Good middle-of-the-week morning, (AKA Wednesday).
It’s Pay It Forward Day, which started in Australia in 2007 and now “spreads love and happiness in over 85 countries.” It’a a 24-hour period during which we are supposed to engage in random acts of kindness.
The concept of the beneficiary of a good deed repaying the kindness to others instead of to the original benefactor is old, but the phrase, it’s believed, was coined by novelist Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book In the Garden of Delight.
There’s also a book Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde, set in Las Vegas, which chronicles 11-year-old Trevor McKinney’s launch of a goodwill movement by the same name. A movie, also called Pay it Forward, is loosely based on that book. And – spoiler alert – it doesn’t end well. Sorry if you were planning on watching it. I didn’t really give TOO much away.
There are a lot of suggestions out there as to things one can do to honor the spirit of this day, including paying for the coffee of the person behind you in hopes of starting a chain. I have personally benefitted from one of these chains, and I have to say they are a lovely and random surprise that really does make one’s day.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking…Maybe I need to get out more.
Along the lines of something nice you can do for the planet…it’s Stop Food Waste Day.
The statistics on this one are rather alarming: 33 percent of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year, the average American family wastes $1,866 worth of food annually, 25 percent of the food wasted globally could feed all 795 million undernourished people in the world, and here’s he kicker…8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions each year are due to food loss and waste.
So what can we do about this? Well, stop buying more than you need, for starters. Plan out your meals for the week and stick to that plan. Also, the freezer is your friend.
You can learn how to use more of the food you do buy – especially produce, which, I don’t know about you, but I purchase with the bet intentions and then sometimes let rot in the fridge because I get too busy to actually cook anything.
There was a doozy of a storm last night – thunder, lightning, heavy rain pounding on the roof, the whole works. How do I know this? Because the dog woke me up so we could go hang out int he bathtub (sans water) together. Because that’s what we do when we’re scared of loud noises.
It’s going to be cloudy today with periods of rain later on, and temperatures will be in the high 60s.
In the headlines…
The CDC took a big step toward coaxing Americans into a post-pandemic world, relaxing the rules on mask wearing outdoors as coronavirus cases recede and people increasingly chafe against restrictions.
Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer need to wear a mask outdoors while walking, running, hiking or biking alone, or when in small gatherings, including with members of their own households.
Masks are still necessary in crowded outdoor venues like sports stadiums, the C.D.C. said.
“Although these vaccines are extremely effective, we know that the virus spreads very well indoors,” the CDC director said. “Until more people are vaccinated and while we still have more than 50,000 cases a day, mask use indoors will provide extra protection.”
The guidance comes as over 95 million people – nearly 29% of the total U.S. population – are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to CDC data.
After a worrisome uptick in Covid-19 cases in the United States in recent weeks, there are encouraging signs that the situation is beginning to stabilize, the CDC said.
Pfizer’s experimental oral drug to treat Covid-19 at the first sign of illness could be available by the end of the year, CEO Albert Bourla said.
India reported a record daily death toll today as total Covid-19 fatalities crossed the 200,000 mark.
The European Union is about to sign a deal for 1.8 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after a dispute with AstraZeneca derailed its vaccination campaign. Here’s how it came about.
If you’ve been unable to get a travel-compliant Real ID driver’s license because of the coronavirus pandemic, you can relax a bit. The deadline has been extended another 19 months.
A Miami private school said it won’t employ anyone who has received the Covid-19 vaccine, citing concerns that the injection might not be safe.
The pandemic changed the way Americans live. Big cities lost residents, as younger households left for the suburbs and older people accelerated retirement moves, while fewer newcomers came to take their places.
The picturesque lakeside city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, tops the list of the country’s hottest emerging housing markets, according to a new ranking launched this week.
President Joe Biden will call for free preschool for all three- and four-year-old children, a $200 billion investment to be rolled out as part of his sweeping American Families Plan being unveiled today in an address to Congress.
Strict security and health restrictions will lend a surreal mood to Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, with only 200 people attending instead of the usual 1,600.
Biden will nominate Ed Gonzalez, a sheriff from Texas and critic of the Trump administration’s deportation policies, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the White House said.
Biden is expected to pitch a higher capital gains tax this week to raise funds for his economic agenda. But the policy would lose the U.S. billions in revenue if it doesn’t also scrap a tax break for heirs, according to a new analysis.
Andrew Brown Jr., 42, a Black man who was killed by North Carolina deputies was shot five times and died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head, according to an independent autopsy released yesterday.
A former senior adviser in the Obama administration was arrested on charges that he stole more than $200,000 from a network of charter schools he founded and used the money to get a lower interest rate on a mortgage for a Manhattan apartment.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants state Attorney General Letitia James to “review all legal options available” regarding news that New York will lose one seat in the House of Representatives, following reports that the state was just 89 people short of holding steady.
“It’s obviously not desirable, and the last thing we want to do is lose representation in Washington,” the governor said during an appearance near Binghamton. “So, it’s not good news for the state.”
Long Island political leaders are calling on state officials to allow their beaches to open at normal 100 percent capacity amid a steep drop in COVID-19 infections as more New Yorkers get vaccinated.
The Archdiocese of New York will soon say goodbye to remote learning — with all Catholic schools in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx planning to reopen fully next year for in-person instruction, officials said.
All state-run mass coronavirus vaccination sites in New York will allow anyone 16 or older to walk in without an appointment and get their first dose, beginning tomorrow, Cuomo announced.
New York will adopt the new guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention on when to wear masks to guard against the spread of Covid-19, Cuomo said.
The leaders of the state Legislature said they would move to suspend Cuomo’s pandemic directive that required customers to order food when purchasing alcohol at bars and restaurants. (Needless to say, bar owners are thrilled).
The Senate Democratic Majority will move to suspend several executive orders issued by Cuomo during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The expected action today by the Senate is the first effort to overturn Cuomo’s executive orders since the beginning of the pandemic, although the Legislature has for the entire time retained the ability to overrule the governor with a majority vote.
Siena College President Dr. Chris Gibson called on Cuomo to update attendance capacity for graduations.
The state’s ethics agency JCOPE tightened its rule for scrutinizing the outside income deals of statewide elected officials after being criticized for mishandling Cuomo’s controversial $4 million book contract.
A procedural move by the chair of JCOPE, who was appointed by the governor, may make it more difficult to monitor the public discussion of topics related to the governor at future meetings — and the shift comes as Cuomo is facing several controversies
A day after Cuomo took in-person questions from reporters for the first time in months, de Blasio ridiculed the governor’s claim that he “didn’t do anything wrong” in a further escalation of the feud the two have engaged in for years.
Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has agreed to surrender his law license for a year, the latest fallout from allegations of physical abuse toward women that led to his resignation in 2018.
The sanction against Schneiderman, a Democrat, comes as a result of disciplinary proceedings initiated by an attorney-grievance committee of the New York state appellate division after members reviewed allegations him.
A woman claims that mayoral candidate and current New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer groped her when she worked as an unpaid intern for his campaign for public advocate in 2001, according to the accuser’s lawyer.
Stringer’s campaign is kicking off its first television ad this week, marking the beginning of a new, intense and expensive phase of the race eight weeks out from the June 22 primary that is likely to determine the next mayor of New York.
Brooklyn Democratic lawmaker Chaim Deutsch has been kicked out of the City Council after pleading guilty to federal tax fraud last week.
Corey Johnson, the Council speaker, said that after initially believing that Deutsch could not be expelled automatically, the Council had decided after a review in consultation with city lawyers that the law mandated that he be ousted immediately.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and other New York City leaders are pushing a controversial plan to drastically restrict hotel development, a move that the mayor’s own experts fear could endanger the city’s post-pandemic recovery and cost billions in lost tax revenue.
New York City installed more miles of bus lanes in a single year last year than ever before — and a group of elected officials wants de Blasio to go even further in 2021.
New York City restaurants would have to allow delivery workers to use their bathrooms under a new bill set to be introduced in the City Council next week.
Paperboy Love Prince is one of the longest-shot – and most colorful – NYC mayoral candidates.
Anastasios Tsakos, 43, a New York City police officer, died after being hit by an intoxicated driver early yesterday on the Long Island Expressway, officials said.
The driver charged in the hit-and-run death of Tsakos broke down in a tearful apology as she was led away from a Queens precinct in handcuffs.
Three people were hurt this week in a work zone crash on the Northway – one of them a state Transportation Department worker who was critically injured – just into the second day of a state initiative to prevent such incidents.
Chief Judge Janet DiFiore is accused of a potential conflict for failing to recuse herself or disclose her connection to Greenberg Traurig attorney Hank Greenberg before ruling in favor of the firm’s clients.
Former President Donald Trump can’t get out of testifying in a lawsuit brought by a group of protesters — since he’s no longer in office, an appeals court ruled.
Social justice leaders expressed disappointment in the City of Albany’s response to last Thursday’s forceful clearing of protesters outside the police department’s South Station.
The Albany City District Board of Education voted to adopt a $270.3 million budget for 2021-2022. The budget comes with a 0.95% tax levy increase and a $9.5 million increase in state foundation aid.
Nurses from the New York State Nurses Association say they can no longer promise patients “safe conditions” at Albany Medical Center Hospital as understaffing of RN’s continue.
The Cohoes Common Council unanimously approved a $6.6 million bond issue to pay for building and parks improvements and to switch its 1,598 streetlights to energy efficient light-emitting diode bulbs.
Expected enrollment for the fall semester at the region’s two biggest community colleges — HVCC in Troy and SUNY Schenectady — is down by double digits but leaders believe the numbers will surge as the start of the next school year gets closer.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in the case of a Pennsylvania high school cheerleader who punished by her school for a profane rant she posted on Snapchat.
The New York Times is trying to beat back feelings of COVID-19 burnout with “global days off.”
The case could determine how the First Amendment’s protection of free speech applies to the off-campus activities of the nation’s 50 million public school students.
The popular cooking website Epicurious will not publish new beef recipes over concerns about climate change. “We think of this decision as not anti-beef but rather pro-planet,” an article said.
After years of relative silence regarding the court-approved conservatorship that has controlled much of her life since 2008, a lawyer for the pop singer requested that Britney Spears be allowed to speak at a hearing soon.
