Good morning, it’s Thursday.
I was supposed to be waking up in a hotel in NYC this morning, but just as I was about to depart yesterday en route to points south, I received a well-timed email informing me that the event I was supposed to attend had been cancelled.
Covid strikes again. Sigh.
I am very much of two minds here.
First of all, I am a hypochondriac, and hate being sick. So, of course I am very afraid of anything that is as contagious as the latest version of this virus.
I was going to drive all the way to Manhattan, having decided that I just couldn’t stand being on the train for three hours. (But somehow being in a room with hundreds of other people was OK? No logic here, I know).
But on the other hand, at some point we have to just learn to live with this, right? It’s going to be with us for….forever, maybe? Or for the rest of my life, anyway. And I don’t want to spend all that time – hopefully many, MANY more years – hiding away and terrified of getting sick.
I haven’t worked this all out in my head yet. But it’s definitely churning around in there.
Oh, and yes, for the record: I am both vaccinated and boosted.
But, I am not yet back at the office, and haven’t been for about two years now. Wow. Two years. It feels so weird to actually write those words. Of course, our main office is in NYC, so I wasn’t there full-time anyway, but still. Two years.
I have this on the brain because today is National Re-gifting Day, which apparently recognizes the fact that this particular Thursday is frequently the date of office holiday parties – were there to be offices holding such things. I see on social media that some are still doing that in person, but fewer ever day it looks like.
I’m not entirely sure what re-gifting – the art of giving something you received but don’t want away as a repurposed gift to someone else – has to do with the office holiday party.
But apparently there are official rules for re-gifting successfully (such as, don’t give someone an item you have already taken out of its original packaging, and don’t give away something that might have meaning to the individual who originally presented it to you).
Basically: Don’t be a thoughtless jerk. OK, there. That was easy, wasn’t it?
It’s raining hard as I write this, but according to the forecast, it’s going to be another day of unseasonably warm weather, with the mercury heading up toward 60 degrees. It will be cloudy in the morning, and sunny in the afternoon. Enjoy it while it lasts.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden’s social spending and climate policy bill has stalled in the Senate, all but extinguishing Democrats’ hopes of passing it this year.
A self-imposed Christmas deadline for action on the $2.2 trillion social safety net, climate and tax package appeared likely to slip as negotiations with the West Virginia Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, faltered.
Manchin angrily shouted at reporters to go away — telling one, “You are bulls–t!” and “I’m done!” after he was peppered with questions about his reluctance to support Biden’s mammoth social spending bill.
Biden and Manchin don’t appear particularly close to clinching anything and Manchin has suggested pulling the child tax credit from the bill, according to a source briefed on the conversations. Publicly, Manchin himself said he does not oppose the tax credit.
Manchin’s reluctance to sign off on the spending bill casts the future of monthly child tax credit payments into doubt.
Biden traveled to Kentucky yesterday in the wake of deadly tornadoes and severe storms that devastated the area to survey storm damage, meet with victims and deliver remarks.
The president surveyed damage in Kentucky he described as “beyond belief” and met with families in neighborhoods ravaged by deadly tornadoes last weekend.
Tragedy wrought by natural disasters “either brings people together or it knocks them apart,” the president said. “There’s no red tornadoes and blue tornadoes.”
Biden said the federal government will cover 100% of the costs associated with emergency disaster response for the first 30 days after last weekend’s tornadoes, including shelter and debris removal, as he visited parts of Kentucky where clean up continues.
Biden announced his intention to nominate Michelle Kwan, a former Olympic figure skater and longtime Democratic activist, to serve as ambassador to Belize.
The president also picked Caroline Kennedy to serve as ambassador to Australia, her second high-profile diplomatic position, after serving as ambassador to Japan in the Obama administration.
Federal Reserve policymakers said they will cut back on their stimulus more quickly at a moment of rapid inflation and strong economic growth, capping a challenging year with a pronounced policy pivot that could usher in higher interest rates in 2022.
A policy statement released by the central bank detailed a more rapid end to the monthly bond-buying that the Fed has been using throughout the pandemic to keep money chugging through markets and to bolster growth.
Stocks reversed course to rise yesterday afternoon as investors mulled the Federal Reserve’s final monetary policy decision of 2021, which came against a backdrop of persistent inflationary pressures.
The Fed will be buying $60 billion per month of bonds starting in January, down from December’s rate of $90 million, and said that it will likely continue that trajectory in the months ahead.
Experts say that Covid will likely lose its “pandemic” status sometime in 2022, due largely to rising global vaccination rates and developments of antiviral Covid pills that could become more widespread next year.
The U.K. reported a record number of new daily Covid-19 cases yesterday, with 78,610 in the last 24 hours. The figure was an increase from 59,610 the day before, and it surpasses the previous high of 68,053 cases reported on Jan. 8.
Booster doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines are likely to offer a substantial increase in protection against Omicron, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, adding that “at this point, there is no need for a very specific booster” for the variant.
U.S. healthcare spending surged nearly 10% last year to more than $4 trillion as the federal government poured billions of dollars into assisting hospitals, states and medical providers with the pandemic, according to a new government report.
In the wake of more COVID-19 diagnoses across the NBA, the league is looking into modifying current protocols.
Dr. Robby Sikka, former vice president of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, warned that an increase in sports-related Covid cases is a “really bad sign for our country” in the coming weeks.
Several colleges and universities shut down in-person final exams and nonacademic events as the Omicron variant drives a surge in infections.
The Navy has begun kicking out sailors who refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccine, but it won’t slap dishonorable discharges on anyone for their decision to ignore a direct order.
New York University announced it was immediately canceling all “nonessential” gatherings and events both on and off campus, including graduations, holiday parties, study groups and athletic competitions, because of surging rates of new coronavirus cases.
Among those who have left the workforce and are not able to — or don’t want to — return, the vast majority are older Americans who accelerated their retirement.
People who were out of work for a while have typically found it much harder to get a job. The pandemic may have changed how employers view people who have been unemployed for months or years.
Apple is delaying its return-to-office plan indefinitely and giving all its employees $1,000, the company said.
The company also closed three retail locations after a rise in cases at those stores.
As film and TV production ramps up after crippling Covid-19 shutdowns, life on set is different. Studios and streaming services, eager to get programming back to a regular pace, are shouldering new costs and cutting ties with unvaccinated cast and crew.
The feared new Omicron variant of COVID is blamed for up to 13% of new infections in the New York and New Jersey area, compared to just 3% nationwide.
Registration is now open for New York’s “Ski for Free” sweepstakes for kids ages 5 to 11 to help encourage adults and children to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio provided more details on how the city will carry out its mandate that businesses ensure employees get at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and the new rules will involve plenty of record-keeping and the possibility of fines.
An NYPD lieutenant and a captain have been stripped of their shields and guns after they were accused of using bogus vaccination cards to get around the department’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Caution is taking center stage at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House, where a vaccine booster shot will soon be added to the price of admission.
Broadway, where cancellations were once vanishingly rare, has seen a raft of them as positive coronavirus tests among cast and crew members have upended productions.
An entire bureau of the Manhattan district attorney’s office is in quarantine following a COVID-19 outbreak at a staff holiday party.
A half dozen members of the New York state Senate endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s bid for a full, four-year term next year.
The powerful hotel workers union, the Hotel Trades Council, is planning to put its political might behind Hochul for her re-election bid next year — the first major union endorsement in the governor’s race so far.
Advocates are calling on Hochul to sign a new bill that gives judges more discretion for parents who lose their parental rights after family court hearings, which they say disproportionately affects Black and Latino parents.
Hochul celebrated a key milestone in the Port Authority’s transformation of John F. Kennedy International Airport with the groundbreaking for a $1.5 billion privately financed expansion and modernization of Terminal 4.
The renovation was downsized in April from a $3.8 billion plan for 16 gates amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The upgrade is slated to expand Terminal 4 by 150,000 square feet, creating 1,500 jobs, including 1,000 union construction jobs, officials said.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is threatening to sue the Joint Commission on Public Ethics for ordering him to turn over the proceeds of his $5.1 million coronavirus book deal to state Attorney General Letitia James within 30 days.
The state’s Farm Laborers Wage Board is set to meet next month to address whether farmers should be entitled to a 40-hour work week like the rest of the labor force, according to a notice posted on the Department of Labor’s website.
More than a half-dozen major players in the gaming industry, including the owners of Schenectady’s Rivers Casino, have responded to a request for information about getting one of three licenses to open a New York City casino in the next two years.
Long Island police chief Keechant Sewell returned to the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City where she grew up yesterday morning as Mayor-elect Eric Adams named her the city’s first female NYPD commissioner.
“She carried a sledge hammer and she crashed and destroyed every glass ceiling in her way,” Adams said. “And today she has crashed and destroyed the final one we have in New York City. We have a strong, powerful new police commissioner.”
Sewell vowed to be “laser-focused” on gun crime and take violent criminals off the streets as she was named the first female police commissioner of the country’s biggest police department.
“In this city and this moment, I have come full circle,” Chief Sewell said. “The N.Y.P.D. has an important role to play in making our communities safer, but we cannot do it alone.”
Adams is less than three weeks from taking office, but so far, he has only made one major appointment to his administration, a massive bureaucracy run by dozens of public servants filling some of the highest-profile jobs in municipal government.
Adams is expected to name a pair of government veterans to lead the budget and finance departments, moves that could foster a sense of continuity for business leaders.
As he prepares to take over City Hall, a job that comes with a national bully pulpit, Adams stands to turn his passion for plant-based healthy eating into policy.
An influential coalition of New York labor unions threw their support behind Queens Councilwoman Adrienne Adams’ bid for Council speaker, giving her a decisive boost after the race devolved into chaos this week amid involvement from Adams’ team.
Queens County Democratic Party boss Rep. Gregory Meeks is joining forces with socialist, anti-Israel-leaning elected officials to block Adams from installing Francisco Moya as City Council speaker.
Outgoing Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s shadow has been looming over this year’s speaker race, as leading candidates feel free to criticize his tenure.
The Council gave the final sign-off to de Blasio’s push to use zoning as a “racial justice” tool in SoHo and NoHo — allowing the construction of more than 3,000 new apartments there.
Outgoing city schools Chancellor Meisha Porter got emotional as Brooklyn elementary school students shared what her tenure as the Education Department’s first Black woman chancellor meant to them — part of Porter’s “farewell tour” as her exit approaches.
Another inmate has died at Rikers Island, raising the death toll of people in city custody this year to 16.
An MTA manager claims an inflatable doll that’s been riding shotgun in his Kia Telluride is there “for the company” — and not to skirt HOV restrictions, as his coworkers suspect.
Dutchess County Democrats admitted to spreading a false rumor that Republican County Executive Marc Molinaro — a vocal foe of Hochul’s mask mandate for businesses who lost his father to the virus — tested positive for COVID-19.
Albany County is creating an online portal to let residents report violations of the state’s new indoor mask mandate, as well as other issues they see involving mask and vaccine requirements.
A Saratoga County supervisor is blasting the chairman of the county Board of Supervisors for releasing what she considers an incendiary statement in refusing to enforce Hochul’s mask mandate.
State Police interviewed Rensselaer Mayor Michael E. Stammel at City Hall on Tuesday, seizing his mobile phone as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged absentee ballot fraud in the recent election.
The former f.y.e building at 38 Corporate Circle in Albany was sold for $15.3 million last week.
Despite all the business closures and layoffs, hiring good employees has been one of the hardest chores for Capital Region employers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s expected to get even harder in 2022.
It would cost more than $2 million a year to offer full-day kindergarten at Shenendehowa Central School District, schools Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson said.
A new crop of farms is taking root in the Capital Region, ones with shoots and leaves that stretch toward the light of social justice.
Outgoing Nassau County Executive Laura Curran says she would have won reelection if State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) hadn’t been on the Democratic ticket for Nassau district attorney.
An apparently contentious phone call has led at least three in the race for New York’s 21st Congressional District to call for the resignation of Saratoga County Democratic Committee Chair Todd Kerner.
Matt Castelli, a Democrat running in NY-21, has called on GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to release her communication, if any, with the White House leading up to January 6.
Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal civil-rights charges stemming from the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and a separate case involving a 14-year-old boy, reversing an earlier not-guilty plea after striking an agreement with prosecutors.
The Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham vociferously defended themselves for sending text messages on Jan. 6 that urged Mark Meadows, the last White House chief of staff under Donald Trump, to persuade him to try to stop the Capitol attack.
The Broward, Fla., School Board has approved two settlements totaling about $26 million for the victims and families of victims of the February 2018 shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.
CNN has added former Fox News standout Chris Wallace to its lineup after dropping embattled prime-time host Chris Cuomo.
The company behind the iconic Oreo sandwich cookie brand announced that Ultimate Chocolate and Toffee Crunch will launch on Jan. 3. 2022.
Bruce Springsteen has sold his music rights to Sony Music Entertainment in what may well be the biggest transaction ever struck for a single artist’s body of work. Its value may exceed $500 million.
