Harris campaign distances itself from Biden in the crucial final days
(NYTimes) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has backed away from President Joe Biden in the final days of the 2024 election run-up, viewing the unpopular incumbent as a liability in her quest to succeed him, according to several White House and Harris campaign officials familiar with the planning. By all accounts, the vice president has been unflinchingly loyal to the 81-year-old president, careful to show deference even in moments where she could have broken away. But officials on Harris’ campaign think holding joint events with Biden would “only hurt her” now, as one adviser put it. That leaves Biden to arrange his own campaign-approved events through trade groups and unions.
Why a key Biden effort to boost affordable housing has faced hurdles
(NYTimes) — A year ago, the Biden administration rolled out a plan to encourage affordable housing projects by unlocking more than $35 billion in lending capacity through existing low-interest loan programs. Developers that build housing near transit stations would now be able to access the loans, which would be offered by the Transportation Department. But the effort has hit stumbling blocks. Although federal officials said they were on the verge of approving the first loan that would increase housing supply and they had taken steps to ease certain requirements, some developers said they had abandoned the process because the conditions had been too onerous and costly.
Woman charged with hate crime in pepper-spraying of Muslim Uber driver
(NYTimes) — An Uber driver had stopped at a New York City traffic light in July and was praying quietly in Arabic when, prosecutors said, one of his two passengers lunged at him, grabbed him and doused his face with pepper spray. Moments later, when the passenger, Jennifer Guilbeault, was standing outside the car, her friend asked why she had done what she did. “He’s brown,” Guilbeault replied, according to a police officer’s statement in a court document that cites surveillance footage. On Monday, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said Guilbeault, 23, had been indicted on several counts, including second- and third-degree assault as a hate crime.
That’s a lot of cheddar: Scammers steal $390,000 of British cheese
(NYTimes) — It’s been called “the grate cheese robbery.” But it’s no joke to the tightknit world of artisanal British cheesemakers, which is reeling from the disappearance of 22 metric tons of rare cheddar worth at least 300,000 pounds (about $390,000) in what appears to be the biggest con to hit their industry in decades. “We never imagined that this sort of thing would happen,” said Patrick Holden, whose dairy farm in Wales made some of the missing cheddar. “Of course,” he added, “people have bad debts. But theft? I mean, that just doesn’t happen.”
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