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Virginia Gov. Youngkin prioritizes mental health policy as police are overwhelmed by cases

Virginia Gov. Youngkin prioritizes mental health policy as police are overwhelmed by cases

John Clair, the police chief of a small Appalachian town in southwest Virginia, spends his days consumed by a growing problem: the frequency with which his officers are tapped to detain, transport and wait in hospitals with people in the throes of a mental health crisis. Officers from Clair’s 21-member Marion Police Department crisscross the state to deliver patients for court-ordered treatment, sometimes only to discover the hospital where they were sent has no available beds. Patients end up boarding in waiting rooms or emergency rooms, sometimes for days on end, while under the supervision of Clair’s officers. It’s a problem for law enforcement agencies around Virginia, one that advocates, attorneys and leaders like Clair say ties up policing resources and contributes to poor patient outcomes. In the past five years, these types of transports have become the largest single category of case the Marion department handles. SUPER BOWL AND SPORTS FAN DEPRESSION: HOW TO COPE WHEN YOUR TEAM LOSES, ACCORDING TO MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS “We are against the wall,” said Clair, an Army veteran and former lay pastor who sometimes shuttles patients himself, and did so last month on a nearly 15-hour round trip to a coastal city on the other side of the state. The problem underscores a widely held consensus that Virginia’s mental health care system is in urgent need of reform, due to what Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration says is an overreliance on hospitalization at a time of growing need. About a year ago, Youngkin, a Republican, rolled out an ambitious initiative that aims to transform the way psychiatric care is delivered by creating a system that allows people to get the treatment they need without delay, in their own community and not necessarily in the confines of a hospital, easing the burden on both patients and law enforcement. While Virginia’s struggles may be particularly acute, Youngkin is not alone in his focus on the issue. Improving mental health care became a priority in the U.S. like never before as the pandemic brought new levels of isolation, fear and grief, in addition to pre-existing crises such as rising drug overdose deaths and the struggles burdening teen girls. Survey data from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that in 2022, about half of adults with any mental illness did not receive treatment. “We know that there’s a lot of partisan divide across the country, but what we’ve found is whether it’s red states or blue states, there’s a lot of support for behavioral health at this point,” said Brian Hepburn, executive director of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Youngkin’s emphasis on mental health developed during his 2021 campaign, when person after person — from doctors to local officials to police — pleaded with him to make it a priority, according to John Littel, the cabinet secretary overseeing the Virginia initiative. “It was just so clear that people were really struggling,” Littel said. Youngkin has since won bipartisan support for his “Right Help, Right Now” initiative and praise from advocates, though some worry about the pace at which things are moving. The governor — whose press office says the initiative is exceeding key milestones — cannot seek a second consecutive term and leaves office in two years. The initiative’s wide-ranging goals include building up the behavioral health care workforce and working to stem the tide of overdose deaths, which claimed the lives of an average of seven Virginians a day in 2022. Youngkin has signed dozens of related bills into law and has secured hundreds of millions in new funding, with more proposed. The “foundational” part of the plan, as Littel describes it, is creating a system that delivers same-day help to individuals in crisis, which should also relieve some of the burden on police departments like Clair’s that are charged with transporting most patients a court deems a risk to themselves or others. PRESIDENTIAL DEPRESSION AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S STRUGGLE WITH ‘MELANCHOLY’: WHAT HISTORIANS KNOW Youngkin’s administration hopes to build up that continuum of care by increasing the number of mobile crisis teams with clinicians to respond to mental health emergencies and creating more short-term stabilization centers for patients to avoid the need to take them hours away from their homes for care. A recent report from the state’s legislative watchdog emphasized the need. Virginia had more than 20,000 temporary detention orders in fiscal year 2023, according to a recent presentation to lawmakers. Some 8,538 of those individuals experienced delays receiving psychiatric treatment after they had been deemed an imminent risk to themselves or others, the report found. The report also raised concerns about law enforcement “drop offs,” where officers or sheriff’s deputies leave patients before they’re accepted by a hospital or other facility. Recent testimony in a legislative hearing suggested drop-offs put some of those patients at risk of death. Elsewhere in the U.S., states’ policy concerns and approaches to improving mental health care have varied. States have used federal coronavirus pandemic relief funds to bolster access to care, and most governors have talked about mental health in their state of the state addresses in the last few years. Mental health was listed as a budget priority in most states in an analysis by the National Association of State Budget Officers. Will that emphasis continue? “It’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” said Katherine McGuire, chief advocacy officer of the American Psychological Association, “and our daily hope is that the states especially after the public health emergency was rescinded will realize they have to stay at it, they have to stick with it.” Virginia’s lawmakers are considering bills on the intersection of law enforcement and mental health this year. Clair said he hoped that speaking with candor about his department’s experiences will help them see the urgency of the problem. But he’s worried that the part-time General Assembly, also grappling with controversial gambling and sports arena deals, may rush through something that falls short of what’s needed. The

Trump expected back in court for classified documents hearing in special secure Florida facility

Trump expected back in court for classified documents hearing in special secure Florida facility

Former President Trump is reportedly expected to appear in person Monday for a hearing in the classified documents case against him to be held in a specially equipped secure room in Florida.  Trump is to be present for the hearing presided over by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that will be under seal and held in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility or SCIF, designed for viewing classified documents, in Fort Pierce, Fla., ABC News reported citing court documents. But Trump’s co-defendants, aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, are not expected to be in attendance because they do not have the necessary clearance to access classified information.  A court filing detailing the schedule said that Cannon, of the Southern District of Florida, will hear arguments Monday from attorneys for Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira on “defense theories of the case” and how “any classified information might be relevant or helpful to the defense,” according to the outlet. Special Counsel Jack Smith will then present arguments to Cannon when Trump’s attorneys are no longer present. Cannon requested that both parties set aside Tuesday for further proceedings “as necessary.” Trump and Smith’s legal teams have frequently disagreed during pretrial hearings over how much discovery should be redacted or entirely shielded from public view in court filings. Last week, Smith filed a motion urging Cannon to reconsider her prior ruling requiring that his team file a cache of documents on the public docket.  TRUMP DEMANDS DOJ ‘IMMEDIATELY’ DROP CHARGES AGAINST HIM IN CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE AFTER BIDEN DECISION Smith said in the motion last week that federal authorities were looking into a series of threats made online to a potential witness connected to the classified documents investigation and asked the judge to allow his team to file an exhibit under seal.  “The exhibit describes in some detail threats that have been made over social media to a prospective Government witness and the surrounding circumstances, and the fact that those threats are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation being handled by a United States Attorney’s Office,” the filing said. “Disclosure of the details and circumstances of the threats risks disrupting the investigation.”  Trump told Fox News Digital last week that Smith needs to “immediately” drop all charges against him in his classified records case following the decision not to bring charges against President Biden for his retention of sensitive national security documents. Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report was made public last week. Hur did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents — and stated that he would not bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. WHITE HOUSE SLAMS HUR REPORT: ‘GRATUITOUS AND INAPPROPRIATE CRITICISMS OF THE PRESIDENT’ Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security and foreign policy which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.”  The Hur report also sparked further concern over Biden’s age and mental faculties as the special counsel noted serious discrepancies in the 81-year-old president’s memory. Trump, on the other hand, was charged out of Smith’s investigation related to his retention of classified materials. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith’s probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation — an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty. That trial is set to begin on May 20.

RFK Jr apologizes to family over Super Bowl ad, claims he had no involvement

RFK Jr apologizes to family over Super Bowl ad, claims he had no involvement

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized to members of his family for a surprise Super Bowl ad that heavily featured his connection to his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy. RFK Jr. argued that the group responsible for the ad, the American Values Super PAC, did not consult with him or his campaign when making the ad. RFK Jr., who is running for president as an independent, nevertheless pinned the video to the top of his profile on X. RFK Jr.’s cousin, Bobby Shriver, first complained about the ad in a post Sunday night, writing that his uncles and mother would never have approved of RFK Jr.’s “deadly health care views.” “My cousin’s Super Bowl ad used our uncle’s faces- and my Mother’s. She would be appalled by his deadly health care views. Respect for science, vaccines, & health care equity were in her DNA. She strongly supported my health care work … which he opposes,” Shriver wrote. BIDEN LASHES OUT AT REPORTERS ASKING ABOUT AGE CONCERNS AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT: ‘THAT IS YOUR JUDGMENT!’ “Bobby. I’m so sorry if that advertisement caused you pain. The ad was created and aired by the American Values Superpac without any involvement or approvals from my campaign. Federal rules prohibit Superpacs from consulting with me or my staff. I send you and your family my sincerest apologies. God bless you,” RFK Jr. replied. RFK Jr. followed up the statement with a more general apology to any of his family members who were hurt by the ad, stating once again that “FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff.” American Values 2024 ran the 30-second ad for $7 million. The clip is a throwback to an ad used by his uncle, JFK, in the 1960 presidential campaign. TRUMP TEAM MADE ‘EARLY ON’ ATTEMPTS TO RECRUIT RFK JR. AS FORMER PRESIDENT’S RUNNING MATE: REPORT The ad, replacing JFK’s face with that of RFK Jr., implores viewers to “Vote Independent.” “The panicked DC power brokers are working overtime to keep Kennedy off the ballot because they know he can and will end their culture of greed and corruption,” American Values 2024 co-founder Tony Lyons said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “They offer us soaring inflation, forever wars, and chronic disease. RFK Jr. offers us real change along with freedom, trust and hope. Like his uncle and his father, Kennedy is a corruption fighter, and it’s no wonder the DNC is trying every old trick and inventing new tricks to stop him.  The public sees through it all and won’t stand for it.” Kennedy initially sought to challenge President Biden in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, but the DNC said it would not hold primary debates and stood behind the incumbent president. He declared himself as an independent candidate in October and has seen support in polls from a sizable number of Democrats — and even some Republicans. Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

In Gaza, hope is a fantasy

In Gaza, hope is a fantasy

I wanted to be wrong, but it turns out that I was right. Since early October, I have been sure that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had one aim all along: to erase Gaza. Spurred on by a rabid cabinet that believes that Palestinians are worthless “vermin”, Netanyahu has done what I suspect he has always wanted to do: dispense with the incremental destruction of a people and a strip of land and, instead, engineer a genocide in Gaza with ruthless and oh so satisfying efficiency. By now, this fact should be clear. That is the “victory” Netanyahu has and will continue to pursue until he has achieved it – to turn Gaza into dust and memory permanently. There will be no “pause in fighting”, no “lasting” ceasefire, no truce, no end to the genocide because Netanyahu has no reason or incentive to stop. And Netanyahu knows that no one inside or outside Israel is prepared, willing or able to stop him. Hope has been extinguished. Every day, Palestinians hope, in vain, that the horrors and outrages will end. Every day, we hope, in vain, for a faint sign that the murderous madness will end, that reason and diplomacy will prevail, that the captives – on both sides – will be reunited with their aching families. Hope is a fantasy, snuffed out by men and forces who thrive on causing chaos and despair in their “killing rage”. Netanyahu may be unpopular. Still, what he is doing and how he is going about doing it in defiance of proportionate scale, decency, and international law has the overwhelming support of Israelis who, apparently, would also be content to see Gaza reduced to dust and memory – permanently. Polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu to use more force, more “firepower” in Gaza and beyond. Damn decency, international law, and the mushrooming number of casualties day after dreadful day. The pain and suffering of Palestinians is irrelevant. The right and duty of Israel to defend itself is the only thing that counts. It’s hardly surprising then that polls show, as well, that despite the rampant hunger, disease, and desperate need, most Israelis want fellow Israelis to continue blocking trucks carrying food, water, and medicine from reaching Gaza until the Hamas-held captives are released. Palestinians are expendable. Israelis are not. As for the “future” of Gaza, 93 percent of Israelis reportedly agree with Netanyahu: the two-state “solution” is dead on arrival since all of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River belongs to them. The intent is to have Israeli settlers take the place of Palestinians in Gaza. Another Nakba is already afoot – literally. I am convinced most of Israel’s confederates abroad – whether they admit it publicly or not – also embrace these egregious beliefs and subscribe, wholeheartedly, to Netanyahu’s modus operandi and definition of “victory”. So, far from being “damaged” or “weakened”, Netanyahu has been emboldened as a “wartime” prime minister and by an “international community” that has encouraged him to do what he has done in Gaza and the occupied West Bank without remorse or restraint. Netanyahu will survive as prime minister for as long as Israel goes about doing what it is doing in Gaza and perhaps longer. Ever the calculating Machiavellian, he has rebuffed predictions of his imminent political demise or forced exit by wishful-thinking columnists, “experts”, and former presidential candidates. Again and again, the “international community” has said it is “concerned” by what their man in Tel Aviv is doing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Again and again, these expressions of “concern” have proven to be hollow bits of performative nonsense. On reliable cue, US President Joe Biden described what Israel is doing in Gaza as being “over the top”. “I’ve been pushing really hard, really hard, to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it’s gotta stop. Number one,” Biden told reporters earlier this week. It won’t stop. How can it stop when Biden and his complicit allies in London, Paris, Berlin, and Ottawa keep arming Israel to the brim and refusing – even in the blatant face of Israel’s “over the top” onslaught and the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza – to demand an immediate ceasefire? The calamitous course was set when Biden and the other presidents, chancellors, and prime ministers rushed to Tel Aviv in “solidarity” pilgrimages to “stand firmly” by Netanyahu’s side. It’s too late to apply the stock, talking-point-ephemeral brake since Netanyahu isn’t listening. He isn’t abiding by the International Court of Justice’s damning ruling which called on the Israeli government to stop what it is doing in Gaza after South African lawyers and diplomats made a persuasive and “plausible” case that Palestinians are victims of genocide and Israel is the perpetrator. Rafah is in Netanyahu’s crosshairs. The so-called “safe haven” and the more than a million Palestinians who have taken refuge there in tents and makeshift “homes” will endure the inevitable lethal consequences of the major Western powers’ unconditional backing of Israel. Exhausted and petrified Palestinians, including mothers, wives, and their sons and daughters, will not be spared Israel’s wrath. Their already precarious lives hang on the precipice of Netanyahu’s – for the moment and only for the moment – delayed designs. Biden et al may claim, at least publicly, to ask Israel to stop the looming carnage. Netanyahu will not be deterred by their empty, delivered-behind-a-lectern “warnings”. He is calling the geopolitical shots, not Biden et al. While America was preoccupied with a football game on Sunday night, Netanyahu gave Palestinians in Rafah a taste of the terror to come –  firing a shower of shells that killed and dismembered dozens of sleeping children, women and men. Finally, a cocksure Netanyahu understands the value of patience. Biden looks and sounds like an old man who is poised to become yesterday’s man – gone,

Yemen’s Houthis target US-linked ship with missiles

Yemen’s Houthis target US-linked ship with missiles

A Houthi military spokesman reiterated the threat that attacks from Yemen will persist until Israel halts its war in Gaza. Houthi fighters have fired on a ship that they identified as United States-owned while it travelled in waters off Yemen. The Iran-linked armed group said on Monday that the Star Iris was targeted with “a number of suitable naval missiles” in “accurate and direct” strikes. The Houthis have attacked numerous ships in the Red Sea in recent months, disrupting the key trade route between Europe and Asia, and called for an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Yahya Saree, the Houthis military spokesman said that the strike on the vessel, owned by the US-listed, Greece-based firm Star Bulk Carriers Corp, came “in vindication of the oppressed Palestinian people, in support and solidarity with our brothers in the Gaza Strip”. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed that a vessel was attacked by two missiles at 00:35 GMT some 40 nautical miles (74km) south of al-Makha (Mocha) in Yemen. “The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to next port of call,” it said, advising transit through waters near Yemen with caution. UKMTO WARNING INCIDENT 029 Update 001 https://t.co/XsgrK5uW2N#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/DqP9vcptKg — United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) February 12, 2024 Saree also called the attack “retaliation to the American-British aggression on our country”. In recent weeks, the US and UK have responded to the ongoing attacks on maritime traffic by launching strikes on Houthi-held Yemeni territory. However, the Houthis appear undeterred. The spokesman reiterated that the group intends to continue to target vessels in the Red Sea until the war ends. The latest Houthi attack comes less than two days after the latest “self-defence strikes” by the US military, which has been pounding Yemen with munitions launched from aircraft and warships near Yemen. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that its newest attacks a day earlier had targeted two unmanned surface vessels and three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles. Adblock test (Why?)

Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 129

Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 129

EXPLAINER Israel has carried out air strikes in Rafah where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, raising fears of a humanitarian disaster. Here’s how things stand on Monday, February 12, 2024: Humanitarian crisis in Gaza Israel has carried out overnight air strikes in Rafah in southern Gaza, killing at least 67 people. Israeli forces hit houses, hospitals and three mosques, Palestinian officials said. Rafah hosts 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom were displaced by Israeli offensives in northern and central Gaza. The total death toll of Palestinians in Gaza stands at 28,340 since the start of the war on October 7. The Israeli military said it rescued two captives from the Gaza Strip early on Monday, during an Israeli raid that included the Rafah strikes. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has called for the protection of its staff after multiple incidents, including the killing of two ambulance officers who went to rescue six-year-old Hind Rajab. Rajab’s body was found inside a car. Regional tensions and diplomacy US President Joe Biden is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Washington on Monday. The agenda for the meeting involves discussions about the Israeli military operation in Rafah, the release of captives in Gaza and growing concern over a possible Israeli ground operation in Rafah. A ship came under attack by two missiles in the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday, the latest assault carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Doha for talks on securing a ceasefire in Gaza with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the two leaders would meet on Monday. US Senator Bernie Sanders has said “no one in Congress” should support the Biden administration sending military aid to Israel, in a post on X. Occupied West Bank A pro-settler organisation released a report on Sunday showing that the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank increased nearly 3 percent in 2023 and expecting growth to accelerate this year. The number of settlers in the West Bank now stands at 517,407, up from 502,991 a year earlier. Israeli forces detained a Palestinian man, Hassan al-Sayed, on Sunday evening and seized a vehicle from the city of Jenin, Wafa reported. Wafa also reported that Israeli forces shot and injured a young Palestinian on Sunday evening near the entrance to the town of Battir, west of Bethlehem. Israeli occupation forces on Sunday evening detained five Palestinian young men in the Old City of Hebron, Wafa reported. Adblock test (Why?)