Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faces the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday as he presents his twice-yearly monetary policy report to Congress. The hearing will last for two days.
The Wall Street Journal has a list of five things to watch for during the testimony.
Watch live, broadcast on MSNBC on July 17.
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An Ohio school district employee is facing unspecified “disciplinary action” over a racially charged statement directed at a parent and her daughter, WTOL-Toledo reports.
The Evergreen Middle School parent, who is of Middle Eastern descent, alleges that after she and her daughter entered through a set of doors to the school an employee “just looks at me and my daughter and asks if I have a bomb on me."
The incident occurred in Fulton County, a community of approximately 43,000 residents west of Toledo.
The parent told the television station that she was dropping her daughter off at school during the lunch period when the employee approached them. The parent requested anonymity because her daughter still attends the school.
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"I was in complete shock. I was like, 'Excuse me?'" the mother said. "She's like, 'We just don't let anybody into the building – you wouldn't happen to have a bomb on you would you?'
"And I was in complete shock, I was stuttering. I said (to her,) 'I am just here to drop off my daughter.'"
Evergreen Local School District Superintendent Eric Smola in a statement to the television station confirmed that an investigation resulted in the employee facing disciplinary action over the comment.
"Unfortunately, a comment was made last month by one of our teachers to a parent and her daughter that goes against Evergreen's core values," the statement said.
"The exchange has been investigated, addressed and resulted in disciplinary action. While malice was never intended by the employee, we understand the insensitive nature and impact of the comment. The teacher and administration have extended an apology to the student and family involved."
The employee has since apologized to the mother in an email obtained by the news outlet that said: "I would like to sincerely apologize for my insensitive attempt at humor when we were both entering the school building."
But the parent said she isn’t buying the employee’s explanation, noting that had she replied in at “attempt at humor,” she’d have faced consequences.
"When she asked if I had a bomb on me and if I would've ‘humored’ back and replied and said yes, would that have been taken lightly? It wouldn't – they would've had the school on lockdown, they would've had my kids expelled, probably. They would not have taken that lately if I would have humored back and I said yes," the parent said.
The head of the state’s election law watchdog will face a public hearing next week over remarks he emailed to a staffer that state officials have characterized as homophobic.
Stephen Holden, a commissioner with the Election Law Enforcement Commission, announced next week’s public hearing during a Tuesday morning commission meeting, where he called the allegations aimed at the commission’s executive director, Jeff Brindle, “serious.” There are also allegations of racism, Holden said.
“If true, and if not true, it still requires a response from the commission because the commissioners have legislative responsibility and authority to address these kinds of concerns,” Holden said. “Most importantly, the commissioners believe in the due process requirements for all concerned.”
This comes as state lawmakers are mulling a bill that would, in part, give Gov. Phil Murphy the power to single-handedly appoint an entirely new ELEC board, a move intended to allow the Murphy administration to oust Brindle. The Senate approved the bill Monday, and it now awaits approval by the Assembly.
The Murphy administration’s clash with Brindle stems from an Oct. 11, 2022, email Brindle sent to an unknown commission employee about National Coming Out Day.
“Are you coming out? No Lincoln or Washington’s Birthday’s [sic] but we can celebrate national coming out day,” Brindle wrote, according to a copy of the email obtained through a public records request.
The state’s probe of the email stretches back to at least Nov. 4. The state Office of Equal Employment Opportunity received a complaint about Brindle’s “inappropriate comments of a homophobic nature,” interviewed an unidentified staffer, and reviewed the email sent by Brindle, according to a Nov. 4 letter obtained by the New Jersey Monitor.
Brindle’s email “on its face” is a violation of the state’s anti-discrimination policy, according to the letter, which is four pages and heavily redacted.
The letter was sent to ELEC commissioners on Nov. 14, according to emails reviewed by the New Jersey Monitor.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Holden said commissioners told Murphy administration officials they would “handle the allegations and make a decision.” They received a report with underlying facts less than two weeks ago, he said.
He said next week’s hearing would include testimony, an analysis of documents sent from Murphy’s office, and an examination of whether Brindle should face any discipline.
“That, I think, is consistent with our statutory responsibility. It’s consistent with our due process obligations. And it’s consistent with our ongoing efforts since we’ve been here to maintain the independence and bipartisanship and transparency of the things that are undertaken by the commission,” Holden added.
Brindle, who has worked for the Election Law Enforcement Commission since 1985 and been at its helm since 2009, claims in a lawsuit that Murphy and his aides are conspiring to interfere with the independence of the commission and seeking a way to get rid of him.
He alleges that the governor’s aides confronted him with the email and threatened to publicize it if he didn’t step down.
The public hearing will take place Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the commission’s office in Trenton.
The governor’s office declined to comment. The commission’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on Facebook and Twitter.
As Donald Trump continues his recently launched campaign for 2024, his next stop is raising the eyebrows of some experts who say it's a deliberate message to the far-right, AZ Central reported.
Trump plans to hold a rally this Saturday in the city of Waco, Texas -- on the anniversary of the infamous ATF siege that ended in the fiery deaths of cult leader David Koresh and over 80 of his followers, including 25 children.
The event has been a rallying point for many in far-right anti-government movements, including Timothy McVeigh, who carried out the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in 1995, which caused the deaths 198 people, including 19 children. The Waco siege has also been the catalyst for a wave of anti-government conspiracy theories since then. It also is central to many pro-2nd Amendment advocates, since the ATF initially carried out a raid on Koresh's compound accusing him and his group of stockpiling illegal weapons.
Experts speaking to AZ Central say that's exactly why Trump chose Waco.
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"Waco is hugely symbolic on the far right," said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. "There's not really another place in the U.S. that you could pick that would tap into these deep veins of anti-government hatred – Christian nationalist skepticism of the government – and I find it hard to believe that Trump doesn't know that Waco represents all of these things."
"Waco has a sense of grievance among people that I know he's (Trump's) got to be trying to tap into," Beirich said. "He's being unjustly accused, like the Branch Davidians were unjustly accused – and the deep state is out to get them all."
Deputy director for data analytics at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Megan Squire, was a little more direct.
"Give me a break! There's no reason to go to Waco, Texas, other than one thing – in April," Squire said. "I can't even fathom what's what that's about other than just a complete dog whistle – actually forget dog whistle, that is just a train whistle to the folks who still remember that event and are still mad about it."
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