Northeast
Ex-banker challenging Ocasio-Cortez in Democratic primary
The election of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to Congress in 2018 created massive political upheaval after she unseated veteran congressman Joe Crowley, who had at one point been tapped to replace Nancy Pelosi as Democratic leader of the House.
This summer, a former Wall Street banker is looking to do to Ocasio-Cortez what she did to Crowley,
Marty Dolan, 66, who spent 30 years working for Jefferies Financial Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and other financial firms, is challenging Ocasio-Cortez for her 14th Congressional District seat in New York, a position she has safely held for the last six years, representing a district Dolan says she has done little to help improve.
Should he be successful, it would be an earth-shattering blow to the Democratic Socialists of America, who have a large foothold in the city, including in the Bronx and northern Queens, which the District 14 seat covers.
Ex-banker Marty Dolan is challenging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. (Marty Dolan website | Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
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But Dolan says Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow socialists have gone too far, blasting their approach to the economy, crime and the illegal migrant crisis.
“We are all for the ‘progress’ implied by the word progressive, however, within the progressive movement, there are radicals whose influence on the Democratic Party is overweight,” Dolan wrote on his campaign website.
“The impact in NYC is obvious: bail reform a disaster, the National Guard in the subway, toothpaste locked up in drugstores but criminals running free, scarce resources directed to (non-sanctuary) immigrants coming from all over the world.”
He said these challenges must be addressed in the context of a runaway $34 trillion federal debt and the city’s 14% marginal tax rate.
“Losing 500,000 taxpayers is unsustainable: fixing this must be our overwhelming priority,” Dolan wrote.
“The radicals can’t deliver more than breadcrumbs when they ignore that the primary breadwinners are leaving and brush off taxpayer concerns in favor of abstract populist ideologies. Enough is enough.”
Single migrant men, mostly from West Africa, congregate in Tompkins Square Park in New York. Dolan has blasted Ocasio-Cortez’s position on the issue. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
Dolan is the first person to challenge the influential “Squad” member in four years and is looking to gather the necessary signatures to land a spot on the ballot for this year’s Democratic primary.
It will be a Herculean effort to dethrone Ocasio-Cortez, who became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress at age 29. She has instant name recognition and pop culture fame among young voters. She remains popular among her constituents, although Dolan says that popularity may no longer be as strong.
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“There’s a lot of people who, even in Queens and the Bronx, think, ‘What has she done for us?’” Dolan told Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, Ocasio-Cortez had $5.7 million in cash on hand as of Jan. 1, while Dolan’s campaign has raised just $58,000 so far, $55,000 of which is from loans Dolan made to his own campaign.
Dolan earned an MBA at Harvard Business School and has worked extensively in the global risk insurance sector, helping firms recover from the global liability crisis, the World Trade Center attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the global financial crisis, according to his website.
Ocasio-Cortez created massive political upheaval when she unseated veteran congressman Joseph Crowley in 2018. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)
He grew up in Westchester County, like Ocasio-Cortez.
Dolan called out Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to help successfully stop Amazon from locating a new sprawling headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, and her support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to Bloomberg.
He also accused Ocasio-Cortez of “importing immigrants and exporting decent contributing taxpayers,” referring to residents who have fled to Florida and other states. The city has cared for more than 170,000 migrants, and the mayor estimates the bill will easily exceed $10 billion.
“There’s been nobody who’s more in favor of immigration than AOC, and there’s been no worse thing that’s happened in New York in the last year,” Dolan told Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, Dolan’s platform includes plans to advocate for a new federal value-added tax and an additional luxury goods sales tax. The money would be used to reduce the national debt and state pension liabilities and would allow states like New York to lower income taxes.
Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for comment but did not receive a reply.
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Boston, MA
Man who allegedly shot at Boston Police officers arrested after foot chase in Dorchester
A 20-year-old Boston man is facing a series of charges after prosecutors say he shot at Boston Police officers during an attempted stop in Dorchester before leading them on a foot chase through neighborhood backyards.
Rasiel Carbuccia was arraigned in Dorchester District Court Thursday on a list of charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying without a license and possession of a large capacity firearm, stemming from the Wednesday night incident near Devon and Laredo streets.
Opened fire with ghost gun, prosecutors say
According to prosecutors, Boston Police officers attempted to stop Carbuccia when he pulled out a gun and began shooting, striking a Boston police cruiser before fleeing the scene.
Investigators said Carbuccia ran through backyards and hopped fences before he was taken into custody. Officers did not fire their weapons during the encounter.
Prosecutors said investigators later recovered the firearm along the path where Carbuccia had been running.
“It was determined that the firearm was a ghost gun, and it did not possess a serial number,” Suffolk County prosecutor Jacqueline Martinelli said in court.
Union says “everyone should be outraged”
Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the shooting is part of what he believes is a troubling trend of violence this summer and renewed his call for more officers on Boston streets.
“Everybody should be outraged. Bullets flying in the city’s streets at uniformed police officers. How can we possibly convince the general public that they’re safe to walk around their own neighborhoods?” Calderone said.
“We have teenagers pulling firearms and stealing mopeds from others in broad daylight. We have shots being fired at police officers in uniform, officers being attacked, people being shot daily that we can’t solve the crimes,” he added.
No one was injured in the shooting, but Calderone said the outcome could have been much worse.
“Thank goodness, neither officer or a pedestrian, an innocent child or somebody in the middle of the evening did not get killed last night. Just as thankful, at least they caught him. They recovered the weapon,” he said.
After the arraignment, Carbuccia’s attorney declined to discuss the case in detail but indicated mental health issues could become part of the proceedings.
“Ultimately as you guys know this is a process that has to play out and he’s presumed innocent and there’s going to be a number of things that are going to come out in respect to mental health and potentially the investigation, I don’t really have much more to say beyond that,” attorney Bob White told reporters.
According to prosecutors, Carbuccia had two open assault cases and an active warrant at the time of his arrest.
He’s being held in jail without bail and is scheduled to return to court later this month for a dangerousness hearing.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh-area family finds large void under garage of house built by Ryan Homes
A Westmoreland County family wants to warn others after they said they found a large void beneath the garage in their house built by Ryan Homes.
“More than anything, we just want folks to know that there is potential that other homes could be built like this and just to be aware,” said homeowner Nicole Holderfield.
Beneath their seemingly normal front-facing two-car garage in the Altman Farms neighborhood in North Huntingdon is a lot of dead space that the Holderfield family just found out about. They said having a secret room is not as cool as it sounds when you realize the structural integrity of the 30-year-old home is at risk.
“I hate to say shocking, but it’s not something that we really wanted to be the first one on the street to find out,” Holderfield said.
Holderfield said there are leftover cinder blocks and even a Lowe’s bucket down there.
“You can actually stand all the way down here on this side, a lot of backfill, and then we did see it was weatherproofed on some of the walls,” Holderfield said.
This all started because Holderfield wanted to fix the growing number of large cracks popping up across her garage floor.
“We were starting the cosmetic fix, and our contractor was here. And with a sledgehammer, he wanted to see what he was working with, so he simply pounded down the sledgehammer,” Holderfield said.
The large void directly underneath the garage is not accessible from their finished basement. Only one wall appears to be weatherproofed, so the family believes moisture rusted away the single support column and the steel rebar attempting to carry the weight of the entire two-car garage.
“A couple different companies did stop by, and they were in awe of what they found. Even the North Huntingdon inspector came out, took a look, and it was not something he was familiar with seeing,” said Holderfield.
That inspector encouraged the family to hire a structural engineer. They did, and received a report that concluded the issue was the result of “poor workmanship and faulty construction,” Holderfield said.
The family’s homeowner’s insurance denied the claim, saying defects from faulty construction are excluded from coverage.
“Knowing that we were parking our cars in here up until we found this problem — we have children and animals, and knowing that a catastrophe could come, I think that’s our biggest concern,” Holderfield said.
That’s why the family called the builder, Ryan Homes, and alerted all of their neighbors with similar builds and floorplans.
“They really just took a look and took pictures. When we did speak to the one gentleman at Ryan Homes, he said this was 30 years ago, there were different laws back then,” Holderfield said.
KDKA Investigates reached out to Ryan Homes for comment to ask if building these dead spaces is still its practice. And if so, should other homeowners who live in Ryan Homes inspect further?
Ryan Homes said they do not comment on news stories.
In an update on Thursday, the Holderfields told KDKA Ryan Homes reached out and said it’s willing to work with them on this, share the cost of the fix, and manage the project to ensure it is fixed as they would expect.
The family feels that’s a valid attempt to make it right.
KDKA Investigates talked to a Cranberry homeowner who also lives in a Ryan Home built around the same time. She sent photos showing the wet tire marks where her car drove over and broke through the concrete last year. When the garage floor failed, she said it revealed a 9-foot void. She said it took four triaxle trucks of fill and $20,000 to fix.
Holderfield says that makes her wonder who else could find this.
“I would love people to be held accountable, but I also understand the laws and that we could potentially be out of the warranty period is what they say. I do wish we could have them stand behind their work or help us get this fixed,” Holderfield said.
More than anything, the Holderfield family says it wants people to know there is potential that other homes could be built like this and to be aware.
Connecticut
Connecticut insurance now required to cover these athletic prosthetics
Park Ranger Ben Croll says outdoor plans for kids attending New Haven’s parks and rec summer camp at West Rock Ridge state park are changing with the wind, after thick smoke from Canada’s wildfires continues to make its way through the Connecticut skies.
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