When City Councilman Mark Murphy was elected mayor of Orange in 2000, the margin of victory was razor thin. With close to 37,000 votes cast, Murphy won by 280.
The campaign had been especially bitter as the city was embroiled in a debate over the merits of open space versus a 1,700-home development, a scandal over a trash company that cheated Orange of $4.3 million, and the historic renovation of the city’s beloved plaza.
Four years later, Murphy handily won reelection, a referendum on both his popularity and his ability to build consensus for the sake of the community. Nicknamed “Mr. Orange,” he was among the city’s fiercest boosters, frequenting antique car shows, the May Parade in Olde Towne and playing guitar at the city’s Concerts in the Park.
The veteran politician, who served as mayor for a third term in 2018, has died at age 67, according to city officials. No cause of death was given.
Named Orange’s Citizen of the Year in 2010, Murphy was a lifelong resident of the city, which he described on a Facebook post as “the best place to live, work and raise a family.” An account manager for Hewlett-Packard for 33 years until he retired in 2022, Murphy juggled his responsibilities to his clients alongside his duty to the city.
At a time when no-growth and slow-growth initiatives helped shaped politics in Orange County, Murphy was able to walk the line between meeting residents’ demands for more urban parks and the growing need for housing.
A graduate of USC, Murphy was named to the city’s planning commission in 1990, and three years later, he was elected to Orange City Council, a position he held three times over nearly three decades. In 1998, he was Orange County’s “Local Elected Official of the Year.”
He served on the Orange County Transportation Authority board in 2017 and was named OCTA chairman in 2022.
A Republican and member of the National Rush Limbaugh Fan Club, Murphy was not one to broadcast his conservative credentials. He once cited his favorite book as David Gergen’s “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership From Nixon to Clinton,” and his platforms often centered on core issues, including public safety, business growth and property rights.
He was proud of his work developing parks in the city, including the construction of the Grijalva Park gymnasium and sports center and the expansion of the city’s main library.
In 2022, he argued for the need to secure additional funds for public safety while acquiring space for parks, trails and open space.
“These resources must be secured through business prosperity and never through tax increases for our residents,” he told the Orange County Register.
When he lost his reelection campaign for mayor in 2022, he posted on Facebook a note of gratitude.
“It has been said that ‘politics creates very few friends and a whole lot of acquaintances,’” he wrote. “I feel truly fortunate for all of the friends that I have made as a part of this experience.”
Married for almost 30 years, Murphy and his wife, Vikki, were active in the YMCA and Orangewood Children’s Home.
“I’ve been blessed with so much in my life,” Murphy once said. “Everyone should have the kind of opportunities I’ve had growing up in Orange. Maybe I’ll be fortunate that when I’m 70, some kid I’ve helped now will look back and say, ‘I’m still friends with Mark Murphy.’ That would be the greatest tribute I could ever receive.”
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end the right to citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to undocumented parents shortly after he takes office next month.
In an interview earlier this month with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said he would attempt to do so through executive action.
“Yes, we’re going to end that, because it’s ridiculous,” Trump said.
But getting rid of birthright citizenship, a principle that can be traced in the U.S. to the end of slavery and the 14th Amendment of 1868, is highly unlikely. Here’s why:
What is birthright citizenship?
There are two types of citizenship recognized by the U.S. government: one based on descent, and another based on birthplace.
The first type grants U.S. citizenship to children born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent. The other guarantees that right to anyone born on U.S. soil, except the children of foreign diplomats.
The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. It states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Thirty years after its ratification, the Supreme Court ruled that birthright citizenship applied to those born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. It has been interpreted to apply regardless of a parent’s legal status.
The case centered on Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in 1873 to Chinese parents who were lawful permanent residents. He left the U.S. temporarily at age 21 to visit his parents, who had by then moved back to China. But upon his return, he was denied entry under the Chinese Exclusion Act on the ground that he was not a citizen. The nation’s highest court ruled that the 14th Amendment made Wong a citizen.
How does the U.S. compare to the rest of the world?
During the NBC interview, Trump erroneously said the U.S. is “the only country that has it.” In fact, more than 30 countries recognize birthright citizenship, most of them in the Western Hemisphere. Most countries around the world recognize citizenship by descent.
Sam Erman, a law professor at the University of Michigan who studies citizenship, said that the U.S. modeling birthright citizenship is part of the reason more countries have it now.
“If you have it based on descent, then you can end up with people who spend their whole lives in your country and don’t get to be members — and their children, and their children’s children,” Erman said.
Birthright citizenship, he said, “works as a way to ensure that the people being governed in a place are actually part of the place.”
Could Trump end it?
In a post last year on his campaign website, Trump wrote that he would issue an executive order his first day as president, directing federal agencies to “require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic U.S. citizens.”
He said the order would clarify that children of undocumented immigrants “should not be issued passports, Social Security numbers, or be eligible for certain taxpayer funded welfare benefits.”
On NBC, Trump said he would end birthright citizenship “if we can” through executive action.
Legal scholars broadly agree it is not within the president’s executive power to end birthright citizenship, leaving the courts or a constitutional amendment as the only ways to achieve a change.
Amending the Constitution is a rigorous process with a high bar that would require the approval of two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of each state legislature or state convention.
Targeting “anchor babies” and “birth tourism,” Trump planned to sign an executive order that would end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants during his first term. But he skirted the issue by instead issuing a rule to deny pregnant women visas if they appeared to be coming to the U.S. primarily to give birth.
Republicans have also introduced bills in Congress to end birthright citizenship, though none have passed. In September, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2024, which would end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and tourists.
After Trump’s recent comments, Graham said he is also working on a constitutional amendment to end the practice, which he has vocally opposed for decades.
“One of the most valuable commodities in the world is American citizenship,” Graham said during a news conference introducing his bill. “I can understand why almost everybody in the world would want to come to America and be a citizen. But we’ve got to have an orderly process when it comes to granting American citizenship. We have to have a process that is not exploited.”
Graham has said the Supreme Court probably would take up the case, noting that there has never been a ruling by the high court involving cases of birthright citizenship in which the parents are undocumented or are on temporary visas.
But Erman, the Michigan law professor, said it’s unlikely that even the conservative-leaning court would move to end birthright citizenship.
“Wong Kim Ark was decided by a court that was quite anti-minority and quite conservative, and even there the text and the history is just really clear,” he said. “If Wong Kim Ark could win in 1898, it feels like the precedent should be able to hold in 2024.”
What opposition would Trump face?
Any move to end birthright citizenship is sure to face legal challenges.
“Citizenship is both a bundle of rights and a form of belonging. Saying these people who are citizens are not really Americans I think does a lot of damage,” Erman said.
Migration experts have warned that repealing birthright citizenship would cause the number of people in the U.S. illegally to skyrocket. Democratic lawmakers have voiced their opposition after Trump’s recent comments.
“That concept of birthright citizenship is sort of like the backbone of America. It is very much a part of the history of our nation and it should continue as such,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said on CNN.
Even some Republicans have disagreed with Trump. Then-House Speaker Paul Ryan broke with Trump in 2018 when he said the president could not end birthright citizenship by executive order.
“As a conservative, I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process,” he said. “But where we obviously totally agree with the president is getting at the root issue here, which is unchecked illegal immigration.”
The Southern California housing market is downshifting.
The average home price in the six-county region fell 0.3% from October to $869,288 in November, according to Zillow, marking the fourth consecutive month of declines.
“There is really no urgency from buyers,” said Mark Schlosser, a Compass agent in the Los Angeles area. “They are waiting.”
Prices are now 1.3% off their all-time high in July, but some economists say prospective home buyers and sellers shouldn’t expect home values to plunge — one reason behind the shift is the market typically slows in the fall and prices are still above where they were a year ago.
Still, more homes are hitting the market and mortgage interest rates remain high, creating a situation of slightly more supply and slightly less demand.
As a result, annual price growth has slowed. Last month, Southern California home prices were 4.3% higher than a year earlier, compared to a recent peak of 9.5% in April.
Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist with Zillow, said he expects annual price growth in Southern California to slow further next year, but not turn negative.
Though more home owners are choosing to sell their home, many others still don’t want to give up their ultra-low mortgage rates they took out during the pandemic.
Divounguy said there’s also California’s long-running problem of building too few homes for all the people who want to live here. In some places that build more, prices are already falling compared to last year.
In the Austin metro area, prices were down 3.4% in November, according to Zillow.
“Until we see inventory catch up, like we have in some of these big metros that built a ton of housing, I don’t think we are going to see negative prices,” he said.
Locally, Zillow forecasts home prices in November 2025 to be 1.5% higher than they are today across Orange and Los Angeles counties. In the Inland Empire, values should climb 2.7%
Though prices may keep rising, if incomes climb as well and mortgage rates fall, the housing market could become more affordable to people looking to break in.
Depending on the time frame one looks at, that’s already happening to some extent.
Inflation and economic growth play a major role in the direction of mortgage rates. In May, mortgage rates were above 7%, but then steadily declined to 6.08% in September, amid signs inflation was easing and the economy was weakening.
Rates started climbing again, following stronger than expected job growth and fear among investors that an incoming Trump administration would institute policies such as sweeping tariffs and tax cuts that would reignite inflation.
In late November, mortgages rates hit 6.84%, but have declined somewhat since, clocking in at 6.6% as of Dec. 12, according to Freddie Mac.
In a statement announcing the latest mortgage rate figures, Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater noted that “while the outlook for the housing market is improving, the improvement is limited given that homebuyers continue to face stiff affordability headwinds.”
Housing prices by city and neighborhood
Note to readers
Welcome to the Los Angeles Times’ Real Estate Tracker. Every month we will publish a report with data on housing prices, mortgage rates and rental prices. Our reporters will explain what the new data mean for Los Angeles and surrounding areas and help you understand what you can expect to pay for an apartment or house. You can read last month’s real estate breakdown here.
Explore home prices and rents for November
Use the tables below to search for home sale prices and apartment rental prices by city, neighborhood and county.
Rental prices in Southern California
In the last year, asking rents for apartments in many parts of Southern California have ticked down.
Experts say the trend is driven by a rising number of vacancies, which have forced some landlords to accept less in rent. Vacancies have risen because apartment supply is expanding and demand has fallen as consumers worry about the economy and inflation.
Additionally, the large millennial generation is increasingly aging into homeownership, as the smaller Generation Z enters the apartment market.
Prospective renters shouldn’t get too excited, however. Rent is still extremely high.
In November, the median rent for vacant units of all sizes across Los Angeles County was $2,057, down 1.2% from a year earlier but 7.2% more than in November 2019, according to data from Apartment List.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman says he intends to terminate the contract of a special prosecutor that George Gascón hired to reopen investigations into fatal police shootings, a move that could shake up high-profile cases that involve controversial killings by officers.
The district attorney’s office said in a statement that it will “no longer be using” the services of Lawrence Middleton, a former federal prosecutor who convicted several Los Angeles police officers of violating Rodney King’s civil rights after they were acquitted in state court in the 1991 beating of the Black motorist.
Middleton was brought on by former Dist. Atty. Gascón in 2021 to reconsider charges in four separate shootings that former Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey’s administration declined to prosecute. Middleton’s contract expires in June, but Hochman has “the option to terminate” the agreement early and is in discussions with county lawyers to do so, the district attorney’s office said.
Middleton declined to comment. It is unclear whether Hochman or members of his administration have contacted Middleton or what day he will officially be removed as special prosecutor. Any cases he was reviewing will now be handled by the Justice Systems Integrity Division, the wing of the district attorney’s office that normally prosecutes cases of police and attorney misconduct.
Middleton’s hiring was an early attempt by Gascón to deliver on campaign promises to improve police accountability measures inside a prosecutor’s office that rarely, if ever, charged police in on-duty shootings before his election. But it also contributed to growing tensions between Gascón and his line prosecutors, who were frustrated by the idea their decisions could be overridden by an outsider. The amount of money the county planned to spend on an independent investigator added to the tensions: Some derisively called the veteran prosecutor “Millionaire Middleton.”
Records show Middleton billed the county for just over $1 million between June 2021 and October 2024. The average annual salary for a prosecutor in Los Angeles County is approximately $135,000, according to the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys. Middleton’s pay came directly from the district attorney’s office’s budget, according to a county spokesperson.
Gascón did not respond to a request for comment.
The former district attorney initially tasked Middleton with reviewing four cases: the 2015 death of Hector Morejon, who was unarmed and shot in the back by a Long Beach police officer responding to a trespassing call; the 2015 shooting of Brendon Glenn, an unarmed homeless man who was killed by an LAPD officer in Venice Beach; the 2013 shooting of Ricardo Diaz Zeferino by Gardena police; and the 2018 killing of Christopher Deandre Mitchell by Torrance police.
Middleton has struggled to get any of those cases inside a courtroom. Police are far more likely to be convicted of manslaughter than murder in on-duty killings, and the statute of limitations for the lesser crime had expired or nearly run out on three of the four shootings Middleton was set to review by the time he was hired in June 2021.
Last year, a grand jury indicted Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez on manslaughter charges in Mitchell’s death. Mitchell was sitting inside a stolen vehicle in a Ralph’s parking lot in Torrance when Concannon and Chavez approached him in December 2018, prosecutors have said. The officers ordered him out of the car and believed they saw a firearm — later revealed to be a “break barrel air rifle” — between his legs when they opened fire. Neither officer alleged Mitchell grabbed the weapon or pointed it at them before they began shooting.
The case has dragged on for well over a year with no trial date in sight. In August, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta denied a motion to dismiss the charges on the grounds they were legally deficient.
Middleton has argued the officers “created the jeopardy that led to the shooting,” by needlessly confronting Mitchell when he was not a threat and had no means of escaping arrest as the car was parked facing a wall, according to grand jury transcripts. The officers’ defense attorneys have argued Middleton is employing a “novel theory” and conflating a potential violation of police department policy with a crime.
Although Hochman’s move to fire the special prosecutor comes as little surprise — he frequently criticized Gascón over the hiring on the campaign trail — police accountability advocates and supporters of Mitchell’s family were nevertheless furious.
“When former District Attorney George Gascón brought on Lawrence Middleton as special prosecutor, it was a significant step towards police accountability,” said Melina Abdullah, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles. “D.A. Hochman’s removal of Middleton essentially gives cops the green light to kill our people and be as corrupt as they dare with absolute immunity.”
Concannon’s attorney, Lisa Houle, celebrated the news.
“We are not at all surprised by this. And when the public learns the true details of this case and the outrageous way the Gascón administration treated our client, no one else will be surprised either,” she said, without offering specifics.
Concannon remains on administrative leave, according to Houle, while Chavez is no longer a police officer. Both were among 15 officers linked to a racist text message scandal in the Torrance Police Department. The Times did not find evidence that Concannon and Chavez sent racist messages, but several sources and documents confirmed they were part of the text thread and under investigation as part of the scandal.
In October, The Times reported that L.A. County authorities had obtained an arrest warrant for ex-LAPD officer Clifford Proctor, who shot and killed Glenn in Venice in 2015. Neither Middleton or the district attorney’s office have commented on the case, but it was among those the special prosecutor was reviewing. Multiple sources told The Times that Proctor was set to be arrested in connection with Glenn’s death.
A criminal complaint has not been filed, and Proctor has not appeared in court. The only other means that could trigger an arrest warrant would be the obtaining of an indictment, as Middleton has done in the only other case he brought to court during his tenure. Attempts to contact Proctor have been unsuccessful.
Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor and founder of Fair and Just Prosecution, a nonprofit that advocates for criminal justice reform, said it was concerning that Middleton’s cases would be returned to the purview of the unit that had declined to bring charges under Lacey’s administration. Given Hochman’s close ties to law enforcement, she said quickly terminating Middleton’s contract could raise alarm bells.
“He’s faced with a challenge of reassuring the community that he’s going to run that office in a way that would bring accountability to these issues and not be tainted by the contributions he received that helped him win the office,” she said, referring to the millions Hochman received in financial support from law enforcement unions during the campaign.
Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that since Hochman has direct experience prosecuting police, which Gascón lacked, he does not need an outside expert. She also questioned the return on investment county taxpayers got from Middleton’s work.
“Hochman feels comfortable that he has experience and he probably has people in his office that he can turn to and direct them appropriately,” she said. “Money counts and expenses matter. He’s probably coming in and looking at his budget. Hiring outside experts is often one of the first areas you reexamine and you cut.”
Editor’s note: This story is a collaboration between MinnPost and Open Campus, with support from Ascendium Education Group. It was co-published with The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Minnesota this year has wiped out tuition bills for thousands of students applying to its public colleges. But big costs remain for some families.
That’s because paying for college requires paying for more than just tuition. North Star Promise, the state’s new free-tuition program for families earning less than $80,000 a year, is advancing in making college less expensive for low- and middle-income families. But it doesn’t mean college is suddenly affordable.
Eating and sleeping at the state’s public colleges comes with a hefty price tag. At the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, on-campus housing and food cost $13,856 a year. At Minnesota State University, Mankato, that rings in at $12,420. There are also other costs, such as transportation and textbooks, which the tuition-only awards don’t cover.
More than 16,700 students are receiving North Star Promise funds this fall, surpassing the state’s goal for the program’s first year. The state pitches the program online with slogans like: “Going to college doesn’t have to mean going into huge debt.” “No tuition. No fees. No kidding.”
Steven Roenfeldt, a pathways coordinator for St. Cloud Area School District 742, gives students guidance at Apollo High School’s “Future 100 event” on Tuesday, Oct. 29, in St. Cloud. Credit: MinnPost photo by Ava Kian
The reality that families can receive these funds and still struggle to pay for college limits the impact of the program, said Steven Roenfeldt, a pathways coordinator for St. Cloud Area School District 742.
Roenfeldt advises about 200 seniors each year on college and career options. Many of them are from low-income households. They will make their college decision based on whether they can live at home and eliminate housing costs.
“The incentive for our students to go beyond our community is not provided in the North Star Promise. They’re not saving any money,” he said.
Commissioner Dennis Olson
At St. Cloud State University, which Roenfeldt’s students often attend, on-campus housing and a meal plan costs $10,596 each year.
Dennis Olson, the state’s higher education commissioner, said in an interview that legislators focused on creating a program that would be sustainable and predictable from a budget standpoint.
Olson said he recognizes “there are going to be additional costs associated with going to college, beyond tuition and fees,” but the program’s flexibility is something of which he is proud. He called the program an “incredible first step” and said he expects efforts to build upon it.
Jeff Salinas-Jenni, a junior studying communication studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead, said he knows of students who mistakenly thought that North Star Promise covers housing. He feels the program has been talked about on campus as “free college for everyone.”
“But really, it’s not quite that,” he said. “It’s free college for folks that meet a certain income threshold, and even then, it’s not free college so much as free tuition, because college has other cost factors in there, as well.”
Salinas-Jenni, 32, lives off-campus and took three classes this past semester. This lowers his costs compared to other students. For the fall semester, he owed about $3,447 in tuition and fees, which was fully covered by state and federal grants, including North Star Promise.
Salinas-Jenni also qualified for supplemental state funds known as North Star Promise Plus. The award equals 15% of the value of a student’s Pell Grant — federal funds for low-income students — and isn’t restricted to tuition. It can be put toward housing, food, and other expenses.
Salinas-Jenni received about $232 in those supplemental funds this fall, according to his account statement. He took out several thousand dollars in federal loans to help cover other costs.
“I am grateful for the program and the help it provides students like myself,” he said in an email. “However, I think it is important to raise awareness of the hidden costs of college that come with housing, meal plans, and fees.”
Paying for college
North Star Promise isn’t the only state program available to help students pay for college in Minnesota.
There’s a state grant that goes toward cost of attendance for students from low- and moderate-income families, with maximum awards ranging from $7,845 at a public two-year college to $12,345 at a private four-year college. (North Star Promise doesn’t apply to students attending the state’s private colleges.)
There’s also a tuition program for American Indian students that provides funds before any other grants or awards are applied, a setup known as “first-dollar.”
North Star Promise works in reverse: As a last-dollar program, it kicks in to close whatever gap remains between a student’s tuition bill and the aid they’ve already received.
Minnesota’s 18 private colleges have warned the Legislature that Minnesotans who attend private colleges “with the same kind of financial needs” are left behind by North Star Promise. They’ve called on lawmakers to “prioritize financial aid fairness” in the next legislative session.
State Sen. Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis, one of the architects of the program, told MinnPost in an email that expanding North Star Promise to include private colleges remains too expensive.
The state distributed more than $900,000 to tribal and private colleges this year for grants to defray unexpected expenses. Students can receive up to $1,500 for rent payments, utilities, groceries or transportation.
A ‘hole in the middle’
About two-dozen states, including Michigan and Washington, have some version of a promise program, according to the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Last-dollar programs like Minnesota’s are the most common type, said Michelle Miller-Adams, a senior researcher at the institute.
North Star Promise is simpler than some promise programs in a few key ways.
For example, it doesn’t have an age limit or requirement for people to stay in the state after graduating, restrictions that can limit its effectiveness, Miller-Adams said.
The program’s structure means it benefits mostly families making between $60,000 and $80,000 per year. Families with incomes lower than that tend to receive Pell Grants and other state funds to cover tuition. In contrast, families with higher incomes don’t qualify.
“There’s always this hole in the middle,” Miller-Adams said. “College is so expensive that it winds up where people are earning too much money to qualify for Pell Grants, but not enough money to really afford college.”
Isaac Ecklof, 19, is a freshman at Minnesota State University Moorhead. After graduating from high school in Olivia, Minnesota, he took a year off to work and save money for future schooling, which he thought would likely be a trade school or two-year degree.
After hearing about the North Star Promise, he decided he wanted to attend a four-year university. He receives nearly $4,200 per semester in North Star Promise dollars but doesn’t qualify for the unrestricted supplemental funds. He quickly realized he’d have to use savings to pay to live on campus, something the university generally requires for freshmen. Housing and food costs about $11,000 a year.
Isaac Ecklof, a freshman at Minnesota State University Moorhead, is tapping into his savings to afford living on-campus. Credit: MinnPost photo by Craig Lassig
“It sounds like most people, even [those] who have the North Star promise, have to take out loans,” he said.
Those other costs are something the state’s Office of Higher Education was aware of when getting the word out about the program, said Keith Hovis, the office’s communications director.
The team focused on making their messaging as simple as possible, without being misleading. That meant pushing back when, during tests of the messaging, some suggested billing the program as “free college.”
“I was very vocal [in] saying, ‘That is not true,’” Hovis said. “Tuition needs to be there because if you say ‘free college,’ a person is automatically going to assume that includes any costs associated with college.”
North Star Promise and North Star Promise Plus are forecasted to cost about $73.6 million this fiscal year, according to projections released in November.
North Star Promise Plus is funded for three years, Olson said. Depending on the availability of funds in the future, he said state leaders will reassess whether to change the percentage of Pell dollars that it matches.
The program is one way state officials are working to increase the number of Minnesotans pursuing degrees. The state has a goal that 70% of adults will have a college degree or certificate by the end of next year. In 2023, about 63% of adults had one, according to the state’s Office of Higher Education.
Minnesota State credited North Star Promise as one of the factors that helped drive a systemwide 7.7% enrollment increase this year.
How North Star Promise works
There isn’t a special application process for North Star Promise. A student completes the FAFSA — the free application for federal student aid — and then, if they’re eligible, receives North Star Promise dollars from the in-state public colleges they apply to.
The exact amount they receive will vary, depending on their family income and what other aid they qualify for. The projected average award for this fiscal year is $2,110, according to a report the state sent the Legislature in February.
There’s been some interest in raising the income threshold of the program so more people can be eligible. Among the supporters: Students United, an advocacy group led by students who attend Minnesota’s seven state universities.
The current limit was designed to help “a majority of students in need of financial aid,” said Olson, the higher-ed commissioner.
State Sen. Omar Fateh
Fateh, the state lawmaker, said the Legislature should expand the program, which could include raising the income eligibility threshold or more gradually phasing out award amounts, instead of having a hard cutoff for families earning more than $80,000.
“Longer term, we want to see both more Minnesotans obtaining degrees – and fewer of them graduating with student loan debt,” he wrote.
The passage of the program came during the 2023 session at the Legislature when Democrats controlled the Senate, House and governor’s office and were able to push through a slew of progressive legislation.
The next session will have a divided Legislature — with a tie in the House, Democrat control of the Senate and DFL Gov. Tim Walz. That could make it more challenging for the program’s income ceiling to be increased. Still, Fateh said he will push to see it funded at the “highest level possible,” pointing to the success he’s seen so far in the first year.
Opening students’ eyes
Roenfeldt, the pathways coordinator in St. Cloud, thinks the program’s messaging did encourage students who might not have thought of college before to consider it.
“Just the idea of the North Star Promise incentivized them to think, ‘There is help for me, paying for schooling after high school,’” he said.
Billing the program as “free tuition” is useful marketing, Miller-Adams said.
“It’s very interesting to see that many of the students using these scholarships already had their community college covered through Pell grants, but they didn’t know that. So by saying, ‘Hey, it’s tuition-free,’ and putting that free message up front, you can bring a lot of people into the process,” Miller-Adams said.
North Star Promise brought Kara Cleveland, 33, back to college. She had taken a break after getting her associate’s degree in 2014 because she didn’t want to take out loans. She saved money in the hopes that one day she could get her bachelor’s degree — but working as a realtorwasn’t enough.
Kara Cleveland decided to return to college after learning about North Star Promise. She is now attending the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities part-time and studying psychology. Credit: MinnPost photo by Tony Nelson
“It wasn’t stacking up nearly as quickly as I was hoping,” she said. “My dream of going back to school seemed like it was more of a 10-year plan than a five-year plan like I had originally hoped.”
That changed when she found out about the North Star Promise from someone at a party. She is now attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities part-time and studying psychology. She lives off-campus and received about $1,920 this semester in North Star Promise and Plus funds.
The state is expecting to spend $260,000 through June 2025 marketing North Star Promise, including through paid social media ads, radio commercials, and digital signs at libraries and grocery stores.
In rural areas like Melrose, in central Minnesota, the state relies on relationships between counselors and students to help get the word out.
“Just like any other program, unless they actively follow an account or know … to follow along with it, I don’t think most students would know about it,” said Shelby Sawyer, a guidance counselor at Melrose High School. Staff at the school have pitched North Star Promise during financial-aid events and helped students promptly complete the FAFSA.
After the legislation creating North Star Promise passed last year, the Office of Higher Education put together a toolkit — translated into Hmong, Somali and Spanish — and sent it out to high schools, colleges and other community groups. “Continuing your education can help you go further and do more in life, especially without the burden of debt to hold you back,” the toolkit says.
Olson said the office is still hearing from students and families who are learning of the program for the first time.
“We continue to build that marketing strategy and that communication strategy even as the program gets off the ground,” he said.
Hawo Mohamed, a 17-year-old senior at Apollo High School in St. Cloud, learned about North Star Promise at a college fair in Minneapolis. Awareness among her friend group varies.
“One group of friends, perfectly clear, they know what they’re doing” she said. “Other group of friends [are like], ‘What the hell is that?’”
Mohamed’s father has a college degree. His experience opened her up to the idea of college.
“So many other people don’t have that kind of opportunity, don’t have that kind of support,” Mohamed said.
She hopes to attend the University of Minnesota in the fall.
Bruce and Mindy Silverstein fled their Malibu home as the wind-driven Franklin fire encroached on their neighborhood and watched in fear from a nearby hotel as the blaze threatened to destroy their home in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains.
The couple had moved to California from the East Coast 13 years ago to be closer to their children and had come to love their corner of paradise. They knew the dangers of wildfires and were not deterred after the devastating Woolsey fire ripped through the community in 2018, burning nearly 97,000 acres across the region and destroying more than 1,600 structures.
Instead, Bruce, a lawyer, was motivated after the fire to get involved in local government affairs to advocate for more community resources. In 2020, he was elected to the City Council and last month won reelection. He was sworn into office Dec. 9, the same evening the Franklin fire broke out, eventually ballooning to 4,000 acres and destroying eight homes and numerous other structures.
As of Sunday, the fire was 42% contained, officials said.
Malibu Councilman Bruce Silverstein and his wife, Mindy, stand in the fire-damaged living room in their home Dec. 15, 2024.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Silverstein’s learned this week that their house had caught fire but that firefighters managed to save the two-story structure off Malibu Canyon Road. Still, the couple lost most of their heirlooms and possessions to smoke and water damage.
“We’re lucky because we weren’t there first of all, and we were safe,” Mindy said. “We still have our memorabilia and our heirlooms and everything smoke damaged as they are, but we will get a chance to choose what we want to keep.”
Since evacuating their home, the Silversteins and their German shepard Rain Bu have stayed at a friend’s place for a night and at hotels as they waited to learn about the condition of their home.
The fire-damaged fireplace in the living room of Malibu Councilman Bruce Silverstein’s home.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
After a fire broke out in one of the home’s walls early Tuesday, the family was certain that their home was “toasted,” Bruce said. Security cameras showed the bushes and grounds around their home all ablaze.
After the fire had swept through the area, they learned that firefighters managed to break in and extinguish the fire.
“They gave us a tour of the house and showed us what had happened. They’re very proud of the work they did,” Bruce said. “They saved the house.”
The couple are still trying to figure out what they can salvage from what remains. They’ve been moved by the outpouring of support from friends and family, including a woman who gave them a bag of dog toys for Rain Bu and friends who have offered them places to stay.
“I think people are largely in gratitude right now,” said Bruce, who has received calls and emails from constituents about the fire. “It was what it was, and it couldn’t have been any different. But I think for the most part, I’m sensing the community sentiment is: ‘Thank God for the fire department.’ They saved everything. They saved lives. They saved properties. We had minimal homes that were destroyed.”
After the Woolsey fire, he helped organize an effort to reduce legal fees charged by law firms to residents who suffered losses in the fire. He also worked with a charity to bring in psychologists to help residents coping with the trauma of the fire and offer free therapy sessions.
He said that experience has prepared him to help residents and the city get through the aftermath of the Franklin fire.
Malibu Councilman Bruce Silverstein and his wife, Mindy, walk past debris after their home was damaged by the Franklin fire. They have no plans of moving.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In an email to residents, Bruce warned that contractors, lawyers, private insurance adjusters and other fire-related service providers are “flocking into Malibu [like] vultures to take advantage of our vulnerable position.”
“They claim to be offering help, but they are looking for work and have their own interests first,” he wrote. “We need to take our time, band together, and get the best service from the best service providers for the best prices for everyone.”
When asked whether they were considering moving out of Malibu, the Silversteins said they have no intentions of leaving. Other longtime residents who lost their homes to wildfires chose to stay and rebuild, Bruce said.
“I don’t think twice about it,” he said. “Just as long as we can afford to live there after we repair our home, I don’t have any desire to go anywhere else.”
Times staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.
Three large dogs attacked and fatally injured their owner at a neighborhood park in San Diego on Friday, officials said.
The man was not identified. A second victim who suffered “serious bite injuries while trying to assist the first victim” was taken to a hospital and was recovering, officials said.
All three dogs were euthanized Saturday, according to Nina Thompson, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Humane Society, which contracts with the city to help police handle animal incidents.
Thompson said the animals’ DNA had not been tested, making their breed uncertain. However, a second owner told officials that the animals had been purchased as “XL bullies” — a large, powerful bull mix that has been banned in other countries.
The San Diego Police Department, which responded to the attack, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thompson, in a statement provided to the Times, said Humane Society law enforcement officers responded to Mesa Viking Neighborhood Park in Mira Mesa at 12:13 p.m. Friday after receiving an “urgent call for assistance” from the San Diego police.
The Humane Society and police officers were able to control two of the dogs, before finding the third secured in a vehicle, Thompson said.
The dogs were impounded under “mandatory bite quarantine protocols,” Thompson said. The animals’ second owner later signed them over to the Humane Society, and agreed to their being euthanized.
The Humane Society had no previous record on the dogs, Thompson said. Video footage was recovered showing the owner walking the three dogs toward the park prior to the attack.
“Our hearts and deepest sympathies go out to the victim’s loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Thompson said.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped several Californians — including former San Joaquin Valley congressman Devin Nunes — for posts in his next administration.
Nunes, a Republican and former dairy farmer from Tulare, resigned his House seat after nearly two decades in 2022 to become chief executive of Trump Media & Technology Group, which is the parent company of the president-elect’s Truth Social platform. On Saturday, Trump announced on the platform that he had selected Nunes to serve as chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
The board “exists exclusively to provide the President with an independent source of advice” on intelligence matters, and “has access to all information necessary to perform its functions,” according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Its members do not require Senate confirmation.
Trump wrote that Nunes would use his experience as former chair of the House Intelligence Committee “and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax” to provide Trump with “independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety” of actions taken by the U.S. intelligence agencies.
Nunes was a staunch ally of Trump throughout the House’s investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, which Nunes helped lead given his intelligence committee post. He dismissed various connections between Trump campaign officials and Russian assets even as now-Sen. Adam B. Schiff — a Democrat from California on the intelligence committee — alleged Trump’s team had colluded with the Russians and the Justice Department pursued its own investigation.
Trump said Nunes would maintain his CEO position with Trump Media. Trump has also nominated other Trump Media officials to prominent posts in his administration — including pro wrestling mogul Linda McMahon, his pick for Education secretary, and Kash Patel, his pick for FBI director.
Patel is a former staffer on the House Intelligence Committee under Nunes, and a fellow Trump loyalist.
Nunes wrote on Truth Social that he was “looking forward to serving our great nation again” under Trump. On Fox News, Nunes sang Patel’s praises and said they would work together — with Trump’s other justice and intelligence nominees — to “restore integrity back into” the system.
“It’s critical to do what the president wants to do, what he promised the American people, [which] is to get these agencies focused on going after bad guys and keeping Americans safe,” Nunes said.
Trump also on Saturday named Richard “Ric” Grenell, another loyalist from California, as his “envoy for special missions” — a role that does not currently exist.
Grenell, who during Trump’s first term served as acting director of national intelligence and as ambassador to Germany, previously worked at the United Nations Security Council.
Trump said Grenell “will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” and “will continue to fight for Peace through Strength, and always put AMERICA FIRST.”
Grenell called working under Trump “an honor of a lifetime” in a post on X.
“President Trump is a problem solver who keeps Americans safe and prosperous,” he wrote. “We have so much to do. Let’s get to work.”
Grenell is a firebrand known for his caustic attacks on social media. He was heavily criticized by German officials while ambassador — one called him “a biased propaganda machine” — and his appointment as acting national intelligence director during Trump’s first term was met with scorn from Democrats, who said he lacked the intelligence experience necessary for the post.
Grenell, who has a home in Palm Springs and previously taught at the USC Annenberg School of Communication, has also drawn both support and derision from California lawmakers.
Grenell, who is gay, has been flagged as anti-LGBTQ+ by queer rights groups for railing against transgender youth rights and the Equality Act. When California Republicans honored Grenell on the California Senate floor in the name of Pride Month in 2023, several Democrats walked off the floor in protest — including gay state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who called Grenell “a guy who is truly a self-hating gay man, who takes tons of anti-LGBTQ positions.”
Trump on Saturday also nominated former Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar to serve as deputy secretary of Homeland Security.
Edgar, an IBM executive, previously served in Trump’s first term as chief financial officer and as associate deputy undersecretary of management for Homeland Security.
In a Truth Social post announcing his selection, Trump credited Edgar with helping to lead a “revolt” against sanctuary cities as mayor of Los Alamitos, a tiny Orange County city.
“I am very excited to have Troy on our team, as he will help us Make America Great Again!” Trump wrote.
The California Values Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 2018, restricts local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials in many cases. Edgar and other Los Alamitos officials approved an ordinance that tried to exempt the city from the state law — galvanizing support from other conservative officials in the state and drawing the attention of Trump, who invited Edgar to the White House.
The Trump administration sued to block the California law, but the Supreme Court rejected the challenge in 2020, leaving the law intact.
Newport Beach police rescued the driver of an SUV that was found submerged in the ocean at Corona del Mar State Beach early Saturday morning, officials said.
Photos from the fire department show the black Jeep deep in the water and being battered by waves.
Newport Beach police arrived about 5:30 a.m. and rescued the individual from the vehicle, officials said. The person, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Public works employees used heavy equipment to remove the Jeep from the water so that it could be towed away.
“The teamwork and determination of all responders were critical in overcoming the hazards posed by the early morning surf,” fire officials said in a social media post.
Police are continuing to investigate, including how the SUV ended up in the surf.
A sports memorabilia auction is never as gripping as the ballgame that gave the item being auctioned immense value. But bidding for the baseball Freddie Freeman crushed for a grand slam that gave the Dodgers a walkoff victory in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees in October did generate its own brand of drama.
The ball was sold for $1.56 million Saturday night by SCP Auctions, but not after a spirited back-and-forth between bidders that extended the bidding 2½ hours beyond the initial deadline.
The money goes to the family of the 10-year-old boy who corralled the ball in the right-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium amid the delirious celebration after Freeman homered with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Dodgers one out away from defeat.
The moment will forever live among the very best in Dodgers history, rivaling Kirk Gibson’s eerily similar walkouff homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. The memory will always be cherished by Zachary Ruderman and his parents, Nico and Anne. The money will be life-changing for the Venice family.
Yet it appeared the bidding wouldn’t reach seven figures when the highest offer was $800,000 with five minutes left in the weeklong auction. But a bid of $850,000 triggered a 30-minute extension, which again counted down to nearly zero before a $900,000 bid was entered.
On it went, each extension nearly expiring before the next bid was made, all the way to $1.3 million. The buyer’s premium and fees hiked the total to $1.56 million.
“It was crazy,” said David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions. “Sometimes it happens. We are thrilled at the result and are honored to handle one of the most important artifacts in World Series history.”
The record auction price for a baseball is $4.392 million, set only two months ago for the ball Shohei Ohtani hit at LoanDepot Park in Miami on Sept. 19 to become the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season. The previous record of $3.05 million was paid in 1999 for Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from the 1998 season.
How the money from the sale of the Ohtani ball will be divided is in dispute. Max Matus filed a lawsuit in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court against the man who ended up with the ball, Christian Zacek, fellow Florida resident Kelvin Ramirez and Goldin Auctions, claiming ownership of the ball.
There is no such controversy surrounding the Freeman ball, which soared directly at Zachary Ruderman, whose avowed favorite player is Freeman and who keeps score at the frequent games his family attends.
“Everybody was on their feet, nobody was even sitting,” Zachary told The Times. “I was standing on the bleacher seat so I could see. A second or two after the crack of the bat, I realized it was coming directly toward us.
“It was honestly a reaction, an instinct.”
Everyone sitting around him was delirious with joy at the Dodgers victory, remaining at the stadium while the team celebrated on the field. Nobody tried to snatch the ball from him.
An overjoyed Zachary Ruderman holds the ball the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hit for a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.
(Courtesy of Nico Ruderman)
“Hundreds of people were mobbing me,” Zachary said. “So many people wanted to take a photo with me and the ball. It was overwhelming.”
Early the next morning, Zachary accompanied his mom, Anne, on a business trip. He wore a Dodgers cap and T-shirt and a flight attendant asked him if he’d watched the walk-off home run.
“Yeah,” Zachary replied, “I caught it.”
The flight attendant jumped on the plane’s public address system and announced Zachary’s great fortune to the other passengers. He stood from his seat to applause.
The most expensive MLB item ever sold at auction is Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series jersey, which sold for $24.12 million in August 2024. The Yankees No. 3 road jersey was worn by Ruth when he hit his legendary “called shot” home run at Wrigley Field.
The identity of the new owner of the Freeman ball has not been made public. Zachary Ruderman has had his moment of fame and — now — fortune, and his family only hopes the ball will be be displayed for Dodgers fans to enjoy and reminisce.
“It’s a lot more attention than my son has ever had,” Nico Ruderman said. “People recognize him. I mean, literally everywhere we go people stop him and want to take pictures with him. He’s really actually been loving it. It’s been a fun experience for him.
“It’d be great if the ball is displayed in Dodger Stadium so fans can see this special piece of history.”
