Arizona will begin using airplanes to move migrants from border communities to other cities around the country. According to a report in USA Today, the state signed a contract Jan. 14, and will use both buses and aircraft.

The practice of transporting migrants to other states began with former Gov. Doug Ducey, R, who sent buses to Washington D.C., at a cost of $82,000 per trip. The newly sworn in Gov. Katie Hobbs, D, is going to continue the practice but said her administration will do it in a more cost effective way. The cost for the planes has yet to be released.

Hobbs said under her leadership, migrants will get where they need to go to connect with sponsors.

“I think we need to look at that practice and make sure that it’s effective. It’s something that provides support to those local communities,” Gov. Hobbs said. “If we’re spending the money to bus people, why not just get them to their final destination?”

Gov. Hobbs will also have to finish taking down Ducey’s shipping container border wall. The former governor agreed to stop installing new containers and remove ones that were already there to avoid a restraining order or injunction in federal court. In exchange, the federal government agreed to install new fencing.

“We need to utilize state resources where they can be most effective and it’s really unfortunate that almost $200 million was spent on this shipping container publicity stunt,” Hobbs said. “We’re looking for ways to creatively repurpose the shipping containers that have been purchased by the taxpayers of Arizona and how we can work with local communities to address their needs.”

Construction on a new section of wall along the Colorado River began in early January, and it’s scheduled to be completed this summer. 

A Yuma County official told Fox News in an interview that the surge is overwhelming local food banks and hospitals.

“Policies need to be changed when you see an unprecedented amount of people coming across the border that even supersedes what we saw under any of the other presidents for the past 30 years,” Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines told Fox.

Local farmers in the area said waves of migrants have ran through their fields, which can damage crops and impact their harvest. They said crops are monitored and audited for different pathogens, and groups of people running through can lead to contamination.

Could the nation’s debt crisis be solved by a single coin? Every day the U.S. gets closer to defaulting on its debt, the calls grow louder for a trillion-dollar solution.

In true fashion, The Simpsons got close to foreshadowing this exact scenario in a 1998 episode titled, “The Trouble With Trillions,” in which former President Harry Truman had printed a one trillion-dollar bill to reconstruct post-war Europe in 1945. The government suspected Mr. Burns had stolen it and asked Homer Simpson to investigate.

But let’s get back to real life. The “mint the coin” camp believes that a single platinum coin with a face value of $1 trillion could solve the country’s debt-ceiling issues in lieu of congressional action. While Congress technically holds the power of the purse, there is a legal loophole that allows the Treasury to mint platinum in any denomination without congressional approval.

The rule was intended for collectors’ coins, but theoretically, there’s nothing legally stopping the Treasury from stamping $1 trillion on it and depositing it into the Federal Reserve to pay debts. The platinum coin debate has been circling Washington for more than a decade.

“The debt ceiling is an absurd legal contrivance and we’re using another absurd legal contrivance to get around it,” Bloomberg Editor Joe Weisenthal said on the air back in 2013.

Weisenthal is still a very vocal proponent of the coin. But Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is no fan of the scheme, telling the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that she doesn’t think the Fed would go for it. It’s not the first time she’s spoken out.

“I’m opposed to it and I don’t think we should consider it seriously. It’s a gimmick,” she told CNBC in 2021.

But it’s a so-called gimmick that gains traction every time Congress gets close to default.

Reports indicate that, in 2022, police killings reached a record high in the U.S. The context matters, though. The record used only dates back to 2013, as it is from a nonprofit called Mapping Police Violence. Media reports rely on this source because the U.S. does not have a federal database tracking cases of police violence nationwide. 

“The FBI has been trying for years,” Justin Nix, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha, said. “And in fact, in 2019, they revamped their efforts and launched a new data collection effort. And to date, they still haven’t seen enough participation, to release the data. When they launched their new efforts, there was this arbitrary threshold of 60% of agencies participating before any data can be publicly released. And, you know, three plus years later, we’ve still not met that threshold.”

In addition to Mapping Police Violence, journalists also use The Washington Post’s website and Fatal Encounters.

However, these databases don’t paint the full picture.

“They don’t track when officers shoot, but don’t kill citizens, which I argue is the same as you know, but for the outcome of death, right,” Nix said. “It still represents a use of force that could kill a person.”

Additionally, the databases likely do not find every case. 

Mapping Police Violence says, “estimates suggest that our database captures 92% of the police killings that have occurred since 2013.”

The cases it misses are likely unreported by the media, as Mapping Police Violence depends on local news stories and agency information. The nonprofit has also collaborated with other databases.

“They’ve done a lot of, you know, grunt work to basically reach out to agencies and request those data,” Nix said. “So it’s a tall task, right, and a country with upwards of 18,000 police departments.”

Yet, Nix says, there is still a need  for a more complete source of data to inform policy changes.

“I truly believe we can do better when we have that data, because if we don’t now we’re just guessing we’re just playing darts in the dark and hoping that we get lucky,” Nix said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 8% of employees worked exclusively remote, but that jumped to 39% by early 2022, according to a survey from Gallup. But the days of rolling out of bed and making yourself presentable from the waist up could be coming to an end this year. Yes, it might be time to put on real pants. Straight Arrow News has the signs that 2023 is the year of “return to office” in this week’s Five For Friday.

#5: COVID-19-related factors

COVID-19-related social distancing and lockdown measures were the catalyst for the widespread adoption of working from home. Companies were itching to get employees back in the office by the start of 2022, but surges in cases due to the delta and omicron variants upended those plans. Cases have leveled off for the most part, according to CDC data, making it more likely that no virus will stand in the way of a return to office.

#4: Some workers want to return

More than half of remote-capable workers prefer a hybrid work environment, nearly double those who prefer being fully remote, according to Gallup. But when it comes to returning to the office everyday, only 6% are willing to give up all that flexibility. With business leaders overwhelmingly believing in the benefit of in-person work, the opinion of the 6% may get more weight than the rest.

#3: Commercial real estate

Business is all about the bottom line and office space can be really expensive. The technology hub of San Francisco is a perfect example. Office space in the Bay Area averages $75.86 per square foot. That’s nearly twice the national average of $38.19 per square foot. Wasting all that money on a premium location isn’t sitting well with shareholders and those in the C-suite. Kastle has been tracking a steady increase in employees returning to the office over the last year, a sign of what is to come.

#2: Follow the big guys

Business leaders believe workers are more productive in the office. In fact, 96% say there are more benefits to in-person work, according to a survey from Resume Builder. But there’s a big disconnect between leadership and employees, the latter claiming to be 29% more productive with a flexible work environment. Major firms like Apple, Disney and Starbucks have already mandated return to office in some capacity, so smaller companies will likely follow suit.

#1: The job market

Workers experienced a brief moment of power following the pandemic shock. The U.S. hit a record 11.5 million job openings in March of 2022, which made employees a sought-after commodity. Employers fought to attract good talent by offering higher wages and perks like flexible working conditions. But pay increases are slowing and concerns of a global recession could tip the scales back in the favor of the boss. They’re already flexing that muscle, with 21% saying they are willing to fire employees who refuse to return to office, according to Resume Builder.

The United States has hit the debt ceiling, or the maximum amount of money it’s allowed to borrow to pay its bills. The debt ceiling is currently set at nearly $31.4 trillion.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she is now taking extraordinary measures to keep the United States from defaulting. That includes pausing investments in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Benefits Fund. She will also redeem a portion of the investments already held by those accounts. By law, both funds will be made whole once the debt limit is increased, and Yellen said no federal retirees or employees will be affected by her actions. 

“The period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. Government months into the future,” Yellen wrote. “I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”

House Republicans and the White House have not made any tangible progress on increasing the limit. The White House said it will not negotiate. 

“It is essential for Congress to recognize that dealing with the debt ceiling is their constitutional responsibility. This is an easy one. This is something that should be happening without conditions,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. 

But Republicans argue that debt increases should be met with spending decreases. 

“Find the compromise, and find the common sense compromise that puts us back on to a balanced budget that I believe every household, every state does this, every county,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said. 

Here’s a look at America’s finances for fiscal year 2023 that started in October: 

Revenue: $1.03 trillion

Expenditures: $1.45 trillion

Deficit: $421 billion 

This year’s deficit is $44 billion, or 12%, more than it was at the same time last year.

The trial for one of the biggest fraud cases in more than a decade is still nearly nine months away. Still, it seems nearly every day new information is uncovered about FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange.

FTX has $5.5 billion in liquid assets

This week, FTX reported to creditors that it has recovered $5.5 billion in liquid assets to date, $3.5 billion of which came from cryptocurrency tokens like Solana and FTX’s own token, FTT. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in November, also told creditors that $415 million in cryptocurrency was stolen from the FTX and FTX U.S. exchanges through hacks.

Based on the funds available, FTX said, “there is a substantial shortfall of digital assets at both exchanges.”

But founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been cut off from company ledgers since stepping down as CEO in November, called part of the company’s report “extremely misleading.” He claimed on his Substack page that FTX U.S. is “solvent, likely with hundreds of millions of dollars in excess of customer balances.”

It’s an unusually detailed and unbridled defense for a man facing eight criminal counts related to fraud, money laundering and violating campaign finance laws.

1 in 3 members of Congress received campaign donations from FTX executives

While Bankman-Fried’s campaign contributions have been widely reported to date, CoinDesk revealed a much greater extent of political play from many senior FTX executives.

According to the new report, more than one in three members of Congress have received campaign donations from top executives, totaling 196 members from the House and Senate. These range from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., all the way down to new members of Congress just sworn in for the first time.

CoinDesk said they reached out to all 196, and said many who responded said they handed the funds over to charities, while others said they have set aside the donations to compensate FTX victims if a fund is set up down the road.

Cryptocurrency comeback?

The sudden FTX collapse cratered the cryptocurrency sphere in November, with tokens and exchanges diving in value and stability in the days and weeks that followed.

But this week, Bitcoin lifted above $21,000 for multiple days, recovering all of its losses from the fallout of the FTX collapse. Other coins have followed suit, including FTX’s own token, FTT, which was up 150% in January as of Jan. 17.

That said, the suffering continues elsewhere as cryptocurrency firm Genesis Global Capital is preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg. Genesis had suspended withdrawals soon after FTX filed for bankruptcy.

A Russian national who runs a crypto exchange in Hong Kong was arrested Tuesday night in Miami. Prosecutors at the Justice Department said the crypto exchange, Bitzlato, processed over $700 million in illicit funds that were made from crimes including ransomware and drug trafficking.

Now the firm’s majority shareholder, Anatoly Legkodymov, is charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business and faces five years in prison.

“Operating off shore or moving your servers out of the continental U.S. will not shield you. And whether you break our laws from China or Europe – or abuse our financial system from a tropical island – you can expect to answer for your crimes inside a United States courtroom,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.

The Justice Department said Bitzlato catered to known crooks, and purposefully worked around safeguards put in place by the U.S. government to detect and investigate financial crimes. Bitzlato is even accused of advertising that they require minimal identifying information from clients to complete their transactions.

According to the Justice Department, senior executives at Bitzlato were well aware that their clients were criminals. Legkodymov wrote in an internal company chat to a colleague that many of their users were “known to be crooks.” Another executive also suggested that the company should only combat drug dealers “nominally” to avoid hurting their bottom line.

“The result was that Bitzlato became a safe haven for criminals, including drug dealers and ransomware groups. They knew that when the police traced their funds to Bitzlato, Bitlato would not be able to turn over its users’ true identities,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said.

The FBI says it is working to keep crypto markets free of illicit activity. Deputy Attorney General Monaco says the Justice Department is also taking steps to address what she called a crisis of confidence in the crypto currency markets.

“The FBI will continue to pursue actors who attempt to mask their criminal activity behind keyboards and use means such as cryptocurrency to evade law enforcement,” FBI Assistant Deputy Director Brian Turner said. “We, along with our federal and international partners, will work relentlessly to disrupt and dismantle these types of criminal enterprises.”

According to ESPN, all 30 Class AAA ballparks will be using electronic strike zones during the 2023 season. As MLB aims to use the data and feedback from these games to inform future choices, the move marks another step toward possibly implementing this technology in the majors.

“We believe over the long haul it’s going to be more accurate, it’ll reduce controversy in the game and be good for the game,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred during an interview with Fox Business. “We think it’s more accurate than a human being standing there. The current strike zone design is actually three-dimensional, and a camera is better at calling a three-dimensional strike zone than the human eye.”

The Automatic Balls and Strikes system, often referred to as ABS, will be deployed this year in two different ways. Half of the Class AAA games will be played with all calls determined by an electronic strike zone, and the other half will be played with an ABS challenge system. Similar to what is seen in professional tennis, the challenge system works by having a human umpire make the calls in real time, while each team is allotted a certain number of requests per game to have a call reviewed by the electronic system.

This is not the first time the league has tested electronic strike zones at lower levels of the game. In 2019, MLB tried out robotic umpires through a partnership with the Atlantic League, an independent baseball organization which was made up of eight teams at the time. That same year the Arizona Fall League adopted electronic strike zones as well to “very consistent” results. Two years later ABS was deployed in some Class A ballparks, and last season it was used for the first time in some Class AAA games.

“I’m not totally against it,” said Colorado Rockies outfielder and 2016 National League MVP Kris Bryant via The Athletic. “Umpires want to get the calls right. They’re not out there trying to influence the game one way or the other. If they have a tool at their advantage to every call right, that’s great.”

While there are currently no plans to bring electronic strike zones to the big leagues, there are other significant changes coming to baseball in the season ahead. With the use of a pitch clock, new regulations limiting defensive shifts, larger bases, and restrictions on pickoff attempts, MLB has shown that it is willing to evolve in an effort to make the game more exciting, and it may not be done yet.

Neither the White House nor the Secret Service maintain visitor logs for President Biden’s personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware. They’re making the disclosure because the House Oversight Committee put in an official request with White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain for all logs going back to Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Biden took office.

“Like every president in decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” the White House counsel’s office said in a statement obtained by Fox. “But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.”

A Secret Service spokesman said the agency does screen visitors but does not maintain a record of who they checked.

“We don’t independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence,” Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told reporters.

The Secret Service said the same for former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home when classified documents were found there.

In his letter to Klain, Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote it is “troubling” that classified information has been stored at the Biden home.

“President Biden’s mishandling of classified materials raises the issue of whether he has jeopardized our national security. Without a list of individuals who have visited his residence, the American people will never know who had access to these highly sensitive documents,” Comer wrote.

Comer also requested all documents and communications by Biden aides that are related to the case. 

“Because this is the same type of investigation that the Democrats were so outraged and launched and demanded happen to President Trump. What we see with President Biden is there are multiple locations. We would never have known about the possession of the classified documents were it not for investigative reporting by CBS,” Comer said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Democrats contend President Biden’s team has handled the situation well and returned the documents the day they were discovered.

“That is a very different posture than what we saw with Donald Trump, where he was fighting for a period of more than 8 months to not turn over hundreds of missing documents that the Archives was asking about,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said on State of the Union. “I think every American has an interest in seeing that classified documents are properly handled by whoever is president and by any administration. And all we’re looking for is equal treatment.”

A growing list of congressional Democrats have spoken out, saying this is a serious matter and needs to be thoroughly investigated. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel on Thursday.

The AP contributed to this report. 

Google told the Supreme Court that if it guts Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, it would upend the internet, encourage suppression of legitimate speech and proliferate offensive speech. The tech giant is being sued by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in 2015 during an Islamic State group (ISIS) terrorist attack in Paris that left 129 people dead.

Section 230 protects platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter from lawsuits regarding content people post on their sites. For instance, if someone posts hateful or defamatory content on Twitter, the victim cannot sue Twitter. They can only seek damages from the person who posted it.

Section 230 states, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” 

Gonzalez’s family argues that Youtube, which is owned by Google, aided and abetted the Islamic State group by recommending the terrorist organization’s videos to users. Therefore, the family contends, YouTube is more than just what’s called an “interactive computer service” that allows third parties to post content.

Google countered that if websites accepted all third-party content without organizing or limiting that content, it would risk a proliferation of pornography, hate speech and illegality.

“Recommendation algorithms are what make it possible to find the needles in humanity’s largest haystack,” attorneys for Google wrote in a brief.

The justices will have to decide if online platforms can be held liable for recommending content, even if they did not create or post it. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 21 and a decision will be released by this summer.

While the Supreme Court may have the final word on that specific issue, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have debated for years whether to keep or repeal Section 230 entirely.

“Section 230 was absolutely necessary to bring our legal system into the 21st century. It has been the legal foundation for the growth of the internet, particularly in areas like education and jobs and a platform for free speech around the world,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said during a 2017 Senate Commerce Committee hearing.

“Right now we’re looking for ways to reform section 230 and to regulate big tech without turning the congress into a new speech police,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in 2020.

If online platforms are ultimately made responsible for users’ content, it would be an enormous task to fully police it. Each day tech users generate more than 500 million tweets, 294 billion emails, 4 million gigabytes of Facebook data and 720,000 hours of new YouTube content.

The protections provided by Section 230 are extraordinary. As an example, a young boy was once lured into performing sex acts with a grown man who then marketed videos of the crime on AOL. The boy’s parents sued AOL and AOL won.