Trump sides with churches on FEMA aid
President Donald Trump stepped into a church-state dispute Friday night, tweeting support for Texas churches that were damaged by Hurricane Harvey and want assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Mr. Trump’s tweet came after three Texas churches filed a lawsuit last week challenging a policy from FEMA that excludes houses of worship from disaster relief grants.
The Harvest Family Church, the Hi-Way Tabernacle and the Rockport First Assembly of God were all damaged during Harvey, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Southern District of Texas. Hi-Way Tabernacle serves as a FEMA staging center, sheltering up to 70 people and distributing over 8,000 emergency meals.
The churches are not eligible for money from FEMA, which “categorically excludes houses of worship from equal access to disaster relief grants because of their religious status,” according to the lawsuit, which asks the court to declare FEMA’s church exclusion policy unconstitutional.
Airlines criticized
Amid complaints of airlines taking advantage of those trying to flee Hurricane Irma, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., have asked Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao to look into reports of possible price gouging.
A tweet that went viral last week sparked outrage over suspected price gouging by airlines of Hurricane Irma evacuees. A Twitter user posted a screenshot showing that Delta had raised the ticket price from $547 to over $3,200.
Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., also wrote to Ms. Chao, calling for an investigation of United Airlines after receiving several complaints over airfare increases.
Mayor’s reach questioned
NEWYORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio should be at the peak of his powers. Crime is down. The economy is up. He has scared away his most serious possible challengers this election year.
But in two dozen interviews with his aides and allies, city officials, leading political strategists and veterans of New York politics, there was near-universal agreement that though Mr. de Blasio is on more of a glide path to re-election than any mayor in a generation, he is struggling to project his political voice in a job that has long produced towering national figures.
He has spent the second half of his first term bogged down in internecine fights with the governor, battling with and lecturing the press, and fending off federal and state pay-to-play investigations involving his donors. His ventures to expand his influence beyond New York City have mostly flopped: An effort to organize a presidential forum in Iowa collapsed; his nonprofit to pursue a national progressive agenda is in mothballs; and he’s been passed over for prominent national speaking roles.
Eel poaching increases
NEWYORK — The price of young American eels has surged amid high demand for the fish in Asia, prompting poachers in the U.S. to step up their activities.
American eel, or Anguilla rostrata, is one of the most prominent eel species, along with European eel and Japanese eel.
In the United States, only licensed fishermen are allowed to catch eel in Maine and South Carolina as a means of promoting conservation. More cases of unlicensed eel fishing have been reported in Massachusetts and Virginia. Eel fishing is prohibited in both states.