Latest news with #Stiff
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aberdeen Gardens' $20 million EPA grant officially terminated
The Trump administration has officially cancelled a $20 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency meant to address flooding in Hampton's historic Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood. Hampton accepted the EPA's grant in December with the intention of funding infrastructure improvements to assist in climate adaptation and flood resilience to create a more sustainable community, according to Wetlands Watch, a nonprofit leading the project in the neighborhood Wetlands Watch Executive Director Mary-Carson Stiff said in a statement the Trump administration justified the nixed funding by claiming the project was no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities under an undefined policy of merit and fairness. Stiff said in a statement there is no reasonable justification for the project's funding being stripped and that the organization an Hampton city government are exploring all options to appeal the surprise termination. 'For 25 years, Wetlands Watch has aligned itself with the EPA's statutory mission,' Stiff said. 'This reversal betrays these widely-held values and threatens environmental progress nationwide.' The group was put on notice the funding might be cancelled in April, when the administration froze funds that were supposed to have been made available on April 1. The EPA and Department of Government Efficiency sought to to scale back spending and terminate 400 congressionally-approved grants totaling $1.7 billion, including the Aberdeen Gardens project. Stiff said in a statement a historic community that was promised help from the government will be unnecessary danger of flooding and other environmental risks. Aberdeen Gardens was designed and built by African Americans for African Americans. It was among 55 New Deal housing programs. One of the neighborhood's most prominent issues is an undersized stormwater system, with pipes too small to accommodate the area's rainfall. The grant money was supposed to improve the neighborhood's stormwater system capacity. 'The action is unjust, unlawful and needlessly places hundreds of residents at increased risk,' Stiff said. 'Aberdeen Gardens was depending on these improvements. The loss of this funding jeopardizes community health, safety and violates the federal government's promise to support neighborhood-level infrastructure projects across Virginia.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$20M to fight flooding in historic Hampton neighborhood may be terminated by Trump admin
HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — A $20 million EPA grant that the city of Hampton was relying on carry out flood mitigation projects in a historic Black neighborhood, may be one of 400 cut by the Trump administration. In December, former Mayor Donnie Tuck announced that the city had been awarded the money to carry out the 'Aberdeen Gardens Community Resilience Implementation Strategy' as part of former President Joe Biden's Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program. Extreme heat, flooding and pollution historically disproportionately burden low-income communities and communities of color. The funding, included in the Inflation Reduction Act, would be sent to the Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood to 'create a sustainable, resilient future by addressing immediate flooding challenges and fostering economic growth through targeted green infrastructure, community engagement and workforce development initiatives.' Tuck said at the time. However, in a release from Democrats on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works last month, the grant was listed as one eyed for termination by Lee Zeldin, President Trump's EPA administrator. In a March 10 release, Zeldin stated he canceled grants and contracts related to 'DEI and environmental justice' as part of 'working hand-in-hand with DOGE to rein in wasteful federal spending.' Both the city of Hampton and their nonprofit partner on the Aberdeen Gardens project, Wetlands Watch, said they are currently in a waiting pattern. Aberdeen Gardens descendants preserve community charm 'We have not received any official notification that we're not getting the grant yet,' Mayor Jimmy Gray said Wednesday. 'We just understand that it's on a possible list that could be cut.' Mary-Carson Stiff, executive director of Wetlands Watch, said seeing the project on the Senate Democrats' published list was 'a surprise.' 'Nobody wants to see the name of this project on a list like that,' Stiff said. 'But we don't know any other details.' Aberdeen Gardens is a historic neighborhood, established in 1934 as part of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal initiative to develop planned communities. It was the only New Deal-planned community that was created by Black architects and workers, according to the city. The 440-acre community made up of 158 single family homes sits in what FEMA considers a high risk flood zone plain. Gary Johnson, 71, was born and raised on the corner of Langston Boulevard and East Russell Road in Aberdeen Gardens. He is now the second generation to own his home. For as long as he can remember, a hard rain meant he had to work hard to make sure everything inside his garage is protected. 'The drainage systems do work, but it doesn't work fast enough because there's so much rain coming down at one time and it's coming down from different areas,' Johnson said. 'When it rains, it floods and go right into my garage and it goes right up to the house.' Stiff said the grant included 'so many different things' in its effort to reduce risks. 'City is working on stormwater improvements,' Stiff said. 'The pipes are too small. Aberdeen creek, it is essentially now a ditch, this project would help restore the creek to give it more carrying capacity during tidal events.' In City Manager Mary Buntings FY 2026 Capital Improvement Plan proposal, $2.9 million in city money is set aside to address the drainage system. Gray said that isn't nearly enough. He said he plans to plead the city's case for the money with the city's federal delegation. 'Taking the grant away doesn't cause the need to go away,' Gray said. 'We're dealing with, you know, real issues, real risks that affect real neighborhoods where real people live … we rely on federal funding or federal assistance to try to address some of our flooding projects in this area, because their place is a big burden on the local taxpayers to try to do that with local tax dollars.' Nobody from the EPA was immediately able to comment for this story. Rep. Bobby Scott, (D-Newport News) weighed in on X. 'Congress provided funds to address the threats of climate change when we enacted the Inflation Reduction Act,' Scott said. 'The Trump Administration's plan to terminate (the city of Hampton's) grant to alleviate flooding in the Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood is both irresponsible and illegal.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
$20 million EPA grant to address flooding in historic Hampton neighborhood likely terminated
A $20 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aimed at addressing flooding in Hampton's Aberdeen Gardens is one of 400 grants targeted for elimination by the Trump administration. The EPA awarded Hampton the grant in December to improve Aberdeen Gardens' stormwater system, plant trees, reduce urban heat and create rain barrels over a three-year period to help the neighborhood's flooding. Aberdeen Gardens is a historic Black community that experiences routine flooding during heavy rainfall and tidal flooding due to its low elevation and nearby creek that is prone to overflowing. However, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced to a congressional committee on March 10 the agency had partnered with the Department of Government Efficiency to terminate more than 400 congressionally-approved grants totaling $1.7 billion. Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works later published a list of the targeted grants, deeming the termination illegal. The list includes the Aberdeen Gardens project. Hampton's access to the money has already been suspended, according to Wetlands Watch Executive Director Mary-Carson Stiff. Hampton had awarded Wetlands Watch $2 million as part of the project to help with flooding resiliency. Stiff said Hampton realized it could not draw funds from their account on April 1, and reached out to the EPA for an explanation. 'As with any change in administration, the agency is reviewing its awarded grants to ensure it is appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and to understand how those programs align with administration priorities,' the EPA wrote in response, according to Stiff. Hampton has already begun community engagement initiatives on the project in anticipation the funding will come, according to city spokesperson Mike Holtzclaw. Devlin Epding,
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Yahoo
State lawmakers discussed new rules, penalties for police chases hours before Horry County pursuit death
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Just a few hours before Lane Stiff died in a Feb. 26 motorcycle wreck authorities said was the result of his failure to stop for law enforcement, state lawmakers were at work discussing potential new rules and penalties around the issue. Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said the 18-year-old Myrtle Beach man died around 4:30 p.m. after striking a vehicle at the intersection of Highways 544 and 814. Stiff failed to pull over for a South Carolina Highway Patrol unit that was attempting a traffic stop, Horry County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Brennan Cavanaugh said. The morning of Stiff's death, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee took up a measure that if signed into law would set mandatory minimum prison sentences for people convicted of running from police, and delayed action on another proposal that would create a statewide framework for when chases can happen at all. Currently, failing to stop for blue lights is a misdemeanor with maximum punishments of a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail — essentially a slap on the wrist that incentivizes people to run from the law, Horry County police chief Kris Leonhardt said recently. 'Those violent offenders, they will take the opportunity to run versus being caught for whatever items they may have inside the vehicle,' he told a county council subcommittee last month. State Sen. Rex Rice, R-Easley, has spent eight years trying to bulk up the penalties by making it a felony with maximum prison time of five years for a first offense along with a 30-day license suspension. According to a fiscal impact summary attached to Rice's S. 111, there were 3,859 court dispositions in the 2023-24 fiscal year related to people who were charged with failure to stop. 'To me, it's something that needs to be done because right now, failure to stop is just a speeding ticket type of situation, and we've had a number of people killed in the state,' he said. Stiff became the latest just about three hours after that Senate subcommittee adjourned — members sent Rice's bill up to the full committee. Without a uniform pursuit policy in place, police and sheriff's departments around the region have all crafted their own — meaning rules of engagement can vary simply by crossing from one city into another. In Myrtle Beach, for example, pursuing vehicles can't travel more than 20 mph over posted speed limits, and officers must notify dispatchers and field supervisors of their location and reason, and then receive verbal permission to continue, according to the city's pursuit policy. Horry County Police Department's manual says decisions to chase suspect vehicles should factor in weather and road conditions, the officer's driving ability and cruiser's condition. State Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Columbia Democrat, wants a statewide pursuit policy put in place by requiring its law enforcement training agency to establish clear guidelines — something opposed by a major advocacy group. 'This bill will have devastating consequences for public safety by severely restricting law enforcement officers' ability to engage in vehicular pursuits. The result will be emboldened criminals who know they can flee without consequence, leading to increased lawlessness across our communities,' South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police president John Blackmon wrote in a Feb. 22 letter to lawmakers. The Senate Judiciary subcommittee delayed action on Jackson's proposal Feb. 26. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
