Good Tuesday morning.
Today is the International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos. Yep. Try saying that ten times fast. If you’re interested in learning more about why pachyderms should not, in their supporters’ opinion, be held in captivity, click here.
And in case you haven’t been following….This state’s highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, recently agreed to hear a case from a group fighting to spring Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo under a writ of habeas corpus — a legal concept used to determine if jailing a prisoner or detainee is lawful.
Happy, who has lived at the Bronx Zoo for about 40 years and has spent the last decade there alone, is represented by the Nonhuman Rights Project.
Since 2018, the group has been trying to get Happy released from the zoo, but lower courts have repeatedly struck down the case, saying the law doesn’t apply to the elephant because she isn’t human.
On this day in 2018, celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain hanged himself at the Le Chambard Hotel in Alsace, France while on location for a shoot for his cable food and travel show, Parts Unknown. He was 61.
Bourdain’s death shocked the food world, but also was felt far outside its sphere, as he had a significant following due to the success of his book “Kitchen Confidential” and his aforementioned TV show, in which he would travel to distant locales and introduce viewers to foreign cultures and foods.
Since his suicide, the New Jersey-born Bourdain’s friends and admirers annually acknowledge “Anthony Bourdain Day” on June 25 – his birthday.
If you’re interested in planning a road trip sometime this month, and want to combine your love of Bourdain and food, you can hop in the car or train (or plane?) and check out the food trail in New Jersey that was established in his honor.
Also on this day in 1968, authorities announced the capture in London of James Earl Ray, the suspected assassin of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And in 1845 on this day, Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tennessee.
Here’s an interesting thing to get your head around: Two celebrities who share a birthday today include singer Kanye West (born in 1977) and singer Nancy Sinatra (born in 1940).
Also born today in 1955: Timothy John Berners-Lee (AKA TimBL), an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. (Oh man, someone break the news to Al Gore).
Actually, though, if you go down the Google rabbit hole, you’ll find that there are competing reports on this. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, for example, computer scientists Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn are credited with inventing the Internet communication protocols we use today and the system referred to as the Internet.
We’re headed into something of a downward spiral, weather wise, with the forecast calling for scattered thunderstorms this morning and then clouds in the afternoon. Temperatures are going to be in the mid-80s and fall steadily from there through the weekend. (I can’t say I’m sorry to see this heat go).
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden’s first overseas trip will focus on bolstering availability of Western coronavirus vaccines abroad – a bid to both counter China and calm tensions with allies who’ve been at odds with the U.S. over its hoarding of shots and intellectual property rights.
Biden will warn British Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit deal when they meet for the first time at the G7 summit this week.
The White House is defending Biden’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva next week, saying it’s “vital” to protecting America’s interests.
Biden and Senate Democrats confronted a narrowing set of options for moving ahead with their ambitious agenda, as the reality set in that they would not be able to maneuver past rules that empower Republicans to block most of their legislative proposals.
After six months of Democratic control in Washington, the party’s progressive wing is growing restless as campaign promises go undone — blocked not only by Republican obstruction, but also by Democrats’ own inability to unite fully around priorities.
Sen. Joe Manchin is facing a firestorm of criticism from fellow Democrats in Congress over his intensions to block a landmark voting rights bill — and New York’s lawmakers are leading the way in tearing into the centrist West Virginia senator.
Never-before-heard audio shows how former President Donald Trump’s longtime adviser Rudy Giuliani relentlessly pressured and coaxed the Ukrainian government in 2019 to investigate baseless conspiracies about then-candidate Biden.
The Department of Justice argued in favor of defending Trump in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll who accused him of raping her in the 1990’s, with federal lawyers adopting the notion that he can’t be sued for defamation for statements he made while president.
The position could lead to Carroll’s lawsuit being dismissed.
Trump believed that Democrats would replace then-candidate Biden with former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or former first lady Michelle Obama as the party’s nominee in 2020, according to a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender.
Biden has been president of the United States for 138 days. And in that time, he has held a total of ONE formal news conference.
During her first foreign trip as vice president, Kamala Harris said the U.S. would bolster investigations into corruption and human trafficking in Guatemala, while also delivering a blunt message to undocumented migrants hoping to reach the county: “Do not come.”
Harris will complete the second leg of her foreign trip today in Mexico, where she’ll meet with the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
A report on the origins of Covid-19 by a U.S. government national laboratory concluded that the hypothesis claiming the virus leaked from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is plausible and deserves further investigation.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on coronavirus vaccine manufacturers to give half their doses to Covax, the initiative to distribute vaccines equitably, as part of a push to inoculate 30 percent of the world’s population by Dec. 31.
A new study suggests how the COVID variant Alpha first identified in Britain hides from the human immune system. Its stealth may be part of its success.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is preparing to ease border restrictions for travelers who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The amount of carbon dioxide piling up in Earth’s atmosphere set a record last month, once again reaching the highest levels in human history despite a temporary dip in the burning of fossil fuels worldwide caused by the pandemic, scientists said.
Experts are concerned that states across the U.S. South, where vaccination rates are lagging, could face a surge in coronavirus cases over the summer.
Texas businesses that require customers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be denied state contracts and could lose their licenses or operating permits under legislation Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law.
New York will celebrate its rebound from the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic with an all-star concert at Central Park’s Great Lawn this summer, city officials said.
A true sign the pandemic has eased in NY: high heels are back.
After a weekend of complete confusion, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced New York would rescind its mask mandate for outdoor activity in schools while keeping the indoor mandate in place.
Cuomo said COVID restrictions will be lifted once New York reaches a vaccination rate of 70 percent – and the state is almost there.
Reaching the threshold would signify the end of restrictions on capacity limits, social distancing, disinfection protocols and health screenings. It will be optional for businesses to impose such health precautions on their premises.
As New Rochelle became the nation’s epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic last year, school leaders ignored the district’s medical director and her calls to close schools sooner, according to a federal lawsuit.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed material related to Cuomo’s recent memoir as part of their probe into Covid-19 deaths in the state’s nursing homes, people familiar with the matter said.
News of the subpoenas offers a glimpse into the scale of the probe from the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn into the handling of some of the data surrounding Covid-19 deaths in long-term-care facilities in New York.
Cuomo is adding a virtual fundraiser in July for small-dollar donors to a campaigning blitz that includes a $10,000 per head reception later this month.
The Kennedy-Cuomo clan sent their love and support to Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy’s youngest daughter after she opened up about her sexuality in celebration of Pride Month.
The New York state Senate passed legislation making it easier for plaintiffs to win antimonopoly lawsuits, in the latest state-led effort to rein in large technology companies in the absence of action by Congress.
A top sticking point for the New York Health Act, which would create a universal, single-payer health care system in New York, is opposition from public sector labor leaders over how it would change coverage for their members.
NYC public sector unions are pushing a plan to move retirees from Medicare to privatized health insurance, drawing intense protest from thousands of members.
As the session ends, Cuomo is keeping a public distance from a Capitol that’s been largely empty for more than a year due to COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. He said most of his priorities were accomplished two months ago in the $212 billion state budget.
The state Board of Regents unanimously voted Regent Josephine Victoria Finn into the vice-chancellor seat vacated by former Regent T. Andrew Brown.
Democratic leadership in the state Legislature continues to mull how expansive it wants its additional parole and bail reform measures to be in the final week of the legislative session, while advocates continue their attempts to push the reforms.
State Sen. John Liu commuted from his Queens home to the state Capitol in Albany by bike – 164 miles.
Hackers breached the New York City Law Department’s computer system over the weekend, prompting the city to limit access to the network as it investigates the cyberattack, officials said.
The city’s Cyber Command, which monitors more than 100 government agencies and offices, first detected the breach on Saturday. It is unclear if any private or sensitive data was taken in the breach; no ransom was sought.
The hack left government lawyers unable to access documents and may have made sensitive personnel info about thousands of employees vulnerable.
The attack is now under investigation by the intelligence bureau of the New York Police Department and the F.B.I.’s cyber task force, the officials said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio seized on the fatal shooting of a 10-year-old boy to call for stricter federal gun control and to push for state legislation that would provide more assistance to parolees.
The state should boost housing and employment help for people released from jail on parole, de Blasio said, though he stopped short of offering any new city solutions to the ongoing spike in violent crime.
A retired NYPD transit cop was accidentally shot and killed by his friend during a scuffle with another man on a Brooklyn street last night.
Sixteen people were injured, none of them critically, after a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus crashed into a rowhouse in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon, officials said.
Nine state lawmakers called on the federal government to permanently cover some of the MTA’s $17 billion in annual operating costs — a move they said is necessary because of lagging ridership triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced a big push for cybersecurity funding they said would help prevent further hacks on the MTA.
Schumer urged Biden to tap a couple of prominent voting rights attorneys for federal judgeships in New York, signaling Democrats are hoping to bring the national battle over election access into the judicial arena amid partisan gridlock in Congress.
Cher apologized to Gillibrand after confusing her with Arizona’s Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has faced relentless criticism after she failed to show up for the recent vote to authorize a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, announced their support for a new super PAC that will run television and digital ads attacking Andrew Yang, one of the Democratic front-runners in the contest.
Yang delivered what his campaign called a “closing message,” blaming de Blasio and his administration for problems associated with crime and quality of life.
Former Wall Street executive Ray McGuire’s wife, Crystal McCrary McGuire, a lawyer and filmmaker, is appearing solo in an ad set to launch today in support of his mayoral candidacy.
Mayoral contender Maya Wiley claimed that if she had been mayor in the wake of Eric Garner’s death, she’d have fired Daniel Pantaleo, who remained with the NYPD years after his role in the caught-on-video killing.
Wiley slammed rival NYC mayoral candidate Eric Adams for adopting “Republican talking points” as the crowded race for Gracie Mansion heats up in the final days.
Wiley wants to cut $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget — at the same time her home is being protected by a private security patrol in her Brooklyn neighborhood.
Wiley said that the clearing out of Washington Square Park to enforce a newly imposed curfew is an example of the city “wasting” money on police.
Adams now holds a significant lead in the New York City mayoral race, jumping six points ahead of rival Andrew Yang in the latest poll — as voters trust the retired police captain most to fight rising crime in the city.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has taken a stand on the City Council race, throwing support to 60 candidates running in 31 districts.
An acting State Supreme Court justice tossed out Rensselaer County’s three early voting locations as too remote and not providing equitable access for people of color, and ordered the county Board of Elections to have new polling places selected by tomorrow.
Season and weekly ticket plans for the Saratoga Race Course will go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
For the second time in just over a month, local officials, business leaders and rail advocates urged state officials to bring back the full Amtrak train schedule that had been in place before COVID-19, but which was cut back due to the pandemic.
The City of Albany has launched a new effort to convince people to get vaccinations, and the treasurer’s office will void one outstanding parking ticket for residents who get vaccinated.
The husband of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren is now facing federal drug charges as part of what prosecutors are calling a drug trafficking organization.
The Justice Department will require federal agents to wear body cameras when executing arrest warrants or searching buildings, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, reversing a longstanding federal policy as more local agencies mandate the devices.
With more than 90,000 miles of coastline, the country has plenty of places to plunk down wind turbines. But legal, environmental and economic obstacles and even vanity have stood in the way.
Acting Mayor of Boston Kim Janey announced that she had fired police commissioner Dennis White over allegations of domestic abuse that surfaced in February.
The hackers who caused the nation’s largest fuel pipeline to shut down last month have lost the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to the feds.
The Food and Drug Administration approved a high-profile Alzheimer’s drug, a controversial decision to green light the first new drug to slow the mind-robbing disease in nearly two decades.
The approval of the therapy, which has the molecular name aducanumab and will be sold as Aduhelm, marked a watershed in Alzheimer’s drug research after billions of dollars in investment.
