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Here’s what happened when L.A. residents were guaranteed $1,000 a month

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Some of L.A.’s poorest families received cash assistance of $1,000 a month as part of a 12-month pilot project launched nearly three years ago. There were no strings attached and they could use the money however they saw fit.

Now, a new study finds that the city-funded program was overwhelmingly beneficial.

Participants in the program experienced a host of financial benefits, according to an analysis co-authored by University of Pennsylvania and UCLA researchers. Beyond that, the study found, the initiative gave people the time and space to make deeper changes in their lives. That included landing better jobs, leaving unsafe living conditions and escaping abusive relationships.

“If you are trapped in financial scarcity, you are also trapped in time scarcity,” Dr. Amy Castro, co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, told The Times. “There’s no time for yourself; there’s no time for your kids, your neighbors or anybody else.”

The Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot, or BIG:LEAP, disbursed $38.4 million in city funds to 3,200 residents who were pregnant or had at least one child, lived at or below the federal poverty level and experienced hardship related to COVID-19. Participants were randomly selected from about 50,000 applicants and received the payments for 12 months starting in 2022.

Castro and her colleagues partnered with researchers at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health to compare the experiences of participants in L.A.’s randomized control trial — the country’s first large-scale guaranteed-income pilot using public funds — with those of nearly 5,000 people who didn’t receive the unconditional cash.

Researchers found that participants reported a meaningful increase in savings and were more likely to be able to cover a $400 emergency during and after the program. Guaranteed-income recipients also were more likely to secure full-time or part-time employment, or to be looking for work, rather than being unemployed and not looking for work, the study found.

“Instead of taking the very first job that was available, that might not have been a lasting, good fit for the family, [the participants were] saying, ‘Hold on a minute, I have a moment to sit and think and breathe, and think about where I want my family to be,’ ” said Dr. Stacia West, also a co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research.

In a city with sky-high rents, participants reported that the guaranteed income functioned as “a preventative measure against homelessness,” according to the report, helping them offset rental costs and serving as a buffer while they waited for other housing support.

It also prevented or reduced the incidence of intimate partner violence, the analysis found, by making it possible for people and their children to leave and find other housing. Intimate partner violence is an intractable social challenge, Castro said, so to see improvements with just 12 months of funding is a “pretty extraordinary change.”

People who had struggled to maintain their health because of inflexible or erratic work schedules and lack of child care reported that the guaranteed income provided the safety net they needed to maintain healthier behaviors, the report said. They reported sleeping better, exercising more, resuming necessary medications and seeking mental health therapy for themselves and their children.

Compared with those who didn’t receive cash, guaranteed income recipients were more likely to enroll their kids in sports and clubs during and after the pilot.

Los Angeles resident Ashley Davis appeared at a news conference Tuesday about the study findings and said that her health improved because she could afford to buy fruits, vegetables and smoothies. Before, she was pre-diabetic and “my cholesterol was going through the roof,” Davis said.

“I was neglecting my own needs,” said Davis, who described herself as a single mother of a special-needs child. She switched careers and is now studying to be a nurse, she said.

Abigail Marquez, general manager of the Community Investment for Families Department, which helped oversee BIG:LEAP, said she’s spent 20 years working on various anti-poverty programs.

“I can say confidently that this is by far the most transformative program,” Marquez said.

BIG:LEAP was one of the largest of more than 150 guaranteed-income pilot programs launched nationwide in recent years. The program was funded through the city budget and included $11 million that city leaders moved from the Police Department budget in response to nationwide protests after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

Despite the positive research findings, programs like BIG:LEAP have raised concerns among some taxpayer groups.

“It’s simply wrong for the city government to take tax dollars earned and paid by people who are trying to pay their own bills and transfer that money to other people chosen by the government to receive it,” the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. said in a statement. “Guaranteed-income programs are appropriately funded voluntarily by charitable organizations and foundations, not forcibly through the tax code.”

Councilmember Curren Price, whose South Los Angeles district includes some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods, introduced a motion Tuesday to continue a version of the pilot with a focus on people in abusive relationships and young adults in need of mental health and emotional support.

Price said he would contribute $1 million toward the next phase from his council funds. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez also pledged $1 million.

Beyond that, it’s not clear where the next round of funding would come from. Price expressed hope the city would continue to support the effort through the general budget.

“I don’t know how realistic it is that it’s going to be $40 million again,” Price said. “But I think it’s realistic that we could receive something.”

This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.



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Indiana pair arrested for allegedly stealing bronze veteran burial markers from headstones

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Two people are facing charges in Indiana in connection with a series of thefts of bronze veteran markers from headstones from various veteran burial locations in the Hoosier State.

Terry Wood, 53, and Breanna Puentez, 25, were taken into custody Friday after at least 15 grave markers from six different cemeteries in La Porte County last month were reported stolen while another was reportedly damaged, the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Both suspects are facing several felony counts of theft and cemetery mischief.

The sheriff’s office publicly announced the investigation into the stolen grave markers on Aug. 28 and urged residents to visit the grave sites of deceased veterans. The next day, the agency said investigators received credible information identifying a suspect.

FORMER INDIANA SHERIFF PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGES OF SPENDING FUNDS ON TRAVEL, GIFTS, CARS

Terry Wood and Breanna Puentez

Terry Wood, 53, and Breanna Puentez, 25, are facing felony counts of theft and cemetery mischief. (La Porte County Sheriff’s Office)

Detective Jake Koch, a veteran himself, led the investigation, which revealed that the grave markers were taken from cemeteries in Union Mills, Rolling Prairie, Carmel, Pinola, Greenwood and St. Stan’s.

Investigators presented evidence to the La Porte County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and later to La Porte County Circuit Court, where probable cause was found for Wood’s arrest.

The “Justice, Peace, and Salute” operation was executed Friday in the 400 block of Andrew Avenue in La Porte, where Wood was arrested, and additional evidence was collected.

Police siren

The investigation revealed that the grave markers were taken from cemeteries in Union Mills, Rolling Prairie, Carmel, Pinola, Greenwood and St. Stan’s. (iStock)

Later that day, Puentez was taken into custody and charged in connection with the thefts.

“This type of criminal behavior is disgusting, unacceptable, and will not be tolerated in La Porte County! It is the hope of the entire Sheriff’s Office that because of the diligent and thorough investigation by Detectives Koch and Banic, justice will be served to both accused subjects. Hopefully, US Veterans, both deceased and living, can find peace and comfort with these arrests, and with that, we salute them for their service,” Capt. Derek J. Allen said in a statement.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTED AFTER STABBING OF TEEN GIRL AT INDIANA BASEBALL GAME: POLICE

Police car

Both suspects were booked into the La Porte County Jail. (iStock)

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Both suspects were booked into the La Porte County Jail.

Wood is being held on a $15,005 cash-only bond, while Puentez is not eligible for bond because she was out on bond.



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Wordle Answer for Today, September 10, 2024

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If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 10, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 10, Wordle #1,179! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are four common letters from our mnemonic today. The fifth letter is fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

As a noun, a person in opposition, with or without a cause.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel, used twice.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with R. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with L. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is REBEL.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, followed by PYLON to eliminate likely consonants. This left a few possible solutions, of which REBEL was the most common word.

Wordle 1,179 4/6

🟩⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “a type of card you carry in your wallet” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was DEBIT.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:





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Israeli strikes kill 40 in Khan Younis, Hamas-run authorities say

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At least 40 people have been killed in southern Gaza and dozens more injured in Israeli strikes on a designated humanitarian zone, the Hamas-run Civil Defence authority said.

The Israeli military said its aircraft attacked an operations centre in Khan Younis belonging to Hamas fighters, and that it had taken steps to mitigate risk of harming civilians.

Local residents said three strikes targeted tents housing displaced people in the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, west of the city of Khan Younis, causing huge craters.

“Forty people were killed and more than 60 injured, while many are still under the rubble,” the operations director of Hamas’s civil defence authority told the BBC.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC large explosions rocked the al-Mawasi area shortly after midnight and flames could be seen rising into the sky.

Khaled Mahmoud, a volunteer for a charity who lives near the site of the strikes, said he and other volunteers rushed to help but were stunned by the scale of the disaster.

“The strikes created three craters seven metres deep and buried more than 20 tents,” Mr Mahmoud said.

Unverified videos showed civilians digging through the sand with their hands in an attempt to rescue Palestinians from a deep hole caused by the airstrikes.

Posting on Telegram, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said it had attacked “key terrorists of the terrorist organisation Hamas who were operating in a command and control complex disguised in the humanitarian area in Khan Younis”.

“Prior to the attack, many measures were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, air strikes and additional intelligence information,” the spokesperson added.

“This is another example of the systematic use by the terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip of the population and civilian infrastructure, including the humanitarian space, for the purpose of carrying out terrorist acts against the State of Israel and the IDF forces.”

Hamas rejected the Israeli military’s claims that there were Hamas fighters present in the area, calling it a “blatant” lie.

“The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or using these places for military purposes.”

Thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to Khan Younis since Israel launched its military campaign in the territory last October.

The ground operation was launched in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 40,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.



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