Free Republic

Interim executive director Ric Grenell has disclosed a dire financial state at the Kennedy Center, America’s leading performing arts venue. .... Snip.... Ric Grenell, upon taking his new role, shared alarming insights into the financial health of the institution. On X, he detailed, “I was briefed today by the CFO of the Kennedy Center on its financial situation. She told me there is ZERO cash on hand. And ZERO in reserves. And the deferred maintenance is a crisis.” He added, “For the past months they’ve been digging into the DEBT RESERVES. We must fix this great institution. The people working...

OLD BRIDGE -- A drama teacher at Old Bridge High School pleaded guilty today to having a four-month sexual relationship with one of her students last year. Lisa Glide, 35, of Howell Township, tearfully admitted to Superior Court Judge Frederick De Vesa in New Brunswick that she had sexual relations with one of her male students twice. But under questioning by her attorney, Michael Nolan, she said neither time was on high school property. Glide pleaded guilty to fourth degree endangering the welfare of a child and faces up to 364 days in the Middlesex County jail when she is...

This summer's twin Russian ballet and opera seasons in London are drawing to a close: the Bolshoi has barely a week to go at Covent Garden and the Mariinsky (formerly the Kirov) has already left the Coliseum. Both companies have enjoyed packed houses, winning new fans and rewarding old ones. Critical opinion has largely favoured Moscow's Bolshoi while devotees of St Petersburg's Mariinsky may feel bewildered by some of the comment in the British press. "The reviews didn't represent what the audiences saw," says Paul Cardwell, from the UK-based Mariinsky Theatre Trust's board of directors. He admits a season devoted...