Lawmakers Pass Bill To Reduce Gifts From Lobbyists

CNN: “Schools across the country are announcing teacher and staff layoffs as districts brace for the end of a pandemic aid package that delivered the largest one-time federal investment in K-12 education. The funds must be used by the end of September, creating a sharp funding cliff as schools also struggle with widespread enrollment declines and inflation.”

Politico: “Local organizers and national advocates fear Democratic candidates, in promoting abortion-rights referendums that may boost their electoral prospects, could inadvertently doom the initiatives.” “It’s a particular concern in key presidential and Senate battlegrounds like Arizona, Montana and Nevada where ballot measure campaigns to codify abortion rights need more than just Democratic voters to succeed.”

Washington Post: “Bars of gold, stacks of cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and foreign intelligence officials could all make cameo appearances.” “Federal prosecutors allege that Menendez and his wife were being bribed with those gifts by New Jersey businessmen who sought the lawmaker’s help paving the way for lucrative deals they had lined up with the governments of Egypt and Qatar.” Politico: “To prove their case, prosecutors will need to tie those gold bars to things the senator is alleged to have done to receive them.”

“He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors’ biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president’s hush money trial,” the Associated Press reports. New York Times: “From the stand, Mr. Cohen will tell of his greatest coup in Mr. Trump’s employ, the time when he paid $130,000 to suppress a porn star’s story of a sexual encounter with Mr.

This story was originally published by Hakai and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Hammerhead sharks—fish with pronounced oblong heads and bodies as long as small cars—are unmistakable. Seeing one of these critically endangered animals is a thrill, but seeing nearly a dozen plying the water side by side is worth writing home about.

In the meantime, Baltimore’s crime rate continues to skyrocket.