News & Brews November 1, 2022
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What could go wrong at the PLCB?
More than a million dollars in funds from the Washington, D.C. firm Arabella Advisors has been used to attack Pennsylvania charter schools. The Daily Signal digs deeper into Harrisburg-based Education Voters, which is linked to Arabella-funded Keystone Research Center. “It’s a ‘classic tactic’ by union operatives to sway public opinion against charter schools, said Mike Watson, research director at Washington-based Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank that monitors nonprofits. …When the arguments of a teachers union are ‘put into the mouth’ of a public policy outfit, Watson argues, even well-informed citizens may not see the machinations of special interests that seek to obscure their involvement.” Read more.
There’s just never enough to pay the bills
New polling from the New York Times and Siena College shows Lt. Gov. John Fetterman with a slim lead over Dr. Mehmet Oz. However, “the Pennsylvania poll was largely conducted before the debate, with only one night of interviews made afterward. In calls made Wednesday, the night after the matchup, a plurality of voters said Mr. Fetterman was not healthy enough to do the job—though Mr. Fetterman still maintained a slight lead over Mr. Oz among all respondents,” reports the Times.
There’s just never enough to pay the bills
File this under “sad songs played by the smallest violin”: Former union boss Johnny “Doc” Dougherty claims he is having trouble coming up with enough money for legal representation in his upcoming embezzlement case. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Dougherty made nearly $500,000 last year from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Philadelphia Building Trades Council. “U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl said he had no intention of postponing Dougherty’s Jan. 23 trial,” the Inquirer reports. “The judge threatened to pick a lawyer for him if the ex-union chief didn’t come up with one soon.” Read more.
Next step in case against NY union
“The battle by six City University of New York professors to stop their union from collecting dues took a step forward recently as oral arguments began in front of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.” The plaintiffs are represented by the Fairness Center and the National Right to Work Foundation. Read more in The College Fix.
Is Pa. a ‘proxy fight’ between Biden and Trump?
We’re keeping the same headline as yesterday because it was announced that President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama plan to be in Philadelphia on Saturday to bolster Democrat candidates the same day former President Donald Trump will be across the state at a rally in Latrobe. Further details on the Philadelphia appearances were not yet released.