Daily News Roundup: Israeli Teen Charged in Jewish Center Bomb Threats

Jewish Nonprofits Relieved and Anguished as Bomb-Scare Suspect Arrested: A 19-year-old man with U.S. and Israeli citizenship has been charged with perpetrating a wave of bomb threats targeting American Jewish nonprofits, reports The Washington Post. The leader of the Jewish Federations of North America said it was “heartbreaking” to learn that the prime suspect is Jewish.

Controversial Hershey Trust Adds Three to Board: The $12.5-billion charity that operates a Pennsylvania school for poor children said the new members bring a “mosaic” of skills and experience, The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Critics of the scandal-battered trust assailed it for offering compensation of more than $1 million over each member’s 10-year term and bypassing candidates who pledged to serve without pay.

Mass. Lawmaker Proposes Taxing High-Paying Nonprofits: State Rep. David Nangle, whose proposal last year to impose taxes on some nonprofit-owned property failed amid fears that it would hurt low-budget charities, filed a revised bill that would levy only organizations where the five best-compensated employees collectively receive more than $2.5 million a year, reports The Boston Globe.

Ill. Supreme Court Maintains Law Keeping Nonprofit Hospitals Tax-Exempt: Justices voided on procedural grounds a lower-court ruling that a 2012 state measure on the issue was unconstitutional, the Chicago Tribune writes. The Supreme Court did not address the constitutionality of the law, under which hospitals remain exempt if the value of their charitable services exceeds their would-be tax liability, but ordered the lower court to reconsider the case.

30-Year Head of Major Jewish Federation Stepping Down: Barry Shrage, the president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston since 1987, announced he will retire next year, The Boston Globe writes. Mr. Shrage is credited with raising more than $1 billion for Jewish causes during his tenure at one of Massachusetts’s largest charitable institutions.

Gates Foundation Launches Open-Access Venture for Research: Following up on its decision to make freely available papers and data sets generated by scientific research it funded, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced plans to establish its own publishing platform to speedily distribute such work at no charge, the journal Nature reports.

Court Ruling Imperils Barry Diller’s NYC Pier Project: A federal judge scuttled permits for Pier 55, a proposed $200 million Hudson River park and performance venue being financed largely by a donation from the billionaire media mogul, siding with opponents who questioned the project’s environmental impact, writes The New York Times.