
Who are the two finalists for CCRI president?
Any time the interim president reaches the final two in a college presidential search, it's safe to assume they are the favorite (a similar situation
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Costigan has had a two-year audition in her role as interim president, and the council may prefer to take an 'if it ain't broke it, don't fix it' approach. She's been around CCRI for decades, has played a key role in helping improve its academic offerings, and has a firm understanding of the needs of Rhode Island's employers.
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But Reber has an impressive resume. He has led Hudson County Community College since 2018, and was named CEO of the year by the American Association of Community Colleges last year. He has helped implement a program called Hudson Scholars, which was designed to get students back on track following the COVID-19 pandemic and pays them up to $625 a semester to meet academic goals and connect with counselors.
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What's next:
Costigan and Reber will participate in forums with students, faculty, staff, and the college's alumni and foundation boards next week, and the council wants to name a permanent president by July 1.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday,
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New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani mentions Andrew Cuomo in same breath as Jeffrey Epstein in new video
Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is going nuclear on rival Andrew Cuomo — attempting to link the ex-governor to Jeffrey Epstein in a new scorched-earth campaign video. In the 90-second TikTok-style spot, Mamdani, looking into the camera, demands that Cuomo release his list of consulting clients, noting the ex-gov once worked on a luxury marina project with a pal, Andrew Farkas, whose former business partner was Epstein. 'In June, the New York Times found out that Cuomo worked with his longtime friend Andrew Farkas on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico. Farkas' previous partner on Caribbean luxury marinas was none other than Jeffrey Epstein,' Mamdani says. 8 Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani released a scathing new attack ad against his rival former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 8 The video lists of a number of alleged scandals involving the ex-governor — even linking him to Jeffrey Epstein. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock The mud-slinging from Mamdani comes days after Cuomo hammered the socialist for snagging a $2,300 rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria despite his family's apparent wealth. Cuomo even proposed 'Zohran's Law' to prevent well-to-do residents from obtaining rent-restricted apartments. The new spot starts with Mamdani noting that Cuomo 'resigned in disgrace and you probably know why' — then shows footage and articles about women who accused the then-gov of sexual misconduct and the controversy surrounding his nursing home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic mayoral nominee demands that Cuomo release the list of clients from the consulting firm he launched in 2022 after he exited the governor's office, Innovative Strategies LLC. Mamdani gripes in the video that Cuomo has not divulged who paid him. But published reports have said Cuomo worked for a crypto currency exchange based in the Seychelles that eventually pleaded guilty to operating illegally in the US. The Democratic socialist Queens assemblyman also notes that Cuomo did not initially disclose $2.6 million in stock options from a nuclear company to the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board. 8 The ad mentions that Cuomo worked on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico with friend Andrew Farkas — who was a business partner with Epstein. New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP 8 Mamdani's ad highlights a Bloomberg article showing a link between Epstein and Farkas. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 'His excuse? The stocks were technically owned by Innovation Strategies LLC – where Cuomo is the sole member,' Mamdani says. 'That's the thing about Andrew Cuomo: once you think you've learned all the scandals, you find out there's another. And another. And another. ' Cuomo can clear the air, Mamdani says, adding: 'Habibi – release your client list.' 8 A photo of Cuomo with Farkas shown in the Mamdani ad. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC A rep for Cuomo gleefully responded that they could 'smell the desperation from conspiracy peddling' in Mamdani's attack. '[Cuomo] didn't know Epstein, but you can smell the desperation from conspiracy peddling Zohran,' said Cuomo campaign spokesman Richard Azzopardi. The former governor — who is running as an independent in the November election after getting soundly bested by Mamdani in the Democratic primary — also has vehemently denied he sexually harassed anyone. 8 Mamdani also bashed Cuomo over his COVID-19 book scandal. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC One campaign strategist said Mamdani's ad was a 'gutsy move' — and likely a response to Cuomo scoring points by hitting him for his rent-stabilized apartment. 'It's a gutsy move. Mamdani is defining Cuomo to general election voters on his terms,' said O'Brien 'OB' Murray, who has run campaigns for Republicans and Democrats. He said Mamdani is not leaving it to campaign surrogates to do the dirty work and is willing to go toe-to-toe with Cuomo. 8 Mamdani also took a shot at Cuomo's performance in the city's Democratic mayoral primary. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 'It's a page out of Donald Trump's playbook. When the candidates say something about an opponent, voters pay attention to it,' Murray said. But Mamdani risks 'tarnishing' his image by getting in the mud with Cuomo, even if he wants to keep the focus on the ex-gov's past scandals, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion. 'The Cuomo people are probably happy to draw a response. They want to engage Mamdani,' Miringoff said. 'Zohran risks tarnishing his image.' 8 Mamdani called on Cuomo to release the list of clients involved with his consulting firm Innovative Strategies LLC. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC Azzopardi dismissed the video as 'nothing more than a temper tantrum from an insecure child of privilege who knows his tenuous lead is slipping away.' He said the project in question with Farkas never got off the ground, and in regards to his consultancy business, Cuomo does not comment on those 'private client matters' and has not represented anyone with business before a New York city or state agency. Azzopardi also said the stock options were publicly disclosed in Federal Communication Commission files for years. 'There was a question about if and how they were required to be disclosed on city filings, which, after consulting with the Conflict of Interest board, we corrected the same day the matter was brought to our attention,' the Cuomo rep said. 'Try as he might, Zohran can't distract from the rank hypocrisy of growing up wealthy, owning hundreds of thousands of dollars of land in a country that has the death penalty for LGBTQIA people and making more than $140k a year for a job he doesn't show up to while taking a rent stabilized apartment meant for a working New Yorker, not to mention his flip flopping on the defund the police and supporting pro-Hamas criminals like the Holy Land Five,' Azzopardi said. 'He's a total fraud and with every passing day New Yorkers see it.'


The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump BLS pick suggests suspending monthly jobs report over data concerns
President Trump's nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) suggested the agency should stop issuing monthly jobs reports, claiming that the data the agency uses to calculate them is not reliable. E.J. Antoni, whom Trump nominated Monday to lead BLS, said the agency should 'suspend issuing the monthly jobs reports, but keep publishing more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data.' 'Major decision-makers from Wall Street to D.C. rely on these numbers, and a lack of confidence in the data has far-reaching consequences,' the nominee told Fox Business. Trump nominated Antoni, the chief economist at the far-right Heritage Foundation think tank, to lead BLS after the president fired the agency's previous chief, Erika McEntarfer, after the release of the dismal July jobs report. The report showed not only showed meager job growth last month, but also included steep downward revisions to the May and June employment reports. On net, the report showed the U.S. adding roughly 100,000 jobs over the past three months — barely a third of what economists deem necessary to prevent unemployment from rising. Trump fired McEntarfer the same day, accusing her and the agency of manipulating jobs data to make Republicans look bad and hide Democratic mismanagement of the economy. The president has provided no evidence to support his claim, and BLS veterans from both parties have said that manipulating employment data for political purposes is nearly impossible based on the way the agency calculates it. BLS also frequently makes revisions to employment and inflation reports based on data compiled and received after the reports have already been released. While most economists attribute the scale of recent BLS revisions to post-COVID-19 pandemic issues with data collection and survey response times, Antoni is among a handful pro-Trump economists who've accused BLS of massaging data to protect Democrats and harm Republicans. 'For four years, the Biden administration and its sycophants in the media kept telling Americans that we had the strongest economy in history,' Antoni wrote in a May op-ed published by Townhall, claiming the Labor Department 'admitted' that thousands of jobs added during the prior administration, 'were fake.' 'The financial pain of families was ignored while misleading (and often inaccurate) statistics were paraded on the news to convince Americans not to believe their lying eyes or empty wallets,' he added at the time. Antoni, who contributed to Project 2025 blueprint for Trump's second term, is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate, where he'll only need a majority of votes from the GOP-controlled upper chamber. But his actions at BLS could cast a shadow over the agency's influential reports on employment and inflation — especially if he makes major changes to the frequency or compilation of those reports. Economists across the ideological spectrum have accused Antoni of making misleading and inaccurate claims about the economy to support Trump's policies and criticize Democrats. 'EJ Antoni's commentary on labor statistics has unfortunately been quite poor,' Alan Cole, a senior economist at the conservative Tax Foundation, wrote on social platform X. 'I do not think it's anywhere near the capability or knowledge of e.g. Keith Hall or William Beach, both excellent Republican appointees, the latter of whom was appointed by Trump in his first term.' Kyle Pomerleau, senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said on social media, 'There are a lot of competent conservative economists that could do this job. E.J. is not one of them.'


The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump's DC takeover
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There were 187 homicides last year, which is higher than the years immediately preceding the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. ♦ ️ The argument against the D.C. takeover: That crime rates are actually falling. Critics are concerned about Trump's expanding militarization in domestic cities. The stats critics want you to see: Police statistics show crime rates in the District have dropped significantly over the past two years. Violent crime is down 26 percent from last year. Plus, 2024 saw a 32 percent drop in homicides and a 35 percent drop in overall violent crime compared to 2023. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) was critical of Trump's Washington takeover during a press conference Monday and said she was not given a heads up about the president's full plan. (Though she was fairly guarded in her criticism.) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed Trump's move as a 'political ploy and attempted distraction from Trump's other scandals.' Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) called Trump 'an incoherent wannabe dictator.' Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) described it as a 'gross abuse of power that reeks of authoritarianism.' And California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) accused Trump of '[gaslighting] his way into militarizing any city he wants in America.' This plan worries advocates for homeless people: ABC News reports on what this means for homeless people in the District of Columbia. 🗨️ Follow today's live blog ➤ TRUMP ALSO RAILED ON CASHLESS BAIL: It's a policy that allows defendants to be released with the promise they will return for trial, but without cash bail. This policy has been adopted in some form by places like Illinois, New York and the District. The argument is that it creates more fairness and equity in the justice system. Read more: Cashless bail explainer ➤ STEPPING BACK: The New York Times's Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper argue Trump's D.C. takeover is 'the latest example of how the president has used the military to advance domestic policy priorities.' The southern border: 'Already this year, Mr. Trump has deployed some 10,000 active-duty troops to the southwest U.S. border to choke off the flow of drugs as well as migrants.' And in Los Angeles: Trump deployed '4,700 National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to help quell protests that had erupted over immigration raids and to protect the federal agents conducting them.' Latin drug cartels: 'Trump last month secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations.' ➤ RELATED READS: The Washington Post: Trump had a playbook for taking more control in D.C. The question was when. The Wall Street Journal: How Trump Is Expanding the Role of the American Military on U.S. Soil The Atlantic: Trump Is Right That D.C. Has a Serious Crime Problem: But he has the wrong answer for how to fix it. 📰 ON CAPITOL HILL What is raising eyebrows: 'Two major chipmakers in the U.S., Nvidia and AMD, have struck an unusual agreement to provide the federal government some of their revenue from chip sales to China — a deal that experts say raises constitutional questions and may set a concerning new precedent,' reports The Hill's Julia Shapero. 'The two firms have agreed to share 15 percent of the revenue generated from selling advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China in order to secure export licenses after a months-long pause, a U.S. official confirmed to The Hill on Monday.' Inflation keeps on trucking along: 'Consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in July, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as the economy braces for the full imposition of President Trump's tariffs,' reports The Hill's Sylvan Lane. The numbers: Prices rose 0.2 percent in July and 2.7 percent over the past year. 'But core inflation — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — came in at 0.3 percent higher over the past month and rose 3.1 percent over the past year.' Breaking it down: 'The latest reading of the consumer price index (CPI) showed monthly and annual inflation plateauing as declining gasoline prices wiped out increases in the costs of medical care, airfares, household furnishings and a wide range of other goods and services.' ➤ QUICK HITS: 🎭 Trump floats a Kennedy Center rename: Trump teased a name change to the Kennedy Center. 'GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER, AWARDS,' Trump posted on Truth Social. ⚕️ A gunman attacked the CDC: A lone gunman fired 180 shots at the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters Friday. A police officer was killed — and so was the gunman. 🎒 Harvard and the Trump administration are getting closer to a deal: A source familiar with the discussions told The Hill's Lexi Lonas Cochran that a deal between Harvard University and the Trump administration is 'close' despite real barriers. COMING UP The House and Senate are out. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST) 1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream 🧡💚 The talk of every social media platform today: Taylor Swift is releasing her 12th studio album! Swift announced the new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl,' in a clip from her upcoming appearance on the 'New Heights' podcast, hosted by her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce. The podcast episode will be released Wednesday at 7 p.m. 📹 Watch the teaser clip 📺 What's it like for terminated federal employees these days?: My friend, Nicole DeCastro, lost her job at USAID as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. She has been documenting her journey of finding a new job on Instagram and TikTok. She appeared on our new morning show, 'Sunrise on the Hill' to discuss her experiences. 📹 Watch the segment 👋 AND FINALLY…