Good Wednesday morning! We’ve reached the halfway point of the week.
It’s National Tortilla Chip Day. Now, before we get too deep into this, I feel the need to confess: tortilla chips aren’t my favorite. I’m really more of a pretzel person.
Also, the idea of dipping my hand into a basket or bag of salty corn triangles (or squares, I guess) that I might be sharing with others really kind of freaks me out right now. And I guess that reveals how I’ve been avoiding a return to indoor dining…just a bridge too far right now for me mentally.
Anyway, the tortilla chip. What is its origin story?
According to the interwebs, the idea to toast up squares of corn goodness belonged to Jose Martinez of San Antonio, Texas, who was also the inventor of mass produced masa at his Tamalina Milling Company.
But the introduction of the chip into the U.S. culture came thanks to a woman named Rebecca Webb Carranza, who, in the late 1940s, was president of the El Zarpape Tortilla Factory in Los Angeles, California.
Sometimes the factory’s machines would produce misshapen tortillas, which couldn’t be sold as is. Carranza came up with the idea of frying them up and serving them at a family party.
The result was a big hit, and so Carranza decided to sell her invention to members of the public for 10 cents a bag. They became so popular that eventually the company shifted its focus to producing only “Tort Chips,” as they came to be called.
Nachos, which could not exist without tortilla chips, technically speaking, though I know people are making them out of other things these days like tater tots, and sweet potato slices and plantains, have their own origin story, which I will save for another time since it’s not National Nacho Day. (That falls on Saturday, Nov. 6).
On this day in 1607, one of the worlds first popular operas (though not, as some believe, the very first ever written) – Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, which is still performed today – made its debut.
Monteverdi was a well-established composer at the time, famous for his madrigals. He wrote L’Orfero, a mythological story about a great singer, Orfeo, who descends to the Underworld to try to reclaim his bride Euridice, who had died just after their wedding, for the Gonzaga family, his employers, for performance at the ducal palace in Mantua during the carnival season.
Good news: it’s going to be 45 degrees today. Bad news: it’s going to be cloudy and it might rain (if you’re out in the afternoon, you’ve got about a 30 percent chance of getting wet).
In the headlines…
A federal judge late yesterday indefinitely banned President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a 100-day moratorium on most deportations.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction sought by Texas, which argued the moratorium violated federal law and risked imposing additional costs on the state.
The White House is weighing a number of gun safety proposals as it looks to deliver on Biden’s campaign promises. But some activists are upset that after one month in office the administration has yet to set a firm timeline or provide specifics about its plan.
Young Black men and teens made up more than a third of firearm homicide victims in the U.S. in 2019. The finding was just one of several disparities revealed in a review of 2019 gun mortality data recently released by the CDC found.
Biden’s Cabinet rounded further into form yesterday with the approval of two nominees and confirmation hearings on three more.
Biden’s largely smooth cabinet selection process hit a rough patch this week, as Neera Tanden’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget is in deepening peril and some Democrats are discussing potential candidates to replace her.
Rep. Deb Haaland, a Native American who is Biden’s historic pick for Interior Secretary, found herself defending not only the president’s aggressive efforts to stop drilling on public lands but also her own public statements opposing fossil fuel extraction.
The House will vote on Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on Friday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said last night.
Security officials testifying at Congress’ first hearing on the deadly siege of the Capitol cast blame and pointed fingers but also acknowledged they were woefully unprepared for the violence.
Three former top Capitol security officials deflected responsibility for security failures that contributed to the Jan. 6 riot, blaming other agencies, each other and at one point even a subordinate for the breakdowns that allowed hundreds of Trump supporters to storm the Capitol.
Ex-Capitol Police chief Steven Sund told a joint Senate investigating committee that an FBI warning of the riot prepared by agents in Norfolk, VA, was received by his department’s intelligence division but was never shared with the agency’s command staff.
A retired New York police officer who once was part of the security detail at City Hall, Thomas Webster, was charged with assaulting a police officer with a metal flagpole during the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Chemical damage to presidential statues and paintings, the destruction of the inauguration platform, and the lasting impact on staff are among the damage top Capitol administrative officials are set to detail to lawmakers today as they probe the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot.
Biden spoke by video conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada yesterday, trying in his first virtual meeting with a foreign leader to restore a sense of normalcy to a core relationship brusquely upended by Trump.
Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said in an interview that he is “pretty sure” former President Trump would win the Republican Party’s presidential primary in 2024 if he decides to run.
Trump has reportedly filed a statement appealing his ban from Facebook and Instagram to an independent oversight panel.
On the anniversary of her son’s violent death, Wander Cooper-Jones filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the men charged with murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s death and the police and prosecutors she claims conspired to protect his killers.
A new federal grand jury has been empaneled in Minneapolis and the Justice Department has called new witnesses as part of its investigation of Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer who will go on trial in state court next month on a murder charge for the death of George Floyd.
A grand jury has chosen not to criminally charge Rochester police officers whose restraint of Daniel Prude may have caused his death, the state Attorney Aeneral, Tish James announced.
A grand jury convened by James to investigate the case declined to charge any of the seven officers on the scene that night with a crime. She was blunt in acknowledging that she had hoped for a different outcome.
“The criminal-justice system has frustrated efforts to hold police officers accountable for the unjustified killings of unarmed African-Americans,” James said. “History has unfortunately repeated itself in the case of Daniel Prude.”
In the wake of the decision, activists gathered on Jefferson Avenue in Rochester, where Prude encountered police in March, 2020.
“This is not what we expected, this is not what we wanted, and until there is justice in this system, they will not get any peace from us,” one demonstrator said.
The White House said that weekly shipments of coronavirus vaccines to the states would rise by one million doses to 14.5 million, as vaccine manufacturers continue to ramp up production.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. has “done worse than most any other country” in battling COVID-19.
A variant first discovered in California in December is more contagious than earlier forms of the coronavirus, two new studies have shown, fueling concerns that emerging mutants could hamper the sharp decline in cases over all in the state and perhaps elsewhere.
The physics behind the technology in blood-oxygen gauges known as pulse oximeters may impede its ability to get accurate readings on people with darker skin, according to the FDA.
Coronavirus infections across the US are still on the way down and more Americans are getting their vaccinations – but variants could cause complications in the coming weeks.
New York’s overall COVID numbers continue to fall, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo and city health officials warned that viral mutations are a major cause for concern.
Although coronavirus vaccine supply to New York has increased and the state is working to expand opportunities for getting the shot, there remains a subset of public-facing government workers who are ineligible.
The hotel industry is urging Cuomo to designate its staffers as crucial front-line workers so they can be vaccinated against COVID-19.
New York City transit officials announced plans to administer a thousand COVID-19 vaccines per week to transit workers out of the New York City Transit Authority’s headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn.
New York City’s Health Department yesterday made data on new coronavirus variants in the five boroughs publicly available on its website.
A group of Big Apple yoga studios and gyms are suing the city and state to allow them to reopen group fitness classes — arguing it’s unfair that they are still shuttered during the pandemic while the same types of sessions are allowed in the rest of the state.
The first shipment of free Covid-19 vaccines from the World Health Organization-backed Covax facility landed in Ghana this morning, marking the beginning of what is shaping up to be the biggest vaccination drive in history aimed at developing countries.
The harsh winter storm that hit Texas and other states last week has been blamed for dozens of deaths, though officials said that it would be weeks or months before the human cost of the freezing weather and utility crisis is known and that it might never be fully accurate.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed the Biden administration for reopening a Texas facility to hold migrant children.
Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — the entity that manages and operates the electricity grid that covers much of Texas — will resign today. A sixth has withdrawn his application to the board. All live outside the Lone Star State.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s approval rating for his pandemic response has plunged from just a few months ago, as a majority of New Yorkers believe he did something either unethical or illegal in his handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes, a new Marist Poll found.
“Cuomo’s approval rating, which was sky high in the summer, has returned to its pre-pandemic level,” said Lee Miringoff, director of Poughkeepsie-based polling institute. “Should Cuomo decide to seek a fourth term, these results suggest it will be a challenge. That said, his current numbers are comparable to what they were when he faced the voters last time.”
New York stands apart from other states in its approach to counting nursing home deaths, research experts said — a decision that made New York’s tally of nursing home deaths appear lower than it was, and that is now under federal investigation.
The New York State Republican Party will contact thousands of voters in districts of “marginal” Democratic lawmakers in a bid to pressure the Democratic-controlled Legislature to conduct a vigorous “subpoena-driven” probe of Cuomo’s nursing home scandal.
Cuomo’s administration got swindled trying to buy millions of dollars of Chinese medical gear amid the coronavirus crisis — and has been forced to hire a law firm in Hong Kong in a bid to recoup the taxpayer money it lost.
New York’s tax commissioner warned legislators during a budget hearing that reinstating the state’s stock-transfer tax could prompt migration of trading activity to other areas.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer called on the state to institute a wealth tax, arguing that expected infusions of federal stimulus cash won’t be enough to sustain the city’s long-term financial and civic health.
In an already difficult budget year, the city of Saratoga Springs is once again fighting to preserve state video lottery terminal aid.
State education officials say they are “exploring all possible options” after the Biden administration declined to grant a waiver for state assessments this year as it did in the spring of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced school buildings closed.
New York’s state education department will proceed with standardized tests this spring, but won’t make them graduation requirements for high school students, officials said.
It’s been just about a year since lawmakers banned reusable plastic bags, but the battle continues.
New York City is increasing police patrols and investigations to fight a rise in hate crimes targeting Asian people amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Fans of both the Knicks and Nets returned to their teams’ arenas last night to watch the action on the court in-person for the first time in nearly a year.
The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York has instituted another round of layoffs following the financial crunch due to plummeting visitorship.
Starting Monday, certain people in the Capital Region can book an appointment for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a state-run pop-up site at the Washington Avenue Armory.
An Albany landlord was charged with kidnapping after allegedly tying up two tenants, placing pillowcases over their heads and driving them at gunpoint to a rural cemetery in Columbia County where he dumped them in the snow before dawn on Sunday.
The Malta town councilman who was chastised for thanking a former town official for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is now contending with what he has described as a threat to his life.
The owners of Dolce and Biscotti on Route 9 in Clifton Park are grateful that everyone who works at their bakery was unharmed on yesterday afternoon when a driver crashed through their front window and into the cake case.
The Albany Common Council will consider a proposal that would ban the police department from using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown will seek a fifth term in office.
One of the leading environmental groups in the Adirondacks just hired one of Cuomo’s senior policy advisors. Megan Phillips will lead the Adirondack Council’s conservation team, which is made up of all women.
Golf legend Tiger Woods was recovering from major surgery on his right leg last night at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center after being involved earlier in the day in a “high-speed” single-car accident outside Los Angeles.
Woods had to be extracted from his heavily damaged SUV. Authorities said there was no immediate evidence that he was impaired at the scene. They checked for odor of alcohol or other signs that he was under the influence of a substance but did not find any.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is still relying on his trusty flip phone to stay connected to fellow Democrats.
Biden’s dogs, Champ and Major, are spending time in the Oval Office.
Model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen humorously requested that the @POTUS Twitter account unfollow her on Tuesday, saying it was necessary for her to “flourish.”
An Illinois state lawmaker wants to ban the sale of violent video games, including Grand Theft Auto, as carjackings have increased in the state.
