homelessness

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Cop Found Her Singing in the Subway. Now She's a Viral Hit

People want to help Emily Zamourka, a homeless immigrant—but it's complicated

(Newser) - It's "like the American Idol story, but on social media." That's how a rep for a Los Angeles councilman describes the plight of Emily Zamourka, a homeless woman discovered singing in an empty subway station by an LAPD officer. Zamourka may now have a new lease...

Church Leaders Charged With Swindling the Homeless

Federal indictment accuses them of forcing homeless to beg, taking their welfare benefits

(Newser) - Homeless people drawn in by promises of food and a place to stay got something a little different: stints of forced labor in which they were made to beg for money for up to nine hours a day, six days a week. That was just one of the allegations mentioned...

In Los Angeles, a 'Disaster of Epic Proportions'

Spike in homelessness tied to increasing rents, lack of affordable housing

(Newser) - Despite $619 million spent to end homelessness around Los Angeles in 2018, the situation only got worse. Over the last year, the number of people living on the streets, in vehicles, or in shelters rose 12%, to just under 59,000 in Los Angeles County, and climbed 16% to 36,...

Rich Liberals Are Creating 'Unlivable' US Cities

In 'NYT,' Farhad Manjoo says Dems have a NIMBY attitude that belies their progressive stance

(Newser) - California is suffering from an "emergency that feels like a dystopian showcase of American inequality." That's the take of Farhad Manjoo in the New York Times , who writes that the Golden State is weighed down by a "livability" problem, plagued with a lack of affordable housing,...

Rich People See Homeless Couple Move In Next Door

And they're a little surprised

(Newser) - A couple that spent nearly 10 years living on the streets is now residing in a wealthy neighborhood—and some residents are a little unnerved, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It all began when Terrence McGrath, a Bay Area real estate developer, read a column about Greg Dunston and Marie...

'Tremendous Inequity' Made Clear by 2 Cats With a Sweet Pad

Tina and Louise are living large in a $1.5K-a-month apartment in Silicon Valley

(Newser) - Thousands of people are homeless in San Jose, Calif.—but Tina and Louise have a cozy setup in a $1,500-a-month apartment with an Apple TV (but no kitchen), scratching tower, and a landlord who pops in to rub their bellies. The two tenants are cats, and the Mercury ...

Meet Sesame Street's First Homeless Muppet

Lily's new storyline involves her family losing their home

(Newser) - For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, Sesame Street will have a homeless Muppet character. Lily, a character first introduced as a hungry, impoverished little girl in 2011, is now involved in a storyline involving her family becoming homeless and having to stay with friends, CNN reports. For...

San Francisco Will Vote on Tax to Help Homeless
SF Moves to Echo 'Amazon Tax' 
Jul 17, 2018 1:03 AM CDT

SF Moves to Echo 'Amazon Tax'

Measure to tax big businesses to fund homeless will be on the November ballot

(Newser) - San Francisco voters will decide in November whether to tax large businesses to pay for homeless and housing services, an issue that set off a battle in another West Coast city struggling with income inequality. The city elections department verified Monday that supporters had collected enough signatures to get the...

Seattle Kills Tax in Face of Formidable Foe: Amazon

City council rolls back tax it had unanimously approved last month

(Newser) - What does defeat sound like? This: "We have reached the conclusion that this is not a winnable battle at this time." That was the pronouncement of Seattle Councilwoman Lisa Herbold Tuesday in advance of what ended up being a 7-2 vote to reverse a new tax the council...

Amazon Not Thrilled With Seattle's New 'Amazon Tax'

Tax on city's largest employers will bring in about $45M a year

(Newser) - "People are dying on the doorsteps of prosperity." That's per a city councilwoman in Seattle, where local politicians hope a new tax on big business will alleviate homelessness. On Monday, the Seattle City Council passed a "head tax," which starting in 2019 will be imposed...

Thousands of Homeless People Given 1-Way Ticket Out of Town

Investigation finally shows where they're going and what happens when they get there

(Newser) - American taxpayers spend millions of dollars a year on bus tickets out of town for homeless people. New York City alone budgets about $500,000 annually for its homeless relocation program, which can also include expensive plane tickets to places like Nigeria, France, and New Zealand. But despite the money...

New Report on America's Homeless Is Bleak

Things are getting worse, not better

(Newser) - The nation's homeless population increased this year for the first time since 2010, driven by a surge in the number of people living on the streets in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development released its annual Point-in-Time count Wednesday, a...

1K Bicycles, Hidden Bunker Found in Homeless Camp

'I’ve been doing this job for 20 years and even I was stunned'

(Newser) - “It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before," Lt. Jeff Puckett of the Orange County Sheriff's Department tells the Orange County Register . Having removed between 150 and 200 homeless people from an encampment along the Santa Ana River in Southern California earlier this month, officials were...

NHL's Alex Ovechkin Praised for Good Deed in Canada

'Every human can do something," says Ovechkin

(Newser) - Washington Capitals' captain Alex Ovechkin now has another title: Good Samaritan. The NHL hotshot was out in chilly Edmonton on Friday ahead of a game with the Oilers when he spotted a homeless man wearing no shirt, CBC News reports. Ovechkin bought him a sweater, hat, and puffy blue jacket....

It Wasn't Mice Making Noises in Va. Woman's Attic

Va. woman was stunned to learn a homeless man had moved in

(Newser) - A Virginia woman was surprised to learn the nocturnal noises coming from the attic weren't from the expected sources. It wasn't critters creaking the floorboards, or even her landlord, who uses the space. When police investigated, they found a homeless man had set up camp. The drama began...

LA Homeless Population Breaks 'Scary' Record

'We can't let rents double every year,' says LA Mayor Eric Garcetti

(Newser) - The number of homeless people in Los Angeles County has hit a new record based on data kept since 2007, with nearly 58,000 people without permanent shelter on a given night. The Los Angeles Times reports that the 23% spike over 2016, described as "staggering" and "scary"...

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