Good Tuesday morning.
Today marks one year since the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee onto his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds as Floyd, who was unarmed and handcuffed, begged for mercy. His last words were: “I can’t breathe.” He lated died at a nearby hospital.
Floyd’s death, for which the officer, Derek Chauvin, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Three other former officers charged in Floyd’s killing are set to go on trial next year.
The incident was captured on a cellphone video, which went viral and has been viewed billions of times. Floyd’s death sparked a global social justice protest movement and and resulted in an ongoing push for police reform.
Rallies, marches and memorials marking this anniversary took place across the nation this past weekend, and more are scheduled for today. In addition, George Floyd’s family will be meeting for privately the first time with President Biden at the White House.
The Washington Post reports:
While White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden is “eager to listen to their perspectives and hear what they have to say,” an unfulfilled promise looms over the meeting as progress on police reform has stagnated, including legislation bearing Floyd’s name that Biden had hoped would be law on the anniversary of his death.
While the outcome of Chauvin’s trial was a victory for the Floyd family, justice has never come for other families of individuals killed by police and hundreds of died over the past year.
It seems like it would be both frivolous and tin-earned to move from a subject so weighty and significant to my usual upbeat – offbeat? – daily fodder. So I’m just going to leave it here and move on to other news.
Yesterday was just about perfect, weather-wise, albeit a touch windy. Today will be slightly warmer, with temperatures in the high 70s and a mix of sun and clouds.
In the headlines…
More than 500 Democratic staffers and former members of President Biden’s campaign team have signed an open letter calling on the president to “unequivocally condemn” Israel amid the recent conflict with Hamas.
The move comes amid a deepening split in Democratic ranks, between some vocal members of its progressive wing – such as Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez – and more centrist figures including Biden who have taken a consistently pro-Israel stance.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris condemned recent attacks toward the Jewish community after several Jewish people were targeted in cities across the US and abroad as tensions flare over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, after the two leaders coordinated a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, following 11 days of intense fighting between the two that followed weeks of unrest that started in and near Jerusalem.
Biden slammed the arrest of a dissident journalist by the government of Belarus, which diverted a commercial flight over its airspace for a forced landing in Minsk.
Biden said he applauded EU efforts to impose economic sanctions against Belarus over the forced landing of a jetliner and the arrest of a dissident journalist, and had ordered his team to “develop appropriate options” to hold those responsible accountable.
It’s a pivotal time for many aspects of Biden’s ambitious agenda. Rounding the first quarter of his presidency, the White House and Congress have been unable to meet key Memorial Day deadlines set by the administration on crucial priorities.
National Guard troops are slated to decamp from Capitol Hill this week, nearly five months after thousands were deployed to safeguard Congress amid fears of further unrest after the violent Jan. 6 insurrection.
Though their mission formally ended Sunday, about 1,700 troops from nine states and Washington, D.C., remain in the District pending departures scheduled through tomorrow, according to Air Force Capt. Chelsi Johnson, a D.C. Guard spokesperson.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden issued a statement thanking the National Guard troops who were deployed at the US Capitol for the past several months.
Biden is under pressure to abandon a Trump-era immigration rule that sealed off the U.S. to most migrants during the pandemic, with human rights officials and two of the administration’s own medical consultants saying this endangers vulnerable families.
U.S. health officials and the State Department warned Americans against travel to Japan because of a surge in coronavirus cases in the country, which is preparing to host the Olympics in just two months.
Delhi is considering relaxing its Covid-19 restrictions six weeks after a devastating coronavirus surge rocked the Indian capital, with a pledge to ramp up vaccinations to protect the city’s more than 20 million people from another wave.
Top U.S. public health officials and experts are increasingly lending credibility to the need for a deeper investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
Scientists have been adamant that the virus evolved by jumping from animals at a wet market to humans, while downplaying a rival theory that it escaped from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). But the latter is still in the running.
A new and potentially more contagious coronavirus variant has begun to outpace other versions in Britain, putting pressure on the government to shorten people’s wait for second doses of vaccines and illustrating the risks of a faltering global immunization drive.
The White House is tapping YouTube stars for vaccine messaging, as Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci appear in new videos released on Monday that were part of a virtual town hall in an effort to reach young audiences unsure or hesitant to get the shots.
Children who sickened from the rare but serious Covid-related inflammatory syndrome may surmount most significant symptoms within six months, but may still have muscle weakness and emotional difficulties at that time, a new small study suggests.
At least 18 teens and young adults in Connecticut have shown symptoms of heart problems after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, acting health commissioner Dr. Deirdre Gifford said.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law legislation that bans government institutions, along with schools and private businesses, from refusing goods, services or admission to people because of their immunization status.
New Jersey is dropping its indoor-mask mandate and lifting other restrictions put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19 as infections fall and vaccinations tick up, state officials said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that every person who gets vaccinated with either a first dose or single dose of Johnson & Johnson in New York between May 24-31 is eligible for a free two-day pass to any state park through Sept. 30.
“Stop, get a vaccine, you get a two-day free pass to come into any state park,” the governor said during an appearance at Jones Beach on Long Island, adding that shots will be available at 15 participating parks.
New York’s Vax & Scratch program starts Monday.
New cases of Covid-19 in New York fell below 1,000 Sunday for the first time since the fall.
New York will “encourage” but not require children aged 2 and older to wear masks in child care settings such as summer camps following days of protests about the directive, including from county officials who pledged they would not enforce the mandate.
New York City will no longer have a remote schooling option come fall, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, a major step toward fully reopening the nation’s largest school system and a crucial marker in the city’s economic recovery.
Some families remain fearful of returning their children to classrooms, and others have become accustomed to new child care and work routines built around remote schooling, and are loath to make major changes.
The leading Democratic contenders to replace de Blasio will finally share a stage together for their second televised primary debate next week, officials announced after a virtual event earlier this month and a seemingly endless schedule of Zoom forums.
“After receiving the final list of candidates this weekend and much due diligence reviewing the safety protocols, our team is now confident that we can host the June 2 mayoral debate with the candidates in person,” WABC-TV said in a statement.
State Sen. John Liu, the first Asian American elected to citywide office, has announced his support for mayoral contender Andrew Yang, in a long-awaited endorsement.
“This is a man who stuck to it,” Liu said. “I know how difficult it is to run for office. He became our hope, he was our dream. He is a bit our Shirley Chisholm.”
Yang once called himself the opposite of Donald Trump. But he is another test of the theory that in politics, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Four weeks before the June 22 Democratic primary that will almost certainly determine New York City’s next mayor, the race is approximating a traditional campaign brawl after months of somewhat passive but decorous exchanges over video forums.
Mayoral candidate Eric Adams testified during the Bloomberg era against the NYPD’s misuse of a policing tactic that was ultimately ruled unconstitutional, but steadfastly maintains it is an effective tool when employed legally.
As it stands, with new state laws and ranked-choice voting to contend with, the city BOE said that election results won’t be available before the week of July 12th, almost three weeks after Primary Day.
Manhattan district attorney candidates Alvin Bragg and Tali Farhadian Weinstein boast the biggest campaign war chests heading into the final month of the race, state filings show, giving them a potential advantage over a crowded field of contenders.
Violence surged across the Big Apple last week — with significant upticks in shootings, robberies and serious assaults — as arrests plunged, alarming NYPD statistics revealed yesterday.
More than two dozen people were shot in New York City over the weekend — a 100% increase compared with the same three-day period last year, police data shows.
A second suspect faces hate crime charges in a brutal, caught-on-camera attack on a Jewish man during a Times Square protest last week.
Fare beaters took the MTA for a ride during the first three months of 2021, part of an ongoing trend that illustrates how many New Yorkers continue to struggle during the pandemic.
The New York City Pride March will once again be presented virtually to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“Hadestown,” the last show to win a Tony Award for best musical before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the theater industry, announced it is planning to resume performances on Sept. 2, nearly two weeks before any other Broadway shows.
After years of debate and months of negotiations, the City Council is poised to vote on legislation this week to drastically increase the value of the city’s rental assistance vouchers for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.
A majority of New York voters still believe Cuomo should not resign. But as he faces investigations on multiple fronts, many voters would like to elect someone else when the next gubernatorial election occurs in 2022, according to a new Siena College poll.
The poll of 793 registered voters showed Cuomo’s approval ratings appear to have stabilized since March, when many of his fellow Democrats called for him to step down and the state Assembly launched an investigation that could lead to his impeachment.
Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said the results are a mixed bag for Cuomo, noting that the embattled governor’s favorability is up and most New Yorkers still say he’s doing a good job managing the ongoing COVID crisis.
The Democratic-led state Senate plans to throw the book at New York’s embattled watchdog Joint Commission on Public Ethics today, preparing to pass legislation overhauling the panel.
“The goal of this omnibus bill is to do three important things that we believe will not only make JCOPE stronger, but will also increase its integrity,” said Sen. Alessandra Biaggi. “Since we know there is an integrity issue with JCOPE, this will hopefully take it in a positive direction.”
Barricades blocking cars from driving down State Street next to the state Capitol building were removed on Sunday morning. The fencing blocking pedestrians from walking on the grass throughout West Capitol Park is gone, too.
Stewart’s Shops says the passage of a bill by the state Legislature to mandate that only zero emission cars are sold in New York beginning in 2035 may be out of whack with the economic realities on the ground.
There’s a lot more to the future of New York’s cannabis industry than the major license types of growing, processing, and retail, according to the state’s Assembly Majority Leader.
A critical shortage of home health aides across New York is forcing those at home who need care to wait. The Home Care Association of New York says there is an “urgent matter,” and it’s causing hospital beds to fill up.
A 23-year-old Bronx man was caught trespassing to secure areas of the Albany International Airport early yesterday morning – including sitting in a plane’s cockpit.
Police believe the bullet that killed 18-year-old Chyna Forney was intended for someone else, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office said.
There’s a new rainbow crosswalk in Saratoga Springs.
There have been dozens of bear sightings in Bethlehem alone in the last two weeks.
City of Albany officials gathered to announce that Lincoln Park’s fields, known as “the bowl,” will be reshaped over the next two years, a project that will improve drainage and raise the fields by two to three feet.
Former television actress and high-ranking NXIVM member Allison Mack will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on June 30 for her crimes in Keith Raniere’s cult-like organization.
A Hoosick Falls high school student was taken into custody by the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly bringing a BB gun to school, according to school officials.
Campground operators, travel experts and others say that last year’s boom in campground visits and recreational vehicle, or RV, sales is continuing this spring.
Capital Region parents are helping lead the push for bipartisan federal legislation that advocates say would lead to better, easier and more affordable treatment for rare diseases.
Former President Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, has agreed to testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee sometime next week about Trump’s efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation.
A Trump-supporting jogger unleashed a fusillade of expletives at Michael Cohen in Central Park, prompting the ex-presidential attorney to pull out his phone, run after the heckler and catch her on video.
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a death row inmate who sought to have his sentence carried out by firing squad because he believes it will be less painful than the state’s preferred method of execution.
The FBI and Capitol Hill police are investigating a suspicious package that was delivered to the home of Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul.
More than 150,000 activists and parents have signed a series of petitions urging Facebook to drop its plans to create an Instagram for kids platform, the organizations behind the petitions said.
