Good Tuesday morning.
Here’s something to help get you in the holiday spirit, in case you’re having some trouble – kind of tough when it’s 50 degrees out to feel festive for a winter holiday – but anyway, it’s National Roast Chestnuts Day.
“Chestnut” is actually kind of a misnomer, though the FDA does consider them a “tree nut” so it’s actually a seed – an edible seed of the chestnut tree, which for you tree nuts out there (see what I did there?) is a deciduous member of the beech family native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
FWIW: A water chestnut is DEFINITELY NOT a nut, but rather a tuber vegetable that looks almost exactly like tree chestnuts.
They’re in season and available October through March. But you can also purchase them dried, canned, or vacuum-packed.
Chestnuts are fairly healthy – a one ounce serving has only 69 calories and less than 1 gram of fat AND they are jam-packed with Vitamin C, which a claim other “nuts” can’t make. They also contain B vitamins, folate, and potassium.
The practice of roasting chestnuts dates back centuries. And, for the record, what we’ve been eating as a roasted holiday snack, either plain or in stuffings, stews, and soups, are NOT the seeds of the American chestnut, because almost all of them were killed decades ago as a result of blight.
Instead, what we’ve been enjoying, and what you see on the street corner are imported from overseas – China and Korea, or Italy, generally speaking – about it’s about $20 million worth of product shipped in annually.
Apparently, the version of the chestnut that was produced by the American tree was smaller and sweeter than what’s available from our foreign friends. Scientists have been trying to rescue the American chestnut by genetically modifying its replacement, but the project is taking longer than expected.
Yesterday was DEFINITELY not hot cocoa weather, which was a serious disappointment. And today isn’t exactly roasted nut weather, either, though it’s going to be in the mid-40s, not the mid-50s, with partly cloudy skies. Enjoy it while it lasts, because looking ahead to the weekend, I see rain and snow in the forecast and more seasonally appropriate temperatures in the 30s.
Brrrr.
In the headlines…
Sen. Joe Manchin indicated that a significant amount of work must be done to earn his support for President Joe Biden’s sweeping social safety net expansion, potentially delivering a fatal blow to hopes of getting it passed in the Senate before Christmas.
Manchin talked to BIden, but declined to describe the telephone conversation, saying he and the president are “talking about different iterations” and saying “anything’s possible” when asked if they could reach a deal by the holiday.
Manchin did not rule out the possibility of supporting the measure this month. He said that “anything is possible here” when asked about a vote before Christmas, and that he was still “engaged” in conversations with the White House.
The Biden administration took steps to make government services easier, more accessible and streamlined for Americans across agencies through an executive order signed by the president yesterday.
The executive order is aimed at rebuilding the public’s trust in government by making it easier to do things like renew passports, apply for Social Security benefits and get aid after natural disasters.
The Biden administration released an ambitious federal strategy to build 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles across the country and bring down the cost of electric cars with the goal of transforming the U.S. auto industry.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Biden for his “rapid support” in the wake of deadly tornadoes that tore through several states, including Kentucky.
An Alaska IHOP is going viral with a note blaming Biden for its lack of staff. “Due to the fact that Biden gave out way too much free money and nobody wants to work anymore, we are forced to reduce our hours during this week,” the sign in the window read.
The select committee investigating the Capitol riot recommended that the House hold former President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena.
From a trove of about 9,000 documents that Meadows turned over before halting his cooperation with the inquiry, a clearer picture has emerged about the extent of his involvement in Trump’s attempts to use the government to invalidate the election results.
Three prominent Fox News anchors sent concerned text messages on Jan. 6 to Meadows, the last chief of staff for Trump, urging him to persuade the president to take the riot seriously and to make an effort to stop it.
Trump’s lawyer urged a federal appeals court to quash a congressional subpoena seeking years of financial records from his accounting firm, arguing the demand is too broad and allow lawmakers to routinely harass and intimidate future presidents.
It is still unclear how much of a threat the fast-spreading Omicron variant poses, but fear and a sudden revival of restrictions have added to an epidemic of loneliness.
Public health authorities in Denmark and Norway released grim projections for the coming wave of the Omicron coronavirus variant, predicting that it will dominate both countries in a matter of days.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reported the first known omicron death after saying the country faces a “tidal wave” of cases from the new variant that has shown a higher resistance to vaccines.
Mainland China reported its first case of the omicron Covid variant in the city of Tianjin, about a two hour drive from the capital of Beijing.
COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in the United States for 1 year, and despite being free and widely available, only 60.8% of Americans are fully vaccinated against the virus.
One out of every 100 older American has died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began as the nation moves toward a gruesome milestone of 800,000 deaths.
California will impose a statewide mask mandate for indoor public places regardless of vaccination status for the next month, the state’s top health official announced.
Two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines are substantially less effective at warding off omicron compared to previous variants of the coronavirus, scientists have found
An unusually high number of positive COVID-19 tests yesterday has the NFL and NFL Players Association considering further changes to the league’s coronavirus protocols as the regular season enters its final four weeks.
The NFL is requiring players, coaches and other team personnel to receive a COVID-19 booster by Dec. 27.
Josh Bellamy, a former wide receiver for the New York Jets who fraudulently obtained more than $1.2 million in Covid-19 relief money and spent tens of thousands of dollars of that on luxury items, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
The U.S. Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
The University of Florida is investigating possible violations of its research integrity policy following a 274-page faculty committee report that included claims of pressure to destroy and barriers to publish COVID-19 data.
Keith Smith, whose wife had gone to court to have his COVID-19 infection treated with ivermectin, died Sunday evening, a week after he received his first dose of the controversial drug. He was 52.
Some of the largest U.S. hospital systems have dropped Covid-19 vaccine mandates for staff after a federal judge temporarily halted a Biden administration mandate that healthcare workers get the shots.
The Supreme Court refused to block New York’s requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus even when they cite religious objections.
The court denied the requests in brief written orders. As is typical for such emergency actions, the majority didn’t explain its thinking. Three conservative justices— Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch —said they would have allowed the exemptions.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.
Gov. Hochul’s sudden mask-at-your-desk mandate sparked outrage in New York City as it went into effect yesterday despite the Big Apple having some of the lowest rates of COVID-19 and highest rates of vaccination in the nation.
Incoming Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said he won’t enforce the mandate requiring masks or vaccines for indoor public places, as Hochul said the state will not compel counties to enforce the order aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.
“Nassau County is not in crisis, and should not be painted with the same broad brush as the rest of the state,” Blakeman, a Republican, said.
Officials in Greene, Saratoga, Putnam, Livingston, Rockland, Genesse, Dutchess, Orleans, Niagara, Madison, Chautauqua, and Rensselaer has also said they won’t enforce the mask mandate, while other counties said they lack sufficient personnel to do so.
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon shared in a press conference that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected locally.
Many businesses across the state posted new signs explaining the new ordinance. Many seemed to opt for a mask requirement instead of asking customers whether they are vaccinated.
Calling her mask mandate a “temporary measure,” Hochul said she hopes counties across the state enforce mask mandates if they don’t have a vaccination policy.
Long Island Rep. Thomas Suozzi, who is challenging Hochul in the Democratic primary next June, said her rollout of a new indoor mask mandate is “causing chaos and confusion.”
Democratic Nassau County lawmaker Joshua Lafazan, who pushed for a controversial bill that would have allowed cops to sue protesters for harassing them while on duty, is running for Suozzi’s congressional seat.
NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison will be nominated to be Suffolk County’s next police commissioner, a spokesperson for Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone said.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has reached an agreement with investors to build a $9.5 billion terminal that will anchor the south side of Kennedy Airport, Hochul announced.
The $9.5 billion project will be built in phases and will create more than 10,000 jobs, becoming the fourth major terminal project announced by the Port Authority as part of a complete transformation of JFK into a world-class airport worthy of New York.
When it’s complete, the new facility is expected to measure 2.4 million square feet. Construction is planned to begin in mid-2022, and the new terminal’s projected opening is 2026.
Elected officials announced agreements to finish an overhaul of Kennedy International Airport and to improve commuter train service by adding stations and repairing tunnels under the East River.
Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, the longest-serving state lawmaker in New York’s history, pushed progressive proposals decades before they won momentum in Albany. He’s retiring at the age of 74.
Gottfried has long served as the powerful chair of the Health Committee. He says he is retiring from a career “while I’m still loving it.”
“Dick Gottfried is the reason I don’t believe in term limits for the Legislature. He was just in there working, working, working,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger. “Some of my rare fights with Dick Gottfried were some of my best learning experiences in Albany.”
Gottfried is considered one of the more cerebral members of the lower house and is known to write his own bill language. There’s no word yet on who wants to replace him.
Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell wants to overhaul the web of agencies tasked with investigating New York’s jails and prisons by creating a powerful new watchdog to probe misconduct and abuse.
NYC Mayor-elect Eric Adams met with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon, Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla and more than 60 other executives as part of a new “Corporate Council” formed to give business leaders a direct line to City Hall.
“Getting our city back on track is going to require strong public-private partnerships,” Adams said in a statement announcing the new group that will work with his administration to help the Big Apple rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
Four City Council speaker hopefuls are lining up to throw their support behind Councilwoman Adrienne Adams’ bid for the top leadership post, dealing a major blow to Councilman Francisco Moya, the candidate favored by Eric Adams’ team.
NYC Mayor de Blasio maintained he only acted in “good faith” while raising funds for his various political ventures — even though it was revealed last week that a municipal watchdog agency concluded years ago that some of his actions broke city ethics law.
Eager to push New York City’s subway ridership closer to prepandemic levels, transit officials are planning to entice commuters back with convenience and discounts.
Albany County is partnering with Capital Region BOCES, the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center and the State University of New York on a new degree program aimed at reducing crime and helping increase residents’ education.
Farm owners said they are worried that bringing their laborers in line with the rest of the industry by instituting a 40-hour work week would put them out of business, according to a state-commissioned study by Cornell University.
Advocates are disagreeing on what will, or should, happen when the state’s eviction moratorium expires next month, offering opinions suggesting that the legislation will cease to exist – or that the state should do away with it because it’s ineffective.
An online testing system that’s led to rampant fraud in New York’s driver permit program was restarted in February despite county clerks and motor vehicle workers’s warnings of cheating as well as the widespread use of counterfeit identification documents.
A total of 88 people have been confirmed dead in this weekend’s tornadoes that tore through six states. The vast majority are in Kentucky, where at least 74 people died, Gov. Andy Beshear.
Hundreds of female gymnasts who were sexually abused by Lawrence Nassar, the former team doctor of the national gymnastics team, have agreed to a $380 million settlement with U.S.A. Gymnastics and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
Kim Kardashian was clearly keeping up with her law studies. The reality star passed the “baby bar” exam — a key step in her effort to become a lawyer — in what was her fourth attempt, she wrote in a celebratory Instagram post.
Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu on Sunday became the country’s first winner of the Miss Universe pageant in more than two decades.
