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ByKevinMcgill The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS A federal appeals court refused Tues- day to lift a temporary hold on President Barack Obama's executive action that could shield as many as 5 million immigrants ille- gally living in the U.S. from deportation. The U.S. Justice Depart- ment had asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a Texas judge who agreed to temporarily block the president's plan in Feb- ruary, after 26 states filed a lawsuit alleging Obama's ac- tion was unconstitutional. But two out of three judges on a court panel voted to deny the government's re- quest. It wasn't immediately clear if the government would appeal, either to the full appeals court in New Orleans or to the U.S. Su- preme Court. The states suing to block the plan, led by Texas, argue that Obama acted outside his authority and that the changes would force them to invest more in law en- forcement, health care and education. But the White House has said the presi- dent acted within his pow- ers to fix a "broken immi- gration system." U.S. District Judge An- drew Hanen sided with the states and, from his court in Brownsville, Texas, is- sued a temporary injunc- tion on Feb. 16 to block the plan from taking effect while the lawsuit works its way through the courts. Justice Department law- yers sought a stay while they appealed the injunc- tion. They argued that keep- ing the temporary hold in- terfered with the Homeland Security Department's abil- ity to protect the U.S. and secure the nation's bor- ders. They also said immi- gration policy is a domain of the federal government, not the states. But, in Tuesday's ruling, 5th Circuit judges Jerry Smith and Jennifer Walker Elrod denied the stay, say- ing in an opinion writ- ten by Smith, that the fed- eral government lawyers are unlikely to succeed on the merits of that appeal. Judge Stephen Higginson dissented. Obama announced the executive action in Novem- ber, saying lack of action by Congress forced him to make sweeping changes to immigration rules on his own. Republicans said Obama overstepped his presidential authority. The first of Obama's or- ders — to expand a program that protects young immi- grants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children — was set to take effect Feb. 18. The other major part, extending deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for some years, had been sched- uled to begin May 19. Hanen issued his injunc- tion believing that neither action had taken effect. But the Justice Department later told Hanen that more than 108,000 people had already received three-year reprieves from deportation as well as work permits. 26-STATE LAWSUIT Co ur t re fu se s to l i hold on Obama's immigration action By Kristie Rieken and Paul J. Weber The Associated Press HOUSTON Floodwaters kept rising Tuesday across much of Texas as storms dumped almost another foot of rain on the Hous- ton area, stranding hun- dreds of motorists and in- undating the famously con- gested highways that serve the nation's fourth-largest city. Meanwhile, the number of people missing in flood- ing along the Blanco River rose to more than 40, in- cluding a group of peo- ple who disappeared af- ter a vacation home was swept down the river and slammed into a bridge. Several more fatalities were reported — two in Houston, another in a ve- hicle on Interstate 45 and one more in Central Texas. That brought to 16 the num- ber of people killed by the holiday weekend storms in Texas and Oklahoma. The water continued rising overnight as about 11 more inches of rain fell, much of it in a six-hour pe- riod. The floodwaters af- fected virtually every part of the city. Firefighters car- ried out more than 500 wa- ter rescues, most involving stranded motorists. At least 2,500 vehicles were aban- doned by drivers seeking higher ground, officials said. "Given the magnitude and how quickly it hap- pened, in such a short pe- riod of time, I 've never seen this before," said Rick Flanagan, Houston's emer- gency management coordi- nator. The flooding closed sev- eral highways in Houston, and the ones that stayed open became a gridlocked mess. Interstatebackedup Interstate 45 near down- town was backed up for miles on Tuesday morning, with a handful of motorists traveling the wrong way to retreat from high water. The small cars weaved between massive 18-wheel- ers as drivers stared at them in disbelief. With no end to the backup in sight, some drivers got off the freeway, only to be held up again by water covering nearby access roads. In the Heights neighbor- hood about 5 miles from downtown, groups of peo- ple roamed the streets after escaping their stalled cars, and police cruisers blocked some roads where the wa- ter had caused dangerous conditions. Some motorists were stuck on Interstate 45 all night, sleeping in their cars until the backup was cleared about 8 a.m. NBA fans at the Toyota Center, where the Rockets hosted a Western Confer- ence finals game against Golden State on Monday, were asked with about two minutes left in the game not to leave the arena be- cause of the severe weather. The game ended be- fore 11 p.m., but about 400 people remained in their seats at 1:30 a.m., choos- ing to stay in the build- ing rather than brave the flooded roads. A spokeswoman for the flood district of Har- ris County, which includes Houston, said up to 700 homes sustained damage. In Hays County, about 35 miles southwest of Austin, Commissioner Will Conley said authorities were look- ing for 42 people, includ- ing a dozen people who wit- nesses said they saw in the floodwaters. The rest may be unac- counted for simply because they are staying elsewhere or are not at home, Conley said. Crews were also search- ing for victims and assess- ing damage just across the Texas-Mexico border in Ci- udad Acuna, where a tor- nado killed 13 people Mon- day. Some of the worst flood- ing damage in Texas was in Wimberley, a popular tour- ist town along the Blanco in the corridor between Austin and San Antonio. That's where the vacation home was swept away. 'Search component' The "search component" of the mission ended Mon- day night, meaning no more survivors were ex- pected to be found, said Trey Hatt, a spokesman for the Hays County Emer- gency Operations Center. One person who was res- cued from the home told workers that the other 12 inside were all connected to two families. Young chil- dren were among those be- lieved to be missing. SEVERE WEATHER Floodwaters strand hundreds in Houston By Stephen Ohlemacher The Associated Press WASHINGTON Thieves used an online service provided by the IRS to gain access to information from more than 100,000 taxpayers, the agency said Tuesday. The information included tax returns and other tax information on file with the IRS. The IRS said the thieves accessed a system called "Get Transcript." In order to access the information, the thieves cleared a security screen that required knowl- edge about the taxpayer, in- cluding Social Security num- ber, date of birth, tax filing status and street address. "We're confident that these are not amateurs," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Koskinen said the agency was alerted to the thieves when technicians noticed an increase in the number of taxpayers seeking tran- scripts. The IRS said they tar- geted the system from Feb- ruary to mid-May. The ser- vice has been temporarily shut down. Taxpayers sometimes need copies of old tax re- turns to apply for mort- gages or college aid. While the system is shut down, taxpayers can still apply for transcripts by mail. The IRS said its main computer system, which handles tax filing submis- sions, remains secure. The IRS has launched a criminal investigation. The agency's inspector general is also investigating. "In all, about 200,000 attempts were made from questionable email domains, with more than 100,000 of those attempts successfully clearing authentication hur- dles," the agency said. "Dur- ing this filing season, taxpay- ers successfully and safely downloaded a total of ap- proximately 23 million tran- scripts." The agency is still deter- mining how many fraudu- lent refunds were claimed this year using information from the stolen transcripts. Koskinen provided a pre- liminary estimate, saying less than $50 million was successfully claimed. However, thieves can use the information to claim fraudulent tax re- funds in the future. As iden- tity theft has exploded, the agency has added filters to its computer system to identify suspicious returns. These filters look for anom- alies in the information pro- vided by the taxpayer. Old tax returns can help thieves fill out credi- ble-looking returns in the future, helping them get around the IRS filters. This year, the IRS stopped almost 3 million suspicious returns, Koski- nen said. Tax returns can include a host of personal informa- tion that can help someone steal an identity, including Social Security numbers and birthdates of depen- dents and spouses. The IRS said the thieves appeared to already have a lot of per- sonal information about the victims. The IRS said it is notify- ing taxpayers whose infor- mation was accessed. SYSTEM BREACH IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000 PATSULLIVAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Flood waters overrun the banks of the bayou in downtown Houston, on Tuesday. By Mark Gillispie The Associated Press CLEVELAND Cleveland agreed to overhaul its po- lice department under the supervision of an indepen- dent monitor in a settle- ment announced Tuesday with the U.S. Justice De- partment over a pattern of excessive force and other abuses by officers. The announcement came three days after a white patrolman was ac- quitted of manslaughter for his role in a 137-shot bar- rage of police gunfire that left two unarmed black suspects dead. That helped prompt an 18-month inves- tigation by the Justice De- partment, which issued its findings in a scathing re- port in December. The settlement — out- lined in a 105-page con- sent decree — calls for new guidelines and training in the use of force; a switch to community policing, in which officers work closely with their neighborhoods; an overhaul of the machin- ery for investigating mis- conduct allegations; mod- ernization of police com- puter technology; and new training in avoiding racial stereotyping and dealing with the mentally ill. "As we move forward, it is my strong belief that as other cities across this country address and look at their police issues in their communities, they will be able to say, 'Let's look at Cleveland because Cleve- land has done it right,'" Mayor Frank Jackson said. He said that when the reforms take hold, commu- nity policing will become "part of our DNA." The plan is subject to approval by a judge, and an independent monitor will oversee it. Several other police de- partments around the country, including those in Seattle and New Orleans, are operating under federal consent decrees that involve independent oversight. In a statement, U.S. At- torneyStevenM.Dettelbach said the overhaul "will help ensure the many brave men and women of the Cleve- land Division of Police can do their jobs not only con- stitutionally, but also more safely and effectively." SETTLEMENT Cleveland to overhaul its police department AnIndependentlyownedandoperatedMemberof Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates. 741Main Street,Suite#2 Red Bluff, CA 96080 1-800-287-2187 (530) 527-2187 FOR24/7PROPERTYINFOCALL1-888-902-7253 TEHAMA COUNTY REAL ESTATE TEAM • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK www.redbluffcoldwellbanker.com See All Tehama County Listings at OurknowledgeableandprofessionalstaffofRealtors are here to assist you with all your Real Estate needs. *18 Months to 3 Years for Short Sales / 4 – 7 Years for Foreclosures. 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