Latest news with #AlDrago
The Star
17 hours ago
- The Star
Trump's Air Force One shortcut
The Qatari luxury jet, which Trump toured, seen at Palm Beach International Airport, Florida. — Al Drago/The New York Times
Toronto Sun
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Chicago mayor's hiring practices probed by U.S. Justice Department
Published May 20, 2025 • 1 minute read Brandon Johnson Photo by Al Drago / Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Department of Justice said it will investigate whether Chicago is discriminating against municipal job candidates by race after Mayor Brandon Johnson highlighted the number of Black officials in his administration while addressing a church on the city's south side. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general that oversees the department's civil rights division, posted a letter on social media Monday citing comments the mayor made Sunday at the Apostolic Church of God in the city's Woodlawn neighbourhood. The investigation is 'based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race,' Dhillon, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, said in the letter. According to Dhillon, Johnson highlighted the hiring of Black employees during his remarks, saying several of the top officials in his administration are Black, including the city's chief operating officer, it's budget director and several deputy mayors. A spokesperson for Johnson's office said they were aware of the letter, but hadn't officially received it, and that the city's attorney will review it at that time. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Mayor Johnson is proud to have the most diverse administration in the history of our city,' spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said in a statement. 'Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either.' The Trump administration has challenged the legality of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the workplace, which it claims have prompted companies to prioritize recruiting women and certain people of colour because of their race or gender, at the expense of candidates who are better qualified. Johnson's first two years in office have been tumultuous, and he has often sparred with the Trump administration since the president took office in January. That included when Johnson was called to a congressional hearing on the city's sanctuary policies regarding undocumented immigrants.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What is the National Endowment for the Arts and How Is It Funded?
The National Endowment for the Arts is the federal agency that funds the arts and art education across the country Credit - Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the largest funder of the arts in the United States, is under renewed threat, as President Donald Trump moves to target cultural institutions in a sweeping bid to shrink the federal government. The agency was founded by Congress in 1965 in order to encourage arts participation and practice, but could be shut down after Trump proposed slashing the agency in a budget proposal released Friday. The NEA did not immediately respond to TIME's request for comment. Several arts organizations received notice of NEA grant cancellations last week, where the agency outlined an update to NEA's grantmaking policy that is 'being allocated in furtherance of the Administration's agenda,' an email sent to the San Francisco Jazz Organization reviewed by TIME, says. The NEA says they would focus on elevating projects for the 250th anniversary of American independence, 'making America healthy again,' and elevating historically Black colleges and universities. 'Your project, as noted below, unfortunately does not align with these priorities,' the email read. The budget cuts are part of a larger Administration policy to reduce the U.S. federal deficit, which stands at $1.3 trillion for fiscal year 2025, according to the Treasury Department. While the future of the agency is unclear, Trump may do good on the undoing of the NEA. In March, the President issued an Executive Order seeking to eliminate as much of the Department of Education as it could, moving some of its functions to other agencies and laying off nearly half of its workforce. This marks the second time Trump attempts to eliminate the NEA. Congressional Republicans worked with Democrats to save the agency during the President's last term. The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library Services are also at risk for termination under the 2026 budget proposal. Here's what to know. What does NEA actually do? The NEA is the federal agency that funds the arts and art education across the country. It provides grants to nonprofit organizations, public agencies, colleges and universities, and individual writers for projects. It also has research grants and funds fellowships for translation and creative writing in prose and poetry. What was it funding? Prior to the start of the new Administration, the NEA allowed organizations to apply for three different types of grants. One program, which provided funding for projects that reach 'underserved communities,' was cut earlier this year as part of the agency's pivot to comply with Executive Orders. The NEA temporarily asked applicants to commit to not promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as 'gender ideology.' But the agency changed that request after a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, National Queer Theater, and others in response. NEA funding spans all 50 states, including rural and urban communities. For fiscal year 2022, the NEA issued more than 2,300 grants totalling at least $117 million, according to the NEA annual performance report issued in February 2023. In order to receive a grant, organizations must outline the project they are working on, project budget, and plan to match funding with nonfederal sources. Grants to organizations are matched one-to-one with nonfederal sources. A panel of experts, who are not NEA staff, review and discuss the artistic merit of the project, including the impact the project has in its respective field, and the communities it will serve. The panel then passes their recommendations to the National Council on the Arts, made up of leading artists, which sends submissions to the NEA chairman. The chairman makes the final decision regarding which entities receive funding. The NEA sent at least two different types of emails to grant recipients on Friday, saying that it would be updating its policies to focus on funding projects that 'reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President.' The agency claimed that it would prioritize projects serving historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. Additionally, NEA says it is looking to support arts that 'celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster A.I. competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.' What artists and groups receive these grants? Several theaters, art groups, individuals, and others receive NEA grants. Some recipients may seem like nontraditional grantees, as NPR reportedly receives two grants from the agency totaling $65,000. Numerous groups, including the Berkeley Repertory Theater, American Conservatory Theatre Foundation, and San Francisco Jazz Organization, are now seeing their funding be rescinded. New York City's Central Park Summer Stage, and Open Studio Project, an education nonprofit in Illinois have also seen cuts, NPR reports. Contact us at letters@
Vox
30-04-2025
- Health
- Vox
Drug overdose deaths are in a free fall — for now
covers health for Vox, guiding readers through the emerging opportunities and challenges in improving our health. He has reported on health policy for more than 10 years, writing for Governing magazine, Talking Points Memo, and STAT before joining Vox in 2017. The broad availability of Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal, is credited by experts for the decline in overdose deaths. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Just two years ago, the US was suffering through the worst stretch of its long-running drug overdose crisis. More than 110,000 Americans had died in the previous 12 months from an overdose — almost twice the number of people who died in the all of the Vietnam War. But late last year, the country got some unexpected good news: Overdose fatalities had fallen by 10 percent. It was the first drop of any kind since 2018, but here's the really good news: While in 2018, deaths only plateaued for a few months before rising again, the current decline appears to be sustaining and even accelerating. According to the most recent national data from the CDC, deaths in 2024 were down a whopping 26 percent, to less than 81,000 over the preceding 12 months. New county-level CDC data reveal some communities in the states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic — such as West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Ohio — have seen deaths fall by 40 percent to 50 percent over the past year. Too many people are still dying preventable deaths, but the decline nonetheless represents a significant improvement in a problem that has bedeviled public health officials since the opioid epidemic began to take off in the 2000s. America appears to be turning the corner on drug-overdose deaths. How? Nobody is quite sure — and several of the experts I spoke to fear the downturn could be temporary. But there are a few plausible explanations. First, the pandemic is over. Overdose deaths rose sharply during 2020 and 2021, likely for a combination of reasons. People were more isolated, for one, and health care providers were overwhelmed. That's no longer the case. People who use opioids and other deadly drugs also now know about the particular risks of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids and are being more cautious. There is the contentious theory that the pool of potential victims has shrunk: More than 1.5 million Americans have died from overdoses since 2000, and many of the people who were most vulnerable to becoming dependent on opioids and overdosing may have, sadly, been among that group. It is also possible that people are shifting away from opioids like heroin and fentanyl and toward other drugs that are less deadly. More people are taking nonlethal drugs such as cannabis and psychedelics, and the use of cocaine and other illicit stimulants has also been growing; they still present a public health risk, especially with reports of cocaine laced with fentanyl, but these substances lead to fewer deaths on average. The US has also invested billions of dollars into public health campaigns to reduce overdose deaths. We are not only increasing users' awareness about fentanyl, for example, but some public health departments have also provided millions of free testing strips so people who use opioids can easily check whether what they are using could quickly and unexpectedly kill them. Access to opioid addiction treatments like methadone and buprenorphine, too, has been greatly expanded through government and philanthropic investments. And perhaps most importantly in the prevention of unnecessary overdose deaths, naloxone — Narcan, the nasal spray that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses — is omnipresent. You can find it in vending machines in police stations, libraries, and public schools around the country. Nearly 70,000 lifesaving doses were administered in 2021 by emergency responders. 'Increased naloxone distribution has saved countless lives by reversing opioid overdoses in real time,' Jessica Hulsey, founder of the Addiction Policy Forum, told Vox. This was a hard-fought public health victory: While some people have at times objected to placing a drug overdose treatment in a public health setting, the harm-reduction argument that we should make these interventions widely available to save as many lives as possible has largely won out. A meaningful drop in deaths — for now Even as the good news rolls in, President Donald Trump's health department is currently working on plans to reduce federal spending on opioid treatments by millions of dollars. A draft budget, recently obtained by several news organizations, including Vox, would specifically terminate programs that supply Narcan to health centers, doctors, and first responders, as well as programs to train first responders on how to use the drug during an overdose emergency. Other programs focused on drug abuse treatment and support would also be eliminated, according to the document. To be clear, this is only a draft document, and the president's budget, even when finalized, is rarely adopted exactly as it is written. Congress will have its say, and lawmakers have shown support for substance abuse treatment in recent years. But the proposal nonetheless raises the risk that the US will take a step backward after finally making progress in reducing the toll of opioids. If the programs were to ultimately be eliminated, some day, a health center might not have Narcan on hand when a patient comes through the front door experiencing an overdose. Or an EMT might find their supply runs out, and they don't have any naloxone spray available when an overdose call comes in. The move by the Trump administration to cut these successful programs would seem to undermine their own goals to curb the opioid crisis. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spoken openly about his own heroin addiction, said just days ago that 'we need Narcan' — even as his department drafts plans to cut it. In his first term, Trump promised to end the opioid epidemic, and he signed some of the first significant legislation to provide federal funding to combat it before the pandemic sent overdose deaths soaring. Now, within the early days of his second term, Trump framed his tariff policy around the goal of stopping fentanyl or its ingredients from being smuggled into the US.
Express Tribune
22-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Trump admin to restart defaulted student loan collections from May 5
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C.. Al Drago/ABACA PHOTO: Reuters The US Department of Education announced it will resume collections on defaulted federal student loans beginning May 5, ending a five-year pause. The move is expected to impact millions of borrowers already facing economic challenges. More than 5 million Americans have not made student loan payments in the past year, according to the department, and an additional 4 million are nearing default. In total, over 42.7 million borrowers owe $1.6 trillion in student debt. 'American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,' said US Education Secretary Linda McMahon. The department will begin notifying affected borrowers via email in the coming weeks, encouraging them to make payments or enroll in repayment plans. Starting in May, borrowers who remain in default will be referred to a Treasury Department collections program. Later this summer, the department plans to begin wage garnishments, allowing automatic deductions from paychecks. Critics argue the timing is harsh for vulnerable populations. 'This could not have come at a worse time,' said Aissa Canchola Bañez, Policy Director at the Student Borrower Protection Center. 'Borrowers are still navigating serious economic uncertainty.' Older borrowers are expected to be among the hardest hit. Nearly 40% of federal student loan holders over age 65 were in default as of 2017, often relying on fixed incomes. Defaults can severely damage credit scores, further complicating access to housing and basic financial needs. The announcement follows a broader shift in Trump administration policy aimed at curbing debt relief efforts and reinforcing personal accountability in federal loan repayment.
