Good morning, it’s Thursday.
I wanted to get to this before the month ends…it seems to be flying by, as I mentioned, so now is as good a time as any: It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week (Feb. 22- 28).
Now, maybe this seems kind of trivial, given all that’s going on in the world today. However, non-native plants, animals and pathogens can harm humans and the environment and have a significant negative impact on the economy.
The damage done by invasive plants alone costs the U.S. an estimated $34.7 billion a year. it is estimated that 50,000 species of plants and animals currently in this country are non-native.
To be clear, species that grow and reproduce quickly, and spread aggressively, with potential to cause harm, are given the label “invasive.” These invasive species come in many forms – amphibian (like the cane toad), plant, insect, fish, fungus, bacteria, or even an organism’s seeds or eggs.
And, of course, we – humans, that is – are largely to blame for spreading invasive species around. They come in on our overseas shipments, they hitch rides on our boats and jet skies (in ballast water an on propellers), on our hiking boots and in our luggage.
And sometimes, we intentionally or accidentally release invasive species into the wild – like Burmese pythons, for example, which are often purchased as exotic pets by people who then think better of having a large snake around the house and release them into the wild.
These pythons are a huge problem in the Florida Everglades, as you may have heard.
Other invasive species you might have heard of that are a big problem here in New York include zebra mussels, feral pigs, the Asian Longhorned Beetle, the Emerald Ash Borer, and giant hogweed – just to name a few.
Good news: This is a problem you can personally actually do something about. Click here for more.
More good news: It’s National Toast Day (toast, the world’s most perfect comfort food) AND National Chocolate Covered Peanut Day. The original chocolate covered peanut candy, by the way, was Goobers, which were first sold in 1925. (The word “Goober” was a common slang word for peanut).
Peanut M & M’s didn’t show up on the scene until 1954, and they were tan until 1960 when colors – yellow, green and red – were first introduced.
We’re in for another nice day, with temperatures hovering just under 40 degrees and a mix of sun and clouds.
In the headlines…
The lawyers working to reunite immigrant parents and children separated by the Trump administration reported that they have found the parents of 105 children in the past month.
The Biden administration will release an intelligence report today that concludes that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Two Senate panels postponed their votes on Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s pick to head the White House Office of Management and Budget, spelling further trouble for her confirmation.
Democrats and Republicans tangled over the size and scope of Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan, despite the broad public support for the package and a new push by business leaders to get it passed.
Biden had high praise for what he called a “very productive” Oval Office meeting with Republican and Democratic lawmakers on yesterday, offering a rare glimpse of the bipartisanship he has been calling for since taking office.
Biden signed an executive order meant to address a global chip shortage impacting industries ranging from medical supplies to electric vehicles.
Biden has revoked a proclamation issued under the Trump administration that blocked many green card applicants from entering the United States.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill reintroduced a sweeping police reform bill on that was first introduced last year amid nationwide protests over racial inequality following the death of George Floyd.
A record number of U.S. adults – 5.6% – identify as LGBTQ, an increase propelled by a younger generation staking out its presence in the world, a poll released yesterday shows.
Markets are signaling that an economy that plunged into its deepest recession in decades just a year ago is ready to roar.
The one-shot coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson provides strong protection against severe disease and death from Covid-19, and may reduce the spread of the virus by vaccinated people, according to new analyses posted online by the FDA.
The vaccine had a 72 percent overall efficacy rate in the United States and 64 percent in South Africa, where a highly contagious variant emerged in the fall and is now driving most cases.
The drugmaker Moderna is set to begin testing a new version of its Covid-19 vaccine that was specifically designed to target an emerging variant of the coronavirus that was first reported in South Africa.
A new coronavirus strain that shares some characteristics with the South Africa variant is emerging in New York City.
A real-world test of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in more than half a million people confirms that it’s very effective at preventing serious illness or death, even after one dose.
The vaccine was 66.1% effective in preventing moderate to severe disease and appeared safe, the FDA said, and the shot also showed tantalizing signs of slowing the spread of the virus.
Covid-19 has killed nearly 51,000 people in California, which yesterday became the first state to pass 50,000 deaths related to the coronavirus.
President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who are in their 90s, have received both their coronavirus vaccines and are back in the spiritual saddle.
Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said he subjected her to “pervasive harassment” when she worked for him, including numerous inappropriate comments in front of other people and a kiss on the lips while they were alone.
“Let’s play strip poker,” Boylan said Cuomo told her on one occasion while they were flying home from an event in western New York on his “taxpayer-funded jet” in October 2017.
“Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected,” Boylan wrote.
Boylan, who is now a candidate for Manhattan borough president, tweeted in December that Cuomo had sexually harassed her “for years” — an allegation he denied as “just not true,” although he did not get into specifics at the time.
A Cuomo spokeswoman again reiterated that Boylan’s “claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false,” and released a statement on behalf of four other staffers who said they were on flights with her and the incident she described did not happen.
This statement did not specifically address Boylan’s allegation of an unwanted kiss, but Cuomo’s office said it was an overarching denial.
The Sexual Harassment Working Group, a group of former legislative staffers who advocate for anti-harassment reforms in Albany, deemed Boylan’s claims “another reckoning point” and called for an “immediate investigation of (Cuomo’s) workplace behavior.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said: “I have read the reports. These are serious allegations. Harassment in the workplace of any kind should not be tolerated.”
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins issued a statement calling Boylan’s allegations “deeply disturbing,” adding: “Clearly, there is no place for this type of behavior in the workplace or anywhere else.”
Republican North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik said Boylan’s allegations were “serious and credible,” and called the governor a “criminal sexual predator” who should resign immediately.
The Senate Republicans’ 17th attempt to strip Cuomo’s emergency powers through hostile amendment was voted down on party lines.
Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Queens Democrat, intensified his push for Cuomo to be impeached over the widening nursing home COVID-19 death scandal as he also pressed for more accountability of the facilities.
The NY Post called for Cuomo’s impeachment, noting that when Christine Blasey Ford accused then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, the governor insisted everyone believe her — and that Kavanaugh take a lie-detector test.”
Billboards along I-787 in Albany calling for Cuomo’s impeachment were paid for by Albany gun shop owner Brian Olesen.
Democrats who run the state Assembly privately huddled yesterday to craft a plan to remove the emergency powers given to Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year to address the coronavirus pandemic.
House Republicans are pushing Democratic Manhattan Rep. Carolyn Maloney to subpoena Cuomo to testify before Congress about nursing home resident deaths in New York.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker will testify at a joint hearing of the Assembly and Senate Health Committees this morning.
Health care groups and lobbyists tied to nursing homes flooded Cuomo’s campaign coffers with cash last year as the state shielded hospitals and long-term care facilities from the threat of lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.
State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt charged that the state’s new ethics panel chair has “clear conflicts” creating “serious questions about whether she can serve as an impartial” leader of the panel.
The politically influential labor union SEIU 1199 launched an ad campaign to boost nursing home policy changes amid a broader controversy surrounding fatality reporting by Cuomo’s administration.
A scathing op-ed that took both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo to task for their treatment of female staffers drew little pushback from the mayor, who cited his relationship with his wife as proof that he’s progressive when it comes to women in the workplace.
The state Education Department is warning licensed medical professionals in New York about a scam involving telephone calls from people posing as department employees or law enforcement officials.
New Yorkers grappling with the coronavirus pandemic are warming up to expanding casino gambling as an economic dig-out alternative to tax hikes and spending cuts.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance recently subpoenaed financial records relating to a fraudulent “build the wall” scam allegedly orchestrated by former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
Biden rescinded a controversial order from his predecessor that labeled New York an “anarchist jurisdiction” in a dubious attempt to strip the city of federal funding.
Experts are struggling to explain why new cases of COVID-19 are declining much more slowly in New York City than across the rest of the country.
There are more vaccination sites in Manhattan than anywhere else in the Big Apple, despite de Blasio’s repeated promises that so-called “outer-borough” equity would sit at the center of his vaccine distribution strategy.
The Bronx and Queens Republican parties both endorsed advocate for taxi drivers and bodegas Fernando Mateo for mayor of NYC.
Candidates vying to be the next mayor of New York City have received millions of dollars from mostly local donors, including a concentration of large contributions coming from a few parts of Manhattan, according to city Campaign Finance Board records.
New York City’s public middle schools are set to reopen today for some in-person learning, after more than two months of fully remote instruction for their students.
NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan is retiring and will be replaced by Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison.
Folk singer Peter Yarrow has been accused in a new lawsuit of raping an underage girl in a Manhattan hotel room in 1969.
Several people were arrested last night during a protest in Brooklyn in the wake of the decision to not charge Rochester cops in the death of Daniel Prude.
The doctor who branded women with Nxivm sex cult leader Keith Raniere’s initial defended the practice in a new television interview — claiming the women “wanted” the marks and were not “harmed.”
As registration opened for a mass vaccination site at the Washington Avenue Armory for Capital Region residents living in certain urban ZIP codes, advocates for healthcare equity worked to get the word out and help people sign up for appointments.
Some housing officials in the Capital Region are telling homeowners who are relieved by the new federal COVID-19 eviction moratorium extension to begin preparing financially for the eventual end of the federal program.
A fired jail sergeant, who was in charge when a corrections officer allegedly attacked a detainee in November, has been indicted on two counts of official misconduct, according to Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney.
The Rensselaer County Legislature’s Democratic minority wants to create a county registry to prevent people convicted of animal cruelty from owning other animals.
Sketches of Saratoga Hospital’s plan to expand into the surrounding residential neighborhood will get their first viewing tonight at the city’s Planning Board meeting.
Chad Dawson, the Adirondack Park Agency board member who resigned late last year out of frustration with the agency and state DEC, has taken a new position with an environmental advocacy group: Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve.
Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick this week announced a plan to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety.
Bruce Springsteen pleaded guilty to drinking with fans at a New Jersey park, but dodged charges of DWI and reckless driving because prosecutors said he wasn’t drunk during the November incident.
Sacha Baron Cohen says he’s ready to retire his beloved satirical character, Borat.
