## "There will be strings attached": GOP Sen. says Los Angeles wildfire aid won't be "blank check"

Authored by salon.com

GOP lawmakers are already considering how they can use the Los Angeles wildfires to extract concessions from California.

"There can’t be a blank check on this, however, because people want to make sure that as rebuilding occurs... that these sorts of things can’t happen again," he said.

"The policies of the liberal administration out there, I believe have made these fires worse.”.

Barrasso went on to envision an aid package with "strings attached.".

Disaster aid should never come with strings attached," he wrote.

Conservative narrative-shapers like Libs of TikTok and Fox News hosts like Jesse Watters have both blamed the fires on diversity initiatives.

DEI is deadly," Watters said earlier this week, before claiming that the state was "scrub[bing] white males from the fire department.”. »

### As Los Angeles burned, Latino immigrants rushed in to put out fires

Authored by npr.org

As Los Angeles burned, Latino immigrants rushed in to put out fires.

Maria Garcia does not live in the neighborhoods that have been consumed by the massive Eaton Fire in northeast Los Angeles this week.

Then there were the crews of Latino immigrants who rushed in from elsewhere to help. »

### Donald Trump has gone silent on working class cost of living issues | Opinion

Authored by citizen-times.com

For the past two years, Donald Trump has spread fear about the state of the United States and championed himself as the only man capable of saving the country from itself.

Despite two years of constant finger-pointing at the Biden administration for rising grocery prices that were actually decreasing during that time, since the election, Trump has gone dead silent on the issue of working class cost of living issues.

Brad Gutierrez, Ph.D., is a retired U.S. Air Force combat pilot, professor of political science, military diplomat, and senior public policy civil servant. »

### After 15 years of awesome speedrun events, Games Done Quick has raised over $54 million for charity with AGDQ 2025 bringing in $2.5 million

Authored by gamesradar.com

Games Done Quick has raised over $54 million for charities over the last 15 years of its awesome speedrunning life.

That brings Games Done Quick's entire lifetime charity total to more than $54 million raised, according to one viewer's stat breakdown.

Super Metroid by Andy, Oatsngoats, imyt and Eddie in 1:19:50 - Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 - YouTube Watch On. »

### Florida Voters Sue Gov. DeSantis For Failing to Call Special Elections

Authored by democracydocket.com

The ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a couple voters against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for failing to call special elections for two vacant seats in the state legislature.

The voters from Brevard and Santa Rosa counties argued DeSantis violated his mandatory duty to set special elections for vacancies under the Florida constitution and state law.

DeSantis’s refusal to do so is both troubling and illegal,” said Nicholas Warren, staff attorney for the ACLU of Florida. »

## In pictures

## Also in the news

#### Enabling Trump is a bad look for Fetterman | Editorial

#### Golf fan wins $100,000 after making hole-in-one over Bryson DeChambeau’s house

#### South Carolina peach grower took money from farmworkers' pay for political donations, feds say

#### Jan. 6 rioter who cursed cops, smashed window gets 11 months

#### Zelenskyy shows interrogation of North Korean POWs, proposes their exchange – video