Good Tuesday morning.
I know I’ve weighed in on this before, but I’m not a big doughnut person. Just never really liked them. I think they’re basically sugar-laden gut bombs. Give me a bagel with peanut butter or cream cheese any day of the week, or even a croissant or a muffin.
But doughnuts? Nah. They leave me cold.
If I were to be forced to select a doughnut for consumption, I would likely err on the plain side – like a cinnamon sugar (OK, so cider doughnuts fresh from the fryer are indeed a worthwhile treat), or even a plain or maybe, if forced, a glazed. But fancier than that and you start to lose me.
I remember one year the big hit at the State Fair was a chicken wing doughnut that I think – if memory serves correctly – featured a blue cheese filling, a hot sauce glaze and a chicken wing garnish. Ugh. No. Thank. You. Did anyone actually try that thing?
I am definitely a no-filling doughnut kind of gal, and as such, I just can’t understand how cream-filled doughnuts get an entire national day to themselves. But, it’s true, they have one. And it’s today.
Doughnuts are apparently a very American thing, though fritters and fried dough, which are definitely related, are certainly found all over the world. They date back centuries, and they figure prominently in Judaism as a favorite festival treat, though the addition of their trademark hole is generally attributed to a Dutch sailor named Captain Hanson Gregory.
For the record, do not confuse today’s doughnut-related celebration, which is quite specific in nature, for the general National Doughnut Day, which we observed back in June. Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme had specials to mark that occasion; but I can’t say for certain whether the same is true today.
If you find any cream filled doughnut deals, definitely let your fellow CivMixers in on the news.
Another lovely early fall day is on tap, with partly cloudy (or partly sunny, depending on your outlook) skies, and temperatures in the mid-70s.
In the headlines…
Gavin Newsom is the second California governor to ever face a recall election and is likely to be the first to survive one.
All eyes are on the Golden State ahead of today’s recall election, a fast-approaching deadline for registered voters in California to vote by mail or in person.
President Joe Biden headlined an ebullient rally last night against recalling Newsom that amplified the governor’s casting of the campaign as part of a national struggle.
Biden repeatedly said a Newsom victory would “send a message” to the nation and cast Republican frontrunner Larry Elder as “the closest thing to a Trump clone that I’ve seen in your state.”
Biden added: “He is the clone of Donald Trump. Can you imagine him being governor of this state? You can’t let that happen.”
More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Boise, Idaho during a visit by Biden to rail against his plan to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control, last year’s presidential election and a host of other issues.
Biden stressed the urgent need to fund the fight against climate change during his visit to Boise, which also saw the president meet with smokejumpers, talk wildfire prevention with Idaho officials, and take a tour of the National Interagency Fire Center.
Biden also traveled to the Sacramento, Calif., area to view the impact of the Caldor Fire and receive a briefing from local officials.
House Democrats released their proposed tax increases, pushing higher rates on corporations, investors and high-income business owners as they try to piece together enough votes for legislation to expand the social safety net and combat climate change.
The plan would increase the top corporate tax rate to 26.5% from 21%, impose a 3-percentage-point surtax on people making over $5 million and raise capital-gains taxes—but without the changes to taxation at death sought by the Biden administration.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s proposal to pay for trillions in social spending leaves wealth gains and inheritances largely alone. It focuses instead on a more traditional target: income.
It’s unclear how much the tax increases would raise and if the new revenue would offset the full investment in social programs. Democrats could ultimately cut the legislation’s price tag as centrists balk at a $3.5 trillion total.
House Democrats said they will “undo” the $10,000 cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, after the Ways and Means Committee didn’t address the tax break in the new package of proposals.
Nearly two weeks after the hastened withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the chaos and criticism that followed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed Trump for dropping the ball.
As more and more people return to the workplace following months of working from home, the question of one’s vaccination status is becoming increasingly relevant and, in an increasing number of cases, a condition of employment.
Trump blamed Democrats for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among some Americans, saying they “disparaged” the vaccine when he was president.
The trade group that represents consumer brands including Coca-Cola, Kellogg, and Campbell Soup fired off a letter to Biden with a laundry list of questions about his new vaccine mandate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates as “not following science” on the natural immunity people acquire from already being infected.
Businesses are scrambling to secure systems for verifying COVID-19 vaccinations and implementing weekly testing following Biden’s vaccine-or-test order announced last week.
A surge in Covid-19 deaths caused by the highly contagious Delta variant is hitting working-age people hard while highlighting the risks for people who remain unvaccinated.
Israel’s late-summer spike of Delta infections after its successful initial vaccination drive now presents the frightening prospect that vaccine immunity may wane quicker than expected.
Available evidence doesn’t yet indicate a need for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots among the general population, an international group of scientists said, including two senior FDA officials reportedly stepping down over a disagreement with the White House.
This conclusion came as studies continue to show the authorized Covid vaccines in the U.S. remain highly effective against severe disease and hospitalization caused by the fast-spreading delta variant.
For anyone hoping to see light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel over the next three to six months, scientists have some bad news: Brace for more of what we’ve already been through.
Some scientists have called it “superhuman immunity” or “bulletproof.” But immunologist Shane Crotty prefers “hybrid immunity.”
After Dr. Anthony Fauci threw his support behind a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for airline passengers, industry watchers warned of a “logistical nightmare” — lines out the door and a wave of delays and cancelations.
A California couple has died of Covid-19, leaving five kids behind. Their newborn is three weeks old.
Damon Thibodeaux spent 15 years on death row before being exonerated based by DNA testing. He reportedly died from COVID on Aug. 31.
Rapper Nicki Minaj tweeted that she had yet to receive the vaccine and did not attend the Met Gala as a result. She tweeted that she hasn’t “done enough research” about the vaccine.
Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Jim Breuer announced on Facebook Live over the weekend he had backed out of two standup shows at theaters that are requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination.
More than a dozen medical workers in upstate New York York sued the Empire State in federal court, alleging the order that all nursing home and hospital workers be vaccinated is unconstitutional.
The historic rise in unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic is having another impact on New York businesses: They will pay higher taxes to cover the cost for years to come.
So far, the largest U.S. school districts are succeeding at masking, but only a minority are implementing Biden’s other Covid-related mandates.
Nearly 1 million New York City students headed back to the classroom, but the first day of school hit a snag when the city Department of Education’s health screening website crashed.
Starting this week, a Covid-19 vaccination may determine where you can go out to eat. New York City yesterday began enforcing its vaccination requirements for restaurant patrons and employees.
New York City’s classrooms reopened yesterday to roughly a million children, most of whom were returning for the first time since the United States’ largest school system closed in March 2020.
Educators across NYC dug deep to soothe frayed nerves and answer lingering questions as nearly one million students were expected to report back to school buildings for the first time since March 2020.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio shrugged off concerns from parents who are scared to let their kids return to in-person schooling as COVID-19 cases continue to tick up in the city.
Determined to reopen, Broadway crews are dusting off spotlights, dancers are relearning steps, and everyone is testing, testing, testing as theater seeks to rebound from the devastating pandemic.
Many unvaccinated MTA workers have threatened to quit if they’re mandated to get the lifesaving COVID-19 shots in order to work, labor union leaders warned.
Each of New York City’s 472 subway stations are now equipped with security cameras, MTA officials announced.
Eric Adams, the Democratic mayoral nominee, said that New York City will “no longer be anti-business” once he takes office, drawing a contrast with the current mayor, de Blasio.
Adams promised the change in the city’s posture toward business as he addressed Anthony Scaramucci’s SALT Conference in Midtown Manhattan.
“All across our country, gangs and guns are destroying the foundations of not only public safety, but business,” Adams added, pledging to focus on reducing gun violence. “No one is coming to New York if a three-year-old is shot in Times Square.”
Adams said he aims to heal the rift between New York City and Wall Street, telling financial titans that the Big Apple needs the industry’s help to create jobs.
Adams committed to returning a campaign donation from an NYPD union head who’s facing disciplinary proceedings for calling a New York congressman a “whore,” among other eyebrow-raising conduct.
Adams said extremely reckless drivers like the one charged with killing an infant in a Brooklyn hit-and-run over the weekend should have their licenses revoked — permanently.
A lawyer for Prince Andrew, who was sued last month by a woman accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was a minor, said the lawsuit was likely to be invalid under the terms of an earlier confidential settlement that she reached with Jeffrey Epstein.
A former backup performer for R. Kelly testified that she saw him engaging in a sex act with the R&B singer Aaliyah around 1993, when Aaliyah was only 13 or 14 years old.
Following a series of news reports exposing dangerous and chaotic conditions inside of the jail, four state senators, seven assembly members, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Councilmember Brad Lander showed up at the jail to see Rikers for themselves.
Shocked lawmakers touring Rikers Island said they witnessed a detainee attempt suicide at the troubled jail complex in the midst of a “humanitarian crisis.”
Queens Democratic Councilman Robert Holden asked Gov. Kathy Hochul to activate the National Guard to Rikers Island amid a staffing crunch that’s led to dangerous and chaotic conditions for both inmates and staff.
Hochul called on Facebook to “clean up the act” on abortion misinformation, as part of her state’s response to Texas’s “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban.
Hochul also plans to bolster New York’s Reproductive Health Act by directing state agencies to launch a public outreach campaign informing women of their abortion rights and ordering DOH to instruct health care providers of their obligations.
The state Department of Health continues to see turnover among its employees as its second-in-command, Lisa J. Pino, departed Thursday after a little more than a year in the job.
Former Cuomo administration counsel Alphonso David, fired last week as president of the Human Rights Campaign, is accusing the organization of racism.
Against the winds of instantaneous everything, a sailboat crew is trying to forge a carbon-neutral supply chain between the Hudson Valley and New York City.
Citing improper remarks by an attorney, a federal judge in Utica has overturned a civil jury verdict that in May cleared four Troy police officers of using excessive force on a man outside a Congress Street bar.
More Black Lives Matter protesters plan to turn themselves in to city police this week, a member of the Saratoga group confirmed — one on Tuesday and two later in the week — bringing the total number of arrests stemming from a July rally to 10.
The City of Schenectady is inching toward soliciting public feedback for how to use its millions in federal coronavirus relief funds.
A local businessman who was sued by Adirondack Trust Co. for allegedly misusing $1.9 million in federal COVID-19 loans says bank executives have since admitted that they found no actual evidence of fraud.
Officials are still investigating the cause of a three-alarm fire at Trump National Golf Course Hudson Valley in Hopewell Junction on Friday, Sept. 10.
The Enslin Mansion in Troy’s Lansingburgh neighborhood, which is allegedly home to nine ghosts, is for sale for $444,444 – a listing price that is a nod to the paranormal.
Leanne DeRosa has been named weekend evening anchor at CBS6 Albany. She has been filling in a the desk since Emily DeFeciani left this spring.
