By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

While some people last Friday dressed in Halloween costumes or handed out candy to trick-or-treaters, a group of U.S. data scientists published a list of “dearly departed” datasets that have been axed, altered or had topics scrubbed since President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year.

The timing of the release of the “Dearly Departed Datasets” with “All Hallows’ Eve” may have been cheeky, but the purpose was serious: to put a spotlight on attacks by the Trump administration on federal datasets that don’t align with its priorities, including data dealing with gender identity; diversity, equity and inclusion; and climate change.

Officials at the Federation of American Scientists and other data scientists who compiled the list divided the datasets into those that had been killed off, had variables deleted, had tools removed making public access more difficult and had found a second life outside the federal government.

The good news, the data scientists said, was that the number of datasets that were totally terminated number in the dozens, out of the hundreds of thousands of datasets produced by the federal government.

The bad news was that federal data sets were still at risk because of loss of staff and expertise by federal government workers who lost their jobs or voluntarily departed under Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz, and data that reflected poorly on the Republican administration’s policies could still be in the cross-hairs, they said.

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The “dearly departed” figures which were killed off include a Census Bureau dataset showing the relationship between income inequality and vulnerability to disasters; a health surveillance network which monitored drug-related visits to emergency rooms; and a survey of hiring and workhours at farms, according to the review.

The race and ethnicity column was eliminated from a dataset on the federal workforce. Figures on transgender inmates were removed from inmate statistics, and three gender identity questions were taken out of a crime victims’ survey, the data scientists said.

Kaohly Her, St. Paul’s new mayor, answered a series of questions on her candidacy for a Pioneer Press survey earlier this fall.

In her responses she touched on immigration enforcement issues, safer neighborhoods, housing as well as establishing an Urban Wealth Fund to allow the city to manage its assets — land, buildings and infrastructure — in ways to create more revenue streams.

Here’s what she said qualified her to be mayor, her thoughts on the role of government and her priorities as mayor.

What qualifies you to hold this position?

I have been a State Representative for seven years. Before that, I spent years working in the private sector in investments and finance, running a small non-profit empowering women and girls, overseeing operations and grant distribution for the largest community foundation in our state, serving as the first Board Administrator for the Saint Paul Public Schools, and leading as the Policy Director during Mayor Carter’s first term. In between my professional experience, I found time to be a stay-at-home mom and care for my aging parents struggling with healthcare needs, while trying to build wealth as a first-generation refugee. My experience spans private, public, foundation, and nonprofit sectors. Those experiences, coupled with my personal experiences, have prepared me to solve problems at the intersection of these sectors, rather than in the silos of traditional elected leaders. As a result, I can handle complex situations and bring people together to find solutions that we may not all agree with, but that can help us move forward for the greater good. My relationships at the city, county, state, and federal levels will bring more dollars to the city and ensure that we reach collaborative and innovative solutions to the most significant problems facing our city. Responsive communication and proactive leadership are sorely missing in City Hall right now, and I will work to bring those values back.

What would your top priorities be if elected?

I have four main priorities based on what I’ve been hearing from people while doorknocking across the entire city: a vibrant economy, safe neighborhoods, affordable and abundant housing, and defending our neighbors from the federal government. Building a vibrant economy is critical as our neighborhoods lose essential retailers, such as grocery stores. Without those businesses in place, the property tax burden will increasingly fall on the shoulders of renters and homeowners. This impacts those with limited fixed incomes, such as seniors and students, the most. Guaranteeing safe neighborhoods encompasses more than violent crime. Equally important is protecting access to our city resources for our kids to use, addressing the public health crisis of addiction and mental health, and supporting critical services like EMS, which is delivered entirely by our firefighters in Saint Paul. Building affordable and abundant housing will help us welcome even more neighbors, increase our tax base, and bring down the cost of living for everyone. Finally, our communities are at risk from our own federal government. People from immigrant and refugee communities are scared to leave their homes. The city needs to do more than just passively say we’re not collaborating with ICE; we need to provide real-time alerts for residents to inform them when ICE is in their neighborhoods, forbid agents in our community from hiding their faces, and teach our residents how to be constitutional observers.

What do you think is the primary role of government?

It is essential to recognize that the various levels of government have distinct responsibilities. Local governments are responsible for meeting the basic needs of their residents. It must maintain the infrastructure to deliver essential public services, public safety, and development. To make Saint Paul work for its residents, we need to get the nuts and bolts of running a city right, so that we can welcome residents, businesses, and development to expand our tax base and get our city moving again. Funding our city to deliver these services can no longer just fall on the shoulders of our residents through increased taxes. I have several plans to protect core city services, attract more development, and invest in our city as a destination for experiences. I propose diversifying our revenue streams beyond taxes by establishing an Urban Wealth Fund. Furthermore, our city must have transparent budgeting that not only meets the one-year requirement by charter but also projects our budget for an entire term, including future liabilities and city operations. Finally, we must be willing to coordinate with other levels of government to eliminate duplicate services and execute our core responsibilities effectively.

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How do you work to understand, and then learn from, opinions that differ from your own and people who disagree with you?

I am known as someone who can build consensus at the State Capitol. As the Chair of the Pensions Commission under Speaker Melissa Hortman, I was tasked with addressing a looming financial threat to our state. I worked with unions, pension funds, employers, Democrats, and Republicans to build consensus around this tough issue. At the end of the process, even if some people didn’t agree with the outcome, they respected the fact that they felt they were not only listened to, but heard. In the end, the bill passed as the largest pension bill in state history, garnering bipartisan support. My leadership style is to bring everyone to the table and hear their perspective. I’ve already committed to meeting with every city council member within my first month as mayor, so I can listen to the priorities they are bringing to the table. When we all feel heard, we’re better off for it. Disagreements are challenging, but they are also opportunities. The key is the willingness to engage even when it is hard. I am someone who does not shy away from conflict and who is always open to tough conversations. I carry that with me into this work and let that guide me.

By ERIC TUCKER and DAVID KLEPPER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dick Cheney was the public face of the George W. Bush administration’s boundary-pushing approach to surveillance and intelligence collection in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

An unabashed proponent of broad executive power in the name of national security, Cheney placed himself at the center of a polarizing public debate over detention, interrogation and spying that endures two decades later.

“I do think the security state that we have today is very much a product of our reactions to Sept. 11, and obviously Vice President Cheney was right smack-dab in the middle of how that reaction was operationalized from the White House,” said Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor.

Prominent booster of the Patriot Act

Cheney was arguably the administration’s most prominent booster of the Patriot Act, the law enacted nearly unanimously after 9/11 that granted the U.S. government sweeping surveillance powers.

He also championed a National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program aimed at intercepting international communications of suspected terrorists in the U.S., despite concerns over its legality from some administration figures.

If such an authority had been in place before Sept. 11, Cheney once asserted, it could have led the U.S. “to pick up on two of the hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon.”

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies still retain key tools to confront potential terrorists and spies that came into prominence after the attacks, including national security letters that permit the FBI to order companies to turn over information about customers.

But courts also have questioned the legal justification of the government’s surveillance apparatus, and a Republican Party that once solidly stood behind Cheney’s national security worldview has grown significantly more fractured.

The bipartisan consensus on expanded surveillance powers after Sept. 11 has given way to increased skepticism, especially among some Republicans who believe spy agencies used those powers to undermine President Donald Trump while investigating ties between Russia and his 2016 campaign.

Congress in 2020 let expire three provisions of the Patriot Act that the FBI and Justice Department had said were essential for national security, including one that permits investigators to surveil subjects without establishing that they’re acting on behalf of an international terror organization.

A program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of non-Americans located outside the country for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence, was reauthorized last year — but only after significant negotiations.

“I think for someone like Vice President Cheney, expanding those authorities wasn’t an incidental objective — it was a core objective,” Vladeck said. “And I think the Republican Party today does not view those kinds of issues — counterterrorism policy, government surveillance authorities — as anywhere near the kind of political issues that the Bush administration did.”

Intelligence as a political tool

As an architect of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Cheney pushed spy agencies to find evidence to justify military action.

Along with others in the administration, Cheney claimed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaida. They used that to sell the war to members of Congress and the American people, though it was later debunked.

The faulty intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq is held up as a significant failure by America’s spy services and a demonstration of what can happen when leaders use intelligence for political ends.

The government’s arguments for war fueled a distrust among many Americans that still resonates with some in Trump’s administration.

“For decades, our foreign policy has been trapped in a counterproductive and endless cycle of regime change or nation building,” Tulsi Gabbard, the director of the Office of National Intelligence, said in the Middle East last week.

Many lawmakers who voted to support using force in 2003 say they have come to regret it.

“It was a mistake to rely upon the Bush administration for telling the truth,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said on the invasion’s 20th anniversary.

Expanded war powers

Trump has long criticized Cheney, but he’s relying on a legal doctrine popularized during Cheney’s time in office to justify deadly strikes on alleged drug-running boats in Latin America.

The Trump administration says the U.S. is engaged in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has declared them unlawful combatants.

“These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Oct. 28 on social media. ”We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them.”

After 9/11, the Bush-Cheney administration authorized the U.S. military to attack enemy combatants acting on behalf of terror organizations. That prompted questions about the legality of killing or detaining people without prosecution.

Cheney’s involvement in boosting executive power and surveillance and “cooking the books of the raw intelligence” has echoes in today’s strikes, said Jim Ludes, a former national security analyst who directs the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University.

“You think about his legacy and some of it is very troubling. Some of it is maybe what the moment demanded,” Ludes said. “But it’s a complicated legacy.“

Vladeck noted an enduring legacy of the Bush-Cheney administration was “to blur if not entirely collapse lines between civilian reactions to threats and military ones.”

He pointed to designating foreign terrorist organizations, a tool that predated the Sept. 11 attacks but became more prevalent in the years that followed. Trump has used the label for several drug cartels.

Contemporary conflicts inside the government

Protecting the homeland from espionage, terrorism and other threats is a complicated endeavor spread across the government. When Cheney was vice president, for instance, agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, were established.

As was the case then, the division of labor can still be disputed, with a recent crack surfacing between Director Kash Patel’s FBI and the intelligence community led by Gabbard.

The FBI said in a letter to lawmakers that it “vigorously disagrees” with a legislative proposal that it said would remove the bureau as the government’s lead counterintelligence agency and replace it with a counterintelligence center under ODNI.

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“The cumulative effect,” the FBI warned in the letter obtained by The Associated Press, “would be putting decision-making with employees who aren’t actively involved in CI operations, knowledgeable of the intricacies of CI threats, or positioned to develop coherent and tailored mitigation strategies.”

That would be to the detriment of national security, the FBI said.

Spokespeople for the agencies later issued a statement saying they are working together with Congress to strengthen counterintelligence efforts.

California is home to the largest trees on Earth, the giant sequoia.

Standing under these massive organisms, you can’t help but be filled with wonder at how something can be so old and so enormous, yet so graceful.

They’re not the tallest trees in the world (that distinction goes to the coast redwoods in Northern California and Southwestern Oregon) or the widest (that would be the Montezuma cypress in Mexico), but by volume, they are the biggest. And they can be visited at Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, roughly five hours north of Southern California in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

A winding mountain road snakes into the forest, leading to a place of perfect conditions for giant sequoias to thrive. These trees grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada between 4,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation.

The trees, also known as Sierra redwoods, once grew throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but today only about 73 groves survive in California, in an area about the size of Cleveland, according to Save the Redwoods League.

The largest by volume, the General Sherman tree, is just over 274 feet tall and 102 feet around, and is estimated to be 2,200 years old, according to the National Park Service.

Visitors wait in line to take the requisite selfie with General Sherman, but other magnificent sights abound at Sequoia National Park. The park boasts 40 giant sequoia groves, ranging from one to tens of thousands of trees per grove. The Giant Forest boasts more large sequoias than any other grove.

Hiking trails range from one- to two-hour hikes to full-day hikes and include not only the trees, but lush meadows, a climbable granite dome and historic sights. Moro Rock is one of many granite domes in the park. A climb up 350 concrete and stone steps, through sometimes narrow passages, can feel unnerving, but once above the trees’ canopy at the top, intrepid hikers are rewarded with stunning 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains and forests.

Crystal Cave, while not as easy to access, takes visitors back in geological time. Tickets must be purchased online in advance, and a slow, bumpy road leads to the parking lot. The park recommends allowing an hour to get to the parking lot from the Foothills Visitor Center entrance.

A steep half-mile trail takes you to a spider web gate, but once there, a naturalist leads a 50-minute tour of this marble cavern. Water runs underfoot and drips from the ceiling, continuing the process that has been going on for millions of years. The tour takes visitors about a half-mile into the three miles of known caverns.

The park has many other attractions, too. Among them:

Visitors can drive through Tunnel Log, which was carved out of a fallen sequoia in 1937. The tunnel is 17 feet wide and 8 feet high.
Tharp’s Log is a fallen sequoia named after Hale Tharp, the first non-Native American settler who in 1861 built a cabin in the trunk of a fallen sequoia. A bed, table and fireplace are all that’s left inside the burned-out tree trunk.
Big Stump Grove is a reminder of the fact that giant sequoias were not always protected. Logging reached its peak in the late 1800s, but the immense job of felling and processing the trees protected many of the more remote sequoias.
The Big Stump Loop Trail takes visitors past the remains of the giants. One of the biggest, known as the Mark Twain tree, was 16 feet in diameter when it was cut down in 1891. A cross-section of it went to the American Museum of Natural History. Today, visitors can climb a small staircase and walk on top of the stump.

Sequoia National Park was established on Sept. 25, 1890, and (after Yellowstone) is America’s second national park. It was established to protect the giant sequoia trees from logging, according to the National Park Service.

Protection of the new park fell to the U.S. Army until 1913, before the start of World War I, and the park appointed its first superintendent. In 1940, Kings Canyon National Park was established, and the two parks have been managed together ever since.

Today, more than 1.5 million people visit the parks each year.

Know before you go

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Free shuttles: nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/parktransit.htm

Crystal Cave: 2025 season continues through Sept. 7; $20, reservations at sequoiaparksconservancy.org/crystal-cave

Moro Rock: Accessed off Generals Highway or by shuttle bus

General Sherman tree: Accessed off Generals Highway or by shuttle bus