The return of the Airbnb (and other temporary rental-home services).
Happening in the World: The ruling that Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law was unconstitutional is currently temporarily limited in scope due to a federal appeals court measure. Although the ruling still stands, the part of it that requires state education officials to make news of the ruling public is temporarily blocked. State attorneys claim that the judge in the original ruling overstepped his authority when he said that all 72 schools in the state needed to be notified of the verdict when it should’ve only applied to the five schools that were defendants in the case. The federal appeals court measure is a “temporary stay” in response to the state’s emergency request. As the appeal is considered, the order could be lifted or amended. (AP)
Happening in the US: On Friday, November 15, Karoline Leavitt was announced as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for his White House press secretary. Having worked in his administration and his 2024 presidential campaign, Leavitt shares President-elect Trump’s contempt for the legitimacy of mainstream media outlets. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire but failed to win against a Democratic incumbent. At age 27, she will be the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary. However, she faces President-elect Trump’s precedent of cycling through press secretaries (in his previous administration, he had four different press secretaries). (NYT)
Happening in NYC: For one- and two-family homes, Airbnb might become viable again in New York City under a new bill the New York City Council is deliberating. This is a sharp break from the city’s paradigm on the issue last year, when they shut down thousands of illegal short-term rental homes under Local Law 18. This bill would open hundreds of thousands of homes to be rented for less than 30 days. The bill is divisive: while a large portion of homeowners appreciate the extra income that it would provide, supplementing the high cost of living in the city, there’s also pushback from tenant groups that say it’ll worsen the already-bad housing crisis. (Gothamist)
Happening in Our Community: The Marian Consort is performing music from Renaissance-era Scotland at Miller Theatre today, November 16, at 7:30 pm. Find tickets to the event here.
Image via Flickr