>>Former Trump Econ Advisor Optimistic About Early 2023 (Washington, DC) -- Former Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn says he doesn't expect a recession in the first half of 2023. Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation, the current IBM vice chairman said that the U.S. is in "pretty good shape" and there's evidence that record-high inflation is starting to ease. He pointed to the addition of over 500-thousand jobs in January, as well as the lowest unemployment rate the country has seen since 1969 at three-point-four-percent.
>>Jury Finds Elon Musk Didn't Defraud Investors (Sacramento, CA) -- Elon Musk is being found not liable for costing investors millions when he made claims about privatizing his electric vehicles. Musk previously issued a series of tweets telling people he'd "secured" funding to turn Tesla into a privately traded company. Three weeks later, Musk scrapped the proposal, but fluctuating share prices during the ordeal cost investors millions, if not billions, of dollars. On Friday, a California jury ruled Musk was not liable for investors losing money.
>>Massachusetts Governor Opposed To Legalizing Teacher Strikes (Boston, MA) -- Governor Maura Healey says she would not support allowing teachers to strike in Massachusetts. The state is one of more than 35 that have banned teacher strikes in public schools. The Democratic governor says everything possible should be done to support educators, but strikes are a strain on children, families and the teachers. She says teachers and school staff deserve to be properly compensated, but children need to be in the classroom.
>>Powerball Jackpot Tonight $747M (Undated) -- At least 747-million dollars will be up for grabs tonight. That's the current estimated jackpot in the Powerball lottery game. No one has won the game's top prize since back in November. The estimated jackpot is the 9th largest for a lottery game in U.S. history.
>>Illinois Ranked Leader In Midwest Workforce Development (Springfield, IL) -- Illinois is being praised as the number one leader for workforce development in the Midwest region for 2022. That ranking was announced by Site Selection magazine, which recognizes states that performed well in a set of measures that gauge workforce-related aspects of states' overall employment climate.
