Tag: homelessness

Picture-postcard mountain city becomes a hotbed for crime and homelessness leaving locals frightened and scaring tourists away

A picturesque mountain city has turned into a hotbed for crime and homelessness, severely unsettling locals and deterring tourists from visiting.

Asheville, North Carolina, has long been touted as a city with a homely feel on the Blue Ridge Mountains which embodies its motto of ‘quality of service, quality of life.’

However, locals in the city of 95,000 residents have claimed that quality of life has turned dour as the city struggles to deal with rampant homelessness.

This has caused encampments and panhandling to become much more common around town.

‘Homelessness, drug abuse and related crimes have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body that is dominated by liberal Democrats and those with an even more extreme view to the left,’ Carl Mumpower, a lifelong Asheville resident, told Fox News Digital.

‘The single most common phrase uttered by county and surrounding area residents is ‘I don’t go downtown anymore – it’s nasty, crazy and scary,’ Mumpower added.

Mumpower argued that Asheville has struggled to address homelessness since about three decades ago, slamming what he perceived to be a liberal bias among local leadership.

‘That lack of balance – the last conservative on the council was in 2009 – has led to a myopic repeat of errors,’ he told the outlet.

Mumpower said Asheville had a ‘persisting history of pursuing fantasized interventions over more realistic, measurable and trackable solutions.’ 

At least 824 people experienced homelessness in Asheville last year, according to city data reported by Blue Ridge Public Radio.

That marked a nine percent uptick from last year, largely due to the continued effects of Hurricane Helene in 2024.

That marked a slight uptick from 739 in 2024, largely due to the effects of Hurricane Helene that September.

‘Asheville began its efforts to address homelessness at least three decades ago,’ he explained. ‘This effort accelerated in the early part of this century with the first ‘Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.’

Mumpower, who who was a City Council member from 2001 until 2009, called that plan was ‘ill–advised.’ Mumpower told Fox News Digital.

‘At the time, I suggested to the council that any plan that removed personal accountability from the helping equation was doomed to fail,’ he said.

The disgruntled local said ‘that plan and subsequent plans have failed with equal enthusiasm.’

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Dem governor candidates defend Newsom’s homelessness record despite $24 billion spent

The Golden State boasts as much as 50% of the nation’s homeless population and has spent a whopping $24 billion to address the problem.

Six gubernatorial candidates faced-off on a debate stage in San Francisco Wednesday night and offered A-F grades on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s handling of the issue.

Here’s what they said:

Katie Porter: ‘B‘

“I’m a notoriously tough grader, but I would probably give him a B on homelessness,” said Democrat Katie Porter, stating her view that the homelessness crisis in California is due to a “housing problem.”

“We’re not going to solve homelessness without bringing down the cost of housing,” she said.

Porter pledged to “fund homelessness prevention,” saying an “interim housing or shelter situation” is the solution.

“For every person we put into permanent supportive housing, somebody else loses their home and takes their place. That’s why Californians feel like we’re not making progress despite spending significant money,” Porter said.

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NYC Neighborhood Where 70% of People Voted for Zohran Mamdani Now Suing His Administration for Locating a Homeless Shelter There

The people of the East Village neighborhood in New York City are getting exactly what they voted for and they are not happy about it.

In fact, the people of this neighborhood, who voted for Mamdani by a margin of 70 percent, are now suing his administration because they don’t like his plan to locate a new homeless shelter there.

Have they not heard about the warmth of collectivism? Isn’t this precisely what they voted for?

From the New York Post:

East Villagers sue Mamdani to stop relocation of notorious Bellevue men’s homeless shelter into their neighborhood

Enraged East Villagers sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a last-gasp effort to stop the relocation of hundreds of homeless men to a new shelter in their neighborhood.

The lawsuit filed Monday seeks an emergency restraining order that would prevent the “rushed” May 1 opening of the intake shelter along Third Street.

The site was selected by City Hall as one of two intake shelters in Manhattan that would effectively replace the notorious Bellevue homeless shelter — a haven for often-dangerous vagrants that Mamdani plans to close by the end of the month.

But Mamdani and city officials not only underhandedly declared an “emergency” to close the Midtown shelter, their decision to plunk its clientele into the East Village was dangerously slapdash, the lawsuit contends.

“This case is not about the City’s decision to close the Bellevue Intake Shelter,” the Manhattan Supreme Court filing states.

“It challenges only the City’s hastily made and legally invalid decision to [locate] a new citywide homeless adult male intake center at 8 East 3rd Street without following any of the legal requirements that must precede such a significant and consequential decision.”

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Louisiana advances bill to funnel homeless people into forced treatment and unpaid labor

Yesterday, the Louisiana House of Representatives took the dangerous step of voting in favor of a truly disgusting anti-homeless bill. This bill is an extreme take on the already extreme copy-paste legislation peddled by the Palantir-funded, billionaire-backed Cicero Institute. In addition to making it a crime to sleep outside, this bill forces homeless people charged with a crime to make the false choice between jail or at least one year of forced treatment. 

But it gets worse.  

This bill requires homeless people to pay for the very treatment they are forced into. And if the person cannot pay the cost of treatment, this bill requires them to perform unpaid labor for the government or a community organization to pay off their debt. Louisiana has a long history – and present – of chain gangs, prison labor, and entrenched white supremacy. This bill clearly evokes debtor’s prisons, convict leasing, and the ugliest day of Jim Crow.   

We can all agree that the creation of a two-tiered justice system, where people are punished differently for the same crime depending simply on whether or not they are homeless, is just too extreme.  

Louisiana Governor Landry cites Donald Trump’s anti-homeless policies to justify his support of this heinous bill.  But this is not just about Louisiana – it reveals just how far many states might be willing to go to align themselves with Trump’s extreme, anti-homeless agenda. Politicians from Donald Trump on down would rather blame homeless people than use their power to address the sky-high rents that are the leading cause of homelessness.  

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California Provides Sex-Change Procedures to Homeless Illegal Aliens

Last month, we received a report from a whistleblower who claimed that illegal aliens were staying in San Francisco’s homeless shelters. Following up on the tip, we visited numerous publicly funded shelters in San Francisco, and spoke to employees and residents about their policies, sometimes through a translator.

We discovered not only that the shelters were housing illegal immigrants but also that they were apparently housing a population of male-to-female “transgender” illegal aliens, who had hoped to obtain “gender-affirming care.” And, to our shock, state and local governments apparently are providing it.

St. Vincent De Paul’s MSC-South facility is San Francisco’s largest homeless shelter, and, in 2024, signed a $66 million service contract with the city. After we arrived at the front entrance, an employee wearing a do-rag and a light green polo shirt showed us around and confirmed that illegal aliens were living there.

“You got a few people here from El Salvador. . . . You got a few people here from Venezuela. You got a few people here from a little bit of everywhere,” he said.

As a rule, he suggested, management instructed employees to refuse cooperation with federal immigration authorities. “When the ICE thing was going around, we all had a meeting, and they told us, ‘We ain’t letting them in.’”

Among the shelter’s residents was a group of Hondurans who identified as transgender. During our visit to MSC-South, whose executive director did not respond to a request for comment, we spoke with two Honduran men, “Lyca” and “Alondra,” who identified as transgender women. Both indicated that the local government gave them shelter and food.

Lyca, who wore long hair and red lipstick, was candid about this arrangement. He confirmed that he was an illegal immigrant and that the shelter doesn’t ask questions about immigration status. “Tengo Medi-Cal,” he said, referring to the state health-care program, which, under Governor Gavin Newsom, began providing “full scope” coverage to illegal aliens, which includes transgender procedures, or “gender affirming care.” He said he was receiving cross-sex hormone therapy—and bore the physical signs of having done so.

Alondra, a muscular man in a camouflage shirt and dyed hair tied behind his head, said he had been in the United States after claiming asylum. According to the translator, the city government had offered to pay first and second month’s rent on private apartments for him and Lyca. But neither accepted the offer—in Lyca’s case, because he might not be able to pay for the apartment after the second month.

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O’Keefe Media Group: California’s Top Controller Communications Official Admits Audits “Are Not Getting Done”

The O’Keefe Media Group on Tuesday released undercover video of California’s top Controller Communications official admitting that audits “are not getting done” while acknowledging that fraud is rampant in the state.

Bismarck Obando told an undercover O’Keefe Media Group journalist that there is no plan to tackle homelessness.

“Do you feel there’s fraud going on in the state of California?” the OMG journalist asked Obando.

Without skipping a beat he replied, “Everywhere, cities, counties, special districts, hospitals, insurance companies.”

“We just can’t conduct the audits,” Obando told the journalist.

“It’s funny because they haven’t funded us to do those audits…they keep cutting our auditing teams,” he said.

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Ohio Church Wins Homeless Ministry Legal Battle With City

A Bryan, Ohio, church may continue its 24-hour homeless ministry after a legal battle over fire code enforcement, a judge ruled on April 1.

Judge James D. Bates of the Williams County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the city’s lawsuit against Dad’s Place church with prejudice, ending civil proceedings aimed at shutting down the church’s overnight shelter ministry.

The ruling allows Dad’s Place, led by Pastor Chris Avell, to continue operating its 24-hour ministry serving vulnerable individuals in Bryan.

Court records show the case stemmed from enforcement actions by Bryan Fire Chief Douglas Pool, who sought to halt the church’s overnight activities over fire code concerns.

“The Court, from the initial time it was appointed to the case, felt that it would have to find for the Fire Chief,” Bates wrote.

“Having applied strict scrutiny … the Court concedes that the Fire Chief’s enforcement of the fire code fails because it lacks a compelling interest and isn’t the least restrictive means of enforcing fire safety. The City has given waivers to other businesses like hotels, but has refused to give the church a similar accommodation. This is fatal under strict scrutiny. Therefore, a judgment in favor of Dad’s Place must be entered.”

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LA awards $106M to nonprofit whose lawyers hinder city’s ability to clean up streets — and bill $1,025 an hour

Los Angeles just cut a whopping $106.6 million taxpayer check to a nonprofit law firm whose lawyers have spent years hindering the city’s ability to dismantle homeless camps and clean up city streets — with one attorney billing as much as $1,025 an hour for work tied to its activism.

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) was awarded the largest share of an eye-popping $177 million tenant rights funding package approved at City Hall this week, despite opposition from the City Attorney.

Under the deal, Los Angeles will funnel $106,572,543.69 over the next three years to LAFLA for eviction defense services, even as attorneys connected to the organization have repeatedly filed lawsuits that blocked the city from enforcing municipal codes aimed at keeping sidewalks clear of encampments and neighborhoods safe.

But the money flowing to the group is far larger than that. City records show the Stay Housed LA eviction defense program, a city initiative administered by LAFLA through a network of partner organizations, had already grown to a maximum contract value of about $90.8 million through a series of amendments approved by the City Council.

Put together, the contracts push the pipeline of taxpayer funding tied to the nonprofit to about $197 million. That number jumps off the page when compared to the organization’s own finances.

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This Canadian Man Is Poor, So the Government Offered to Kill Him. Here’s What Happened.

Given the insanity that’s gripped Canada, calling a transgender school shooter a ‘gunperson,’ and a host of other social policies that are outright nuts, let’s revisit an old 2022 story about then-54-year-old Amir Farsoud, who was going through the process of government-sponsored suicide. 

Farsoud suffers from crippling back pain and couldn’t find a new place to live when his rooming house at the time was up for sale. He couldn’t afford any place to live and barely got by on the $1,200 disability payments he received in Ontario. He wouldn’t make it on the streets, and knowing that, opted to apply for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAIDS). He fit the criteria, but his doctor knew the real reason why Farsoud was applying for MAIDS. He signed off anyway.  

In essence, the Canadian government told a poor man that death is an option and that we’re here for you since you can’t find a new home. Farsoud said that he doesn’t want to be dead  

“I don’t wish to be dead,” he said when this story aired. It’s a bizarre and disturbing tale.  

Luckily, a 2024 fundraiser helped Farsoud get a new place to live and opt out of MAIDS.  

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