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SHR; Emily Calandrelli will be first West Virginia woman to travel to space


Brad and Alys are out here getting celebrity WVU grads to promote Marshall from space😂

Florida dominates list of best cities for first-time homebuyers while California sinks to the bottom

But...but...California is great! 😂

While the sun shines for first-time homebuyers in Florida, the real estate market has lost its shine in the "Golden" State of California.

A new study from WalletHub released Tuesday ranked the best and worst cities for first-time homebuyers in 2024. It measured affordability, real estate and quality of life markers in 300 U.S. locations using 22 key metrics, from home prices to taxes and crime rates.

Six out of the top 10 best cities for first-time buyers are in Florida, including Palm Bay, Cape Coral, Port St. Lucie, Tampa, Orlando and Lakeland.

However, eight out of 10 of the bottom 10 worst cities for aspiring homeowners can be found in California. Those markets include Costa Mesa, Glendale, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Berkeley.

"The most important takeaway from this study for aspiring homeowners is the necessity of balancing affordability with quality of life when purchasing a home," WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe told Fox News Digital.

"With rising prices and interest rates making homeownership more challenging, it's crucial for first-time buyers to be well-informed about market conditions, mortgage eligibility, and the real cost of living in different areas," she added. "Our research highlights that the best cities for first-time homebuyers are not only affordable but also offer a range of housing options, low crime rates, and good schools. Understanding these factors can help buyers make more informed decisions and find a home that meets both their needs and their budget."

When looking deeper at the three main metrics, Detroit, Michigan reportedly has the most affordable housing, which is 10.4 times cheaper than Santa Barbara, where affordability is the worst.

Honolulu, Hawaii, has the lowest real estate tax rate, which is 11 times lower than in the highest tax market of Waterbury, Connecticut, WalletHub pointed out.

The three best cities for first-time homebuyers – Florida’s Palm Bay, Cape Coral and Port St. Lucie – all share high active home listings per capita, low crime and highly-rated school systems.

WalletHub’s analyst noted that the trends suggest significant differences in housing market conditions between Florida and California, especially.

"Florida cities generally offer better affordability, more attractive real estate markets and a higher quality of life, making them more favorable for first-time homebuyers. In contrast, California cities face challenges such as higher living costs, real estate taxes, and potentially less favorable quality of life metrics, making homeownership less accessible for first-time buyers in the state," Happe explained.

"When it comes to quality of life, Florida tends to provide better options for families and new buyers, while California's quality of life rankings are mixed, facing issues such as a high cost of living and urban challenges in many cities," she expanded. "Overall, Florida presents more accessible housing options and a favorable real estate climate compared to California's expensive and competitive market."

National Association of Realtors data has reported that first-time homebuyers made up only 32% of the U.S. market last year, compared to the historical average of 40%.

And even if a flock of new families and residents relocate to these hot markets in Florida, Happe cooled any concerns of oversaturation or tight buying competition.

"While increased interest in top-ranked cities can indeed lead to shifts in market dynamics, our rankings are based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including affordability, access to mortgage loans and overall housing market conditions," Happe said.

"As long as buyers remain aware of changing market conditions and consider important factors, they can still find suitable opportunities in these cities, even as dynamics evolve over time."

A lot of Blacks aren’t black

Amber Rose saying she wasn’t Black made me remember back to a guy I knew at Marshall. He was a foreign student who lived on my dorm floor and was the only person I have ever met who was actually BLACK. He was from Cameroon located on the African equator and he was the color of a black piano key

He was somewhat older than the average college student, had gone to English schools and spoke with a British accent, and often wore those British navy white shorts and shirt.

Great guy and he definitely couldn’t say he wasn’t black/Black.

Illegal immigrants are offered an array of taxpayer funded benefits, enticing more to come: 'Pull factor'

Long read, but this shows how ridiculous Pedo-Joe and Democrat policies are

There have been more than 7 million migrant crossings during the pedo administration

Illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. as part of the record-breaking migrant crisis are eligible for a range of services, assistance and benefits amid a complex network of federal, state and local programs and taxpayer-funded providers.

There were 2.4 million migrant crossings in the U.S. in fiscal year 2023, a new record, and more than 7 million have entered since 2021. While some of those have been returned or deported, many others have instead been processed and released into the U.S. Overall, nearly 7.3 million migrants have crossed the southern border under Pedo-Joe's watch, a Fox News analysis earlier this year found.

When they arrive at the border, migrants who do not evade Border Patrol agents and who are taken into custody are processed and, if not removed, often released into the U.S. eventually with a notice to appear at an immigration court — typically years into the future due to the momentous backlog in the courts, which is now at nearly 3.6 million cases.

Migrants who are released into the interior are currently unable to work legally until six months after they have filed a claim for asylum, which not all illegal immigrants do. Many have also spent thousands of dollars paying smugglers to guide them to the southern border and so will often have few resources.

Some will be able to receive assistance from family members already living in the U.S., but others will not. As they move deeper into the country, there are a number of resources from which they can draw.

Conservatives warn that providing such benefits to illegal immigrants acts as a pull factor for migrants, and hurts American taxpayers.

"Illegal aliens coming to America want five things: to enter the U.S.; stay here; work; send money home; and bring or have family here. All these benefits help illegal aliens stay in the U.S., so, yes, the benefits are a pull factor," Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital.

"Another benefit to add is legal services for civil deportation hearings, a benefit that U.S. citizens do not receive. Given the millions coming to the U.S. under the Biden administration, American taxpayers will see significant tax increases to pay for all these services given to people who aren’t supposed to be here. That means Americans will have even less money to spend on gas, groceries, and rent," she said.

At the border itself, migrants who are taken into Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody will be cared for and given treatment as needed. In addition to shelter and meals, they will also be offered and provided essential medical care. When an illegal immigrant in ICE detention anywhere in the country requires health care, they are typically treated on-site by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is required, they may be transported to an independent private provider. ICE's Health Service Corps will reimburse providers at Medicare rates.

If migrants are being released, they will often be turned over to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the border, who will care for migrants and help them make their way into the U.S.

While services and assistance are being provided by NGOs, in many cases this is being done with the assistance of federal dollars. In addition to caring for migrants at CBP stations, the federal government is providing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to NGOs and communities who are receiving migrants. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it is providing $640.9 million in FY 2024 via its Shelter and Services Program to allow "non-federal entities," including city governments and NGOs, to off-set costs incurred by the migrant arrivals they are seeing. Recently, DHS expanded the cap for both hotels and airfare to 10 percent of the total funding requested, and allowed NGOs to apply for a waiver of that cap due to an operational need.

"SSP grants have provided critical support to communities receiving migrants and the need for this support is ongoing," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement in September

NGOs will help migrants with hotel rooms and travel, which typically involves bus and train tickets, but can in some instances involve flights. Some migrants will book their own flights, while others will use bus travel coordinated by the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has set up buses to take migrants to "sanctuary" cities across the U.S. free of charge.

A 2023 Government Accountability Office report found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had provided more than $282 million in humanitarian relief grant funding to NGOs in fiscal years 2019, 2021 and 2022.

According to that report, services provided to migrants included food, clothing, transport to airports or bus stations, medical care, legal aid, translation assistance and assistance with booking travel. Those nonprofits said that typically the migrants pay for their own travel. The majority of the more than $10 million the report looked at was spent on food and shelter (about 58%). The next two categories were per capita spending (on individual food, shelter, health care) and transportation.

Meanwhile, another DHS pilot program — the Case Management Pilot Program — provides case management and other services to those in immigration removal proceedings. Services include mental health services, school enrollment, legal aid, "cultural orientation programs" and connections to social services — as well as human trafficking screening and departure planning for those being deported.

When migrants arrive at destinations across the country, what they can receive varies. Many "sanctuary" cities will provide shelter to migrants as part of their broader safety nets, and some have migrant-specific programs to help them build a life in the U.S. Some of those cities have still tried to limit the length at which they can stay, with New York City and Chicago limiting stays to 60 days for families earlier this year due to ongoing capacity issues.

In Denver, migrants can be enrolled in a program that offers "housing assistance options" for up to six months, along with pre-work authorization readiness training, case management, language instruction, career pathway explorations and "work-based learning opportunities."

Should a migrant go to New York City, they may be eligible for a pre-paid debit card. A pilot program there involves $53 million being spent to give families with two children $350 a week. The cards can only be used at grocery stores, bodegas and convenience stores and migrants must promise to only spend on food and baby supplies. Authorities there said they wanted to see the program expanded to all migrant families currently staying in hotels. A family of four might be provided nearly $1,000 each month, or $35 per day for food, the New York Post reported. The cards are replenished every 28 days.

New York State has also extended state-funded Medicaid coverage to individuals ages 65 and older, regardless of their immigration status.

New York City has also offered one-way plane tickets to migrants, with a "reticketing center" for migrants opened last year, where a spokesperson said the city will "redouble efforts to purchase tickets for migrants" who are seeking to travel elsewhere.

In California, this year is the first year that illegal immigrants are eligible for Cal-Health. Illegal immigrants have been allowed to get free health insurance if they are under 26 since 2019, but in 2024 the eligibility was raised to include residents between 26 and 49.

In Washington, D.C., illegal immigrants can receive health coverage via the longstanding Healthcare Alliance program. In Oregon, the Cover All People Act extended state-funded healthcare coverage to all low-income adults not eligible due to their immigration status. There has been a similar push to expand state-funded health insurance to illegal immigrant children in Virginia.

Some cities and states will also provide assistance for illegal immigrants’ legal costs. In Chicago, the Legal Protection Fund was established in 2017 and is funded by taxpayers through the city government and partners with NGOs to provide "community-based outreach, education, legal consultations and courtroom representation for thousands of immigrants each year."

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