In letter to Putin, US first lady asks him to consider the children in push to end war in Ukraine
The letter did not specifically name Ukraine, which Putin's forces invaded in 2022, but beseeched him to think of children and 'an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology.' Nor did the American first lady discuss the fighting other than to say to Putin that he could 'singlehandedly restore' the 'melodic laughter' of children who have been caught in the conflict.
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Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Geoff Epstein wants to become Framingham's third mayor. Here are his priorities
FRAMINGHAM — He has three key priorities, a clear campaign finance strategy and a name that ... has brought some attention. Geoff Epstein has big plans for Framingham. Epstein, a former School Committee member, hopes to become the city's third mayor. He's facing off against incumbent Mayor Charlie Sisitsky, who's seeking a second four-year term, in the Nov. 4 city election. After filing with the state's campaign finance office in January, Epstein, who also writes The Framingham Observer blog, went on to acquire enough signatures to appear on the ballot in November. In a sit-down interview with the Daily News, Epstein shared his goals if elected, which include investing more in the schools, installing more environmental projects and repairing infrastructure. Mayoral candidate is focused on three main issues Epstein said his top three issues are education, environment and infrastructure. Epstein, who has served on both the Framingham and Newton school boards, says things have gotten worse in Framingham Public Schools over the past four years. While saying the School Department has the best team the city could have, he says it's time to return money to the school system. 'Our schools were promised': Trump administration review holds up $1M in Framingham education grants According to Epstein, Framingham schools have been defunded by $30 million in taxpayer-funded support. He said that because local funding strayed from the trajectory it was on when he was on School Committee, that money has been defunded. 'If it had stayed on the trajectory it was on, the local support, taxpayer-funded support of the schools, it would be at $95 million,' Epstein said. 'If you compute overall, what's the difference between if it stayed on the direction it was going when I was there (on the School Committee)? Thirty million.' According to the schools' fiscal 2026 budget sheet, local funding went from $89.8 million in fiscal 2022 to $84.8 million in fiscal 2023. This was further reduced to about $80 million in fiscal 2024 before rising to $86.7 million in fiscal 2025. For the current year, the school budget has $90.6 million in local contribution funding. Epstein also said MCAS scores have gone down for every grade. "That's unusual, there's something really dire about that," he said. Epstein wants to expand preschool for students in order to increase English language profiency before they start kindergarten. He also wants to boost compensation for classroom aides, as well as address the city's teacher retention rate. 'Urgency of climate change': Framingham State unveils its latest sustainability initiative "Teacher morale is low, so you've got a situation where students are not performing well and the teachers are leaving, which is very unusual, Epstein said. "The school school system is trending down because of that." For the environment, he wants to expand solar installations on public buildings, something he said the city should have begun awhile ago. "We should have gone gangbusters on that and installed them," Epstein said, adding that installing solar panels at schools and parking lots would generate up to $3 million in utlity savings. "I thought that was a natural thing that should obviously be done and wasn't; if I get elected mayor, we'll try and do 10 solar installations a year, which you can actually do." Lastly, Epstein wants to address what he says is a backlog of roof and road repairs, along with water and sewer infrastructure. He pointed out that a year ago, Department of Public Works Director Robert Lewis called the city's water and sewer infrastructure a "ticking time bomb" during a City Council public hearing. "We're not alone, other communities are trying to deal with this, but we have not invested properly in it," Epstein said. "It's Governance 101, invest in your infrastructure." Epstein talks campaign finance On his website, Epstein said he needs $30,000 in donations to run an effective campaign. He said that the big money in campaigning comes from getting the word out through mailers, yard signs and social media. "Suppose you're targeting 10,000 voters, it costs about $1 for each one," he said. "If you send out a mailer, it's $10,000 for a mailer; if you do two, it's $20,000. You can run a district race for about $3,000 — I've done that and that's what it takes. This is nine districts, so it scales up to about $30,000." As of Aug. 6, Epstein has raised $10,838, with about $5,000 of his own money. By comparison, Sisitsky has raised $42,763 since Jan. 1. 'Isn't just about property': Why Nobscot residents take dim view of new housing proposal "I'm supporting Geoff because he has the technical confidence to analyze the finances of Framingham and to analyze administrative systems the city uses," said Carol Spack, who is running for City Council in District 2. "Geoff will bring, at the top, a philosophy and value system Framingham needs to be a town where government is committed to public service." Epstein also is declining to take donations from real estate developers, claiming they have undue influence on city officials. He pointed to J&Co., the developers behind the controversial Nobscot development, and other developers donating to local campaigns. "I feel like when developers pay you $1,000, they expect something back," Epstein said. About his name... While Framingham residents have known about Epstein for awhile, his campaign recently picked up some viral attention after the name of a certain American financier and child sex offender — the late Jeffrey Epstein — again became part of the news cycle. Epstein's campaign was soon picked up by Politico's Massachusetts Playbook, the New York Post, HuffPost, NewsNation and WBZ's TikTok with reporter Matt Shearer. The Framingham mayoral candidate, who pronounces his last name "ep-stine" as opposed to "ep-steen" has no interest in running from his name. "He was a pretty dark guy and did some terrible things," Epstein said. "You just have to take it as it comes and laugh about it, and that's the approach I've taken because it is my name. I like my name. It's nothing to do with him, but also, I believe with any trouble that comes with any discomfort, you got to talk about it." Framingham election to be held in November Framingham's city election is Nov. 4. The deadline to register to vote is 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, if in person and 11:59 p.m. that day if online. All public officials are sworn in on Jan. 1. This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Geoff Epstein outlines priorities in campaign for Framingham mayor Solve the daily Crossword
CNBC
27 minutes ago
- CNBC
Ukraine security guarantees may provoke a 'tripwire scenario' which no country wants: Strategist
Nobody Matt Gertken of BCA Research sees a 60% chance of a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, and discusses the 'NATO-style protection force' and provision of security guarantees for Ukraine.
New York Times
27 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Wants to Fight Democrats on Crime. They're Treading Cautiously.
With his efforts to take control of law enforcement in Washington, D.C., this week, President Trump has pushed the issue of crime back to the foreground of American politics. In doing so, he's invited a fight with Democrats, who are treading cautiously as they seek to forcefully oppose the federal incursion into the nation's capital, something no president has ever attempted, without getting caught up in a debate over public safety on Mr. Trump's terms. Mr. Trump and his Republican allies wielded the sharp increase in violent crime in urban areas during the pandemic as a campaign cudgel, winning control of the House in the 2022 midterms. Mr. Trump expanded his winning coalition two years later, in part with promises to prevent the rest of America from becoming like the cities he called 'unlivable, unsanitary nightmares,' deriding the data that showed improvement across the country. While his tactics in Washington, D.C., are extraordinary, the effort is an actualization of one of his most tried-and-true political arguments: Democrats — often Black Democrats — have let lawlessness run rampant in the cities and states they were elected to run. At a moment when Mr. Trump's approval ratings even among his supporters are declining, he appears to be laying the groundwork for Republicans to once again weaponize the issue in the midterm elections. Mr. Trump has sent National Guard troops to patrol the streets, turned federal law enforcement officers into beat cops and sought to put the local police department fully under his administration's control. And the president has suggested he wants to bring his brand of law and order to Chicago; Baltimore; Oakland, Calif.; and New York, all liberal cities in blue states, while avoiding any mention of high-crime cities in red states, like Memphis or St. Louis. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
