*By Conor White*
The 20 cities still vying for Amazon's second-headquarter bid are making what could be their final pitches for the project. Many have speculated that the company will narrow the list any day, and one contender, Newark, NJ, is all in.
"We're kind of New York City without the New York City pricing," said Aisha Glover, the president and CEO of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation.
Nearly 240 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico originally submitted bids for HQ2, and Amazon [narrowed the list](https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17044620011) in January. Newark is not only competing with its cross-river neighbor, but also name brand locations like Washington, D.C., Miami, and Los Angeles.
Nevertheless, Glover said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar that her city is optimistic, especially after it dangled a $7 billion incentive package in front of Amazon. Critics have [panned the offer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/newark-is-a-long-shot-finalist-for-amazons-hq2-experts-worry-it-cannot-afford-its-all-in-bid/2018/06/29/173d3772-6e7c-11e8-bd50-b80389a4e569_story.html?utm_term=.3d740eee5c1c), saying it could bankrupt Newark, but Glover maintained the plan is solid.
"Because we're talking about 50,000 jobs and ultimately 8 million square feet of space, the reason why you're kind of creeping up to higher numbers is because your payroll tax waiver is per employee, your property tax abatement is really based upon size, so it's really just an issue of scale," she said.
Glover noted that, beyond the 50,000 jobs Amazon is promising, as many as 100,000 indirect jobs could be created. The CEO believes Newark can handle it, largely thanks to cooperation from the rest of the state.
"The entire county of Essex County, which Newark is in, is the size of Seattle," Glover said. "So, we're not just looking at Newark when we're talking about housing options."
Seattle, home to Amazon's original HQ, has seen [homelessness skyrocket](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/amazon-holding-seattle-hostage_us_5af5ba76e4b032b10bfa4285) in the last few years, partially because Amazon's success has raised real estate prices, pushing out some early residents. Glover is aware of the risks, but she said Newark is prepared.
"If we didn't have concerns, then we would be naive."
Amazon is expected to announce the location of HQ2 by the end of 2018.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/newark-makes-its-case-for-amazon-hq2).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
