Good morning; it’s Thursday! Time flies when you’re freezing cold, apparently.
How is it that yesterday in the 30s felt COLDER than the day before in the teens? Wind, I guess. Or maybe my blood was thinned somehow in my sleep? No clue. But even I am getting tired of hearing me gripe about the weather.
Before I move on, though, if you’re in need of something to look forward to: There are only 66 days left until spring.
On this day in 1910, tenor Enrico Caruso, along with fellow singers Emmy Destin, and Riccardo Martin, made history by having their voices broadcast over the airwaves as they performed Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci – two very popular operas at the time.
This live performance at the Metropolitan Opera House was heard in a few select locations in New York City, and also aboard ships in New York harbor, thanks to inventor Lee deForest, who suspended microphones above the stage and in the wings and set up a transmitter and antenna.
And thus, the era of public radio was born.
This is not, by the way, to be confused with National Public Radio, which was formed in 1970 – three years after President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act, prompted by criticism of the generally poor quality of TV programming.
The FCC had decided in the 1940s to reserve a segment of the FM radio spectrum for educational stations. A number of of these noncommercial stations developed nationwide in the 1920s – many at universities – but their existence was threatened by a combination of the economic downturn of the Great Depression and (a bit later) commercial station pressures.
The first nonprofit community group to establish a public FM radio station was the Pacifica Foundation, which did so – where else? – in Berkeley, CA in 1949. According to NPR, there are more than 1,000 member stations broadcasting nationwide. Another 1,500 or so smaller, non-commercial stations are operated by religious, student and community organizations.
The Pew Research Center says 83 percent of Americans ages 12 or older listened to terrestrial radio in a given week in 2020. Podcasts are starting to give radio a run for its money, though many podcasts ARE, in fact, radio shows, and vice versa.
This is all my big wind-up to announcing that today is Public Radio Broadcasting Day.
Much to the chagrin of those who ride in the car with me (the human passengers, anyway, the dog doesn’t seem to care), I am a HUGE public radio fan. I love podcasts, too, especially when running long distances, it distracts from the pain and the boredom.
I also like to yell at the radio the way that some people yell at the TV, and also to shout out answers to the news quiz questions on “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” Yeah, now that I think of it, I can see how that might get annoying if you’re riding shotgun.
My car is a rolling garbage can anyway. That’s your clue never to accept my offer of a free ride.
You’re never going to believe this, by the way, but it’s going to be 40 degrees today, with a mix of sun and clouds in the forecast, and then on Saturday it will be…12.
Whatever, I’ve given up trying to make sense of Mother Nature’s weather whims. She wins.
In the headlines…
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted President Biden’s speech pushing for the Senate to change its filibuster rules to pass voting and elections legislation, saying it was a “rant,” “incoherent,” “incorrect,” “beneath his office” and “unbecoming of a President of the United States.”
“How profoundly – profoundly – unpresidential,” the Kentucky Republican said on Capitol Hill. “I’ve known, liked and personally respected Joe Biden for many years. I did not recognize the man at the podium yesterday.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton said Biden’s emotionally charged address didn’t seem like one intended to win support for sweeping Democratic election legislation, calling it a “you’re going to hell” speech.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Biden may have gone “a little too far in his rhetoric” when he compared lawmakers who do not support changing Senate filibuster rules to pass stalled voting and elections legislation to segregationists.
In his first opinion piece since leaving the White House, former President Obama expressed the urgency in Biden bypassing the filibuster and passing key legislation in the Senate to defend voting rights.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York blasted congressional Republicans for their opposition to two milestone voting-rights bills, while also questioning if their rejection of the legislation was rooted in Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer prepared Democrats for the final phase of a year-long push to pass voting rights legislation, sketching out maneuvers that could launch debate on a pair of stalled bills and force a rules confrontation in the coming days.
“Senators can finally make clear to the American people where they stand on protecting our democracy and preserving the right of every eligible American to cast a ballot,” Schumer said in a memo that outlined his plan.
Schumer is planning to use Senate procedure to bypass a 60-vote requirement typically needed to start debate by considering the bill as a “message,” a loophole that lets them bypass how many times they need to break a filibuster.
The House will pass a bill containing both sweeping federal elections reform and beefed up Voting Right Act provisions, which will be sent to the Senate as a “message” and won’t be subject to an initial filibuster by the GOP and will be debated on the floor.
Moving quickly to force a showdown over voting rights, congressional Democrats plan to pursue a procedural shortcut to bring up stalled legislation for debate and try to win its approval over deep Republican resistance.
Congress, always a reflection of the country, is in a testy mood, as the latest coronavirus variant looms over the Capitol and schadenfreude is in full swing.
Biden’s job approval rating tumbled to 33 percent in the latest Quinnipiac poll, a 17 percentage-point drop from February and an indication of voters’ deep dissatisfaction over his administration’s response to rising inflation and a resurgence of COVID-19.
Inflation climbed to its highest level in 40 years at the end of 2021, a troubling development for Biden and economic policymakers as rapid price gains erode consumer confidence and cast a shadow of uncertainty over the economy’s future.
Biden said the latest report on inflation in the US shows there is more work to do on lowering consumer prices, which are threatening his domestic agenda and political prospects as he enters his second year in office.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol formally requested an interview with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, who was in close contact with former President Donald Trump during and after the violence.
This makes McCarthy, a California Republican, the highest-ranking lawmaker the panel has pursued in its inquiry.
Late yesterday, McCarthy rejected the request from the panel, calling it a politically motivated abuse of power.
Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR after he was pressed on his false claim of a stolen election in 2020 and how he was using that assertion to put pressure on Republicans before the 2022 midterm elections.
Trump is taking a dig at politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who refuse to say if they got the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.
Trump praised North County Rep. Elise Stefanik, as a “rising star” in the GOP and potential presidential contender at a fundraiser he hosted for her at his Florida resort that she said raised $3.2 million for her campaign and other GOP congressional candidates.
Bill Gates, who donated $1.75 billion to COVID-19 vaccine development and fighting the pandemic, said that while the currently available vaccines prevent severe illness and death, they aren’t durable enough and should be better at preventing infection.
Cannabis compounds prevented the virus that causes COVID-19 from penetrating healthy human cells, according to a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products.
A new California study says the omicron variant of COVID-19 is an eye-popping 91% less likely to kill those who get infected than the delta strain, federal public health officials announced.
The coronavirus loses about 50 percent of its ability to infect about 10 seconds after it becomes airborne in a typical office environment, according to a new study about how the deadly bug survives in exhaled air.
The “infodemic” many say has been sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic is actually a general feature of online health information, new research suggests.
Even a mild infection with COVID-19 can cause “profound” cellular effects in the brain with long-term impact on memory and executive function, according to a new study.
Cuba has vaccinated a greater percentage of its population against Covid-19 than almost all the world’s largest and richest nations. In fact, only the oil-rich United Arab Emirates boasts a stronger vaccination record.
Tennis player Novak Djokovic could face a fine or even prison in Serbia after his admission that he broke isolation while he had Covid last month, lawyers said, as the Serbian prime minister warned his behavior appeared to be “a clear breach” of the rules.
Top-seed Djokovic is set to begin his title defense against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of play at the Australian Open next week, but that will ultimately depend on whether or not the Immigration Minister allows him to remain in Australia.
The Biden administration plans to distribute millions of free Covid-19 tests to schools around the country, part of the federal government’s effort to keep schools open amid a surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant.
Public-school attendance across the U.S. has dropped to unusually low levels, complicating efforts to keep schools open, as districts also contend with major staff shortages.
For the second day in a row, Gov. Kathy Hochul offered a “glimmer” of cautious optimism as case numbers leveled off and even fell in some areas of the state. Still, she said, ensuring eligible kids are immunized and getting booster shots remains a top priority.
Across the state, the positivity rate for new COVID tests continued to decline, hitting 17.37 percent, which is below the rolling seven-day average of 20.22 percent.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is ramping up his feud with Hochul over masking in schools.
Hochul announced a new campaign to increase vaccination rates among children five and older – urging pediatricians, parents, and guardians to help children get vaccinated and keep up with all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses.
More Broadway productions are downsizing, pausing, or closing altogether as a result of the omicron surge.
With the end of New York’s COVID eviction moratorium days away, a group of New York lawmakers are trying to convince Hochul to support good cause eviction.
State Department of Health officials sought to clarify and streamline quarantine and isolation standards at K-12 schools across the state as the omicron coronavirus variant has caused a huge surge in infections.
In a memo on Jan. 10, the state also formally endorsed a five-day isolation period, down from 10, for students and staff who test positive for the virus.
Inmates in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community of Supervisions received more than $34.3 million in COVID Economic Impact Payments, according to a spokesperson for DOCCS.
The US Department of Transportation has sent the MTA over $6 billion, nearly half of the $14 billion in COVID-19 relief money allocated for the agency in pandemic rescue packages.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced he is backing incumbent Hochul – another Buffalonian and a longtime ally – for election to her own full term, even though Rep. Tom Suozzi, one of her primary opponents, backed Brown during his primary battle last year.
The state Assembly took 35,820 votes on bills from Sheldon Silver’s first full year as speaker in 1995 through this past Sunday, and they each had something in common: Every single one of the pieces of legislation passed – until this week.
The state Senate confirmed Justice Shirley Troutman, a Buffalo-area appellate judge and former prosecutor, to serve on the New York Court of Appeals.
A state panel formed to examine the role of a controversial actor in the Family Court system issued a final report, unanimously agreeing on certain reforms while splitting on whether to eliminate the role altogether.
The Seneca Nation is dropping its lawsuit against the state and will begin discussions over a new gaming compact. The Nation will secure $40 million as part of the current compact, which expires at the end of 2023. Negotiations will begin in 60 days.
Hochul said: “I am pleased to have reached an agreement for the resumption of payments on terms that serve both the State and the Nation and that benefit Western New York communities, and I look forward to beginning discussions toward a new compact.”
The exodus from New York state, long a political talking point, continued apace in 2021, according to a recent survey of where Americans are moving when they leave one state for another.
An attorney representing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo notified New York’s ethics oversight panel that it’s to preserve “all evidence and documentation” concerning its efforts to force Cuomo to repay $5.1 million in proceeds from a 2020 book deal.
Cuomo’s attorney threatened to sue the state’s ethics board for trying to claw back the payday Cuomo received for his written-on-the-job memoir about the COVID-19 scourge — and accused officials of acting “for improper political reasons.”
It will take roughly six months before New York City schools can add remote learning options, Mayor Eric Adams said.
Adams is open to changing the process for parents to give consent for their kids to get COVID-19 tests in school, Comptroller Brad Lander said.
Adams directed top officials in his administration this week to develop plans for slashing city government spending by 3 percent across the board — but some pandemic-burdened agencies, including the Health Department, will be exempt.
Amid concerns of nepotism, the mayor’s brother, Bernard Adams, will be executive director of mayoral security, not deputy NYPD commissioner as originally planned. He will earn $210,000.
The compensation is in line with that of an NYPD inspector — the title of the previous head of the team tasked with the mayor’s security, the Executive Protection Unit.
The switch up did not mollify government watchdogs concerned that the intra-family hire flies in the face of city ethics law.
Adams may have already violated New York City ethics law by asking the NYPD to hire his brother Bernard before obtaining permission from the City’s Conflicts of Interest Board, according to interviews with local ethics experts.
The mayor’s office said it will submit paperwork this week seeking a waiver from the city Conflicts of Interest Board, for Bernard Adams’ hiring. It is unclear if the board would grant a waiver and if they don’t, if Adams can keep working for his brother anyway.
The New York City Campaign Finance Board says Adams has until the end of April to spend the almost $2 million he raised to host his inauguration that was cancelled due to COVID.
Adams is facing a potential second loss in his administration’s bid to wield power within the City Council — this time in a battle over appointing the chair of the oversight and investigations committee.
New NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell warned cops this week against handing in fake COVID-19 vaccination cards — reminding them that doing so is a crime.
A University at Buffalo student was among the 17 people who were killed in a devastating apartment building fire in the Bronx last Sunday, the school announced.
Abdoulie Touray is believed to have been the first Gambian to move into 333 E. 181st Street. He drew scores of compatriots to the building where 17 died in a fire.
The three companies that own the 19-story apartment building in the Bronx where a smoky blaze killed 17 people have all been aggressively acquiring apartment complexes with many lower-income tenants who used rental vouchers.
A couple who survived the Bronx fire sued current and former owners of the apartment tower, alleging the landlords knew of defective conditions in the 120-unit building.
Videos obtained by The New York Times reveal scenes of violence inside Rikers as the Department of Correction struggles to restore order in the jail system.
An online petition seeking the ouster of embattled Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is gaining traction over his controversial policies to downgrade or not prosecute certain crimes.
Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, 80, has been granted a line-of-duty disability pension typically given cops suffering Sept. 11-related illnesses.
New York City could be hit with a major bomb cyclone or nor’easter Sunday night, but forecasters say it’s far too early to make a run on bread and milk.
The Port of Albany’s plans for a new wind turbine tower manufacturing facility in the town of Bethlehem got a boost when the Biden administration announced it would auction off leases in an area of ocean called the New York Bight.
A proposed multi-building residential/commercial complex planned for Quail Street in the city’s Pine Hills neighborhood has to go back to the planning stages.
The City of Rensselaer wants to join with the neighboring town of East Greenbush and Rensselaer County to hire an environmental lawyer to oppose the state’s relicensing of the controversial S.A. Dunn landfill, Mayor Michael Stammel said.
Gerald Stern, who for three decades set the bar for courtroom ethical standards in New York State as the first administrator of its Commission on Judicial Conduct, died on Jan. 6 in the Bronx. He was 86.
Schumer has invited U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for the second time in two years to tour Albany Nanotech, which Schumer says is the ideal location for two new federal computer chip manufacturing labs.
A statewide eviction moratorium is set to expire on Saturday, and at least two Hudson Valley municipalities – Kingston and New Paltz – are pushing their own “good cause” eviction legislation ahead of the moratorium’s end.
The U.S. Army is offering a $50,000 maximum enlistment bonus to new recruits who sign up for six years. It’s the first time the bonus has reached $50,000 and a 25% increase on the previous max bonus of $40,000.
Sarah Palin wants jurors to be barred from seeing footage of her appearance on “The Masked Singer” in her defamation case against the New York Times that may go to trial in the coming weeks.
Former New York State judge Jeanine Pirro is leaving her weekend gig “Justice with Jeanine Pirro” to join the cast of the Fox News afternoon program “The Five.”
Clyde Bellecourt, a co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and a prominent civil rights leader, has died at the age of 85.
I’m only surprised this didn’t happen sooner. It’s so obvious, right?
