Good Wednesday morning. We’ve got lots of stuff to get to in order to ring in the last day of March.
Oh, and by the way? The state budget is due tomorrow.
First of all, it’s Cesar Chavez Day, which is held annually to commemorate the life and work of the civil rights leader and labor movement activist born on this day in 1927 to a Mexican-American family in Yuma, Arizona.
Chavez is perhaps best known for his work organizing and fighting for farmers. He co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union.
Chavez organized a series of farm worker strikes in the 1960s, most notably the successful Delano grape strike of 1965–1970. He emphasized direct but nonviolent tactics, including pickets and boycotts, and in the 1970s.
Chavez was also a controversial figure, who, for example, campaigned against people illegally immigrating to the U.S., because he viewed undocumented people as a major source of strike breakers. This caused violent outbreaks at the U.S.-Mexico border and also created schisms in the UFW.
In 2008, then-state Sen. Barack Obama endorsed the idea of creating a national holiday in Chávez’s honor. As president in 2011, he reiterated his support, and proclaimed this day a commemorative federal holiday in 2014. It is not – not yet, anyway – a full-fledged federal holiday, though a number of states do mark it by closing schools and other public buildings.
Completely unrelated, today is Manatee Appreciation Day, which is held on the fourth Wednesday in March every year to raise awareness about the threats to the gentle mammal sometimes referred to as the “sea cow.” (Actually, as it turns out, they’re more closely related to elephants).
The biggest problems Manatees face are habitat loss to watercraft collisions. They can also get stuck floating in the water if they’re constipated. True fact! Click here.
And why not throw one more in fore good measure? It’s National Tater Day, which celebrates the humble tuber that Americans love so much – especially fried. According to the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association, every year the U.S. consumes 110 to 111 pounds of potatoes per person, which is about 13 billion pounds all told, though that figure doubles in Europe.
Not surprisingly, we consume a lot of that in chip form.
It’s going to be cloudy today with occasional rain showers in the afternoon and temperatures in the low 60s. OH! and HA, HA, the joke’s on us…it’s going to snow tomorrow on April Fool’s Day.
In the headlines…
The state Legislature approved a bill that will legalize cannabis for adult-use in New York expunge the records of people previously convicted of possession, with the Senate voting 40-23, and the Assembly 100-49 (the debate in that house took several hours).
If the bill is signed, the Empire State would become the 15th state in the country, along with the District of Columbia, to have legalized the drug for recreational use.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement on Twitter saying he intends to sign the bill into law when it hits his desk.
“This landmark legislation provides justice for long-marginalized communities, embraces a new industry that will grow the economy, and establishes substantial safety guards for the public,” Cuomo said.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who sponsored the bill, said it will continue “to right the wrongs of prohibition,” adding: “I’m driving this because I want people to be free from incarceration for a drug that people in their communities use every day.”
Retail sales of adult-use cannabis should start in about 18 months, political leaders have estimated, after the government system is set up to oversee the budding industry.
Two mayors on Long Island want to “opt out” of selling marijuana in their municipalities when the green bud becomes legal in the Empire State.
The president believes weed should be decriminalized — not legalized — on a federal level, a White House official said, putting him out of step with many prominent Democrats in Congress.
Economic recovery from the COVID crisis, swirling scandals, federal aid and a host of contentious proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy and fund excluded workers are complicating budget negotiations as the state’s fiscal year draws to a close this week.
Deep-pocketed donors flooded Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign coffers with cash in recent months as the state’s top Democrat repeatedly dismissed calls to increase taxes on the rich.
The married mom-of-three from outside Rochester who has accused Cuomo of forcibly kissing her during a tour of her flood-damaged home will meet next week with investigators from the state attorney general’s office.
President Biden will outline his massive $3 to 4 trillion infrastructure plan in Pittsburgh today, which will create four tax increases worth around $1.8 trillion, the White House revealed.
The $2 trillion, eight-year “American Jobs Plan” contains money for a smorgasbord of interests from roads to the power grid and will also for cleaning up abandoned mines — an obvious nod to coal state senators who could be the key to its passage.
Biden faces the same challenges as his predecessor when it comes to his infrastructure plan: How to pay for it.
The president will propose using the revenue from increasing corporate taxes to pay for eight years of ambitious spending on roads, bridges, utilities and other needs.
The White House has announced that it is forming a task force to investigate any political interference in scientific research during the Trump administration.
The Bidens’ dog Major has been involved in another biting incident that required medical attention.
Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, an ally of Donald Trump, confirmed he’s under investigation after a report that the Department of Justice is looking into whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him.
Gaetz claimed the investigation is related to an effort to extort him.
An effort by Trump’s campaign to silence a former campaign worker who claimed she was the target of abusive treatment and sexual harassment by another member of the campaign was effectively voided by a federal court judge in New York.
The U.S. Supreme Court today will consider whether the NCAA has the authority to enforce a rule book that has long placed hard limits on whether college athletes can be paid.
On the second day of Derek Chauvin’s trial, eyewitnesses painted a harrowing and consistent picture of what they saw during the fatal arrest of George Floyd.
As new coronavirus cases and deaths surge again across most regions of the world, with new deaths rising by 5 percent over the past week, health-care workers are facing mounting mental health challenges, the World Health Organization warned.
The U.S., and more than a dozen other countries, outlined shared concerns about the speed and thoroughness of a new World Health Organization-led study of the origins of COVID-19.
A statement, backed by the U.S., Australia, Japan, Canada, the U.K. and other states, called for “transparent and independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference and undue influence.”
People under 60 are accounting for the majority of new Covid-19 cases across the country — likely a testament to the success of the vaccines that have been administered to primarily older, more vulnerable Americans.
Researchers are exploring the possible benefits of pairing doses from two different Covid-19 vaccines.
Pfizer and partner BioNTech plan to begin soon testing a freeze-dried version of its Covid-19 vaccine, which if proven to work safely could ease storage and handling of the shots in rural U.S. areas and low-income countries.
Mutations of the coronavirus could render current vaccines ineffective within a year, according to a majority of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists surveyed by the People’s Vaccine Alliance.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country will halt the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for people younger than 60 because of concerns that it is causing rare but occasionally fatal blood clots.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rejects the notion of vaccine passports being used to restrict admissions to sites including movie theaters, sporting events, theme parks and airplanes.
Roger Goodell said unprompted on a conference call that the NFL expects to have full stadiums in the 2021 season.
The coveted COVID-19 vaccine became available to those age 30 and over in New York yesterday, but the newly-eligible found appointments hard to come by.
COVID-19 infection rates are rising faster in New York than any other state in the U.S.—and public health experts aren’t completely sure what’s behind the spike in new cases.
U.S. home prices are rising at the fastest pace in 15 years, reflecting how fiercely buyers are competing for a limited supply of homes in nearly every corner of the country.
A new poll shows a continuing increase in the number of Americans, particularly Black adults, who want to get vaccinated. But it also found that vaccine skepticism remains stubbornly persistent, particularly among Republicans and white evangelical Christians.
Screen-fatigued parents have been considering an education option that once seemed possible only for those in rarefied circles: Boarding school.
For many mothers newly burdened by Covid-19, resentment lingers that the government hasn’t helped more, and sooner. Both political parties are now trying to court them.
Lenox Hill, one of New York City’s oldest and best-known hospitals, repeatedly billed patients more than $3,000 for the routine nasal swab test that detects COVID-19 – about 30 times the test’s typical cost.
Some households are now just partially vaccinated, leaving families split on how to enjoy new freedoms while protecting the safety of those who are still vulnerable.
New York released guidance for fans at collegiate sports events. Large-scale venues, defined as venues that hold more than 1,500 attendees indoors or 2,500 attendees outdoors can host up to 10% indoor or 20% outdoor capacity.
Tomorrow, the Yankees will return to the Bronx with something they haven’t experienced since James Paxton outdueled Justin Verlander to keep the 2019 season alive: Hometown fans.
Billions of dollars in federal aid is on the way to the tri-state region to help renters who have fallen behind, but that may not be enough to avert what landlords and housing nonprofits say is a brewing eviction crisis.
Long waits and less funding for subsidized child care in New York have stranded parents and threaten to close day care centers.
The Environmental Protection Agency ordered New York City to back up its effort to clean out Brooklyn’s polluted Gowanus Canal by constructing a pair of mammoth retention tanks to control sewage overflow, officials said.
A brutal attack on a 65-year-old Filipino woman, which occurred near Times Square while some bystanders in a nearby luxury apartment building did nothing to help her, has sparked widespread outrage. It is being investigated as a hate crime.
The man who beat an Asian woman to the ground then kicked her in the head in a brutal, caught-on-camera hate attack in Midtown earlier this week was arrested by police early this morning, cops said.
The top two GOP candidates for Mayor of New York City will square off today in the first Republican Mayoral Primary Debate, hosted by 77 WABC Radio.
The MTA will reverse service cuts on the C and F subway lines in the coming weeks, nearly a year after transit officials quietly slashed the number of trains that run on the routes.
The Federal Highway Administration cleared the way for New York to set up congestion pricing in Manhattan by greenlighting a required environmental assessment.
New York City will increase trash pickups after using federal Covid-19 relief money to restore funding cuts to the city’s sanitation department, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The three incumbent Democratic candidates for citywide office in Albany declined to carry petitions for the WFP, a rebuke for the party’s refusal to endorse Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s re-election bid.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is planning a new incentive program to attract new carriers to Stewart International Aiport in Newburgh, along with a marketing campaign that would attract travelers.
The state Court of Appeals in a decision released yesterday ruled that the creation of a statewide special prosecutor to handle crimes against the most vulnerable was unconstitutional.
U.S. cable-news viewership fell for all major networks in the first three months of the year, as the country moved past the presidential election and its chaotic aftermath.
Volkswagen AG’s U.S. subsidiary said the company would rebrand itself as Voltswagen of America to promote its electric car strategy, but a spokesman for the parent company in Germany later said the move was a joke.
G. Gordon Liddy, a mastermind of the Watergate burglary and a radio talk show host after emerging from prison, died yesterday at age 90.
