The Empire State (Newspaper Entry)

NY attorney sues Trump after a two year investigation:
A New York attorney has sued the Donald J. Trump Foundation, accusing the charity and the Trump family of sweeping violations of campaign finance laws, self-dealing and illegal coordination with the presidential campaign. Trump has countered the lawsuit with posts on Twitter stating that the attorney is “sleazy” and is doing everything to get the money out of him. In the lawsuit, it states that “For more than a decade, the Donald J. Trump Foundation has operated in persistent violation of state and federal law governing New York State charities. This pattern of illegal conduct by the Foundation and its board members includes improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations or to implement even elementary corporate formalities required by law.”

City Spent $136 Million on Teachers Without Permanent Jobs:

This year, the mayor stated that it spent a total of 136 million dollars on teachers without permanent laws. All of the unassigned teachers were put in a pool called the Absent Teacher Reserve, or the ATR. As stated in a site on Citizens Budget Commision, “Continuing to pay teachers in the ATR will cost the City $136 million in this school year. The City should pursue reforms to the ATR, such as a six-month time limit, in upcoming labor negotiations with the UFT.” All of the teachers in the pool were paid the same as permanent teachers, so many people believed that it was unfair. As the NY Times stated, “Teachers in the pool have an average of 18 years on the job, and an average salary of $98,126. With a 3 percent raise for all city teachers going into effect on Saturday, combined with a 2 percent raise teachers received in May, senior teachers in the pool could now earn up to $119,472, the report found.” Many people think that it is unfair, but many other also think the teachers deserve it.

You Can Now Place Sports Bets (Legally) in New Jersey:

Recently, many gamblers have lined up in front of casinos due to the fact that sports bets were made legal in New Jersey. As the NY Times stated, “ At both venues, officials described the moment in soaring terms — as the dawn of a “new era” in New Jersey, and a significant opportunity to invigorate lagging Atlantic City casinos and the state’s race tracks.” However, there was only one casino open to sports bets, but officials are hopeful that many other casinos will open sports bets in the future. C.J. Pulcine, who is also from Hazlet, said he spent Wednesday night doing his research so he knew which team to bet. As he was interviewed, he stated, “I’ve been looking forward to this since they first mentioned it in 2012,” Mr. Pulcine said. He was optimistic about his betting success. “I always say, for me at least, sports is where I can make money,” he said, “horses is more of a hobby and something to do for fun on the weekends. But I know way more about sports than horses.”