11/22/2022
####################################################
The Spokesman-Review
A Thanksgiving plea to end homelessness now
KREM
KHQ
(Note: this link is to a video. No text was provided)
KXLY
Medscape News
####################################################
The Spokesman-Review
A Thanksgiving plea to end homelessness now
By Hugh Hewitt
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST
Thanksgiving dinner will not lack for conversation starters: the speed-of-light purge and makeover of Twitter; crypto guru Sam Bankman-Fried’s transformation into the “Millennials’ Madoff”; a second special counsel for former president Donald Trump to match his pair of impeachments; the underwhelming performance of the GOP on Nov. 8; and the departure of Speaker Nancy Pelosi from power but not from memory.
But a truly urgent matter for this country is something most Americans aren’t talking about: the plight of the homeless and the near-homeless.
A new collection of essays from the American Enterprise Institute, “American Renewal” – edited by former House speaker Paul D. Ryan and AEI senior fellow Angela Rachidi – explores the greatest challenges facing U.S. domestic policymakers. In the book are many alarms and one arresting statistic that perhaps will focus your feast on the lost and the least.
Ryan opens with a compelling case that even the mighty United States cannot hold off a debt crisis much longer, and that a debt crisis is a dry, dull thing, until suddenly everything becomes worth three-fourths of what it once was. (You’ve perhaps heard of “effective altruism” – the movement in which Bankman-Friedwrapped himself, the goal of which is to efficiently and effectively do “as much good as possible.” Well, preventing a debt crisis would be really effective altruism.)
It is Nicholas Eberstadt, though – in his essay “Revitalizing America: The Arithmetic of Social and Economic Reform” – who delivers the first knockdown in a book full of them. Which brings us to that arresting statistic: 3 out of 8 American homes are rentals, Eberstadt relays, and “an astonishing half of all female-headed renter families reportedly had barely $2,000 in net worth in 2019.” Total.
Reflect on that. That $2,000 includes the woman’s every bit of liquidity, the value of her vehicle, the market value of her possessions. Two. Thousand. Dollars.
The more than half a million homeless people in the United States are the most visible domestic crisis of this Thanksgiving. It has been 20 months since I wrote about a visit to Los Angeles’s infamous Skid Row with U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, and the scale of the human catastrophe has only grown worse.
But right above them, on the cliff’s edge from which the homeless have already plunged, are these millions of households with no reserves and no resilience.
The 3 of 8 women with less than $2,000 in net worth are a layoff notice, a couple of blown tires or a trip to the ER away from falling into the perils of living on the streets, along with whomever else lives in their rental.
The homeless encampments throughout California (and in other major cities) are a national scandal. In Los Angeles, the effort by Judge Carter to take control of part of the crisis was rebuffed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit as beyond his authority. And political candidates such as Stanford’s Lanhee Chen, who ran for controller in California in large part on the promise to audit and reform the billions allocated to remedying homelessness, were turned away by voters.
So, on the one hand, we can say that California Democrats own our current, most visible homelessness problem. Chen, easily the most talented, credentialed and well-funded GOP statewide nominee in a decade, lost by more than a million votes (out of 10 million cast) to the Democrat, Malia Cohen. U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D) beat businessman Rick Caruso in the race for mayor not just of Los Angeles but also of its vast Skid Row, with its “Blade Runner”-esque dystopian reality.
But Democrats do not own the much larger problem of those on the edge of joining those we see. That crisis belongs to every American who raises their eyes from their table.
A 50-50 red-blue America – like it or not, that’s what we have – is politically paralyzed this Thanksgiving. Yet we all know what end-stage poverty looks like, and it is terrible. Tens of millions of Americans teeter on the edge of that abyss. Yet a problem this vast is left to the Salvation Army and other old-fashioned do-gooders to alleviate, while government at every level alternates between seminars and absurd plans to build enough low-income housing to take care of not only the millions already on the street but also those with the $2,000 “cushion.”
So here is something I would like to ask this Thanksgiving: Could the 80 percent of the House representing the center- left and the center-right perhaps try to reform the nightmarish skein of federal antipoverty programs to put a guardrail on that cliff?
AEI points, via a two-page chart, to the scores of federal programs to help those in poverty. It is chaos cubed. Begin there, with consolidation and efficiency, granting authority and funding to local governments empowered and obliged to act now, to buy existing housing for the poor and the near-poor. If it takes a federal court’s intervention, Congress can authorize it.
The present paralysis must end before the expected recession rolls over the country, and the blast zone of the homeless epidemic swells.
On this one thing, can Democrats and Republicans finally combine their efforts? That’s a Thanksgiving prayer to add to your grace. Hugh Hewitt is a nationally syndicated radio host on the Salem Radio Network. He is also a professor at Chapman University School of Law, where he has taught constitutional law since 1996.
####################################################
KREM
This news comes after the Hope House shelter announced that it would be closing its doors at the end of January 2023.
SPOKANE, Wash. — During Monday night's legislative session, Spokane City Council voted unanimously on a resolution that aims to prioritize funding for the Hope House shelter and current shelter providers in the city's 2023 budget.
This news comes after the Hope House shelter announced that it would be closing its doors at the end of January, meaning the loss of 100 shelter beds in the middle of winter.
According to the city, city council intends to utilize funding from the $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds it set aside for homeless capital and operational needs.
“City Council acted to reverse the Mayor’s proposal to cut funding to existing homeless shelter operators by $1.5 million next year,” said Council President Breean Beggs. “I believe that we should prioritize our existing limited funds towards keeping our trusted long-time partners like Hope House open before we consider adding new beds. The City will continue to work towards opening more permanently affordable beds and keeping warming space open during these challenging times.”
The city says the resolution supports first funding existing providers under contract with the City in 2022 that provide night-by-night shelter at the same levels as 2022 funding amounts, assuming a similar level of service for 2023 when inflation is considered, before funding new or expanded shelter operations that weren’t in place for the entirety of 2022.
####################################################
KHQ
(Note: this link is to a video. No text was provided)
####################################################
KXLY
Posted: November 21, 2022 7:18 PM Updated: November 21, 2022 11:34 PM byWill Wixey
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane City Council unanimously approved a resolution to prioritize the city’s budget to fund local homeless shelters.
The resolution passed with a 6-0 vote.
The Spokane City Council plans to use $3.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act for operational needs at Spokane homeless shelters.
The resolution requests that homeless administrations work with the City Council to distribute the funds appropriately and evenly.
“City Council acted to reverse the Mayor’s proposal to cut funding to existing homeless shelter operators by $1.5 million next year,” said Council President Breean Beggs. “I believe that we should prioritize our existing limited funds towards keeping our trusted long-time partners like Hope House open before we consider adding new beds. The City will continue to work towards opening more permanently affordable beds and keeping warming space open during these challenging times.”
Some of these ARP funds will go to Hope House Women’s Shelter, which was at risk of shutting down due to lack of funding.
The resolution supports funding with providers under city contracts, along with expanded shelter operations that weren’t in place for the entirety of 2022.
Posted: November 21, 2022 6:10 PM Updated: November 21, 2022 6:41 PM byVanessa Perez
SPOKANE, Wash. — About 270 people are now staying at the Trent Resource and Assistance Center. It’s been a few weeks since the Salvation Army took over operations.
The Guardians organization was running the center prior but the city of Spokane cut ties as the organization deals with a fraud and embezzlement investigation.
The Salvation Army says there’s a specific way it runs its shelters. Since the change in leadership, people have received new blankets, sheets and towels.
The Salvation Army says soon people will be sleeping on better, quality steel beds. The organization says it’s also fixing shower units and bringing in additional ones.
“We have a certain standard for how we do stuff, and so this speed at which we can get there has been a little bit of a challenge, but I know that we’re going to rise to the occasion to get folks to the level that we typically do in any shelter environment,” Spokane Salvation Army Major Ken Perine said.
Brent StandingRock has been at the TRAC for about a month.
“I’m here because of my wife because she’s pregnant. I’m here just because of her. If she wasn’t here I wouldn’t be here,” StandingRock said.
StandingRock says he’s noticing the changes since the Salvation Army took over.
“It’s starting to get better. We eat really good now. They’re going to put in showers. They’re going to put in steel beds. They’re going to do a lot since the Salvation Army took over,” StandingRock said.
StandingRock says he should be getting into permanent housing in the next couple of weeks. He says the center is still recovering from bad habits involving it’s past leadership.
“That’s what was happening here. The leaders were acting up going around cussing, starting fights and stuff so everyone in the shelter started doing that now there’s fights almost every day,” he said.
Under the Salvation Army’s leadership, there’s now full time security through Go Patrol.
It’s also making way for more offices, and a place partners can use to connect with people through two new trailers.
“Those are all the things that are going to raise the level of care for the folks there coming in here. We want them to feel like this is their home to them but not their forever home to them,” Perine said.
Major Perine says he wants to implement The Way Out program which is designed for adults who are serious about getting out of homelessness to find permanent housing and employment.
####################################################
Medscape News
Texas-based researchers have developed a vaccine that blocks the euphoric effects of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that is increasingly involved in opioid overdose deaths in the United States.
In studies in male and female mice, the vaccine generated significant and long-lasting levels of anti-fentanyl antibodies that were highly effective at reducing the antinociceptive, behavioral, and physiological effects of the drug.
The vaccine prevents fentanyl from entering the brain. "Thus, the individual will not feel the euphoric effects and can 'get back on the wagon' to sobriety," lead investigator Colin Haile, MD, PhD, with University of Houston in Texas and founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute, said in a news release. The study was published online October 26 in the journal Pharmaceutics.
"The anti-fentanyl antibodies were specific to fentanyl and a fentanyl derivative and did not cross-react with other opioids, such as morphine. That means a vaccinated person would still be able to be treated for pain relief with other opioids," said Haile.
The vaccine did not cause any adverse effects in the immunized mice. The research team plans to start manufacturing clinical-grade vaccine in the coming months with clinical trials in humans planned soon.
If proven safe and effective in clinical testing, the vaccine could have major implications for the nation's opioid epidemic by becoming a relapse prevention agent for people trying to quit using opioids, the researchers note.
As previously reported by Medscape Medical News, the US in 2021 recorded more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths — a record high, according to federal health officials — and fentanyl was involved in most of these deaths.
Senior author Therese Kosten, PhD, director of the UH Developmental, Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience program, calls the new fentanyl vaccine a potential "game changer."
"Fentanyl use and overdose is a particular treatment challenge that is not adequately addressed with current medications because of its pharmacodynamics, and managing acute overdose with the short-acting naloxone [Narcan] is not appropriately effective as multiple doses of naloxone are often needed to reverse fentanyl's fatal effects," said Kosten.
Funding for the study was provided by the Department of Defense through the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Disorders Program managed by RTI International's Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Alliance, which has funded Haile's lab for several years to develop the anti-fentanyl vaccine. The authors have no relevant conflicts of interest. A provisional patent has been submitted by the University of Houston on behalf of four of the investigators containing technology related to the fentanyl vaccine.
Pharmaceutics. Published online October 26, 2022. Abstract