BARSTOW, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management will implement a temporary closure of public lands from Jan. 30– Feb. 8, 2025, in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, San Bernardino County, during the annual 2025 King of the Hammers desert race event. The race is authorized by a BLM Special Recreation Permit and the temporary closure is necessary to facilitate public safety and provide an enhanced recreation experience for event participants and spectators.

The BLM approved a five-year public land closure for 10 days a year through 2027. Registered race spectators, participants, and race officials are exempt from the closure. Approximately 81,000 acres of the Johnson Valley Off-highway Vehicle Recreation Area will be temporarily closed to public use and approximately 46,000 acres will be available for public use during the event.

“The BLM’s priority during these large race events is the safety of participants, staff, and spectators,” said BLM California Desert District Manager Shelly Lynch. “Please recreate responsibly and cooperate with race officials and law enforcement officers to ensure a safe and enjoyable race.”

The temporary closure complies with the management plan for the area. Recreation areas nearby will remain open to the public including the Ord-Rodman Limited Use Area and Stoddard Valley Off-highway Vehicle Area. Information and a map of the closure area for the 2025 race event will be posted at the main entry points into the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area and available for viewing at the BLM’s California Desert District Office and Barstow Field Office. Download a map of the closure.

 

A mother and father in Minnesota are headed to prison for the next four years for locking their kids in makeshift cages at night, insisting to cops that they did so for “safety” reasons.

Benjamin Cotton 42, and Christina Cotton, 40, pleaded guilty to child torture, court records show. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed the 15 other charges they were facing including torture, neglect and malicious punishment of a child, reported Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP. According to a probable cause statement, the Goodhue County Health and Human Services received a report in August 2022 concerning the well-being of four children, ages 9, 7, 5 and 2. Christina Cotton had been behaving erratically and had a history of mental illness, cops said. The report also said at least one of the children had been locked in a cage, the affidavit said.

More from Law&Crime: Dad who tortured his 4-year-old daughter into a ‘vegetative state,’ told girl’s mother that she fainted during a ‘time-out’ learns his fate

A social worker and investigator from the Red Wing Police Department went to the home the day after receiving the report. Christina Cotton answered the door and invited them inside. She said the three younger children were in their bedrooms while the older child was downstairs. When cops asked if any of the children were locked in cages, Christina Cotton became upset and told them the kids were “locked up for their safety,” the affidavit said.

Investigators went to a bedroom and saw a 2-year-old locked in a playpen with what appeared to be a dog cage strapped on top so the child could not get out. The child wore a soiled diaper which was duct taped around his body, police said. Next to the playpen was a bunk bed “designed for very small children” that had wooded planks around the exterior that kept the kids locked up. The 7- and 5-year-old were inside, along with a mattress, blankets and a “puke bowl,” according to cops. They could not stand up, police noted. There was also a wooden door that had a sliding metal lock.

The mother said she locked up the kids around 8:30 p.m. the night before, meaning they had been contained in the cages for about 13 hours. The 9-year-old was found downstairs and not locked up. But the child had “excessive bruising” that covered the back and buttocks, police said.

The U.S. Department of Education imposed a record $14 million fine on Liberty University over rampant violations of federal law related to campus safety, authorities announced on Tuesday. The investigation into the university was prompted by a 2021 lawsuit alleging repeat mishandling of sexual assault complaints.

Federal officials issued the fine against the Virginia-based evangelical Christian institution for failure to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and Campus Crime Statistics Act. The law passed in 1990, mandates certain crime reporting requirements for schools that receive federal student aid funds.

The $14 million fine was assessed against Liberty as part of a settlement agreement over “material and ongoing violations” violations of their obligations under the Clery Act, including “its published crime statistics and treatment of sexual assault survivors,” the Department of Education said in a press release.

“This is the largest fine ever imposed for violating the Clery Act,” the agency said.

Advocates are worried about the fate of new auto safety standards tucked inside Congress’ $1 trillion infrastructure bill, including one for vehicle seats. It was prompted by a years-long CBS News investigation that revealed potential seatback dangers linked to a government safety standard that may be outdated.

Congressional correspondent Kris Van Cleave, who has been investigating this story since 2015, reports that buried inside the 2,700-page bill for roads, bridges, airports and waterways are a host of auto safety initiatives, including one inspired by our six-year CBS News investigation. It aims to change what safety advocates say is a dangerously outdated regulation that’s turning crashes deadly. 

Our CBS News investigation (which first aired in October 2015) discovered that it had been known for decades that, when hit from behind, the front seats in all types of passenger vehicles can collapse, launching occupants into the backseat.

Injuries can be catastrophic, something the Fraser family lives with the consequences of every day.

Jayden Faith was a 12-year-old full of motion — a competitive dancer and eight-time state champion gymnast. But on Thanksgiving 2016, everything changed. The family was driving home from serving meals to the homeless when their car was rear-ended.

When asked how life had changed, Jayden’s mother, Michelle Fraser, replied: “In every way.”

“Like, B.C. and A.D.,” Jayden’s father, Jason Fraser, said. “Like, a definitiveness of, we talk about our life before and after, because there’s no comparison.”

“When it happened, it was like a bomb went off,” said Michelle. “Something’s wrong. Very wrong, because she was just slumped and convulsing.” 

“She died on the side of the road,” Jason said. “The paramedics put her in the ambulance, they said there’s no light in her eyes, she was gone.”

But somehow, “Jay-Fay,” as her parents call her, did survive, despite a 360-degree skull fracture and a life-changing traumatic brain injury, leaving her unable to walk or speak.

Van Cleave asked, “What do you miss? Is there something you miss most? Probably hearing her voice?”

“Yeah, that’s my number one,” Jason replied.

“I miss seeing her dance,” Michelle said.

The Frasers are not alone. CBS News identified dozens of families that know their pain all too well.

While regulators acknowledge these types of crashes are under-reported, safety advocates estimate at least 50 people a year (mostly children in the back seat) die from them. But the seats all meet, or exceed, federal safety standards set by a regulation dating back to the 1960s.

Congresswoman Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) learned of the issue from our investigation, and led the effort in the House to fix the problem. “I really do feel that the time is now,” she said, adding: “I think that credit should be given to CBS for you to identify this issue.”

Inside the infrastructure bill is language requiring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to draft a new, updated strength standard for vehicle seats within two years, but it requires the approval of the Secretary of Transportation before it can be implemented.

“This is a fix that’s going to happen,” Rice said. “The car manufacturers know it, and we’re going to get it done.”

But progressive Democrats are now threatening to join House Republicans and vote down the infrastructure bill unless President Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget act passes first. They argue infrastructure alone fails to address the needs of the nation. The political wrangling has this potentially life-saving reform hanging in the balance.

Van Cleave asked Jason Fraser what he had to say to the politicians in Washington.

“The longer that you guys wait, you’re just adding to the list of people just like us, letting children and adults die in these rear-end car accidents. It’s unnecessary,” he replied.

Safety advocates would have preferred language mandating the regulation change without requiring the Secretary of Transportation to weigh in.

The Frasers argue that any movement to action, sooner rather than later, is better than a perfect plan.

Since CBS News’ first story on this issue aired in October 2015, a conservative estimate is that at least 300 people have died in these kinds of crashes. Most are likely children.

A six-year CBS News investigation has prompted new legislation to protect children sitting in the back seats of vehicles during rear-end crashes. Kris Van Cleave shares more.

CBS News identified more than 100 people who were severely injured or killed in alleged seat-back failures in the past 30 years. Kris Van Cleave reports.

The legislation would require regulators and carmakers to strengthen standards to guard against the backs of seats from collapsing after a CBS News investigation revealed more than 100 cases of injuries and deaths during crashes. Kris Van Cleave reports.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management will implement a temporary closure of public lands from Jan. 25 – Feb. 3, 2024, in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, San Bernardino County, during the annual 2024 King of the Hammers desert race event. The race is authorized by a BLM Special Recreation Permit and the temporary closure is necessary to facilitate public safety and provide an enhanced recreation experience for event participants and spectators.

In 2022, the BLM approved a five-year public land closure for ten days a year through 2027. Registered race spectators, participants, and race officials are exempt from the closure. Approximately 81,000 acres of the Johnson Valley Off-highway Vehicle Recreation Area will be temporarily closed to public use and approximately 46,000 acres will be available for public use during the event.

“The safety of everyone involved, from participants, staff and spectators is paramount for an event of this magnitude,” said BLM California Desert District Manager Shelly Lynch. “We encourage the public to recreate responsibly and cooperate with race officials and law enforcement officers to ensure a safe and enjoyable race.”

The temporary closure complies with the management plan for the area. Recreation areas nearby will remain open to the public, including the Ord-Rodman Limited Use Area and Stoddard Valley Off-highway Vehicle Area. Information and a map of the closure area for the 2024 race event will be posted at the main entry points into the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area and available for viewing at the BLM’s California Desert District Office and Barstow Field Office. Download a map of the closure here.

The BLM encourages the public to recreate responsibly on public lands. Find additional tips for recreating responsibly on public lands. The BLM manages public lands for the benefit of current and future generations, supporting conservation in pursuit of its multiple-use mission. For more information, contact the California Desert District Office at 951-697-5200, or the Barstow Field Office at 760-252-6000.