Latest news with #Burroughs
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Destroyed Glencairn Hall to be torn down, few parts may be salvaged
After this summer, a collection of 200-year-old bricks may be all that's left of the historic Glencairn Hall, as its charred remains are hauled off the property and the site is cleared. The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has authorized the demolition of the remains of Glencairn Hall, a two-storey estate overlooking the Niagara River that was destroyed in April by a fire of 'suspicious' origins, investigators say. The town is asking and encouraging the owner of the property at 14785 Niagara River Pwky. to donate historical parts of the site to the town, whichever parts remain intact. Council approved Glencairn's teardown last Tuesday with little discussion or fanfare. Coun. Gary Burroughs said he hopes they will recover bricks from the home's brick chimneys, which survived the fire and which residents particularly cherished. The fire destroyed most of the home's structure , with Jim Kettles from the Office of the Fire Marshal calling it a 'total loss' in April. The home received heritage designation last year. 'They're all 200 years old,' Burroughs said of the chimneys. 'If for nothing more, (they're) a good memory piece for most of us in Niagara-on-the-Lake.' Burroughs recommended that staff and the owner dismantle the chimneys in a 'semi-safe' way to preserve some of the bricks. Council treated his suggestion as a directive to staff. Glencairn Hall was a classical Greek-style home designed by John Latshaw and built in 1832. The property spans nearly three acres of land and was purchased last October for $6 million. It was originally the residence of John Hamilton and later housed prominent entrepreneurs, including Erie and Niagara Railway head William Thompson and Buffalo Pottery president John Larkin. The house also hosted notable guests such as architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In June, Niagara Regional Police said it's investigating the cause of the fire as an act of criminal arson . It hasn't arrested any suspects yet. Earlier this month, the municipal heritage committee discussed commemorating the site , possibly with a plaque. No decision has been made on this. daniel@ Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Boston Globe
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
US State Department launches investigation into Harvard's participation in visa program
A Harvard spokesperson said that the Advertisement 'Harvard continues to enroll and sponsor international scholars, researchers, and students, and will protect its international community and support them as they apply for U.S. visas and travel to campus this fall,' the spokesperson said in a statement to the Globe. 'The University is committed to continuing to comply with the applicable Exchange Visitor Program regulations.' The investigation is just the Trump administration's Harvard sued the Trump administration over the efforts in May, arguing at the time that it did respond to the government's requests and that the attempt to bar the university from hosting international students was an act of retaliation for rejecting a list of sweeping demands from the Trump administration. Advertisement The government demanded that Harvard overhaul its admissions policies, hiring practices, and governance in an April letter. After the university rejected the demands, calling them an unlawful attempt to exert influence over a private university, the Trump administration canceled nearly $3 billion in research funding, threatened the university's accreditation, and attempted to bar international students from campus. Federal district judge Burroughs is also overseeing Harvard's case challenging the government's cancellation of nearly $3 billion in research funding. At a hearing in federal district court in Boston earlier this week, she appeared skeptical of the Trump administration's justification for canceling nearly every grant because of its determination that the university failed to combat antisemitism across campus, at one point calling the government's argument Aidan Ryan can be reached at
Boston Globe
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Here's what to know about Judge Allison D. Burroughs, federal jurist overseeing Harvard-Trump case
Here's some things to know about her. Her appointment to the federal bench Burroughs, 64, a Boston native, appointed to the federal bench by President Obama in July 2014. She was confirmed by the Senate five months later in December 2014. Key cases In her decade as a federal judge, Burroughs, whose father attended Harvard, and who was rejected when she applied as a young woman, repeatedly has overseen high-profile litigation involving the Ivy League school. She also is no stranger to ruling on actions taken by the Trump administration. Advertisement Muslim travel ban In 2017, Burroughs temporarily halted President Trump's Muslim travel ban that disallowed visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries and turned Boston's Logan International Airport into an epicenter of the immigration debate in the early weeks of his presidency. Harvard admissions decision overturned In 2019, when Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard, claiming that the university's admissions practices were discriminatory to Asian Americans, Burroughs sided with the school, upholding its admissions policy. Burroughs decision was overturned on appeal in 2023 with the US Supreme Court declaring affirmative action in higher education admissions unconstitutional. Harvard and MIT deportation suit In 2020, Burroughs presided over Harvard and MIT's challenge to the Trump administration's plan to deport international students taking online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE withdrew the policy before Burroughs issued a ruling. Advertisement Venezuelan migrants sent to Martha's Vineyard In 2022, Burroughs oversaw a case after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis relocated Department of Energy cuts And this spring, Burroughs temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Energy from cutting more than $400 million in annual spending in federal funding to universities after the Association of American Universities — of which Harvard is a member — led a lawsuit against the proposed cuts. Harvard's federal funding freeze case Burroughs was assigned to Harvard's latest case after lawyers argued that it was related to a pending lawsuit before Burroughs and brought by the university's chapter of the American Association of University Professors . The lawyers asked that the new lawsuit be assigned to the same judge. The AAUP chapter sued Harvard to block the Trump administration's review of the school's federal funding, arguing that it was unconstitutional. In the most recent Harvard case, the Trump administration's legal case for cutting nearly $3 billion in federal aid to the university was met with skepticism from Burroughs. During a high-stakes, two-hour hearing on Monday, Burroughs described the government's arguments as 'a bit mind-boggling.' She pressed a lawyer from the US Justice Department to explain how cutting billions of dollars in research funding to Harvard would meaningfully combat antisemitism on campus. She's a granddaughter of Russian immigrants Burroughs, who noted that she was Jewish during the hearing, did not issue a ruling on Monday. Her grandfather, Harry Burroughs, was a Russian-born Jew who escaped pogroms at the turn of the 20th century and became a Boston attorney and social reformer, according to Advertisement At age 14, Harry Burroughs landed in Portland, Maine, and made his way to Boston, where he sold newspapers on Beacon Hill street corners. He later landed a scholarship to Suffolk University, the journal reported. In 1928, Harry Burroughs founded And in 1935, Burroughs' grandfather also founded a nonprofit youth development organization called Judge Burroughs' father, Warren, was a Harvard graduate and World War II veteran. She was educated in Vermont and Pennsylvania According to her She's a former federal prosecutor Burroughs worked 16 years as a federal prosecutor, first in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and then in Massachusetts. During that time, she developed expertise in white collar and economic crimes, intellectual property offenses, computer crimes, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, economic espionage, terrorism, telemarketing schemes, and complex RICO prosecutions, the judicial profile said. From 2005 to 2014, Burroughs worked in private practice as a partner at Boston's Nutter, McClennen & Fish where she was a member of the government investigations and white collar defense practice group. Advertisement There, Burroughs represented people and corporations in criminal and civil cases, primarily in federal court. Source: Boston Globe, Lawyers Weekly Tonya Alanez can be reached at
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Why Judge Burroughs's skepticism marks a turning point in the US-Harvard funding clash
Harvard's $2.6 billion clash with US government faces key court scrutiny A federal court hearing on the lawsuit between Harvard University and the US government over a $2.6 billion funding freeze saw pointed questioning from United States District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, casting doubt on the administration's justification for the freeze. The case, which could determine the future of Harvard's research funding, centers on allegations that the university failed to address antisemitism on campus. At the hearing held in a packed courtroom in Boston, Burroughs pressed government attorney Michael K. Velchik on how the administration's decision to halt billions in research funding was tied to its stated goal of combating antisemitism at Harvard. The lawsuit has become a central point in a broader legal and political standoff between Harvard and President Donald J. Trump's administration, which has accused the university of permitting antisemitism and failing to uphold civil rights protections. Judge questions link between speech and research funding According to The Harvard Crimson, Judge Burroughs said during the hearing, "They're not funding speech, they're funding research. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like A genetic disorder that is damaging his organs. Help my son Donate For Health Donate Now Undo And you're tying that research to speech." She expressed skepticism about whether concerns about antisemitism could justify such steep funding cuts to the university's research enterprise. Velchik, representing the government, argued that the cuts were in response to pro-Palestine protests and incidents including the vandalism of the John Harvard statue after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Velchik also said that the government was responding to complaints from students, donors, and law enforcement, and asserted that federal agencies had the right to redirect funds when grantee goals no longer aligned with government priorities. As reported by The Harvard Crimson, Burroughs responded that such a justification would allow the government to cancel grants "even if their termination violated the Constitution," calling the implications "staggering. " Harvard accuses the administration of First Amendment violations Harvard's legal team described the Trump administration's actions as unconstitutional. Steven P. Lehotsky, a lawyer for Harvard, argued that the government's funding freeze was "a blatant, unrepentant violation of the First Amendment," as quoted by The Harvard Crimson. The university has claimed the funding freeze was retaliatory, tied to its refusal to accept policy changes demanded by the administration. Funding freeze follows administration demands The funding freeze followed an April 11 letter from the government, mistakenly sent to Harvard leadership, which outlined a series of demands. These included external audits of academic departments, changes to hiring and admissions practices, elimination of diversity programs, and regular compliance reports. Harvard President Alan M. Garber rejected the demands, calling them "assertions of power, unmoored by the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard," as reported by The Harvard Crimson. Wider impact on research and student access The freeze has affected research projects across the university, including work on cancer treatments and other scientific initiatives. Harvard has implemented cost-cutting measures, layoffs, and hiring freezes. It has also sued the Trump administration a second time over visa restrictions and access to a federal database, which affected international student enrollment. Next steps in the lawsuit Judge Burroughs has not issued a final ruling but said a decision would come quickly. Harvard has requested a ruling by September 3, the government's deadline for submitting grant termination paperwork, as reported by The Harvard Crimson. Although settlement talks are ongoing, Harvard's faculty association, the American Association of University Professors, has requested to continue its separate legal challenge in case Harvard reaches an agreement before a final ruling is made. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here . Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
eNCA
22-07-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
Judge presses Trump admin on Harvard funding cuts
US - A federal judge on Monday challenged the Trump administration's reasons for slashing billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard University, triggering a furious response from the president. Judge Allison Burroughs pressed the administration's lawyer to explain how cutting grants to diverse research budgets would help protect students from alleged campus anti-Semitism, US media reported. Trump preemptively fired off a post on his Truth Social platform blasting Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic president Barack Obama, claiming without evidence that she had already decided against his government - and vowing to appeal. The Ivy League institution sued in April to restore more than $2 billion in frozen funds. The administration insists its move is legally justified over Harvard's failure to protect Jewish and Israeli students, particularly amid campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza. The threat to Harvard's funding stream forced it to implement a hiring freeze while pausing ambitious research programs, particularly in the public health and medical spheres, that experts warned risked American lives. Harvard has argued that the administration is pursuing "unconstitutional retaliation" against it and several other universities targeted by Trump early in his second term. Both sides have sought a summary judgment to avoid trial, but it was unclear if Burroughs would grant one either way. The judge pressed the lone lawyer representing Trump's administration to explain how cutting funding to Harvard's broad spectrum of research related to combatting anti-Semitism, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported from court. "The Harvard case was just tried in Massachusetts before an Obama appointed Judge. She is a TOTAL DISASTER, which I say even before hearing her Ruling," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Harvard has $52 Billion Dollars sitting in the Bank, and yet they are anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America," he claimed, pointing to the university's world-leading endowment. Both Harvard and the American Association of University Professors brought cases against the Trump administration's measures which were combined and heard Monday. - 'Control of academic decision making' - Trump has sought to have the case heard in the Court of Federal Claims instead of in the federal court in Boston, just miles away from the heart of the university's Cambridge campus. "This case involves the Government's efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision making at Harvard," Harvard said in its initial filing. The Ivy League institution has been at the forefront of Trump's campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and "viewpoint diversity." Trump and his allies claim that Harvard and other prestigious universities are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism, particularly surrounding protests against Israel's war in Gaza. The government has also targeted Harvard's ability to host international students, an important source of income who accounted for 27 percent of total enrolment in the 2024-2025 academic year.
