Should L.A. Legal Defense Extend to Immigrant Ex-Convicts?
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Richard Shotwell / AP Photo
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Wyoming considers carbon tax; Tennessee county gets biblical with education; and too many NYC cigarette retailers
IMMIGRATION | Last December, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and County Supervisor Hilda Solis made preparation for the mass deportations they worried would come under President Trump. The two officials unveiled a $10-million fund to provide legal assistance for local undocumented immigrants. Now, a proposal to prevent immigrants with violent criminal convictions from using the money—a combination of city and county funding, along with private donations—is drawing criticism. [Los Angeles Times]
President Trump’s immigration executive orders have sown “enough confusion” to deter undocumented immigrants, said Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on “Meet the Press” Sunday, adding “a single DUI” could get them in the legal system for deportation. [The Hill]
CLIMATE | With President Trump in office, there’s new interest among some Wyoming residents in a carbon tax that would be designed to limit climate change. A group called Citizens’ Climate Lobby is seeking to add a fee to fossil fuel emissions per ton. Revenue would be paid back to residents in a dividend check to offset rises in electricity bills. Activism surrounding the tax is notable in Wyoming given that the state tends to be conservative politically and its economy is deeply entwined with the energy industry. [Casper Star Tribune]
INFRASTRUCTURE | Bids to fix the Oroville Dam, located in northern California, checked in at $275 million and higher, state officials said Saturday. Engineers with the State Department of Water Resources had estimated that repairing the structure’s two spillways, which were badly damaged amid heavy rainfall earlier this year, would cost about $220 million. Three bids for the project were submitted. They ranged up to $344 million. It’s still unclear who will pay for the repairs. [The Sacramento Bee]
EDUCATION | Catoosa County, Tennessee’s Republican Party has made no government-funded public schools a part of its platform, arguing Solomon once said, “Much study wearies the body.” "That is not to say that education is not important," the platform reads. "In fact, Jesus Himself learned." [Times Free Press]
TOBACCO | New York City is “oversaturated” with cigarette retailers, according to a new American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network report. There are 8,992 sellers across the city, including 62 retailers per every 10,000 people in Midtown Manhattan. [New York Daily News]
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