New tax bill spares majority: FBR chief

NEW YORK (AP) — A piece of conceptual art consisting of a simple banana, duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday, with the winning bid coming from a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur. “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was a phenomenon when it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, as festivalgoers tried to make out whether the single yellow piece of fruit affixed to a white wall with silver duct tape was a joke or cheeky commentary on questionable standards among art collectors. At one point, another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it. The piece attracted so much attention that it had to be withdrawn from view. But three editions sold for between $120,000 and $150,000, according to the gallery handling sales at the time. Five years later, Justin Sun , founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON, has now paid more than 40 times that higher price point at the Sotheby’s auction. Or, more accurately, Sun purchased a certificate of authenticity that gives him the authority to duct-tape a banana to a wall and call it “Comedian.” The piece attracted heavy attention at the busy auction at Sotheby’s, with attendees in the crowded room holding up phones to take photos as two handlers wearing white gloves stood at both sides of the banana. Bidding started at $800,000 and within minutes shot up to $2 million, then $3 million, then $4 million, and higher, as the auctioneer, Oliver Barker, joked “Don’t let it slip away.” “Don’t miss this opportunity,” Barker said. “These are words I’ve never thought I’d say: Five million dollars for a banana.” The final hammer price announced in the room was $5.2 million, which didn’t include the about $1 million in auction house fees, paid by the buyer. In a statement, Sun said the piece “represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.” But he said the latest version of “Comedian” won’t last long. “Additionally, in the coming days, I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture,” Sun said. Sotheby’s calls Cattelan “among Contemporary Art’s most brilliant provocateurs.” “He has persistently disrupted the art world’s status quo in meaningful, irreverent, and often controversial ways,” the auction house said in a description of “Comedian.” Related Articles Entertainment | LeBron James says he’s taking a social media break for now Entertainment | Pamela Hayden, longtime ‘Simpsons’ voice actor, including Bart’s friend Milhouse, hangs up her mic Entertainment | Simone Biles to join Snoop Dogg as a guest mentor for an episode on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ Entertainment | Alec Baldwin wasn’t invited to ‘Rust’ premiere, incites anger of slain cinematographer’s family Entertainment | 'Euphoria' star Storm Reid not returning for season 3 The sale came a day after a painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte sold for $121.2 million, a record for the artist, at a separate auction. “The Empire of Light,” an eerie nighttime streetscape below a pale blue daytime sky, sold Tuesday as part of Christie’s sale of the collection of interior designer Mica Ertegun, who died last year at age 97. The sale lifts Magritte into the ranks of artists whose works have gone for more than $100 million at auction. Magritte is the 16th member of the club, which also includes Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, according to the market analyst firm Artprice. “The Empire of Light,” executed in 1954, was one of 17 versions of the same scene that Magritte painted in oil. Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, called the sale “a historic moment in our saleroom.” The $121.2 million price included the auction house’s fees. The buyer was a telephone bidder whose identity was not disclosed.Lake Ridge students learned about circuits and computers while playing arcade games in the school's library last week. One local teacher is helping students take control of their STEAM education by handing them the controller. Lake Ridge Elementary STEAM Teacher Ryan Glenn transformed the school’s library into a video game arcade last week, in order to teach his third and fifth-grade students about electrical currents and computer circuits. In the library, Glenn used classroom invention kits that helped students design their own video game controllers. Then, the classes set up an arcade with the student-designed controllers by attaching them to laptops. Students used their creations to compete for gradewide high scores in games like Tetris and Flappy Dragon. The kits Glenn used for the classes are called ‘Makey Makey Invention Kits’, and consist of printed circuit boards and wires with alligator clips on the ends. When the clips are connected to certain spots on the circuit boards on one end and something conductive on the other end–like a banana or a ball of Play-Doh–they can be used to make keystrokes or mouse clicks on a computer. Students designed their own video-game controllers and then used them to compete in games like Tetris and Flappy Dragon. Third-grader Bora Cambaz sailed to the top of the leaderboard Tuesday with a high score in a game called Cake Stacker. He said the most difficult part was remembering to keep a finger on the Play-Doh ball that served as a ground for the controller so the circuit would be completed when he pressed a button. “We’ve learned a lot about circuits,” he said. “You have to keep touching the ground so the electricity can flow all the way through.” Emma Le, also a third grader, said the most fun part of the lesson was playing in an arcade during school hours. “I play games at home, mostly Roblox, but this is the first time we played games during class,” she said. “I got a high score in Flappy Dragon.” Glenn borrowed the Makey Makey kits from Indian Trail teacher Carleton Lyon, who asked Johnson City Schools to purchase them as educational tools to supplement lessons about technology. Glenn wanted to thank the district and Lyon for making the kit’s available for all the district’s STEAM instructors. “They’re great tools for giving kids hands-on experience with circuits and computers,” he said. “It’s one thing to teach about the flow of electrons, but when they can hook up wires and see things happen when they complete a circuit, it really gets them into it.” With the invention kits, anything conductive can be used to complete a circuit. Some of the controllers in the arcade used Play-Doh.

No extensions, zero tolerance for further delays – Edghill puts CJIA contractor on noticeDana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact. Related Articles National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own National Politics | President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak National Politics | Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request. The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation. Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9. To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison. Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds. But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational. Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered. Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.” Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12. Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility. Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon. Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years. “Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.” The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool. It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten. “Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.” Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show. The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights. “Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform. Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000. Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.” “I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.” Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.” “I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.” With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson. ©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Percentages: FG .226, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 6-31, .194 (Grullon 3-10, Zuzic 2-6, Faloppa 1-1, Bukumirovic 0-1, Niang 0-1, Salaridze 0-1, Trnka 0-1, Williams 0-1, Guinyard 0-2, Hopkins 0-3, Cortijo 0-4). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 5. Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 13 (Cortijo 2, Faloppa 2, Grullon 2, Salaridze 2, Bukumirovic, Guinyard, Hopkins, Niang, Trnka). Steals: 7 (Salaridze 3, Faloppa, Grullon, Radakovic, Trnka). Technical Fouls: None. Percentages: FG .476, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 10-37, .270 (Lanier 4-13, Zeigler 3-10, Dubar 1-4, Gainey 1-4, Milicic 1-5, Mashack 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 9 (Okpara 4, Milicic 2, Phillips 2, Gainey). Turnovers: 11 (Gainey 2, Milicic 2, Okpara 2, Phillips 2, Zeigler 2, Boswell). Steals: 6 (Zeigler 2, Boswell, Mashack, Milicic, Phillips). Technical Fouls: None. .

John L. McKnight, a professor of speech and urban affairs at Northwestern University, was an expert on community organizing and a keen researcher whose work focused on helping neighborhoods understand how to make use of local resources, capacities and relationships. McKnight co-founded the nonprofit Asset-Based Community Development Institute, now based at DePaul University. The organization works to put into practice the theory that sustainable community development comes from community assets, including local residents and associations, together with the backing of local institutions. “One of John’s great gifts was his ability to bring his innate curiosity and wonder to any conversation and thus open up possibilities for all present to think something fresh and new,” said Karen Lehman, an Asset-Based Community Development Institute faculty member. “He asked excellent questions that always pointed the way to reflections that deepened the humanity of those he was in conversation with and those affected by what we were talking about.” McKnight, 92, died of natural causes at his Evanston home on Nov. 2, said his wife of 28 years, Marsha Barnett. An Ohio native, John Lee McKnight earned a bachelor’s degree in speech from Northwestern in 1953. A Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholar at Northwestern, McKnight was a vocal opponent of segregation and quotas restricting the numbers of Black and Jewish students. After college, McKnight was with the Navy in Asia for three years. Upon his return, he worked for several activist organizations, including as a human relations officer for the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. In 1960, he was named executive director of the Illinois division of the American Civil Liberties Union, working as a community organizer. In 1963, McKnight took a job with the federal government as chief of the equal employment opportunity office of the Army’s materiel command’s Midwest region. Two years later, he was named a field investigator for the newly formed, federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A short time later, he was named director of the Illinois advisory committee for the United States Commission on Civil Rights. In 1969, Northwestern hired McKnight to form the Center for Urban Affairs, which was a collection of interdisciplinary faculty doing research aimed at producing urban change and developing progressive urban policy. McKnight was made a tenured professor of communication studies at Northwestern, despite the fact that he only had a bachelor’s degree. McKnight also served as associate director of the Center for Urban Affairs working alongside educator and researcher John “Jody” Kretzmann. The two spent four years researching community-building initiatives in hundreds of neighborhoods around the U.S., and that culminated in the publication of their 1993 book, “Building Communities Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets.” “Focusing on the assets of lower-income communities does not imply that (lower-income) communities do not need additional resources from the outside,” they wrote. “The assets within lower-income communities, in other words, are absolutely necessary but usually not sufficient to meet the huge development challenges ahead. (And) the discussion of asset-based community development is intended to affirm, and to build upon the remarkable work already going on in neighborhoods across the country.” Firm believers in local residents and local associations’ abilities to be empowered to strengthen and sustain their communities, McKnight and Kretzmann co-founded the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern in 1995. “John was best at taking a complex idea and demystifying it using a mixture of storytelling and everyday language,” said Cormac Russell, a faculty member at the Asset-Based Community Development Institute. “John never appealed to traditional power because his intention was always to foreground community power and background the role of institutions.” Mike Green, a former Asset-Based Community Development Institute faculty member, lauded McKnight’s abilities to convey his ideas, calling McKnight “a very gifted communicator in writing and even more so in speech.” “John could touch people’s hearts, reminding people what it means that human beings are human,” Green said. “He would often say, ‘People will only learn what they already know.’ John helped people remember their wisdom and their basic goodness.” The Asset-Based Community Development Institute moved from Northwestern to DePaul University in 2016. McKnight also wrote “The Careless Society: Community and Its Counterfeits,” which was published in 1996 and championed communities’ internal efforts to solve problems and heal themselves while taking aim at professional social services. He co-authored “The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods” with Peter Block in 2010, and he teamed up with Block and noted theologian Walter Brueggemann to write the 2016 book “An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture.” After retiring from Northwestern about a decade ago, McKnight remained involved with the Asset-Based Community Development Institute. He also continued writing, his wife said. A first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, McKnight is survived by a son, Jonathon; four stepsons, Marc Barnett, Stuart Barnett, Eric Barnett and Scot Barnett; and seven grandchildren. A celebration of life service will be preceded by an organ recital that will take place at 10 a.m. Dec. 14 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston. The celebration of life service will immediately follow, at The Woman’s Club of Evanston, 1702 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

Gaetz withdraws as Trump's pick for attorney general, averting confirmation battle in the Senate WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation. The Florida Republican made the announcement Thursday. Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that Trump could face resistance from members of his own party. Trump said in a social media post that Gaetz “did not want to be a distraction for the Administration.” Gaetz said “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work" of the transition team. He added, “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.”