Good Wednesday morning. It’s mid-week. Officially.
I have mentioned on many prior occasions my love of the great outdoors. There’s very little in life that a good walk in the fresh air can’t fix…or at least put into perspective.
Now, to be clear, my idea of a “walk” involves going straight up a very steep hill/path for several hours until I am thoroughly out of breath and unable to think about much other than the next step and whether my lungs will explode.
And that might be why no one will “walk” with me anymore – except the dog, whose greatest joy appears to be running in crazy circles around me as I hike up very steep mountains.
I’m not sure how he would fare on the Appalachian Trail, however, which is one of my top bucket list items.
Hiking is great exercise, and being outside has been proven in countless studies to have a positive impact on your mental health, so it’s a win-win for the body and the mind.
Even if you’re not into the straight-up experience like I am, there’s much to be said for getting outside and going for even the most gentle of hikes. And there’s no time like the present to get started, because it’s National Hiking Day. (I’m sure you guessed that one by now).
Another hike on the bucket list is the John Muir Trail, which spans 213.7 miles in the Sierra Nevadas, and passes through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.
Its namesake, Scottish-American naturalist author and environmental activist John Muir was the co-founder of the Sierra Club and a longtime champion of the preservation of wilderness spaces – especially in the Western U.S. He published a series of essays pushing for the establishment of Yosemite National Park, which was created in 1890.
Muir said a lot of inspiring things about getting outdoors and enjoying nature, including: “Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” He also said this:
“Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.”
So true.
You might want to bring a hat and gloves if you’re venturing out of doors today – especially in the higher elevations, which I did spot a few snow patches (outside Lake George) last weekend. It will be in the high 40s in the Albany area, with mostly cloudy skies.
In the headlines…
Senate Democrats hope to pass President Joe Biden’s social safety net and climate plan before Christmas and put the finishing touches on their agenda before next year’s midterm elections can stifle progress.
The Biden White House claimed that the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t have the “experience” to weigh in on the president’s Build Back Better agenda.
Biden began selling his $1 trillion infrastructure law, making the case that the money would do more than rebuild roads, bridges and railways. The law, he said, would help the United States regain its competitive edge against China.
Biden is highlighting billions of dollars in the infrastructure deal to pay for the installation of electric vehicle chargers across the US, an investment that he says will go a long way to curbing planet-warming carbon emissions while creating good-paying jobs.
General Motors is opening the doors of Factory ZERO assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan today to a headliner: the president of the United States.
Biden banned members of the Nicaraguan government from entering the United States.
Schumer says he will schedule a vote soon to repeal the 2002 Iraq War resolution, a proposal that has strong bipartisan support but has languished in Congress for years.
Biden plans to spend his first Thanksgiving as president on Nantucket, reviving a fond family tradition that was skipped last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a contentious transition.
The FBI has set up a process to track threats against school-board members and teachers, moving to implement a Justice Department directive that some say could improperly target parents protesting local education policies.
The FBI created a “threat tag” over alleged menacing statements made against school administrators and teachers in accordance with a memo issued by the Justice Department, an internal email showed.
The lawmaker who posted a video depicting the killing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and threatening the president “will be held accountable,” according to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y), the chairman of the Democratic conference in the House.
The House is expected to vote to formally rebuke the Arizona Republican and strip him of his committee seats for the video depicting him attacking two Democrats.
U.S. consumers withstood rising inflation to power a burst of shopping ahead of the holiday season, with big retailers reporting higher sales and expectations for a solid finish to the year.
Retail sales set a record in October, before adjusting for inflation, as shoppers splurged on electronics and home-improvement projects.
Walmart reported another quarter of higher sales, as it raised prices for some products and consumers shopped early for the winter holidays.
Large retailers from Walmart to Target, to Best Buy and TJ Maxx, are ramping up hiring efforts for a variety of roles, including store associates, warehouse workers and supply chain support.
Home Depot achieved better-than-expected results for the latest quarter, a sign that the home-improvement retailer could be avoiding the worst effects of the supply-chain snarls reverberating across the economy.
A federal judicial panel assigned the appeals court in Cincinnati to handle at least 34 lawsuits that have been filed around the country challenging the Biden administration’s attempt at a vaccine mandate for large employers.
The FDA is aiming to authorize booster doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for all adults as early as tomorrow, a move that would expand the number of Americans eligible for additional shots by tens of millions.
The Biden administration is planning to purchase 10 million courses of Pfizer’s covid pill, a $5 billion investment in a treatment that officials think will help change the trajectory of the pandemic by reducing severe illness and deaths.
Pfizer said it asked U.S. health regulators to authorize its oral Covid-19 drug for use in high-risk patients, putting the pill on a path that could make it available for people to take at home by the end of the year.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has publicly cast doubt on and spread misinformation about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, revealed that she has not been inoculated against the virus, answering a question she has dodged for months.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said that an indoor mask mandate in the nation’s capital would be eased on Nov. 22, reflecting a shift away from mask requirements as vaccination rates rise and infections fueled by the Delta variant subside in the city.
A Houston doctor suspended from her hospital job for spreading false COVID-19 information to her patients and on social media has resigned.
There is outrage among some parents in California’s Bay Area as 14 children were given the wrong amount of COVID-19 vaccine this past Saturday.
Several cities (including NYC) and states have begun offering Covid-19 boosters to all adults, moving beyond federal guidelines in a bid to prevent another wave of cases as people head inside during the cold weather.
New York is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak since spring as the number of reported cases jumped to a fresh seven-month high.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is sounding the alarm as New York battles its worst COVID outbreak since the spring, warning that the state could bring back strict pandemic mandates if things don’t change.
“At some point, if the numbers don’t start on a downward trend, we’ll have to talk about larger protocols, which we know are available to us,” the Democrat said. “The warning is going out loud and clear today.”
Hochul urged New Yorkers to get a coronavirus vaccine booster if they believed they were at high risk or lived in a “high transmission area,” jumping ahead of a possible decision by federal regulators to authorize an additional shot for all adults.
New York City will expand a program to offer young children the COVID-19 vaccine through school clinics thanks to a high demand, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
The Times Square ball drop will return at “full strength” this year, with the city allowing hundreds of thousands of revelers to attend as long as they can show proof that they’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the mayor announced.
“We want to welcome all those hundreds of thousands of folks, but everyone needs to be vaccinated,” de Blasio said. “Join the crowd, join the joy, join a historic moment as New York City provides further evidence to the world that we are 100 percent back.”
The NYC Department of Correction’s coronavirus vaccination rate has been stagnant for more than two weeks — with nearly half of the agency’s uniformed workforce still holding off on getting their shots despite a looming mandate deadline.
As the city debates a plan to make outdoor dining permanent, vocal opposition is growing in affluent, restaurant-rich neighborhoods like the West Village.
In the Bronx, a New York City borough where residents have long struggled to afford their homes, thousands are now threatened with eviction as state pandemic aid dwindles.
The city’s top cop said he is unaware of any NYPD officers who submitted bogus COVID-19 vaccination cards, after it was revealed that scofflaw firefighters and sanitation workers are in the crosshairs of probers.
New York’s ethics panel voted to rescind approval of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $5.1 million book deal – a move he dismissed through a spokesman as the “height of hypocrisy.”
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics approved a resolution by a 12-1 vote reversing a decision made by staff last year allowing the disgraced governor to profit from his COVID-themed tome.
Cuomo, who resigned in August, was paid $5.1 million for the book, but the commission’s vote could mean he has to return at least part of the money.
JCOPE accused Cuomo essentially obtaining approval under false pretenses, including breaking his promise not to use state resources toward completion of the memoir.
Lawyers said the revocation could lead to an investigation by JCOPE and possible charges that Cuomo received the payments in violation of state ethics law. A JCOPE spokesman didn’t immediately comment on the potential consequences of the vote.
Hochul signed legislation at the LGBT Community Center aimed at expanding protections for the LGBTQ+ community and those who have been victims of sex trafficking.
Hochul is hiring a new director of Italian-American Affairs after facing a firestorm of criticism over axing the former liaison to the state’s largest ethnic community without consulting community leaders.
Dozens of advocacy groups and state lawmakers are urging Hochul to nominate someone with a public defender background to sit on the state’s top court.
The state inspector general’s office is investigating alleged widespread cheating in New York’s driver permit program that apparently involves a scheme to illicitly obtain driving credentials for undocumented immigrants.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams formally announced his run for governor, setting the stage for a crowded Democratic primary in June.
Williams, who just secured a second four-year term in his NYC post, released a video capturing his experience living with Tourette Syndrome, a chronic condition that affects the nervous system and can cause a person to make sudden movements or sounds.
Williams touted his progressive bona fides in the video, noting the number of times he’s been arrested protesting against aggressive police tactics, deportations and more, and said he would represent a new wave of leadership in New York.
“Right now, our state needs to move forward. From a pandemic. From an era of scandal. And from old ways of governing that have failed so many for so long,” Williams said.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams said that he plans to make an endorsement in next year’s Democratic primary for governor, but didn’t indicate he’s leaning toward any hopeful in the growing field.
New York City’s next mayor opened on Broadway last night with an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Adams cracked up audience members and gifted Colbert rolling papers and a mock bag of “weed”.
Adams spokesman Evan Thies confirmed that the mayor-elect did not buy weed for the show.
Adams laid out his priorities for the billions in infrastructure funds headed to the Big Apple — and they include improvements to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Second Avenue Subway and public housing.
Members of Adams’ inner circle are quietly running a campaign to block Carlina Rivera from becoming the next speaker of the City Council because she’s a former dues-paying socialist who voted to defund the NYPD.
City Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) declared victory in a tight race as mail-in ballot tallies erased his Republican challenger’s narrow lead.
The lion’s share of mail-in ballots were sent by registered Democrats, and Brannan, who is also a candidate for Council speaker, overtook his GOP opponent, Brian Fox, and led by more than 300 votes with the count nearly completed
Rent shocks experienced by tenants in neighborhoods from Chelsea to Bedford-Stuyvesant to Long Island City are bolstering interest in an Albany proposal to limit rent hikes for many tenants, not just those who live in formally rent-regulated apartments.
The permit for “Fearless Girl” expires on Nov. 29, but the statue famous for staring down the New York Stock Exchange won’t get a city hearing on a more permanent home until December, at the earliest.
Jessica Altagracia Woolford, who recently served as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s city-based press secretary, is launching a primary challenge against veteran Bronx Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea pinned part of the blame for the Big Apple’s crime spike on the failure to keep suspects in custody on Rikers Island.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran conceded her reelection race to Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman, one of several municipal-level government posts across New York that the GOP flipped in this election cycle.
Prospective jurors who will decide the fate of accused Jeffrey Epstein madam Ghislaine Maxwell were asked whether they’d ever been sexually assaulted — or if they held biases against multi-millionaires.
The Manhattan judge presiding in the high-profile trial of Maxwell, the longtime associate of Epstein, was recommended to the White House yesterday evening for a prestigious federal appeals court post by Schumer.
The mystery of how and why vandals shattered a Civil War statue in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs has not been solved, but the statue is back.
For the second year in a row, the city of Saratoga Springs’ First Night celebration will not be ringing in the new year due to a combination of the pandemic, lack of funding and fewer participating artists.
COVID-19 positive cases and pandemic protocols have resulted in at least 200 students, teachers and staff at Goff Middle School being sent into quarantine over the last two weeks, according to notices from the East Greenbush school district.
A cement truck was stuck after hitting the underpass of the Albany County Rail Trail Bridge in Slingerlands.
Those missing Freihofer’s Chocolate Chip Cookies have returned to their familiar spot on grocery shelves.
A truck struck a building in Albany’s Warehouse District, causing part of its facade to collapse.
Albany International Airport’s economy E Lot parking lot has reopened for travelers, a sign of pandemic rebound.
A Greene County woman, who is the estranged sister of Grammy Award-winning singer Mariah Carey, is seeking help in getting her Social Security benefits restored after they were cut to $30 a month in an apparent error by the Social Security Administration.
The Albany Common Council unanimously approved a version of Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s proposed $189 million 2022 budget that provides more council control over American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds.
A 32-year-old Rensselaer man said absentee ballots applied for on behalf of him and his wife were fraudulent because he has never voted in an election or applied to vote by absentee ballot, and that someone had forged their signatures on the documents.
The Lake George village board voted unanimously to pass legislation that will prohibit cannabis retailers from setting up shop within its municipal boundaries. The vote comes after a similar decision by the town of Lake George, which surrounds the village.
Former President Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court to block the National Archives from giving Congress quick access to records from his White House related to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Michelle Wu was sworn in as Boston’s first woman and first person of color elected mayor in the city’s long history.
A self-portrait by Frida Kahlo, an artist known for her raw emotional intensity, sold for $34.9 million at Sotheby’s last night, setting an auction benchmark for the most expensive artwork by a Latin American artist.
Two decades after the International Space Station became humanity’s long-lasting home in orbit, Jessica Watkins, a NASA astronaut, is poised to become the first Black woman to join its crew for a long-term mission.
