Dianna Russini bodycam: Police video obtained by The Center Square shows the former NFL insider talking her way out of a texting-while-driving ticket by showing the officer her texts with an NFL head coach.
Pennsylvania pensions: Pennsylvania’s teacher pension fund is $41 billion short of what it needs, and officials say private equity dragged down returns more than any other investment.
Supreme Court rulings: Justices upheld state bans on transgender athletes in female sports and struck down President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship order this week.
State budget deadlines: California lawmakers passed and signed a $350 billion budget Monday, while Pennsylvania and Michigan missed their deadlines again.
Colorado lawsuits: Attorney General Phil Weiser won the Democratic primary for governor without releasing records showing what his 66 lawsuits against the Trump administration cost taxpayers.
Bodycam obtained by The Center Square shows former NFL reporter name-dropped her way out of a ticket
Photo: Ridgewood Police Department via Public Records Request / Edited in Canva
What we found: Police body camera video obtained by The Center Square shows former National Football League (NFL) insider Dianna Russini avoiding a texting-while-driving ticket in Ridgewood, New Jersey by showing the officer her text messages with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. Russini later claimed on a podcast that she let the officer FaceTime the coach. The video shows no FaceTime call, only a warning.
The stakes: New Jersey's Office of the State Comptroller found in 2024 that state troopers often declined to enforce the law even against drivers who "posed a very real danger to other motorists." This stop shows that discretion in action.
The backstory: The New York Times opened its investigation into Russini's conduct at The Athletic with her account of the traffic stop and called it "unacceptable conduct," but never obtained the video to verify her story. "Adam Herbets of The Center Square got it. The New York Times essentially got caught flat-footed," NBC Sports' Mike Florio said in response to The Center Square’s exclusive reporting.
Where it stands: Ridgewood police say the officer, about four months on the job at the time, "exercised his professional discretion" consistent with department policy.
3 States
Pennsylvania: The state's public school employees' pension fund is $41 billion short of what it needs to pay promised benefits, and officials say private equity dragged down returns more than any other asset class last year. Pension systems in at least six other states, including Alaska, Ohio, and Virginia, have also cut their private equity holdings, and Alaska officials say the asset class's "golden era" may have ended.
Louisiana: Entergy Louisiana is keeping the expected power demand of Meta's planned Richland Parish data center out of public filings, and a state utility regulator says the confidentiality rule shielding it needs review. The dispute cuts to a question states everywhere are facing: whether data centers will pay for the billions of dollars in infrastructure built to serve them, or whether those costs shift onto existing ratepayers.
Tennessee: A law making it a crime to be in Tennessee with a pending deportation order took effect Wednesday after a federal judge dismissed a court challenge. Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma passed similar laws that were challenged by the Justice Department under President Joe Biden, and the Trump administration dropped those challenges.
2 Issues
State budgets: California lawmakers passed a roughly $350 billion budget Monday, and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it the same day. Pennsylvania missed its June 30 deadline for the fifth straight year, one year after a 135-day impasse froze billions of dollars in state payments, and Michigan blew past its July 1 deadline for the second year in a row. North Carolina lawmakers, a full year behind schedule, planned votes this week on a $34 billion plan that includes 8% average teacher raises and $700 million in Hurricane Helene relief.
The courts: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Idaho and West Virginia’s bans on transgender athletes competing in girls' and women's sports, ruling the bans violate neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause. Also this week, the court struck down President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born to parents in the country illegally or temporarily, ruling those children are citizens under the 14th Amendment.
1 Number
250
America turns 250 years old this Saturday. The Center Square's Voters' Voice Poll found 86% of registered voters support the country's founding principles, including individual rights, equal treatment under the law, and government by consent of the people, yet only 31% believe those principles are being practiced well. The poll also found 47% of voters are confident in democracy's future, compared to 44% who are not.
New Washington state gas tax takes effect, and Seattle's transit agency faces a $34 billion gap
Washington's gas tax now rises automatically every July 1, and the latest Washington in Focus Daily breaks down what that means at the pump, plus why the Seattle area's regional transit agency is scaling back projects.
Phil Weiser, Colorado attorney general and Democratic nominee for governor
Weiser is the projected winner of Tuesday's primary over U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet with about 56% of the vote. Weiser built his campaign on at least 66 lawsuits against the Trump administration, but his office delayed releasing records showing what those lawsuits cost taxpayers until after the primary, holding them behind more than $600 in unexplained fees.
Do you think the Second Amendment protects the right to own semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15?
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to hear a challenge to Cook County, Illinois' nearly 20-year-old assault weapons ban, with a decision expected by June 2027.
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