Well, CivMix friends, we made it to the end of another week, bringing us one step closer to the back end of this insane year.
And since it’s Friday, we’re in for a bit of a treat: It’s National Cookie Day!
The English word “cookie” is derived from the Dutch word koekie, meaning “little cake.” However, the concept of a small, round disk of goodness dates back to 7th century Persia – although apparently, they weren’t all that sweet at the time. (Nothing compared to modern-day standards, anyway).
The cookie did not arrive in America until the 17th century, at which point gingerbread and macaroons were very popular. Outside the U.S., cookies are often known as “biscuits,” which does not make any sense to me in the slightest. A biscuit is a delicious thing all on its own, but it is not a cookie.
Origin story time…National Cookie Day was created in 1987 by Matt Nader of the San Francisco Blue Chip Cookie Company. However, Sesame Street lays claim to the day, too, as none other than the Duke of Dough himself, Cookie Monster, declared his own National Cookie Day as early as 1980.
Woah. If you go down the Google rabbit hole, you’ll find that Cookie Monster has an official birthday. Of course. It’s Nov. 2, in case you were wondering. You’re welcome. You’ll never forget that fact now, but something much more salient – like your mom’s birthday – has now permanently slipped your mind.
It’s also, technically speaking, the birthday of the fast food giant Burger King.
The first Burger King opened on this day in 1954, the first Burger King, which grew out of a previous incarnation, Insta Burger, opened in Miami, FL. The home of the Whopper, which debuted three years later, Burger King slowly grew and in 1967, started to allow franchises. Now, according to the chain, there are more than 13,000 locations worldwide.
Burger King’s initial offerings included 18-cent hamburgers and milkshakes. Today, it’s known as one of the pricier fast food options; a Whopper will set you back a whopping $4.19. A small milkshake is $2.49. (I had to look this up, BTW, I haven’t been inside a Burger King in years, but was very much a fan of its spicy chicken sandwich, once upon a time).
Some notable celebrities are celebrating birthdays today, including actor Jeff Bridges (71), model-TV personality Tyra Banks (47), and rapper Jay-Z (51).
It’s going to be mostly cloudy today, with a high near 50.
In the headlines…
Pfizer and Germany-based partner BioNTech SE had hoped to roll out 100 million vaccines world-wide by the end of this year, a plan that has now been reduced to 50 million due to supply chain issues.
The Department of Defense released the first images of a Covid-19 vaccination record card and vaccination kits.
Joe Biden asked Anthony Fauci to stay on in his administration to help combat the coronavirus pandemic, the president-elect said.
The president-elect also said that he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after he takes office, in a sign of how Biden’s approach to the virus will be dramatically different from President Donald Trump’s response.
And Biden said he would be “happy” to get his coronavirus vaccine publicly, as a way to encourage trust in the vaccine.
As lawmakers renew their efforts to come to a compromise — including two new bipartisan and GOP packages — some question whether it will be enough to get more financial relief to Americans before some key protections expire at the end of this month.
Congressional leaders said that a coronavirus aid compromise was within reach, but that lawmakers would have to resolve the sticking points that have stymied them for months.
The daily drumbeat of legal losses for Trump continued in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as he and his allies once again hit roadblocks in court on cases seeking to have the election overturned.
Trump refused to say whether he retains confidence in Attorney General William P. Barr, who this week undercut the president by saying he had not seen any evidence of fraud on a scale that would alter the election results.
Trump is considering preemptively pardoning as many as 20 aides and associates before leaving office, frustrating Republicans who believe offering legal reprieves to his friends and family members could backfire.
Biden revealed that he broke his foot tripping on a rug after a shower as he chased one of his dogs and grabbed its tail.
Ivanka Trump got into a Twitter spat with Washington’s attorney general after news broke that she was recently questioned in his investigation into her father’s inaugural committee’s sketchy spending patterns.
A group of tenants in rent-regulated apartments once owned by Donald Trump’s father have filed a lawsuit against the president and his siblings, accusing the Trumps of a decade-long fraud to win artificially high rent increases through an invoice-padding scheme.
Another 712,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Labor Department, as the job market recovery continues to slow. That was a bit lower in the previous week, which was revised higher.
Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, fell by 75,000 to a seasonally adjusted 712,000 in the week that ended Nov. 28.
The U.S. labor force is 2.2% smaller than in February, a loss of 3.7 million workers, and women and baby boomers have been most impacted.
California topped Hawaii with the nation’s worst insured unemployment rate at 7.3% for the first time since August.
The number of New Yorkers who filed initial claims for pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) declined by 7 percent last week.
…but more than 1 million residents who have relied on the COVID-19 relief benefit will see it end by the end of the year unless Congress can reach a last-minute agreement to extend it.
Queens Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks won the chairmanship of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, of the Hudson Valley, has been elected to lead the campaign arm of the House Democrats.
Former Long Island Democratic Rep. Steve Israel is under consideration by the incoming Biden administration to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Israel, according to recent Jewish media reports.
As he prepares for his fourth term in Congress, Republican Central New York Rep. John Katko is eyeing a leadership post on the House Homeland Security Committee.
The Trump administration has sued Facebook, accusing the social-media company of illegally reserving high-paying jobs for immigrant workers it was sponsoring for permanent residence, rather than searching adequately for available U.S. workers who could fill the positions.
Facebook updated its misinformation policy around the coronavirus crisis to include vaccine-related content, as the company looks to continue its fight against claims that it isn’t doing enough to protect its billions of users.
United Parcel Service (UPS) is limiting shipping capacity for some large retailers as online shopping balloons in tandem with the coronavirus pandemic.
Walmart will give out a fourth round of pandemic-related bonuses to its 1.5 million U.S. employees, the retailer announced.
The NY Post devoted its wood (the front page) to calling out Democrats for their “hypocrisy” in asking constituents to follow strict COVID protocols and then flaunting them.
California has unveiled plans to issue regional stay-at-home orders for areas in the state where intensive care units are expected to fall below a capacity of 15%, with the vast majority of the state expected to meet that criteria within the next few days.
One day after announcing that New York will receive its first batch of vaccine to counter the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo showed off a box with dry ice, vials and trays to demonstrate how the effort to deliver the dosages is crystallizing.
“It’s real and they are being manufactured and they are going to be shipped,” Cuomo said. “We are working very hard to be ready for the distribution and training people. This is the weapon that is going to win the war.”
Cuomo later admitted the box was a mock-up and not a real vaccine carrier.
Cuomo said he was unsure when the vaccine would be widely available. The uncertainty surrounding availability will be just one element of what is shaping up to be the greatest mass vaccination campaign in the United States in at least the last half century.
Cuomo plans to restart his regular public briefings on the coronavirus next week. He will deliver briefings every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
New York City will have the capacity to store at least 1.5 million doses of the much-anticipated COVID vaccines and expects to begin receiving the two approved vaccines before the end of the year.
New York City will receive nearly half a million Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna this month for health care workers in high-risk settings and residents and employees of nursing homes, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. But some are reluctant to be “guinea pigs.”
Cuomo announced he is expanding the eligibility requirements for the state’s rental assistance program to help more New Yorkers. The application will soon be reopened and more information is expected in the coming days.
With COVID-19 cases rising and restrictions mounting, the state Liquor Authority has extended the privilege for bars and restaurants to sell alcoholic beverages to-go or by delivery through Jan. 1.
De Blasio warned that a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is closing in on New York City, as officials prepare to accept enough vaccines this month to begin inoculating more than 460,000 people.
The NYPD will begin allowing civilian members to work from home as the number of COVID-19 cases in the city rises.
Public-health officials in Buffalo, New York’s second-most populous city, are fighting a surge in coronavirus cases with the normal calls for residents to avoid social gatherings and wear masks in public.
Uber-loving New Yorkers are directing resources South to aid their favored candidates and get voters to the polls in two key Georgia races that could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Homeless people living on the city’s streets are being left out in the cold — and out of control — due to de Blasio’s decision to cut $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget.
The city’s plan to move a group of homeless men from the Upper West Side to the Financial District has been temporarily halted — again, an appeals court ruled.
The city’s homeless student population dipped slightly last year — but advocates warn that the numbers may be skewed due to the coronavirus and could soon skyrocket.
Five current and former New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers have been charged with falsely claiming hundreds of hours of overtime pay.
Cuomo blamed the MTA overtime scandal on “bad apples.”
The New York Young Republican Club held its 108th annual gala – in person – at a secret location.
Attorneys for the two candidates in a still-unresolved NY-22 race recently found themselves battling over what appeared to be an extra mark – a bloodstain? chocolate? – on a challenged paper ballot.
At a meeting yesterday, members of the bipartisan commission charged with redrawing state legislative and congressional district lines complained – again – that they still haven’t received funding from the Cuomo administration.
Cuomo signed legislation that will allow a nonprofit that’s monitoring prison conditions to gain access to New York’s correctional facilities.
The governor this week also signed a bill to ban toxic PFAS compounds from food packaging that is commonly found in items ranging from pizza boxes to milk cartons and pastry bags, as well as being used in wrappings for meat and fish.
The Cuomo administration will study the damage road salt does to property and the environment, the first step in curbing a mounting threat to the Adirondack Park’s wilderness and people.
The city of Saratoga Springs’ Commissioner of Public Safety Robin Dalton confirmed that two on the city’s police force tested positive for COVID-19.
RPI student leaders have penned an open letter outlining grievances with some of the university’s COVID-19 policies after school officials retracted approval notices — apparently sent in error — granting students permission to take their spring semester remotely.
UAlbany’s basketball programs have been placed on a temporary pause again due to COVID.
Capital Region hospitals are treating a record number of COVID-19 patients, with Wednesday’s patient load topping spring levels for the first time.
Albany County continues to set records for the coronavirus pandemic while waiting for updated guidance from the state on the possibility of new shutdowns.
Rensselaer County set a new daily record with 72 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and also saw one county resident die, raising the county death toll to 60, officials said.
A local conservation group this week closed on the purchase of a 195-acre historic farm surrounding part of the Albany-Voorheesville rail trail used by hikers, bicyclists and others seeking traffic-free fresh air.
Owning and trading big cats would be illegal under a House bill passed that was inspired by the Netflix docuseries “Tiger King.”
A volunteer at a Florida animal sanctuary featured in the “Tiger King” documentary series was seriously injured when a tiger grabbed and nearly tore off her arm as she tried to feed it, the sanctuary announced.
RIP Harold Rubin, co-founder of the Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations and long-time state employee who rankled governors and mayors alike, who died Nov. 24 at 93.
RIP Betsy Wade, the first woman to edit news copy for The New York Times and the lead plaintiff in a landmark sex discrimination lawsuit against the newspaper on behalf of its female employees, who died at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was 91.
