Somehow we made it to Friday again. Good morning!
It’s International Dylan Thomas Day, which is held annually to celebrate the life and works of the Welsh poet and prose writer, who, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is best “hose work is known for its comic exuberance, rhapsodic lilt, and pathos.”
“His personal life,” Britannica adds, “punctuated by reckless bouts of drinking, was notorious.”
This paragraph, though:
Thomas’s first book, 18 Poems, appeared in 1934, and it announced a strikingly new and individual, if not always comprehensible, voice in English poetry.
There’s something to aspire to: Singular, but incomprehensible.
This date was chosen seven years ago to honor Dylan’s memory because it is the the anniversary of the date when Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at 92Y The Poetry Center, New York in 1953.
Usually, there are a plethora of in-person events to mark this day – readings, stagings, etc. But, due to the pandemic (we’ll get deeper into this later), most of the celebrations have been moved online.
“The Stars and Stripes Forever” was first performed on this day in 1807 at Willow Grove Park in southeastern Pennsylvania. Hence, it’s Stars and Stripes Forever Day, celebrating what was apparently an instant hit penned by John Phillips Sousa. The iconic march premiered at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan almost exactly a year after its publication – January 28, 1898.
Sousa was reportedly inspired to write “Stars and Stripes Forever” while on an ocean liner returning from a vacation in Europe with his wife. On Christmas Day, he received the news that his band manager, David Blakely, had died, and Sousa composed the piece in his head in Blakely’s honor. Upon arriving home, he committed it to paper, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I’m not sure how you feel about buttermilk biscuits, but I, for one, ,am a huge fan. I’ve never successfully made a batch, but I really do love their warm flakiness when I can get my hands on them. So I am more than happy to inform you that yes, buttermilk biscuits have their own annual day of recognition. (They date back to the Civil War; find out more here).
You might be getting a little tired of me saying this over and over, but it’s going to be an amazing day, weather-wise. Yesterday, by the way, was glorious, full stop. Today will be mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 70s! The weekend looks similarly amazing, and next week we’re going to flirt with 80 degrees. GET OUTSIDE.
In the headlines…
People fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced.
“If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing. “We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy.”
This, of course, could make daily life increasingly difficult for those who are not yet vaccinated.
Even fully vaccinated people are still told to cover their faces when visiting health care facilities, while flying or taking public transit, and in congregate settings such as homeless shelters, as well as prisons or jails.
There is debate among medical experts over how much outdoor transmission is driving cases.
The CDC’s announcement came as a surprise to many people in public health. It also was a stark contrast with the views of a large majority of epidemiologists surveyed in the last two weeks by The New York Times.
President Joe Biden touted the new mask guidance as “a great day for America” and an important milestone in the US coronavirus response.
Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and staff went without facial coverings during a White House Rose Garden event to trumpet the new guidelines.
Some states lifted mask mandates in response to the CDC’s new guidance, while others took a more cautious approach.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wasn’t ready to ease the state’s mask mandate — even though the feds gave the green light for vaccinated Americans to finally show their faces and gather indoors again.
In a late-afternoon statement, Cuomo said he and Health Commissioner Howard Zucker had yet to decide if the Empire State would adopt newly announced guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“In New York, we have always relied on the facts and the science to guide us throughout the worst of this pandemic and in our successful reopening,” Cuomo said.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration issued similar comments, saying the state is reviewing the CDC rules before taking action to remove its mask mandate.
New York City officials say they will soon begin interment plans for hundreds of bodies of people who died during the Covid-19 pandemic and have been stored for months—and in some cases a year—in freezer units in a temporary mortuary.
As of yesterday, New York’s positivity rate stands at 1.08%, compared to the national average of 4%. It’s the state’s lowest single-day positivity rate since Oct. 10. The seven-day positivity rate dropped to 1.25%, the lowest point since Oct. 22.
It’s called the “black fungus,” and it can be deadly. It’s also adding to India’s growing COVID-19 woes at the moment.
A smattering of places, mainly across the Asia Pacific region, have seen victories in the battle against Covid-19 by effectively wiping it out within their borders. Now they face a fresh test: rejoining the rest of the world, which is still awash in the pathogen.
HBO has scrapped this week’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher after the comedian tested positive for Covid-19. Maher, who is vaccinated and asymptomatic, tested positive during the premium cable network’s weekly PCR testing ahead of the show.
As Broadway prepares for a fall reopening, the “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller said he will mandate that all of his show’s employees, including the cast and the backstage crew, be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Researchers have found just 12 people are responsible for the bulk of the misleading claims and outright lies about COVID-19 vaccines that proliferate on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
A former aide to Colorado GOP Rep. Doug Lamborn filed a lawsuit claiming that he was fired after complaining about his boss’s disregard for safety measures meant to protect staff members from the coronavirus, which he said resulted in an office outbreak.
The Biden administration will stop shipping doses of Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to states next week, according to the CDC, as a contamination incident two months ago at a Baltimore subcontractor continues to disrupt domestic production.
Prince Harry has joined the chorus of backlash against Joe Rogan’s remarks about the coronavirus vaccine, arguing that the influential podcast star should have chosen his words more carefully.
Mayor Bill de Blasio took vaccination incentivization to the next level during his morning news briefing, munching on a hamburger and fries and regaling the city’s press corps about how he might fulfill his mayoral bucket list in his final year at City Hall.
Biden cautioned Americans against the temptation to start “panic buying” fuel in the wake of a ransomware cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline, which has crippled gas delivery systems in Southeastern states.
Biden said the cyberattack that shut down the US’s largest gasoline pipeline early this week had originated from Russia.
Colonial Pipeline Co. reportedly paid a ransom to the criminal hackers who caused the company to shut down the country’s largest conduit of fuel – a payment that allowed the firm to obtain decryption tools to try to unlock its computer systems.
The operator of a critical fuel pipeline on the East Coast paid extortionists roughly 75 Bitcoin — or nearly $5 million — to recover its stolen data.
As Biden settles into the office he has chased for more than three decades, aides say he demands hours of debate from scores of policy experts. Quick decision-making is not his style.
Biden met with six Senate Republicans to discuss possible compromise on his proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill.
In private talks with dozens of business leaders, Biden administration officials are pitching the president’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal as an investment they will benefit from, emphasizing support for new job-training programs as much as better roads.
Biden plans to welcome six recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to the Oval Office today as his administration signals his immigration reform plan remains a legislative priority.
The meeting comes as Biden looks to press Congress to pass legislation codifying the DACA program that then-President Obama instituted by executive action in 2012, providing limited protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a strident conservative, will challenge New York Rep. Elise Stefanik for the No. 3 House GOP leadership post – a move reflecting unhappiness among hard-right lawmakers with the congresswoman party leaders chose to replace Rep. Liz Cheney.
“With all due respect to my friend, (Stefanik), let us contemplate the message Republican leadership is about to send by rushing to coronate a spokesperson whose voting record embodies much of what led to the 2018 ass-kicking we received by Democrats,” Roy said.
After years of encouraging Democrats and voters to take a meritocratic approach when evaluating candidates for office, Republicans are coming under fire for insisting that Cheney must be replaced by another woman.
Stefanik made her pitch to House Republicans in a candidate forum last night in her bid to replace Cheney as GOP conference chair.
Donald Trump, in a statement yesterday, threw his support behind Stefanik, a staunch ally of the former president.
New York prosecutors have subpoenaed a Manhattan private school as they seek the cooperation of the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer in their investigation of Trump and his company, according to people familiar with the matter.
A network of conservative activists, aided by a British former spy, mounted a campaign during the Trump administration to discredit perceived enemies of Trump inside the government, according to documents and people involved in the operations.
Initial unemployment claims dropped more than expected to a fresh pandemic-era low, with new filings inching back toward pre-pandemic levels as more vaccinated Americans return to work and in-person activities.
Worker applications for unemployment benefits fell to 473,000 last week from a revised 507,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department said.
Some of the biggest U.S. employers of entry-level workers are adding tens of thousands of new positions as the economy roars back. Many are raising wages or adding perks to entice workers from other jobs or off the sidelines of the labor market.
Amazon is hiring 75,000 workers and offering $1,000 signing bonuses in some locations, the latest hiring spree in what has been a year of tremendous growth.
DoorDash’s revenue tripled in the first quarter, showing sustained demand for food-delivery services even as coronavirus vaccinations picked up and the nation moved toward reopening.
Airbnb reported more than $10 billion in bookings in the latest period while revenue recovered from the March 2020 quarter, when the pandemic devastated the travel industry.
The worker shortage is despite nearly 10 million Americans being officially unemployed, a disconnect that economists expect will resolve in the coming months as increased vaccinations ease COVID-19 stress and enhanced unemployment benefits expire.
A defensive Cuomo came up with his own definition of sexual harassment as he sparred with reporters and again flatly denied any wrongdoing.
Cuomo said that “harassment is not making someone feel uncomfortable” and that he’s “eager” to tell New Yorkers the other side of the story, as he repeated that he did nothing wrong regarding allegations that he sexually harassed multiple women.
“If I just made you feel uncomfortable, that is not harassment,” Cuomo insisted. “That is you feeling uncomfortable.”
A lawyer for former Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett — one of several women who’ve accused him of sexual harassment — released a prepared statement that called the governor’s remarks “jaw dropping” and said he needs sexual harassment training.
The past haunted the present for eight of the Democratic candidates running for mayor of New York City in the first televised debate ahead of the primary election next month.
The televised debate, just over a month before the June 22 primary, featured eight candidates who appeared remotely. A Republican mayoral debate featuring Curtis Sliwa and Fernando Mateo will be held later this month.
The two leading candidates battled to protect their advantages in a hard-hitting Democratic debate while their six rivals grasped for breakout moments, sought to redefine the stakes of the contest and put forth their own visions for the struggling city.
But the other six failed to break out from the crowded field during a virtual face-off marked by plenty of cut-off answers and few fireworks — one that likely didn’t sway many of the 20-plus percent New Yorkers who still haven’t picked their favorite.
Andrew Yang, who has been criticized during the campaign for being out of touch with New York City voters, found himself on the defensive again during the debate, when moderator Erroll Louis pressed him on why he had not voted in several local elections.
Yang said he’d list his more experienced rival Kathryn Garcia as his second choice for mayor during the debate for the Democratic primary election — even after she accused him of sexism for saying he’d appoint her as a deputy if he won the contest.
The candidates have proposed overlapping ideas to address the city’s affordable housing crisis.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer said he welcomed an investigation into a sexual assault allegation he is facing from a former campaign worker.
The idea of “defunding” the police, which a year ago became a rallying cry after the murder of George Floyd, proved to be a contentious proposition during the debate, dividing the candidates along ideological lines.
The NYT engaged the services of a number of thought leaders, consultants and opinion writers to grade the candidates’ performances.
Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander became a scofflaw on April 24, after failing to fork over $50 for getting caught by a speed camera at Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, about five blocks from his Park Slope home.
A New York Police Department officer was shot while searching for a suspect in a fatal shooting in Brooklyn on Wednesday night, marking the seventh time in the past six months that a New York City officer was struck by gunfire, police officials said.
As New York prepares for the long-awaited reopening of its performing arts sector, it is still unclear whether the Metropolitan Opera will be able to reach the labor agreements it needs to bring up its curtain for the gala opening it hopes to hold in September.
Brian McGurran, 28, a four-year veteran from the 81st Precinct, rose from a wheelchair to walk out of the hospital, greeted by cheers from his colleagues.
Cops released surveillance images of a suspect they say slashed a stranger in the face with a scalpel during a clash inside the Times Square subway station.
An 18-year-old man has been charged with murder in the death of Chyna Forney, 18, who was killed by a gunshot last week on Essex Street, Albany Police said.
Members of the University at Albany’s faculty senate are calling for their pension fund administrator to divest from fossil fuel companies, joining a growing list of campuses to do so.
At a hearing, state Supreme Court Justice Richard J. McNally, Jr. raised questions about ex-state Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein’s central legal argument seeking the dismissal of an ethics panel’s sexual harassment investigation into the once-influential Senate leader.
Appellate justices in Albany upheld lower rulings in determining that Robert Gans, managing member of The Penthouse Executive Club, a topless establishment in midtown Manhattan, can be taxed on “scrip,” the currency that the strip club sells to customers.
The local concert calendar continues to grow, with the latest announcement being for Dead & Company, set to stop at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Friday, Aug. 27, as part of a 31-date tour running Aug. 16 through Oct. 31.
Most county fairs in the Capital Region have announced opening dates for late summer and fall 2021 after missing last year due to the pandemic. But organizers say they are still awaiting guidance from the state about how to operate their attractions.
The state PSC granted LIPA’s request for a delay in the final decision over who will pay the greater cost for grid upgrades for offshore wind power as opposing forces weigh in on a decision that could leave Long Islanders with the biggest tab.
A Delmar neighborhood had a landslide occur early Wednesday morning, where some homes had parts of their backyard property dropping off some 40 feet below.
Two Florida cops who were fired for their inaction during the 2018 Parkland school shooting should indeed get their jobs back, a judge ruled.
Apple parted ways with a prominent advertising-technology executive weeks after hiring him, following complaints about sexist and misogynistic passages in a memoir he wrote about his time at Facebook.
The nationwide chicken wing shortage has impacted restaurants all around. Now another rise in prices is putting restaurant owners in a tough situation.
