Good Monday morning, CivMixers. It’s cold. Very. Very. Cold.
And let’s start by just pulling off the bandaid, shall we: The Buffalo Bills are not going to the Super Bowl.
Western New York’s home team lost last night, 24-38, to the Kansas City Chiefs, who will now try to become the first N.F.L. team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots did it after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. (They’re the eighth team to make this attempt).
They’ll face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who held off the top-seeded Green Bay Packers to win the N.F.C. championship game, 31-26, at Lambeau Field. The Buccaneers, by the way, will be the first team ever to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium on Feb. 7.
And yes, Tom Brady, who already has six Super Bowl rings, more than any player in N.F.L. history, all won with his former New England Patriots, now gets to try for a seventh. At 43 years old, he’ll be playing in his 10th Super Bowl.
The Bills had a very good run. And the Bills Mafia was loyal to the end. Despite insanely cold temperatures – did I mention that it’s cold? – fans showed up at the airport at 2:30 a.m. to greet the team home, bearing signs that read things like “We Still Believe.”
Those who aren’t sure what to do with all their pent-up anxiety these days – be it over football games that don’t turn out they way you’d hoped, or something else like, say, a pandemic and vaccines that keep running out – today is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.
Origin story: In 1957, two engineers, Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding, worked in a garage to create a three dimensional plastic wallpaper, by sealing two shower curtains together. They were not successful in selling their wallpaper, so they began marketing it as greenhouse insulation.
Bubble wrap not only keeps your delicate packages safe, but it’s also insanely satisfying to pop. Of course, if you pop those tiny bubbles, they lose their insulating quality and can’t be reused as easily, and reusing your wrap is better for the environment than simply throwing it into the trash. Also, you can recycle it, for the record.
So, pop responsibly, people.
It is 12 degrees as I write this post. TWELVE DEGREES. Actually, it didn’t feel all that terrible when I took the dog out for a (very quick, admittedly) constitutional this morning. That’s because the wind wasn’t blowing. With the wind, wow. Just wow. It’s supposed to flirt with 30 degrees today, which is downright warm, if you ask me. And we might even see the sun again.
Looking ahead to the next week in weather news…well, let’s just say you might want to skip it and focus on something else. Think warm thoughts.
In the headlines…
A bipartisan group of senators told White House officials that the stimulus spending in President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief plan provides too much money to high-income Americans, an opening setback in the new administration’s complex pandemic negotiations with Congress.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that Democrats were ready to use a rare Congressional process to push through Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
In the week ahead, Biden is expected to unleash a new blitz of executive actions to deliver momentum to his new administration — on Monday, for instance, removing the ban on transgender people serving in the military.
Just one in five Americans have “a great deal of confidence” in Biden’s ability to make good on his goal to unify the country, according to a new poll released yesterday.
The U.S. surpassed 25 million COVID infections yesterday, the most of any country by far, though the true number is likely far higher.
The emergence of new variants of the virus that causes Covid-19 – including one in the U.K. that British officials say could be more deadly than earlier versions – signals a future in which health authorities are locked in a cat-and-mouse battle with a shape-shifting pathogen.
“We need to assume now that what has been circulating dominantly in the U.K. does have a certain degree of increase in what we call virulence, namely the power of the virus to cause more damage, including death,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
From denialism to death threats, Fauci described a fraught year as an adviser to Trump on the Covid-19 pandemic.
The “inward-looking national agenda” of certain countries in response to the coronavirus pandemic is threatening global resilience in the wake of the crisis, suggested one panelist behind the World Economic Forum’s 2021 global risks report.
Biden today will reinstate the Covid-19 travel restrictions on non-US citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and much of Europe, a White House official confirmed.
California authorities are investigating the case of a person who died several hours after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine last week.
AstraZeneca expects to deliver tens of millions fewer Covid-19 vaccine doses than planned to the European Union in coming months, threatening the continent’s plans to ramp up vaccinations and delivering a fresh blow to the drugmaker’s reputation.
A promising sign of a bounce back in the pandemic-ravaged economy has stalled: Fewer borrowers are resuming mortgage payments.
Even if millions of people are vaccinated, millions more will still be infected and become ill unless people continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing measures until midsummer or later, according to a new model by scientists at Columbia University.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and that the symptoms are mild.
Biden was spotted leaving Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood yesterday, following his first attendance at Mass since taking office. He was accompanied by his son, Hunter, and two of his grandchildren.
Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron held a friendly phone call yesterday afternoon, a bid to restore Franco-American fraternité after four years of troubled relations under Donald Trump.
The Justice Department has unveiled new criminal charges against two alleged Capitol rioters.
A detention hearing is set today for a Texas man who allegedly participated in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack and posted death threats against Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and a Capitol police officer.
Senate leaders on Friday announced Trump’s impeachment trial will begin on February 9, a two-week delay that will allow Biden time to fill his cabinet and begin enacting his legislative agenda.
The House will send the article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate today, officially beginning the trial process.
As Democrats plunge ahead with a post-term impeachment trial of Trump, a key question remains: Will Chief Justice Roberts take the case? Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says he won’t.
Up to 5,000 National Guard troops are reportedly expected to stay at the U.S. Capitol for former President Trump’s impeachment trial.
Calls are mounting for Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry to resign after a report this weekend exposed his “significant role” in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Perry connected Trump with a Justice Department official to try to remove the acting U.S. attorney general from his post and pressure Georgia lawmakers to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential contest.
Trump considered moving to replace the acting attorney general with another official ready to pursue unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, and pushed the Justice Department to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate Biden’s victory.
The Lincoln Project, a Republican-led anti-Trump group, posted a new attack ad called “What Happened, Elise?” targeting North Country GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik for her support of Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was coy when asked about a possible 2022 primary challenge for his Florida seat from Trump’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka.
The Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General said it will investigate how two former Trump officials posted dubious papers questioning man-made climate change using government logos but without the approval of the Trump administration.
Sarah Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary, is expected to announce a run for Arkansas governor. The daughter of ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will likely face a primary challenge – multiple top Republicans have already announced – but she’s widely seen as an early favorite.
Frustration is boiling over for many seniors in the tri-state region after the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine has been hampered by cumbersome online appointment systems and a limited supply of shots.
The debate about raising taxes as part of New York’s budget is shaping up to be a test of how far Democrats in the state Legislature will go to take on their party mate Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Democratic rule in D.C. amid the coronavirus pandemic could expose simmering tensions between New York’s two political titans – Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the new Senate Democratic majority leader, sources who know both men said.
New York City is expected to receive another “paltry” 100,000 new doses of the COVID-19 vaccine tomorrow – a fraction of what is needed, officials said.
Cuomo spent Saturday morning in Brooklyn, urging New York residents to trust vaccine science and get the shots as soon as they become available to them.
“We now have a vaccine that will save lives, but it will only save lives if we take it,” the Democratic governor said in a pre-recorded message shown at church video services in Rochester, Brooklyn and Syracuse.
While Mayor de Blasio crowed earlier this month that the city would start administering COVID-19 shots at Citi Field in Queens this week, that plan now appears up in the air thanks to a local supply shortage.
The new director of the CDC said the U.S. doesn’t have enough COVID-19 vaccines to send to New York “as we would like.”
In a letter sent Friday to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle urged the city to turn hundreds of senior centers into COVID-19 vaccination hubs to help schedule and distribute the much-needed inoculations.
NYC will not be able to open its middle- and high schools because it lacks sufficient ability to test students and staff for COVID-19, the leader of the teachers’ union says.
The rate of new COVID-19 cases statewide continues to fall after a post-holiday bump but Long Island still has New York’s highest seven-day average of positive tests, Cuomo said.
Southampton, the glitzy vacation destination on the eastern end of New York’s Long Island, now requires landlords of storefronts that have been vacant at least a month to join with local artists to liven up these typically dreary eyesores with art installations.
It’s winter, and the pandemic is going strong. But die-hard New Yorkers still want to meet up with friends for a meal…outside.
As neighboring states readjust restrictions that were imposed on restaurants during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Restaurant Association is calling on New York to do the same.
A growing number of Republicans are hoping that Cuomo critic and Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean challenges the governor should he seek a fourth term in 2022.
Madison Square Garden boss James Dolan has placed a $4 million bet on the upcoming NYC mayoral election — and he’s hoping to have better luck in politics than he’s had with his Knicks or Rangers in recent years.
New state Department of Health guidelines issued Friday appear to give the green light for high school and recreational sports considered as a high-risk for the spread of coronavirus to begin Feb. 1.
The State University of New York will be reopening its campuses for the spring semester Feb. 1. Students, faculty and staff who regularly come to campus will be required to test for COVID-19 on a weekly basis now.
CUNY is selling the posh digs that typically house campus presidents at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn and the College of Staten Island to generate millions of dollars in revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A few weeks after the state was criticized for seeming to renege on a promise to place murals honoring the area’s Native American heritage on a bridge over a heavily traveled part of the Northway, the DOT announced work to install the art will begin next week.
Capital Region doctors’ offices say they are growing increasingly frustrated at their inability to obtain coronavirus vaccines, despite having years of experience administering inoculations and the ability to quickly identify eligible populations.
Produce handlers and delivery drivers at Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx approved a new contract with owners Saturday, after previous disagreements led to a strike last weekend.
An illegal Queens club located in a basement was busted early yesterday after revelers behind fortified doors tried to keep authorities locked out, the New York City sheriff’s office said.
John Catsimatidis’ radio station, WABC-AM (770), has become an established beacon for right-wing views – including those espoused by Rudy Giuliani.
Questions surrounding candidates’ second homes, ranked-choice voting and ties to casino interests arose in New York’s mayoral contest.
The state’s largest health system shouldn’t be focused on rebuilding a big Upper East Side hospital, say local activists, who point to COVID’s disproportionate impact on communities of color and outer borough residents.
The amount of new construction proposed in New York City plummeted in 2020, diving 28% when compared with the previous year, a new analysis shows.
Albany County will be rolling out a new website and mobile app in the coming days as part of an effort to improve coronavirus vaccine distribution at the Times Union Center.
As Albany County continues to see unprecedented rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths, county officials said they have yet to make a decision about whether they will allow schools and clubs to resume contact sports.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy announced that the county received $9 million in federal relief for financially struggling landlords.
The superintendent, as well as both principals within the Mechanicville City School District, have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 10 days, joining the food services director who contracted the virus earlier this month.
Averill Park High School students will continue remote learning for a third week while Algonquin Middle School students will return to in-person, hybrid instruction today as the district continues to deal with aspects of the coronavirus pandemic.
One of Animal Adventure Park’s red kangaroos gave birth several months ago, and the first look by keepers revealed a white joey, an extremely rare color mutation. The park, located in Harpursville, announced that the baby kangaroo has been named Cosmo.
The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced.
RIP Larry King, the Brooklyn-bred man who became cable TV’s most well-known talk-show host, who died Saturday at the age of 87. He had been hospitalized with COVID-19.
Ryan Seacrest, Celine Dion, and Oprah Winfrey were among those who paid tribute over the weekend to King.
