This week's top stories include a little bit of everything--politics, sports, entertainment, and more.
1. Trump indicted: Charged in New York over hush money paid during 2016 campaign
Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury Thursday, the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president and an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.
At the focus of the investigation was hush-money payments made to women on Trump’s behalf. Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been presenting evidence to the grand jury and calling witnesses since January.
Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, confirmed Thursday that the grand jury voted to indict Trump but the specific charges were not immediately made public.
Minutes after the indictment was announced, Trump released a lengthy statement calling it the next step in a "witch-hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement."
"The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference," Trump's statement said.
2. 50 years ago, this math professor was called up to play for the Nets
A half century ago, a basketball underdog story reminiscent of the movie "Rudy" played out on Long Island.
In the midst of March Madness, it’s easy to forget that most of the players you watch will never get the opportunity to play professionally. That’s just the reality. George Bruns, who is 76 and lives in Floral Park, just wouldn’t let his hoop dreams die.
"I didn't play to get to the pros [but] it happened," Bruns said. "I loved to play, and I was good. How many people want to stop doing what they're really good at?"
3. Car vending machine opens on Long Island – here's how it works
Want to buy a car but don’t want to spend hours haggling at a dealership? There’s a vending machine opening in New York just for you.
Carvana, an online used car retailer, opened its first "car vending machine" in the Empire State on Wednesday. The steel and glass structure is located at 2 North Avenue in Garden City on Long Island.
The car vending machine itself stands eight stories tall and has a 27-vehicle capacity. Carvana has 34 other vending machines like this across the U.S., and the structure is intended to save customers time by shopping for a vehicle online and then picking up their ride at the vending machine at a selected time and date.