{
  "id": 4905228,
  "title": "How Whitney Houston’s funeral director got a $700,000 deal with Newark schools to teach food service",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/how-whitney-houstons-funeral-director-got-a-700-000-deal-with-newark",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-01T17:33:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Chalkbeat",
    "slug": "chalkbeat",
    "url": "https://www.chalkbeat.org/newark/2026/09/01/school-board-gave-funeral-director-deal-to-train-students-in-hospitality/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Whitney Houston's funeral director, Carolyn Whigham, secured a $700,000 contract with Newark schools to teach food service and hospitality business leadership. Whigham, who has also handled the funerals of high-profile figures like Sarah Vaughan and Amiri Baraka, holds degrees in mortuary science, divinity, and pastoral counseling. However, there are no indications of her teaching experience or leadership roles in hospitality industry. She has not provided any details about her plans for the \"Developing Next-Level Awareness\" training program, nor has she disclosed how she got involved with the district. While some experts are questioning the district's spending and the funeral director's qualifications, others express concern about the potential value of such vocational training programs.",
  "summary": "This story was originally published by NJ Spotlight News through the NJ News Wire . What, exactly, does a funeral home director know about running a restaurant? That’s what some experts are asking after the Newark school board unanimously handed a local mortician a…",
  "key_points": [
    "Carolyn Whigham, Whitney Houston's funeral director, secured $700K contract.",
    "Contract for food service and hospitality business leadership training.",
    "No teaching experience or industry leadership roles disclosed."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}