Happy Hump Day, CivMixers. I can see the weekend on the horizon. It’s just over those hills there…
The weather is making headlines in the Capital Region this afternoon. I was out in that storm around 3 p.m., and it was indeed gnarly.
More severe weather is possible…be careful out there.
In other news…
President Trump visited the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, where White House officials said he planned to thank emergency and hospital workers and visit with families and victims of the city’s tragic shooting. He’s headed to El Paso, Texas later today.
As he left the White House, Trump defended his rhetoric while strongly criticizing those who say he bears some responsibility for the nation’s divisions, returning to political arguing even as he called for unity.
While campaigning in Iowa, former Vice President Joe Biden lit into Trump, assailing his moral compass and asserting that the president “has publicly and unapologetically embraced a political strategy of hate, racism and division.”
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Chuck Schumer put the brakes on Republicans’ quick embrace of “red flag” laws as a response to last weekend’s gun violence, saying that any gun-related legislation moving through the Senate must be accompanied by a House bill requiring background checks on all gun purchasers.
The share of Americans who say they have a favorable view of Trump has increased significantly since the 2016 election.
Top Democrats in New York publicly backed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s for a national gun control plan that includes universal background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons.
Cuomo called on the two dozen Democratic presidential candidates to adopt a series of gun-control measures he said would “change this nation” following two mass shootings this past weekend that left more than 30 dead.
Cuomo has a lot to say about firearms policy, but he isn’t interested in talking about the state’s unfinished ammunition and pistol permit databases as he makes a pitch for federal gun control measures.
A bill that would make it a felony charge for dousing a police officer with water is opposed by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who said there should be a more community-based approach to the issue.
Heastie was in Mechanicville today – a continuation of a tradition he began four years ago after assuming leadership of the chamber, with summer stops in upstate communities represented by Assembly Democrats.
Heastie says he doesn’t agree with the 2nd Amendment, but he “respects” it.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s presidential campaign broke federal campaign finance rules by failing to report tens of thousands of dollars in donations and expenses to the Federal Election Commission, a complaint filed today charges.
The Niagara County Legislature voted unanimously to file a lawsuit to overturn the state’s new “Green Light Law” because lawmakers said allowing immigrants who enter the country illegally to obtain driver’s licenses could enable them to vote in elections.
Long Island Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, the former chairman of the Assembly Ethics Committee, wrote to state ethics regulators this week expressing “great displeasure” over their inquiry into Kat Sullivan, an alleged rape victim who lobbied for legislation aiding other child sex abuse victims.
A recent aftercare initiative between the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA), one that is the first of its kind in North America, allows for an aftercare assessment fee to be attached to claimed horses at NYRA tracks.
A State Police dispatcher received praise this week after she helped a Malta mother in labor give birth off Interstate 90.
County officials are encouraging bids in the online auction for the Saratoga County Homestead – a former tuberculosis hospital that has been empty since 1973. So far, the highest bid is $30,100 for the two-building property on 28.61 acres that is assessed at $224,194.
A House measure on weaponized ticks has revived a discredited conspiracy theory about Lyme disease.
Albany’s Historic Resources Commission tonight will consider going forward in the process to getting 300 buildings on Washington Avenue onto the national register of historic places.
General Electric Co.’s second-largest union has reached a deal on a new contract with the company, avoiding a potential strike of 1,250 workers in Ohio and Wisconsin.
Former Republican Rep. John Sweeney, who served four terms in Congress before losing a re-election bid in 2006, is battling prostate cancer that he said was discovered during a recent annual physical.
New Yorkers with disabilities held a mock funeral to mourn the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program as they know it.
The U.S. Soccer Federation has hired two Washington lobbying firms to push back against claims that it pays the women’s national team less than half of what it pays the men’s team.
A dry red Cabernet Franc from the Finger Lakes has been named New York’s top wine for 2019.
Do you have a “go-to” diner order? Here’s what that says about you.
Photo credit: Dannielle Melendez.
