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A tale of two debates
By Vince Bzdek Ballots go out Monday as the June 30 state primary elections bear down on us. As a result, it is suddenly the season of proliferating political debates, and there have been some doozies already. I had the chance to see two very different debates in the last week, and comparing and contrasting them speaks […]
A tale of two debates
By Vince Bzdek Ballots go out Monday as the June 30 state primary elections bear down on us. As a result, it is suddenly the season of proliferating political debates, and there have been some doozies already. I had the chance to see two very different debates in the last week, and comparing and contrasting them speaks […]
Washington lands another 4-star WR in Dontay Tyson
For the second time this week, and the third time in this class, Washington has landed a four-star receiver. This time it was Peoria (Ariz.) receiver Dontay Tyson, who took an official to Montlake last week. Tyson announced his commitment to the Huskies moments ago. And the coaches, who had been pushing for him for […]
Apple's Overhauled Siri Will Reportedly Run on Nvidia's Blackwell Chips
Apple will rely on Google's fleet of Nvidia chips to power its overhauled version of Siri when it launches in September, according to a new report from The Information. Last week, the outlet reported that Apple plans to highlight the on-device AI capabilities of its devices at WWDC next week, but queries that require cloud-based processing will still fall back on one of Google's large Gemini models, as per an agreement between the two companies.
Health issues shut down these 7 Central Florida eateries last week
During the final week of May, another seven eateries across Central Florida were forced to close after a visit from a health inspector, according to state records.
NCAA president Charlie Baker reacts to Protect College Sports Act, says revisions are ‘essential’
In a letter to member schools Wednesday, NCAA president Charlie Baker shared his reaction to the Protect College Sports Act. But he also cited “several” provisions he said need to be revised. Baker pointed out the importance of the bipartisan Senate bill, filed last week by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in […]
Politics: What’s Life Like For The Government Employees Still Working?
More than 300,000 federal workers have left government service since the start of the second Trump administration.Some were laid off by the administration. Some took buyouts. Some walked out. The cuts hit every major agency — from the State Department to the Justice Department.That doesn’t mean things have been easy for those still working for the government. Last week, the Office of Personnel Management proposed requiring all federal employees to sign non-disclosure agreements that would prevent them from sharing internal government information.We sit down to talk about how those cuts are affecting the workers who remained.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
May's top PlayStation games by copies sold
Yesterday’s State of Play gave us an idea of where PlayStation’s heading next. But we’ve had our May estimates for a couple of days now (we always update our data daily for clients), so it’s time to look at what performed best on PlayStation last month. We’ve got a new IP at the top, two evergreens doing their evergreen thing, FC26 smashing it ahead of the World Cup Plus pivot, and a quiet but promising result for Lego Batman. Let’s have a look at the state of Play…Station’s top games for May. 007 takes #001 007 First Light sold 1M copies on PS5 in May, easily making it the month’s top PS5 game by copies sold. Over 80% of those May copies were digital, which is broadly in line with where PlayStation’s digital share has settled for new releases this year. To date, 007 First Light has sold through 2.2M copies across platforms (so no unsold retail copies in that figure). The platform split is 55.1% PS5, 33.1% Steam, and 11.8% Xbox (console, Windows, and cloud combined). In gross revenue terms, 007 First Light has generated $150M. Owing to regional pricing and audience composition differences, the consoles make up a higher share of revenue than they do copies. Of the $150M, 60.5% came via PlayStation, 27.6% via Steam, and 12.9% via Xbox. Part of this is because over two-thirds of 007 First Light‘s PlayStation audience is in North America (43.4%) or Western Europe (23.2%), where local currency means the game generates more revenue per player. On Steam, under half of First Light‘s audience is from those same regions (31.8% North America, 15.1% Western Europe). As we covered in last week’s 007 Steam piece, the Steam version is pulling in higher-than-expected numbers in China, which now accounts for 17.3% of First Light‘s Steam audience. 007 is the equivalent of $44 USD in China, which is roughly 37% cheaper than the US price and about 44% cheaper than Western Europe. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe The crossover data backs up what we’ve seen all year about launch-window cohorts. 11% of PS5 players who played 007 First Light in May also played Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which launched just a few days before. Last month was a great month for Denmark! IO Interactive is Copenhagen-based, and Lego Group is headquartered in Billund (TT Games is UK-based but produces work under Lego Group licence and direction). Speaking of which… A very blocky #2 and #3 Minecraft sold another 788K copies on PlayStation consoles last month. Business as usual, since Minecraft hasn’t sold fewer than 760K copies in a single month all year. With over 350M copies sold across all platforms, Minecraft is the best-selling game in history and one of the strongest brands in the world. Every month, a new cohort of children reaches Minecraft age, which guarantees a constant volume of new sales regardless of what the broader market is up to. The demographic refresh rate is truly impressive, with the audience renewing itself faster than it’s churning. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight shifted 757K copies on PS5 last month, bringing its lifetime total on the platform to over 800K. Across all platforms, Legacy of the Dark Knight has now passed 1.5M sold through, so PlayStation accounts for over half of the game’s players. The May crossover data for Legacy of the Dark Knight on PS5 is also useful. 27% of those players also played Fortnite, 16% Roblox, 16% FC 26, and 14% NBA 2K. That’s the household-and-family cohort showing up, plus the launch-window cohort of core gamers who buy practically everything. FC 26 gets players through the door ahead of the World Cup FC 26 sold 411K copies on PlayStation last month (90% via PS5), the fewest copies FC 26 has sold all year and down heavily from April’s 700K. Part of this dropoff is because FC 26 has been available as a PlayStation Plus monthly game since 6 May, cannibalising premium sales. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe The strategic logic is straightforward for EA, which is sacrificing premium unit sales in May to build up the player base ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off on 11 June. Obviously, a bigger player pool going into the tournament means a bigger pool of potential Ultimate Team spenders during the period when football attention is at its peak. The early returns are around what you’d expect, with 4.4M new players accessing FC 26 via PS Plus last month – a substantial new spender pool. Anecdotally, a few of my mates who were ‘’skipping FIFA and Ultimate Team this year’’, were drawn back in via PS Plus. Lo and behold, one of them is buying packs like it’s going out of fashion. Whether this is all a smart trade for EA depends entirely on the Ultimate Team conversion rate over the next six weeks. Either way, the short-term engagement impact on the game as a whole is evident. FC 26‘s MAUs hit a record 24M on PlayStation in May, up 30% from the previous record set in April. GTA V does what GTA V always does Rounding out the top five is another evergreen title. Grand Theft Auto V shifted another 387K copies on PlayStation last month. No matter what else is happening in the industry, GTA V keeps pulling players in. It’s sold another 1.8M copies on PS5 in the first half of this year alone, helping the franchise pass the 230M-sold milestone across all platforms. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe I have a theory that Minecraft and GTA V are doing the same thing at different demographic levels. Both are functioning as generational gateway games that the audience ages into faster than it ages out of. Minecraft captures kids around age 6-10, GTA V captures much of the same audience around age 12-15 (unofficially, of course). The crossover data suggests this: 40% of GTA V‘s monthly PlayStation players typically play Fortnite in any given month, while 30% play Roblox. Household accounts aside, that’s not the original GTA V audience from 2013. Of course, the under-12 audience would love to get their hands on GTA, too. It’s always been the way of things, and some parents are happy to oblige. Mine did too back in the day, and I turned out just fine. Right? Right!? Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
The Trump Administration Has Launched Its Biggest Threat Yet to Scientific Research. We Can Stop Them.
Last week, the White House released draft regulations that—if enacted—will upend US science as we know it. Under the rule proposed by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), political appointees would have the final say over who gets billions of dollars of federal funding for res
5 Central Florida restaurants shut down last week after health inspections
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down five Central Florida restaurants for health code violations during the week from May 24-30.
SEC, Big Ten release joint statement on Protect College Sports Act, cite ‘critical issues’ with bill
Ahead of a Wednesday hearing on the Protect College Sports Act, the Big Ten and SEC released a joint statement against the bill in its current state. The two leagues cited “critical issues” with the bipartisan legislation, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) last week. After the bill’s introduction last week, […]
Delaware state police investigate wave of business burglaries in Lewes
Police are investigating a series of business burglaries that have hit Lewes, Delaware, within the last week.
Bologna announce Tedesco as new coach, replacing Italiano
Serie A side Bologna announced on Tuesday Domenico Tedesco would take over as coach to replace Vincenzo Italiano, who left last week."Bologna announces that it has appointed Domenico Tedesco as first team technical director," the club said in a statement, adding the coach had signed a two-year contract with an option for a further year.
Dodgers on Deck: Tuesday, June 2 at Diamondbacks
The Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks continue their long series on Tuesday night, the second of four games between the two teams this week at Chase Field in Phoenix. Eric Lauer makes his second start for the Dodgers, after allowing one run in six innings last week at Dodger Stadium against the Colorado Rockies. The Diamondbacks […]
Kennedy's comments on public health draw reaction from congressional candidate Shaheen
Congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen is calling out Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for comments he made last week during a visit to New Hampshire.
25.5M people visited AMC theaters in May, the most since 2019
Six films topped $75M openings as AMC drew 25.5M guests in May, its strongest May since 2019, with 4.2M last weekend and more releases coming.
Ohio photo voter ID amendment prompts pushback across political spectrum
Some Ohio Republicans want to enshrine photo voter ID in the state constitution, but a hearing last week raised doubts about the effort.
4-star OL Brayden Harris commits to Kansas State
Things moved quickly with four-star offensive lineman Brayden Harris and Kansas State. The Jackson (Mo.) High standout shuffled his top three last week and was working with a group of Kansas State, Arkansas and UCF. But it turns out he didn’t need those visits to the other two because he announced his commitment to the […]
What are you actually doing with Gemini?
Further reflecting on Google’s practical focus for Gemini and AI in general at I/O 2026 last week, I still find...
Andy Beshear says ‘Texas is in play’ after Ken Paxton wins Senate GOP primary
Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, defeated incumbent John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary last week.
Climate science without a notorious worst-case scenario
(The Center Square) – The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change threw out one of its most extreme emissions scenarios last week, a major development in climate science that will li...
Climate science without a notorious worst-case scenario
(The Center Square) – The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change threw out one of its most extreme emissions scenarios last week, a major development in climate science that
St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office responds to two separate mental health crises
The St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office shared that it responded to two mental health crises on the St. Croix River Crossing last week.
‘It’s really scary’: Trump administration green card messaging prompts confusion and anxiety
A Trump administration directive announced last week threatened to require most applicants for permanent residency to wait out the process in their home country.
Upcoming Beats headphones teased by Lamine Yamal: New design, pink colorway
Last week, reports emerged around Apple developing a new pair of Beats over-ear headphones, with the FCC leaking an outline...
Lamine Yamal Teases Upcoming Beats Over-Ear Headphones
Ahead of the upcoming World Cup, football superstar Lamine Yamal has arrived at training camp for the Spanish national team sporting what appears to be the unreleased over-ear headphones that appeared in a U.S. Federal Communications Commission database last week. As suspected, the new headphones are a Beats product rather than an Apple product.
The chance for history awaits Arsenal
Arsenal are back in the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years and are on the cusp of a historic double. After lifting the Premier League title after a 22-year wait last week there had been a suggestion that this match against Paris St-Germain (17:00 BST kick-off) is something of a free hit. Arsenal fans have travelled to Budapest in their thousands such is the magnitude of this match.
Actually, Most Immigrants Won’t Need to Leave U.S. to Get Green Cards, D.H.S. Says
But details remained scant after officials said last week that, with “extraordinary” exceptions, people seeking permanent residency must first leave the country.
Judge Reopens Trump’s Lawsuit Demanding $10 Billion From IRS
The ruling was a blow to both President Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department, which used the suit to establish a fund likely intended for Trump allies.
Gemini Spark rolls out to Google AI Ultra in the US: How it works
As previewed last week, Gemini Spark is now available in the US for Google AI Ultra subscribers. Spark is Google’s 24/7 personal agent...
Drive-thru coffee, cryotherapy, pilates: Experts share retail trends after Las Vegas event
Dozens of Louisiana real estate expert joined more than 20,000 investors and brokers at the ICSC convention in Las Vegas last week. The lack of new shopping center space and demand from coffee drive-thru chains were the main takeaways.
Clean Water, Hospital Construction Among Tribal Health Concerns at Senate Budget Hearing
Health care was the focus of last week’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee budget hearing as lawmakers pressed agency leaders on Indian Health Service funding cuts. While the FY 2027 budget requests $9.1 billion in discretionary funding for the IHS, the budget cuts several key programs, including sanitation facilities, special diabetes programs and scholarships for health […]
Massie Visits Greene in Costa Rica for Fishing and ‘Spicy’ Political Talks
The two Republican critics of President Trump – Thomas Massie, who lost his House primary last week, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from Congress – met up in the tropics.
Trump’s latest immigration move clouds the path to green cards
When President Donald Trump's administration announced last week that it would require green card seekers to apply from their home countries instead of in the U.S., immigration attorney Flavia Santos Lloyd’s phone began ringing off the hook with clients worried about the implications for them.
Rumor: Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition Nintendo Switch 2 tech improvements detailed
More details about Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition has apparently come to light via the latest leak. In the newest update, we’re hearing about how the game will be improved from a technical standpoint on Nintendo Switch 2. billbil-kun previously claimed to have outed the game’s release date last week. This person has a reliable track record and seems to obtain...
Vermeer breaks ground on Bondurant facility
Vermeer Corp. marked the beginning of construction of its new manufacturing facility in Bondurant last week. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 21, and featured representatives from Vermeer, city leaders, and officials from the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The Pella-based company announced plans to expand its operations to…
The Justice Department wants to interview 2020 election workers
The Justice Department wants to interview some poll workers and ballot counters who participated in the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, in a new effort to dig up details about the ballot-processing, prosecutors revealed at a court hearing last week.
The G.O.P. Race for Texas Attorney General Grew Heated, and Expensive
In the last weeks of the contest, Representative Chip Roy reported raising more than $8 million, and he intensified his attacks on Mayes Middleton, a state senator.
Backside Blast weekend returns June 26-28
TREMONT — The 17th Annual Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races will return on Sunday, June 28, as the culminating event of the Backside Blast, a three-day celebration of community, tradition,
The future of the American healthcare workforce
The U-S is facing a steep healthcare worker shortage. A 2025 federal analysis projected that by 2038, 30 out of 35 physician specialties will be hurting for practitioners, with over 140,000 roles left unfilled. And for nurses, that shortage is projected to be over 108,000. And last week, 24 states plus the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over new federal student loan limits on graduate degrees. Those caps apply to programs that could graduate workers into these threatened health care fields. But Education Secretary Linda McMahon say these worries are overblown and that these new rules aim to force colleges to lower tuition rates. So, what do these changes really mean for the future of our healthcare workforce in the U.S.?
Final plans approved for Oklahoma City mental health crisis center
The Oklahoma County Council approved final plans for the new Robert Ravitz Crisis Center last week.
Rep. Thomas Massie files paperwork to run in 2028, says he hasn’t made a ‘final decision’ about his political future
Massie, a Trump foe who lost his GOP primary race last week, declined to rule out a run for president in 2028.
5 more things to know about 3 hospitals’ $250M case against CVS
Last week hospitals owned by three big health systems filed suit against CVS Health. The trio filed separately, but all accuse the corporation of robbing them of funds they’re owed through the federal 340B drug pricing program.
After Defeat, Massie Opens Door to a 2028 Run. Which Office Is Unclear.
Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a critic of President Trump who lost his primary last week, filed papers for another candidacy but said he was not sure which office he might seek.
Rogers hospital to be first to use Arkansas’ initiative for doulas in maternal healthcare
A northwest Arkansas hospital will be the first to use the state’s initiative to integrate doulas into maternal healthcare, the state’s largest healthcare system announced last week.
House and Senate Republicans are at odds over Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
House and Senate Republicans were fuming as they left Washington last week for a long holiday break. The source of the torment, however, was notably different on each side of the Capitol, and the d…
Sports betting industry backs Georgia legislators as it seeks legal gambling
The sports-betting industry is spending big on Georgia legislative elections as it seeks to legalize its product. And many favored candidates won in last week's primaries.
Minneapolis' A Bar of Their Own named Best Local Sports Bar by USA Today readers
A Twin Cities sports bar appeared on the national stage last week for all the right reasons.
Politics: Trump reaches controversial $1.8 Billion IRS settlement
President Donald Trump last week reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service to end his $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns, which includes a $1.8
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth: Key stats and talking points
Bournemouth visit Nottingham Forest on Sunday knowing they are already assured of a first European adventure next season – but they need a number of results to go their way to land a place in the Champions League. It was Forest who enjoyed their own continental quest this year, with an impressive run to the Europa League semi-finals providing a welcome distraction to their domestic woes. Vitor Pereira took over from Sean Dyche in February and has steered the Tricky Trees to safety thanks in no small part to an eight-game unbeaten run that ended with a 3-2 defeat by Manchester United last week.
Bond breakout? Big effects of bad data. Immigration and thermostatic politics & dad-chat is coming for dad-books.
Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. Anna Airy, A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London, 1918 Bond breakout - John Authers Across the developed markets, bond markets are staging a slow-motion car wreck. Looking at the drastic moves in the US, Japan, the UK and France, Barclays’ Ajay Rajadhyaksha commented: “Last week, long bonds broke. Not in one country. In all of them. Simultaneously. Four countries. Four different political systems. Four different central banks. But the same trade — “get me out of duration!”” Each country has its own contributing political problems, but the uniformity of the shift out of long-term bonds with high duration makes clear that something broader is afoot. For Rajadhyaksha, it is “simple and uncomfortable.” The developed world “has too much debt, too little fiscal discipline, and no political appetite for fixing either.” If there’s a trigger, it has been the Iran war and the resulting shock to oil supply. Source: Bloomberg G7 countries are now borrowing at rates that were enjoyed by EM in the early 2020s For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Trade between China and Russia has grown in recent years For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Big effects of bad data A decade ago nearly nine in ten Americans, when approached, agreed to fill out the Current Population Survey, which is administered to about 60,000 households each month and asks about, among other things, employment. Fewer than seven in ten do so now (see chart 1). For the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which tries to capture 3,700 households monthly, the response rate is down from 68% to 40%. … When the information becomes less reliable, investment decisions get more difficult to make. Some may be delayed, creating a potential drag on the economy. A new working paper by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University, Erica Groshen, former head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) now at Cornell University, and Duncan Hobbs and Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, hazards an estimate. Preserving trust in “the integrity and quality of official statistics”, the authors claim, generates economic benefits of about $25 for every $1 spent on the BLS, the agency with an annual budget of $700m that is responsible for many of these data. To arrive at their conclusion the quartet analysed an ignoble episode in the BLS’s recent history. On August 1st 2025 Donald Trump sacked Erika McEntarfer, appointed as the agency’s commissioner by his predecessor, Joe Biden. The president alleged, without evidence, that the BLS’s steep downward revision to recent jobs numbers had been “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad”. In fact, it was the wanton dismissal that looked bad in the eyes of many observers. In the following seven days there was a 50% leap, relative to the week before, in the average value of the index of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU), which tracks the number of articles mentioning such uncertainty that are published daily in American newspapers. This was a discernible jump even when compared to the chaos caused by Mr Trump’s trade war in April 2025 and his real one in Iran in the past two months (see chart 2). Based on Mr Bloom’s earlier study with other colleagues of the EPU’s impact on business investment, industrial production and employment, the authors estimate that the jump reduced American GDP by over $100bn (0.3%) and non-farm payrolls by 168,000 (0.1%). Source: The Economist Immigration and thermostatic politics (Sarah O’Connor in the FT) A strange thing happened a year and a half ago. No sooner had Americans elected Donald Trump as president on an explicitly anti-immigration platform than US public opinion began to swing much more favourably towards immigration. … to political scientists who study “thermostatic” politics, this development is no surprise at all. Public opinion often moves against the prevailing party, especially if they are perceived to have gone “too far” in one direction. The phenomenon was first explored in the 1990s with reference to fiscal policy, but in recent years it has been particularly evident in the realm of immigration policy. While these swings in opinion polls can make it seem as if people don’t know their own minds, they can be a useful democratic check on governments by sending bright flashing warning lights when policies stray too far from the public’s comfort zone. The problem comes when politicians misinterpret those signals. When people tell pollsters they want less immigration, or think it is bad for the country overall (or the converse), they are often expressing an opinion about how things appear to be going in that moment relative to their preferences, rather than a deep shift in their underlying views. According to Alexander Kustov, a political scientist, most Americans’ views are quite stable and moderate: they support immigration that is controlled and in the national interest, and oppose flows that are disorderly or under-enforced. In the US, he argues the Trump administration over-interpreted dissatisfaction with high immigration under Joe Biden, and implemented policies that went too far for many voters. “People don’t necessarily change their idea about their ideal immigration policy, but they can react to what the government is currently doing,” he told me. “A lot of people are not happy with what the Trump administration are doing — right now we’re not talking about border enforcement, we’re talking about people not just getting harassed, but killed.” But similarly, he added, pro-immigration advocates would be making a mistake to interpret the recent, more favourable swing towards immigration as a deep-seated ideological shift in attitudes. The recent history of UK immigration policy offers another cautionary tale. After the 2016 Brexit referendum, public concern about immigration fell. This was partly because net migration statistics declined, but also because people felt a sense of catharsis and control, says Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a think-tank. By 2019, the public ranked immigration as only the ninth biggest issue of concern, according to Ipsos polling. But when the Conservative government liberalised visa routes for students and care workers between 2019 and 2022, that helped net migration to surge. And so, too, did public concern. Today’s Labour government has implemented another sharply restrictive turn in immigration policy. As Kustov and researcher Caitlyn Yates argue, thermostatic public opinion should be a useful check on politicians. Instead it seems to have helped to magnify the pendulum swing in the UK. The government over-interprets and overreacts to a change in public opinion, which reacts in turn, prompting a sudden swing the other way. Source: Financial Times HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $50. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe Anna Airy, Shop for Machining 15-Inch Shells: Singer Manufacturing Company, Clydebank, Glasgow, 1918 Racing for a vaccine … we have been here before! The deadly Ebola outbreak in two African countries driven by a virus species with no vaccine has triggered an urgent search for a potential jab, in a test of troubled global efforts to avert threats posed by emerging diseases. A World Health Organization advisory group is due to would meet on Tuesday to recommend candidate jabs to prioritise for clinical trials, the global health body said. It will assess data including an analysis by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which was set up after failures in the international response to a previous Ebola crisis. The latest Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has infected hundreds of people and killed more than 80, health authorities say. Cepi’s reaction will be a crucial indicator of its progress towards its wider goal of producing vaccines for pandemic threats in just 100 days, despite steep cuts to international health funding. “If there was ever a time that we could show the world why Cepi is needed and show the world why the 100-day mission is needed, it’s now,” Nicole Lurie, the organisation’s executive director for preparedness and response, told the FT. “We’re happy to accept that responsibility, but obviously we need help from partners — particularly financial help in the long run.” DR Congo and Uganda would make the final decision on whether to press ahead with any vaccine candidates endorsed for clinical trials by the WHO experts, the global health body said. “Other ethical and community acceptability issues will be considered,” said the WHO, which declared the latest outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday. “This will be important to make sure that the trial, if it happens, will be adequately communicated to the population.” Lurie said Cepi had provided information from a survey of research teams and companies working on drugs that might be effective against the Bundibugyo virus behind the outbreak. The organisation hoped soon to announce partners in the quest for a jab, she added, although she declined to give a timescale for when one might be developed. Cepi’s Nicole Laurie said global health bodies were ‘getting some live-fire drills’ with hantavirus and the latest Ebola outbreak. The hunt for a vaccine should be helped by scientific advances including the use of artificial intelligence to find drugs active against viruses, Lurie said. Existing jabs against the Zaire Ebola virus responsible for many previous outbreaks might provide a basis for tackling the Bundibugyo species, she added. “We’ll see how far and how fast we can get,” Lurie said, adding that Cepi had done preliminary work recently on a possible jab for the rat-borne hantavirus responsible for a recent fatal outbreak on a cruise ship. “Both with hantavirus and now with Ebola, [we] are getting some live-fire drills.” Source: Michael Peel in the Financial Times Dad-chat is coming for dad-books. (By Pamela Paul and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in the WSJ) They were the go-to gifts for Father’s Day: a book about some little-known chapter of World War II, the sweeping narrative of a shipwreck, perhaps the latest presidential biography. These days, dad books are a dying breed. Nonfiction book sales have been in decline for the past four years, and are now the most challenged segment of the print book market. Publishers say certain types of books still fare well—including celebrity memoirs and religious titles. But in recent years, print sales in such categories as biography, current affairs and business and economics—what publishers refer to as “serious nonfiction” and which tend to resonate especially with men—have fallen considerably. Sales of nonfiction print titles were down nearly 8% through May 9 this year, and sales of books about politics and current affairs were down 19%, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. Publishing has long been subject to cyclical changes, with trends in format and genre taking over bookshelves in grand sweeps. (Remember the adult coloring-book craze? Or the stratospheric rise of romantasy?) But many in publishing believe the decline in serious nonfiction is more existential. “The trend couldn’t be clearer,” said Jonathan Karp, the former chief executive of Simon & Schuster and publisher of the new Simon Six imprint. “This is a sea change and people should wake up and realize we’re living in a new world.” One culprit for the shift: a new media diet for fans of more serious nonfiction. … Sixty-two percent of men and 54% of women consumed a podcast in the prior month, according to a recent survey by Edison Research at SSRS, up from 46% and 39%, respectively, in 2023. “When we have internal meetings to talk about this problem, it always comes around to podcasts,” said Jonathan Burnham, president and publisher of the Harper Group at HarperCollins Publishers. “The man who wants to read American history is now tuning into one of the many good podcasts about history that lends the quiet attention to a serious subject he’s looking for. It makes the idea of sitting down with a 700-page Ron Chernow book less appealing. You’ve scratched that itch.” Source: Wall Street Journal Remarkable report by Novara from the nationalist rally in London in mid May. Anna Airy, Leopard Moth and Plums, 1915 If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe
The Sims 4 Update: New Hotfix Release (May 21st, 2026 Notes)
The Sims Team announced late last week that they'll be releasing a new Sims 4 Update to fix some priority issues and bugs, including CAS, eye dropper tool and
ChromeOS 148 is now rolling out: update now for the security, not the new features
With the massive announcement of the Googlebook and its upcoming Android-based operating system completely dominating the headlines since last week, it is easy to forget that Google still has a...
Fantasy Baseball Closer Report: Cade Smith leading MLB in saves, Grant Taylor on the rise in Chicago
Jorge Montanez breaks down the last week in saves from around the league with updated closer rankings.
Texas Continues Raising the Bar on Regulatory Efficiency
At the Texas Association of Business (TAB), we’ve consistently advocated for pro-business policies that strengthen Texas’ competitive edge. Cutting red tape, improving government efficiency, and streamlining regulations are essential to keeping Texas the nation’s leader in job creation, business expansion, entrepreneurship, and corporate relocations. Last week, Texas took another meaningful step in advancing our state’s…
RFK Jr. terminates heads of preventive services task force amid overhaul
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. quietly removed the two top leaders of a key preventive services panel last week as he seeks to overhaul its membership.
Ohio student severely burned during school science experiment
A small Ohio community is coming together to support Chloe Walker, a 15-year-old who suffered severe burns after a science experiment caught fire inside Greeneview High School last week.
Why renaming this common hormonal disorder is a huge deal
You probably know someone who has a condition that, until last week, was known as PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome. It affects one in eight reproductive-aged women. But despite it being such a common disorder, patients are often misdiagnosed and have delayed treatment. Now, medical professionals are trying to change that. After 15 years of work, the condition has been renamed to PMOS, or polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome. The new name reflects the real driver of the condition: disruptions in hormones. But how much can changing a name really do? Click here to access resources about PMOS in multiple languages. Interested in more science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Senate Small Business Hearing Suggests Some Tariff Wariness - Coalition For A Prosperous America
A Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing held last week had only one manufacturer serving as a witness. He liked the tariffs because they stopped the bloodletting of cheaper imitations from China. However, he told the Senate that changes could be made to existing tariff policy to help lower costs as commodity and other input prices are rising fast.
Forging an Edge in Fashion and Sports E-Commerce
Last week, BoF and Amazon Fashion and Sports Europe gathered industry leaders for a panel event to unpack how brands can drive attention and conversion on- and off-screen through compelling digital experiences. Now, BoF shares insights from the discussion.
Pirates Decision Makers Respond to Jared Jones' Bullpen Comments
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones made it somewhat clear how he feels about moving to the bullpen earlier last week. Jones, who has been on a rehab assignment, shut down that narrative right away.
Georgia’s agribusiness industry depends on a thriving, fully funded public health system
In the fiscal year 2027 budget that Gov. Brian Kemp signed last week, less than one in every 10 state dollars spent on Georgia’s three primary health agencies is allocated to the Department of Public Health. The future of Georgia’s No. 1 industry relies on a state and local public health system that can track […]
Whoa! Netflix is Sending Narnia Heading to Theaters...What This Means for the Future of Film
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Here’s a funny thing about the debate over whether streamers should release their movies in theaters first: Both sides think the other side represents the “conventional wisdom”. If you’ve been reading me for any amount of time, or even just scanned my front page, you know I think movies make more money by having a robust theatrical window compared to going straight-to-streaming. I’ve published thousands of words on this topic. And for years, I felt like I was standing up to a wave of opposition. See, while the “put your films in theaters to make money” take was obvious at any point before 2019, post-streaming revolution, most of the trendy thinkers took the opposite point of view. Big names argued that Netflix putting their film straight-to-streaming (“S-to-S” from here on out) actually made more money. Netflix was “disrupting” theaters, just as they disrupted Blockbuster Video, and since innovation is always good, this too was a great idea. This thinking then leaked into the mainstream business outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. I read many articles whose take boiled down to “Netflix makes tons of money from S-to-S releases” and “theaters were in structural decline” anyways. Covid-19 shutting down theaters and the 2023 strikes shutting down film production seemingly justified this point of view, as the box office struggled to return to 2017-2019 heights. Yet I’ve also read folks arguing the opposite point: the conventional wisdom says to put films in theaters! From some writers’ points of view, “everyone” actually agrees/agreed with my “send your films to theaters” take—especially the stodgy traditional studios—and folks still didn’t understand Netflix’s genius. I feel like, for the last two years, many people have argued this point as if it’s conventional wisdom. You know what? I may have been wrong. At this point, the “S-to-S strategy makes money” might be the minority viewpoint. Especially with the news this month that Netflix will put at least one film—Greta Gerwig’s Narnia film The Magician’s Nephew—in theaters in 2027 for a full 49-day run is big news. So that’s the story of the week, but I’ll also explain why they’re making this move now and why Netflix may not completely embrace theaters, along with other topics, like how I don’t buy Disney’s “super app” strategy, the latest good news out of the unions, my take on the latest attacks against free speech, and a whole lot more. Let’s get started. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Netflix Goes to Theaters! Listen, I promise not to victory lap too hard today. As I just wrote, I’ve argued against sending films straight-to-streaming for—checks calendar—eight years now. Since 2018. Yikes. That’s a long time. And for years, others painted my thinking as “conventional” in that I was standing up for the status quo against trendy, cool disruption. And that’s not cool! But math is math, and I never could make the S-to-S numbers work. The only thing that ever enabled that model was Wall Street’s brief exuberance for it. It seems like the heads of Netflix now agree with me. (There were always rumors that former head of film for Netflix Scott Stuber argued internally for theatrical releases as well.) As they announced: “The Magician’s Nephew_—the first film in a Narnia series of films—will open on 12-Feb-2027, with a 49 day theatrical exclusive run.”_ I’m a little surprised at how little coverage this big change actually got. Credit to Bloomberg for leading with it and Matt Belloni’s The Town for highlighting it with the provocatively titled podcast “Hell Hath Frozen Over”. But after that? Instead of getting as much coverage as, say, the FCC’s latest egregious crackdown on free speech, this news story got crickets. But it’s massively more important for the future business of entertainment. So let’s start with the obvious question… Why Put Your Movies in Theaters? So…why should Netflix put (some!) of their movies in theaters? Well, I’ve already written that in a very, very, very long article from 2022: [ ](https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-data-is-in-theatrical-films-massively) [ The Data Is In: Theatrical Films Massively Outperform Straight-To-Streaming Films ](https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-data-is-in-theatrical-films-massively) Entertainment Strategy Guy · April 5, 2023 [ Read full story ](https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-data-is-in-theatrical-films-massively) To summarize, theatrical runs make much more money, especially blockbusters, because they earn more money per viewing,1 and that helps boost home entertainment sales. Theatrical films also perform as well or better than the streaming-only films. Now, partially this is driven by increased marketing for said films, but said marketing ultimately boosts the awareness of the movies and drives improved streaming and library performance as well. Again, I’ve made this case after reviewing the economic models and streaming data for years. Just last week, Emily Horgan also made the case for kids films! Yes, it is probably conventional wisdom, but that’s also because it’s true! I’d also argue we’ve seen a lot of data in the various studios’ behavior. As I’ve noted before, the more a studio needs to make money, the likelier they are to put films in theaters. As such, Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount and Sony all send their major films to theaters. Even if they once made a big S-to-S push (*cough* Disney *cough*), they’ve since relented and returned to theaters. The tech companies don’t need to make money, per se, so it took them years to embrace theaters. Apple doesn’t need to make money because it doesn’t disclose their (likely) Quibi-sized losses each year. (They fear bad press more than losing money.) Amazon announced two years ago that they planned to make Amazon-MGM Studios/Prime Video profitable on its own, and guess what? Now they’re putting films in theaters. That leaves Netflix. They’re in between the “no need to make money at all” and the “desperately need to make money to offset linear TV declines”, so they had less pressure to put some films in theaters. Plus, for years, they were the sexy disruptor, and Wall Street rewarded them for that. (Honestly, they still do.) Yet, even Netflix likely saw the money they were leaving on the table (I’ve estimated it at an easy billion dollars before) so they changed their course. I heard one pundit argue that, because Netflix already makes so much money, they don’t need to make more money, which sort of goes against everything I’ve ever learned about business and economics. Again, to be super-nuanced, sending “films to theaters” does not mean EVERY film. TV movies have been a thing for decades. Lifetime films, Hallmark holiday films, Disney Channel Original Movies, and so on, don’t need theatrical runs. But films above a certain budget level (say $25 to 50 million) almost certainly need theaters to maximize their revenue. The Scenarios (with a Dose of Skepticism) Now time for some skepticism: it won’t surprise me at all if Netflix re-changes course. Specifically, Netflix announced that their Narnia film will go to theaters. And I’d bet anything we see KPop Demon Hunters 2: The Huntering2 also goes to theaters, cause it’s the surest hit outside of a Disney animated sequel right now. But how much does Netflix truly commit to theaters? They’ve already tried to emphasize that this is a one-off move. I see three broad scenarios:
2026 NBA Draft Big Board: Michigan stars impressive at combine, Flory Bidunga falling in prospect rankings
Adam Finkelstein adjusts his Big Board after scouting prospects at last week's NBA Draft Combine
Evers blames politics for tax deal failure
(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s governor says politics sank last week’s $1.8 billion tax deal, but he is also saying that he didn’t do much to help the deal.
Amid upfronts sports overload, pitches around data, AI come into focus
Legacy firms NBCU and Disney, tech titans Netflix and Amazon and publishers shaped by M&A showed off evolving offerings during last week’s shows.
Xavier Becerra faces attacks from all sides in Calif. governor's race
Becerra came under fire last week for his link to a recent fraud scandal.
Philippine senate convenes as impeachment court to try vice president as political storm rages
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine Senate convened an impeachment court Monday for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over criminal charges, in a time of deep divisions that erupted into an exchange of gunfire last week in the chamber.
This Week in Gaming (Week 21)
Welcome to the second to last week of May and this week is packed with bigger releases, so hold on to your hat as we kick off with this week's AAA release which involves you driving fast cars in exotic environments all over Japan. The rest of the week starts with a family friendly game where you ope...
As global crises multiply, scores of US diplomats say they have been forced out
Amid ongoing foreign policy crises around the globe and as the Trump administration struggles to reach a deal to end the war with Iran, the State Department last week finalized the firings of nearly 250 foreign service officers in a brief, impersonal email.
DACA recipients are losing protections and work permits as renewal delays surge
Marco, 26, graduated from one of the country’s top medical schools last week. He found his calling after witnessing his grandmother battle cancer, and he sometimes worked up to 40 to 60 hours a week to afford his education.
Congressman Cohen Announces Plan for His Political Future
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen, who has represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District for more than 19 years, held a press conference at his office in Washington this morning to announced that he will not be a candidate for any of the newly drawn Congressional seats carved out of the 9th. His majority-Black district was gerrymandered into three Republican-leaning districts by the state General Assembly last week.He made the following statement:
CFA Counselors Committee Concerns About Mental Health Misinformation
The CFA Counselors Committee sent the following letter to the members of the CSU Board of Trustees last week: Dear Members of the CSU Board of
Howard Community College Featured in 'State of Business' Address
In his Business Outlook Luncheon remarks at Turf Valley Resort last week, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball outlined how Howard County “stands on business” through five pillars: managing crises, investing in people, backing businesses, making strategic investments, and preparing for the future. Howard Community College appears by name in the pillar that anchors the others: investing in people. Dr. Ball highlighted the $11 million county investment in HCC’s Cathy and Danny Bell Workforce and Trades Center, which will open this fall. He described the facility as a world-class center with state-of-the-art training in key industries, championed by HCC President Dr. Daria J. Willis, and positioned to help Howard County compete with institutions worldwide. He also recognized HCC’s Complete4Success program, supported by a $3.5 million county investment in 2022, as a continuing driver of certifications and degrees that prepare students to enter Howard County’s workforce ready to contribute on day one. Dr. Ball connected HCC’s work to the broader economic moment in the county, including more than 1,580 apprentices now training across Howard County businesses, up from roughly 1,100 in 2018, and the SPARK program that bridges classroom learning to high-demand industries. Each of these efforts depends on the kind of workforce pipeline HCC is built to deliver. Educational Services is one of the top three employment sectors for county residents, alongside Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services and Health Care & Social Assistance. HCC will award 1,263 degrees next week at its annual commencement ceremony, and every year, that output feeds directly into the industries the County Executive named as drivers of Howard County’s growth. The full picture also includes the families who are not yet there. The 2024 ALICE update from United Way of Central Maryland found that 35,346 households in Howard County, 29% of the total, fell below the ALICE Threshold in 2022, meaning they earned more than the Federal Poverty Level but less than the basic cost of living in the county. The Household Survival Budget for a Howard County family of two adults, an infant, and a preschooler reached $118,608 annually, requiring an hourly wage of $59.30 to cover housing, child care, food, transportation, and other essentials. Affluence and economic strain coexist within the same county lines. That gap is the reason higher education and economic development are inseparable. Every certification, associate degree, and apprenticeship credential issued at HCC represents a household closer to crossing the ALICE Threshold and into long-term financial stability. The Bell Center, Complete4Success, Howard P.R.I.D.E., Parent Scholars, and the institution’s transfer-rate gains are significant components of Howard County’s economic mobility infrastructure. HCC is grateful to Dr. Ball for his sustained partnership over nearly eight years of service and for recognizing that this college plays a central role in the economic story Howard County is telling. Standing on business in Howard County means standing alongside the flagship institution that prepares its workforce.
Latvian PM Evika Silina resigns over response to drone incursions
Drones bound for Russia crashed down in Latvia last week, prompting a political fallout.
These Central Florida eateries were forced to shut down over health violations
Last week, nine more restaurants across Central Florida were forced to close after a visit from a health inspector, according to state records.
'Remarkable Bright Creatures' doesn't aim high, but lands perfectly
Last week we had talking sheep, this week it’s an octopus. Based on the best-selling book of the same name, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is another example of live action family
Here’s a First Look at the New Google Fitbit Air
The Google Fitbit Air was announced last week and immediately went up for pre-order with a ship date at around May 26. It costs either $99 or $129 depending on which version you want, is a...
Fragnesia Made Public As Latest Linux Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Following last week's disclosure of the Dirty Frag vulnerability for the Linux kernel, which only finished being patched up in mainline on Monday, Fragnesia is now public as a similar local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability.
First Snapseed 4.0 update adds Camera shortcut on Android
Following last week’s launch, Snapseed 4.0.1 for Android is rolling out with a shortcut to quickly launch the new Camera experience.
Big concerts, fun festivals: 18 Wilmington events for this weekend
It's the last weekend before Memorial Day tourists descend on the Wilmington area and summer (unofficially) begins.
FDA chief to depart after Trump signed off on ousting him
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary is leaving the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with the situation, after President Donald Trump signed off on a plan to fire him last week.
The Latest: Starmer fights for political survival as calls for his resignation grow in UK
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his political survival after a disastrous set of results in local elections for his Labour Party last week. Dozens of Labour lawmakers are calling on...
The Latest: Starmer fights for political survival as calls for his resignation grow in UK
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his political survival after a disastrous set of results in local elections for his Labour Party last week. Dozens of Labour lawmakers are calling on Starmer to resign. A resignation announcement could possibly come after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesd...
The Latest: Starmer Fights for Political Survival as Calls for His Resignation Grow in UK
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his political survival after a disastrous set of results in local elections for his Labour Party last week. Dozens of Labour lawmakers are calling on Starmer to resign. A resignation announcement could possibly come after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday,
UToledo Health Recognizes Outstanding Nurses
Fourteen UTMC nurses were honored last week for their commitment to excellence in patient care and professional practice.
College of Ag Sciences, FAO mark one-year anniversary of Youth Food Lab
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences welcomed a delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, to University Park last week to mark the first anniversary of the World Food Forum Youth Food Lab North America at Penn State partnership and to explore opportunities to deepen collaboration on global agrifood systems, innovation and education.
Chicago Bears sign 4 players after rookie minicamp tryout
The Chicago Bears are signing four tryout players after rookie minicamp last weekend.
Big Stuff: Samsung One UI 8.5 Updates Arriving in US
The rollout of One UI 8.5 updates first kicked off last week in South Korea and we expected a quick expansion to the US market. This morning, owners of the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy Z Fold 7, and...
Fitbit Air vs. WHOOP Size Comparison
The Fitbit Air went up for pre-order last week and we're now all waiting to get one on the wrist as soon as possible. For some lucky folks who live near a physical Google Store, that can actually...
Chicago Teachers Union wants $8.5 million dues hike to fund politics
“Has your brand become toxic?” This was a pointed question from WGN Political Editor Tahman Bradley, posed to Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates in a recent interview. Her immediate response: “I don’t understand the question.” When pressed, Gates added, “The Chicago Teachers Union is not a political party, it is a labor union.” But internal union documents show CTU leadership is trying to skim $8.5 million more from teacher paychecks explicitly for politics, while trying to silence union members critical of Gates’ leadership. Under the proposed dues hike, Chicago teachers would see up to $800 more per year flow from their paychecks to union coffers. The union already takes in more than $40 million a year, mostly from dues. And it spends less than 18 cents of every dollar on teacher representation. The No. 1 reason for the proposed dues hike? Politics. “We must win a majority of the first 21 person fully elected school board in November,” reads the first point in CTU’s member FAQ document.1 This directly contradicts CTU’s promise to members about how leadership uses dues money. The official CTU handbook tells members that the union does not use dues money for politics, so if they are interested in funding political activity, they should consider voluntary donations to CTU’s political action committee. “Our dues are not used for political purposes,” according to the handbook. “So our PAC relies on extra contributions from our members to support progressive candidates and to impact elected officials at the city, county and state levels.” This kind of double-speak is one reason members are concerned about another constitutional change slipped into the dues hike vote, which will take place on May 20-21: an attempt to stop members from holding the union accountable. A proposed amendment to the union constitution tries to place limits on when members may bring a lawsuit against the union for violating members’ rights.2 This provision is clearly a response to members’ lawsuit against union leadership regarding Gates’ years-long refusal to publish audited financial statements. The judge in that case has repeatedly denied the union’s attempts to dismiss it. Teachers opposed to these changes have been circulating this flier, urging members to vote no. What will CTU members get in return for millions of dollars in additional dues? If the 2024 school board elections are any indication—not much. CTU leadership’s record on school board races may not inspire confidence among members. A Chicago Policy Center analysis of a dozen affiliated PACs found CTU spent nearly $2.9 million on school board races in 2024. Of that spending, more than $2.1 million (75%) went to losing candidates. And while CTU-backed candidates lost six of the nine competitive seats overall, they fared worse in their biggest-spending races, losing five of six contests in which the union and its affiliates put up more than $250,000 for their candidate. The Chicago school board elections take place Nov. 3.3 Is another $8.5 million enough to clean up a toxic reputation? Not likely. Update on federal tax credit scholarship: Last week, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she plans to opt into the federal tax credit scholarship program. If Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker follows suit, Illinois could unlock $1 billion in donor money statewide for both public- and private-school students. If Illinois does not opt in, that money will flow to other states. The Last Ward reported in February on how Illinois Democrats could unlock at least $100 million in new resources for Chicago public-school students by opting in. Update on the investigation into how Chicagoans learned about a meeting to hike their property taxes: The Last Ward reported in January on an absurd, taxpayer-funded investigation into how local media learned of a planned Chicago school board meeting to hike the district’s property tax levy. That investigation is now complete. Lawyers interviewed two dozen witnesses, and found nothing. Update on Illinois’ muni debt crisis: My colleague Joe Tabor last week published a must-read piece in Crain’s Chicago Business about how Illinois recently rejected south suburban Harvey’s request to be designated a “distressed city.” The saga shows why the state must implement a better structure to assist insolvent local governments, including allowing for the option to pursue debt relief via Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The Last Ward reported in October on how Harvey is tipping the first domino in Illinois’ municipal debt crisis. Mincing Rascals: I joined the Mincing Rascals podcast to discuss the SAFE-T Act, the millionaires tax, and more. My “green light” recommendation: Force Majeure (2014). 1 Notably, the No. 2 reason cited is “resources to fund a state-wide millionaires tax campaign in order to fully fund the state’s school funding formula.” The constitutional amendment necessary to implement a progressive income tax in Illinois recently died in the Illinois House, meaning this question would not appear on the ballot until 2028 at the earliest. 2 There is seemingly no single-subject rule for CTU constitutional amendments. So members only get one vote on the full package. One cannot vote “yes” on the dues hike and “no” on the restriction of members’ rights, for example. 3 Illinois law grants far too much power over local government to unelected officials like Gates. State lawmakers should fix that.
West Ham United v Arsenal: Key stats and talking points
In what is a crucial match for both sides, Champions League final-bound Arsenal continue their bid for a first top-flight title for 22 years against a West Ham United side who dropped into the bottom three after last weekend's results. BBC Sport takes a look at the key themes ahead of Sunday's game (16:30 BST). The equation for Arsenal is simple on paper; win all four of their remaining matches and it will be the greatest season in the club's 139-year history.
How Minority Districts Fueled the G.O.P.’s Southern Ascendancy in Congress
The “majority-minority” House districts struck down by the Supreme Court last week sent a surge of Black and Hispanic lawmakers to Congress. They also opened opportunities for the G.O.P.
Exclusive: Kennedy's health officials explored US ban of some widely used antidepressants, sources say
U.S. health department officials last week explored whether they could ban certain drugs in a widely prescribed class of antidepressants as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepared to roll out a plan to reduce their use, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
Pentagon releases UFO records on new website
President Donald Trump had hinted about the declassification of “very interesting” records last week
This Week In Security: Another Linux Exploit, Ubuntu Knocked Offline, Finals Interrupted, And Backdoored Tools
After the CopyFail vulnerability gave root access from any user on almost all distributions last week, this week we’ve got DirtyFrag. This chains the vulnerability in CopyFail (xfrm-ESP) and …
Titans of themed entertainment gathered in Orlando last week for panels and an awards show
Nearly a year after the grand opening of Epic Universe, the impact of Universal’s newest gate continues to echo through the attractions industry. This was
Tennessee Republicans pass map splitting up state’s lone majority-Black district
The new map, which comes in response to last week’s U.S. Supreme’s redistricting ruling, puts Republicans in position to pick up a House seat in the midterm elections.