Helllooooooo, Friday! Goodest morning to you all.
As much as it pains me to report this, it’s World Snake Day.
Now, to be clear, I am generally a live and let live sort of person when it comes to wild things. But I really, really, REALLY dislike snakes. I don’t like their slithery snakeyness, full stop.
Once I was running in the Catskills and a snake FELL on the ground in front of me. Apparently, they are very good climbers, but it lost its …. footing? I’m not even sure what to call it…anyway, it fell.
I thought it was the end of days. Snakes falling from the sky is NOT a good omen.
But, snakes, of course, have their place in the ecosystem. And they are threatened by all the same things that endanger all other forms of wildlife – disease, climate change, over development etc.
There are also a lot of interesting facts about snakes – like, did you know that there are 3,500 species of snakes on the planet? The world’s smallest snake is the Barbados thread snake – it clocks in at about 4 inches long. The longest snake is the reticulated python, and the heaviest is the green anaconda.
That’s all you’re going to get out of me, though, because I simply cannot bring myself to review too many websites full of snake photos. So, you can find out all about them for yourself if you’re so inclined by clicking this link.
On a more appetizing note, (though I know some people actually consider snakes a delicacy), today is also National Corn Fitter Day. Fried corn in batter. This I can get behind.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s rain in the forecast…again. Scattered thunderstorms, to be exact, and they may contain strong gusty winds. It will also be somewhere in the low 80s, with 73 percent humidity. And the weekend isn’t looking so hot, either. Blech. Summer, where are you???
In the headlines…
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to more swiftly help Afghans who assisted the U.S. government during the 20-year war — before it’s too late.
Biden expressed optimism on the prospects for passing a bipartisan infrastructure package, despite recent signs of trouble.
Disagreements over expanding the Internal Revenue Service have snarled lawmakers’ efforts to firm up their roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure agreement before an initial vote next week gauging the deal’s support.
Biden touted the expanded child tax credit, a provision of his administration’s Covid-19 relief package aimed at reducing child poverty that he believes could change the lives of working-class families.
Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Washington yesterday in what was likely the European leader’s final appearance at the White House before she steps down from her long-held position this fall.
“It’s a great pleasure to welcome Chancellor Merkel back into the White House,” Biden said, as the two leaders sat down for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. “I consider her a personal friend as well a a great friend to the United States.”
The two world leaders agreed to stand together against Russian aggression.
European governments are growing frustrated with the Biden administration for refusing to lift travel rules that prevent most of their citizens from traveling to the U.S., citing inconsistent rules, economic costs and an outdated strategy for halting Covid-19.
Biden said he’ll soon be able to answer persistent questions about travel to the U.S .from Europe after Merkel raised the matter in the Oval Office.
“It’s in process now,” Biden said at a news conference with Merkel following their meeting. “I’m waiting to hear from our folks, our Covid team, as to when that should be done.”
Canada could start allowing Americans into the country for recreational or tourist activities starting in mid-August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said.
Biden said that the U.S. will bolster security at its embassy in Haiti following last week’s assassination of that country’s president, but sending American troops to stabilize the country was “not on the agenda.”
The president said his administration will issue an advisory to warn American companies about the risks of doing business in Hong Kong as China tightens its hold on the semi-autonomous region.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pressured lawmakers to reach an agreement by next week on a pair of massive domestic spending measures, signaling Democrats’ desire to push ahead aggressively on President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar agenda.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic poses an “imminent and insidious threat to our nation’s health” and condemned the spread of what he called “common myths” by those refusing to be vaccinated.
Murthy, who lost 10 family members to COVID-19, said that online misinformation, particularly that which promoted vaccine hesitancy, threatened to prolong the pandemic at a time when the Delta variant continues to spread across America.
The number of new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. has more than doubled in the last two weeks, as the delta variant continues to race across the nation, infecting both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, who account for more than 99% of recent fatalities.
Hospitals are stretched thin in a few hot spots, but the vaccines are working and the national outlook remains far better than during previous surges.
Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the U.S., will once again require people to wear masks indoors – regardless of vaccination status – due to a recent surge in new COVID-19 cases.
Foo Fighters are rescheduling an upcoming concert in Los Angeles after someone associated with the band tested positive for COVID-19.
Austin officials raised the city’s coronavirus guidelines for the first time since the winter surge, urging unvaccinated people to avoid nonessential travel and take other precautions after seeing a dramatic increase in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The Yankees’ post-All-Star break opener against the Boston Red Sox last night was postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests among New York pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta.
An Olympic athlete and staff member are among six new positive cases of the coronavirus, the local Tokyo organizing committee said.
Bradley Beal will miss the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo after the Wizards star was placed in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols, USA Basketball announced.
A group of GOP lawmakers is threatening to dissolve and replace the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees (USOPC) board of directors if its leadership does not take disciplinary action against athletes who partake in “anti-American” protests.
Emergency authorization for Covid-19 vaccines in children under 12 could come in early to midwinter, a Food and Drug Administration official said.
The head of the World Health Organization acknowledged it was premature to rule out a potential link between the COVID-19 pandemic and a laboratory leak, and he’s asking China to be more transparent as scientists search for the origins of the virus.
New cases of Covid-19 are rising rapidly in New York and have more than doubled since late June, though hospitalizations remain low.
The Bristol County Sheriff’s office in Massachusetts announced they will be the first law enforcement with K-9s trained to detect COVID-19.
Applications for unemployment benefits fell to a new pandemic low, showing a healing labor market, and the number of people receiving jobless aid has also trended lower as many states end enhanced pandemic programs.
Initial claims in regular state programs decreased by 26,000 to 360,000 in the week ended July 10, Labor Department data showed. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 350,000 initial applications.
Worker shortages and bottlenecks in the supply chain are frustrating efforts by businesses to ramp up production to meet strong demand for goods and services.
A shortage of computer chips is keeping automakers from producing enough cars to meet rising demand. Used cars are scarce, too.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, conducted by the New York Federal Reserve, rose to a record 43 for July, representing the percentage difference between firms seeing expansion against those contracting.
People who lost jobs during the pandemic took on gig work as a way to make some money. But despite that, many gig workers say they are left too vulnerable to the coronavirus and have not been fairly compensated.
Job openings are at a record high, leaving the impression that employers are hiring like never before. But many businesses that laid off workers during the pandemic are already predicting they will need fewer employees in the future.
California lawmakers approved the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the U.S., $35 million for monthly cash payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults who recently left foster care with no restrictions on how they spend it.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to be questioned on Saturday by investigators from the New York State attorney general’s office, signaling that a four-month-long inquiry into several sexual harassment accusations may be entering its final stages.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, “We have said repeatedly that the governor doesn’t want to comment on this review until he has cooperated.”
Cuomo’s campaign raised $2.5 million in the first six months of 2021 despite a series of scandals ranging from multiple sexual harassment allegations to claims the three-term Democrat misused public funds to write a $5 million leadership book.
The embattled Democrat now has about $18.5 million in his war chest. Cuomo’s campaign reported spending $881,258.30 in the first half of 2021 and claims 84% of all donations came in amounts of $250 or less.
The campaign arm of the New York state Senate Democratic conference in the last six months raised more than $1.7 million after securing a supermajority in the chamber during last year’s elections and has $13 million on hand.
The Liberty Justice Center, a law firm that fights for constitutional rights and free speech, has sued the Attorneys General of New York and New Jersey over the states’ policy requiring nonprofits to disclose private information about their donors.
Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams boldly proclaimed himself the city’s new leader as outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio looked on helplessly at a private political gathering yesterday.
Adams said that working-class New Yorkers want a mayor who gets out of bed at the same time they do, drawing a contrast with the city’s current late-rising leader without naming him.
Adams, the Democratic mayoral nominee, ticked off a series of policy positions that are in lock step with the Hotel Trades Council after a spirited rally at its Midtown Manhattan headquarters yesterday.
Adams said he might use federal stimulus money to hire more NYPD officers, in a shift from earlier remarks when he said he’d focus on moving civilian cops off desk duty.
A video of police officers swarming a subway rider and shooting him with a Taser this month has revived a contentious debate about policing on New York’s public transit system, even as the person likely to lead the city has made subway safety a top priority.
Six months into a series of brutal attacks on people of Asian descent across the city, the police and prosecutors have faced challenges in both preventing the violence and punishing those responsible.
New York City lost its bid to block a judicial inquiry into allegations that city officials — including de Blasio — neglected and violated their duty to fully investigate Eric Garner’s fatal 2014 arrest, an appellate court ruled.
De Blasio attempted to pressure Cuomo to implement a long-delayed Manhattan driving fee — nominating a member of a board that oversees new tolls and calling on the governor to “urgently” enact congestion pricing.
De Blasio suggested that “politics” is motivating Times Square business leaders who have raised alarm about gun violence in the wake of the Midtown tourist hotspot seeing its third shooting in as many months.
Cops say they’ve busted a young gunman who opened fire at another man in Times Square and sparked a war of words between de Blasio’s spokesman and a neighborhood business leader.
The Queens Museum is among 46 cultural nonprofit organizations selected for a new $30 million program by Bloomberg Philanthropies intended to support improving technology at the groups and helping them stabilize and thrive post- pandemic.
Some Democratic lawmakers are looking to allow student athletes at universities in New York to collectively bargain and form their own unions.
Republicans in the state Assembly are calling for a special session of the Legislature to align New York’s moratorium on evictions for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with the federal government’s policy.
State regulators have approved a $425 million private equity investment in Consolidated Communications, which provides cable TV, internet and phone services to tens of thousands of customers in Columbia, Rensselaer and Dutchess counties.
New York state’s largest electric and gas utilities were granted permission by state regulators to share infrastructure and resources in the event of a cyber attack.
Consolidated Edison Inc and two other companies will pay more than $86 million to resolve New York state claims over their response to Tropical Storm Isaias, which knocked out power to more than 900,000 utility customers last August.
New York has no laws that call for structural inspections after a building is erected, and despite calls from lawmakers to take action after the Florida Surfside collapse, the state board empowered to evaluate building code has yet to commit to taking up the issue.
A total of 53 people were taken to regional hospitals yesterday after authorities believe a leaky gas pipe sickened youngsters at an all-boys religious camp in the Catskill Mountains.
Thousands of race-hungry spectators milled about Saratoga Race Course on opening day, scanning race sheets, eating food and soaking in the atmosphere after a year-long absence.
Five people were arrested after Black Lives Matter protesters marched through downtown Saratoga Springs on Wednesday night, calling for city officials to apologize for recent remarks they made about activists in the city.
A group concerned with the future of health care access in Schenectady County is holding a rally July 25 to highlight concerns surrounding the proposed merger of two local hospital systems, including what it says is a lack of transparency around the deal.
UAlbany has received a $1 million, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to create an academic climate where female faculty in the fields of science, technology engineering and math can develop their careers to the fullest potential.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown did not want to debate leading up to the Democratic mayoral primary in June but now he is open to it as he tries to win a fifth term as a write-in candidate.
Intel is exploring a deal to buy GlobalFoundries Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would turbocharge the semiconductor giant’s plans to make more chips for other tech companies and rate as its largest acquisition ever.
After five and a half hours of emotional discussion at a meeting his week, the Boston School Committee voted unanimously to overhaul admissions to three selective exam schools, opening the way for far greater representation of Black and Latino students.
In the weeks since Britney Spears publicly denounced the long-running legal arrangement that has controlled her life, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have jumped in to declare their support.
R. Kelly’s sole female lawyer got a lesson from a federal judge on infantilizing women yesterday, less than a month before her client is to be tried for making child porn.
Scammers stole at least $4.2 billion from individuals in 2020, more than half of the amount stolen over the previous three years, according to a new report analyzing federal data.
