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Nearly 200,000 people were told to evacuate from counties in Northern California in February 2017, due to a damaged emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in the nation: Shortly after news about the damaged dam broke, the Sacramento Dispatch web site published an article reporting that President Trump had refused to provide federal aid to California, due to the existence of sanctuary cities within the state: The Sacramento Dispatch did not point to any official statement released by the Trump administration, instead basing their article on a quote from a single unnamed source. As of this writing, no legitimate publications have reported that President Trump refused to provide federal aid to California, nor does information about the alleged refusal appear on FEMA's news releases page. Although the Sacramento Dispatch web site mimics that of real newspapers and does not identify itself as fake news, the site has a track record for publishing hoaxes (e.g., reporting that the American Medical Association had classified Trump Depression Disorder as a new disease). The Sacramento Dispatch web site appears to be part of a new network of fake news sites that masquerade as the online outlets of big-city newspapers. Other entries in this fake news network include the Houston Leader and the Salt Lake City Guardian web sites, all of whom use nearly identical web formats, share verbatim site descriptions, and republish one another's articles in an attempt to legitimize their fake news stories: (The curious use of the #CureForWellness hashtag in the article in question has led some readers to surmise that this network of fake news sites is tied to the release of the psychological horror thriller film A Cure for Wellness.) Although President Trump has not refused to provide federal aid to California, he also hasn't yet approved Governor Brown's request for it. Governor Brown requested a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration on 10 February 2017, but as of this writing President Trump has not responded to it: It should be noted that Brown's request for aid was made prior to issuance of the evacuation order. On 12 February 2017, Brown issued an emergency order to bolster the state's response to the crisis: The state's National Guard has already been dispatched to provide emergency assistance:
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