals elsewhere.
"Again, it's at their request. We will never encourage anyone to go to Salt Lake City. We will never point a finger at a map and tell someone where they should go," Ewing claimed.
A spokesperson for Denver's mayor's office told KDVR, "The vast majority of newcomers arriving in Denver do so on buses chartered from Texas and had no intention of ever coming to Denver. That's why part of our operations include purchasing tickets for newcomers to get to their desired location, where they may have support networks or job opportunities."
Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown stated that the illegal immigrants arrive "with very little information other than instructions to find a person in uniform to help."
Andrew Roberts, chief of staff for Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, told KUTV that the city lacks the resources to "absorb" the uptick in illegal aliens arriving in the area.
"I have, myself, communicated our displeasure," Roberts said, referring to Denver sending illegal aliens to Salt Lake City.
A spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office also noted that the office has expressed concerns regarding Denver's actions.
Utah officials recently approved a flyer that states in Spanish that the city has "no space available in shelters," KUTV reported.
"Food banks and other basic needs services are at capacity. If you do not have a secure and stable connection or family in Utah, consider another state to settle in the US," the flyer read, according to the news outlet.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's (R) office stated, "Now, with this bulletin, we're communicating directly with those illegally crossing the border."
In a Friday statement on X, Cox wrote, "We recently learned that the Democrat mayor of Denver has been sending illegal immigrants to Utah without proper notification or approval. This is completely unacceptable and follows on the failed catch-and-release policy of the Biden administration. Every state has received illegal immigrants and Utah's resources are completely depleted. All 50 states, including Utah, are now border states due to the failed immigration policies of President Biden and Congress. Once again we call on the Biden administration and Congress to solve this crisis."
Jennifer Naipier-Pearce, senior advisor of communications for the governor's office, told KDVR, "Since learning of Denver's policy, we've worked with Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City to push back on the Department of Homeland Security, the city of Denver, the state of Colorado and the Biden administration demanding they immediately stop this practice. We've also worked with Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County to communicate to migrants, NGOs along the southern border, and other cities including Denver that we are unable to provide services to these illegal immigrants. Denver must end this practice and Congress and the president must do their job and fix this untenable situation."
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Man allegedly robs bank of $1 with goal of going to federal prison
Authorities with the Salt Lake City Police Department recently arrested a man after he allegedly robbed a bank of $1 with the goal of getting arrested and going to federal prison.
The strange scenario unfolded on Monday in Utah when 65-year-old Donald Santacroce went into a Wells Fargo and presented a note demanding the money, KSL.com reported, citing a police booking affidavit: "Please pardon me for doing this but this is a robbery. Please give me $1. Thank you," the note reportedly read.
The money was forked over and Santacroce was asked to depart, but the man told the teller to contact the police, the affidavit indicates, according to the outlet. While waiting for authorities, Santacroce made a comment to the victims suggesting that they were lucky he did not have a firearm because it was taking authorities so long to arrive. "At this point the branch manager said she ushered all of her employees into a back room for their safety where she locked the doors," the affidavit indicates, according to the outlet.
Santacroce's wish was ultimately granted: Authorities arrested him. "Officers booked Santacroce into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on one count of robbery," according to a Salt Lake City Police Department press release.
"Donald said he had done this because he wanted to get arrested and go to federal prison. Donald stated that if he gets out of jail, he will rob another bank and ask for more money next time trying to get the desired result of going to federal prison," the arrest report notes, according to KSL.com.
The outlet reported that Utah Highway Patrol had recently arrested the individual for investigation of DUI and careless driving and that authorities had indicated that the man had been driving with a license which had been suspended out of Missouri.
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Utah Bill Barring Transgender Surgeries For Children Is Toothless
The new law signed by the Utah governor only bars transgender procedures for minors who have not been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.Little girl dances at all-ages drag show in Utah, collects cash from cheering crowd — and intense backlash against show sparks war of words
Videos showing a little girl dancing at an all-ages drag show in Salt Lake City and collecting cash from cheering audience members has drawn intense online backlash from detractors — and now the owner of the venue that hosts the show, the drag queen who produces it, and the dancing girl's father are fighting back, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
What are the details?
Tea Zaanti, a tea and wine cafe, hosts the “Bes-Teas" drag show on the third Friday of every month, the Tribune said, adding that Tara Lipsyncki — a Utah drag queen — produces the event to be family-friendly; there's no swearing, and it features Disney songs.
Lipsyncki told the paper the all-ages show is meant to demonstrate that “a child can be who a child wants to be" and can be "loved unconditionally.”
During the Aug. 19 show, August Wachter’s daughter began dancing to the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno" from the Disney movie “Encanto" and later held a drag queen's hand and collected tips from the crowd, the Tribune reported.
Six days later, Tea Zaanti — with the Wachters' permission — posted two clips from the show on social media, the paper said.
What happened next?
Libs of TikTok picked up the video, and then Tea Zaanti was hit with “an endless barrage of harassment” and negative comments, Scott Lyttle, who owns the shop with his wife, Becky, told the Tribune:
- “Evil people are doing the devil’s work here,” one Yelp commenter from Florida wrote, according the paper.
- “That is just plain child abuse,” said another from Texas, the Tribune said.
- “Maybe the people who make decisions here are all about abusing children for their pleasure,” wrote a commenter from Arizona, the paper said.
Lyttle added to the Tribune that they've been called groomers and disgusting perverts and even likened to Jeffery Epstein.
“It’s a mess,” Lyttle told the paper. “Most of these people aren’t even from Utah.”
Yelp temporarily disabled posting to Tea Zaanti’s page, citing “increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news," the Tribune reported.
Lyttle told the paper that the cafe’s Google rating dropped from 4.9 stars (out of five) to 4.7 stars in a matter of hours; and while Google deleted one-star comments that included harassing language, one-star reviews without comments are not immediately removed.
Wachter noted to the Tribune that he's angry about the threats and accusations that his daughter was being sexualized by dancing with drag queens.
“Nobody in that crowd, on that stage, was sexualizing things,” Wachter told the paper.
Lyttle added to the Tribune that Wachter's daughter “got so inspired she ran up to the stage and started dancing. The crowd loved it.”
Lipsyncki agreed with Lyttle and added to the paper that the drag queen was “dancing innocently with a kid.”
Wachter shared with the Tribune that his daughter suffers from anxiety but has always found an outlet in dance: “The fact that she was able to get up there with total strangers, be brave enough to do her thing, it was heartening for us."
Wachter added to the paper that he's shocked that Instagram lets the Libs of TikTok account remain active considering the comments left on the video — such as suggestions that his daughter be taken away.
“The actual grooming that’s happening is on the other side, where all these people are grooming their kids to hate other people because of how they dress and who they love,” Watcher told the Tribune. “As parents, we’re trying to raise our kids to be good, respectful human beings for everyone around them.”
'A deep hatred'
Lipsyncki told the paper that members of the region's conservative culture hold "a deep hatred" for "the LGBTQIA community, and anyone that’s different because we are, in their mind, infiltrating their safe space.”
“We’ve always been here," Lipsyncki also told the Tribune. "Utah isn’t the super red state it was even 10 years ago. It’s changing and these people are just trying to hold onto this idea of what they want Utah to be and what they want their children to be a part of.”
Lipsyncki added to the paper that the all-ages drag shows will continue, even if security has to be added.
“What is the true issue? Why are you scared of this drag performance? What is your core issue? Is it that you do not believe in homosexuality and think it’s a sin?” Lipsyncki asked, according to the Tribune. “OK, that’s fine. Then don’t come to the show. I don’t go to your church and protest.”
Utah Sues Biden Administration Over Aggressive Land Grab At Two National Monuments
The lawsuit claims President Joe Biden violated the Antiquities Act requirement that the 'smallest area compatible' be protected.Pacific Islander advocate fighting for her life after contracting flesh-eating bacteria from 15 spider bites
A Utah woman is currently in a hospital fighting for her life after she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria from a series of spider bites she got while on a recent fishing trip.
Susi Feltch-Malohifo'ou, a 59-year-old woman and a nationally recognized advocate for the Pacific Islander community, recently went on a fishing trip to Mirror Lake, about an hour and a half east of Salt Lake City. Shortly after she returned, she became ill.
"When she woke up Sunday morning, she had a headache, a fever, and was in some pain," her son, Adrian Swensen, told reporters. "Those symptoms progressed to the point that we decided she needed to see her doctor."
At the hospital, Feltch-Malohifo'ou tested negative for COVID and the flu, so doctors gave her two shots and some prescription medicine and sent her home.
But she grew worse.
When Feltch-Malohifo'ou returned to the hospital a second time, doctors discovered that she had 15 spider bites on her body and that at least seven of them had become infected with a flesh-eating bacteria. Because of the damage caused by the bacteria, doctors now believe she is suffering from a condition known as necrotizing fasciitis.
According to the CDC, necrotizing fasciitis occurs when certain bacteria destroy tissue at a rapid pace. If not diagnosed quickly, necrotizing fasciitis can lead to sepsis, shock, and organ failure. Though antibiotics are often administered as quickly as possible once a diagnosis has been made, antibiotics may not be able to contain an infection if the damage has already become too severe.
In instances in which antibiotics are no longer effective, doctors must surgically remove the dead tissue. Such is the case for Feltch-Malohifo'ou. Thus far, she has already undergone six surgeries and has had over 10 pounds of dead tissue removed. And she likely has more procedures in her future, according to the GoFundMe account established to help defray her medical expenses.
"She is very sick," Swensen said. "We are told that if they can get her stable and through all of the removal and cleaning, she will have a very long road of recovery.
"We are people of faith and are in constant prayer that she will be healed and in a timely manner."
Feltch-Malohifo'ou runs a nonprofit called Pacific Islander Knowledge to Action Resources, which aims to highlight the economic impact that Pacific Islanders have in America, to prevent violence in the community, and to preserve Pacific Islander culture. As a result of her activism, Feltch-Malohifo'ou won the FBI's Director's Community Leadership Award for Utah in 2018 and was listed on the Forbes "50 over 50" list of 2021.
Video: Dim-witted gas thief pays for his misdeed, catches fire after drilling hole in truck's tank
A would-be gas thief paid dearly for his misdeed over the weekend, catching fire as he drilled a hole in a truck's gas tank at a Salt Lake City business.
It all was caught on surveillance video in broad daylight Saturday morning, KSL-TV reported — fittingly at Summit Fire & Security.
What are the details?
Video shows the crook underneath a work truck on the side where the gas tank is located, the station said, adding that a white pickup truck is parked next to the work truck.
Suddenly the thief pops up with his shirt on fire and emerges in front of both trucks, rolling on the surface of the parking lot in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
The guy rolled about 10 times before the flames were out, after which he ditched his charred shirt and ran into the white pickup truck that the driver drove forward to pick him up.
The below screenshot shows what appears to be a red gas container left behind under the truck, as smoke billows from the bottom — and the hapless would-be thief about to remove his shirt:
“Some people try to take the easy way out of everything,” Branch Manager Travis Mills told KSL as the surveillance clip ran.
Mills added to the station that the crook "tried to siphon gas out of it, and he wasn’t getting the siphon to work. So he decided to drill the gas tank, and that’s when he caught on fire.”
He added to KSL that "the reason why he’s fleeing is that, if there were more gas in it than a gallon, this thing would have absolutely turned into a bomb. It’s sad because times are tough for a lot of people, but it’s not worth the $5 that he would have saved for the the injury that the guy sustained.”
In addition, the company has suffered multiple catalytic converter thefts and smash-and-grab thefts in recent years, the station said.
The outfit even installed a $30,000 security system prior to Saturday's incident, KSL reported: “It’s been expensive,” Mills added to the station.
Now, the attempted gas theft is setting them back financially even more.
The truck is now off the road due to its damaged gas tank, KSL said, and replacing the tank will be costly — if a replacement tank can be found.
“Horrendous expense,” Mills added to the station. “We have downtime with our guys, immediately."
Anything else?
Tony Allred, division chief for the Salt Lake City Fire Marshal told KSL "given the gas prices in the valley and nationwide, we are seeing an increase in gas theft."
Allred added to the station that "drilling into a tank is extraordinarily dangerous,” as the drill, drill bit, or even static electricity could spark an explosion.
Thieves caught on camera drilling into gas tanksyoutu.be
Salt Lake City mayor and city council adopt joint resolution that declares racism a public health crisis
Salt Lake City's mayor and the seven members of its city council have adopted a joint resolution that declares racism a public health crisis.
The resolution states that "in our capacity as a local municipal authority we declare racism as a moral and public health crisis in our city, state, and nation and reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the Utah Compact on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion."
Mayor Erin Mendenhall was elected in November 2019 and has served as the city's mayor since January 2020.
"This is an important declaration for us to make as a City. Not only are we publicly acknowledging the existence of a grave inequity that many in our community have known and experienced for so long, we are also committing ourselves to the creation of policies and ordinances that are anti-racist," the mayor said, according to a press release.
"There is no doubt of the crisis. Our society is burdened with bigotry and all the hatred that comes with it," Council Chair Amy Fowler said. "Indeed, it is a moral imperative to combat racism, discrimination, and inequities in all their forms."
Fierce debate continues to rage in the U.S. over issues such as whether the nation is infected by systemic racism and whether concepts related to critical race theory should be included in education.
The resolution states that "this nation and the states and municipalities within have been designed to systematically disadvantage underrepresented racial and ethnic groups thereby creating health disparities that have persisted even after the Civil Rights Movement following the abolition of slavery."
It notes that "Salt Lake City remains committed to the work that it will take now and into the future to dismantle our racist legacies so that all feel welcome and safe in Salt Lake City."
The resolution declares that "we commit to look internally, externally, and encourage all who reside, work, and own businesses in our city to commit to the work necessary to dismantle racist legacies and equitably work to repair our communities."
Kidnapper chases female, drags her out from under vehicle, carries her over his shoulder and drives off with her — and bystander feet away does nothing
It's disturbing enough to watch the video of a kidnapper chasing a female at a Utah convenience store gas station, dragging her out from under a vehicle, and then placing her over his shoulder as he walked away.
But almost as unsettling is the fact that the culprit did it all in front of a bystander who did not intervene while apparently pumping gas just feet away.
In fact, it was the bystander's vehicle the female ran toward and crawled under, KSL-TV reported.
What are the details?
The incident took place about 10:30 p.m. Friday night at a Miniature Mart Gas Station in South Salt Lake, a reporter for the station tweeted, adding that victim was believed to be 16 years old:
But after more information gathering, authorities learned the victim is actually 35, KSL reported.
"Witnesses at the scene described the victim in this case as possibly a teenager," Danielle Croyle, public information officer with the South Salt Lake Police Department, told the station. "In addition to that, a shoe was left at the scene, which was a size three. So with that limited information, we did not have a name or a date of birth."
'Help!'
Croyle added to KSL that "a couple of witnesses reported hearing her yell, 'Help! Please help me, help me!'" The suspect then shoved her into a stolen Nissan Pathfinder, the station said.
In addition, KSL said police "had little help from the key witness — the driver of the truck seen pumping gas."
But Croyle told the station other bystanders called 911.
Charles Albert got the AMBER Alert and stopped by the gas station Saturday afternoon, KSL said, adding that he said the surveillance video is concerning.
"To be that involved where [the suspect] rips her out from underneath the vehicle and [the bystander] doesn't help her at all?" Albert noted to the station. "That's not cool."
Croyle told KSL that police support bystanders intervening in those kinds of situations but that it's a personal choice.
"You have to go with what you feel comfortable doing," she explained to the station. "We would love to have somebody intervene, but you have fight, flight, or freeze — and in that violent of a situation where they are being abducted, you do not know how you're going to react."
At the very least Croyle told KSL that if you see something, say something and call for help.
"Please help us get a license plate number. Please help us get a good description of the suspect or the victim," she added to the station.
Woman found alive, suspect arrested
Police said surrounding community members helped them find the suspect and victim in West Valley City, KSL reported.
"We even had family members calling in to identify who the perpetrator was in that video," Croyle noted to the station.
Those tips and a database search of matching tattoos helped cops identify the suspect as 22-year-old Carl Gravitt — and locate the victim alive, KSL said.
Police said the victim's petite frame — described as 5'1" and 86 pounds — led them to believe she was a teenager, which prompted the AMBER Alert, the station said.
When authorities found the victim, they learned she was born in 1985, KSL said.
More from the station:
According to arresting documents, the couple had been dating for eight months. The victim allegedly told police Gravitt had a history of assaulting her.
The woman told detectives they had an argument Friday night, and that he hit and kicked her in the car. Then, when Gravitt went into the gas station, she attempted to run away.
Gravitt was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail under suspicion of kidnapping, assault, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Woman Kidnapped At South Salt Lake Gas Station, Suspect Arrestedyoutu.be
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