Owen Lavine

Senior Journalism Student and Intern Reporter at San Luis Obispo Tribune

Articles

Elon and Trump Break Up In Spectacular Fashion. What’s Next?

3 weeks ago | bigtechnology.com | Alex Kantrowitz |Owen Lavine

Up until this afternoon, Elon Musk’s split with Donald Trump was mostly cordial. Despite an underwhelming stay in the White House, Musk said plenty of nice things about Trump upon leaving and Trump returned the favor. The conventional wisdom was both needed each other too much for the relationship to implode. The campaign money, the government contracts, and the mutually reinforcing celebrity were all too valuable to light on fire. Now, it’s all up in flames.
Residents plead to save LIC fountain

1 month ago | qchron.com | Owen Lavine |Peter C. Mastrosimone

Seven residents pleaded with Community Board 2 to save the Court Square Fountain at last Thursday’s meeting. The fountain is slated to be destroyed in the Court Square Park reconstruction project that began in February. “Nobody told us such a beautiful and old and historic fountain would be removed,” resident Agata Bojarewicz said. “Please stop the renovation.” Bojarewicz said a group of residents concerned about the removal of the fountain found photos dating it back to 1904.
Big Tech’s Three Underappreciated Risks Following a Week of Tariff Unease

2 months ago | bigtechnology.com | Alex Kantrowitz |Owen Lavine

Tariff chaos has unsettled big tech. As the Trump administration waffled on its policies this week, Apple loaded 600 tons of iPhones onto cargo flights and rushed them to the United States. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company made “strategic forward inventory buys.” And Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian spoke of longstanding contingency plans in the face of global supply disruption. Meanwhile, analysts slashed forecasts and tech stocks whipsawed.
Bar has a brothel, activists allege

Mar 27, 2025 | qchron.com | Owen Lavine

Protesters surrounded Palladium Bar at 111-34 Roosevelt Ave. in Corona Sunday, with calls for the night spot to be shuttered. The protest was organized by the former city and state lawmaker Hiram Monserrate and the Iglesia Centro Cristano Juda church next door to the bar. The protesters alleged that Palladium Bar has been operating a brothel in its basement.
Sushi club leaves bad taste in CB’s mouth

Mar 27, 2025 | qchron.com | Owen Lavine

Community Board 3 members rolled out their complaints against Cielo Sushi Lounge owner Kelving Nolasco at last Thursday night’s full board meeting. During the liquor applications section of the meeting, critics claimed Nolasco’s bar at 88-19 31 Ave. in East Elmhurst had been operating in violation of the stipulations set out by the board for his existing license. Cielo was up for a renewal of its full liquor license at the meeting, held at the Langston Hughes Library.
Queensview frets over event space

Mar 20, 2025 | qchron.com | Owen Lavine

Community Board 1 was swamped with residents of the Queensview housing complex at Tuesday’s meeting, who decried the new event space taking over the Walgreens at 33-55 and 33-67 Crescent St.Alicia Fernandez, a Queensview resident who led the group of nearly 40, pleaded with the board to consider their opposition to the venue, which has not yet opened. The 7,600-square-foot property was sold off to United Universal Management in December.
Trump Launches Airstrikes on Yemen That Kill At Least 24

Mar 16, 2025 | thedailybeast.com | Catherine Bouris |Owen Lavine |Mathew Murphy

President Donald Trump launched large-scale air strikes on Yemenâs capital on Saturday in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping routes, killing at least 24 people. Itâs the start of what is expected to be a days-long, if not weeks-long, campaign.
Scale AI CTO: AI Isn’t Taking Your Job Anytime Soon

Mar 14, 2025 | bigtechnology.com | Owen Lavine |Alex Kantrowitz

Scale AI is working to bring artificial intelligence up to human-level proficiency by having deeply skilled humans teach it what they know. The company’s contributor network is made up of 12% PhDs and 40%+ masters and professional degree holders who are training the AI in their areas of expertise. And yet Scale, at least publicly, wants you to know that your job is probably not at risk from artificial intelligence.
Quit playin’: City hits pre-K with fines

Mar 13, 2025 | qchron.com | Owen Lavine

When it came time for Luisa Adriana de Campos Leme to enroll her second son in preschool, she made sure she was sending him somewhere he would get time outside. Q Studio Lab, which operates a preschool at 43-12 46 St. in Sunnyside, was perfect for Leme, who was drawn to the school’s outdoor play area. Leme’s family lives in an apartment in Jackson Heights, an area notoriously starved of green space. “It’s so important at this age that they be outside and climb and in the dirt,” Leme explained.
CB 2 still skeptical on infrastructure

Mar 13, 2025 | qchron.com | Owen Lavine

The NYC Department of City Planning gave Community Board 2 another visit last Thursday to provide an update on the One LIC plan. The DCP was supposed to present the One LIC Draft Zoning Proposal to CB 2 last month, but did not show up to the meeting. At last week’s meeting, held at Sunnyside Community Services, DCP planner Hye-Kyung Yang presented the new zoning maps the agency has drawn up for the plan.