“I feel confident. I feel bullish. Bet on Queens,” Richards said Sunday, a day before the New York Gaming Facility Location board is set to decide whether to issue up to three downstate casino licenses — with two bidders pitching locations in Queens.

“Why go to Manhattan? You can stay in Queens! Queens becomes a global entertainment hub,” Richards said.

Illustration of Resorts World casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. AP

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is leading a group that wants to build a gaming complex near Citi Field while Genting’s Resorts World is bidding for a casino at Aqueduct race track.

Bally’s is also bidding for a casino complex at Ferry Point, President Trump’s former golf course in The Bronx.

The proposed $8 billion Cohen-Hard Rock Metropolitan Park casino complex would be a tourist magnet and an economic multiplier next to the US Tennis Center, new soccer stadium and the Mets home stadium, Richards said.

He said Resorts World, which has operated a slots parlor for more than a decade, can offer live table games within months because they already have the space to do so. The expanded complex with community benefits is worth $7.5 billion.

Both bidders will build concert halls for added entertainment.

“I feel confident. I feel bullish. Bet on Queens,” Richards said. Gabriella Bass

The proposed $8 billion Cohen-Hard Rock Metropolitan Park casino complex would be a tourist magnet. Hard Rock International

Both sites are close to the borough’s two airports — Metropolitan Park near LaGuardia and Resorts World near Kennedy.

Meanwhile, Bally’s $4 billion bid has strong support from the Bronx Democratic Party elected officials, though it has faced some stiff neighborhood opposition.

Bally’s chairman Soo Kim told The Post Saturday he believes his chances of scoring a license “looks pretty good.”

“We put our best effort out there,” he said. “I don’t think we have any weak spots.”

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen (left) is leading a group that wants to build a gaming complex near Citi Field. James Keivom

Bally’s acquired the golf course at Ferry Point from the Trump Organization in 2023, and it’s now called Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point. It is on the Bronx side of the Whitestone Bridge that connects with Queens.

As part of the deal, Bally’s agreed to provide the Trump Organization an additional $115 million — if it wins a casino license.

The Gaming Facility Location Board is evaluating each project based on criteria set in state law. Economic activity and business development accounts for 70% of the grade, 10% for location site impact — and 20% combines for workforce enhancement and diversity framework.

Casino applicants each need to pay $500 million license fees to operate – which would go into the cash-strapped state’s coffers — as well commit to at least $500 million in capital investments on their projects.

Some of the proceeds from gaming operators will help fund mass transit.

Bally’s agreed to provide the Trump Organization an additional $115 million — if it wins a casino license. James Messerschmidt

A pool of what was once 11 bidders has dwindled to three – but there’s no guarantee each of the survivors will get licenses because the five-member board doesn’t have to award any.

But many Albany insiders said the immediate cash from the licenses will spur the state to award as many as 3.

The state Gaming Commission will have final say, ratifying or rejecting the awards made by the siting board by year’s end.

The post NYC official will ‘bet’ both Queens casinos get the OK day before make-or-break vote appeared first on Our Story Insight.

The “standard for markers of harm” is an initiative in the works since 2022, between the EGBA and European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). With the markers for harm in place, it would allow for analysis on a more granular level to weed out harmful tactics from online gambling, as well as “enabling early intervention and harm prevention”.

The markers that the EGBA wants to monitor are changes in speed, time, and duration of play. These are all pieces of data that can help inform interventions should a risk be presented for the gambler.

In the press release, the EGBA states that they’ve already gained support from other bodies around the EU. This includes the Gambling Regulators European Forum (GREF). Other individuals who back the move include “academics, gambling regulators, operators, harm prevention professionals, and other key stakeholders”.

EGBA Secretary General speaks on vote

Speaking in the press release, Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA, said:

“The vote represents a milestone moment for safer gambling in Europe.

“This EGBA-proposed initiative demonstrates precisely the kind of collaboration we need more of – bringing together stakeholders to share knowledge and experiences to create something for the common good.

“We call on national delegates to approve the important standard, which will contribute to a better understanding of problem gambling behaviour and support more effective harm prevention across Europe.”

It’s now on delegates involved with passing the idea, which, if it were to be finalized, it’s expected that CEN would launch it in early 2026. EGBA makes sure to mention that the telemetry tracking will be optional, so it would be up to the operators to integrate the standard into their business.

The post EGBA “urges” delegates to vote on its markers for harm measure appeared first on Our Story Insight.

A vote Saturday to formally organize Starbase as a city was approved by a lopsided margin among the small group of voters who live there and are mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX.

With all the votes in, the tally was 212 in favor to 6 against, according to results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department.

A statue of SpaceX founder Elon Musk sat in what will become the new city of Starbase, Texas. AP

Musk celebrated in a post on his social platform, X, saying it is “now a real city!”

Starbase is the facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program that is under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA that hopes to send astronauts back to the moon and someday to Mars.

Musk first floated the idea of Starbase in 2021 and approval of the new city was all but certain. Of the 283 eligible voters in the area, most are believed to be Starbase workers.

The election victory was personal for Musk.

The billionaire’s popularity has diminished since he became the chain-saw-wielding public face of President Donald Trump’s federal job and spending cuts, and profits at his Tesla car company have plummeted.

SpaceX has generally drawn widespread support from local officials for its jobs and investment in the area.

But the creation of an official company town has also drawn critics who worry it will expand Musk’s personal control over the area, with potential authority to close a popular beach and state park for launches.

Residents approved a measure to make the area surrounding the rocket launch site its own city. AP

Companion efforts to the city vote include bills in the state Legislature to shift that authority from the county to the new town’s mayor and city council.

All these measures come as SpaceX is asking federal authorities for permission to increase the number of South Texas launches from five to 25 a year.

The city at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border is only about 1.5 square miles, crisscrossed by a few roads and dappled with airstream trailers and modest midcentury homes.

The small group of voters were mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX. AP

SpaceX officials have said little about exactly why they to want a company town and did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

“We need the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” Starbase General Manager Kathryn Lueders wrote to local officials in 2024 with the request to get the city issue on the ballot.

The letter said the company already manages roads and utilities, as well as “the provisions of schooling and medical care” for those living on the property.

Starbase is the facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program. AFP via Getty Images

SpaceX officials have told lawmakers that granting the city authority to close the beach would streamline launch operations. SpaceX rocket launches and engine tests, and even just moving certain equipment around the launch base requires the closure of a local highway and access to Boca Chica State Park and Boca Chica Beach.

Critics say beach closure authority should stay with the county government, which represents a broader population that uses the beach and park. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr. has said the county has worked well with SpaceX and there is no need for change.

Another proposed bill would make it a Class B misdemeanor with up to 180 days in jail if someone doesn’t comply with an order to evacuate the beach.

Protests were held at Boca Chica beach ahead of the incorporation election. AP

The South Texas Environmental Justice Network, which has organized protests against the city vote and the beach access issue, held another demonstration Saturday that attracted dozens of people.

Josette Hinojosa, whose young daughter was building sandcastle nearby, said she was taking part to try to ensure continued access to a beach her family has enjoyed for generations.

With SpaceX, Hinojosa said, “Some days it’s closed, and some days you get turned away,”

Organizer Christopher Basaldú, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas tribe, said his ancestors have long been in the area, where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf.

“It’s not just important,” he said, “it’s sacred.”

The post Elon Musk’s Starbase becomes ‘real’ Texas city after lopsided vote appeared first on Our Story Insight.

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.

View All posts by Kelly Jensen

Whether or not public school students will continue to have fewer diverse choices in their reading life across South Carolina was the topic of today’s State Department of Education meeting. Ten books were on the table for statewide removal following committee input, but a robust discussion about the unintended consequences of such decisions–and the abuse of the process that has imbued one parent in one county with outsized power to ban books across the state–led to a motion to table the decisions for another month.

The books under consideration at the April 1, 2025 meeting included:

Due to Regulation 43-170 (R-43-170), decisions over content in school libraries is in the hands of the South Carolina Department of Education. Materials deemed to have “descriptions of sexual content” are inappropriate for schools and must be removed. What that phrase means is intentionally vague, allowing for the opinions of a small number of individuals within the state to decide on behalf of all students and parents statewide.

The South Carolina Department of Education, headed by Ellen Weaver–who used taxpayer money to hire a lawyer to lobby in support of this school book banning bill–set up an Instructional Materials Review Committee (IMRC), where any parent in the state can submit complaints. This has allowed individuals to exert significant power in what’s available not only in their public schools but in schools statewide.

The IMRC reviews complaints and elects whether or not to advance the complaints to the Department of Education for a final decision. Decisions are made not on reading the entire book and assessing whether or not it rises to the definition of obscenity per the Miller Test. They’re made based on excerpts provided by the person bringing about the complaints.

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The IMRC recommended that 10 new books be added to the state-sponsored banned list. Those decisions were passed on to the Department of Education who voted to table the decision making for a future meeting. This was in no small part thanks to the voices of several board members.

Among them was Dr. O’Shield. He spoke at length about how all of the books banned so far–as well as the 10 on the docket for the day–were coming from one single county out of a state with more than 40 counties. As an educator, he had not seen problems with any of the books in his own school and put in the effort to see how many of the 10 titles were available where he taught, when they were purchased, and how frequently they’d been borrowed.

O’Shield also questioned why there could not be restrictions applied to books, rather than outright bans. He mentioned that there are plenty of 18 year olds in high school who shouldn’t be restricted from accessing so-called “adult” materials. The IMRC explained that this option is one among many the committee can recommend and has in the past. Ellen Hopkins’s book Crank, for example, is only available with parental permissions.

This restriction option, however, is not available to books that meet the state’s criminal code definition of depictions of “sexual content.” That’s why the 10 books at hand could not be given that recommendation and why Crank could. Crank‘s content did not meet that threshold.

Reverend Tony Vincent, a newcomer to the state education board, talked about how reading passages out of context–as is how the decisions have been made in the state–is a deep disservice. While he may not wish his own children to read the books, he acknowledged that not only are there young people who would benefit from the books but also that his duty in his role on the board (and elsewhere) was to make decisions out of love for other people. Banning books statewide over a small selection of passages would be the opposite of acting in love.

Board member Maya Slaughter spoke, pointing out that now that the Board has been through this review process, it seemed as though they may now be able to identify potential abuses of the process. She suggested more time to review the process before making any decisions on the slate of books.

That would ultimately be granted.

South Carolina banned its first round of books for all public schools on Election Day when people were otherwise occupied. Seven made the initial list. In the weeks following the ban of those books, listed below, further action was taken in deciding to not ban Crank by Ellen Hopkins but to restrict its access to parents who grant opt-in permission.

In early February 2025, the State Department of Education voted to ban four more books. Those titles were The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Flamer by Mike Curato, and Push by Sapphire. Two additional books brought before them at that meeting were retained, meaning they could remain in public schools: Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Those two titles were part of a series of challenges by one parent in the Fort Mill School District; that parent unsuccessfully challenged a third title, too, an introduction to literature for 8th graders textbook.

All 10 of the books brought before the South Carolina Department of Education today were challenged by one individual, Elizabeth Szalai. Szalai was behind the demands to remove nearly 100 titles challenged in Beaufort County Schools, the bulk of which were returned to shelves. With South Carolina’s new law, she and others like her now have the opportunity to take their complaints beyond their own school district and potentially have books pulled from all public schools in the state. Szalai was behind the complaints that led to the state banning four books in February.

One single parent has had outsized power to have books banned across an entire state.

Complaints over each of the books, both banned and retained, are available the South Carolina Department of Education’s website (here is where final decisions and associated documents live and here is where pending decisions and associated documents live). Take the time to read them and understand these decisions are being made on conspiracy theories and cherry picked passages being distributed by Moms For Liberty and similar groups. One member of the board in today’s meeting suggested that some of the titles in question could be used by older students or librarians to “indoctrinate” younger people.

For all the arguments about “local control,” the power given to the State Board of Education to remove books statewide is the precise opposite. The South Carolina Department of Education is the arbiter of what is and is not accessible to students in public institutions across the state, not those who live or work in those communities.

Today’s decision suggests that many have come to realize the consequences associated with that power. This is a positive motion.

The full list of books banned in every public school in South Carolina is currently as follows:

Three states have legal mechanisms that allow for statewide book bans, though only South Carolina and Utah have used them so far. The other state is Tennessee.

The post South Carolina Postpones Vote on Banning 10 Books Statewide appeared first on Our Story Insight.

I shared a list of queer adult books to vote for in the opening round of the Goodreads Choice Awards with the intention of sharing the YA books to vote for this week…except now the opening round has closed. Whoops! Instead, I have a list of the queer books still available to vote for in the final round, which closes December 1st. (Excluding TJ Klune’s book because I still feel weird about his “cozy” fantasy novel being inspired by the horrific history of residential schools and the ’60s scoop. If you’re interested, this Reddit thread has a good discussion about the topic.)

I’m disappointed The Pairing by Casey McQuiston didn’t make it to the final round because I thought it had the best chance since the author is well-known. It’s also my new favourite romance novel. Alas!

I’ve also included all the queer YA books that were in the opening round, in case you’re curious. Now, onto the queer books in the final round!

Fiction:

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (also in Debut Novel)

It’s always nice when one of the biggest literary fiction titles of the year is queer. This is a bestseller that comes highly recommended by authors like Tommy Orange, Lauren Groff, John Green, Clint Smith, and more. It follows Cyrus, a twentysomething queer poet who has been numbing his pain with drugs and alcohol. His mother was killed when her plane was shot down over Tehran in a senseless act of violence by the U.S. military. His father recently died of a heart attack. As he becomes sober, Cyrus goes looking for meaning, and he finds it by researching martyrs. When he hears about an artist dying of cancer in an exhibition at a museum, he is determined to meet her. —Danika Ellis

Fantasy:

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lost Story follows two boys who once went missing in the West Virginia woods. Now, 15 years later, one lives as an artist with no memory of what happened in the six months they were gone, while the other works as a missing persons investigator to help other lost children. Rafe has kept Jeremy in the dark for all these years about what happened to them all those years ago in a magical land full of wonder and danger. But now that another girl has gone missing, the two will have to reconnect and face their shared past as they venture into a magical land once again. —Rachel Brittain

Horror:

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (also in Debut Novel)

The story starts unassumingly enough. A young woman and her long-term partner purchase a house, intending to fix it up and flip it. One evening, the doorbell rings. It’s a man who allegedly grew up in the house, and he wants to show his family around. Eve lets them in…and soon finds it impossible to get rid of them. As the night goes on, a sense of creeping dread builds, and things go slowly but wildly off the rails. Is Eve losing it? Overreacting? Slipping into an alternate dimension? Terrified as I was, I nevertheless made it to the end and still don’t know. —Steph Auteri

Also in this category: Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

Debut Novel:

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

This is a romantasy-mystery that has been all over TikTok since its release in the UK — and now it’s available in the States! Thank goodness, because it is such a delightful romp. It’s a magical murder mystery set aboard a cruise ship containing the emperor of Concordia and the twelve heirs of the provinces. Each of the heirs has a special secret magic unique to them, except for Ganymedes Piscero, the disappointment of his family. Which is too bad because when someone on the ship starts murdering the magical heirs, Ganymedes has no way of protecting himself and not much of a chance of discovering the killer without the help of magic. Can he solve it on his own before it’s too late? —Liberty Hardy

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

This award-winning book follows siblings Greta and Valdin as they contend with an eccentric, multiracial family, queerness, and just trying to figure it all out. Valdin is doing superficially well after having been dumped by his boyfriend a year ago—his colleagues are only occasionally weird about his Maaori heritage, and he has intermittent sad sex with a friend—when work sends him from New Zealand to Argentina, where his ex is. Meanwhile, Greta has her own bubbling sadness. She’s experiencing unrequited pining, and her family is in a state made even more perplexing by her brother’s sudden, secretive move to South America. —Erica Ezeifedi

Young Adult Fantasy:

Don’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

Andrew and Thomas bond over their shared love of twisted fairytale stories, which Andrew writes endlessly. But then Thomas begins acting strangely, showing up with blood on his clothes. Andrew discovers he’s been battling monsters at night, the same monsters that Andrew invented in his stories and Thomas drew. The two of them battle every night to stop the monsters from hurting anyone else, which brings them even closer into an obsessive, toxic relationship. But the monsters are getting stronger, and Andrew begins to wonder if they only way to stop them is to kill their creator. —Danika Ellis

Young Adult Fiction:

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Princess Gwendoline and future lord Arthur have been betrothed for their whole lives, and neither of them is happy about it. They’re given a summer to bond at Camelot before their wedding. In short order, Gwen catches Art kissing a boy, and Art finds out Gwen is hiding a secret crush on a lady knight. They realize they can put aside their hatred for each other and instead work together to get what they want. But they’ll get into plenty of messes along the way. —Susie Dumond

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

After the hit that was Ace of Spades, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is back with more UK-based dark academia. This time, following Sade Hussein, who is starting her third year of high school at a prestigious boarding school. But then her roommate Elizabeth disappears — and people suspect Sade had something to do with it. Then another student is found dead. As she tries to clear her name, she finds out that there’s something really funky going on at Alfred Nobel Academy.

Also in this category: Heartstopper: Volume Five by Alice Oseman

Memoir:

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul

RuPaul had already made a name for himself as a premier drag queen and entertainer before the first episode of Drag Race. But since the show started, he’s become more iconic and has helped usher in a new era of Drag. Here, he offers a more intimate side of himself, detailing his life growing up as a queer Black kid in California, his time as a punk in Atlanta and New York, and how he found self-acceptance. —Erica Ezeifedi

And one more thing: this is a very small new release week, but here are five interesting queer books out this week as a bonus for All Access members.

5 New Queer Books Out This Week

The post 11 Queer Books to Vote for in the Goodreads Choice Awards appeared first on Our Story Insight.