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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the closure of a large homeless encampment in Orange County (all times local):
12:00 p.m.
Scores of people have lined up hoping to get a motel room as Southern California authorities move to shut down a large homeless encampment under a court agreement.
Toting dogs and suitcases, tent-dwellers sought help Tuesday from Orange County workers who will place people in up to 400 motel rooms for the short term.
Since the deal was struck last week, officials say more than 200 people have been already placed.
But County Executive Officer Frank Kim says he saw people with sleeping bags arriving at the encampment on the Santa Ana River this weekend so they could also seek a room.
The county moved last month to close the two mile (3.2 kilometer) encampment and homeless advocates sued to protect tent-dwellers' rights.
Plaintiffs' lawyer Carol Sobel says those seeking help likely lived there until the county crackdown began and may have left fearing they'd be arrested.
9:02 a.m.
Authorities are being allowed to shut down a large homeless encampment in Southern California and move hundreds of tent-dwellers into motel rooms.
Orange County officials will move people camped out on a two-mile (3.2 kilometer) stretch of a trail along the Santa Ana River.
U.S. District Court Judge David Carter lifted a stay in the case Tuesday, allowing officials to begin removing the homeless residents and make arrests if necessary.
The county says it will pay for motel rooms for up to 30 days and provide outreach services to find roughly 400 homeless people a place to live.
The deal came after advocates sued to protect the rights of evicted tent-dwellers, saying they were driven there by a police crackdown on loitering in surrounding cities.
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