Good morning, CivMixers. It’s Wednesday, and normally I might say something about hitting the middle of the workweek, but since it’s a short holiday week, I won’t.
Apparently in some parts of the world (mainly Newfoundland and Labrador, as far as I can tell) tonight is something called “Tibb’s Eve,” or “Tipsy Eve,” if you prefer. It’s an opportunity to sort of pre-game Christmas, if you will, gathering with friends to have a few beverages in honor of the holiday.
Traditionally, Advent was a sober time of year, and this evening was the first night during that period when it was deemed acceptable for folks to drink alcohol before the season officially ended on Christmas Day.
Today might be more widely known to modern Americans as “Festivus,” thanks to Seinfeld.
It’s also National Pfeffernusse Day, which, for the uninitiated, celebrates a German spice cookie made with ground nuts and spices and covered with powdered sugar that’s very popular around the holidays.
On this date in 1783, George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va.
Years later, on this date in 1997, a federal jury in Denver, CO convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing, declining to find him guilty of murder.
Some interesting historical bookends to keep in mind while you’re rushing around doing that last-minute shopping.
It’s going to be a pretty nice day – for the end of December – with temperatures in the mid-30s and partly cloudy skies. The next two days look pretty darn crummy, though it will be unseasonably warm with temperatures in the 50s. We’re forecast to see a mix of rain and snow on Christmas Day.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump called for Congress to take back the massive $2.3 trillion stimulus — and increase the check to Americans from $600 to $2,000.
The outgoing president said in a video posted on Twitter that he won’t sign the relief bill unless it’s amendment to include more direct relief.
The president’s announcement stunned Washington, where Monday’s vote on the deal – with concessions from both parties – had capped a bitter, months-long fight. Democrats said they would press to pass more assistance next year.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s response (also on Twitter): “Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!”
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted: “Trump needs to sign the bill to help people and keep the government open and we’re glad to pass more aid Americans need Maybe Trump can finally make himself useful and get Republicans not to block it again.”
A day after Congress approved a hard-fought $900 billion stimulus package, President-elect Joe Biden called the measure a “down payment” and vowed to enter office next month asking lawmakers to return to the negotiating table.
The legislation has a lot of pork in it, adding not one but two National Mall museums, $10 million for “gender programs” in Pakistan and $2.5 million for “internet freedom.”
Airlines are preparing to call back tens of thousands of workers they let go in October now that Congress has approved government assistance to cover carriers’ payroll through the end of March. The question is how long employees will be able to keep their jobs.
Trump announced a wave of lame duck pardons, including two for men who pleaded guilty in Robert Mueller’s investigation, as well as ones for GOP allies who once served in Congress and military contractors involved in a deadly shooting of Iraqi civilians.
In all, Trump granted full pardons to 15 individuals – including former WNY Rep. Chris Collins – and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional 5.
Collins, a one-time Erie County executive, was an early key supporter of Trump’s insurgent — and ultimately successful — 2016 campaign for the party’s presidential nomination.
“Today, President Trump granted a full pardon to Chris Collins, at the request of many Members of Congress,” the White House said in a statement that did not offer any further explanation of Trump’s action.
The Trump administration is considering a request to grant Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia immunity from a federal lawsuit that accuses him of trying to kill a former Saudi intelligence official living in Canada, legal documents related to the case show.
Trump is plotting a final stand in Congress on Jan. 6, casting it as the ultimate loyalty test in his quest to remain in power and shutting out anyone who won’t get in line.
Trump is reportedly questioning the loyalty of even Vice President Mike Pence as the commander-in-chief pushes ever more extreme measures in a hopeless bid to overturn his election loss.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is not ruling out a 2024 presidential bid — even if it means running against his old friend Trump.
A top Dominion Voting Systems employee, who went into hiding after becoming the subject of conspiracy theories on the right since the election, is suing the Trump campaign, several campaign surrogates and pro-Trump media outlets, alleging defamation.
Biden’s transition team has pushed back against Twitter’s decision to not allow the millions of followers of the White House Twitter accounts to be automatically retained when the accounts are handed over to the new administration.
Biden said that his administration will retaliate for a massive cyberattack that targeted U.S. government agencies and is believed to have been carried out by Russian hackers.
Biden’s transition team named six new White House hires, including Bruce Reed, the president-elect’s long-time confidant, to serve as deputy chief of staff. Progressives are not at all happy about Reed’s appointment.
Biden has chosen Miguel Cardona, Connecticut’s education chief and a lifelong champion of public schools, to serve as education secretary.
If confirmed, Dr. Cardona would face the most urgent education crisis in decades, and whether he can press schools to reopen without turning the issue into a partisan matter could have major repercussions for the young Biden administration.
Alex Padilla, California’s secretary of state, has been appointed to fill the Senate seat held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, capping months of intense political jockeying among Democratic factions in the state.
In a message intended to prevent a rush to the southwestern border, the incoming Biden administration announced it would not immediately reverse restrictions imposed by Trump that have effectively halted asylum and left thousands of migrants stranded outside the U.S.
The Trump administration sued Walmart, accusing the retail giant of helping to fuel the nation’s opioid crisis by inadequately screening for questionable prescriptions despite repeated warnings from its own pharmacists.
The federal government is advancing toward a deal with Pfizer to secure 100 million more doses of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine – an agreement that would bolster the vaccination campaign under way in the U.S.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins received their Covid-19 vaccines along with several frontline workers.
“I feel extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of this vaccine and I want to encourage everyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated so that we can have a veil of protection over this country, that would end this pandemic,” Fauci said.
Fauci, a Brooklyn native, predicted his hurting hometown will rebound from this year’s crushing pandemic.
Biden urged Americans to remain “vigilant” over the holidays, adding that Pfizer’s and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines likely won’t stop the deaths of “tens of thousands” people due to the pandemic in the months to come.
Actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, who both had COVID-19 early on in the pandemic, will forgo getting the vaccine until “long after everybody who truly needs it gets it.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force leader, announced that she will retire just days after she was accused of bending her own rules with a Thanksgiving weekend gathering at a beach house.
The pandemic has finally reached every continent on Earth. Chilean authorities announced that at least 58 people that were at two military bases in Antarctica or on a navy ship that went to the continent tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The new variant or mutation to the coronavirus reported in the United Kingdom is prompting new questions, like will the vaccine still work? The good news is most researchers believe yes, it will, but tests are being done to make sure.
New York health officials are asking hospitals around the state to test for the new coronavirus strain that has emerged in the U.K., Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Thus far, there’s no evidence that it’s here.
Poorer countries are unlikely to gain substantial access to Covid-19 vaccines until the latter half of next year, meaning wealthier European countries could still remain vulnerable to new waves of infection for years, the UN’s humanitarian chief has said.
Lyft will provide 60 million rides to and from COVID-19 vaccination sites in at-risk, low-income, and uninsured communities, the company announced.
Super Saturday wasn’t so super for bricks-and-mortar stores, and the U.S. Postal Service is starting to buckle under the flood of holiday orders that shifted online.
More residents escaped from New York over the last year than from any other state, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, which could cause it to lose a House seat.
As a residential eviction moratorium nears expiration and thousands of New Yorkers face housing uncertainty, the state has extended and revised its rent relief program to help get more of the money allocated for it to those in need.
Cuomo signed a bill suspending the use of facial recognition and other kinds of biometric technology in schools, directing a study of whether its use is appropriate in schools.
The governor also signed the state’s first automatic voter registration (AVR) bill. Now eligible voters will automatically be registered when they interact with multiple state and city agencies that collect the information required by the State Board of Elections.
New York City will ask the state for permission to operate speed cameras around the clock as deaths of drivers, motorcyclists and passengers look set to reach their highest annual levels in almost 15 years.
Several other bills that lawmakers have passed are still in limbo — including one that would end driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines and fees.
Cuomo chastised the Queens Republican club that threw a maskless holiday party featuring a conga line.
City Hall has quietly ordered agencies to draw up plans to trim expenses over the next eighteen months as Mayor Bill de Blasio confronts a $3.8 billion deficit and dimming hopes that federal aid will close the gap.
Lyft lost an appeal to fight a city rule that set a minimum wage for New York’s for-hire drivers, new court papers show.
The judges of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, exercising a rarely used power, formally appointed acting U.S. attorney Audrey Strauss to the post she currently holds, extending her tenure as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Even though tourists are scarce, New York City’s best known busker, the Naked Cowboy, is still belting out the tunes in Times Square as he turns 50.
Albany County set two more coronavirus records yesterday, reporting its highest daily caseload to date and the largest number of residents hospitalized in intensive care units.
Capital Region hospitals have begun limiting the number of non-urgent surgeries they perform in order to save beds for the growing proportion of people whose COVID-19 infections require hospitalization.
Third-party food delivery services are once again under fire in Albany County as restaurants claim they are still being charged more than the 15 percent cap issued under a county executive order.
After bilking home buyers, business owners and lenders out of more than $1 million, a Saratoga Springs man pleaded guilty to money laundering and scheme to defraud in Saratoga County Court, state Attorney General Letitia James said.
Cohoes officials said the Common Council unanimously approved a proposal by Mayor Bill Keeler to impose an assessment on the gross receipts of any commercial hazardous waste facility located in the city, including the Norlite aggregate plant.
The Workforce Development Institute presented 100 Chromebooks to the Abrookin Career and Technical Center in Albany on Tuesday — laptop computers that will go directly to seniors in Albany High School’s career and technical education programs.
A police officer fatally shot a Black man early yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, three weeks after a county sheriff’s deputy killed a Black man in the state capital, which ignited a round of protests against police brutality.
The Pulitzer Prize Board said that it would no longer recognize the New York Times podcast “Caliphate” and a related article as a 2019 Pulitzer finalist.
