Good morning, CixMixers, there’s some nice symmetry in today’s date, adding just a touch of je ne sais quoi to the already lovely fact that’s we’ve made it to Friday.
And it’s going to be a hot one.
The temperature is headed up to some dangerous levels today, according to the National Weather Service, with an excessive heat warning in place starting at noon. Heat index values of up to 105 today and up to 110 Saturday are expected, and may stay above 80 much of tonight.
What meteorologists are calling a “heat dome” in the middle part of the U.S. is now spreading into the Great Lakes and the East Coast.
Expect some clouds this morning, followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. The temperature will be somewhere in the mid-90s, but feel hotter, and the humidity will hover around 70 percent. Tomorrow, we are going up to the high 90s, perhaps evening flirting with 100 degrees.
Racing on Saturday at Saratoga has already been cancelled as a result of the high heat – the first time this has occurred since 2006.
(This is the first weekend day to be called off at Saratoga since Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, the day after the Travers. Hurricane Irene was the cause of that postponement).
The New York City Triathlon was also called off a day after NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio urged race directors not to hold the event as scheduled on Sunday, when severe heat is expected.
This is the first cancellation of the triathlon, which was founded in 2001. All registered participants will receive a refund.
De Blasio declared a local state of emergency ahead of the heat wave – the first of 2019 for New York.
In non-weather news…
Following an onslaught of outrage, President Donald Trump disavowed the “send her back” chant that broke out the previous night among supporters at his North Carolina rally after he launched a vicious attack on progressive Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar — and Twitter was not buying it.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, is demanding that former White House communications director Hope Hicks clarify her testimony before the committee after he said new court filings suggested there were “inconsistencies” between her words and evidence collected by federal investigators in Michael Cohen’s case.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York’s senior senator, will lead a group of roughly a dozen Senate Democrats on a trip Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border to inspect migrant detention facilities.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul really did not want to talk to NY1’s Jeevan Vittal about his objection to an attempt to quickly pass a bill ensuring the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund never runs out of money.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Schumer said an agreement has been reached to vote next week on a bipartisan bill that will continuing putting money into the fund in perpetuity.
NYC’s medical examiner has identified the 1,644th victim of the World Trade Center terror attacks using DNA testing of remains recovered in 2002. The woman’s name is being withheld at her family’s request.
The Rensselaer County Board of Elections plans to share voter registration information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to check if anyone who registered to vote is in the U.S. illegally, county Republicans said.
Albany police officials confirmed five teens in total were arrested and charged in connection with a shooting in the South End in which a 3-year-old was struck by a stray bullet while sleeping at a daycare facility. The child’s injuries are non-life threatening.
The shooting drew the attention of Albany Common Council Public Safety Chair Dorcey Applyrs, who said she wants to convene a permanent violence prevention task force.
As former Vice President Al Gore looked on, a sweeping climate change fighting measure was approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who called the legislation one of the most important in the eight years he’s been in office.
The fatal and fiery crash of two tractor-trailers early Wednesday on the Northway happened shortly after one of the drivers fell asleep at the wheel, the State Police said.
The New York State Humane Association is offering a $1,000 reward for info leading to an arrest and conviction, on who abandoned a cat with chemical burns in Clifton Park.
Thousands of dollars were distributed to allies of former state Republican Committee Chair Ed Cox from the party’s campaign account in the waning days of his administration.
Trump will nominate Eugene Scalia, son of late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, to be the next labor secretary, the president announced via Twitter.
Kim Kardashian took to Twitter to thank Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House adviser Jared Kushner for assisting in efforts to get rapper A$AP Rocky freed from jail in Sweden.
Prosecutors say they need until July 25 to complete their investigation into assault accusation against the rapper, who was detained in Sweden early this month.
The lineup for the two-night Democratic primary debate in Detroit, Michigan on July 30 and 31 was announced.
Some members of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign team have been lobbying to raise their wages so that they make the $15 hourly rate that the Vermont senator has frequently called for both on the campaign trail and in Washington D.C.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is leading the pack of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, with Sanders and Elizabeth Warren tied behind him, according to a new NBC News|SurveyMonkey online poll.
The director-general of the World Health Organisation announced he had been advised by the organization’s emergency committee to declare Ebola a “public health emergency of international concern” – only the fifth in history.
Apparently, it’s National Daiquiri Day.
Sushi-seeking penguins. You’re welcome.
Photo credit: Hassan Elminyawi, Urban Aftermath Books.
