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A person experiencing homelessness sleeps on the street in Los Angeles, California. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Before the pandemic, homelessness was already reaching crisis levels.
A 2019 study by the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported nearly 600,000 people living on the street or in shelters on one night in January.
We head to California first, where the state Department of Public Health recently reported over 500 new COVID-19 cases each week among people experiencing homelessness.
What s happening in the Golden State? And could it be a bellwether for the rest of the nation?
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Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The Toronto Blue Jays put a lot of greenhouse gases into the air. Like all professional sports teams, they travel constantly for half the year and often by plane. This is the sort of thing we usually think about when we talk about our impact on the climate.
But forget all those flights. There’s a much bigger environmental concern on the horizon: the proposed teardown of the Rogers Centre, the team’s stadium. “From a climate perspective, it’s criminal,” Canadian architect Kelly Doran says. “That building has 55,000 tonnes of carbon baked into it,.”
Camden disburses $190,000 in CARES funding
By Anthony Baker - abaker@aimmediamidwest.com
Village Council voted to spend approximately $60,000 in CARES Act funds to build a new gazebo in Bicentennial Park. The structure will measure 24 feet in diameter to allow for socially distanced seating.
Anthony Baker | The Register-Herald
CAMDEN Village Council discussed CARES Act spending during its final bi-monthly meeting of 2020. Trash recycling and collection of overdue traffic citations were also discussed.
Council approved a resolution to apply for CARES Act funds during its Thursday, Aug. 20 meeting. Since that time approximately $190,000 has been disbursed to the village, according to Fiscal Officer Becky Wilson, including funds previously disbursed to other municipalities that were unable to be spent before the Dec. 31 deadline.
Ed MorrisseyPosted at 1:27 pm on December 17, 2020
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Elections and unrest have consequences. Why should investors put capital into rebuilding Minneapolis when its city council won’t put resources in place to keep the peace? With violent crime exploding in the Twin Cities, the prospects of recovery would normally be slow anyway. However, the council’s efforts to abolish the city’s police department has investors looking for greener pastures, all but ensuring decline in the short run, as the Washington Examiner reports:
Since violent unrest broke out over the summer, local developer Kelly Doran said he estimates around 10% to 20% vacancies in downtown apartment buildings that had just 2% to 3% vacancies in the last five years. Newer, modern buildings in the downtown area are also at 20% vacancy rates.
Two Minneapolis city council members backpedaled in interview on Wednesday
Steve Fletcher and Phillipe Cunningham said Defund Police was not their plan
They appeared at a rally in June on stage emblazoned with Defund Police sign
Minneapolis was the epicenter of protests after death of George Floyd in May
Council voted last week on 2021 budget reallocating $8 million from cops
Homicides in Minneapolis have soared 90% this year from 2019 levels
Developers are reluctant to invest in the city due to rising crime and riots