It’s FRIDAY. Good morning and happy King Kamehameha Day!
This probably doesn’t ring a bell – unless you happen to be Hawaiian. The day was created to honor the memory of Kamehameha the Great (c. 1758-1819) who united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810 to became Hawai‘i’s first King. (AKA Napoleon of the Pacific).
He was monarch of Hawaiʻi from 1782 until his death on May 8, 1819. The holiday was proclaimed by Kamehameha’s grandson, Kamehameha V, on December 22, 1871; it was first observed the following year.
After Hawaiʻi became a state in 1959, the holiday was proclaimed by its governor and Legislature, too.
Traditionally on this day, schools and businesses are closed, and there are parades, festivals and lei-draping ceremonies of statutes of Kamehameha that are located across the islands.
On a completely unrelated note, it’s also National German Chocolate Cake Day. (Did you know this happens to be one of the top 1- favorite cakes in the U.S.? I’m not sure I’ve ever even HAD it).
The cake is actually NOT German in origin. Its roots can be traced back to 1852 when American Sam German made a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker’s Chocolate Company. Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate’s brand was named in honor of Sam German.
Modern German chocolate cake recipes call for semisweet chocolate, since Baker’s brand sweet chocolate baking bars are no longer widely available.
In case you’re not familiar, German chocolate cake is famous for its filling, which is a rich, sticky-sweet custard studded with coconut flakes and chopped pecans. The sides are traditionally left bare so the cake is easy to recognize, and it relies on melted chocolate instead of cocoa for its intense chocolate flavor (unlike say, Red Velvet).
We’re headed into a spate of color weather, and I am not sorry. Today will be mainly cloudy with temperatures in the low 70s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden and leaders of the G-7 group of nations will publicly endorse a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15 percent today, one piece of a broader agreement to update international tax laws for a globalized, digital economy.
Boris Johnson has described Biden as a “breath of fresh air” after they met for the first time on the eve of the G7 summit in Cornwall.
The 90-minute session between Johnson and Biden focused on democracy, human rights and multilateralism; defense and security; science and technology; trade and prosperity; climate and nature; health; and the shared commitment to Northern Ireland.
Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plan to meet about the Norther Border this week during the G7 Summit.
Biden announced last night that the U.S. plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally as part of his efforts to reassert U.S. leadership on the world stage.
America’s reputation on the global stage appears to have significantly rebounded since former President Donald Trump left office and Biden became the commander in chief, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Members of a bipartisan group of senators said they reached an agreement on an infrastructure proposal that would be fully paid for without tax increases, pitching the plan to other lawmakers and the White House as they try to craft compromise legislation.
The number of Americans filing for first-time jobless claims has fallen for its sixth straight week to a new pandemic low, according to the Labor Department.
The data shows that 376,000 people filed for first-time benefits for the week ending June 5, a decrease of 9,000 compared to the 385,000 people who filed the week prior. This marks the lowest level since March 14, 2020.
New filings came in below the psychologically important level of 400,000 for a back-to-back week and came ever-closer to their pre-pandemic average of just over 200,000 per week.
Inflation is heating up across the economy as the ebbing of the pandemic unleashes pent-up consumer demand at a time of supply shortages.
U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in nearly 13 years in May, year-on-year, as rising demand, supply chain bottlenecks, and the ‘base effect’ from last year’s lockdown push up inflation.
More people have died from Covid-19 already this year than in all of 2020, according to official counts, highlighting how the global pandemic is far from over even as vaccines beat back the virus in wealthy nations.
The U.S. government has halted new shipments of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, according to state and federal health officials, one of several steps federal agencies are taking that could help clear a backlog of unused doses before they expire.
Moderna Inc. said it has asked U.S. health regulators to authorize the use of its Covid-19 shot in adolescents ages 12 to 17, setting up the potential availability of a second vaccine option for adolescents.
The CDC announced that it will convene an “emergency meeting” of its advisers on June 18th to discuss rare but higher-than-expected reports of heart inflammation following doses of the mRNA-based Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
There have been a higher-than-expected number of cases of heart inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds after receiving their second dose of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines, the CDC said.
Pediatricians are urging U.S. parents to get their children caught up on routine vaccinations, following a decline in the number of inoculations for diseases like measles as the pandemic forced restrictions, including shelter-at-home orders, last year.
Five people were arrested for taking part in a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme — including three JetBlue employees — that bilked the government out of more than $1 million dollars, prosecutors said.
The New York State Health Department has relaxed its guidelines for COVID-19 testing in nursing homes. Fully vaccinated staff will no longer be subjected to twice-weekly testing.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed the latest 10 vaccinated NY kids to get full college scholarships; another 30 will be raffled off over the next three weeks to kids age 12 to 17 who get at least a dose
Two guests aboard the Celebrity Millennium tested positive for Covid-19 in required end-of-cruise testing, the cruise line said.
Lawmakers conducted typical marathon voting sessions in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly as they reached the official end of session yesterday, passing bills that included an expansion of early voting and parole reforms.
State lawmakers said they reached a deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to amend a bill that changes the governance structure of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, paving the way for its passage before the end of the legislative session this week.
A last-minute controversy erupted for Cuomo as he sought to push through a long list of appointees to key positions ranging from the Board of Elections to the Public Service Commission.
It remains unclear whether there will be a special session this year, including to pursue any potential impeachment proceeding of Cuomo, who faced calls for his resignation, including from key Democratic leaders.
The state Senate voted to confirm ex-Sen. David Valesky’s nomination to the state Public Service Commission, despite opposition from more than 100 environmental and citizens groups.
A bill that would ban the slaughter of racehorses in New York and create a fund to help care for “retired” racehorses was passed by the state Legislature this week, stunning some advocates who have fought for years to shut down the industry.
The state Legislature passed a bill this week that will create a dedicated fund for the millions of dollars New York is expected receive in opioid-related legal settlements.
New Yorkers would avoid jail time for nonviolent parole violations, and children under age 12 could no longer be arrested as juveniles under bills that passed the state Legislature.
The state Senate approved a bill that could lead to New York removing former President Donald Trump’s name from a Hudson Valley state park.
The session ended with no news about progress on the legislative impeachment probe of Cuomo.
Taking aim at what he calls “radicalized Democrats” and saying “don’t NYC my Long Island,” Republican George Santos announced his candidacy for Congress in a mostly suburban district on New York’s Long Island that the GOP is eyeing.
The top five Democratic candidates for mayor tackled some of the biggest problems plaguing New Yorkers during a debate last night, zeroing in on surging crime and other quality of life issues.
The candidates struck a cordial tone in the latest Democratic debate, after a week of intensified attacks on one another and two days before the start of early voting in the primary.
The one-hour debate arrived at an unsettled moment in an extraordinarily consequential race, as several contenders battled controversies, while sparse public polling shows a tight and unpredictable contest that will be settled by ranked choice voting.
Pressed in the debate, Maya Wiley would not say if she would let New York City cops keep their guns.
New York City mayoral hopeful Andrew Yang said he would mesh well with Albany if elected — because he’s buddies with the governor’s younger brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo.
With marijuana now legal in New York and people lighting up in public with impunity, the candidates were asked what they would do to protect people from the effects of secondhand smoke.
Adams was the only Democratic mayoral candidate who expressed reservations about the impact on New Yorkers’ quality of life amid a new state law legalizing recreational marijuana.
Eric Adams vigorously fought off accusations that he has misled New York City voters about his residency, a daylong defense that included a last-minute decision to join four of his mayoral rivals in a debate that he had intended to skip.
Adams released travel records for the vehicles he’s used in his official capacity as Brooklyn borough president, two days after his rivals began to question whether or not he lives in New York City.
Even if he did live in New Jersey, state law only says that Adams has to be living in New York City on Election Day in November, according to the state’s board of elections.
Adams’ E-ZPass records cast serious doubt on claims that the Brooklyn borough president and Democratic mayoral front-runner is a secret New Jerseyan, showing fewer than a dozen Garden State trips over a recent year-long span.
Adams backed up his debate-stage anecdote about breaking up a subway mugging while off-duty during his days as an NYPD cop, arguing that Finest should carry their service weapons at all times for just such occasions.
Democratic mayoral contender Kathryn Garcia unveiled her “closing policy proposal” in her campaign for mayor – a $3 billion plan that would guarantee jobs for all New Yorkers between the ages of 16 and 24.
A Manhattan law firm sent a cease-and-desist letter to Yang, warning him to stop spreading “non-existent conspiracies” about the alleged ties between Mayor Bill de Blasio and unnamed “allies” to an animal rights group running attack ads against Yang.
The firefighters union endorsed Yang.
Manhattan voters began getting phone calls and texts from a pollster in recent days about the Democratic primary for DA. The questions quickly turned into a series of negative statements about one of the leading candidates in the race, Alvin Bragg.
The MTA bus that became lodged inside a Brooklyn brownstone following a crash earlier this week has developed into an oddball attraction for scores of gawkers.
It should be safe today for the MTA to remove the bus stuck in a Brooklyn brownstone without the building collapsing, city officials said.
Former two-time city Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said New York “went too far, too fast” in approving laws aiding criminals and handcuffing cops and now faces “a long hot summer ahead.”
The annual Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks will be a live event and New Yorkers will be able to gather at spots along New York City’s East River waterfront to watch, according to city officials.
Herbert Sturz, a public policy giant and pioneer in criminal justice reform both in New York City and across the country, has died, friends and colleagues confirmed. He was 90.
Still reeling from 17 homicides in 2020, the City of Albany is on pace to eclipse that total this year with a surge in gun violence that exploded as six homicides in May alone brought the city to nine killings so far this year.
With early primary voting set to begin this Saturday, the Rensselaer County Board of Elections has appealed a judge’s decision ordering the board to pick new early voting locations.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said the investigation of an explosion at a house in Berne last week that killed an elderly couple is still “leaning heavily towards a propane explosion.”
New York’s 2021 Invasive Species Awareness Week runs June 6 through June 12 and this year includes the opportunity to win prizes for learning about and identifying invasive species.
For the first time in over a century, there’s a new ocean on the map.
Lake Mead has declined to its lowest level since the reservoir was filled in the 1930s following the construction of Hoover Dam, marking a new milestone for the water-starved Colorado River in a downward spiral that shows no sign of letting up.
Jeffrey Toobin, the former New Yorker staff writer who was fired from the magazine after he was seen masturbating while on a video call with colleagues, has returned to CNN as a legal analyst after a seven-month hiatus from the network.
A third member of a key Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has resigned over the agency’s controversial decision to approve Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm.
The Biden administration will reconsider federal limits on fine industrial soot, one of the most common and deadliest forms of air pollution, with an eye toward imposing tough new rules on emissions from power plants, factories and other industrial facilities.
The Justice Department during the Trump administration sought records from Apple Inc. relating to communications by House Intelligence Committee members as well as some of their aides and family members, a committee official said.
All told, the records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman.
Huma Abedin, the close aide to Hillary Clinton and estranged wife of disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, has a memoir coming out this fall.
