homeless encampment

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3 Dead in Shootings at Minneapolis Homeless Encampments

3 others were injured in shootings at 2 encampments a few miles from downtown

(Newser) - Three people were killed and three others injured in shootings over the weekend at homeless encampments in Minneapolis. No arrests have been made in the shootings at separate encampments a few miles from the city's downtown, USA Today reports. In the first shooting, around 4:45am on Saturday, one...

In Big City Mayor Elections, Homeless Crisis Looms Large

Candidates, mostly Democrats and in the West, vary widely on how to solve a difficult problem

(Newser) - San Francisco Mayor London Breed has launched a crackdown on people sleeping outside in a campaign to clear homeless encampments. Her four challengers in November's election, all Democrats, say she hasn't handled the crisis effectively, though the city last month counted only 300 tents and other temporary structures,...

California Just Made a Big Move on Homelessness
California Just Made a Big
Move on Homelessness
the rundown
Jul 25, 2024 12:54 PM CDT

California Just Made a Big Move on Homelessness

Gov. Newsom orders state agencies to start dismantling encampments

(Newser) - Emboldened by a major Supreme Court decision in June, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has just taken a big step toward removing many of the state's homeless encampments:
  • New order: Newsom issued an executive order telling state agencies to take down encampments within their jurisdictions, reports the Los Angeles Times
...

States With Highest, Lowest 'Unsheltered' Rates

California has the most, at nearly 70%, but most of New York's homeless are in shelters

(Newser) - Homelessness in the US is increasing, and more details are surfacing from the latest batch of federal numbers . The big takeaway stat is that an estimated 653,000 were homeless on a single day in January 2023, the largest figure since that "point in time" method of counting began...

Cities Across US Struggle With Homeless Encampments

Advocates say police sweeps are not the answer, but long-term solutions are elusive

(Newser) - Tossing tent poles, blankets, and a duffel bag into a shopping cart and three wagons, Will Taylor spent a summer morning helping friends tear down what had been their home and that of about a dozen others in Portland, Oregon. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be...

Gunman Kills 1, Wounds 5 at Homeless Encampment
Cops: Killer of Homeless
in LA Has Been Caught
UPDATED
Dec 3, 2023 7:47 AM CST

Cops: Killer of Homeless in LA Has Been Caught

Police in Las Vegas continue to search for gunman in shootings there

(Newser) - A Los Angeles man has been identified as the suspect in three recent killings of homeless men. Police Chief Michel Moore said Saturday that Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, was identified as the suspect in the killings after authorities determined a firearm found in a vehicle he was driving was linked...

DA Sues Sacramento Over 'Collapse Into Chaos'

He says city has failed to take action to get homeless people off the streets

(Newser) - A Sacramento prosecutor is suing California's capital city over its failure to clean up homeless encampments. Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho says his office asked the city to enforce laws around sidewalk obstruction and to create additional professionally operated camping sites. He announced the suit Tuesday during a news...

Cops: Man Plows Into Oregon Homeless Camp, Killing 4
Prosecutors: Man in
Homeless-Camp
Crash Was Drunk
UPDATED
Mar 30, 2022 12:46 AM CDT

Prosecutors: Man in Homeless-Camp Crash Was Drunk

Enrigue Rodriguez Jr. allegedly had BAC of 0.15%

(Newser) - Update: Prosecutors say the man who allegedly drove into a homeless encampment in Oregon, killing four, had a blood alcohol content of 0.15% or higher. The legal limit for driving in the state is 0.08%, the AP reports. A judge this week ordered the suspect jailed without bail....

San Diego Trash Sweep Nearly Tosses a Homeless Person

Reforms instituted after person in tent was almost crushed by garbage truck

(Newser) - San Diego has fired a senior city official and instituted stringent new rules on trash cleanups after a homeless person was thrown into a garbage truck and almost killed. In what the San Diego Union-Tribune calls "a jaw-dropping blunder," city work crews were clearing a homeless encampment with...

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...

Hawaii Declares Emergency Over Soaring Homelessness

State has highest rate in the US

(Newser) - Hawaii has declared a state of emergency to deal with a homelessness problem that has exploded over the last couple of years. With an estimated 7,620 homeless people amid a population of 1.36 million, the state has the worst homeless problem per capita in the US, according to...

Biggest US Homeless Encampment Evicted

San Jose clears out 'the Jungle'

(Newser) - A homeless encampment believed to have been the biggest in the country—and located in one of its richest areas—was cleared by police and social workers in San Jose yesterday. The San Jose Mercury News describes the scene as a "caravan of misery," with homeless people standing...

Hawaii Buys Homeless Plane Tickets to Mainland

 Hawaii Buys Homeless 
 Plane Tickets to Mainland 
PARADISE: GET LOST
Jul 26, 2010 10:02 AM CDT

Hawaii Buys Homeless Plane Tickets to Mainland

Homeless population up 15% in year

(Newser) - The sound of waves crashing, spectacular views, white sand between your toes: Such is life for the hundreds of homeless flocking to Hawaii's shores, where the medical and dental care is free, and hey, you're not under a bridge in Detroit in January. With the homeless population up 15% over...

Abuse Victim Fights for Homeless Sex Offenders

Woman, father were behind ordinances that forced abusers under bridge

(Newser) - The homeless sex offenders who live under Miami’s infamous Julia Tuttle Causeway aren't quick to thank two of their most diligent advocates for working on their behalf. “They know who we are, and don’t like us very much,” says Lauren Book-Lim. Book-Lim was sexually abused by...

Cities Prop Up Homeless Camps
 Cities Prop Up 
 Homeless Camps 
Aug 11, 2009 11:19 AM CDT

Cities Prop Up Homeless Camps

Squeezed shelters, recession prompt local government tolerance

(Newser) - With room tight in homeless shelters, municipalities across the US are allowing tent cities to stand—after years spent breaking up homeless clusters, the Wall Street Journal reports. In some areas, the encampments are even supplied with basic services like portable toilets and medical care. “There is no place...

Attacks on Homeless Spark Hate-Crime Laws

(Newser) - A surge in vicious, unprovoked assaults on homeless people has put weight behind efforts to reclassify such attacks as hate crimes, the New York Times reports. Attacks have risen as more people have been pushed onto the streets by the recession, and researchers say the assailants are generally men or,...

Tent Cities Sprout Across US
 Tent Cities Sprout Across US 
Mar 26, 2009 5:08 AM CDT

Tent Cities Sprout Across US

'Hoovervilles' return as recession forces thousands from homes

(Newser) - Cities across the country are struggling to deal with mushrooming shantytowns, reports the New York Times. In a chilling echo of the Great Depression, tent cities are springing up on vacant lots in smaller cities, while homeless encampments in larger cities are burgeoning as more and more people lose their...

5 Homeless Killed in Calif. Massacre

Shouts, screams and shots like 'firecrackers'

(Newser) - Three men and two women were shot dead yesterday in a mystery massacre at a California homeless encampment in Long Beach. Several residents in the area heard shouts, screams, and so many gunshots it sounded like fireworks, reports the Los Angeles Times.

18 Stories