limbo

JAKE PAUL’s shock showdown with the controversial Gervonta Davis is seemingly in limbo.

The pair, 28 and 30 respectively, are set to lock horns in a seemingly open weight showdown on November 14.

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The fight, which has been maligned due to the immense height and weight differences between the pair, was slated to take place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

But it’s seemingly now in need of a new venue after Most Valuable Promotions, which was founded by Paul and his business partner Nikisa Bidarian, withdrew event permits and rule waivers required to stage the bout in the state.

Chairman of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission Rick Thompson revealed the news.

He told USA Today: “I believe it’s in the public’s interest to know that because they’ve been promoting something they should not have been.”

Despite MVP’s withdrawal of the necessary event permits, tickets for the fight are still available and it’s still listed on State Farm’s official website.

But Robert A. Sinners, the Communications Director for the Office of Secretary of State, insisted: “[The fight] will not be happening here.”

Neither Paul, nor Bidarian have commented on the major issue.

Bidarian, however, has teased an imminent announcement regarding the fight.

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He wrote on X early on Monday morning: “Major Jake Paul vs Tank Davis event announcement this Wednesday.”

Former Disney star Paul was last in action in June against ex-WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, over whom he laboured to a decision victory.

And ‘The Problem Child’ is champing at the bit to share the ring with Davis.

He said: “Gervonta is an angry little elf who has been disrespecting my name for too long.

“His nickname might be ‘Tank’, but I’m an FPV drone and I’m about to disable his a**.

“Yes, he is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world, but my motto is anyone, anytime, anyplace, against all odds.

“And I like my odds. First, I am going to kill David, then I will go on to slaughter Goliath.”

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will release an estimated $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money for schools nationwide, but has warned states that it will rescind funding not spent for “allowable activities.”

About $5 billion to $6 billion remains in limbo. In typical years, this funding would have begun reaching states and school districts starting on July 1. California joined about two dozen states this week in suing for the release of the funds, calling the Trump administration action “unconstitutional, unlawful and arbitrary.”

In filing their lawsuit, California officials estimated that they were due close to a billion dollars. The California Department of Education said it received word Friday that the partial release represented about $158 million of that total.

The partial release came after 10 Republican senators on Wednesday sent a letter imploring the Trump administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.

The senators said the withheld money supported programs that had longstanding bipartisan support and were critical to local communities. The money had been appropriated by Congress in a bill that was signed by President Trump.

“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” the senators wrote to the Office of Management and Budget. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”

The Trump administration has argued otherwise, alleging that funding has been used to undermine policy goals that include having all classes conducted in English. The administration also accused agencies of using funds to advocate for immigrants who lack legal status in the country.

The notification to states about the release includes a long list of laws that states are warned not to violate including the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans discrimination based on sex.

“To the extent that a grantee uses grant funds for such unallowable activities,” which the notice does not define specifically, “the [Education] Department intends to take appropriate enforcement action … which may include the recovery of funds.”

In separate actions, the Trump administration already has threatened California with pulling all federal funding for violations of Trump administration policy. This threat was made recently in connection with the state allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports and government officials designating their jurisdictions as sanctuaries for immigrants.

What the money pays for

The withheld money paid for after-school and summer programs, adult literacy, English language instruction, teacher training and migrant education supports. The Office of Management and Budget said it held back the funds as part of a review to align spending with White House priorities.

The funds released Friday were partly intended to support many summer school programs, some of which shut down across the country due to the hold-back. This funding also supports after-school programming during the regular school year.

Without the money, school districts and nonprofits such as the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs of America had said they would have to close or scale back educational offerings this fall.

The money released Friday also pays for child care so low-income parents can work. In these programs, children also receive reading and math help, along with enrichment in science and the arts.

Despite the money’s release Friday, schools and nonprofits have already been disrupted by two weeks of uncertainty. Some programs have made plans to close, and others have fallen behind on hiring and contracting for the fall.

“While we are thrilled the funds will be made available,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, “the administration’s inexplicable delay in disbursing them caused massive chaos and harm.” Many after-school programs had canceled plans to open in the fall, she said.

David Schuler, executive director of AASA, an association of school superintendents, praised the release of after-school money but said that the remaining education funding should not be withheld.

“Districts should not be in this impossible position where the Administration is denying funds that had already been appropriated to our public schools, by Congress,” Schuler said in a statement. “The remaining funds must be released immediately — America’s children are counting on it.”

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, was among the senators who signed the letter, which called for the full release of funds, including for adult education and teaching English as a second language.

“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the senators wrote. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) called on the White House to release the rest of the money.

“At this very moment, schools nationwide are crunching the numbers to figure out how many teachers they will need to lay off as Trump continues to hold up billions in funding,” Murray said Friday in a statement. “Every penny of this funding must flow immediately.”

Ma writes for the Associated Press.

Media giant Paramount Global is trying to avoid a streaming future without Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny.

As Paramount struggles to complete a key merger, the company is in the midst of a protracted negotiation to extend one of its biggest and most important franchises: the long-running foulmouthed cartoon “South Park.”

Paramount’s $900-million overall deal with “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker doesn’t expire for another two years. New episodes run first on Paramount’s basic cable network Comedy Central.

But efforts to renew that venture and bring the show to the Paramount+ streaming service have hit a major snag, according to three people familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The situation highlights deep tensions and disagreements as a trio of executives try to manage Paramount until the company’s sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media, which has the right to approve or deny large deals such as the “South Park” pact under covenants made with Paramount.

Paramount leaders are desperate to lock down “South Park’s” streaming rights in the U.S. and abroad. They’ve long been frustrated by a licensing arrangement made six years ago by the previous regime that sent “South Park” to rival HBO Max, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. That deal expires this month.

“South Park” is one of Paramount’s most important shows. Along with “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” the four boys and their celebrity-skewering ways put Comedy Central on the map for basic cable viewers, taking on hot-button issues from Scientology and the War on Terror to the royal family and the Trump administration.

During a May earnings call, Paramount co-Chief Executive Chris McCarthy — who runs Paramount’s media networks as well as Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios — told investors that “South Park” episodes would begin streaming on Paramount+ in July.

However, Paramount hasn’t nailed down the streaming rights to “South Park,” according to the three people familiar with the conversations. Since earlier this year, Paramount has made at least one offer to Parker and Stone as an early extension of their overall deal.

The company also wants to secure rights to stream the 333 episodes of “South Park” on Paramount+.

Some of the knowledgeable people expect “South Park” distribution fees to be valued at more than $200 million a year.

But Skydance hasn’t signed off, believing the deals to be too rich, according to the sources. Paramount executives believe the show is worth the big bucks, given the show’s enduring popularity and legacy.

Representatives for Paramount and Skydance declined to comment.

Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, whose firm WME represents Parker and Stone, defended Paramount and Skydance’s handling of the situation on Friday by phone.

“Nobody has rejected anything. They are just doing their analysis,” Emanuel told The Times in a brief interview. “We’ve got offers from other distributors. Everybody wants this show.”

Skydance’s $8-billion takeover of Paramount has been in a holding pattern for months as the two companies wait for federal regulators’ approval. Skydance, backed by tech mogul Larry Ellison and RedBird Capital Partners, is eager to take over the storied media company.

They intend to bring increased financial rigor to Paramount’s operations, other sources have said. Paramount and Skydance have told Wall Street the deal will bring $2 billion in cost savings, with half of that coming in the first year.

Deadlines are looming. The new season, the program’s 27th, is scheduled to debut July 9 on Comedy Central.

Unless Paramount strikes a deal with the creators by June 23, the company risks losing the franchise’s streaming rights because Parker and Stone could shop the show to other interested streamers, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu. However, sources cautioned that negotiations could go past the June deadline and that the parties expect a deal to get done.

Represented by their longtime attorney Kevin Morris, who is leading the current negotiations, the duo carved out the internet rights nearly two decades ago. They formed a joint venture with Paramount (then known as Viacom) called South Park Digital Studios. That decision proved highly lucrative for Parker and Stone, also known for the hit Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.”

Paramount runs the joint venture with Stone and Parker, sharing control of the streaming rights to the show that launched in 1997 on Comedy Central, although the duo can veto streaming deals they find unfavorable.

Companies are typically not supposed to wade too deeply into another firm’s affairs. Federal antitrust laws prohibit so-called gun-jumping, when an acquiring company begins calling the shots before a deal’s official closure. But Paramount agreed to accept Skydance’s input on big-ticket expenditures while the two sides wait for the deal to close.

The “South Park” streaming rights negotiations also have been complicated by a lawsuit brought two years ago by Warner Bros. Discovery. That company accused Paramount of violating terms of its 2019 licensing pact for “South Park,” after Warner paid about $540 million for the show’s streaming rights.

Paramount and the “South Park” creators developed specials featuring the four animated boys in a fictional Colorado mountain town to stream exclusively on Paramount+. Warner argued the move violated its licensing deal. HBO Max declined to comment.

Two years after the HBO Max deal, Paramount struck a new accord with Parker and Stone for $900 million, sealing their partnership and ensuring new episodes of “South Park” would be made. That deal runs to 2027, although Paramount executives have offered to extend that arrangement for several years.

Paramount has long intended to shift the show to Paramount+ as soon as the HBO Max deal expires.

The various parties have long envisioned a scenario where domestic and international rights would be shared by at least two different streaming services. Although neither partner would have exclusive rights, the current trend in television is for studios to maximize revenue to help pay for expensive programs, like “South Park,” while maintaining some streaming rights.

Paramount also has been dealing with another crisis that has been complicated by the Skydance merger. The company has sought to settle President Trump’s $20-billion lawsuit claiming subsidiary CBS News deceptively edited a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, an allegation CBS denies.

Trump’s case hasn’t been resolved, and the Federal Communications Commission has been slow to review Skydance’s proposed takeover of Paramount, extending the deal review.

The Skydance transaction has been pending at the FCC since last fall, leaving Paramount executives in limbo.