Millions face eviction at the end of this month. Get help now! – National & International News – THU 10Jun2021

Facing eviction? There’s help. DNA closes 65-year-old double murder cold case. Migrants still crossing border in record numbers.

NATIONAL NEWS

Millions face eviction as CDC ban to expire

The current nationwide ban on evictions will expire on June 30. So far, there is no indication that the ban will be extended beyond that point. Across the country, about 7 million people are still behind on their rent. This means that July 1 could potentially bring a huge wave of evictions.

Congress has already set aside $50 billion for rental assistance to keep people in their homes. In some areas of the country, various rental assistance programs have worked very well. In others, these programs have barely gotten off the ground, or have convoluted rules that make it more difficult for people to get the help that they need.

Facing eviction in MS? There’s help.

The Census Bureau has surveyed over 150,000 renters and mortgage holders in Mississippi. A little over 50,000 of those people say that they are likely or somewhat likely to be evicted or foreclosed in the next two months. If we assume that this number is representative of the whole state, that means about one-third of renters and mortgage holders in Mississippi are in danger of losing their homes.

Of the $50 billion from Congress, Mississippi received about $200 million to keep renters in their homes.

If you or someone you know is a renter in danger of eviction, you can visit the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) online at ms-ramp.com to apply for rental assistance. Renters may apply themselves, or landlords can apply on a renter’s behalf.

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New DNA techniques close 65-year-old double murder case

In January, 1956 in Great Falls, MT, Duane Bogle, 18, went parking with his love, local girl Patricia Kalitzke, 16. Bogle was an airman from Waco, TX, who had met and become smitten with Kalitzke while stationed at nearby Malmstrom Air Force Base. The two had even begun discussing marriage. Sadly, their story would not have a happy ending.

On January 3, hikers found Bogle’s body near his still-running car. Bogle’s assailant had bound his hands behind his back with his own belt before shooting him in the head. A day later, a county road worker found Kalitzke’s body at a different location. She had been assaulted and also shot in the head.

Over the years, local authorities looked into dozens of suspects but made no arrests. Although they had taken forensic evidence from both murder scenes, the technology simply didn’t exist to find a positive match.

From cold case to case closed

In 2001, Detective Phil Matteson sent off a vaginal swab from Kalitzke for analysis. This yielded a sperm cell that didn’t belong to Bogle. However, there were no matches in the system, and the case went cold once again.

Then, in 2018, the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. for the Golden State Killer murders of the 70s and 80s made headlines. DeAngelo was identified using of forensic genealogy. Investigators compared crime scene DNA with DNA samples in voluntary genealogy databases, which led them to a familial match. 

By then, Det. Sgt. Jon Kadner had taken over the Bogle-Kalitzke case. Kadner submitted the DNA for additional testing and comparison with genealogy databases. This led them to a possible match to Kenneth Gould. Gould was born and raised in Great Falls, and would have been about 29 at the time of the killings. Gould lived about a mile from both crime scenes and was known to go on long horseback rides in the area.

Sadly, Gould had escaped justice, having died in Missouri in 2007. Still, Kadner believes this is the oldest cold case yet solved through forensic genealogy in the US. The technique has shown great promise and raised hopes among many families who have had a long wait for justice.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Migrants still turning up at border in record numbers

During a recent visit to Guatemala, Vice-President Kamala Harris had a simple message for anyone thinking of migrating to the US: “Don’t come”. This echoed comments from the White House earlier this year when a surge of migrants, and particularly lone children, had overwhelmed US border facilities.

Despite this, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it caught 180,034 migrants last month. This was slightly more than the previous month, and the highest monthly total since April 2000. CBP says that of the 180,034 people caught last month, mostly single adults, 112,302 were expelled under a Trump-era policy that Biden has kept in place.

Aside from the typical mix of Mexicans, Guatemalans and El Salvadorans, many of the newcomers are from outside Central America. Some of these hail from Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and even some African nations.

Still, over 10,765 lone minors arrived in May from Central America. In April, there were 13,940. These numbers, according to JooYeun Chang of the Department of Health and Human Services, are “simply unprecedented”. About 16,200 lone children are currently in DHHS custody.

Canada has even offered to help take up the slack by accepting thousands of Central American migrants, though it is not clear how this would work. 

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