US infrastructure splurge extends to remote New Mexico farms

BROADBAND IS NOT A SPLURGE BUT A NECISSITY

From left to right, Rep. Teresa Ledger Fernandez, Sen. Martin Heinrich, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Melanie Stansbury talk about the importance of broadband infrastructure to small rural communities at Kelly Cable of New Mexico on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Albuquerque, N.M. (Jon Austria/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new $40 million round of grants to extend high-speed internet to extremely remote farms, homes and businesses in New Mexico, including counties where the population density is less than one person per square mile (2.5 square kilometers).

Joe Biden and top administration officials are traveling to more than 20 states this week to buttress the president’s message on investments and economic growth before an expected reelection campaign, amid a tug-of-war on federal budget priorities with House Republicans. Biden on Monday traveled to suburban Minneapolis on Monday to tour a clean energy technology manufacturer.

Democratic leaders in New Mexico welcomed his agriculture secretary Monday in Albuquerque for the announcement, and celebrated public spending on high-speed internet in remote New Mexico communities. Vilsack and members of the state’s congressional delegation say the funds will help farms find efficiencies through precision mapping of topography, nutrients and moisture. Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, said fast rural internet and array federal infrastructure spending will help those growers bring commodities to market and compete.

The grants to expand fiberoptic cable networks in New Mexico stem from the $1 billion infrastructure law signed by Biden in 2021, and the related “Reconnect” program that aims to fill in gaps where internet service is slow or nonexistent. The spending will help two rural telephone companies and a cooperative extend high-speed internet service to extremely remote ranch and farm lands, in counties such as Catron, Harding and DeBaca that have fewer than one person per square mile (2.5 square kilometers) on average.

“When you look at the number of farms and ranches and businesses and homes that are covered, it’s not huge. And someone said, ‘Is that a wise investment of our federal dollars?’” said U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, who represents a sprawling rural district that traverses northern and eastern New Mexico. “And I said absolutely. Absolutely because you need the connectivity no matter what your zip code is.”

As fiberoptic cables are extended, some households will be eligible for subsidies that can ensure high-speed access for as little as $30 a month, Leger Fernandez said.

A $14 million grant to the Peñasco Valley Telephone Cooperative is designed to extend high-speed internet to 550 people, including 48 farms in Chaves, Eddy, Otero and Lincoln counties. The goal is to help small and medium-sized farms attain the same profitability as large food producers.

“Those 48 farms now have the opportunity to take full advantage of this new transformational future we are building,” Vilsack said. “Those 550 people count as much as any people living in New York City or Los Angeles or Denver or any major community in this country.”

US rolls out funding for wildlife crossings along busy roads

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — Native American tribes, as well as state and local governments will be able to tap into $350 million in infrastructure funds to build wildlife corridors along busy roads and add warning signs for drivers in what federal officials are billing as the first-of-its-kind pilot program to prevent collisions and improve habitat connectivity.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was expected to roll out more details about the program during a visit to Santa Ana Pueblo on Tuesday. Wildlife managers with the New Mexico tribe have documented recent mountain lion casualties along a busy federal highway that cuts through tribal boundaries.

Nationwide, about 200 people are killed each year in collisions involving wildlife and vehicles, federal officials said.

Buttigieg said in a statement issued ahead of his announcement that launching the pilot program marks “an important step to prevent deadly crashes in communities across the country and make America’s roadways safer for everyone who uses them.”

The dedicated funding includes more than $111 million for the first round of grants that will be issued this year.

Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said there are proven practices that can prevent crashes between vehicles and wildlife, and the infrastructure funding will open the door for communities that may not have previously had access to funding for such projects.

Many Western states — including Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Nevada — have already invested substantially in wildlife crossings and in recent years, have adopted legislation that advocates say will allow them to capture millions of dollars in federal matching funds to build the crossings.

California is among the Western states with new legislation. It broke ground last year on what it bills as the world’s largest crossing — a bridge over a major Southern California highway for mountain lions and other animals hemmed in by urban sprawl.

New Mexico also joined the effort when lawmakers passed legislation this spring to set aside $100 million for conservation projects. That includes building the state’s first wildlife highway overpasses for free-roaming cougars, black bears, bighorn sheep and other creatures.

The massive federal infrastructure law amounts to the largest investment in road and bridges in a generation. It’s also the largest single sum ever allocated to address vehicle-wildlife collisions — a problem that stretches back nearly a century, when the government first began funding the construction of highways.

Technological advances have helped wildlife managers and public safety officials in some states identify the best locations for crossings, and where they can make the biggest difference for both wildlife and motorists.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana is among those who have pushed for more funding for the effort. He said in a statement that investing in safer roadways will ensure future generations can continue to enjoy the great outdoors.

Fellow Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said the migration patterns of elk, deer, mountain lions and other animals have existed for millennia longer than paved road systems. He and Buttigieg planned to visit a stretch along Interstate 25 near Santa Ana Pueblo.

“Thinking we can change those patterns with four lanes of asphalt has resulted in dangerous driving conditions and hundreds of human fatalities on our roads each year,” Heinrich said.

Biden offers $450M for clean energy projects at coal mines

By MATTHEW DALY

1 of 4
 President Joe Biden speaks about climate change and clean energy at Brayton Power Station, July 20, 2022, in Somerset, Mass. The Biden administration is making $450 million available for solar farms and other clean energy projects across the country at the site of current or former coal mines. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is making $450 million available for solar farms and other clean energy projects across the country at the site of current or former coal mines, part of his efforts to combat climate change.

As many as five projects nationwide will be funded through the 2021 infrastructure law, with at least two projects set aside for solar farms, the White House said Tuesday.

The White House also said it will allow developers of clean energy projects to take advantage of billions of dollars in new bonuses being offered in addition to investment and production tax credits available through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The bonuses will “incentivize more clean energy investment in energy communities, particularly coal communities,″ that have been hurt by a decade-plus decline in U.S. coal production, the White House said.

The actions are among steps the Biden administration is taking as the Democratic president moves to convert the U.S. economy to renewable energy such as wind and solar power, while turning away from coal and other fossil fuels that produce planet-warming greenhouse gas emission

The projects are modeled on a site Biden visited last summer, where a former coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts is shifting to offshore wind power. Biden highlighted the former Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, Massachusetts, calling it the embodiment of the transition to clean energy that he is seeking but has struggled to realize in the first two years of his presidency.

“It’s very clear that ... the workers who powered the last century of industry and innovation can power the next one,″ said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, whose agency will oversee the new grant program.

Former mining areas in Appalachia and other parts of the country have long had the infrastructure, workforce, expertise and “can-do attitude” to produce energy, Granholm told reporters on Monday.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the new plan provides a bonus investment credit of up to 10% for clean energy production in struggling energy communities. Solar farm operators “can get an extra dime on the dollar for your investment in a new facility,″ she said Tuesday.

To take full advantage of the bonus, developers must pay workers prevailing wages and use a sufficient proportion of apprentices on the job, Yellen said. “These provisions will ensure that workers in energy communities reap the benefits of the clean energy economy they are helping to build,″ she said.

Up to five clean energy projects will be funded at current and former mines, Granholm said. The demonstration projects are expected to be examples for future development, “providing knowledge and experience that catalyze the next generation of clean energy on mine land projects,″ the Energy Department said.

Applications are due by the end of August, with grant decisions expected by early next year.

In a related development, the Energy Department said it is awarding $16 million from the infrastructure law to West Virginia University and the University of North Dakota to study ways to extract critical minerals such as lithium, copper and nickel from coal mine waste streams.

Rare earth elements and other minerals are key parts of batteries for electric vehicles, cellphones and other technology. Biden has made boosting domestic mining a priority as the U.S. seeks to decrease its reliance on China, which has long dominated the battery supply chain.

One of the two universities that will receive funding is in the home state of one of Biden’s loudest critics, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a fellow Democrat who has decried what he calls Biden’s anti-coal agenda. Manchin complained on Friday about new Treasury Department guidelines for EV tax credits that he said ignore the intent of last year’s climate and health care law.

The new rules are aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on China and other countries for EV battery supply chains, but Manchin said they don’t move fast enough to “bring manufacturing back to America and ensure we have reliable and secure supply chains.″

Manchin, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, also slammed Biden last year after the president vowed to shutter coal-fired power plants and rely more heavily on wind and solar energy.

The powerful coal state lawmaker called Biden’s comments last November “divorced from reality,” adding that they “ignore the severe economic pain” caused by higher energy prices as a result of declining domestic production of coal and other fossil fuels. The White House said Biden’s words in a Nov. 4 speech in California had been “twisted to suggest a meaning that was not intended” and that the president regretted any offense caused.

Biden has set a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said Monday that Biden believes U.S. leaders “need to be bold” in combating climate change “and that includes helping revitalize the economies of coal, oil and gas and power-plant communities.″

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the bonuses being offered by Treasury will help solar projects move forward in underserved communities, “helping us fight climate change and create thousands of high-quality, family-supporting jobs.″

The program “will funnel new jobs, cleaner air and low-cost electricity to tens of millions of Americans in disadvantaged communities, helping to make sure they’re a top priority″ in the clean energy transition, Hopper said.

Officials: Epic California snowpack among biggest on record

By JOHN ANTCZAK

yesterday

In this image provided by Mammoth Mountain, the ski resort is covered with snow in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on March 16, 2023. The Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the Eastern Sierra said this has been its snowiest season on record, with 695 inches at the main lodge and 870 inches on the summit of the 11,053-foot peak, as of Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

 (Peter Morning/Mammoth Mountain via AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — This year’s epic snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada could top records, state officials said Monday, and significant flooding is expected when it melts and flows down from the mountains.

Just months after the state was dangerously deep in drought, its reservoirs are filling, with the snowpack yet to melt.

The water content of the statewide snowpack as reported by a network of automated sensors on Monday was 237% of average to date, said Sean de Guzman, water supply forecasting unit manager for the California Department of Water Resources.

That is greater than any previous April reading since the sensor network was deployed in the mid-1980s, de Guzman said. Manual measurements on “snow courses” date back to 1910 and only the years 1952, 1969 and 1983 showed a statewide result greater than 200% of average in April.

The record 1952 measurement was also 237% of average, but there were fewer snow courses measured then and the addition of others over the years makes it difficult to compare across decades results with precision, according to de Guzman.

Manual measurements continue to the present day, but weather and other dangers, including the threat of avalanches, have prevented access to some locations.

De Guzman said the state is waiting for more survey results to come in from partners including the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and utility companies.

“But as of right now it’s looking like this year’s statewide snowpack will probably, most likely be, either the first or second biggest snowpack on record,” said de Guzman, who conducted a manual measurement on snow course at Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe.

California was three years into drought, with dwindling reservoirs and parched landscapes, until an unexpected series of powerful storms including more than a dozen atmospheric rivers began in December.

While causing widespread damage, the storms also built the extraordinary Sierra snowpack, which supplies about a third of California’s water. Reservoir storage statewide is now 107% of average.

“The real challenge as we move into spring and summer though is flooding — significant flooding — particularly in the Tulare Lake Basin,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources.

The basin once held Tulare Lake, a vast body of water in the Central Valley below the western slope of the Sierra. Settlers began draining it or diverting its water sources in the 19th century, converting it to farmland. The lake has already begun to reemerge due to this year’s runoff.

Snowmelt runoff projections will be released next week, but de Guzman predicts records will be broken. That will include “an absurdly high 422% of average” for the Kern River watershed, which drains into the southern end of the Central Valley, he said.

In this aerial drone image provided by Mammoth Mountain, the ski resort is covered with snow in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on March 16, 2023. The Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the Eastern Sierra said this has been its snowiest season on record, with 695 inches at the main lodge and 870 inches on the summit of the 11,053-foot peak, as of Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Samantha Deleo/Mammoth Mountain via AP)

Medical examiners group steps away from ‘excited delirium’

 Critics have said the term has been used to justify excessive force by police

By CARLA K. JOHNSON and RYAN J. FOLEY

yesterday

n this image from video, Dr. Bill Smock, a Louisville physician in forensic medicine, testifies in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the 2020 death of George Floyd, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday, April 8, 2021. Smock testified that he believes excited delirium is real. But he said Floyd met none of the 10 criteria developed by the American College of Emergency Physicians. In a statement posted on the National Association of Medical Examiners’ site on March 23, 2023, the leading group of medical experts says the term “excited delirium”should not be listed as a cause of death. Critics have said the term has been used to justify excessive force by police. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

A leading group of medical experts says the term “excited delirium” should not be listed as a cause of death. Critics have said the term has been used to justify excessive force by police.

The National Association of Medical Examiners had been one of the last to take a stand against the commonly used but controversial term. In a statement posted on its site March 23, the association said “excited delirium” or “excited delirium syndrome” should not be used as a cause of death. The statement has no legal weight, but will be influential among medical examiners.

Critics have called the terms unscientific, rooted in racism — and a way to hide police officers’ culpability in deaths. The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association do not recognize excited delirium as a diagnosis. Yet some police training materials have described it as a potentially fatal collection of symptoms including elevated temperature, unexpected strength, hallucinations and extreme agitation.

“Excited delirium is often used when there’s a death associated with a physical altercation between a citizen and law enforcement,” said Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., who chairs the pathology department at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he served as chief medical examiner from 2014 to 2021. “It’s not a real explanation for the death.”

Medical examiners have ruled that excited delirium caused or contributed to police-related deaths including the 2020 case of Daniel Prude in New York, the 2019 death of Julius Graves in Missouri, and the 2017 death of Adam Trammell in Wisconsin. The term came up during the 2021 trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, whom jurors convicted in the death of George Floyd.

Medical examiners investigate unexpected deaths, conduct autopsies and determine causes. Some already had been moving away from excited delirium in favor of listing the multiple causes that can contribute to such deaths, including police restraint, drug use and medical conditions.

Dr. Joyce deJong, president of the medical examiners’ association, said the group’s statement stemmed from growing concerns that the phrase might be used to justify excessive force by police and might be used disproportionally when the deceased was Black.

“Anything we can do to avoid perpetuation of a phrase that might be causing harm,” said deJong, a medical examiner for 12 counties in Michigan.

For families mourning the loss of a loved one, an excited delirium ruling could cause confusion over a term they’d never heard, or anger about what they consider a way to cover up excessive force.

John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, which provides training and litigation support for officers, said the group’s statement could lead to more investigations of police officers.

He said that the behaviors associated with excited delirium are often triggered by the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines and that they ”will continue regardless of what we call it.”

In another notable move away from the term, the Minneapolis Police Department has agreed to bar its officers from directing paramedics to inject sedatives such as ketamine into individuals they believe are experiencing excited delirium. The move came in a court agreement announced Friday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which alleged the practice had been part of a pattern of racially biased policing in the city in recent years.

___

Johnson reported from Washington state; Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Rising Seas Threaten to Cut Off Millions of Americans This Century

Story by Russell McLendon • Yesterday 


The threat of rising seas is often framed in terms of inundation risk, with a focus on what ends up underwater.


Cars Drive Through Flooded Road© Provided by ScienceAlert

But in areas where the coastal landscape isn't entirely flat, rising seas can also pose a much more insidious threat, cutting residents off from essential services.

According to a new study, many living along both coasts of the United States face increasing risk of periodic isolation during high tides or storms, if not permanent disconnection from other communities by the formation of new islands.

It could happen to individual homes, neighborhoods, or larger communities, and according to the new study, it's poised to happen on a large scale this century.

In the US alone, it may affect as many as 9 to 12 million people by 2100, should the sea level rise meet the higher projections, according to the researchers.

The study, conducted by environmental engineers Tom Logan and M.J. Anderson from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, along with Allison Reilly from the University of Maryland, offers a novel look at US populations likely to be isolated by rising sea levels.

While rising seas may fully encircle some areas, isolation could also occur if the ocean merely floods or damages key roadways or bridges. That can happen during big storms like hurricanes, but as sea levels rise, it can also occur more frequently during high tides.

Flooded roads can prevent people from getting food by blocking access to grocery stores, for example. And while coastal residents could adapt by planning grocery trips around high tides, that may only be a temporary solution as ocean levels continue to rise.

Related video: Long-awaited treaty agreed to protect the high seas (Reuters)

Negotiators from more than 100 countries completed a UN treaty

Duration 1:46  View on Watch

"The typical displacement metric for sea-level rise adaptation planning is property inundation," the researchers write. "However, this metric may underestimate risk as it does not fully capture the wider cascading or indirect effects of sea-level rise."

Isolation might not rival the acute problems caused by inundation, but it's still a significant part of trying to plan for and adapt to rising seas in coastal communities, the researchers note.

To investigate how significant this kind of isolation will be, the study's authors used OpenStreetMap to map out streets across the contiguous US, then compared those street maps with existing maps of predicted sea-level rise.

Under three scenarios for sea-level rise (0.5 meters, 1 meter, and 2 meters by 2100), researchers accounted for each neighborhood's access to its closest essential facility, such as a fire station or primary school, and whether that connection would be compromised by ocean water.

This offered a way of approximating local isolation across a large scale, and while it may not paint the complete picture, these facilities "are important destinations that are often co-located with community assets that provide wider opportunities," the researchers write.

Even if tidal floods don't wholly isolate a community, periodically blocking residents' access to a critical facility like a school or a hospital could present a significant challenge.

The number of people at risk of isolation from sea-level rise in the US is 30 percent to 90 percent higher than the number of people at risk from inundation, the study suggests, and the risk of isolation often comes sooner.

That risk is faced by many areas considered low-risk for inundation, and the study suggests millions of people in the US are at risk of isolation but not inundation before 2080.

Even in the lowest scenario for sea-level rise, the study found that around 500,000 people in the US would be affected by isolation. In the 1-meter scenario, isolation caused by rising seas could affect 1 million people or more.

Though the study only focused on a single nation's infrastructure, isolation is set to be a serious issue around the rest of the globe as well, depriving many at-risk populations of essential services.

"We find that risk of isolation may occur decades sooner than risk of inundation," the researchers write. "Both risk metrics provide critical information for evaluating adaptation options and giving priority to support for at-risk communities."

The study was published in Nature Climate Change.

Groups slam Israeli gov't for ‘medieval’ backslide on women’s rights

Story by By MAYA MARGIT/THE MEDIA LINE 

Israel is poised to dramatically backslide on women’s rights if the government fails to pass several key pieces of legislation, rights groups have warned.


Women protest at Habima Square in Tel Aviv against the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US, June 28, 2022.© (photo credit: Shira Silkoff)

With all eyes on the controversial judicial reforms that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is hoping to advance in the coming weeks and which are currently under negotiation, a number of other important bills relating to women’s issues have fallen by the wayside.

Among them is a bill that would have enabled the courts to use electronic tags to monitor domestic violence offenders. The legislation was rejected by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation last month, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vowing to bring it back to the table when a new version that addresses false accusations against men is written.

Tamar Schwartz is CEO of Ruach Nashit, or Women's Spirit, an NGO that helps women survivors of violence and that works with Israeli lawmakers from all sides of the political spectrum.

“We do believe that when it comes to violence and preventing violence there is no Right or Left because you can find victims of domestic violence among left-wing and right-wing voters. There are hardly any female Knesset members or female ministers in the coalition. All in all, ensuring women’s equality is not important for this government.”Tamar Schwartz

“We do believe that when it comes to violence and preventing violence there is no Right or Left because you can find victims of domestic violence among left-wing and right-wing voters,” Schwartz told The Media Line. “There are hardly any female Knesset members or female ministers in the coalition. All in all, ensuring women’s equality is not important for this government.”


Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is seen holding a press conference, on March 20, 2023. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)© Provided by The Jerusalem PostIsraeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is seen holding a press conference, on March 20, 2023. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
How is Israel in danger of backsliding on women's rights?

For the past eight years, Women’s Spirit has lobbied for legislation – that has yet to pass – which would prevent economic violence against women. Economic violence is defined as any act or behavior that causes economic harm to a person, such as property damage or restricting access to bank funds or other resources.

Speaking in Geneva at a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Monday, Schwartz noted that the agreements signed between Netanyahu and his coalition partners include a promise not to join the Istanbul Convention, which features economic abuse as a form of gender-based violence. She recommended that the Israeli government pass “a law that acknowledges and prevents economic abuse, and assists its survivors/victims.”

Related video: Israel Judicial Reforms : Government, opposition sit down to negotiate terms (WION)     Duration 3:14  View on Watch

The UPR is a process that involves a review of the human rights records of all member states of the United Nations. The stated goal is to brief permanent delegations on human rights situations in various countries

Schwartz believes that the Israeli government has yet to address issues relating to women’s rights because it is solely focused on trying to pass its sweeping judicial reforms.

“I think that the government is in survival mode and doesn’t care about women,” she said, adding that these three laws – protecting women against economic abuse, signing on to the Istanbul Convention, and permitting courts to electronically monitor domestic violence offenders – need to be passed as soon as possible in order to protect women.

The three pieces of legislation are “very simple” and require little funding, Schwartz added.

The Istanbul Convention, a human rights treaty that aims to combat violence against women, has already been signed by dozens of countries around the world, including Turkey, Germany and the United Kingdom.

“Why won’t the [Israeli government] agree to it? It’s so basic,” Schwartz said. “It obligates a country to fight violence against women. I can’t understand it.”

Other rights groups also criticized the government for failing to properly protect women from violence.

Irit Rosenblum is the founder and executive director of the New Family Organization, which advocates for equal family rights for those who do not meet traditional religious definitions of families.

Rosenblum told The Media Line that the postponement of the electronic tracking law was all a matter of ego for Ben-Gvir.

“This is a war of power,” Rosenblum said. “As long as they’re on the stage they don’t want anyone to interrupt them. It’s irrational not to pass this law.”

Nevertheless, she believes that ultimately Ben-Gvir will pass his own version of the legislation at a later date in order to receive all the credit for it.

What is of greater concern, Rosenblum said, is how the government aims to expand the power of the state-run rabbinical court system. In a preliminary vote held in late February, the parliament voted 58-43 to advance legislation that would grant rabbinic courts the authority to oversee civil cases.

Currently, rabbinical courts can only handle marriage and divorce proceedings for Jewish Israelis, in addition to conversions and, on occasion, issues relating to inheritances.

The current bill on the table, which has yet to be signed into law, is backed by Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ), the two ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu’s coalition. It would enable the rabbinical courts to adjudicate in other civil matters.

“Those courts are Torah courts and the laws are the laws of Moses,” Rosenblum explained. “These are ancient laws that all discriminate against women. These courts have no female judges or even female clerks, so how can they judge [fairly]? I can’t express how broad the discrimination is that we’re facing. We’re going back to medieval or even more ancient times.”

UPDATED: Migrant family that died in illegal river border crossing had been told they were being deported

Story by Adrian Humphreys • 7h ago

Florin and Cristina lordache were ordered by Canada’s immigration officials to be at Toronto’s Pearson international airport last Friday with their two young children, born in Canada, for deportation to Romania.


Florin and Cristina lordache with their two kids.© Provided by National Post

Instead, to avoid returning to persecution they feared as members of the Roma minority, they are believed to have boarded a small boat in Akwesasne, a First Nations reserve, for a risky ride across the St. Lawrence River on a blackmarket smuggling trip into the United Sates.

It was a disaster.

The bodies of Florin and Cristina, both 28, and Evelin , 2, were found near a marshy riverbank on Thursday; the mournful bundle of one-year-old Elyen’s body was recovered Friday.

Florin was carrying the Canadian passports for their children, according to Akwesasne Mohawk Police.

They are among eight migrants who died, apparently when the smuggling boat they were in capsized. Along with the Iordache family was a family from India: A father, Praveenbhai Chaudhari, 50; a mother, Dakshaben, 45; and two children, daughter Vidhi, 23; and son Meet, 20.

“I cannot imagine that decision, to get into that small boat with nine people, by the sounds of it, not knowing what’s going to happen. Then the fear they must have all been experiencing — you shudder,” said Peter Ivanyi, the Iordache’s Toronto immigration lawyer.

“This is an especially sad case because there are children, and they’re Canadian children.”

In the almost five years they were in Canada, Florin had a history of illegal crossings into the United States and a troubled immigration history.

Florin and Cristina Iordache arrived in Canada on June 9, 2018, and made refugee claims. Cristina was also known as Monalisa Budi. They settled in Toronto.

A month later, however, Florin was found by U.S. immigration authorities on a train crossing from British Columbia into Washington state. He jumped from the train and bolted, before being caught, arrested, and fingerprinted, according to immigration documents obtained by National Post.

While in the United States, he was legally married to Cristina, who had been his common-law spouse for five years, and they returned to Canada seven months later, using different married names, the government alleged at a detention review hearing in 2021, where he was represented by a different lawyer.

In March 2021, Canada considered his refugee claim abandoned after he failed to appear at his refugee hearing, according to immigration documents.

Six months later, Florin, with a seven-months pregnant Cristina and their first baby, were caught by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Washington state after again illegally crossing into the U.S., this time in a vehicle that crossed between official border points. U.S. officials said he told them he was there to make a refugee claim.

They were returned to Canada.

In B.C., Florin told immigration officials they were on a road trip from Ontario and their GPS misdirected them across the border. He said the U.S. officers misunderstood his poor English.

Immigration officials held him in custody and released Cristina to care for their child. At two detention reviews before the Immigration and Refugee Board, the government opposed Florin’s release, arguing he was unlikely to appear for removal if released, and he was held in custody.

On Oct. 22, 2021, there was a joint recommendation for his release.

Both children were baptized at All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church in Toronto, said Father Emanuel Èšencaliuc, the priest.



lorache family pictured at Niagara Falls.

Florin bought used cars online, fixed them up and resold them to make money as they waited for their asylum claim to be heard.

Their chances might have seemed good. Most Roma claims are accepted due to documented prejudices and discrimination in Europe. But their troublesome immigration history seemed to spoil things.

“They filed a number of applications, all of them under the heading of fear,” said Ivanyi. The couple were passionate about having their children grow up in Canada, where they could be educated and safe.

“Everything he did in Canada was for his kids.

“He made it crystal clear that this was the most important thing for him, to be able to raise his Canadian children in Canada,” said Ivanyi.

Their refugee claim was denied. They then made a humanitarian appeal to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to stop their removal from Canada, which was denied on March 9. The next day, Ivanyi appealed to the Federal Court on their behalf, seeking a judicial review of the decision.

That case had not yet been heard when the family was given a deportation date of March 31, he said. He asked immigration officials to delay the deportation until their case was decided in court.

Ivanyi was told last week that a delay would not be granted, that the family was expected at the airport on Friday, he said.

“I sent that to them by email and that’s the last I heard from them.

“They didn’t tell me they were doing this. I obviously would have discouraged them from doing something like this, but they were so desperate to not have to take their young children back to the misery that the Roma of Romania live under — in terms of housing, no schooling, no running water, police indifference, cruelty.

“They were so desperate they took it upon themselves to undertake this really risky adventure.

“When he felt that opportunity to raise his children in Canada was taken away from him, and that he was actually facing getting on an airplane and having to take them back to that misery, he obviously decided on that road.”

Florin had two brothers who live in the United States, in Florida. Another brother, and his parents, remain in Craiova, Romania. Ivanyi said the family gave permission for him to speak about the case because they wanted their deaths “to mean something,” and perhaps make a difference.

“They undertook a very risky trip and, from my point of view, it shows how desperate and fearful they must have been at returning to Romania.

“It proves their case. It proves, at least subjectively, the fear that they were experiencing, to go to that extreme, and feeling let down by the Canadian immigration system.”

Meanwhile, on Monday night, Akwesasne Mohawk Police said they were set to continue their search for a missing local man, Casey Oakes, 30, who was last seen operating a boat Wednesday night. He was reported missing on Thursday.

It was during a search for Oakes that his boat was found capsized and, nearby, the eight bodies of the migrants were found. Police suspect they were passengers on the boat.

The Akwesasne police are joined in the search by the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police, Sûreté du Quebec, and the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department.

There have marine units, air support, divers, canine tracking dogs and emergency response units involved, searching in and under the water and on land, Akwesasne police said.

Investigators ask anyone with information on where Oakes might be, or what happened, to call Akwesasne Police at 613-575-2340; or, to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys

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Conference highlights the role of immigrants in Canada’s growth

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

By 2024, immigrants could make up one-third of Canada’s population, Anil Arora, Chief Statistician of Canada told attendees at the Metropolis Conference held in Ottawa in March. And given Canada’s aging population, and dropping birth rate, immigration is Canada’s best bet for the country moving forward, Arora said.

For comparison, twenty-five years ago the ratio of immigrant population in Canada was one in six. Today it is one in four.

The conference, entitled “25 years of conversation on migration: our legacy, our future”, attracted close to 1200 Immigrant service providers, policy makers and researchers who came together to discuss emerging policy needs and to share information on successful practices of integration and inclusion as the number of immigrants grows. In November, the federal government announced that it anticipated bringing in 500,000 immigrants annually by 2025.

Not only has attendance to the conference grown over the years, but the conference continues to cover a wider range of issues, said Jack Jedwab, the president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies and Metropolis Institute.

“We think, and a majority of Canadians agree, that immigration is a key dimension of economic growth and has been for some time the single source of population growth,” Jedwab said. “Birthrates are not sufficient to support population renewal.

“During the pandemic we lowered immigration substantially and we saw population decline in some places,” he added. “This reminds us how immigration is important to population growth.

“ It is critical,” Jedwab said.

Related video: Prime minister stresses importance of orderly immigration system 

(The Canadian Press)    Duration 2:01   View on Watch

Jedwab said he was pleased to hear from the Minister of Immigration and their staff that consultations were under way on how to best adjust the system to further streamline the process of admission to Canada of new immigrants.

Lori Wilkinson, Professor of Sociology and Director at the University of Manitoba has been involved with the conference from the beginning when the University of Alberta in Edmonton hosted the first conference 25 years ago. She’d like to see more immigrants and refugees attend future conferences to enable attendees to hear first hand their experiences.

“It would be great to have the ground-up view alongside the eagle eyes view,” Wilkinson said.

The conference brings together Immigrant service providers, policy makers and researchers and is held in various parts of Canada. Besides discussions on how Canada’s identity is evolving, addressing the challenges around admitting refugees to Canada and challenges around Temporary Foreign Workers were also discussed.

John Lefferty, Director of Immigrant Services, from Lethbridge Family Services in Alberta was one of the attendees at the conference in Ottawa this year. It was his first time attending. For him the main takeaway was the fact there were discussions not just on immigration numbers and how to streamline the immigration process but also how to upgrade infrastructure and ensure growth to keep up with demand.

“One particular aspect that caught my attention was that Canada will need an additional three million homes by 2030 to accommodate its growing housing needs,” Lefferty said. “Equally important considerations are being given to the needs in the medical sector and employment sector in order to meet the ambitious plans that we have for the future.”

A poll conducted by Léger leading up to the conference found that 68 per cent of those surveyed had a positive attitude towards immigrants. When asked what made them proud of Canada, 11 per cent listed the country’s inclusiveness, and eight per cent said its multiculturalism and diversity.

Naser Miftari, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, New Canadian Media

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