Important Takeaways:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes as severe land shift in the area is threatening the community and disrupting power lines.
- More than 200 homes in the city, around 30 miles south of Los Angeles, had their power cut Monday as a long-running ground shift close to them is threatening utility lines.
- “The city is located on four out of five sub-slides that comprise the Greater Portuguese Landslide Complex,” the governor’s office said. “Land movement at part of the Complex has significantly accelerated following severe storms in 2023 and 2024.”
- “This is unprecedented,” Rancho Palos Verdes City Council member Barbara Ferraro said Sunday. “No one knows really, in a way, what to do.”
- Southern California Edison cut off electricity Sunday to 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend community, an outage that it says is indefinite because the shifting ground threatens utility poles and raises the risk of fires in the city.
- Officials say the land there has been shifting slowly for decades, but the problem is worse than it used to be. “The movement has accelerated dramatically over the last 12 months, where some areas are moving up to 10 inches a week,” said City Council member David Bradley. “You can almost see the ground move.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Fourteen-year-old Colt Gray will be charged with murder and tried as an adult after police say he killed four people and wounded nearly 30 others at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia Wednesday.
- The boy was already on law enforcement radar since May of last year when he and his father were interviewed by authorities after the FBI received anonymous tips from fellow gamers that the boy threatened to commit a school shooting. Gray denied it.
- Although his father admitted to having hunting rifles in the home, he said his son did not have unsupervised access to the weapons. No probable cause was found and no arrest was made.
- Students retreated to the football field where many formed a circle in the end zone praying and holding hands.
- Terrified parents rushed to the school, many already communicating with their children. One mother texted her daughter the Lord’s Prayer. Others spoke by phone.
- Wednesday evening a number of prayer meetings took place at various churches and other locations in the community.
- “We have a wonderful, wonderful community of faith here, tremendous churches that are right now beginning that process of how to help people through this and minister to people,” he said. “We live in a fallen, sinful world, and because of that, unfortunately tragedies like this are going to take place.”
- “We’re always wanting to drive people back to the reality that there is a God who deeply loves us, who mourns over this, but who also offers redemption and salvation and hope in the midst of such tragedy,” he said. “Life, the Bible says, is like a vapor, and we do not know how long we have, and we do not know when that life will come to an end in this physical body. But we do know that if we’ve trusted in Christ, and we have salvation that is granted to us by grace through faith in Him, then our hope is secure.”
- Sheriff Smith ended his remarks at a Wednesday afternoon news conference by saying, “Hate will not prevail in this county. I want that to be very clear and known. Love will prevail over what happened today.”
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Important Takeaways:
- While few expect this fall’s protests to match the size or ferocity of last spring’s, when tent encampments roiled campuses and several university presidents lost their jobs amid criticism of their handling of the demonstrations, the new round of protests will come just as Democrats try to organize college campuses to mobilize voters for the November election.
- “This isn’t going away. We’re not going away. Young people and their pursuit of justice and equity everywhere is not going away,” said Rania Batrice, a Palestinian-American Democratic strategist.
- University administrators spent much of the summer break planning for potential fall protests, with many campuses imposing new policies to crack down and head off potential disruptions.
- Critics, including the American Association of University Professors, say these new policies “discourage or shut down freedom of expression” in order to “appease politicians” who called for a crackdown, putting campuses once again at the center for bitter free speech debates.
- Still, despite the new restrictions, when classes began Tuesday at Columbia, pro-Palestinian protesters made themselves heard and someone splashed blood-red paint on a landmark campus statue.
- Campuses across the country have seen an uptick in protests as students return, with an umbrella organization for campus pro-Palestinian groups calling for a National Day of Action on Sept. 12.
- Student activists also spent the last few months preparing for the fall semester, attending a “summer school” with veteran activists and promising to return to campus with new tactics to get around restrictions.
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Important Takeaways:
- As Colorado combats rising gang violence from illegal immigration, six counties are suing the state over a law they say hobbles their ability to tackle migrant crime.
- Those counties are battling a state law that prohibits local law enforcement from communicating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- The issue is boiling over in the region as at least one Denver suburb is seeing an unprecedented influx of transnational gang activity and armed migrants were recently seen taking over an apartment complex.
- Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said “We have been apprised that there has absolutely been an increase in property crimes, assault and trafficking, and it’s specific issues with the cartels coming out of Venezuela.”
- Officials in Aurora, a city within Douglas County nine miles east of Denver, previously told Fox News Digital that the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua had developed a strong foothold in their community, putting “entire apartment complexes under gang control.”
- Days later, video went viral of armed members of the gang storming an Aurora apartment complex just before a shoot-out occurred in the parking lot.
- “Parts of the city are absolutely under this gang control. The local media is downplaying this,” Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky said. “I believe politics is being played with people’s lives. … Nothing is being done to help the American citizens that are being trapped under this gang’s control.”
- The handful of red counties suing Colorado don’t share the sanctuary city policies that brought more than 40,000 migrants to Denver, and several instituted their own laws in an effort to barricade themselves against migrant populations expanding outward.
- “We feel that it simply doesn’t make any sense for a law enforcement agency to not have the ability to work with any other law enforcement agency but then have a restriction on our ability to work with immigration,” El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf said
- “It’s incredibly frustrating to be in a state where our state government is completely ignoring reality. We have been telling our state government this is very problematic. I hope that they will take note. I don’t have a lot of confidence. We are seeing the leadership in our state not wanting to accept reality.”
- Chris Swecker, the former head of the FBI’s criminal investigation division, previously told Fox News Digital that this influx of gang members was “predictable and preventable” and that federal law enforcement agencies would be needed to combat it.
- “At this point, federal agencies should get involved,” he added. “The bureau has to get involved with ATF and DEA, share their intelligence and approach this as an international crime problem.”
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Important Takeaways:
- I recently had the opportunity to interact with a senior executive from a major US corporation. The man was a former military officer and has publicly testified to his faith.
- My conversation focused on his recent corporate statement fully endorsing the LGBTQ+ agenda. In a statement celebrating what is ironically called “Pride Month,” this man offered glowing affirmation for “gender fluidity.” Dad to dad, I asked him if he actually believed in what he wrote and if it would apply to his own children.
- His response was telling.
- He said his personal beliefs are different, but that he must sound a different note in his corporate position. His gushing enthusiasm for the entire spectrum of LGBTQ+ ideology was simply “expected.”
- None of us wants to stand out as the sore thumb in any group. Teenagers supposedly succumb to peer pressure the most, but in my experience, many adults also find it very difficult to stick out as different. They may talk big, but their hearts melt away and they act like cowardly lions.
- The repercussions may not involve the threat of a fiery furnace, but many Christians have lost opportunities, jobs, income, friends and family, and even their lives for their determination to live out their Christian testimony. And in our own nation, the pressure to conform is growing greater by the day.
- Pope Francis’ infamous wavering on Catholic doctrines. Plainly stated, the Catholic Church claims many doctrines that are antithetical to Scripture, but it has been clear in its support for life, marriage, and natural order defined in the Bible. With Francis equivocating on those foundational beliefs, Evangelical Christians will soon find themselves further isolated as we stand firm on the Word of God.
- [Remember] Houston’s mayor already tried to pre-approve pastor’s sermons and other Western nations have tried to label the Bible as hate speech.
- Does anyone really doubt that if America elected a far-Left President and majority in Congress that they would not seek to undermine religious liberty in the United States? They have already expressed their disgust for Christian “troublers” who are standing in the way of their progressive ideology.
- Our culture often demands loyalty that is not earned. For instance, I can sing along with Lee Greenwood, “I’m proud to be an American!” But much of what our government tolerates and promotes is abhorrent to me as a Christian. I’ve said it before: whereas pop culture once revered “Truth, Justice, and the American Way,” I doubt a majority of Americans could even agree on those terms anymore. And our present national leaders seem determined to undermine all three according to the definitions that align with a biblical worldview.
- Our Commander has given us certain orders and assured us of victory. He has commanded us to stand firm and hold until He comes. He alone is worthy of our loyalty—not because He demands it, but because He has earned it, because He is worthy, and because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
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Important Takeaways:
- Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked two crude oil tankers – the Saudi-flagged Amjad and the Panama-flagged Blue Lagoon I – in the Red Sea on Monday, the U.S. military said, calling the assaults “reckless acts of terrorism”.
- The Houthis late on Monday claimed responsibility for targeting the Blue Lagoon with multiple missiles and drones but did not make any mention of the Saudi tanker.
- The U.S. Central Command said the Houthis attacked the two tankers with two ballistic missiles and a one-way attack uncrewed aerial system, hitting both vessels.
- Both vessels were laden with crude oil, with the Amjad carrying about two million barrels of oil, according to the U.S. military statement, which described the attacks as “reckless acts of terrorism by the Houthis.”
- Two sources told Reuters earlier that the ships were sailing near each other when they were hit but were able to continue their voyages with no major damage assessed or any casualties.
- In more than 70 attacks, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel Defense Forces Chief Spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari stated on Sunday, “A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”
- The nation is mourning as six hostages, including American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were found murdered in Gaza. Just a few days before this grim discovery, Hersh’s mother Rachel stood at the Gaza border, shouting a blessing to her son: “May God bless you and keep you. May God shine His face upon you and be gracious to you. May God lift up His face toward you and may God give you peace and may God bring you home now.”
- Some Israelis blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not being willing to approve a ceasefire deal. However, Netanyahu insisted a deal must have acceptable terms – and Israel must be able to stop Hamas from attacking Israel again.
- “The fact that Hamas is continuing to perpetrate atrocities like those it carried out on October 7 requires us to do everything so that it will be unable to perpetrate these atrocities again,” Netanyahu declared.
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Important Takeaways:
- Driven by weak offshore winds and a heat dome over the southwestern United States, temperatures are forecast to rise over the course of the week before peaking Thursday and Friday. Portions of the Los Angeles Basin could reach 113 degrees by the weekend while the mercury could climb to 119 in the Coachella Valley
- “This week will probably be hottest in L.A. city proper than it has been all summer,” Swain said.
- Temperatures will ebb slightly over the weekend, but it is not clear when the heat wave will subside.
- However uncomfortable, the heat this week is not expected to break records. The record for the first week of September was set in 2020, when temperatures reached 121 in Woodland Hills.
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Important Takeaways:
- At least 10 restaurant chains, not including multi-unit franchisees, have filed for bankruptcy in 2024. August alone brought three Chapter 11 filings from notable eateries. The increase in bankruptcies comes as diners pull back their spending, labor costs keep rising and Covid-era government help disappears.
- Restaurants are not the only companies seeking bankruptcy protection as high interest rates weigh on businesses. Chapter 11 filings have climbed 49% this year as of Aug. 20, according to BankruptcyWatch. Mall retailer Express, nursing home chain LaVie Care Centers and Joann Fabrics and Crafts are among the companies that have filed for bankruptcy protection this year.
- Here are the 10 notable restaurant chains that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2024:
- Roti
- Buca di Beppo
- World of Beer
- Rubio’s
- Melt Bar & Grilled
- Kuma’s Corner
- Red Lobster
- Tijuana Flats
- Sticky’s Finger Joint
- Boxer Ramen
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Important Takeaways:
- Baltimore hotel workers are joining a massive nationwide strike against three major hotel chains during one of the biggest travel holidays of the year.
- Unite Here, the union representing hotel workers, said approximately 200 hotel workers walked off the job in Baltimore at the Hilton Inner Harbor this morning.
- Hotel union workers are now on strike at hotels across 9 US cities. As many as 10,200 hotel workers at 25 hotels stretching from Boston to the West Coast to Hawaii went on strike starting early Sunday morning. But, as planned, 840 went back to work Tuesday.
- Workers say they want higher pay, better conditions and more staff to help. The union is asking for a restoration of many of the pandemic-era cuts that hotels made, including daily room cleaning. The union says the travel and hotel industries have recovered from the pandemic but worker salaries have not reflected the comeback.
- The hotels are reportedly still open but guests are contending with a skeleton staff unable to provide full services.
- The union is threatening to possibly expand the strike to as many as 65 hotels in 12 different cities, possibly adding hotels in Oakland, California, as well as Providence, Rhode Island, and New Haven, Connecticut. Spokespeople for Hilton and Hyatt told CNN on Friday they are committed to reaching deals with the union, but they also will continue to serve customers during any work stoppage.
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