Good morning. It’s Monday.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The weekend was downright fantastic, in terms of weather. I hope everyone had the opportunity to get out there and enjoy it.

It seems fitting now that things are opening back up and we are cautiously resuming things like traveling, (though the CDC still does say that non-essential trips should be avoided, even if you and your traveling companions are vaccinated), to commemorate the first successful trip OFF this planet.

On this day in 1961, the first human space flight was carried out by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, whose inaugural orbit of the Earth was a historic event that opened the way for space exploration. This occurred four years after Sputnik, the satellite whose launch in 1957 terrified the Western world and touched off the “space race.”

Gagarin, a former foundry worker, actually didn’t have much of an active role to play in his mission. Automatic controls or signals from the ground drove his Vostok 1 spacecraft, which also lacked engines to slow it down as it reentered the atmosphere.

Gagarin had to eject from the craft and parachute to the ground – something the Soviet government didn’t admit until 1971.

Vostok’s orbit ended up being too high, and Gagarin landed hundreds of miles off course in a potato field, where he was forced to ask two amazed spectators for directions to a phone so he could call in his location. They gave him a horse and cart for the journey.

In 2011 the UN declared April 12 as the “International Day of Human Space Flight” to remember the first human space flight and to promote the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes and to the benefit of humankind.

In a complete non sequitur, and for no other reason that I am reminded of just how much I love this perfect food, let me the first to inform you that it is National Grilled Cheese Day.

Swiss on Rye, well done, with ketchup is my jam, side of coleslaw in a little paper cup and a big pickle spear, (don’t judge, foodies, everyone has their vices…I miss diner dining, BTW). But I wouldn’t say no to a cheddar on wheat with some thinly sliced green apple, or even, if it was nice and crisp and buttery, American on white bread.

Yum.

It’s actually a good day for that iconic grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup combo, as the weather has taken a decided turn for the worse…we’re in for “considerable cloudiness” with rain showers and temperatures in the low 50s. Blech.

In the headlines…

Democrats return to Washington today to begin considering President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion spending and tax proposal as party leaders sort out how ambitious a package they can push through Congress with the slimmest of majorities.

Biden declared the settlement between two Korean battery makers a victory for U.S. efforts to build a strong supply chain for electric vehicles in order to create clean energy jobs and curb climate change.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, who’s facing a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations, was recently denied a meeting with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate as the ex-President and his allies continue to distance themselves from the Florida congressman.

The coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa is able to evade some of the protection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a new Israeli study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.

As the U.S. races to vaccinate more Americans, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising, predominantly among younger people who haven’t yet gotten a shot. Some experts worry this might only be the start of what’s to come in the next weeks.

Easter weekend saw a resurgence of tourist activity in some U.S. cities, suggesting what could be a turning point for the tourism industry as Covid-19 vaccinations pick up and more businesses reopen across the country.

An antibody drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals reduced the risk of developing symptomatic Covid-19 infection by 81% compared with a placebo in people living with someone infected by the new coronavirus, a study found.

A U.S. Census survey conducted in the second half of March found that about 4.2 million adults aren’t working because they are afraid of getting or spreading the coronavirus, which is why labor is scarce even though the unemployment rate is 6%.

CEO pay surged in 2020, a year of historic business upheaval, a wrenching labor market for many workers and unprecedented challenges for many leaders.

The nation’s economy is at a potentially critical turning point, with jobs growing at a rapid clip but at risk if COVID-19 surges, the head of the Federal Reserve said.

With her state fighting a huge coronavirus surge, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan renewed her appeal to the Biden administration to send the state much larger supplies of vaccine, an idea that the White House has rebuffed.

Georgia has reportedly become the third state to shut down a vaccination site using the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine due to adverse reactions.

Whitmer says she will not issue new mandates to blunt the outbreak, relying instead on the common sense of a citizenry now experienced in struggling with the deadly virus for over a year.

The federal government should unlock billions in aid intended to address a fast-growing mental health crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

New York State continues to make progress in the effort to vaccinate residents, with nearly 1 in 4 New Yorkers now fully vaccinated.

Hospitalizations associated with coronavirus continue to decrease in New York – even as the state continues to have among the highest case loads of newly infected people in the U.S.

The efficacy of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines is “not high” and authorities are weighing options to bolster protection – including mixing different shots, China’s top disease control official has said, though he then walked that back.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized China’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in an interview, arguing that its “failure” to cooperate in the early stages of the virus led to the situation’s getting “out of hand.”

Some families have come to prefer stand-alone virtual schools and districts are rushing to accommodate them — though questions about remote learning persist.

Despite a distinct leftward shift in New York politics, in the New York City mayor’s race, the two candidates who have most consistently shown strength are among the most moderate in the field: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Andrew Yang.

As a June 22 primary nears and Covid-19 restrictions ease, New York City mayoral candidates have ratcheted up in-person campaigning to win over undecided voters.

Yang called for a crackdown on unlicensed street vendors.

Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi has taken a leading role in fighting to restore a tax deduction that is important to people who live in and around New York City, and in doing so might be laying the groundwork for another gubernatorial run.

The investigators leading the probe into the numerous sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo are being paid as much as $750 an hour. 

Documents outlining the scope of the probe show the firms tapped by AG Tish James to conduct it are “authorized to utilize any of its resources as it deems appropriate to carry out” their review of Cuomo’s behavior.

Cuomo frequently uses a state-owned airplane and helicopter to reach the far corners of the state for official business, costing taxpayers nearly $650,000 from 2015 through April 2020.

The state-owned, twin-propeller plane, dubbed “King One,” was used for 460 flights totaling 400 hours between 2015 and 2020.

Hoping to kick-start New York’s COVID-stalled economy, lawmakers passed a massive $212 billion budget that will completely reshape how the state brings in and spends revenue — and checked some of Cuomo’s power in the process.

The prominent office light display on the state’s soaring Corning Tower, which for months has displayed a heart under the words “NY TOUGH,” lit up Friday night as “NY TOUCH” – a seeming commentary regarding Cuomo’s multiple sexual harassment scandals.

Carl L. Hart, a neuroscientist at Columbia University, confides in his new book that he has used heroin regularly for the last four years and describes the time he took morphine daily for three weeks in order to experience withdrawal.

An ailing MTA worker says the agency forced him into drug rehab classes alongside hardened addicts just because he took medical marijuana to treat chronic pain.

Environmental activists are suing Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city for allegedly withholding vital information on the $1 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency project.

NYC restaurants are increasingly finding a way around the issue of delivery app fees by avoiding the platforms and assuming ownership of the process themselves. And they say the benefits go beyond the potential savings.

With skies lacking light pollution and most nights free, New Yorkers reported nearly twice as many mysterious potential UFO sightings last year.

The number of rodent complaints to a city hotline in March surged by 80% to 2,906 from last March, when calls dipped as New York City went into lockdown and indoor dining closed.

Cuomo extended the 11 p.m. pandemic-induced curfew on bars and restaurants until at least May 6. The NY Post is not happy.

The NYPD didn’t reveal to the Civilian Complaint Review Board that Queens narcotics cops accused of a botched no-knock raid hit the wrong apartment due to a paperworks snafu.

The Jesuit priest at the helm of prestigious Regis High School in Manhattan is being ousted over claims of sexual misconduct.

New York’s beloved Transit Museum laid off a third of its staff last month, citing pandemic-induced hardship one year after COVID-19 broke out in the city.

County Republican organizations around the state have filed lawsuits trying to remove Democrats from the state Working Families Party line ahead of the June primaries.

The Landing Hotel at Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady has resumed full-time, 24-7, operations. The hotel had been closed Monday through Thursday since Feb. 1 due to COVID-19 operating restrictions at the casino.

A Child Victims Act lawsuit filed in the state Supreme Court in Schenectady late last month alleges that four boys attending a Niskayuna middle school sexually abused one of their male classmates during a school trip in the late 1970s.

The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics discussed and authorized “steps” concerning unspecified “investigative matters” during a specially-called meeting last week.

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan is creating a five-person Commission on Municipal Internet Service to look at the feasibility of creating a city-owned high-speed internet service that would compete with other internet carriers available to city residents.

The names of a trail and a 1,640-feet high mountain peak at a protected site in Great Barrington, Mass. have been renamed to reflect the traditional presence of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans.

A Long Island-based federal judge was struck and killed on a Florida sidewalk by a hit-and-run driver — a woman who police say was carrying drugs and acting erratically and who has been arrested on charges including vehicular homicide.

Former President Donald Trump reportedly called U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a “dumb son of a b—h” in front of Republican donors gathered at Trump’s Florida resort this past weekend.

Workers’ rejection of a union at Amazon.com Inc.’s warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., is a setback to organized labor’s efforts to reverse a decadeslong decline in private-sector membership nationally.

Vox Media said it is acquiring Cafe Studios Inc., publisher of a popular podcast hosted by former Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara, part of a bid to expand its growing audio business.

Sealing the deal with a 54-hole lead, Hideki Matsuyama won the 85th edition of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club to become the first player from Japan, and the first Asian player, to claim a men’s major golf championship.

Prince Harry returned to the United Kingdom without his pregnant wife ahead of the funeral for his grandfather Prince Phillip, who died on Friday at the age of 99.

ICYMI: It was National Pet Day over the weekend, but that’s basically every day here at CivMix.