Good Tuesday morning.
This seems a little arbitrary, but, then again, what isn’t these days – especially here at R-n-S?
Anyway, FWIW, it’s National Pumpkin Day.
We are knee-deep in pumpkin season. Pumpkin lattes, doughnuts, cheesecake, soup, pasta, soap, candles, body wash, tea, etc. You name it, and someone has probably tried to add pumpkin to it, so strong is the pull of the bright orange (usually) globe on us.
Since we basically can’t beat ’em, we might as well join ’em and indulge in some pumpkin trivia.
Like, did you know that pumpkin is a fruit – scientifically speaking? In the strict botanical sense, a fruit is, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a plant, enclosing the seed or seeds.”
Actually, pumpkin is a type of squash AND it is also a gourd, which, by the way, is NOT necessarily the case for all gourds and squashes. The two are not, in fact, interchangeable. And here I thought I had this one down. Nope.
Gourds are usually smaller, harder-skinned and used more often for decoration than for cooking.
Squash are usually either hard-skinned (winter, like buttercup) OR tender (summer, like zucchini). Squash and and gourds both belong to the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes almost 1,000 species – like pumpkin, but also cucumbers, watermelon and honeydew, among many others.
All gourds ARE, in fact, fruit. Also, you could consider pumpkin a berry (yep, mind blow…again), because berries are defined as simple and fleshy fruits with seeds – usually – and that also describes bananas, tomatoes, watermelon, and (yep) cucumbers.
Are you confused yet?
To further complicate matters, pumpkins come in a variety of colors, ranging from blue to tan. And different types of pumpkins lend themselves to different preparations – sugar pumpkins are reportedly the best for pie, of which I am a very big fan, for the record.
Also, did you know that what you buy in the store that purportedly is canned pumpkin actually often is a mix of squashes masquerading as pumpkin?! True story. The FDA, as it turns out, is not terribly concerned when it comes to the specific definition of pumpkin, which leaves the food industry with quite a bit of leeway.
This is actually quite a bit more than I intended to write about pumpkins. I guess I’ve got the bug. But I cannot sign off just yet without mentioning that the oldest evidence of pumpkin-type seeds dates to between 7000 and 5500 BC with specimens found in Mexico. And the word “pumpkin” originates from “pepon”, which translates into “large melon” in Greek.
We are reportedly experiencing a pumpkin shortage this year, as a result of bad weather, shipping issues, and a fungus!? That kind of puts a damper on the holiday season…The U.S. annual per capita use of pumpkin was 6.44 pounds per person in 2020, which is down from a high of 7 pounds i 2016. Not sure what the big deal was with pumpkin that year.
Oh my gourd.
More rain in the forecast today, with temperatures in the mid 50s. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a State Disaster Emergency ahead of predicted heavy rainfall expected to impact areas in the Capital Region, Long Island, New York City, Mid-Hudson and Southern Tier regions beginning late yesterday evening through tomorrow morning.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden signed an order imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign national air travelers and lifting severe travel restrictions on China, India and much of Europe effective Nov. 8, the White House said.
Originally imposed by Donald Trump, the ban on flights from most foreign countries was extended when Biden took power in January 2021.
The president’s new plan will also make reentry more challenging for unvaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents and establish stringent testing requirements for the rare unvaccinated foreign nationals allowed entry.
Unvaccinated U.S. citizens and long-term residents will have to present a negative Covid test taken a day before re-entering the country, and unvaccinated foreign nationals will be able to enter only in limited circumstances.
The administration will require airlines to collect contact information on passengers regardless of whether they have been vaccinated to help with contact tracing, if that becomes necessary.
Worried that Biden’s Covid vaccine mandate for private companies could cause a mass exodus of employees, business groups are pleading with the White House to delay the rule until after the holiday season.
Biden has once again refused to assert executive privilege over more documents that Trump has sought to keep out of the hands of the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Biden held out hope for an agreement on his major spending plans before he attends a climate summit in Scotland, while the White House said Democratic negotiators were closing in on a deal.
Negotiators were closing in on an agreement that could spend around $1.75 trillion over 10 years, half the size of the blueprint Democrats approved earlier this year, as they haggled with centrist holdouts who are pressing to curtail the size of the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said there were three to four open issues. Lawmakers and aides said major policy areas, including the tax increases to pay for the package, Medicare and Medicaid provisions and a paid leave program, remain unresolved.
The U.S. is one of six countries with no national paid leave. The Democrats have cut their plan to four weeks, which would still make it an outlier.
Private citizens will be allowed to sponsor Afghan families under a new program launched by the Biden administration, as overwhelmed agencies have left thousands stuck on military bases in harsh conditions waiting to be resettled.
Family members of more than two dozen Americans who are being held hostage or detained abroad are calling on Biden to ramp up efforts to try to bring them home.
In the letter, family members complained that the administration seemed to be getting “bogged down in burdensome processes or policy debates that keep our loved ones from coming home and keep us uninformed of what you can and cannot do to help us.”
Biden is expected to nominate Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chairwoman of the FCC, to the permanent job this week, putting her on track to become the first woman to lead the agency, a person familiar with the process said.
Biden is also expected to nominate progressive net neutrality advocate Gigi Sohn, a former FCC official, to the open Democratic seat on the commission.
The CDC moved up architecturally rich Ukraine, the second-largest nation in Europe in land area, from Level 3, or “high” risk for a travel destination for Covid-19, to Level 4, the agency’s highest risk category.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed an executive order directing state executive branch agencies to cooperate with the Alabama attorney general’s office as it challenges the federal Covid-19 vaccine mandates and, when possible, to not comply with the federal effort.
The F.D.A. may authorize booster shots of vaccines different from the ones that Americans originally received. The science behind the move is promising.
A study of more than 32 million Covid vaccine recipients in England published found that people given the AstraZeneca vaccine were at slightly increased risk of Guillain–Barré syndrome, a rare but potentially serious neurological condition.
CDC and FDA recommendations — even those approved unanimously — mask significant dissent and disquiet among those advisers about the need for booster shots in the United States.
Covid lockdown did little to dampen the rate of greenhouse gas buildup in Earth’s atmosphere last year, as the gases hit a record high and increased at a faster rate than the annual average for the past decade, the World Meteorological Organization said.
All 11 of the African lions living at the Denver Zoo have tested positive for COVID-19, the zoo announced.
The lions were tested for the virus after they began exhibiting symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, lethargy and nasal discharge, the zoo said. They have not been vaccinated.
Moderna’s vaccine for kids ages 6 through 11 shows a “robust” immune response in a study of more than 4,500 youths, the Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company said.
New York’s number of new COVID-19 cases plummeted over the past week, with major drops across all regions of the state.
New York State’s Division of Consumer Protection offered parents and kids some guidance as Halloween nears.
New York City’s largest police union asked a judge to allow unvaccinated officers to continue working, despite the recently imposed vaccine mandate, which requires all municipal workers to have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Nov. 1.
The Police Benevolent Association argues in the Staten Island Supreme Court lawsuit that the current “vax or test” policy is “sufficient enough” in curbing infections.
Hundreds of flag-toting anti-vaxxers — including active-duty members of the NYPD and FDNY — brought morning traffic to a standstill as they marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to protest the forthcoming vaccine mandate for all city workers.
At least 20 people were arrested during the protest, a police source said.
The governor says Broome County needs to “step up” when it comes to its Covid vaccination rate.
Despite Gov. Kathy Hochul’s promises of transparency, the state Health Department continues responding to requests for pandemic data with stalling tactics that became notorious during the Cuomo administration.
Hochul announced that her administration will hire an outside law firm to investigate any future claims of unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation in her office.
State workers will be required to take a new live training program as a way to guard against discrimination and harassment in New York’s state government, the governor announced in a video released by her office.
Hochul is extending the expiring state of emergency on gun violence at least another month, according to her office.
A Cuomo-era emergency gun violence program that has cost millions of dollars has created just 20 jobs so far.
Hochul vetoed a measure to end a wagering rule in New York State that put up a roadblock to married jockeys riding in the same race which became an issue highlighted earlier this year by jockeys Trevor McCarthy and Katie Davis.
The state Assembly conducted a hearing to examine COVID-19’s impact on open meetings, more than a year after the pandemic led to the derailment of many provisions of the statute designed to make government bodies more transparent.
Democrat Eric Adams has a commanding lead over Republican Curtis Sliwa in the race to be New York City’s next mayor, an exclusive PIX11, NewsNation, Emerson College Poll shows.
Adams is shown to have a commanding — albeit not entirely surprising — 61 percent lead over Sliwa, who received 25 percent of likely voters’ support, according to the poll.
When undecided voters are asked to choose sides, Adams’ support jumps to 70 percent with 30 percent for Sliwa — a 40 point chasm.
Adams and Sliwa bombarded each other with caustic criticism yesterday, three days into early voting in the city’s mayoral election and one day before the final TV debate ahead of Election Day on Nov. 2.
Eyewitness News Anchor Bill Ritter will moderate the final mayoral debate tonight at 7 p.m. on Channel 7.
Adams’ search for New York City’s next police commissioner has begun in earnest and is national in scope, according to a top aide who says the Democratic mayoral nominee has enlisted dozens of advisers to conduct the search.
Thomas Kenniff, who is facing Alvin Bragg in the Nov. 2 election for Manhattan DA, has focused his campaign on a recent increase in some types of crime.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has reportedly opened a criminal probe into billionaire Leon Black over allegations he raped two models.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s top child welfare official has successfully blocked a pair of parental rights bills, outraging critics who say he’s not making good on a promise to root out systemic racism at his agency.
City Councilman Bob Holden has filed an ethics complaint against Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz over an expletive-laden tirade she allegedly phoned into his office after a City Council hearing two weeks ago.
Embattled ex-union head Ed Mullins stood by his inflammatory tweets, testifying in an NYPD departmental trial he was defending cops when he called Councilman Ritchie Torres as a “first-class whore” and city Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot a “b—h.”
Elected officials hitched a ride all the way to jail with angry taxi drivers who blocked streets outside City Hall to protest a debt bailout plan they said doesn’t go far enough.
A group of climate change protesters snarled rush-hour traffic on the FDR Drive and West Side Highway yesterday morning — leading to at least 33 arrests, according to authorities and the activists.
A judicial inquiry into the handling of Eric Garner’s arrest began yesterday with two NYPD cops answering questions under oath about their involvement in the fatal 2014 arrest.
A former bit-part actor from Manhattan was arrested for defacing a statue of George Floyd in Union Square earlier this month.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute officials allegedly sought to suppress employee climate survey results that painted the Troy university in a negative light, according to an internal email obtained by the Times Union.
As the Bruegger’s Bagels chain continues to contract, its longtime shop in Newton Plaza in Latham, which closed last month, is being replaced by a small chain making its first expansion outside New England.
The combination of a new street treatment technique and 3D mapping in the City of Albany may provide an antidote to the ambiguity surrounding pothole fixes, allowing the city to monitor street conditions in real-time and deploy resources accordingly.
Nauman Hussain will finally testify under oath in January during civil proceedings about what he knew regarding the 2018 Schoharie limo crash that led to the deaths of 20 people and his guilty plea last month to criminally negligent homicide.
Anti-Asian hate crimes rose 73% during 2020, according to newly updated FBI data. The data was originally released in August but a reporting error was discovered which necessitated the updated figures.
Tesla crossed $1 trillion in market value, joining a select group of companies after its stock price more than doubled this past year on surging vehicle sales and rising profits.
Detectives found three revolvers, spent casings and ammunition — in boxes, loose and in a fanny pack — when they searched the New Mexico film set where the actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer last week.
Donald Trump Jr. is taking aim at a longtime family foe — he’s hawking a t-shirt that uses the tragic movie-set shooting to mock Baldwin, who famously skewered his father on “Saturday Night Live.”
Comedian Dave Chappelle addressed the controversy over his Netflix special during a stand-up routine this past weekend, adding that he would self-distribute his new documentary film in 10 cities.
