Yearly Archives: 2021

(The Center Square) – Violent crimes in Wisconsin numbered 293.2 per every 100,000 residents of the state as of 2019, the 32nd highest rate among the 50 states, according to a new analysis from the website 24/7 Wall St.

The total number of murders in Wisconsin in 2019 came in at 175, according to the 24/7 Wall St. analysis of FBI crime data, while the state’s poverty rate was estimated at 10.4%. The study’s authors pegged Milwaukee as the most dangerous city in the state.

Nationwide, the violent crime rate for 2019 was found to be 366.7 incidents per 100,000 Americans, according to 24/7 Wall St. The violent crimes tracked in the study were aggravated assaults, robberies, sexual assault and murders or non-negligent manslaughters.

The poorest states also tend to have the highest rates of violent incidents, the study’s authors concluded. New England states, which have relatively high incomes and less poverty, were among the safest in the nation, while many lower-income Southern states had the highest violent crime rates, the analysis found.

The most dangerous cities in Hawaii and Alabama could not be pinpointed due to a lack of municipal crime data in those states, according to 24/7 Wall St.

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Violent Crime Rates by State as of 2019

Rank (50=Lowest)StateViolent Crime Rate (per 100,000)Total 2019 MurdersIncarceration Rate (per 100,000)Poverty RateMost Dangerous City50Maine115.22014610.9%Biddeford49New Hampshire152.5331977.3%Manchester48Connecticut183.610424510.0%New Haven47Vermont202.21118210.2%Rutland46New Jersey206.92622109.2%Camden45Virginia208.04264229.9%Portsmouth44Kentucky217.122151616.3%Louisville43Wyoming217.41342810.1%Riverton42Rhode Island221.12515610.8%Woonsocket41Idaho223.83547511.2%Garden City40Utah235.6722068.9%South Salt Lake39Minnesota236.41171769.0%Minneapolis38Iowa266.66029311.2%Council Bluffs37Mississippi277.933263619.6%Laurel36Oregon284.411635311.4%Astoria35North Dakota284.62423110.6%Williston34Hawaii285.5482159.3%--32 (tie)Ohio293.253843013.1%Cleveland32 (tie)Wisconsin293.217537810.4%Milwaukee31Washington293.91982509.8%Tacoma30Nebraska300.9452899.9%Omaha29Pennsylvania306.466935512.0%Scranton28West Virginia316.67838116.0%Huntington27Massachusetts327.61521339.4%Springfield26Georgia340.765450713.3%College Park25New York358.655822413.0%Newburgh24Indiana370.837739911.9%South Bend23North Carolina371.863231313.6%Henderson22Florida378.41,12244412.7%Florida City21Colorado381.02183419.3%Sterling20South Dakota399.01742811.9%Rapid City19Montana404.92744012.6%Helena18Illinois406.983230211.5%Sauk Village17Kansas410.810534211.4%Wichita16Texas418.91,40952913.6%Snyder15Delaware422.64838211.3%Wilmington14Oklahoma431.826663915.2%Muskogee13Michigan437.455638113.0%Muskegon Heights12California441.21,69031011.8%Stockton11Maryland454.15423059.0%Baltimore10Arizona455.336555813.5%Phoenix9Nevada493.814341312.5%North Las Vegas8Missouri495.056842412.9%St. Louis7Alabama510.835841915.5%--6South Carolina511.346435313.8%Greenwood5Louisiana549.354468019.0%Opelousas4Arkansas584.624258616.2%West Memphis3Tennessee595.249838413.9%Memphis2New Mexico832.218131618.2%Gallup1Alaska867.16924410.1%Anchorage

Source: 24/7 Wall St.

(The Center Square) – Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita wants to stop what he thinks is California’s attempt to establish a nationwide climate change policy, and he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will help.

Rokita, along with 17 other states, filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Thursday, asking the court to overtime an appeals court decision that allows a lawsuit filed by San Francisco and Oakland to remain in state court.

Both cities sued to hold several major fossil fuel companies liable for the costs of global climate change. The cities claim in their lawsuit the companies have broken the common law of public nuisance by producing and selling fossil fuels, Rokita said in a news release.

“Hoosiers should not be ruled by the Left Coast,” Rokita said.

In the brief, Rokita argued federal law gives the companies a right to have the claims heard by a federal court, rather than a state court.

Rokita wrote in the brief that by allowing a case with such national scope to be handled by California state courts, the federal appeals court “thereby excludes other States from the climate-change policymaking process and threatens to undermine the cooperative federalism model our country has long used to address environmental problems.”

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming all joined in the brief.

Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted Friday she joined a brief supporting the California cities in their action.

The cities filed suit against ExxonMobil, BP Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell in September 2017. The lawsuit asks the companies to fund a sea level rise abatement program used to build sea walls and other structures to protect public and private property within 6 feet of the current sea level.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin residents who participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) numbered 710,412 in September of 2020, a 16.9% increase over the number taking part in September 2019, according to newly released data.

The number of SNAP participants in the state in September 2019 was 607,844, according to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. The data from August and September of 2020 is preliminary and subject to change, the agency said.

For all the states and territories in the analysis, the number of people taking part in SNAP rose by 14% in the September 2019 vs. September 2020 comparison – numbers that contrast participation rates before and after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

SNAP, which is a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides nutritional assistance to millions of low-income families and individuals nationwide. The federal government describes SNAP as “the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net.”

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Which States Saw the Biggest Jumps in SNAP Participation?

State / TerritorySeptember 2019August 2020 (Preliminary)September 2020 (Initial)% Change for September 2020 vs. September 2019Rank Based on % Change (Highest to Lowest)Florida2,755,5093,834,5283,886,74741.1%1Georgia1,372,9651,839,3481,874,54136.5%2Maryland612,399833,691795,25529.9%3Louisiana798,536858,9031,012,93526.8%4Iowa309,126302,232376,87621.9%5Kentucky506,778606,216616,16921.6%6Colorado438,326534,175523,09819.3%7Texas3,346,8513,900,4083,962,50318.4%8District of Columbia111,402129,186131,84418.3%9Washington804,663956,647951,09018.2%10Wisconsin607,844704,821710,41216.9%11Virgin Islands21,62324,95725,23516.7%12Hawaii155,293177,083179,20515.4%13North Carolina1,262,5541,456,8911,452,36015.0%14Massachusetts764,203868,410877,11814.8%15Oregon586,111701,881670,77614.4%16California4,004,9174,519,2894,537,28013.3%17Minnesota400,877444,664451,75512.7%18Wyoming24,92828,57228,07212.6%19Indiana574,304637,154646,19312.5%20Nevada421,015468,945470,85711.8%21Arkansas351,199398,219391,98411.6%22New Jersey682,918741,832761,38411.5%23Virginia698,350782,261778,37011.5%24Missouri678,716771,906752,53110.9%25New Mexico450,410493,689491,5129.1%26Oklahoma578,189625,551626,2988.3%27Arizona798,130915,512860,9127.9%28New York2,586,1862,756,1872,789,5337.9%29Illinois1,770,5741,854,0471,904,5247.6%30Michigan1,147,9721,195,9671,223,6116.6%31Pennsylvania1,744,7691,826,6111,852,3916.2%32Alabama719,827751,129756,3145.1%33South Carolina586,163617,334614,9054.9%34Guam43,77346,28645,6154.2%35Kansas198,285207,124205,4513.6%36Delaware122,139120,609126,1973.3%37Connecticut364,474380,909375,8253.1%38Vermont67,20967,72868,4161.8%39Ohio1,381,2451,399,8951,401,2121.4%40Maine155,648161,975157,3001.1%41Alaska85,14788,59786,0071.0%42West Virginia307,638301,459305,262-0.8%43South Dakota79,18678,14978,491-0.9%44Tennessee876,772855,072865,381-1.3%45Idaho142,105143,926139,833-1.6%46Nebraska156,439153,128153,996-1.6%47Utah165,162176,700161,348-2.3%48North Dakota48,07044,73146,731-2.8%49New Hampshire73,50669,57369,787-5.1%50Rhode Island147,857142,035137,892-6.7%51Mississippi443,382399,561411,965-7.1%52Montana106,05385,63696,042-9.4%53TOTAL37,637,71742,481,33942,917,34114.0%

Source: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that Texas state government will secure its southern border with Mexico if the federal government under the Biden administration will not.

At a news conference with law enforcement officials in Mission, Texas, Abbott said he earlier toured the border by air and, "We did see people crossing illegally.”

"The Biden Administration has created a crisis at our southern border through open border policies that give the green light to dangerous cartels and other criminal activity,” Abbott said. “Border security is the federal government’s responsibility, but the state of Texas will not allow the administration’s failures to endanger the lives of innocent Texans. Instead, Texas is stepping up to fill the gaps left open by the federal government to secure the border, apprehend dangerous criminals, and keep Texans safe.”

Over a period of two months, a surge at the border occurred after President Joe Biden signed several executive orders dismantling Trump administration border security policies and treaties and agreements with Mexico and other countries, the governor said.

Compared to the same time period as last year, the number of encounters at the southwest border has increased by nearly 80%, border patrol data reveal.

“Cartels are ramping up trafficking and smuggling along the border,” Abbott said, which is overwhelming border patrol officials. "The cartels are involved in every single one of these border crossings that we see. They are more involved in crossings we do not see. The strategy is to overwhelm Border Patrol agents. ... When Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed is when the cartels bring over dangerous people."

Abbott's news conference was held after a briefing with members of the U.S. Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the National Border Patrol Council, and the Texas National Guard prior to the press conference.

Border Patrol said officers have apprehended 108,000 illegal immigrants so far this year, including more than 800 violent criminals, including 78 sex offenders, many gang members and individuals who have been previously deported.

Abbott condemned the Biden Administration “for enriching the cartels with these open border strategies and for failing to provide vaccines to members of the U.S. Border Patrol.” He also noted that federal agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are responsible for detaining, testing and quarantining anyone that comes across the border, and they aren’t doing so because of Biden’s new policies.

He called on the Biden administration to increase the number of ICE facilities and provide more funding to the agency to allow them to do their jobs.

"What I'm about to tell you is maybe one of the most reprehensible things I've heard this whole time," Abbott said. "The Biden administration is not providing vaccinations for the Border Patrol. We have Border Patrol officers whose lives are on the line on a daily basis, an hourly basis, and the Biden administration will not step up and provide those Border Patrol officers with the vaccinations they need. The Biden Administration should surge vaccines to Texas to all men and women on the Border Patrol this week and ensure that every Border Patrol officer in the state of Texas will be vaccinated this week. Anything less than that is the epitome of inhumanity."

"This is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue," Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said. "This is an issue that affects American citizens."

Abbott launched Operation Lone Star last weekend to deploy 500 Texas National Guard troops to help border patrol with security efforts, using air, ground, marine and tactical border security measures specifically in high-threat areas.

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday that it was activating its volunteer force to support the effort.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he and the president were “committed to ensuring our nation has a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system while continuing to balance all of the other critical DHS missions.”

DHS volunteers operate in a non-law enforcement capacity and will perform duties like assisting in control rooms, housekeeping, preparing meals, supply and prescription medicine runs, and managing property, according to a Fox News report.