Many electric vehicles to lose big tax credit with new rules

• March 31, 2023

By Tom Krisher, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Daly | The Associated Press

Fewer new electric vehicles will qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit later this year, and many will get only half that, under rules proposed Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department.

The rules, required under last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, are likely to slow consumer acceptance of electric vehicles and could delay President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030.

The new rules take effect April 18 and are aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on China and other countries for battery supply chains for electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles now cost an average of more than $58,000, according to Kelley Blue Book, a price that’s beyond the reach of many U.S. households. The tax credits are designed to bring prices down and attract more buyers. But $3,750, half the full credit, may not be enough to entice them away from less-costly gasoline-powered vehicles.

Biden administration officials concede that fewer electric vehicles will be eligible for tax credits in the short term because of the rules, which set standards for where EV battery parts and minerals come from. But they say that, over time, more EVs and parts will be manufactured in the U.S., creating a domestic supply chain and more jobs. The credits and other measures also will end U.S. dependence on China for parts and minerals, officials contend.

The new rules will help consumers save money on EVs “and hundreds of dollars per year on gas, while creating American manufacturing jobs and strengthening our energy and national security,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday.

But Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who negotiated terms in the new law that require battery sourcing in North America, said the guidance released by the Treasury Department “completely ignores the intent of the Inflation Reduction Act.”

Manchin called it “horrific” that the Biden administration “continues to ignore the purpose of the law, which is to bring manufacturing back to America and ensure we have reliable and secure supply chains.”

Referring to the proposal’s 60-day comment period, Manchin said, “My comment is simple: Stop this now. Just follow the law.”

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Drivers looking to buy an EV must move quickly to get the full $7,500 tax credit. The Internal Revenue Service lists more than three dozen electric or plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles made in North America that now are eligible. But some won’t qualify or will get only half once the new Treasury Department rules take effect in less than three weeks.

A Treasury official wouldn’t give an estimate of how many EVs would be eligible under the new rules. The department plans to publish a list on April 18, the official said.

Automakers have to certify that their vehicles meet requirements for full or partial tax credits.

John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, said only a few of the 91 EV models now for sale in the U.S. likely will get the full credit, although some will qualify for half.

“We now know the EV tax credit playing field for the next year or so. March 2023 was as good as it gets,” Bozzella said.

The big issue is new rules limiting the percentage of battery parts and minerals that come from countries that don’t have free trade or mineral agreements with the United States.

This year, at least 40% of the value of battery minerals must be mined, processed or recycled in the U.S. or countries with which it has trade deals. That rises 10% every year until it hits 80% after 2026.

Also, at least 50% of the value of battery parts must be manufactured or assembled in North America this year. That requirement rises to 60% next year and in 2025 and jumps 10% each year until it hits 100% after 2028.

Some automakers can meet the battery parts sourcing requirements, but few will be able to comply with the mineral provisions, said Guidehouse Research e-Mobility analyst Sam Abuelsamid. Much of the lithium used in EV batteries now comes from China.

“The minerals requirement is going to be the really challenging one,” Abuelsamid said. “Setting up refining for lithium in other locations is probably going to take the longest.”

General Motors, for instance, says its EVs will only be eligible for $3,750 once the rules are effective. The company is building a U.S. supply chain, and its vehicles should get the full credit by mid-decade, its chief financial officer has said.

The Inflation Reduction Act also places price limits on new electric vehicles, $55,000 for cars and $80,000 for pickups, vans and SUVs. There also are income limits aimed to stop wealthier people from getting credits. Buyers cannot have an adjusted gross annual income above $150,000 if single, $300,000 if filing jointly and $225,000 if head of a household.

In addition, starting in 2025, battery minerals cannot come from a “foreign entity of concern,” mainly China and Russia. Battery parts cannot be sourced in those countries starting in 2024; minerals can’t come from those countries in 2025.

The Biden administration said rules governing that requirement are in the works.

The new rules define principles that countries must meet to be eligible. Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore and Japan are on the list. Japan this week reached a deal with the U.S. on trading in critical minerals for EV batteries.

Even though the proposed rules are effective April 18, the Biden administration is taking public comments, and the rules can be modified later, including the addition of countries that negotiate trade agreements with the U.S.

The government says companies have announced at least $45 billion in U.S. investments since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said he has concerns about the battery material provisions. “Free trade agreements cannot be unilaterally decided by the executive branch,” he said during a recent hearing. “They require consultation and consent from Congress. That includes any agreements on critical minerals.”

___

Krisher reported from Detroit.

​ Orange County Register 

All-County Girls Basketball Team: Mater Dei’s Addison Deal is the O.C. player of the year

• March 31, 2023

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PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Addison Deal, Mater Dei, So.

Mater Dei girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan believes Addison Deal challenged herself when she decided to join the Monarchs’ program last summer.

“She was in a situation last year where she got to put up some great numbers, won a lot of games, and she could have kept doing that for a long time and been very, very happy,” Kiernan said.

“She took a gamble. She came to a team with other good players,” he added. ” A lot of players get in their comfort zone and they don’t want to change. They just want to be good at what they’re good at and they don’t challenge themselves (on) things they need to work on.”

Deal’s venture paid off.

She still produced impressive scoring stats with the O.C. powerhouse but also improved while blending with new teammates. She helped the Monarchs finish undefeated against county teams, capture the Trinity League title and reach the Open Division semifinals of the CIF-SS and CIF Southern California Regional playoffs.

Deal has been chosen by the Register as the Orange County player of the year.

Deal, a 6-foot guard, led the Monarchs in scoring by averaging 15 points, about six points less than her 2021-22 season at Pacifica Christian. She also finished second in rebounding (5.3) and tied for the team lead in steals (2.7).

Kiernan said Deal had a “great season” and credits her for enduring the “growing pains” of playing at the Open Division level.

Deal believes she improved this season defensively, especially in the Monarchs’ trapping schemes. She embraced the challenges of being guarded by opponents such as national player of the year Juju Watkins of Sierra Canyon and Kennedy Smith of state champion Etiwanda. And she adjusted to playing off the ball more.

Deal’s highlights included averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in back-to-back postseason games against Etiwanda and Sage Hill.

Overall, Deal felt encouraged by her season and the Monarchs’ run to a 29-4 record.

“I think we definitely over-performed,” Deal said. “Our team is super young so I think the next two years should be real good.”

COACH OF THE YEAR

Danny Roussel, Marina

Most improved. Best postseason run. Most inspirational.

Marina’s girls basketball team proved worthy of all those descriptions for transforming itself from a squad that finished 6-20 in 2021-22 into a Southern California champion that reached the state finals for the first time.

Leading the way was Danny Roussel, who is the Register’s selection for Orange County coach of the year.

The fifth-year coach challenged his players to work harder in the offseason, implemented an aggressive full-court press and led the Vikings (21-16) to the Division V title in the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs as the No. 8 seed.

Marina was the lone Orange County girls basketball team to reach the state finals. It lost to Bret Harte 62-39 in Sacramento.

Roussel, a three-time leukemia survivor, molded a roster with several seniors and a few up-and-coming players, including high-scoring freshman Rylee Bradley.

“We just kept getting better all season,” Roussel said. “I’m so proud of what we were able to accomplish this year.”

Marina coach Daniel Roussel talks with Tiana To, left, Kim Nguyen during the  CIF State Division V championship game in Sacramento on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

FIRST TEAM

Addison Deal, Mater Dei, So., G

The Orange County Player of the Year.

Allison Clarke, Rosary, Jr., G

The All-CIF Division 1 selection averaged 19.5 points and 2.6 steals to help the Royals reach the section semifinals.

Jenessa Cotton, Mater Dei, Jr., F/C

The All-CIF Open Division selection provided the Monarchs physical play while averaging 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds.

Emily Eadie, Sage Hill, Jr., F

An All-CIF Open Division pick, Eadie led the Lightning in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (11.2) and assists (3.0).

Amanda Edwards, San Juan Hills, Sr., G

The South Coast League MVP and All-CIF Division 2AA selection averaged 14.3 points and made a school-record 111 3-pointers.

Caia Elisaldez, Mater Dei, Sr., G

The Tennessee at Chattanooga-bound point guard averaged 9.6 points, 4.5 assists and 2.7 steals to help the Monarchs win the Trinity League.

Shea Joko, Orange Lutheran, Jr., G

The CIF-SS Division 1 player of the year scored 17 points in the section final against Marlborough.

Kaiya Mack, Esperanza, Sr., G

The Crestview League MVP averaged 22.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 steals to lead the Aztecs to the league title.

Larissa Robles, Sonora, Sr., G

The two-time Freeway League MVP and All-CIF selection averaged 17.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 steals.

Moka Saiki, Portola, Sr., G

The Pacific Coast League MVP averaged 20.2 points and 3.1 steals while leading the Bulldogs to the CIF-SS Division 2A quarterfinals.

SECOND TEAM

Mya Barnes, Rosary, Jr., F

Madi Bogan, Orange Lutheran, Sr., F

Shanna Brown, Aliso Niguel, Sr., F

Celine Castaneda, Tesoro, Sr., G

Amalia Holguin, Sage Hill, Fr., G

Madison Leiva, Santa Margarita, Sr., G

Zona Miller, San Clemente, Jr., F

Zoe Ramirez, Brea Olinda, Sr., G

Kat Righeimer, Sage Hill, Jr., F

Anna Shreeve, San Juan Hills, So., F

THIRD TEAM

Kayla Borgelt, Troy, Jr., G

Shaena Brew, Mater Dei, So., G

Princess Cassell, Orange Lutheran, Jr., G

Myia Collins, Cypress, Sr., F

Ava Dominguez, Rosary, Sr., F

Aryanna Hudson, San Juan Hills, Jr., G

Maria Mejia, Orangewood Academy, So., F

Adyra Rajan, Fairmont Prep, Fr., G

Avery Shiring, El Dorado, Sr., G/F

Alana White, Buena Park, Fr., C

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FOURTH TEAM

Rylee Bradley, Marina, Fr., G

Isabella Caceres, Cypress, Jr., G

Erin Choi, Sunny Hills, Jr., G

Kiana Graham, Sonora, Jr., G

Micaela Hanning, Calvary Chapel, So., G

Madi Lam, Esperanza, Fr., G

Sydnie Lendsey, Buena Park, Fr., G

Kayli Liew, Los Alamitos, Jr., G

Taliyah McFerson, Orange Lutheran, Jr., F

Hana Watanabe, Woodbridge, Jr., G

​ Orange County Register 

EPA approves California’s rules phasing out diesel trucks

• March 31, 2023

By Sophie Austin | Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California’s plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state’s efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast.

The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California — which has some of the nation’s worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large passenger pick-ups.

“Under the Clean Air Act, California has longstanding authority to address pollution from cars and trucks. Today’s announcement allows the state to take additional steps in reducing their transportation emissions through these new regulatory actions,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, in a statement.

Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the state’s role as a leader for setting ambitious vehicle emission standards.

“We’re leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses – the most polluting vehicles – off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead,” the Democrat said in a statement.

The EPA typically sets standards for tailpipe emissions from passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles, but California has historically been granted waivers to impose its own, stricter standards. Other states can then follow suit, and eight other states plan to adopt California’s truck standards, Newsom’s office said. In a letter last year, attorneys general from 15 states, Washington, D.C., and New York City urged the EPA to approve the California truck standards.

The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. Newsom has already moved to ban the sale of new cars that run entirely on gasoline by 2035. The EPA has not acted on those rules.

The new truck standards are aimed at companies that make trucks and those that own large quantities of them. Companies owning 50 or more trucks will have to report information to the state about how they use these trucks to ship goods and provide shuttle services. Manufacturers will have to sell a higher percentage of zero-emission vehicles starting in 2024. Depending on the class of truck, zero-emission ones will have to make up 40% to 75% of sales by 2035.

California has a long legacy of adopting stricter tailpipe emission standards, even before the federal Clean Air Act was signed into law, said Paul Cort, a lawyer with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice.

“We have a vehicle problem,” Cort said. “We’re addicted to our cars and trucks, and that’s a big cause of the air pollution that we’re fighting.”

But Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, said it’s too soon to adopt the California standards.

“The charging infrastructure is certainly not there,” he said about powering stations for electric vehicles. “And on top of the charging infrastructure, we have the grid issues.”

While California was hit this winter by atmospheric rivers that soaked much of the state, it has for years suffered from drought conditions, and in September, a brutal heat wave that put its electricity grid to the test.

The announcement came as advocates are pushing for more ambitious tailpipe emissions standards in other states and at the national level.

“We don’t just fight for California, we fight for all of the communities,” said Jan Victor Andasan, an activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. The group advocates for better air quality in and around Los Angeles, the nation’s second-most populous city that is known for its dense traffic and intense smog.

Andasan and other environmental activists from across the country who are a part of the Moving Forward Network, a 50-member group based at Occidental College in Los Angeles, met with EPA officials recently to discuss national regulations to limit emissions from trucks and other vehicles.

But some in the trucking industry are concerned about how costly and burdensome the transition will be for truck drivers and companies.

“The state and federal regulators collaborating on this unrealistic patchwork of regulations have no grasp on the real costs of designing, building, manufacturing and operating the trucks that deliver their groceries, clothes and goods,” said Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Association, in a statement.

“They will certainly feel the pain when these fanciful projections lead to catastrophic disruptions well beyond California’s borders,” he added.

Federal pollution standards for heavy trucks are also getting tougher. The EPA released rules that will cut nitrogen oxide pollution, which contributes to the formation of smog, by more than 80% in 2027. The agency will propose greenhouse gas emissions limits this year.

The agency expects the new standards and government investment will lead to zero-emissions electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks carrying most of the nation’s freight.

California activists Andasan and Brenda Huerta Soto, an organizer with the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, are troubled by the impact of pollution from trucks and other vehicles on communities with a large population of residents of color that live near busy ports in Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities as well as warehouse-dense inland areas.

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Huerta Soto works in Southern California’s Inland Empire, where a high concentration of trucks pass through to transport goods. On top of truck pollution, the many cars, trucks and trains that travel through the area burden residents with noises, odors and pollutants these vehicles emit, she said.

“We have the technology, and we have the money” to move toward zero-emission vehicles, she said.

Associated Press writers Tom Krisher in Detroit and Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna

​ Orange County Register 

Social Security insolvency coming a year earlier than before

• March 31, 2023

By Tony Pugh | Bloomberg Law

The Social Security system’s retiree fund will be able to fully pay scheduled benefits until 2033, one year earlier than reported last year.

The increase is due mainly to a roughly 3% downward revision of gross domestic product and labor productivity over the projection window, the Treasury Department reported Friday.

Meanwhile, Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, which helps pay for “Part A” inpatient hospital care, will be able to pay full benefits until 2031, three years later than last year’s projection.

“At that point, that fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 89 percent of total scheduled benefits,” according to the annual report of the Medicare and Social Security trustees.

The findings offer a mixed bag of data from the 2023 Annual Report of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds. The annual report offers a detailed look at the finances of the financially troubled Medicare and Social Security programs.

Healthcare spending lower

The hospital fund’s long-term financial picture improved mainly because of lower expected health-care spending based on updated analysis that uses more recent data.

Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033, one year earlier than reported last year. The SS system’s Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund is estimated to pay all scheduled benefits through at least 2097, the last year of this report’s projection period.

If both funds’ projections were added together, the resulting OASDI projected fund could pay all scheduled benefits until 2034, a year earlier than reported last year, the report said.

“At that time, the projected fund’s reserves would become depleted, and continuing total fund income would be sufficient to pay 80 percent of scheduled benefits,” the report said. A change in law would be needed to combine the two funds, but that combined projection is often used to reflect the overall health of the Social Security program.

The difference between Medicare’s total outlays and its financing sources is expected to exceed 45% of outlays within 7 years, the report said. Because the same determination was made last year, it triggers a “Medicare funding warning,” requiring the president to submit legislation to Congress to address the warning within 15 days after the FY 2025 budget is submitted. It’s the sixth straight year that a Medicare funding warning has been issued.

Congress has varied and assorted options—like increasing taxes and reducing benefits—that could reduce or eliminate both programs’ long-term financing shortfalls.

“We urge Congress to consider such options for both Medicare and Social Security, like the proposal for Medicare in the President’s FY24 Budget. With each year that lawmakers do not act, the public has less time to prepare for the changes,” the report said.

​ Orange County Register 

Travel rewards programs shouldn’t be so annoying to use

• March 31, 2023

Even after the “revenge travel” craze of 2022, Americans are still eager to get out there. According to an email survey of its members from Going, a travel deals service, 68% of the 3,274 respondents say they plan to spend more on international travel in 2023 than they did in 2022.

Yet there’s just one problem: Travelers are also going broke. The No. 1 barrier to travel this year, according to the same survey, was a lack of money. So while inflation zaps budgets and consumers keep racking up credit card debt at a dizzying pace, those dream vacations might fizzle out.

Is it time to tap into those credit card points, airline miles and hotel rewards? It might be, but actually figuring out how to use those dang points poses its own problems. Earning travel rewards through credit card offers and travel spending is one thing; successfully redeeming them is quite another.

Consumers are confused

A stunning 84% of travelers cited user experience issues as their biggest frustration when using travel rewards, according to a survey of 2,041 U.S. consumers by iSeatz, a loyalty program service provider. A second survey from the same company asked 291 loyalty program service providers about their perceived issues and found that only 20% saw user experience as their biggest challenge.

Travelers, it seems, are fed up with the poor usability of these loyalty programs. And the programs themselves don’t even know it’s a problem.

For example, one of the best ways to maximize the value of American Airlines AAdvantage miles is by flying in business class to international destinations, especially on partner airlines such as Japan Airlines. Yet the American website and app offer a confusing mix of filtering and viewing options, which force users to either check each day individually in search of award availability or use a broader calendar view that doesn’t allow filtering for specific airlines.

It would be more streamlined if users could set filters like “business class” or “Japan Airlines” in the calendar view so that it would only display relevant dates. Instead, users are forced to hunt and peck manually through a sparsely populated award calendar.

This kind of user-unfriendliness is the rule with travel rewards programs. Want to transfer your credit card points to an airline that flies to Hawaii? Good luck finding any help within the credit card website itself. Instead, travelers must spend time searching for and researching these redemption options on third-party websites and message boards.

No incentive to improve

These loyalty programs are big business for travel brands. A recent report from On Point Loyalty, an advisory firm, estimated the value of these programs in the tens of billions:

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles: $28 billion.
American Airlines AAdvantage: $24 billion.
United Airlines MileagePlus: $22 billion.

The root of the problem is not that these programs can’t hire a user experience designer (or 20) to improve their search tools. It’s that they have a strong incentive to sign travelers up for their rewards programs, but not to get them to spend their points.

Plus, it’s hard to hold these programs accountable for poor user experience. NerdWallet’s annual ratings of airline and hotel programs consider dozens of factors, from the value of the points and miles themselves to the onboard movie selection. Yet it’s hard to quantify the user-friendliness of a website or app and therefore difficult to hold these programs responsible for their poor experience.

All is not lost

Given the status quo, things are unlikely to change in the near future, yet frustrated consumers do have some options. Third-party services such as Point.Me offer custom award search tools and concierge services to help travelers spend their points. These services aren’t free, but they can cut through some of the noise and offer travelers clear, actionable ways to use their miles.

And it’s usually possible to avoid the worst travel loyalty headaches by keeping things simple. Booking one-way domestic fares or using credit card points to book travel directly in a portal (rather than transferring to partners) might not offer the razzle-dazzle value of some other redemption options, but these methods make it relatively easy to book.

And when it comes to travel rewards, actually using those dang points and miles is a win.

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​ Orange County Register 

Manhattan DA slams GOP efforts to investigate Trump probe

• March 31, 2023

By Annie Grayer and Sara Murray | CNN

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is again slamming House Republicans for their efforts to intervene in its investigation into former President Donald Trump, accusing them of collaborating with Trump to “vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges.”

The DA’s general counsel Leslie B. Dubeck penned a letter Friday to three House GOP committee chairmen, citing Trump’s harsh rhetoric aimed at District Attorney Alvin Bragg and writing, “As Committee Chairmen, you could use the stature of your office to denounce these attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury.”

Dubeck continues, “Instead, you and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges and made unfounded allegations that the Office’s investigation, conducted via an independent grand jury of average citizens serving New York State, is politically motivated.”

Dubeck wrote to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, House Oversight Chair James Comer and House Administration Chair Bryan Steil for a second time on Friday, in light of the investigation the committee chairmen launched into the Manhattan DA shortly after Trump warned he would soon be arrested.

A spokesperson for Comer declined to comment. Spokespeople for Steil and Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In response to the House GOP’s inquiries into how federal funds were used in the probe, Dubeck disclosed that approximately $5,000 was spent “on expenses incurred relating to the investigation of Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization,” and added that that money came from “federal forfeiture money that the Office helped collect.” The letter says that no federal grant money was used toward expenses in the Trump investigation.

Dubeck specified that approximately $5,000 of federal forfeiture money was spent on expenses relating to Trump or the Trump organization between October 2019 and August 2021, and that most of that money had to do with Supreme Court litigation. In the last 15 years, Dubeck shared that the DA’s Office helped the federal government secure more than one billion dollars in asset forfeiture funds.

Dubeck also included details about the three federal grant programs the office participates in regarding its casework and shared, “no expenses incurred relating to this matter have been paid from funds that the Office receives through federal grant programs.”

Dubeck wrote that if the chairmen are not willing to call off their inquiry, the DA’s office is still willing to meet.

“If you will not withdraw your request, we reiterate our willingness to meet and confer with you or your staff about how we can accommodate your request without violating our obligations as prosecutors to protect the integrity of an ongoing criminal prosecution.”

Claiming the committees lack jurisdiction to oversee their state prosecution and discrediting any valid legislative purpose to their inquiry, Dubeck cites CNN reporting to claim that “it appears you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective.”

​ Orange County Register 

Pennsylvania factory explosion survivor, on fire, fell into chocolate vat

• March 31, 2023

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM and ACACIA CORONADO (Associated Press)

A woman pulled alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an explosion that killed seven co-workers says her arm caught fire as flames engulfed the building — and then she fell through the floor into a vat of liquid chocolate.

The dark liquid extinguished her blazing arm, but Patricia Borges wound up breaking her collarbone and both of her heels. She would spend the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for rescue as firefighters battled the inferno and choppers thumped overhead at the R.M. Palmer Co. factory.

“When I began to burn, I thought it was the end for me,” Borges, 50, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from her hospital bed in West Reading, Pennsylvania, just minutes from the chocolate factory where she worked as a machine operator. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board planned to interview Borges on Friday.

The March 24 blast at R.M. Palmer killed seven of Borges’s co-workers and injured 10. Federal, state and local investigations are underway. A cause has not been determined, but the federal transportation safety agency has characterized it as a natural gas explosion.

Borges said she and others had complained about a gas odor about 30 minutes before the factory blew up. She is angry Palmer didn’t immediately evacuate. She said the deaths of her co-workers — including her close friend, Judith Lopez-Moran — could’ve been prevented.

Others workers have also said they smelled natural gas, according to their relatives. Palmer, a 75-year-old, family-run company with deep roots in the small town 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia, has not responded to questions about the workers’ claims.

Speaking in Spanish over videoconference, her eyes bruised and her burned right arm heavily bandaged, Borges recounted her terrifying brush with death.

The factory was getting ready for a product switch that day, so instead of running a candy-wrapping machine as usual, she was helping to clean.

At 4:30 p.m., Borges told the AP, she smelled natural gas. It was strong and nauseated her. Borges and her co-workers approached their supervisor, asking “what was going to be done, if we were going to be evacuated,” she recalled.

Borges said the supervisor noted someone higher up would have to make that decision. So she got back to work.

Just before 5 p.m., the two-story brick building exploded.

Borges, who’d been on a ladder, was thrown to the ground. She heard screaming. There was fire everywhere, and the flames quickly overtook her. “I asked God why he was giving me such a horrible death,” she said. “I asked him to save me, that I didn’t want to die in the fire.”

She began to run. That’s when the floor gave way, and she could feel herself falling — into a long, horizontal tank of chocolate in the factory’s basement. At 4 feet, 10 inches tall, Borges landed on her feet in chest-high liquid.

The chocolate extinguished the flames, but she believes her fall is what broke her feet.

The vat began filling with water from firefighters’ hoses, eventually forcing Borges to climb out as it reached neck level. She sat on the lip of the tank, then jumped into a pool of water that had formed on the basement floor. Briefly submerged, Borges said she swallowed a mouthful of water before surfacing. She grabbed onto some plastic tubing.

And then she waited.

“Help, help, please help!” she yelled, over and over, for hours. No one came.

The pain grew more intense. The water was frigid. The main supply pipe for the building’s fire suppression system had ruptured — and water was pouring into the basement. She lost track of time but thought she might be there for days.

“The only thing I wanted was to get out of there,” she said.

Finally, in the middle of the night, she saw a light and screamed anew for help.

Search-and-rescue dogs had alerted their handlers that a survivor might be in the rubble. Now, as rescuers carefully worked their way down to the basement, they heard Borges’s cries.

Calling for quiet, the rescuers followed the sound of her voice. They found her in a tight space, in chest-deep water. She made her way to them and was placed in a litter.

“She was severely hypothermic and banged up,” conscious but “absolutely confused,” said Ken Pagurek, who helped lead rescue efforts as program manager of Pennsylvania Task Force 1, an emergency response team that deploys to disaster sites around the country.

“I think had they not gotten to her when they did, there was a very good chance the number of victims was going to be plus one,” said Pagurek, also a captain in the Philadelphia Fire Department.

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Her rescue gave hope to first responders who already had pulled two bodies from the rubble in the hours after the blast. Rescuers spent two more days at the pile. They found five more bodies but no additional survivors.

Borges now faces surgery on both feet and a long recovery. Her family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her pay the bills.

Borges, who came to the United States 31 years ago from Puebla state in south-central Mexico, has worked at Palmer for four years. She said she’s seeking accountability.

“I wanted to speak so that this will be prevented in the future,” she said. “For my colleague Judy, I want there to be justice.”

___

Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania and Coronado reported from Austin, Texas.

​ Orange County Register 

School shootings are a stain on America. Set aside the culture war gibberish and focus on solutions.

• March 31, 2023

A little over a week ago, I was visiting Guadalajara, Mexico, getting breakfast, when I struck up a conversation with one of the workers. 

He asked me what’s the most negative impression Americans have of Mexico. 

With the recent kidnappings and killings of Americans in Tamaulipas in mind, I replied something along the lines of, “That everywhere in Mexico is unsafe, with cartel violence ravaging every city.” 

We joked about how ridiculous an idea that is. 

I then asked him, in turn, what’s the most negative impression Mexicans have of Americans.

His response?

“There are people always going into the schools and shooting people.”

“Well, yes, that’s actually true,” I responded. 

“Really?” 

“Yes, unfortunately, it happens every few months. It’s crazy.”

And, sure enough, it has happened again.

To quickly recap, on Monday, six people — three children and three adults — were murdered at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.

This time, the shooter was a 28-year-old female who identified as transgender, was in possession of a detailed map of the school and had what police officials described as a manifesto.

Nashville’s police chief told NBC News the shooter legally purchased seven weapons and according to Nashville’s police chief was “under a ‘doctor’s care for an emotional disorder.’”

As is usual in the aftermath of mass shootings, the political discourse is mostly pretty stupid and unproductive.

President Joe Biden’s first press conference after the shooting involved him joking about ice cream before calling for an assault weapons ban he knows won’t happen. Because, yeah, he’s all there and totally serious. Right.

Right-wing pundits, meanwhile, fixated on the shooter being transgender mainly to score culture war points.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson went on air to hyperventilate that, “The trans movement is targeting Christians, including with violence.” 

Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson tweeted, with as of now 10 million views, “One thing is VERY clear: the modern trans movement is radicalizing activists into terrorists.”

And Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio tweeted, “If early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left. Giving in to these ideas isn’t compassion, it’s dangerous.”

Most trans people just want to live their lives; they’re not out “targeting Christians.”

This kind of hysterical rhetoric is designed to stir up angry, defensive responses against whole groups of people based on the violence of one disturbed person. 

If the idea is to push back against extremism, the right shouldn’t be using extremist rhetoric of its own. 

That some transgender people are also criminals doesn’t mean that transgender people in general should be painted as dangerous extremists, no more than non-transgender people  who commit crimes define everyone who is not transgender. 

If this all seems like obvious, “duh” stuff, that’s because it is. I’m just spelling it out because America’s political rhetoric is dominated by people constantly trying to out-outrage each other. 

Reducing anything to hysterical partisan talking points is bound to be silly.

Now, I’m not going to leave left-wingers off the hook either.

Left-wingers can be gross too.

Popular left-wing podcaster David Pakman, for example, tweeted, “Very surprising that there would be a mass shooting at a Christian school, given that lack of prayer is often blamed for these horrible events. Is it possible they weren’t praying enough, or correctly, despite being a Christian school?”

It’s not new for secular left-wingers to angrily mock people of faith for offering prayers after a mass shooting, but Pakman revealed an obviously callous disregard for the lives of the victims for the sake of a tweet bashing Christians and conservatives, as if that’s a reasonable response to a mass shooting.

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ press secretary, Josselyn Berry, thought it was a great idea to tweet out a gif of a woman pointing two guns at an unseen target with the words: “Us when we see transphobes.” She ultimately had to resign, obviously, because her encouragement of threatening gun violence against people isn’t exactly reasonable.

None of these sorts of responses are healthy or productive. 

Which finally brings to the “What should be done/What can be done?” issue.

What to do about public mass shootings is a hard problem. One, because public mass shootings are difficult to predict beforehand, two, because they usually involve handguns (not the so-called assault rifles), and three, we still have that thing called the Second Amendment (and a U.S. Supreme Court with a particular bent).

These are all constraints and complications.

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Some things can obviously be gleaned from the details of any particular mass shooting. In the case of the Tennessee shooting, there might or might not be something to the shooter being under a doctor’s care and the parents of the shooter saying they believed the shooter should not have owned weapons. I don’t think there’s much controversy to the idea that people who are known to be mentally troubled probably shouldn’t have access to guns; the key is obviously how to put together a constitutionally sound law with due process and clear thresholds. 

Admittedly, every possible set of solutions possible under the existing constraints admittedly feels inadequate and throws up serious trade-offs.

Boosting security at schools seems rational, for example. But at what cost? If we’re talking billions of dollars, is it possible we’d be better off putting that money into mental health treatment or crime prevention more generally? Let’s say sales of “assault weapons” were banned, what’s the next move going to be if/when, inevitably, a mass shooting doesn’t involve an assault weapon? Then what?

There’s something deeply wrong when kids are being murdered in their classrooms and it’s just a fact of life. It’s a hard thing to figure out and even try to solve. And the hysterics on the left and right make it impossible to try to have rational policy discussions. 

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register