Good Tuesday morning, CivMixers.
I am usually not someone who looks too far into the future – especially not now, given the uncertainty of the times in which we live. But I am looking at the weather forecast for next week and I see temperatures heading up into the 50s and it gives me hope.
Just 18 more days until Spring. Hang in there!
For today, though, that high wind warning remains in effect until 1 p.m. today in the Mohawk and Schoharie valleys, northern Catskills, Helderbergs and the Capital District.
Gusts of up to 60 mph are expected, with the highest winds occurring overnight and into this morning. The wind is whipping at the windows as I write.
High winds knocked out power to at least 3,000 customers in the Capital Region yesterday – just a preview of what the region might experience as winds continue through the evening.
It’s Read Across America Day, the nation’s largest celebration of reading. It’s actually a year-round program established in 1998 by the National Education Association in an effort to motivate children and teens to read “through events, partnerships, and reading resources that are about everyone, for everyone.”
But things really kick into high gear for National Reading Month, March, and also on this day, which happens to coincide with the birthday (in 1904) of the iconic children’s book author Theodor Seuss Geisel (AKA Dr. Seuss).
Geisel, who grew up not far from the Capital Region in Springfield, MA, actually got his start as a political cartoonist during WW II.
Eventually, he would go on to draw posters for the War Production Board and the Treasury Department and then would write films for the United State Army Air Forces.
After the war, Geisel began to write children’s books from his home in La Jolla, California using the pen name Dr. Seuss. Some of the books during this time included classics like “If I Ran the Zoo”, “Horton Hears a Who”, “If I Ran the Circus”, and “The Cat in the Hat.”
Seuss’s work has since become controversial, as he used racist images in his early books.
President Joe Biden apparently removed mentions of Dr. Seuss from “Read Across America Day” amid scrutiny about the alleged “racial undertones” in the whimsical tales for children.
Also, the NEA has pivoted away from Dr. Seuss to a focus on diverse children’s books – a decision that has generated controversy on social media.
But it should be noted that Geisel also wrote “The Sneetches” later in his career (1961) just as the Civil Rights Movement was well underway, which was intended to be parable about equality.
In other words, he evolved, as we all hope to do. Getting stuck in a rut – especially one dictated by the small mindedness of the times in which one happens to live – is not good.
It’s also worth noting that today is Town Meeting Day for our neighbors in Vermont. This occurs on the first Tuesday in March every year, and is form of government that involves direct citizen lawmaking and exists nowhere else in the world outside of New England.
At a town meeting, articles are voted either “from the floor” or by Australian ballot. Some towns and school districts use only one form of voting while many use a combination of the two methods.
Of course, the pandemic is putting a damper on Town Meeting Day this year, requiring virtual proceedings, which – ironically – is driving up participation (it’s a heck of a lot easier to log on from your warm home then to venture out into the unpredictable Vermont weather).
It’s 15 degrees as I write this, with the forecast calling for temperatures just under 30. Skies will be mostly sunny. And hang in there, we’re back into the 40’s tomorrow, and then back into the 30s the day after that. Because upstate.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden’s team will use “all available tools” to fight China’s unfair trade practices, according to a report outlining the new U.S. administration’s trade agenda.
Biden’s endorsement of the right of workers at an Amazon facility in Alabama to unionize was the culmination of weeks of private talks with labor organizers and Democratic officials who viewed the standoff as an early test of the president’s commitment to their cause.
A wage disparity exists at the highest levels of Amazon, where Black executives make less than their white co-workers doing the same job, according to a new lawsuit.
The president is facing pressure from all sides as migration swells at the southern border — posing one of the first major policy tests for his administration.
Biden sought help from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico in averting a new crisis at the border, hoping for diplomatic cooperation from one of the key supporters of the harsh tactics imposed by Donald Trump to choke off immigration.
Twenty-one Republican governors and one Democrat are taking aim at a key component of Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill, arguing a proposed allocation of funds “punishes” states that did not fully lock down businesses amid the pandemic.
Senate Democratic leaders are urging their caucus to stick together and fend off GOP amendments that could alter key elements of the $1.9 trillion relief plan when it heads to the floor later this week.
Biden and Democratic allies worked to iron out the remaining disputes over the coronavirus relief package that they hope to push through the Senate this week, despite left-wing frustrations over the exclusion of a minimum-wage increase.
The U.S. Senate voted 64-33 to confirm Biden’s nominee to serve as education secretary, Miguel Cardona, who takes the helm of American schooling at a fraught time as many schools have kept their doors closed to in-person teaching due to the pandemic.
Cardona said schools need more resources to reopen and to provide extended learning opportunities. Teachers should be able to get vaccinated swiftly – at public and private schools, he said at the hearing.
FBI Director Christopher Wray is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate for first time since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Extraordinarily high turnover among staffs at nursing homes likely contributed to the shocking number of deaths at the facilities during the pandemic, the authors of a new study suggested.
About 735 cases of a coronavirus variant that emerged in New York City in November have now been identified in the U.S., including 585 in the last two weeks, a federal health official said.
New York City added workers in the food service and hotel industries to the list of people eligible for coronavirus vaccination yesterday, the same day the governors of Florida and Ohio announced expansions for eligibility in their states.
The Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans is asking Catholics to avoid the recently-approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which it says is “morally compromised” by its “extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines.”
Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump received the Covid-19 vaccine at the White House in January.
State prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating Trump and his family business are sharpening their focus on the company’s long-serving chief financial officer, asking witnesses questions about his dealings at the company.
A senior official at the World Health Organization cautioned that it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to assume the pandemic would be over before the end of 2021.
Twitter is expanding the use of its strike system to include users who spread misleading information about Covid-19 and its vaccines, the social-media platform’s latest attempt to curb the spread of potentially harmful content.
Across the country, the first day of March brought a new wave of re-openings and liftings of pandemic restrictions, signs that more Americans are tentatively emerging from months of isolation, even if not everyone agrees the time is ripe.
New data shows that a year after the pandemic wrought economic devastation around the country, forcing states to revise their revenue forecasts and prepare for the worst, for many the worst didn’t come.
Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn is facing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by several women who say he put them in uncomfortable situations when he was a college student.
A third woman, Anna Ruch, 33, who said she had never before met Gov. Andrew Cuomo before encountering him at a 2019 wedding, has accused him of unwanted sexual advances, recalling he said she seemed “aggressive”, put his hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her.
“I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,” said Ruch, who said the governor also put his hand on her lower back, which was exposed by the dress she was wearing. “I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment.”
Cuomo’s characterization of the sexual harassment he’s accused of inflicting on staffers as just “being playful” and making “jokes” fell flat, with one of his accusers , Charlotte Bennett, and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio both slamming the “non-apology.”
In a statement, Bennett said Cuomo “has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior” and encouraged other women with similar experiences to step forward.
“It took the governor 24 hours and significant backlash to allow for a truly independent investigation,” Bennett said. “These are not the actions of someone who simply feels misunderstood; they are the actions of an individual who wields his power to avoid justice.”
Bennett has retained a leading employment discrimination lawyer, Debra Katz, who in her own statement said that Bennett “will cooperate fully with the Attorney General’s investigation.”
Katz, a high-profile sex discrimination lawyer, represented Christine Blasey-Ford when she accused now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Attorney General Letitia James received a letter yesterday from Cuomo’s office authorizing her to take charge of the probe after a weekend of wrangling over who should investigate.
James started the process of finding someone to do the job, but it won’t be easy. She must locate a law firm, or some members of a law firm, with no political ax to grind — people who haven’t made political contributions to the governor.
With 30 days before a state fiscal plan must be approved, some lawmakers are ramping up calls for Cuomo to step down as they say his troubles could cause a ripple effect, impacting budget negotiations and affecting relationships within the Legislature.
The Democratic-led Assembly canceled its session yesterday as the multiple scandals swirled around Cuomo.
Long Island Rep. Kathleen Rice has become the first Democratic member of Congress to call on Cuomo to resign.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo addressed the mounting sexual harassment scandal engulfing his brother, the governor, telling viewers that he “obviously” would not be covering it.
A video showing Cuomo challenging a female journalist to “eat the whole sausage” in front of him at the 2016 New York State Fair has resurfaced on social media.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Biden’s support for an independent investigation into the claims against Cuomo, but wouldn’t directly say at what point the president views such allegations as warranting the governor’s ouster.
The Cuomo administration has hired a defense attorney, Elkan Abramowitz, to represent it in a Justice Department probe of its handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several members of New York’s ethics commission are seeking a criminal investigation into the alleged leak of confidential information from someone within the commission, but a number of DAs have already passed on the job.
The Albany-area gun store owner who paid for the “Impeach” Cuomo billboard on I-787 has changed the message to “Resign Now.”
Key financial backers of Cuomo are pausing and reevaluating their support for the New York governor, who has been accused of sexual harassment by two female former aides, according to people directly involved in fundraising.
Lindsay Nielsen, in a post to Twitter Sunday, said she left Albany-based News10 ABC following the alleged “threatening” tactics and “incessant bullying” she endured from the governor’s office.
Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, and Ray McGuire, a former Citi executive, have become fast rivals in the New York City mayoral race.
Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang is facing criticism for his apparent lack of knowledge about the subway system.
A Frontier Airlines flight from Miami to La Guardia Airport was canceled Sunday night after a large group of passengers, including several adults, refused to wear masks. The airline now faces accusations of anti-Semitism for its treatment of the passengers, who are Hasidic Jews.
A year after the city saw its first known case of coronavirus, the start of the worst public health disaster in a century, de Blasio repeated calls for greater vaccine supplies and briefly looked back on the crisis to date.
New York City will “un-pause” $17 billion in capital projects exactly a year since the pandemic began in the city, the mayor said.
A new project funded by more than $2 million in forfeited bank assets seeks to help young New Yorkers escape the sex trafficking trade, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.
Transit officials are debating whether to reduce service on New York City’s subway and bus systems as ridership sputters during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Faced with a deficit that in two years has quadrupled, officials at the University at Albany are moving forward with a restructuring plan that will likely include cuts to the university’s academic offerings.
As of yesterday, SUNY is eliminating all $50 application fees for low-income students.
The Albany Common Council voted 14-0, with one member absent, to grant the city’s police review board greater powers and resources as part of its police reform efforts. The legislation needs to be approved by a citywide referendum before it takes effect.
The public comment period for the recommendations made by the police reform committees in Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County is now open.
An assessment commissioned by City of Schenectady school leaders lays bare a litany of pivotal issues the district faces that range from a school system roiled by too many priorities to a chronic culture of mistrust and fear.
A sign of spring to go along with warming temperatures and frequent rain in the forecast is the reemergence of Capital Region restaurants after pandemic-related hibernations.
Dr. Dennis DePerro, president of St. Bonaventure University, has died after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in December.
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney was knocked unconscious and taken to the hospital for “a lot of stitches” on his eyebrow and eyelid after a fall over the weekend. He said he’s “doing better.”
Romney joked that he had attended this past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference after reporters asked what the matter was when he showed up at the U.S. Capitol with a black eye and stitches on his face.
The Boy Scouts of America are offering cash, artwork and other assets to sex-abuse victims under a bankruptcy plan filed yesterday, an opening gambit by the youth group to move past the failures to protect children that have threatened its standing in American society.
The oil industry’s top lobbying group is preparing to endorse setting a price on carbon emissions in what would be the strongest signal yet that oil and gas producers are ready to accept government efforts to confront climate change.
Organizers of the annual San Diego Comic-Con announced that its 2021 convention will be held virtually amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Actor Will Smith floated running for office “at some point” in the future while appearing on a podcast released yesterday.
Ryan Fischer, the dog walker who was shot while walking musician Lady Gaga’s dogs last week, spoke out about his “very close call with death.”
A massive iceberg broke off Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf, British researchers announced. At 490 square miles, the berg is bigger than New York City, which is 302 square miles.
The Mets have changed their vetting and hiring process in the wake of three separate harassment scandals that were reported in the past month-plus.
The Glimmerglass Festival, Cooperstown’s annual summer opera and musical theater festival, has announced its return for this year after being cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year however, the festival will be held outdoors.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, I’m impressed. I’m also SO DOWN for this.
