SACRAMENTO, Calif. — War in the Middle East is testing a new system in California to track and respond to hate crimes.

The state has launched a hotline to report incidents linked to racial or ethnic bias, a tool created in response to attacks on Asian Americans during the pandemic. It’s poised to provide real-time indications as officials are concerned the conflict could reverberate throughout California, home to some of the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in the U.S.

Aside from vandalism, there have been no significant bias incidents in California — nothing akin to the stabbing of a 6-year-old boy in Illinois.

But that could change. “We have been anticipating that we may see an increase,” said Becky Monroe, a senior official at the California Civil Rights Department.

California is better prepared to deal with bias attacks that have typically surged as a result of war and terrorism overseas. The state now has the hotline, increased security thanks to state and federal grants, and a legal framework that has emerged in recent years to prosecute hate crimes following a spike in anti-Asian attacks.

The “California vs Hate” hotline has gotten over 400 reports since it launched in May, according to preliminary data. Unlike law enforcement statistics, the hotline collects reports of any incident, whether it rose to the level of a crime or not. Callers can get help finding mental health resources or navigating the criminal justice system if they want to report a crime.

In anticipation of a spike, case workers at the Civil Rights Department have been reaching out to mosques, synagogues, and cultural groups that serve Muslim or Arab-American Californians and are concerned about hate crimes, Monroe said.

The idea for the hotline was first floated in 2017 by then-Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) in response to the skyrocketing number of hate crimes he said were a result of rhetoric from the Trump administration, but legislators weren’t convinced a hate crime hotline was necessary, Chiu recalled. He revived the idea in 2021 along with Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) amid an uptick in hostility against Asian Americans and a racially motivated spa shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people — six of Asian descent.

Chiu, who is now the city attorney of San Francisco, said he’s worried about an increase in hate incidents as a result of the war. “I see a direct throughline,” he said. “Our society has become all too accustomed to shocking examples of intolerance and hate.”

Jewish schools across the Bay Area have canceled classes or increased security in recent days out of an abundance of fear over violence.

Since 2019, the state has set aside about $135 million in grants to enhance security for nonprofit and religious organizations at risk of hate crimes. The program — which covers equipment like reinforced doors, security lighting and mass notification alert systems — was expanded this year after Jewish and Catholic religious groups appealed for more support in response to a rise in mass shootings and other targeted attacks.

On Wednesday, Newsom announced that he was adding an additional $20 million to the program, doubling what had been allocated for this year. He also announced an immediate infusion of $10 million to increase police presence at houses of worship, directly citing the ongoing violence in the Middle East as the reason.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2021 also launched a racial justice bureau to prosecute hate crimes.

Hate crimes were on the rise in California before hostilities erupted in Israel, increasing by over 20 percent from 2021 to 2022, with 26 reported incidents against Muslims last year.

The stabbing death this month of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in Chicago, apparently fueled by anti-Muslim hatred, has sparked fear of similar incidents in California.

California’s Sen. Laphonza Butler signaled that she is monitoring security in the state, posting online that “a wave of hate has emerged here at home.” And Gov. Gavin Newsom promoted the hotline as he assured the public that state officials, religious and educational leaders were working to bolster security and respond to threats of violence.

Amr Shabaik, the legal and policy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, said since the violence broke out overseas, his group has gotten reports of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamaphobic threats.

“We have received reports of students being bullied, college students being harassed, employees being discriminated against, folks facing harassment, intimidation, and threats in public places and online, and mosques and Islamic schools adding additional security,” he said in an email Monday.

Lara Korte contributed to this story.

By NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMYA KULLAB and RAVI NESSMAN (Associated Press)

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel told Palestinians to take refuge, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe. Israel’s defense minister told ground troops to be ready to enter Gaza, though he didn’t say when the invasion will start.

With authorities still working out logistics for a delivery of aid into Gaza from Egypt, overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for diesel generators to keep the equipment running. Doctors in darkened wards stitched wounds by mobile phone light. A doctor at the largest hospital said staff were using vinegar from the corner store to treat infected wounds.

The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for a devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel almost two weeks ago. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory and Palestinian militants continued firing rockets into Israel. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union

Meeting with Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border Thursday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged the forces to “get organized, be ready” for an order to move in. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.

“Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside,” he said. “I promise you.”

Israel’s consent for Egypt to let in food, water and medicine provided the first possibility for an opening in its sealing off of the territory. Many among Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water.

Israel did not list fuel as a permitted item, but a senior Egyptian security official said Egypt was negotiating for the entry of fuel for hospitals. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in Rafah still closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza’s second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis. Power was shut off in most departments to save it for intensive care and other vital functions, and staff members were using mobile phones for light.

At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead flooded into the hospital Thursday morning after witnesses said a strike hit a residential building in Khan Younis. Doctors had no choice but to leave two of the incoming to die because there were no ventilators left, Qandeel said.

“We can’t save more lives if this keeps happening, meaning more children … more women will die,” he said.

The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give whatever fuel they had left to hospitals. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, gave some of its little remaining fuel stores to hospitals, according to spokesperson Juliette Touma.

The agency’s donation to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, would “keep us going for another few hours,” hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia told The Associated Press.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority of them women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 others were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under the rubble, health authorities said.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion on Oct. 7. Roughly 200 others were abducted. The Israeli military said Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives.

More than 1 million Palestinians, roughly half of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes in Gaza City and other places in the northern part of the territory since Israel told them to evacuate. Most have crowded into U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or the homes of relatives.

The deal to get aid into Gaza through Rafah, the territory’s only connection to Egypt, remained fragile. Israel said the supplies could only go to civilians in southern Gaza and that it would “thrwart” any diversions by Hamas. U.S. President Joe Biden said the deliveries “will end” if Hamas takes any aid.

Egypt must still repair the road across the border, which Israeli airstrikes cratered in a no-man’s land and on the Gaza side. No equipment had arrived to start the repair work as of Thursday afternoon, the Hamas spokesman for the crossing, Wael Abu Omar, said.

More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid were positioned at or near Rafah, according to Khalid Zayed. the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai.

U.S. officials said the first deliveries would likely take place Friday at the earliest, with an initial group of 20 trucks. The Egyptian security official also said the first trucks were expected to go in Friday.

Asked if foreigners and dual nationals seeking to leave would be let out of Gaza, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV: “As long as the crossing is operating normally and the (crossing) facility has been repaired.”

Israel had previously said it would let nothing into Gaza until Hamas freed the hostages taken from Israel. Relatives of some of the captives reacted with fury to the aid announcement.

“Children, infants, women, soldiers, men, and elderly, some with serious illnesses, wounded and shot, are held underground like animals,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. But “the Israeli government pampers the murderers and kidnappers.”

The Israeli military reported Thursday that it killed a top Palestinian militant in Rafah and hit hundreds of targets across Gaza, including militant tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructure and command centers. It said it also hit dozens of mortar-launching posts, most of them immediately after they were used to fire shells at Israel. Palestinians have launched barrages of rockets at Israel since the fighting began.

Israel has said it is attacking Hamas wherever they may be in Gaza. It has accused the group’s leaders and fighters of taking shelter among the civilian population, leaving Palestinians feeling in constant danger.

After Thursday’s strikes in Khan Younis, sirens wailed as emergency crews rushed to rescue survivors from the crushed apartment building. Many residents were believed trapped under twisted bed frames, broken furniture and cement chunks. A small, soot-covered child, dangling in the arms of a rescue worker, was taken out of a damaged building.

Gaza’s Hamas-led government said several bakeries in the territory were hit in the overnight strikes, making it even harder for residents to get food.

Violence was also escalating in the West Bank where Israel carried out a rare airstrike Thursday, targetting militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp. Israeli troops raided the camp the previous night and were still battling Palestinian fighters inside. Six Palestinians were killed in the camp, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, and the Israeli military said the strike killed militants. Ten Israeli officers were wounded when fighters threw explosives at the troops. More than 74 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war started.

Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Thursday said it fired missiles into northern Israel, hitting a kibbutz. The Israeli military said no one was injured and responded with shelling on border areas in Lebanon. Hamas also fired 30 rockets from southern Lebanese toward Israeli towns. Violence on the border comes amid fears the Hamas-Israel conflict could spread across the region.

___

Nessman reported from Jerusalem and Kullab from Baghdad. Associated Press journalists Amy Teibel and Isabel Debre in Jerusalem; Samy Magdy and Jack Jeffrey in Cairo; and Ashraf Sweilam in el-Arish, Egypt, contributed to this report.

By Erika Bolstad, Stateline.org

A 60-mile pedestrian and cycling trail in Arkansas, an electric street sweeper in Oregon and truck parking facilities in Florida don’t appear to have much in common — let alone any similarity with a conversion of California highways to toll roads or a roundabout in Michigan.

But all of the projects will be paid for by the Carbon Reduction Program, a five-year, $6.4 billion federal program to reduce the tailpipe emissions that contribute to global warming. The program, known as the CRP, was authorized in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the $1.2 trillion federal investment in everything from roads and bridges to the electrical grid.

The CRP is small in comparison to, say, the infrastructure law’s $40 billion pledge to fix the nation’s bridges. Yet it could be mighty for bringing to life what are known as transportation alternatives, or small-scale infrastructure designed to take cars off the road and therefore reduce emissions. They include sidewalk installation and improvements, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes and trails, and bike share programs.

It takes much less money to make an impact on transportation emissions with such programs, said Kevin Mills, vice president of policy at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which advocates for money for walking and bicycling trails and has been keeping a close eye on how the CRP will boost funding for its priorities.

“This program has a big purpose and not a great amount of money given the task before us,” Mills said. “What becomes important is that we make the most of what’s a fairly modest-sized new program so that we can prove its value and hopefully grow it going forward. That puts a premium on things that will give you a big bang for the buck.”

While the broader infrastructure bill was under consideration, many U.S. House Democrats wanted it to devote even more money to climate change-related measures and less to highway projects. After it passed, 16 Republican governors grumbled about an internal Federal Highway Administration memo that encouraged states to emphasize existing repairs, public transit and bike lanes over projects to expand highways.

In the coming weeks, states must submit carbon reduction strategies that demonstrate how they’ll use federal money to reduce transportation emissions. In their strategies, states will be required to identify specific projects and approaches to reach the goals in their CRP plans, said Elle Segal, an advocacy outreach director at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. The federal program requires that states explain by Nov. 15 how they’ll reduce emissions.

States have some leeway to shift as much as 50% of the money for carbon reduction toward other federally funded transportation projects that don’t have an explicit greenhouse gas reduction component. Some states have done just that, to the disappointment of climate activists and progressive transportation planners. (States also can transfer money from those other federal formula programs to the carbon reduction program.) In some cases, a transfer is a temporary measure and money will shift back; dollars for carbon reduction began flowing to states a year before the carbon reduction strategy plans were due and some states hadn’t yet outlined their priorities for cutting emissions.

In Maryland, the state is focusing on three areas to reduce transportation sector emissions, said Deron Lovaas, who leads the Environment and Sustainable Transportation program for the Maryland Department of Transportation. The most pressing strategy, he said, is to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road, beginning with cars, sedans, pickup trucks and SUVs, followed by medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. That includes steering federal money to electrify the vehicle fleet used by state and local governments.

Up next is reducing overall traffic or vehicle miles traveled. That involves an “array of measures,” Lovaas said, including investments in public transportation, such as rail, bus and shuttle service, and making sidewalks and roads safer for bicyclists and pedestrians and those in wheelchairs.

It’s critical that states go on the record about what they’re doing with their carbon reduction strategies, he said. That will allow states to learn from each other and will provide accountability for how federal money is being spent to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s an important document because carbon reduction from transportation is challenging and requires a multi-year strategy,” Lovaas said. “So that’s how we’re seeing this document. We’re seeing it as important not just for informing the Carbon Reduction Program, but also reflective of Maryland’s broader strategy to decarbonize transportation.”

Many states ­— including California, Colorado and Massachusetts — already had laws in place that address transportation emissions. Washington’s approach to its CRP strategy, for example, builds upon its 2021 State Energy Strategy. In Oregon, the state’s Carbon Reduction Strategy evolved from its 2013 plan to reduce carbon emissions by 2050 and a statewide transportation strategy that was updated this year. Statewide greenhouse gas emissions goals are codified in state law and executive order in Oregon, as well.

“We built the carbon reduction program on that strong base of actions,” said Brian Hurley, a mitigation program manager with the Oregon Department of Transportation. “We did not have to start from scratch.”

A description by the Minnesota Department of Transportation may best reflect a hard truth in many parts of the country when it comes to carbon reduction policies, regardless of political affiliation: “Land use patterns and unsafe, inconvenient alternatives make driving alone the most convenient choice for many Minnesotans. Cars in Minnesota are mostly powered by fossil fuels, which emit carbon pollution and other air pollutants.”

“Some states are actually way ahead of us federally, in terms of their level of climate ambition and the creativity that they’ve brought to this and the steps they’ve taken,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told The Washington Post last year. “Others, we’re pulling along and really working to encourage them.”

The Carbon Reduction Program is a five-year, $6.4 billion federal program to reduce the tailpipe emissions that contribute to global warming.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, this summer vetoed a budget provision that would have allowed state agencies to seek federal money through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant to improve energy efficiency in buildings. But Florida hasn’t turned down $320.4 million in CRP transportation funding the state will receive over five years. In its Carbon Reduction Strategy, Florida plans to call for reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips as well as for making it easier to use vehicles or modes of travel with lower emissions. The state’s strategy will also call for using construction techniques with lower emissions.

Florida will use $46 million to build 26 truck parking areas with commercial EV charging stations and other amenities. Safe places for truckers to rest have long been at a premium, but the growth in e-commerce has put even more trucks on the road, further straining the parking supply. And without a place to stop for federally mandated rest periods, truckers spend additional time on the road looking for safe places to park, which means more time spewing CO2 out of tailpipes. Truck parking shortages are considered a “national safety concern” by the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Freight Management and Operations.

Florida is also planning to invest big in its SUN Trails system, Huiwei Shen, the chief planner at the Florida Department of Transportation, said during a Rails-to-Trails Conservancy seminar earlier this year. The non-motorized, shared-use paths received a one-time infusion of $200 million from the state legislature this year.

“It’s a great time for trails in Florida,” Shen said. “It would contribute greatly towards the vision of a statewide interconnected trail system in Florida, and we want to be the No. 1 trail destination internationally.”

In Oregon, the state has $82 million to spend over five years. It set aside $13 million of that for projects in smaller cities and rural areas and for tribes; the federal program requires 65% of the money to go to larger metropolitan areas. Since the bulk of the money will go to parts of the state with more congestion, the state DOT wanted to help smaller communities make some progress on reducing carbon emissions, too, said Rye Baerg, a climate program coordinator with the Oregon Department of Transportation. Among the projects are e-bike lending libraries, solar streetlights and even electric-powered street cleaners sized specifically to clean pedestrian and bike paths so that they’re safer and therefore more attractive to users.

“We had a lot of counties, a lot of small cities, interested in charging and those types of things,” Baerg said. “I think that we saw a lot of interest in our first round of call for projects and I expect to see even more interest now that people know what types of things we’re funding and have a better sense of what the program is next year.”

The small changes add up, said Lovaas, with the Maryland transportation department. For example, if Maryland invests in a new transit line using Carbon Reduction Program money, it can multiply the effect of municipal or state policies that encourage transit-oriented development, Lovaas said. Invest in safe street programs, he added, and it reduces the number of trips people make by car and reduces their emissions.

“So for the short trips, you actually can replace them with walking or biking or rolling or some non-motorized mode,” he said. “You add all that together and you get a pretty big effect.”

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.

©2023 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Here are some of the top high school football first-round playoff games involving teams from western Wisconsin, (* Teams listed by playoff seeds.)

No. 6 River Falls vs. No. 3 Menomonie, at University of Wisconsin-Stout, 7 p.m.

Menomonie beat River Falls 39-15 in the regular season just two weeks ago. That victory is the reason the Mustangs are hosting Friday’s game. River Falls enters the game knowing it moved the ball on the ground in the last meeting. But the Wildcats must convert drives into touchdowns, and hope they can slow the game down enough to keep the ball away from Menomonie’s suddenly potent offense. OUR PICK: Menomonie 28, River Falls 24

No. 8 Chippewa Falls (4-5) at No, 1 Hudson (8-1), 7 p.m.

Hudson had to work to edge Chippewa Falls 13-8 on Sept. 1. But Hudson’s offense clicked shortly after that game, and hasn’t slowed dow since. The Raiders are a lock to score 30-plus points on a nightly basis. Still, you cannot underestimate Chippewa Falls, which had to win its final two regular-season games to squeeze into the playoffs. OUR PICK: Hudson 31, Chippewa Falls 14

No. 5 Ellsworth (5-4) at No. 4 Baldwin-Woodville (7-2), 7 p.m.

Baldwin-Woodville blitzed Ellsworth 49-0 on Sept. 8. Baldwin-Woodville quarterback Cal Smith had a hand in six touchdowns — five through the air and one on the ground — in that game. But Smith didn’t take all the snaps as Baldwin-Woodville narrowly escaped against Amery last week. If Smith isn’t at full health, or doesn’t play altogether, against Ellsworth, the outcome of this game comes into question. OUR PICK: Baldwin-Woodville 18, Ellsworth 14

No. 7 Marshfield (4-5) at No. 2 New Richmond (8-1), 7 p.m.

New Richmond beat Marshfield 31-10 in Week 2 of the regular season. That helped set the tone for a phenomenal season for New Richmond. But can it quickly move past its Big Rivers Conference title game defeat to Hudson in time to get back up for a Marshfield team that has won three of its past four games? OUR PICK: New Richmond 21, Marshfield 14.

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High school football: Hudson earns No. 1 seed in playoffs. Here are other Western Wisconsin first-round matchups