Good morning, it’s Tuesday. I needed to check that a few times, actually, because yesterday seemed so darn long.
Because this is a year without precedent already, Governor Andrew Cuomo will be delivering the second of four – yes, FOUR – State of the State addresses today. The pandemic forced him to give the first one virtually and without much of an in-person audience.
Cuomo chose the War Room, which is basically the antechamber of his second floor office at the state Capitol, as the backdrop for his first speech, which set the stage for his prolonged declaration of war against the virus and pledge that New York would win its battle with this invisible, yet formidable, enemy.
Down in D.C., meanwhile, the House Democrats introduced yet another article of impeachment against President Donald Trump and said they plan to vote forward with a vote tomorrow, despite the fact that there is only tepid Republican support for doing so.
The single article of impeachment alleges “incitement of insurrection.”
The Democrats have thus far failed in their quest to get Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and remove Trump from office altogether. They are expected to have the two-thirds vote necessary to impeach him for the second time in his four-year tenure – and historic moment, if and when it happens.
A two-thirds supermajority in the Senate would be required to impeach the President again, and that’s a little trickier to get to. Outgoing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he doesn’t think there’s sufficient time between now and the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to accommodate both a trial and a vote.
The Senate isn’t scheduled to return to D.C. until January 19. But incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is thinking of employing a little-used emergency tool to call members back. The catch: McConnell would have to agree.
The Senate could hold an impeachment trial even after Trump’s term ends, which some think is warranted given the egregious nature of his incitement of a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
As if we weren’t living through interesting enough times, for students of history, this was a pretty big day.
In 2010, for example, an earthquake killed some 316,000 people in Haiti, more or less destroying the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and creating a humanitarian disaster, the ramifications of which are still being felt – ten years later.
On this day in 1991, the House, after several days of heated debate, passed a resolution authorizing President George H.W. Bush to use military force against Iraq. The vote was 250 to 183.
The vote marked the most divided congressional decision to commit U.S. forces to military action since the War of 1812. Only three Republicans voted against the measure, while 80 Democrats supported it.
And on this day in 1969, the English rock band Led Zepplin released its debut album – creatively entitled “Led Zepplin” – in the U.S., featuring its iconic cover depicting the Hindenberg disaster.
The album was a mix of original material as well as remakes and rearrangements of contemporary blues and folk songs. The sogns tended to be a little longer than what was standard for the day, and so only one single (“Good Times Bad Times”) was released for radio airplay, but many of the rest of them ended up being classic rock staples over time.
Today is National Pharmacist Day, which is fitting given the role that pharmacies have been playing – and are gearing up to continue doing so – throughout the pandemic. Many have been offering COVID-19 testing for some time, and are also now slated to start offering vaccines (as long as there are doses available, of course) as well.
Interesting tidbit, via the interwebs: The first pharmacies were established, in Baghdad, during the Islamic Golden Age.
We’re in for some light snow this morning, which is expected to give way to mostly cloudy conditions in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid-30s.
In the headlines…
Congress careened toward a fresh showdown with President Trump, as House Democrats said they plan to vote on impeaching him tomorrow over accusations he incited supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.
The NYT editorial board backs impeachment, writing: “President Trump’s efforts to remain in office in defiance of democracy cannot be allowed to go unanswered, lest they invite more lawlessness from this president or those who follow.”
Chad Wolf is resigning as the acting secretary of Homeland Security, he said in a letter to the department.Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor will be the new acting secretary.
Wolf is the third Cabinet-level official to quit since the attack on the Capitol last week.
Two Capitol Police officers were suspended and at least 10 more are under investigation for their behavior during last week’s assault on the Capitol, and federal agents will look at whether current and former law enforcement officers played a role in the riot.
The New York Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau is probing an active member in connection with last week’s riot in Washington, D.C., where five people died after Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, Commissioner Dermot Shea said.
New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, who had been expected to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom later this week, has instead declined the honor, citing last week’s violence at the Capitol.
The FBI is warning in an internal memo of the possibility of armed protests at all 50 state capitols and in Washington, D.C., ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, a law-enforcement official said.
Trump issued an emergency declaration for Washington D.C. to boost security ahead of Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
The theme for Biden’s inauguration will be “America United,” an issue that’s long been a central focus for the incoming president but one that’s taken on added weight in the wake of the violence at the U.S. Capitol last week.
The head of the National Guard says at least 10,000 troops will be deployed in Washington, D.C., by Saturday, and an additional 5,000 could be requested from other states.
Officials around the country are bracing for any spillover from last week’s violent assault on the U.S. Capitol. State legislatures already have become targets for protesters in recent days.
The Justice Department and the F.B.I. have embarked on a nationwide manhunt to track down scores of people who attacked the Capitol last week, as they grapple with the fallout from the widespread government failure to protect the building.
Investigators are pursuing more than 150 suspects for potential prosecution.
A Utica business owner arrested at the Capitol last week complained that the detainees were treated like “animals.”
Twitter announced that it has banned over 70,000 accounts that share content surrounding the QAnon conspiracy theory in the wake of the riot that erupted at the Capitol.
Tracking what may be planned in the coming days could become even more difficult as the groups take to lesser-known networks and apps that can’t be easily monitored.
Two Democratic lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus, saying they believe their infections are linked to the time they spent in a secure location with colleagues who refused to wear masks during Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol.
A growing wave of big businesses are deciding to suspend or review their campaign donations in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol, with many saying they would stop donating to Republicans who objected to the election’s certification.
After remaining silent for five days following the riot at the Capitol instigated by her husband, Melania Trump, the first lady, issued a statement complaining about how she had been treated before going on to condemn the deadly mob attack.
The New York State Bar Association announced that it is launching an inquiry into whether to remove former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, from its ranks after the insurrection at the Capitol.
State Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the Senate’s judiciary committee, said that he will ask the state’s second-highest court to consider removing Giuliani’s law license.
Facebook will begin removing all content that mentions the phrase “stop the steal,” a full 69 days after Election Day.
Social-media platform Parler has sued Amazon after the tech giant abruptly ended web-hosting services to the company, effectively halting its operation.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., are unveiling legislation that would seek to end federal capital punishment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rejecting criticism from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that she is not receptive to younger members and does not groom them for future leadership roles.
Newly reported Covid-19 cases, as well as deaths and hospitalizations related to the disease, were down from recent highs, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate a downward trend.
Biden received the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on camera, as part of an effort by the President-elect’s incoming administration to reassure the country of the safety of the vaccines.
Facing a daunting budget crisis and a surging second wave of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled his vision of New York’s agenda for the year, focused on righting the state’s finances and its citizens’ health.
“We know what we must do, and we will do it,” Cuomo said. “We will win the COVID war. We will learn and grow from the experience. We are smart, united, disciplined and loving. We are as we say, ‘New York tough.’”
Cuomo said the state would expand broadband internet access, create public health training for citizens and support the conversion of vacant commercial space into housing as it strives to overcome the coronavirus crisis.
Cuomo ratcheted up pressure on Biden to deliver billions in aid that would help New York state’s cash-strapped government dig out from the coronavirus-fueled recession after he takes office.
While New York’s executive branch has repeatedly asserted the state’s budget gap is $15 billion for fiscal year 2021, fiscal policy experts say that figure is overstated and argue it is closer to half that number.
The governor again vowed New York will legalize recreational cannabis as he begins ramping up efforts in the new year to green-light legislation to legalize it.
Less than a week following the failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, state Assembly leaders gathered at the state Capitol for the new legislative session, pledging collaboration and civil discourse.
Cuomo’s State of the State address, delivering in the near-empty War Room at the Capitol, was an overview, he said. He plans to detail “specific action plans” in addresses “in the coming days.”
Owners of largely empty hotels and office buildings in Manhattan’s central business district amid the coronavirus pandemic could convert their properties into apartments under a proposal announced by Cuomo.
Cuomo pledged New York will vaccinate millions and jumpstart its flagging economy in 2021 as part of a seven-point plan unveiled during speech No. 1.
The governor said New York will create the nation’s first Public Health Corps to help administer vaccines.
New York yesterday began giving vaccines to residents 75 and older as well as a wider range of essential workers, as state health officials expanded the group of people eligible to receive the vaccine.
Some New York City teachers were among the first in line to get vaccinated after state officials expanded eligibility late last week to include essential workers and seniors.
Big Apple public school educators who are teaching in-person classes are furious their remote counterparts were offered the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as them — and the city will be relying on an honor system to prioritize those on the frontlines.
COVID-19 vaccinations for teachers should decrease the number of interruptions to in-school learning, but first, they must get through the state’s buggy enrollment process.
MTA officials urged frontline transit workers to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine in the hope it will end of one of the darkest eras in the agency’s history.
The University at Albany will open for mass COVID-19 vaccinations starting Friday, state officials confirmed.
County leaders and other local officials accused Cuomo’s vaccination team of fueling “chaos” and “bedlam” as phone banks are being overwhelmed and much of the general public remains confused about when they can receive the shots.
Warren County has launched a hotline for residents seeking updates about COVID-19 vaccination eligibility, sign-ups and clinic information.
The governor announced that Buffalo Bills fans will be allowed to attend the team’s second home playoff game this coming Saturday.
Anyone who ran into a delay in getting their second-round COVID-related stimulus checks should have that resolved by now, according to the two tax-preparation companies that were involved in the initial backlog.
A high-ranking official with the New York Police Department has been suspended without pay and is now the subject of an internal disciplinary process after a string of racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic posts, the NYPD confirmed.
The officer, Deputy Inspector James F. Kobel, filed his retirement papers late last week as the departmental inquiry was winding down. But the officials said that they still planned to bring administrative charges against him as soon as this month.
Andrew Yang could be days away from declaring himself a New York City mayoral candidate, but he’s already on the defensive over his decision to spend significant parts of the pandemic in New Paltz, which he said he did to benefit his autistic son.
Financier Sara Tirschwell is filing papers to declare her candidacy for NYC mayor.
Leticia Remauro — a Staten Island candidate for borough president who served as a campaign aide to Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis — shouted “Heil Hitler” during a Facebook live video she took at a protest against coronavirus safety protocols.
A 21-year-old man jumped to his death from the Vessel at Hudson Yards, authorities said. It was the third suicide from the structure.
The state Board of Regents unanimously voted Lester W. Young Jr. as chancellor, the board’s first Black chancellor since it was established in 1784.
Sharon Pineo, the Round Lake resident who was involved in Wednesday’s siege on the U.S. Capitol, has resigned as a member of the Malta Zoning Board of Appeals.
Nearly two dozen inmates at the Albany County jail have tested positive for coronavirus since Sunday.
Three inmates at Adirondack Correctional Facility are suing the state — notably the governor and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision — for allegedly endangering older inmates at the prison during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two more Capital Region restaurants – the Malta Diner and Ryan’s Wake in Troy – have closed indefinitely as a result of the pandemic.
Amsterdam City Hall will be closed to the public except in limited circumstances starting today due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“Jeopardy!” star Ken Jennings officially took over as interim host after Alex Trebek died last year, opening the show with a call to “honor him by playing the game he loved.”
Fans are exultant at the impending return of “Sex and the City” in the form of a sequel series, “And Just Like That,” but a number are missing what they felt was a key ingredient of the original show’s luster: Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall.
Former state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker, a Queens Democrat, is writing a political drama based on his time in the New York State Legislature.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating an incident in which a Florida manatee was seen with the word “Trump” inscribed on its back.
