We provided funding for a documentary series titled Bucks County, USA, that follows several families navigating the tensions that have come to define our politics. At the center of the story are two teenage girls whose parents have become bitterly divided over their kids’ education. The adults disagree about nearly everything, but the kids have figured out something many of us seem to have forgotten: you can disagree profoundly with someone and still care about them, listen to them, and remain friends. We can and must learn from our children. It starts streaming tomorrow, Sept 20th, on PBS.org and then on public television stations across the country. Join the conversation @BucksCountyUSA #BucksCountyUSA Don’t miss it.

A couple years ago, Mikala Sposito applied for a work ethic scholarship from my foundation. She asked for $2,700.00 to help realize her dream of becoming a welder. (Actually, her first dream was to become an Olympian. As a kid, she excelled at horseback riding, dance, soccer, and track, but not quite at the Olympic level. So, Mikala adjusted her dream and focused on something within her reach. Precisely the kind of commonsense approach to making a living we try to encourage.) Toward that end, Mikala filled out the application, jumped through all the necessary hoops, and signed the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge, as all applicants must. According to our internal ranking system, which is inherently subjective and relative to each batch of new applicants, Mikala scored a 94, and was awarded $2,100.00, or roughly 80% of what she asked for. This is typical of the average percentage awarded to an excellent applicant. As a rule, we almost never award the entire amount requested. We want our recipients to have some skin in the game, and we encourage all applicants to apply for additional scholarship funds elsewhere, which Mikala did. But in this case, if I had it to do over again, I think I’d have awarded Mikala the full $2,700.00. Why? Because this woman is precisely why I award work ethic scholarships in the first place, as recent headlines prove. Headlines all over the country that identify Mikala Sposito as the sole welder to represent Team USA in the upcoming @WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai. This is a very big deal. The World Skills competition is often referred to as the Olympics of the skilled trades, so it looks like Mikala’s dream is coming true after all. And it seems to me her journey is worth a brief encapsulation. Before she applied for a scholarship from mikeroweWORKS, Mikala demonstrated an affinity for welding in SkillsUSA. As a senior at Dexter High School, she won 1st Place at the SkillsUSA Michigan high school competition and went on to place 14th nationally. Then, as a freshman at Washtenaw Community College, she repeated her success by taking 1st Place in the Michigan college division. She then advanced to nationals, where she finished 8th in the country. That earned her an invitation to the Team USA pre-trials, which whittled the nation's top 16 young welders down to three. At the final USA Weld Trials at the Robotics Technology Park in Huntsville, Alabama, each competitor was evaluated on precision, safety, technical execution, craftsmanship, and multi-process capabilities under extreme time constraints. Mikala Sposito took the Gold, officially becoming the first woman to represent the United States in welding at WorldSkills. Next week, she’ll face off against the absolute best of the best from all over the world. I should point out that Mikala would prefer it if the press didn’t make a big deal of her gender, and I completely understand. (She’s a welder – not a “weld-her.”) But today, the industry is in desperate need of proof that women can and do excel in the trades. Nationally, just 4.3% of tradespeople are female. At mikeroweWORKS, our female applicants are closer to 20%, but I assure you that percentage could be much higher. Companies are anxious to recruit talented welders of any gender, and women need to understand and believe the opportunities are real. Mikala prove that in spades, and I want to offer her my sincere congratulations, and invite all of you to do the same. Because Mikala Sposito is exactly what our country needs a lot more of. People who understand that talent is never enough to compensate for laziness. In her application, she wrote, “Hard work beats talent any day of the week, and nobody is going to outwork me. Period.” She also connected with every point of the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge but said the final tenet resonated with her the most. “Some people choose to be lazy. Some people choose to sleep in. I choose to work my butt off.” My favorite quote, however, is Mikala’s response to seasoned professionals who see her wield a torch and call her a “natural.” “I’m not a natural,” she says. Far from it. And none of this came easy. I worked and trained 60-80 hours a week for two years to get here.” Regardless of what happens in Shanghai, the job offers are already piling up, including the most recent from SpaceX. She hasn’t graduated yet, but the future looks bright, and I for one would not bet against her. PS. I never do this, but since my name is in the title of the foundation, I suppose I can. Mikala – please accept the additional $600 you requested from mikeroweWORKS two years ago. Shanghai is expensive, and since you’re representing all of us, we’d like to provide you with a little walking around money. The check is in the mail. Now…go get the gold!

"He has a right to say what he said... promoters had the right to say: 'You're gone!'" Joe Walsh clashes with Ana Kasparian over Ed Sheeran dropping Macklemore from his tour after comments on Palestine. 📺 youtu.be/hmNtantlnDc @piersmorgan | @AnaKasparian | @WalshFreedom

A SEPTA bus got stuck in a patch of fresh cement outside of Termini Brothers Bakery in South Philadelphia moments after passengers helped to move the roadway barriers. Vince Termini told CBS News Philadelphia that the bakery has been trying to get two holes in front of its 8th Street store fixed for about a year. Just two minutes later, the bus drove into the wet patch. SEPTA said it is investigating the incident.

"Syracuse University is not waiting for the future. We are building it." Today, Chancellor J. Michael Haynie shared his vision for a bold future at Syracuse University—and why our best days are ahead. Read more: go.syr.edu/mc/e6046bb02

Nighttime view of Vineyard Wind

🚨 BREAKING NEWS

RECORD-BREAKING NIGHT FOR ANGEL REESE 🚨 A new WNBA record for rebounds in a game 👏

Zelensky: Ukraine has received missiles for Patriot systems, but more are needed Zelensky also stated that Ukraine has received Crotale air defense systems and missiles for them, as well as AIM missiles — “these are very important missiles for us,” the Ukrainian president added.

‘Travel sports,’ a term that has come to encompass all sorts of private teams, leagues, and clubs, used to be for the truly exceptional young athlete. Now, they’re for anyone willing to pay — an expensive, exhausting commitment that has become popular not necessarily because millions of parents want them for their children but because it can feel like there’s no other choice. Rec programs are underfunded and struggle to compete with for-profit leagues for prime field, rink, and court times. And the level of play is diluted, often very early, as travel teams are incentivized to enroll children at young ages. Around 5 million children in the U.S. now compete on travel teams. Parents find themselves trapped. They know the benefits of sports and want that for their children, yet giving it to them often means buying into a sports ecosystem that’s inherently flawed. As the pay-to-play model increasingly takes hold, so does the idea that kids should start competing at younger and younger ages, risking their sense of self along with their shoulders and ACLs. “I never want my kids to look back and say I didn’t do everything I could to help them live their dreams,” a mother of three soccer players said. She’s hired professional photographers to take action shots for her 12- and 13-year-olds’ Instagram accounts — the platform has become a recruiting tool — and they’ve both asked her to pay for personal trainers. “I think the word isn’t ‘specialize’; you are ‘professionalizing’ your kid early. You are exposing them to everything professionals have to deal with — I’m talking injury, time, schedule, everything,” said John Van Benschoten, a former MLB player and travel-baseball coach. It makes one ask: All this for what? And for whom? Read Caitlin Moscatello’s cover story on how travel leagues have made youth sports more expensive, hypercompetitive, and all-consuming — and the investors who are making a killing: nymag.visitlink.me/1-gbZQ

Deshaun Watson has been named the starting quarterback 📰: brow.nz/a5ok

We're done kicking the can down the road. Here's how we're fixing the city-owned section of the BQE.

“LET THEM FLOOD”- NYC leadership. There are roughly 150,000 catch basins across the five boroughs, and too many are clogged, backed up or going far too long without being properly cleaned. That means when the rain comes down, the water has nowhere to go. Streets flood, intersections become dangerous, businesses take on water and neighborhoods in the outer boroughs and Lower Manhattan pay the price. Cleaning leaves and garbage off the top is not enough. DEP trucks need to clear the buildup inside the catch basins and keep them functioning BEFORE the storm comes, not after neighborhoods are already underwater. The Mayor and DEP need to publish a basin-by-basin cleaning schedule and a record of when each one was actually serviced. New Yorkers deserve to know whether the infrastructure on their block is being maintained. Here is the warning: the next major storm is coming. We know where the flooding happens. We know clogged drainage makes it worse. There is no excuse for waiting until the damage is done. City Hall spends billions on new programs while failing at basic services New Yorkers already pay for. Clean the catch basins. Fix the drainage. Prepare before the storm. They fail us on the basics time and time again- because they don’t care. Keep fighting.