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Russia hurries to annex occupied Ukraine amid Kyiv’s gains Tribune Content Agency
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A homeless encampment is set up in between North Texas Street and Tabor Avenue in Fairfield, Tuesday.
‘Quality of care’
Fairfield council makes it easier for homeless shelters to open; sets operational standards Todd R. Hansen
THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — The City Council took steps Tuesday to make it easier for organizations to provide emergency shelter beds for the estimated 200 to 250 homeless in the city. Mayor Harry Price urged the council to take action because of the changing weather. “The rain and cooling temperatures are going to make it difficult on people,” Price said. The council approved an urgency ordinance to create a Homeless Shelter Program and adopted a resolution implementing a streamlined and less stringent Emergency Homeless Shelter Program permit process. However, new shelter operational standards come with the action. “This will ensure not only a safe and secure environment, but also a consistent quality of care across all Fairfield shelters and operationalize the city’s commitment to providing low-barrier, housing-first and emergency shelter services to those without a place
to live in our community. New applicants proposing emergency shelter services would apply for a permit and would be required to follow the new Emergency Shelter Operational Standards to
it,” said Dawn La Bar, the Homeless Services manager, noting the importance of protecting the residents of the shelters as well as the neighborhoods around the sites. The permit must be renewed each year, and can be revoked if the shelter does not meet the city’s standards. The program remains in place as long as the declared shelter crisis exists. The city declared that a crisis existed in September 2018 in order — Dawn LaBar, Homeless Services manager to qualify for the State Homeless Emergency Aid Program. operate,” the staff report to the The council’s action comes council states. Housing first means those using about about six months after the the shelter do not have to be sober council approved a zero tolerance or part of a diversion program to policy for homelessness because, get an emergency bed. However, in part, the city staff reported Fairagencies setting up shelters can field has access to enough shelter beds – and other options – to house opt to include that provision. Operational standards address, all the houseless and at-risk resiamong other details, admission dents in the city. La Bar said in a phone interand denial of admission, hours of view the information provided to operation, curfew, sleeping hours, the council was not accurate, and length of stay, as well as resident that in her experience, the city rights and responsibilities. has never had enough shelter beds “It actually requires every department to put their eyes on See Care, Page A8
‘In my experience here and in my role in the city, there is not enough shelter and housing to address the number of homeless here in Fairfield.’
Council wants more time to respond to grand jury report on homeless shelter Todd R. Hansen
THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — The City Council was a little confused Tuesday about whether it should approve the staffcrafted response to the 2021-22 Solano County civil grand jury report on Shelter Solano and the government’s response to homelessness in general. So the council voted, instead, to send a letter to Superior Court Judge Wendy Getty, the presiding judge who oversees the grand jury, asking for an extension on the Oct. 3 deadline for a response. The council also put off any decision about whether to support a forensic audit of Shelter Solano Inc., a grand jury recommendation
Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic
Shelter Solano in Fairfield is shown Tuesday. that Solano County has already rejected. The grand jury’s report, “Shelter Solano Inc.: A Review of its First Three Years Operating an Emergency Shelter in Solano County,” is critical of the response of local governments to homelessness and
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suggests the lack of oversight and accountability “opens the door to the potential for a homeless industrial complex that benefits the nonprofits without accomplishing the task at hand.” Three specific findings were the issue for the council, each
dealing with the separation of Shelter Solano Inc, the emergency shelter on Beck Avenue, and its parent company, Shelter Inc. The grand jury noted its confusion over the separation of funding and services, and the city stated that it concurred. But John Eckstrom, the chief executive officer of Shelter Inc., said he was “befuddled” over the confusion and asked how the city could be confused if it had been paying the two entities for the past three years. He said the grand jury was provided all the contracts and audits, each spelling out where the funding goes and for what it is used. Interim City Manager
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See Report, Page A8
The Kremlin is moving hastily to stage sham votes on annexing the regions of Ukraine its forces still control, after Kyiv’s military drove Russian troops from large areas of territory taken in their sevenmonth-old invasion. The so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as Kherson, may hold their votes as soon as this weekend, Interfax quoted officials as saying Tuesday. Ukraine and its allies have denounced the referendums as illegal and few countries are likely to recognize the results. Russian-backed officials in Zaporizhzhia, where they don’t hold even the regional capital, still vowed to move quickly toward a vote. In Moscow, officials said they’d grant the regions’ requests to be annexed if they made them. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who’s now deputy head of the
Security Council, said the annexation would be “irreversible” and enable Russia to use “all possible force in self-defense” in the newly-acquired territory. The move threatens to escalate the conflict even further, potentially giving President Vladimir Putin the formal legal basis to use nuclear weapons to defend what Moscow would consider Russian territory. Annexation, even though it’s sure to be rejected internationally, would likely torpedo any future peace talks, as Russia has said it won’t cede territory it considers its own while Kyiv has refused to give up any land taken by Moscow. Putin is laying down another ultimatum to Kyiv and its U.S. and European allies with the implicit threat of nuclear escalation, said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the R.Politik research group. “To guarantee ‘victory,’ See Russia, Page A8
UN meetings start with US looking to shore up ally unity on Ukraine Tribune Content Agency UNITED NATIONS — The world’s leaders converged on the United Nations on Tuesday for the opening sessions of the body’s annual General Assembly, held in person for the first time in three years, but with twin crises of war in Ukraine and famine in Africa weighing heavily on the gathering. President Joe Biden, who addresses the assembly on Wednesday, and his diplomatic team are working to buoy unity among allies to continue arming and supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion. With winter coming and fuel prices soaring, U.S. officials fear some European countries may be tempted to slim down their support. The war has hurt
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United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, Tuesday. gas supplies but done even more damage to the export of millions of tons of grain, fertilizer and cooking oil, exacerbating famine and food shortages in many parts See Unity, Page A8
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