Have you ever made a promise to a child and taken it back? How about 100,000 children? That's exactly what the federal government has done in Queens. They made a promise to fund the new QueensWay, a project to transform 47 forgotten acres-a railway that hasn't been used in 60 years, a public eyesore and dumping ground-into a lush greenway running through the middle of Queens.
One-third of US museums have lost government grants or contracts since Donald Trump took office, according to a new survey. The findings, released by the American Alliance of Museums on Tuesday and based on responses from more than 500 museum directors across the US, shed new light on the challenges cultural institutions are facing under the Trump administration.
The Democratic socialist addressed the president in his victory speech on Tuesday night: "Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up." Mamdani referenced Trump in regard to his plans as mayor to address issues such as bad landlords, corruption, and labor protection. "Hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to go through all of us," Mamdani said.
Branford Public Schools has signed a 10-year, $60 million (€55 million) transportation contract with California-based Zum, marking the first agreement of its kind in Connecticut and setting the district on a path to a fully electric school bus fleet within five years. The Branford initiative aligns with Connecticut's legislative goal of deploying zero-emission school buses in environmental justice communities by 2030. The project is supported by federal and state funding programs, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Rebate Program, with allocations exceeding $6 million (€5.6 million) for vehicle and infrastructure costs.
The Build More Housing Near Transit Act was introduced by by Rep. Scott Peters (D-California) in July, but quickly gained bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress proving that the need for housing and transit reform can transcend red versus blue and urban versus suburban dichotomies. The clearest way out of our national housing shortage is by building more housing, said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a cosponsor, in a release.
Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Commerce Department was in talks with "several" quantum computing companies over equity stakes in those firms in return for federal funding. Specifically, the Journal said D-Wave, IonQ, and Rigetti were in discussions with the federal government about the matter. The report stated that Quantum Computing Inc. and the privately held Atom Computing were "considering similar arrangements."
RAND Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank highly dependent on federal government funding, shed more than 11% of its global workforce on Tuesday, Oct. 21, a spokesman for the nonprofit said late Monday. Just under a third of the layoffs are effective Nov. 2 at the nonprofit's headquarters, according to a filing with the state's Employment Development Department. The layoffs were first mentioned publicly by RAND on career networking website LinkedIn.
Soon after Donald Trump returned to the White House, his administration gutted the federal government's central education data collection and research funding agency, the Institute of Education Sciences. Researchers say the move jeopardized the nation's ability to figure out how to improve K-12 and higher education and its capacity to hold publicly funded schools, colleges and universities accountable. But the president didn't fully erase IES-which Congress created, and continues to require to exist, through the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.
Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over its cancellation of a $7bn grant program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities, according to court papers. In a statement on Thursday, California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, announced two lawsuits by a group of states that received grants under the Environmental Protection Agency's Solar for All program. The EPA's administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced the termination of the program in August.
Trapped under pressure from the presidential administration, the city council for Arlington, Texas, is struggling to find a way to avoid rolling back LGBTQ+ protections without losing vital federal grants. Last night, they bought themselves more time. Pointing to pressure from the current administration, Arlington's city council took a vote in September to suspend the anti-discrimination section of the city code, pending review.
The MTA's budget is currently balanced, but out-year gaps persist as the Authority faces substantial fiscal uncertainties, led by funding threats from the federal government, DiNapoli said. It's imperative that the MTA stay focused on improving the system and bringing riders back, which is one of the surest ways it can help stabilize its fiscal outlook at the farebox, and by following through on its savings initiatives.