"The Reedy Creek Improvement District claimed that dissolving the special tax district would violate a pledge (made) by Florida to bondholders under the law that created the district." And that debt, incurred to build and maintain the giant complex, is over $1 billion. - The Hollywood Reporter
Subscription and cloud gaming represents just 4% of North America and Europe game markets, or roughly $3.7 billion, according to a recent study Harding-Rolls. Of the available services, only 5% are streaming-only offerings, while a majority (60%) use Xbox Game Pass. - Protocol
"More than 1,000 cultural organizations surveyed throughout the state have lost $781 million in revenue, according to data collected and published by the Mass Cultural Council." - MSN (The Boston Globe)
As of January 1, 2023, anyone who wants to visit the historic city without spending the night in a local hotel (cruise ships don't count) will have to pay €10 for the right to enter — and make a reservation in advance. - CNN
Unfortunately, targeting cultural treasures is nothing new in times of war, and history shows that there are often specific and deliberate motives for the destruction of art icons in wartime. - ArtsHub
Much of the palace seemed like a snapshot of what was now a distant past: a bandoneon abandoned in a debris-filled room, along with some music drawn up on a stave for a lesson now never to be learned; costumes arrayed in the dressing room; and in the theater a wooden cutout of a cartoonish-looking cow. - Los Angeles...
The project raised $67 million, well surpassing the original $50 million goal. The University of the Arts never had a strong donor culture (that's why this was the first capital campaign), so how did the school locate the contributors? - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
In the past three years, the net number of moves out of Manhattan has increased tenfold. In every urban county within the metros of New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, immigration declined by at least 50 percent from 2018 to 2021. In downtown Detroit and Long Island, deaths actually exceeded births last year. - The Atlantic
"Libraries, principals, school boards, superintendents are just fending off not only formal complaints that have been filed, which is what ALA was counting, but also informal complaints, email complaints, comments at school board meetings. The atmosphere is one that’s very difficult." - Slate
The historic theatre was hit "twice in the span of a single week — a repeat offense by the same suspect that reportedly resulted in $45,000 in damages to the near-century old venue." - San Francisco Chronicle
A Nambé Pueblo scholar describes how book bans might affect Native peoples. "We are few in comparison to nearly all other groups. If read Native books and develop empathy for us ... their actions will be shaped by us" rather than by stereotypes. - Learning for Justice
That problem takes two forms: first, the lack of public trust in humanities scholars’ processes of inquiry and expert conclusions. Simply put, the public doesn’t seem to trust that we are engaging in real, methodical scholarly inquiry. - Washington Post
"More than 100 (professors) wrote in, using words like 'defeated,' 'exhausted,' and 'overwhelmed.' ... Far fewer students show up to class. Those who do avoid speaking when possible. Many skip the readings or the homework. They have trouble remembering what they learned and struggle on tests." - The Chronicle of Higher Education
My peers are burnt out, despondent and thinking of leaving the sector. Everybody has told me to leave the country, even if I am able to find a job here. Alongside precarious short-term contracts and chronic overwork, which are common everywhere, the government has cultivated a set of policies which demonstrate its neglect. - Sydney Morning Herald
"Summer in the City", running mid-May to mid-August (and including six Mostly Mozart programs), is the first festival under chief artistic officer Shanta Thake, appointed with the mission of expanding beyond classical music and dance to spoken poetry, hip-hop, and other genres seen as less exclusive. - The New York Times
