Philip Gould wins Special Election for Lincoln Town Administrator

 

Independent candidate for Town Administrator Philip Gould was (unofficially) elected to succeed T. Joseph Almond as Lincoln’s next Town Administrator on September 7th. Gould placed first in a six way race for the seat with 63% of the vote. Gould defeated Republican State Senator Thomas Paolino, former State Representative and Democratic candidate John Barr II, and three other Independent candidates: former Lincoln School Committee member John Picozzi, John J. Cullen, and James Spooner. There are still some mail ballots to be counted; the results of the election will be certified next week. 4,280 voters turned out to cast their ballots in the special election, or 23.5% of registered voters in Lincoln.

The third day of testimony in former President Trump's criminal hush money trial in New York is done. Jurors again heard testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker who has explained this week how he protected Trump from negative stories leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Trump faces felony is accused of covering up payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.       The University of California is canceling its main commencement ceremony. This comes after on-campus protests have taken place following the school informing the valedictorian she would not be giving her speech. The student had been opposed by pro-Israel groups and the school cited unspecified security concerns when canceling her speech.       Wall Street is closing with stocks lower. This comes after the release of the first quarter GDP report caused stocks to slide early on in today's session. Gross domestic product rose by one-point-six-percent in the first quarter, against expectations of two-point-four-percent.        A member of Vice President Harris's security detail is being removed over a behavioral issue. The Secret Service says the agent began "displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing" earlier this week, but did not clarify what the behavior entailed. The Washington Examiner first reported the incident, claiming the agent got into a physical altercation with other agents.       The conviction of former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for sex crimes is being overturned in New York. The state's Court of Appeals ruled Weinstein did not receive a fair trial. The court found the judge in his trial made an error allowing women to testify about alleged sexual assaults committed by Weinstein that were not part of the charges against him.        The NFL Draft is just hours away from kicking off in Detroit. The Chicago Bears have the first pick and are widely expected to select University of Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams. Rounds two and three will be held Friday and rounds four through seven will be held Saturday.