By CEDAR ATTANASIO, Associated Press

Record floodwaters released by the nearby Mendenhall Glacier crested Wednesday in a river that flows through Alaska’s capital city with no immediate reports of major damage, though officials warned that high water would remain for several hours.

Juneau officials reported water pooling on a handful of streets, and some seeped under newly erected barriers designed to protect riverfront homes. Some residents in the flood zone heeded warnings and evacuated after water started escaping the glacier’s ice dam on Tuesday.

The Mendenhall Glacier is about 12 miles from Juneau, home to 30,000 people, and is a popular tourist attraction due to its proximity to Alaska’s capital city and easy access on walking trails. Homes on the city’s outskirts are within miles of Mendenhall Lake, which sits below the glacier, and many front the Mendenhall River, into which the glacial outburst is flowing.

The river hit major flood stage Wednesday morning, peaking around 8 a.m. and surpassing a flood level of 16 feet (5 meters), according to preliminary measurements, breaking a record set last year.

The map above locates Mendenhall Glacier, which has begun releasing floodwater toward Juneau, Alaska, where some areas have been urged to evacuate. (AP Digital Embed)

Basin flooding is a yearly worry

Flooding from the basin has become an annual concern since 2011, and in recent years has swept away houses and swamped hundreds of homes. Government agencies installed temporary barriers this year in hopes of protecting several hundred homes in the inundation area from widespread damage.

The flooding happens because a smaller glacier near Mendenhall Glacier retreated — a casualty of the warming climate — and left a basin that fills with rainwater and snowmelt each spring and summer. When the water creates enough pressure, it forces its way under or around the ice dam created by the Mendenhall Glacier, enters Mendenhall Lake and eventually flows down the Mendenhall River, as it did Tuesday.

Before the basin began overtopping, the water level was rising rapidly — as much as 4 feet per day during especially sunny or rainy days, according to the National Weather Service.

The city saw successive years of record flooding in 2023 and 2024 — with the river last August cresting at 15.99 feet, about 1 foot over the prior record set a year earlier — and flooding extending farther into the Mendenhall Valley. This year’s flooding had been predicted to crest at between 16.3 and 16.8 feet.

Last year, nearly 300 residences were damaged.

A large outburst can release some 15 billion gallons of water, according to the University of Alaska Southeast and Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center. That’s the equivalent of nearly 23,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. During last year’s flood, the flow rate in the rushing Mendenhall River was about half that of Niagara Falls, the researchers say.

A temporary levee is installed

City officials responded to concerns from property owners this year by working with state, federal and tribal entities to install a temporary levee along roughly 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) of riverbank in an attempt to guard against widespread flooding. The 10,000 “Hesco” barriers are essentially giant sandbags intended to protect more than 460 properties completely during an 18-foot flood event, said emergency manager Ryan O’Shaughnessy.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is at the start of what’s expected to be a yearslong process of studying conditions in the region and examining options for a more permanent solution, such as a levee. The timeline has angered some residents, who say it’s unreasonable.

Outburst floods are expected to continue as long as the Mendenhall Glacier acts as an ice dam to seal off the basin, which could span another 25 to 60 years, according to the university and science center researchers.

Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau contributed to this report.

By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press

President Donald Trump says homeless people in the nation’s capital will be moved far from the city as part of his federal takeover of policing in the District of Columbia and crackdown on crime.

With his exact plans unclear, there is concern among advocates and others who say there are better ways to address the issue of homelessness than clearing encampments, as the Republican administration has pledged to do.

Washington’s status as a congressionally established federal district gives Trump the opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.

Here’s a look at what we know and what questions remain about how Trump’s actions will affect the city’s homeless population:

How many homeless people are in Washington?

It is difficult to obtain accurate counts of homeless populations.

On one day at the end of each January, municipal agencies across the United States perform what is called a “point-in-time” count aimed at capturing the total number of people in emergency shelters, transitional housing or without any housing.

The 2025 count in the district put the total at 5,138 adults and children, a 9% decrease compared with the year before, according to Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Where will the city’s homeless people be taken?

It’s not entirely clear.

Trump wrote on his social media site before Monday’s news conference announcing the takeover that “The homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”

Asked during a media briefing at the White House on Tuesday where homeless people would be relocated, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said local police and federal agencies would “enforce the laws that are already on the books,” which, she said, “have been completely ignored.”

Citing a city regulation that she said gives local police “the authority to take action when it comes to homeless encampments,” Leavitt said homeless people “will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services.” Those who refuse “will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.”

In the past five months, the U.S. Park Police has removed 70 homeless encampments, giving the people living in them the same options, she said. As of Tuesday, Leavitt said only two homeless encampments remained in district parks maintained by the National Park Service and would be removed this week.

Caroline McIntyre, left, who is homeless, carries her belongings past the Kennedy Center, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in northwest Washington, as President Donald Trump makes an appearance there. She says her tent and belongings were taken from her last month in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

What are city officials doing for the homeless?

District officials said Tuesday they were making additional shelter space available after Trump said federal agents would remove homeless people in the city.

Kevin Donahue, the city administrator, said outreach workers were visiting homeless encampments and that the city has a building available that could house as many as 200 people, if needed.

Donahue made the comments during a conversation with community advocates and Bowser. The conversation was broadcast on X.

He said the outreach would continue through the week with a “greater level of urgency.”

Bowser said that when Trump sees homeless encampments in the city it “triggers something in him that has him believing our very beautiful city is dirty, which it is not.”

What are Washington residents saying?

Washington residents emphasized reductions in crime in recent years and concerns over the removal of homeless encampments in interviews Tuesday criticizing the federal takeover of the city’s police department.

Jeraod Tyre, who has lived in the city for 15 years, said “crime has been slowing down lately” and argued that federal troops would only escalate tensions because they do not have “relationships with the people in the community” like local police do.

Sheiena Taylor, 36, said she is more fearful as a result of the presence of federal forces in the city where she was born and raised.

Taylor said she has seen federal officers around her home and on the subway and worries about their targeting of young people and people experiencing homelessness.

“Being homeless isn’t a crime,” she said, emphasizing the need for solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime rather than policing.

What do we still not know?

It’s not exactly clear what agents specifically will be tasked with moving homeless people to areas outside the city.

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There also hasn’t been detailed information about how the people will be housed or provided for in new locations.

Some advocates have raised constitutional questions about the legality of forcibly removing homeless people from the city.

Associated Press writers River Zhang, Christine Fernando, Mike Balsamo and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

By MARK KENNEDY

NEW YORK (AP) — Charlie Brown and Snoopy go to sleepaway camp in a new, bittersweet Apple TV+ special fueled by a pair of Emmy Award-nominated songwriters that’s being billed as the first “Peanuts” musical in 35 years.

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“My motivation has always been to preserve and enhance my dad’s legacy,” says co-writer Craig Schulz, a son of the iconic comic strip “Peanuts” creator Charles. S. Schulz. “So it’s really an honor to get to play with these kids.”

“Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical,” which premieres Friday, features five songs — two by Jeff Morrow, Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner — and three by Ben Folds.

“If someone asked me to write for a stupid kids thing, I would find it difficult because I don’t like talking down to anyone, much less kids,” says Folds. “’Peanuts’ isn’t like that. We’re working in very rich, fertile soil.”

What’s the special about?

The special opens with the kids getting ready to catch the bus to Cloverhill Ranch camp, but Sally isn’t so sure it’s going to be great. “Honestly, big brother, I could stay home,” she says.

Sally is initially intimidated by the camp’s inside jokes and rituals, turned off by the insects, the endless climbing, no TV, cold lake water and lumpy beds.

“You wake at dawn/Like you would in jail,” she sings in the song “A Place Like This.” “The food’s not what you’d call upscale/This whole endeavor, an epic fail/And that’s being diplomatic.”

Trust “Peanuts” to explore reluctance to leave home and fear of change. Craig Schulz, who co-wrote the script with his son, Bryan, and Cornelius Uliano, channeled some of his own childhood.

“Cloverhill Ranch actually is a take-off of the one in Santa Rosa called Cloverleaf that I went to as a child and hated. I bailed out after a week and went home,” he says. “So many connections in the film kind of date back to my childhood that we weaved into the film.”

While Sally warms to camp, Snoopy discovers what he thinks is a treasure map that will transform him into a wealthy pooch, one who will lay on top of a gold dog house. And Charlie Brown learns that this summer will be the last for his beloved but struggling camp — unless he does something.

“I guess your generation would rather sit in front of the television than sit under the stars,” he tells Sally. “We have to protect these kinds of places because once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.”

A concert to save the camp

Charlie Brown comes up with the idea to invite generations of camp-goers back for a fundraising concert, but the skies darken on the big day, threatening to cancel the event and sending him into a “Good grief” spiral.

“Charlie Brown is different in this special,” says director Erik Wiese. “He’s really happy. He loves this place. And so that’s why when we get to that scene it’s so effective because he returned back to the zero we sort of know him traditionally.”

Folds supplies the lovely, last three songs — “When We Were Light,” “Look Up, Charlie Brown” and “Leave It Better” — and credits his songwriting collaborators for setting the stage.

“I entered when those first two songs existed, and I get to just sort of step in at the point where things get really complex and melancholic,” he says.

Folds has had a flirtation with musical theater before, having written the “Peanuts” Earth Day song “It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown” in 2022 and a few songs for the movie “Over the Hedge” in 2006.

“People can easily confuse a song that sounds like musical theater with a song that should be musical theater,” he says. “Really what the value of the song is that it obviates the need for a good five to 10 pages of script.”

This October marks the 75th anniversary of “Peanuts,” and the musical arrives with a boatload of branding, from tote bags by Coach to shoes by Crocs and Starbucks mugs.

This image released by Apple TV+ shows promotional art for “Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical.” (Apple TV+ via AP)

Craig Schulz is already at work on a second animated musical with his son, having long ago fallen in love with the family business.

“I used to always wonder how in the world my dad could go to the office every day for 50 years and write a comic strip every day,” he says, comparing it to the “I Love Lucy” episode with Lucy trying to keep up with a chocolate conveyor belt.

“Then I came to realize that he had his family of five kids, but I really think he enjoyed going to the studio and working with the ‘Peanuts’ characters even more so than his real family. He got to go in there and embrace them, draw them, make him happy, sad, whatever. It was a world that I don’t think he could ever leave.”

A district court judge ordered that immigrants held for processing receive access to phone calls, more space and bedding mats, among other things. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, refuted the claims and says it will appeal the order.

Immigration officers outside 26 Federal Plaza in June. (Ayman Siam/Office of NYC Comptroller)

A federal judge in Manhattan issued a temporary restraining order requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to improve conditions in the processing area on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, where dozens of immigrants are being detained.

This order follows a class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Make the Road New York, and Wang Hecker LLP, which painted a bleak picture of conditions inside the facility.

The order requires ICE to align with its own standards for detention sites, which include providing at least 50 square feet of personal space and bedding mats for each person sleeping there, as well as access to hygiene products and medications.

Additionally, the order requires those being held have access to free and confidential calls with attorneys within 24 hours of detention, plus access to interpreters if needed.

“[Detained migrants] also don’t have an opportunity to talk with immigration attorneys, because we’ve all tried, and [ICE] doesn’t facilitate calls for people who are detained at 26 Federal Plaza, no matter how long they are detained there,” said Karla Marie Ostolaza, managing director for the immigration practice in the The Bronx Defenders.

Advocates celebrated the decision after videos and media articles revealed conditions inside the facility, which the New York Immigration Coalition called “crowded and unsanitary,” with some people held for days or weeks without access to showers, bedding, change of clothes and other necessities.

Since late spring, ICE has been targeting migrants who show up to court for routine immigration hearings, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations across the country.

“The Constitution requires that no one—especially someone unlawfully arrested at their immigration hearing, which happened to so many people in this case—should have to endure the dehumanizing conditions we’ve challenged in 26 Federal Plaza,” said Bobby Hodgson, assistant legal director at the NYCLU. 

However, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied the claims and said it will appeal the order. “This order and this lawsuit are driven by complete fiction about 26 Federal Plaza,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said via email.

“Any claim of subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false. 26 Federal Plaza operates as a processing center, brief intake for illegal aliens, and then transfer to an ICE detention center meeting national standards for care and custody, which are in most cases better than facilities which detain Americans,” she added.

District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered that everyone detained at the site receive a printed “notice of rights” within one hour of arrival, and have access to licensed medical care between 7 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. The order will remain in effect for 14 days.

The judge’s order also says that ICE’s Detainee Locator System, a way for loved ones to find the location of an ICE detainee online, must identify people’s locations in real time or as close to it as possible.

“ICE has repeatedly lied and skirted accountability about what is happening on the 10th floor, as people are being detained for days or weeks at a time without basic care,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition.

Activists and faith leaders held a civil disobedience protest outside 26 Federal Plaza on Friday, August. 8, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Climate Defenders)

ICE ordered to work with NY orgs

Individuals detained at 26 Federal Plaza are typically recent arrestees by ICE and are awaiting transfer to other, more permanent detention centers.

In cases where the detainee entered the country and overstayed their visa, they would normally be eligible for bail or released under specific conditions.

However, this was not happening at the New York Field Office at 26 Federal Plaza in recent years, as described in the case of Velesaca v. Decker, a separate 2020 lawsuit that alleges the vast majority of detainees were not given individualized assessments and that ICE essentially operated a “no-release” policy.

“My initial determination that a No-Release Policy likely existed was based on data indicating that in the period from June 2017 to September 2019, less than 2 [percent] of cases resulted in release and less than 0.1 [percent] had a bond set,” explains a recent court motion in the case.

After years of legal battles, in 2022, a judge announced a settlement in which ICE agreed that “it is required to provide individualized initial custody determinations to covered noncitizens.”

However, as things seemed to remain unchanged, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Bronx Defenders—who had been at the forefront of the case since the beginning—filed a motion in March of this year asking the court to enforce the 2022 settlement.

On Aug. 7, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York ordered ICE to comply, meaning the New York Field Office must conduct assessments to determine whether to release or detain migrants.

According to Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s order, from March 2022 (when the settlement order was issued) to February 2025, only 0.8 percent of cases resulted in someone’s release, and only 0.4 percent had a bond set. Moreover, the judge’s decision requires ICE and the New York organizations that filed the suit to meet to develop a “compliance plan.”

“What compliance looks like isn’t clear,” said Anne Venhuizen, supervising attorney at The Bronx Defenders. The custody determination, explained Venhuizen, “is required to happen within 48 hours, unless, for some reason, there’s an exigent circumstance.” 

ICE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. 

“It makes me very hopeful for finding a better way to enforce people’s right to have an initial custody determination that is meaningful, that really takes into account people’s individual situations and whether they should be released or not, instead of every single person that goes through 26 Federal Plaza getting a rubber stamp, like you are not eligible,” Ostolaza said.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Daniel@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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