7 minutes
Peyamnêrê Dengê Amerîka li Stenbolê Eyyûp Demîr zanyarîyên dawî li dor civîna yekem a encûmena bilind a Qanûna Çarçoveyî dide.
Peyamnêrê Dengê Amerîka li Stenbolê Eyyûp Demîr zanyarîyên dawî li dor civîna yekem a encûmena bilind a Qanûna Çarçoveyî dide.
8 minutes
A new $4.8 million grocery store will be constructed on Bailey Boswell Road near Eagle Mountain Lake as road improvements begin.
A new $4.8 million grocery store will be constructed on Bailey Boswell Road near Eagle Mountain Lake as road improvements begin.
9 minutes

WSHU's Ebong Udoma and CT Mirror's Keith M. Phaneuf discussed his story about the loss of SNAP benefits in Connecticut following passage of the "big beautiful bill."

WSHU's Ebong Udoma and CT Mirror's Keith M. Phaneuf discussed his story about the loss of SNAP benefits in Connecticut following passage of the "big beautiful bill."
10 minutes
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Republican Party State Committee’s decision to endorse three statewide candidates days before the primary runoff has inflamed some party stalwarts, who argued it’s an unprecedented attempt to try to influence the outcome. They said party leaders should have continued the tradition of remaining neutral until after voters choose their nominees […]
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Republican Party State Committee’s decision to endorse three statewide candidates days before the primary runoff has inflamed some party stalwarts, who argued it’s an unprecedented attempt to try to influence the outcome. They said party leaders should have continued the tradition of remaining neutral until after voters choose their nominees […]
11 minutes
LINCOLN — A Nebraska auditor’s probe has revealed examples of “highly questionable billing” and alleged weak oversight in a health and human services program whose costs increased nearly 600% in the past decade. Auditor Mike Foley’s team released a 34-page report Monday detailing findings after examining the Medicaid Aged and Disabled Waiver program administered by the […]
11 minutes
LINCOLN — A Nebraska auditor’s probe has revealed examples of “highly questionable billing” and alleged weak oversight in a health and human services program whose costs increased nearly 600% in the past decade. Auditor Mike Foley’s team released a 34-page report Monday detailing findings after examining the Medicaid Aged and Disabled Waiver program administered by the […]
13 minutes
Міністр фінансів США Скотт Бессент у понеділок оголосив, що США розпочали глобальний "економічний наступ", спрямований на послаблення економічного та фінансового становища Ірану та ізоляцію режиму. Новий санкційний пакет, зокрема, включає санкції проти понад 60 осіб, організацій і суден. Посадовець зазначив, що нові санкції США спрямовані на п'ять найважливіших джерел підтримки Ірану, які, за його словами, використовує Тегеран для експлуатації інших країн, а саме: цифрові активи, високі...
Міністр фінансів США Скотт Бессент у понеділок оголосив, що США розпочали глобальний "економічний наступ", спрямований на послаблення економічного та фінансового становища Ірану та ізоляцію режиму. Новий санкційний пакет, зокрема, включає санкції проти понад 60 осіб, організацій і суден. Посадовець зазначив, що нові санкції США спрямовані на п'ять найважливіших джерел підтримки Ірану, які, за його словами, використовує Тегеран для експлуатації інших країн, а саме: цифрові активи, високі...
18 minutes
Five weeks after Tampa International Airport (TPA) officials said they were considering privatizing security operations, they announced Monday they will continue screening operations with existing federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers. The TSA announced last month a privatization program called TSA Gold + at airports in Charleston, South Carolina, and Des Moines, Iowa. The program […]
Five weeks after Tampa International Airport (TPA) officials said they were considering privatizing security operations, they announced Monday they will continue screening operations with existing federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers. The TSA announced last month a privatization program called TSA Gold + at airports in Charleston, South Carolina, and Des Moines, Iowa. The program […]
21 minutes

El Día de la Independencia de Ucrania se ha convertido en una demostración de respaldo europeo a Kiev, gracias a la entrega de 6100 millones de euros adicionales para su defensa y a nuevas capacidades militares, a pesar de que la ausencia del Gobierno de EE UU se ha hecho sentir en la Alianza.

21 minutes
El Día de la Independencia de Ucrania se ha convertido en una demostración de respaldo europeo a Kiev, gracias a la entrega de 6100 millones de euros adicionales para su defensa y a nuevas capacidades militares, a pesar de que la ausencia del Gobierno de EE UU se ha hecho sentir en la Alianza.
21 minutes
Ex-ministro da Justiça de Dilma revela os bastidores do golpe de 2016. Como se montou a “farsa das pedaladas”. A captura do sistema judicial. A traição de Rodrigo Janot. A formação da “República de Curitiba”. E aponta caminhos para um STF que proteja, de fato, a Constituição The post Eugênio Aragão: Anatomia do golpismo ainda insepulto appeared first on Outras Palavras.
Ex-ministro da Justiça de Dilma revela os bastidores do golpe de 2016. Como se montou a “farsa das pedaladas”. A captura do sistema judicial. A traição de Rodrigo Janot. A formação da “República de Curitiba”. E aponta caminhos para um STF que proteja, de fato, a Constituição The post Eugênio Aragão: Anatomia do golpismo ainda insepulto appeared first on Outras Palavras.
21 minutes
Президент США Дональд Трамп минулого тижня поспілкувався з головнокомандувачем армії Пакистану Асімом Муніром напередодні його візиту до Тегерана, оскільки Ісламабад робить нову спробу виступити посередником між Вашингтоном та Іраном. Про це повідомили агентства Reuters та AFP. Reuters посилається на три пакистанські джерела, одне з яких зазначило, що головна вимога Вашингтона полягала в тому, щоб Пакистан використав свій вплив для повернення Ірану за стіл переговорів. Два джерела...
21 minutes
Президент США Дональд Трамп минулого тижня поспілкувався з головнокомандувачем армії Пакистану Асімом Муніром напередодні його візиту до Тегерана, оскільки Ісламабад робить нову спробу виступити посередником між Вашингтоном та Іраном. Про це повідомили агентства Reuters та AFP. Reuters посилається на три пакистанські джерела, одне з яких зазначило, що головна вимога Вашингтона полягала в тому, щоб Пакистан використав свій вплив для повернення Ірану за стіл переговорів. Два джерела...
22 minutes
Падзеі 25 жніўня ў Беларусі, сьвеце, гісторыі.
Падзеі 25 жніўня ў Беларусі, сьвеце, гісторыі.
22 minutes
En un ensayo galardonado, la fotógrafa Gabriela Biló documentó el esfuerzo por anular unas elecciones y las instituciones que, en última instancia, defendieron la democracia brasileña. The post Las fotografías que contaron la historia de una democracia brasileña en peligro appeared first on LatAm Journalism Review.
En un ensayo galardonado, la fotógrafa Gabriela Biló documentó el esfuerzo por anular unas elecciones y las instituciones que, en última instancia, defendieron la democracia brasileña. The post Las fotografías que contaron la historia de una democracia brasileña en peligro appeared first on LatAm Journalism Review.
23 minutes
Oito organizações se unem para enfrentar desinformação e violência política de gênero e raça durante as eleições de 2026
Oito organizações se unem para enfrentar desinformação e violência política de gênero e raça durante as eleições de 2026
23 minutes
(The Center Square - It will be at least nine more years before Sound Transit launches light rail service in West Seattle. Sound Transit has pushed back the expected launch date for its West Seattle Link Extension light rail line by three years, from 2032 to 2035. Back in 2016, when voters approved a $53 billion-plus bond issue to be paid back through higher taxes and auto registration fees, the line was promised to be running by 2030. A revised transit plan in 2021 pushed the line back to 2032. That date held firm as the Sound Transit Board approved a new plan in May to address a $35 billion budget shortfall. While a planned line to Ballard was put on hold at that meeting, officials said the West Seattle link was alive and would open in 2032, though the line was reduced from four stations to three to save money. That all changed at a Sound Transit system expansion meeting on Aug. 14. Acting Chief Capital Delivery Officer Brad Owen announced the revised schedule, pointing to a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall and delayed design work as key factors. "This is difficult news to share," Owen stated, explaining that staff had to halt final design and land acquisition phases while the board addressed the $35 billion long-range financial gap. That process culminated in the updated transit system plan, adopted in May, which gave the go-ahead for the West Seattle line. At the same Aug. 14 meeting, the expansion committee took some concrete steps forward by approving a $765 million funding measure for the West Seattle line. The package earmarks $465 million to purchase 55 real estate parcels along the route and allocates $300 million for ongoing construction support. The full board is scheduled to vote on the measure on Aug. 27. Still, transit advocates are crying foul about the delay. One advocate, Trevor Reed, questioned why the revised 2035 date for the West Seattle line was disclosed only after the May board vote. He noted on Bluesky that the previous urgency to approve the plan to protect delivery dates appeared misplaced given the underlying schedule realities. “The 2032 date being a fiction was knowable from publicly available materials,” he said. "It is not credible this was unknown internally - why was it not disclosed before the May vote? Sound Transit spokeswoman Amy Enbysk, in an email to The Center Square, repeated Owen's statements about the additional three-year delay but did not explain why the delay wasn't revealed in May.
(The Center Square - It will be at least nine more years before Sound Transit launches light rail service in West Seattle. Sound Transit has pushed back the expected launch date for its West Seattle Link Extension light rail line by three years, from 2032 to 2035. Back in 2016, when voters approved a $53 billion-plus bond issue to be paid back through higher taxes and auto registration fees, the line was promised to be running by 2030. A revised transit plan in 2021 pushed the line back to 2032. That date held firm as the Sound Transit Board approved a new plan in May to address a $35 billion budget shortfall. While a planned line to Ballard was put on hold at that meeting, officials said the West Seattle link was alive and would open in 2032, though the line was reduced from four stations to three to save money. That all changed at a Sound Transit system expansion meeting on Aug. 14. Acting Chief Capital Delivery Officer Brad Owen announced the revised schedule, pointing to a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall and delayed design work as key factors. "This is difficult news to share," Owen stated, explaining that staff had to halt final design and land acquisition phases while the board addressed the $35 billion long-range financial gap. That process culminated in the updated transit system plan, adopted in May, which gave the go-ahead for the West Seattle line. At the same Aug. 14 meeting, the expansion committee took some concrete steps forward by approving a $765 million funding measure for the West Seattle line. The package earmarks $465 million to purchase 55 real estate parcels along the route and allocates $300 million for ongoing construction support. The full board is scheduled to vote on the measure on Aug. 27. Still, transit advocates are crying foul about the delay. One advocate, Trevor Reed, questioned why the revised 2035 date for the West Seattle line was disclosed only after the May board vote. He noted on Bluesky that the previous urgency to approve the plan to protect delivery dates appeared misplaced given the underlying schedule realities. “The 2032 date being a fiction was knowable from publicly available materials,” he said. "It is not credible this was unknown internally - why was it not disclosed before the May vote? Sound Transit spokeswoman Amy Enbysk, in an email to The Center Square, repeated Owen's statements about the additional three-year delay but did not explain why the delay wasn't revealed in May.
23 minutes
One of the occupants of the pickup truck was in custody in Itasca County Jail on Aug. 24, 2026, on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation.
One of the occupants of the pickup truck was in custody in Itasca County Jail on Aug. 24, 2026, on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation.
25 minutes
Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.Eleven-year-old Carter Darling was so excited Monday morning that he was awake before his mom and the sun. By 6:45 a.m., Carter was wearing his backpack and the school uniform he typically hates: a black cardigan with the school’s name embroidered on the upper left corner, a white collared dress shirt, a plaid tie, gray slacks, and black sneakers.“I feel good,” he said, smiling, before embarking on the two-block walk to his first day of sixth grade at Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School in the Calumet Heights neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Carter is one of more than 300,000 Chicago Public Schools students who returned to the classroom Monday. It’s a big year for the nation’s fourth largest school district. Mayoral control is set to formally end in January and be replaced by a fully elected school board that will manage a $10 billion budget, oversee district leadership, and set the vision for the city’s more than 600 public schools. The school board’s decisions directly affect schools like Carter’s. Last month, the current board approved a budget that assumes CPS will get $150 million more in state funding than Illinois lawmakers allocated in May. The additional money would help reverse summer layoffs, but schools could face midyear cuts if it doesn’t come. Before Mayor Brandon Johnson rang the first bell Monday at George Leland Elementary School in the Austin neighborhood where he lives, he repeated his push for Illinois to implement a state millionaires tax to fund public education.Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson walks Chicago Public School students to their first day of school at George Leland Elementary School on Aug. 24, 2026. “We’re going into a season where we have to demand more from those who have the ability to give more to actually do more,” Johnson said. “You have politicians that have greater expectations of third graders than they do of themselves.”Back on the South Side, Carter’s mom, Jaciel Cathey, recounted taking a photo of Carter shaking hands with Johnson last year when he visited his school alongside then-interim CPS CEO Macquline King. Cathey learned more about the district’s budget situation during one of the district’s family webinars last week but said she still doesn’t know what it will mean for her child’s school. “Why are we including money in the budget that is not set in stone?” she said. “You’re depending on money that is not there.” Cathey hopes to use her new role on the school’s Local School Council to help address funding and resource gaps, including securing money to fund a crossing guard for the small but sometimes busy streets around the school.She and Carter are also trying to remain focused on what they can control. Carter will probably take an admissions test this fall for sixth graders interested in attending the district’s selective middle school programs, known as Academic Centers. The family is no stranger to navigating CPS through periods of instability. Cathey grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood and graduated from CPS schools before becoming a CPS teacher and later changing careers.When Carter turned 3, Cathey enrolled him in a full-day preschool program at Holy Angels, a Catholic school near her Bronzeville home, with hours that allowed her to work.Before Carter entered kindergarten, CPS schools saw midyear cuts, then received a historic funding commitment from the state. In 2019, the Chicago Teachers Union went on an 11-day strike. Cathey said this unpredictability made her want to keep him at Holy Angels through eighth grade. “You knew they would have the staff, you knew they would have the resources,” Cathey said of the private school, which costs about $7,000 annually.Jaciel Cathey walks her son, Carter, to school on Mon., Aug. 24, 2026 in Chicago, Il.But Cathey felt Holy Angels focused too heavily on the arts and disciplining students and not enough on reading and math. When it was time for kindergarten, Carter applied and was admitted to Walt Disney Magnet School, a coveted public magnet school on the North Side. They liked the school. But at the end of first grade, a white child called Carter a racial slur on the playground, Cathey said. According to an incident report reviewed by Chalkbeat, staff planned to hold a “restorative conversation” with the other child. She didn’t feel the school was being responsive enough to her or handling the situation well, so Carter returned to Holy Angels for second grade. “Let’s put him in CPS, see what happens — well, he gets called the n-word,” Cathey said during an interview last week. “OK, let’s go back to what we know.”CPS now has a Black Student Success Plan, meant to improve outcomes and the school experience for the city’s Black students. But the Trump administration is investigating CPS in part over the plan, claiming that it discriminates against students who aren’t Black.By the end of second grade, the Cathey family had moved further south to Pill Hill. Black Magnet was just a five-minute walk from their new home. The state has labeled the close-knit, small school “commendable,” and students last year outpaced their peers across the district and state in math and reading proficiency.Carter enrolled at Black Magnet in fourth grade and in the two years since, hasn’t looked back. He likes the staff, has made friends, and enjoys learning — especially the “pretty fun” projects in science, he said.Cathey said Carter will stay at Black Magnet through eighth grade if he doesn’t get into an Academic Center. But she wants him to have “consistency” as he prepares for college, and that means leaving CPS for high school, she said.“We need for him to get the most support that he can get and the most rigorous education that he can get without, you know, Mr. Johnson teaching math on Monday, then Mr. Johnson is laid off because Springfield didn’t send the money,” Cathey said. As the mother and son walked up to Black on Monday morning, Cathey reminded Carter about their annual tradition of getting ice cream after school on the first day. She gave him a hug and sent him into the building with a tote filled with paper towels and tissues for his classroom. Mila Koumpilova contributed.Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.Eleven-year-old Carter Darling was so excited Monday morning that he was awake before his mom and the sun. By 6:45 a.m., Carter was wearing his backpack and the school uniform he typically hates: a black cardigan with the school’s name embroidered on the upper left corner, a white collared dress shirt, a plaid tie, gray slacks, and black sneakers.“I feel good,” he said, smiling, before embarking on the two-block walk to his first day of sixth grade at Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School in the Calumet Heights neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Carter is one of more than 300,000 Chicago Public Schools students who returned to the classroom Monday. It’s a big year for the nation’s fourth largest school district. Mayoral control is set to formally end in January and be replaced by a fully elected school board that will manage a $10 billion budget, oversee district leadership, and set the vision for the city’s more than 600 public schools. The school board’s decisions directly affect schools like Carter’s. Last month, the current board approved a budget that assumes CPS will get $150 million more in state funding than Illinois lawmakers allocated in May. The additional money would help reverse summer layoffs, but schools could face midyear cuts if it doesn’t come. Before Mayor Brandon Johnson rang the first bell Monday at George Leland Elementary School in the Austin neighborhood where he lives, he repeated his push for Illinois to implement a state millionaires tax to fund public education.Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson walks Chicago Public School students to their first day of school at George Leland Elementary School on Aug. 24, 2026. “We’re going into a season where we have to demand more from those who have the ability to give more to actually do more,” Johnson said. “You have politicians that have greater expectations of third graders than they do of themselves.”Back on the South Side, Carter’s mom, Jaciel Cathey, recounted taking a photo of Carter shaking hands with Johnson last year when he visited his school alongside then-interim CPS CEO Macquline King. Cathey learned more about the district’s budget situation during one of the district’s family webinars last week but said she still doesn’t know what it will mean for her child’s school. “Why are we including money in the budget that is not set in stone?” she said. “You’re depending on money that is not there.” Cathey hopes to use her new role on the school’s Local School Council to help address funding and resource gaps, including securing money to fund a crossing guard for the small but sometimes busy streets around the school.She and Carter are also trying to remain focused on what they can control. Carter will probably take an admissions test this fall for sixth graders interested in attending the district’s selective middle school programs, known as Academic Centers. The family is no stranger to navigating CPS through periods of instability. Cathey grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood and graduated from CPS schools before becoming a CPS teacher and later changing careers.When Carter turned 3, Cathey enrolled him in a full-day preschool program at Holy Angels, a Catholic school near her Bronzeville home, with hours that allowed her to work.Before Carter entered kindergarten, CPS schools saw midyear cuts, then received a historic funding commitment from the state. In 2019, the Chicago Teachers Union went on an 11-day strike. Cathey said this unpredictability made her want to keep him at Holy Angels through eighth grade. “You knew they would have the staff, you knew they would have the resources,” Cathey said of the private school, which costs about $7,000 annually.Jaciel Cathey walks her son, Carter, to school on Mon., Aug. 24, 2026 in Chicago, Il.But Cathey felt Holy Angels focused too heavily on the arts and disciplining students and not enough on reading and math. When it was time for kindergarten, Carter applied and was admitted to Walt Disney Magnet School, a coveted public magnet school on the North Side. They liked the school. But at the end of first grade, a white child called Carter a racial slur on the playground, Cathey said. According to an incident report reviewed by Chalkbeat, staff planned to hold a “restorative conversation” with the other child. She didn’t feel the school was being responsive enough to her or handling the situation well, so Carter returned to Holy Angels for second grade. “Let’s put him in CPS, see what happens — well, he gets called the n-word,” Cathey said during an interview last week. “OK, let’s go back to what we know.”CPS now has a Black Student Success Plan, meant to improve outcomes and the school experience for the city’s Black students. But the Trump administration is investigating CPS in part over the plan, claiming that it discriminates against students who aren’t Black.By the end of second grade, the Cathey family had moved further south to Pill Hill. Black Magnet was just a five-minute walk from their new home. The state has labeled the close-knit, small school “commendable,” and students last year outpaced their peers across the district and state in math and reading proficiency.Carter enrolled at Black Magnet in fourth grade and in the two years since, hasn’t looked back. He likes the staff, has made friends, and enjoys learning — especially the “pretty fun” projects in science, he said.Cathey said Carter will stay at Black Magnet through eighth grade if he doesn’t get into an Academic Center. But she wants him to have “consistency” as he prepares for college, and that means leaving CPS for high school, she said.“We need for him to get the most support that he can get and the most rigorous education that he can get without, you know, Mr. Johnson teaching math on Monday, then Mr. Johnson is laid off because Springfield didn’t send the money,” Cathey said. As the mother and son walked up to Black on Monday morning, Cathey reminded Carter about their annual tradition of getting ice cream after school on the first day. She gave him a hug and sent him into the building with a tote filled with paper towels and tissues for his classroom. Mila Koumpilova contributed.Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
27 minutes

He encouraged the girl to send sexually explicit videos of herself, as well as videos of her cutting herself.

He encouraged the girl to send sexually explicit videos of herself, as well as videos of her cutting herself.
27 minutes
伊朗在美國宣布了經濟攻勢後表示,該國制定了應對美國制裁的“兩年計畫”;伊朗回應說,制裁之後美國將“再次失敗”。伊朗對外界表示,美國將對黃金、技術、航空和海運實施新的制裁。
27 minutes
伊朗在美國宣布了經濟攻勢後表示,該國制定了應對美國制裁的“兩年計畫”;伊朗回應說,制裁之後美國將“再次失敗”。伊朗對外界表示,美國將對黃金、技術、航空和海運實施新的制裁。
27 minutes
伊朗在美国宣布了经济攻势后表示,该国制定了应对美国制裁的“两年计划”;伊朗回应说,制裁之后美国将“再次失败”。伊朗对外界表示,美国将对黄金、技术、航空和海运实施新的制裁。
27 minutes
伊朗在美国宣布了经济攻势后表示,该国制定了应对美国制裁的“两年计划”;伊朗回应说,制裁之后美国将“再次失败”。伊朗对外界表示,美国将对黄金、技术、航空和海运实施新的制裁。
28 minutes
(The Center Square) – A new bill that would prevent license plate data from being stored for more than 60 days is expected to be up for a vote in the California Legislature this week. Senate Bill 1013, authored by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, would require operators of automated license plate recognition systems to enhance safeguards limiting employee access and usage. The state’s Department of Justice would also be required to audit those operators, as well as end-user agencies– like law enforcement – every year, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. The bill analysis also stipulates that public agencies would have additional restrictions and that they would have to archive automated license plate reader data after 60 days. After Jan. 1, 2027, public agencies would have to archive license plate reader data after 14 days. The only exceptions would be if license plate data was included in an active investigation or criminal case or if it matches information on an authorized “hot list,” like the one kept by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Those who support the bill say the legislation is necessary to curb some of the problems associated with license plate readers, predominately mass surveillance and law enforcement abuse of those systems. “There’s still warrantless mass surveillance up until 60 days, but after 60 days, there is a warrant requirement,” Mike Katz-Lacabe, director of research for Oakland Privacy, told The Center Square on Monday. “So that will help curb some of the abuses that we have seen where law enforcement individuals go into use the database to basically stalk people. It won’t completely prevent it; there’s still that 60-day window. But after 60 days, they won’t be able to go through and abuse that data without a warrant.” License plate readers have gotten a lot of publicity and attention recently, in large part because they have become so popular with law enforcement and local governments. The bill is meant to protect those who have been the victims of stalking by law enforcement, as well as the general public, Katz-Lacabe said. “That is a problem not just with license plate reader databases, but with all law enforcement databases that potentially impact the privacy of everyone,” Katz-Lacabe said. “That’s the overall concern that we have, is the impacts on privacy of every person in California.” The California Police Chiefs Association, which opposes the bill, did not respond to The Center Square before publication time on Monday. However, in opposing remarks submitted as part of the bill analysis, the organization said the ability to use automated license plate readers would be limited if the bill became law. "SB 1013's requirement that all ALPR data be deleted after 30 days unless it is associated with a narrowly defined 'hotlist' would severely limit the effectiveness of this technology,” those remarks read. “Many crimes are not reported immediately, particularly offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and complex property crimes. In these situations, victims may come forward weeks or months after the incident, at which point ALPR data showing vehicles in the area becomes essential to identifying suspects or corroborating evidence.” Oakland, Calif.-based Independent Institute said its research shows that automated license plate readers are not justified in mass surveillance by local governments. Cities and counties often use the technology to catch criminals, but it often results in innocent people’s data being captured and stored, according to the institute's report. Organizations that have taken stances on automated license plate readers in the past, like the American Civil Liberties Union, did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment. Cervantes and her office also did not respond to The Center Square.
(The Center Square) – A new bill that would prevent license plate data from being stored for more than 60 days is expected to be up for a vote in the California Legislature this week. Senate Bill 1013, authored by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, would require operators of automated license plate recognition systems to enhance safeguards limiting employee access and usage. The state’s Department of Justice would also be required to audit those operators, as well as end-user agencies– like law enforcement – every year, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. The bill analysis also stipulates that public agencies would have additional restrictions and that they would have to archive automated license plate reader data after 60 days. After Jan. 1, 2027, public agencies would have to archive license plate reader data after 14 days. The only exceptions would be if license plate data was included in an active investigation or criminal case or if it matches information on an authorized “hot list,” like the one kept by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Those who support the bill say the legislation is necessary to curb some of the problems associated with license plate readers, predominately mass surveillance and law enforcement abuse of those systems. “There’s still warrantless mass surveillance up until 60 days, but after 60 days, there is a warrant requirement,” Mike Katz-Lacabe, director of research for Oakland Privacy, told The Center Square on Monday. “So that will help curb some of the abuses that we have seen where law enforcement individuals go into use the database to basically stalk people. It won’t completely prevent it; there’s still that 60-day window. But after 60 days, they won’t be able to go through and abuse that data without a warrant.” License plate readers have gotten a lot of publicity and attention recently, in large part because they have become so popular with law enforcement and local governments. The bill is meant to protect those who have been the victims of stalking by law enforcement, as well as the general public, Katz-Lacabe said. “That is a problem not just with license plate reader databases, but with all law enforcement databases that potentially impact the privacy of everyone,” Katz-Lacabe said. “That’s the overall concern that we have, is the impacts on privacy of every person in California.” The California Police Chiefs Association, which opposes the bill, did not respond to The Center Square before publication time on Monday. However, in opposing remarks submitted as part of the bill analysis, the organization said the ability to use automated license plate readers would be limited if the bill became law. "SB 1013's requirement that all ALPR data be deleted after 30 days unless it is associated with a narrowly defined 'hotlist' would severely limit the effectiveness of this technology,” those remarks read. “Many crimes are not reported immediately, particularly offenses such as sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and complex property crimes. In these situations, victims may come forward weeks or months after the incident, at which point ALPR data showing vehicles in the area becomes essential to identifying suspects or corroborating evidence.” Oakland, Calif.-based Independent Institute said its research shows that automated license plate readers are not justified in mass surveillance by local governments. Cities and counties often use the technology to catch criminals, but it often results in innocent people’s data being captured and stored, according to the institute's report. Organizations that have taken stances on automated license plate readers in the past, like the American Civil Liberties Union, did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment. Cervantes and her office also did not respond to The Center Square.