Good Wednesday morning, CivMixers.
It’s the last time you and I will be together for a short while.
Oh, don’t you worry, I’m not actually GOING anywhere. (Just in case the holiday travel police are reading this). I just will be taking a few days off to sleep a little later than 3 a.m. Expect me – and Rise and Shine – to be back bright and early Monday morning.
So, tonight is traditionally one of the busiest of the year from a social perspective – at least if you’re of a certain age. In my day, anyway, it used to be that college students who were home to visit the fam would go out on the town the night before Thanksgiving to reunite with old high school friends.
Apparently, there’s a word for this: Drinksgiving. Who knew? Not me. But they knew in Pennsylvania, so much so that alcohol sales there are banned at bars and restaurants tonight.
I don’t even know if the kids are doing this anymore – I mean, if they DID it, back in the before time. But, of course, due to the pandemic, gathering in large groups is out anyway.
I do get kind of nostalgic for my old stomping grounds in New Paltz around this time, though a lot of the bars that used to be packed on this night back then aren’t even around anymore…because, well, as I’ve said before, I’m old.
Also, along the lines of the “let’s go out and party in an old school way” theme, today is National Jukebox Day. Yeah, there’s a day for that. Do they even exist anymore?
Enough of the trip down memory lane. We have serious business to address.
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is more important now than ever as there have been widespread reports from across the globe that lockdowns connected to COVID-19 have increased violence against women and girls – particularly domestic violence.
In some countries, calls to helplines have increased fivefold, according to a UN report. And if that doesn’t make you angry, here’s a statistic that might: 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime – most frequently perpetrated by an intimate partner.
Globally, 243 million women and girls were abused by an intimate partner over the past year. But, less than 40 per cent of women who experience violence report it or seek help.
This is unacceptable. Full stop. Violence against anyone is unacceptable, to be clear.
The theme for this day is: “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” If you are in need of domestic violence resources in New York, click here or here (in NYC).
We’re got a fairly nice day ahead of us, with temperatures flirting with 50 degrees and cloudy skies – just a chance of rain that will increase throughout the afternoon. Tomorrow, will also be warm – like close to 60! – but there will be showers early on that intensify as the day progresses.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
In the headlines…
The U.S. logged nearly 2,100 coronavirus-related fatalities yesterday, marking the deadliest day in more than six months. Record numbers of fatalities were also reported in nine states.
One mutation near the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic made a big difference, multiple new findings suggest, helping the virus spread more easily from person to person and making the pandemic harder to stop.
The coronavirus is surging across the U.S. But it’s hitting hardest in rural places, where people have been sheltering less than anywhere else in the country.
Reports are piling in from airports across the country that describe large crowds. While most travelers wear masks, some photos clearly show people without face coverings.
If you are traveling this holiday season, here’s how to do it safer.
Despite the busy airports, most people say they are scaling back their Thanksgiving Day plans.
British authorities gave the green light to holiday reunions, relaxing restrictions on social mixing over Christmas and offering arriving international travelers a way to cut short quarantine if they test negative for COVID-19.
Sweden’s top infectious disease expert said that the country has not seen evidence of herd immunity slowing the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Partnering up with George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, Amtrak has developed new and enhanced cleaning measures – including more frequent cleaning of trains and stations.
The federal government will send 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to communities across the U.S. within 24 hours of regulatory clearance, with the expectation that shots will be administered quickly to front-line health-care workers.
Vaccine allocations will be made based on the total number of adults in the state.
CDC Director Robert Redfield said a vaccine would initially be made available “in a hierarchical way” with priority going to “nursing home residents and then some combination of health care providers and individuals at high risk for a poor outcome.”
The CDC may soon shorten the length of time it recommends that a person self-quarantine after potential exposure to the coronavirus, hoping that such a step will encourage more people to comply.
Among the front-runners racing to deliver a Covid-19 shot, AstraZeneca has the least vaccine experience. But it has promised the world the most doses—more than three billion.
Lawmakers from both parties say it would be a tremendous failure if Congress cannot pass the next COIVD-19 relief bill by Christmas.
President-elect Joe Biden is moving quickly to take advantage of government resources for his transition to the White House after the Trump administration ended a 16-day stalemate and announced its intention to begin cooperating with his team.
Biden said that the Trump administration has already begun to reach out to his transition team, and he described the effort as “sincere,” a day after a federal agency released a letter to formally begin the transition of power.
“Diplomacy is back,” and America will be “a country of welcome.” These were just two of the policy shifts that members of Biden’s national security team pledged to enact at an event introducing his choices for top Cabinet posts.
Biden said that transition staffers have been in touch with Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, and he has been “very, very helpful.”
There’s infighting among Democrats as the Biden administration prepares to fill thousands of jobs.
Pennsylvania and Nevada, two key battleground states, certified Biden’s wins yesterday, even as President Trump continued to fight results in court and insisted that he will “never concede.”
Trump is expected to join his attorney Rudy Giuliani in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, today, where Republican state lawmakers are holding a “hearing” on allegations of fraud in this month’s election.
Trump is clinging to the White House, attending to the bare minimum of presidential duties and improbably boasting on Twitter that he “will soon prevail!” in the already-settled presidential election. But most of his campaign staff has abandoned him.
Trump has told aides that he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and that it is one of a string of pardons he plans to issue before leaving office.
Trump participated in the annual ritual of pardoning a turkey at the White House on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The end of Trump’s time in office leaves his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, looking for a new home — but they appear to have plans to live in New Jersey, not New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 30000 yesterday for the first time, extending an eight-month rebound that has taken many analysts by surprise.
Much of the market’s rise in recent months has been powered by building hopes among investors that scientists are on the brink of pushing out vaccines effective enough to fight the novel coronavirus.
Trump briefly emerged yesterday to tout the Dow Jones’ rise, and then vanished after a minute without taking questions.
YouTube said it suspended right-wing channel One America News for one week for violating its policy against misinformation related to the Covid-19 pandemic and temporarily stripped the channel of its ability to make money from other videos.
The New York State Sheriffs’ Association has issued a statement blasting Gov. Andrew Cuomo over an executive order limiting private gatherings to 10 people ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
New York City law-enforcement officers won’t be knocking on doors on Thanksgiving Day to see whether New Yorkers are following Cuomo’s executive order limiting household gatherings to 10 people.
Interspersed with handing out turkeys downstate, Cuomo held two briefings yesterday urging New Yorkers to stick to small, household-only gatherings for the upcoming holiday.
The governor said hospitalizations in the state are up 128 percent in three weeks — from 1,253 earlier this month to 2,856 — and he urged “serious caution” this Thanksgiving.
Cuomo unveiled his new Thanksgiving attire — a turkey face mask that, the governor quipped, actually made him look better.
Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen is urging members of the public to remember that a negative COVID-19 test cannot guarantee a safe Thanksgiving holiday.
Macy’s had to rip up its usual script for the Thanksgiving Day parade and plan a new parade with the coronavirus in mind. There will be Rockettes, but don’t expect a kickline.
Two on-duty New York Police Department officers were shot and wounded yesterday afternoon in Queens while responding to a domestic-violence incident in the Springfield Gardens section of the borough. A suspect also was shot and killed.
The City of Albany police department shut down its police academy on Monday after several officers assigned there tested positive for the coronavirus, infecting several other people.
The state Health Department has eased its COVID-19 guidelines for school districts in red, orange, and yellow “micro-clusters,” noting that preliminary data shows relatively low positivity rates among school children.
New York City likely won’t reopen its public schools after the Thanksgiving weekend, but the process could start in the coming weeks, under a plan to intensify testing and bring students back in waves.
UFT President Mike Mulgrew said he will oppose extending mayoral control of the public schools as currently enacted past its 2022 expiration date.
Staten Island opened its emergency field hospital yesterday and accepted its first patient amid a troubling surge of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the borough.
The MTA has identified 20 transit workers who showed up to work with cases of COVID-19 in recent weeks with a program that offers tests for the virus in subway yards and bus depots.
Across NYC, politicos are remembering David Dinkins, the city’s first black mayor who died earlier this week.
The governor indicated that income tax increases in the state were inevitable if Washington does not dole out more coronavirus-related aid.
Cuomo defended Trump this week as the three-term Democratic governor indicated the media did not treat the president with the respect that the office commands.
A new Siena poll finds that Cuomo’s favorability and job performance ratings have slipped slightly among registered voters.
Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is reportedly preparing another run to become mayor of New York City.
Mayor Bill de Blasio dismissed the fact that the city incredibly failed to pick up on a Hasidic wedding attended by thousands amid COVID-19 this month — scoffing to a reporter, “It’s a big city.”
State Senate Democrats officially clinched supermajority status in the Legislature’s upper chamber yesterday, potentially gifting them additional negotiating power when it comes to cutting deals with Cuomo, as Republicans knocked off an incumbent Democrat (Sen. Jen Metzger) in the Hudson Valley.
Metzger conceded to Republican challenger Mike Martucci just as court wrangling was set to begin over disputed absentee and affidavit ballots in a race that stretched three weeks past Election Day.
State Demcoratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs predicted (and in a way urged) cautious moderation from the state Senate even with its swelled majority given the large tent the party now finds itself with in the chamber.
Democratic candidates in New York’s 19th, 20th and 21st congressional races have expanded their vote share on the strength of their performance in absentee ballots counted since Election Day.
The fight over who will next represent NY-22 still isn’t over, as a state Supreme Court Judge granted an injunction yesterday afternoon, further delaying certification of final results in a race that’s taken nearly all month to button up.
Housing advocates are calling on Cuomo to ensure necessary funds to expand supportive housing across New York are allocated in next year’s budget.
The family of Eric Garner asked a Manhattan judge to order de Blasio and former Police Commissioner James O’Neill to testify in relation to the city’s investigation into Garner’s 2014 death during an arrest attempt by cops.
Restaurant ratings traditionally land in November, with the annual release of the latest guides from Michelin and Zagat. Not this year. Both companies have put their 2021 New York guides on hold, and both are pivoting in other directions due to the pandemic.
Purdue Pharma, the company responsible for thousands of overdose deaths at the hands of its drug OxyContin, pleaded guilty to federal crimes.
A growing coronavirus outbreak at a Troy nursing home fueled another day of record COVID-19 cases for Rensselaer County.
The Massachusetts man who spat at two hikers and claimed to have coronavirus has been arrested.
Barack Obama’s most recent memoir has sold an eye-popping 1.7 million copies in North America during its first week — a near-record-high tally for a nonfiction book.
The tiny brown-and-white speckled Saw-whet that inadvertently traveled from Oneonta to Manhattan aboard this year’s Rockefeller Christmas tree was released back into its natural habitat last night.
Upstate New York native Hal Ketchum is dead at age 67, his official Facebook page announced.
