Free Republic

Migrant shelters in the United States are closing their doors in large numbers as the border crisis has waned significantly. In January, two shelters shuttered in Pima County, Arizona, according to the Arizona Daily Star. In San Diego, the Jewish Family Service closed its shelter in February, specifically citing policy changes like the CBP One app going away as part of the reason for its closure. In Texas, the San Antonio-based Migrant Resource Center that opened in 2022 closed in February due to the plunge in people crossing into the United States, according to Texas Public Radio. On the East...

nterior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a sharp increase in federal water supplies for California's agricultural Central Valley, further easing drought concerns in a state where El Niño rains have raised the mountain snowpack after three severely dry years. Mr. Salazar said water allocations from the Central Valley Project in California, a system of aqueducts and reservoirs managed by the federal Bureau of Reclamation primarily for farmers in the region, would be increased this year to between 25% and 50% of the maximum amount allowed under ideal circumstances, based on conservative forecasts by his agency. That's up from a previous estimate...

SACRAMENTO — A corps of state carpenters and painters spent more than 51 hours on state time preparing an elaborate prop for one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's public appearances, a practice that a watchdog group says is a misuse of government employees. Promoting his plan for budget restraints, Schwarzenegger appeared at the state fairgrounds last month next to a 25-foot model of the Capitol, twisting a "spigot" to shut off a flow of "red ink" symbolizing the state's spending habits. Half a dozen carpenters and painters prepared the model — hauled out of a warehouse for the occasion --snip-- "You're...