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THE BUDGET APPROVAL SCENE LAST NIGHT AT THE COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS IN DOWNTOWN WHITE PLAINS NY USA. THE LIVELY 1-HOUR MEETING MAY BE SEEN HERE COMPLETE WITH THE LIVELY FEISTY INTERCHANGES OF MAYOR, COUNCILPERSONS AT

http://whiteplainsny.swagit.com/play/05302018-690

(Simply copy and paste the above url into your browser and Hit Go to see the entire council meeting last night)

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. May 31, 2018 UPDATED, 12:10 PM EDT:

The Common Council approved a $193.9 Million Budget last night by a vote of 5-2, with Mayor Tom Roach, Councilpersons John Kirkpatrick, Nadine Hunt-Robinson, Jason Brasch, and John Martin voting to approve. Councilpersons Dennis Krolian and Milagros Lecuona voted against the proposal.

The Budget for 2018-19 increases $9 Million from $189 Million this year to $193.9 Million this year. The property tax increases 2.9%, from $205.42 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $211.36 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Mayor Tom Roach in a hard-hitting, confident rousing defense of the budget said the increases amounts to 81 cents a month for the average assessed home in White Plains ($9.72 a year).

The budget in the ordinance approvals following the approval of the budget, approved a geographically sensitive parking policy, giving the city the power to price outlaying city parking lots away from the downtown, more leniently than the city garages in the center of town. The geographic areas have yet to be defined. Though it is not clear whether garages along Main Street will go up in price slightly, the Mayor said lots such as Waller and Maple would allow residents to park for more than one hour unlimited for $1.25. Currently there is, WPCNR believes a 1 hour limit.

Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona told WPCNR the policy is the beginning of implementing a system now in use in San Francisco where parking in the center of the downtown is more expensive than parking in the outskirts of the city limits. The city of Cincinnati also has implemented such a policy.

Another parking change was approved as part of the budget. An issue that new Councilman Justin Brasch campaigned on was put into effect. Parking will now be free in the City of White Plains on 6 National Holidays: July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Memorial Day.

Not Free Parking on Holidays in city garages or city lots.

The legislation approving the “Free Parking” on holidays, though only says parking is free at on-street meters. This means that if you go to White Plains on July 4 a Wednesday, you can park at meters on the street Free, but you have to pay for parking in the city parking lots and garages.

Raises of 2% were approved for Commissioners and  the Mayor, and secretaries and staff of some departments, including the Mayor’s Office.

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WPCNR 21ST CENTURY LIMITED. From Amtrak Service Workers Council. May 30, 2018

The Amtrak Service Workers Council (ASWC) denounces Amtrak’s plan to cut dining car service from the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited routes, beginning Friday June 1.

Editor’s Note: The Lake Shore Limited is the old route of the legendary train with the red carpet, The Twentieth Century Limited. The Lake Shore Limited runs out of Grand Central between New York-Boston-Albany-Buffalo and Chicago.

The Capitol Limited is the route of the old Baltimore & Ohio, running out of Washington Union Station from Washington to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Chicago.

With as little as nine-day notice, seven chefs represented by the Transport Workers Union of America received furlough letters, giving them a little more than a week to make a major life decision. The move also threatens jobs and pensions from coast-to-coast.

Due to this sudden decision, our members will be forced out of work, and some will be faced with the difficult decision of whether to uproot their lives, to relocate and exercise their seniority to replace ASWC members working other routes. For example, there are ASWC members with 30 years of service living on the east coast who may be forced to move to Seattle or Chicago just to complete the career they started decades ago.

Therefore, it is certain that closing dining cars on these routes will have immediate and ripple effects on Amtrak workers across the country, not only those employed on the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited lines.

Adding salt to the wound, Amtrak’s offer of “contemporary and fresh dining choices” for sleeping car customers is nothing more than a cold snack in a cardboard box being delivered to passengers in their rooms.

Riders are paying close to $1,000 a ticket, only to be fed yogurt and sandwiches? We have been told by our members that passengers already are expressing their dissatisfaction with the upcoming service and meal plan changes.

Our members are on the frontlines, and they know that passengers view the current dining service as part of the experience of riding a train through the country along a long-distance route. Our members are proud to provide this service and care about its quality because they understand that it contributes to passengers’ experience. Maintaining the current high-quality service is important to attracting passengers to Amtrak, and it’s central to our members’ livelihoods.

We demand Amtrak President Richard Anderson reverse his decision and stops these cuts.

TWU

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WPCNR WESTCHESTER COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. May 30, 2018:

Yahoo Finance reported today MGM Resorts International MGM and MGM Growth Properties  have reached an agreement to buy Empire City Casino’s race track and casino.

If Empire City gets a license for live table games on or before Dec 31, 2022 and MGM Resorts accepts it by Dec 31, 2024, then the latter will pay an additional amount of $50 million to the former. Valued at $850 million, the deal is expected to close in first-quarter 2019.

On completion of the deal,  MGP will acquire the developed real property related to Empire City from MGM Resorts and will lease it to a subsidiary of the same. MGM Resorts subsidiary will control the property. The deal will help the company solidify its position on the East Coast. Over the past two years, MGM Resorts has been constantly increasing its presence on the East Coast.

MGM Resorts said that “With Empire City’s approximately 40 percent share of gross gaming revenues in the market, we believe there are significant opportunities for MGM Resorts to further drive growth.” The company expects the deal to be value assertive within the first year of closing. In 2017, Empire City recorded net revenues of nearly $230 million and $70 million in adjusted EBITDA.

 Empire City Casino not only has 5,200 slots and electronic table games but also offers live and simulcast horse racing, besides numerous dining outlets.

Furthermore, the company might start offering sports betting in the near term as the Supreme Court has overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) that banned sports betting outside Nevada. In fact, the court ruling has opened the door for other states to enter sports betting business. MGM Resorts had said that “We have already established the architecture to deploy sports betting as soon as the states allow us to do that.”

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THE PEONIES ARE OUT! 

JUST RIGHT FOR A WHITE SPORT COAT

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WPCNR IMMIGRATION INTELLIGENCER. From the Department of Homeland Security. May 25, 2018:

(Editor’s Note: This news release was issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at  4 PM E.D.T.)

DHS Announces Additional Visas for Foreign Workers to Assist American Businesses at Risk of Failing

Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced that an additional 15,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas will be available for Fiscal Year 2018.

Starting this week, eligible petitioners for H-2B visas can file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.  Eligible petitioners must submit a supplemental attestation on Form ETA 9142-B-CAA-2 with their petition.

In this determination, Secretary Nielsen determined there are not sufficient, qualified, U.S. workers available to perform temporary non-agriculture labor to satisfy the needs of American businesses in FY18.

This allocation is in addition to the 66,000 visas already issued this year. Secretary Nielsen made this decision after consulting with Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, members of Congress, and business owners.

“The limitations on H-2B visas were originally meant to protect American workers, but when we enter a situation where the program unintentionally harms American businesses it needs to be reformed,” said Secretary Nielsen. “I call on Congress to pass much needed reforms of the program and to expressly set the number of H-2B visas in statute.

We are once again in a situation where Congress has passed the buck and turned a decision over to DHS that would be better situated with Congress, who knows the needs of the program.

Starting this week, eligible petitioners for H-2B visas can file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.  Eligible petitioners must submit a supplemental attestation on Form ETA 9142-B-CAA-2 with their petition.

As Secretary, I remain committed to protecting U.S. workers and strengthening the integrity of our lawful immigration system and look forward to working with Congress to do so.”

The H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program was designed to serve U.S. businesses unable to find a sufficient number of qualified U.S. workers to perform nonagricultural work of a temporary nature.

Congress set the annual H-2B visa cap at 66,000. A maximum of 33,000 H-2B visas are available during the first half of the fiscal year, and the remainder, including any unused H-2B visas from the first half of that fiscal year, is available starting April 1 through September 30.

On February 27, 2018, USCIS determined that it had received sufficient H-2B petitions to meet the full FY 2018 statutory cap of 66,000.

In the FY 2018 Omnibus, Congress delegated its authority to the Secretary to increase the number of temporary nonagricultural worker visas available to U.S. employers through September 30, just as it did in the FY 2017 Omnibus.

In the intervening time since enactment of the FY 2018 Omnibus, the Secretary consulted with the Secretary of Labor on the issue, in accordance with Congressional requirements, and developed this rule.

To Repeat: Starting this week, eligible petitioners for H-2B visas can file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.  Eligible petitioners must submit a supplemental attestation on Form ETA 9142-B-CAA-2 with their petition.

Details on eligibility and filing requirements will be available in the final temporary rule and on the Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2018 webpage to be published on uscis.gov when the final temporary rule is posted for public inspection.

DHS is committed to ensuring that our immigration system is implemented lawfully and that American workers are protected. If members of the public have information that a participating employer may be abusing this program, DHS invites them to submit information to ReportH2BAbuse@uscis.dhs.gov and include information identifying the H-2B petitioning employer and relevant information that leads them to believe that the H-2B petitioning employer is abusing the H-2B program.