Por Gabe Cohen, CNN

La administración Trump ha ordenado a la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias que suspenda el despliegue de cientos de trabajadores humanitarios en áreas devastadas por desastres en todo Estados Unidos mientras el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional está cerrado, según fuentes y mensajes internos obtenidos por CNN.

El nuevo edicto llega a pesar de que la mayoría de los despliegues se financian a través de un Fondo de Ayuda para Desastres que no se ve afectado por el cierre parcial del Gobierno.

Un mensaje interno dirigido a los líderes de FEMA el martes indicó que el DHS, organismo que supervisa la agencia, ha ordenado a FEMA suspender todos los viajes. La orden entró en vigor el miércoles.

Cualquier viaje a áreas que aún se están recuperando de tormentas severas ahora requerirá la aprobación de los líderes del DHS, que supervisa FEMA.

Más de 300 socorristas de FEMA se estaban preparando para próximas asignaciones, pero se les ordenó que se retiraran, incluidos algunos que actualmente se encuentran en un centro de capacitación, según los mensajes de la agencia.

El personal de FEMA que ya trabaja en importantes labores de recuperación, como la que aún se lleva a cabo en los estados del sur afectados por el huracán Helene hace dos años, permanecerá en el terreno y no podrá regresar a casa a menos que su asignación esté a punto de finalizar, según los mensajes.

Por ahora, ningún nuevo personal puede incorporarse ni relevarlos sin la aprobación explícita del DHS.

“Si no podemos conseguir personal en Florida o Carolina del Norte para ayudar a validar los daños causados ​​por Helene, no podremos aprobar la financiación de esos proyectos”, declaró a CNN un funcionario de FEMA que pidió no ser identificado. “Si no podemos dotar de personal a un Centro de Recuperación por Desastre en el estado de Washington o Alaska, ¿cómo podrán las personas obtener ayuda con sus solicitudes de asistencia?”

El DHS emitió un comunicado atribuido a un portavoz de FEMA, en el que afirma que las restricciones de viaje “no son opcionales, sino necesarias para cumplir con la ley federal”. El comunicado indica: “Los viajes de FEMA relacionados con desastres activos no se cancelan”.

“Si bien algunas actividades no esenciales se pausarán o reducirán, FEMA sigue comprometida a apoyar a las comunidades y responder a incidentes como el huracán Helene”, reza el comunicado.

Semanas antes del cierre, en medio de los esfuerzos por reformar FEMA y reducir costos, los líderes del DHS habían estado discutiendo restricciones de viaje, comentaron a CNN dos fuentes familiarizadas con el asunto.

Las labores de recuperación ante desastres y los viajes suelen financiarse a través del Fondo de Ayuda para Desastres de FEMA, un fondo independiente asignado por el Congreso y que no se ve afectado por la actual interrupción de la financiación del DHS, según informaron diversas fuentes.

En diciembre, el DRF contaba con aproximadamente US$ 7.000 millones disponibles.

“No es que no haya dinero”, indicó una fuente de FEMA a CNN.

Michael Coen, exjefe de gabinete de FEMA durante las administraciones de Obama y Biden, criticó la medida y declaró a CNN: “Están desesperados por mostrar las consecuencias del cierre, pero el DRF no se ve afectado por la falta de asignación. En el segundo año, el DHS sigue siendo un equipo de aficionados, como lo demuestra esta microgestión y la desconsiderada indiferencia hacia las comunidades que se recuperan de los desastres financiados por FEMA”.

Aún no está claro en qué medida la congelación de viajes podría afectar los esfuerzos de recuperación del desastre en todo el país.

Un alto funcionario, que habló bajo condición de anonimato por temor a represalias, dudó que la orden impi

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - UCSB got payback over Pepperdine.

The #14 Gauchos swept #6 Pepperdine 3-0 after losing to the Waves last Saturday in five sets.

UCSB is now 7-5 on the year after 'brooming' the Waves 25-23, 25-21, 26-24.

Cole Schobel totaled 33 assists and also had 6 kills.

George Bruening had a match-high 16 kills while Ethan Saint added 12 kills for the winning Gauchos.

The post Schobel and Bruening lead UCSB Volleyball to upset sweep over #6 Pepperdine appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Andy Rose, CNN

(CNN) — Only a few years ago, Tuesday’s announcement that a glove believed to be connected to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Arizona, had no match in a DNA database would have been a dead end. Now for investigators, it is just the beginning.

“Investigators are currently looking into additional investigative genetic genealogy options for DNA evidence to check for matches,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.

That brings a whole new dimension to unlocking the secret of gloves found 2 miles from Guthrie’s home, said by investigators to be similar to those worn by a suspect in a disturbing video caught on a camera at Guthrie’s front door.

Separate DNA found at Guthrie’s property that does not match her or anyone “in close contact with her” also has not produced a match in the national law enforcement DNA database known as CODIS, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told Fox News Tuesday.

Comparing DNA collected in criminal investigations to publicly accessible databases of millions of people who have contributed genetic profiles – and thereby finding often distant relatives to piece together a family tree that can point to a suspect – has been a component of a number of recent cases, including the conviction of Bryan Kohberger, who ultimately confessed to murdering four college students in Idaho and was sentenced in life in prison.

“From that, we get a list of people who share DNA with that unknown person. It can be as little as 1%, or even less,” genetic genealogy expert CeCe Moore told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

While there have been seemingly miraculous results from sifting through millions of DNA records based on a single sample, the process is still hit-or-miss and may not bring the Guthrie family the answers they want right away.

“It can go as quickly as 20 minutes … and I have some cases I’ve been working on for seven-and-a-half years,” Moore said.

Genealogy investigations have had major success stories

Successfully using the DNA of distant family members to profile and narrow down suspects had an extraordinarily high-profile debut in 2018, when it was used to solve the cold case of the Golden State Killer.

After authorities spent five decades fruitlessly searching for a suspect in dozens of murders and rapes across California, an investigator decided to put crime scene DNA – believed to be the perpetrator’s – into GEDmatch, a public database where people voluntarily upload their DNA data for genealogy research.

It took only four months to identify possible relatives and narrow the search for possible suspects to just three people. One of them, former police officer Joseph DeAn

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — After six skiers were rescued from the “horrific” aftermath of an avalanche near California’s Lake Tahoe, the family members of nine remaining skiers received crushing news. The bodies of eight had been left on the icy mountainside, and a final member of the group was still missing, presumed dead among the blanket of snow.

The football-field sized crush of snow and ice is the deadliest avalanche in California’s recorded history and has drawn rescue and recovery resources from as far as Los Angeles – about 500 miles away.

The same dangerous whiteout conditions that caused the avalanche Tuesday have prevented recovery crews from returning to the remote Sierra Nevada backcountry to bring home the bodies, officials said in an update Wednesday.

A spouse of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team is among the dead, making the search and recovery effort particularly wrenching for their personnel, said Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo.

The victims also include members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community, the private school and US Ski and Snowboard club said in a statement, without identifying those who were killed or injured.

Blackbird Mountain Guides, the tour company that organized the trip, said six clients and three guides are among those killed, while five clients and one guide survived the avalanche.

“The best thing we can do is surround our athletes and families with care and support while providing the necessary space and time for grief and healing,” Stephen McMahon, executive director of the Sugar Bowl Academy said.

As another storm bears down on the region, incident response teams are waiting for a window when they may safely trek back to the scene.

Here’s the latest:

• More than half the group killed: A group of 15 skiers were returning from a three-day trip organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides, according to Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon. The group included four guides and 11 clients who had paid for the trip. They were headed back to the trailhead when the avalanche struck. Only six people survived, some of whom were injured, Moon said. Eight others were found dead, and another person who is still missing is also presumed to be dead. The survivors consist of four men and two women; those confirmed and presumed dead include seven women and two men, the sheriff confirmed.
• Rescuers grapple with risky conditions: As many as 50 search and rescue personnel from local and neighboring counties descended upon the area to help coordinate the response, Moon said. But battering snow, whiteout conditions and the risk of another avalanche forced crews to take a slow and careful approach. There is no road to the remote scene, so rescue crews used a snowcat vehicle to get within two miles of the site before skiing the rest of the way, the sheriff said. “Extreme weather conditions, I would say, is an understatement,” Moon said.
• Survivor was able to text rescuers: Before rescue units arrived on the scene, they knew at least six people had survived. The surviving group had been communicating with them via emergency beacons and iPhone SOS signals, Moon said. One of the guides was able to communicate with rescuers by text during the hours crews were trying to reach them.
• Guides were highly trained: Blackbird Mountain Guides said all four guides on the trip were American Mountain Guides Association trained or certified in backcountry skiing. They were also certified instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education. The company noted that guides in the field had been in communication with senior guides at their base about conditions and route decisions. Blackbird said it is still working to un

By Sunlen Serfaty, CNN

(CNN) — The Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings, is usually made up of experts in architecture, art and urban and landscape design.

But when the commission meets on Thursday to evaluate President Donald Trump’s sweeping new East Wing renovation plans, the seven-member group may be more notable for its political loyalties.

The commission’s vote on Trump’s design – a key step before its final sign off – would likely take place only after two of the president’s allies are sworn in as members.

It will mark the first time the panel fully filled with Trump’s appointees is meeting. Since last year, the president has worked hard to install loyalists on the committee, gutting the board completely in October as East Wing demolition got underway.

In January, he appointed four new officials. “The commission is stacked with loyalists who will rubber stamp all of the president’s projects,” a source familiar with the workings of the commission predicted.

“It’s sad that a majority of the commissioners lack expertise in art and architecture,” the person told CNN. “There is only one architect, yet he recused himself from reviewing the ballroom. This means that not a single architect will be reviewing the White House project. [And] unlike in the past, the commission also lacks an artist and a landscape architect.”

And just this week, Trump announced he would appoint his executive assistant, Chamberlain Harris — a 26-year-old without any extensive arts experience — as a new member. Harris is set to be sworn in Thursday along with Pamela Hughes Patenaude, former deputy secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration.

The White House told CNN in a statement: “President Trump has an incredible eye and appreciation for the arts, and only selects the most talented people possible. These individuals possess a wealth of experience that reflects the values of everyday Americans and President Trump’s vision to Make America Great Again.”

Other current members include Mary Anne Carter, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts who is a close friend of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; art critic and conservative commentator Roger Kimball; architect James McCrery, who was previously hired to helm the ballroom construction; and Matthew Taylor, a White House official who is working on Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes.

Last month, James McCrery recused himself from reviewing the White House ballroom.

“I am obligated to and also just a sense of propriety, McCrery told the committee in January, “I’m obligated to recuse myself from discussion in any action that takes place both in this meeting and in any of the feature meetings regarding this particular project.”

Although commission chairman Rodney Cook previously said he wanted the commission to meet in person to allow Shalom Baranes, the architect, to present to the committee with a physical model of the ballroom, Thursday’s gathering is happening virtually on Zoom.

An in-person commission meeting would have allowed the public to make statements in support of or in opposition to the projects being discussed, but instead, according to the commission, comments can be submitted to be shared with the Commission members before the meeting and read or summarized at the discretion of the CFA chairman.

The lack of more opportunity for public comment is highly unusual, said the source familiar with the commission, who also noted other drawbacks of the virtual meeting, including lack of access for media and presentation material to be submitted.

“No project as significant as the ballroom has ever been reviewed by the commission meeting virtually,” they said. “It’s