Good Monday morning. We’ve lot of ground to cover today…much of it, depending on where you live, might be covered with snow, or ice, or both, or neither.
We’ve gone from arctic temperatures to the first real storm of the season, though accumulation predictions vary. It has been a wild few days from a weather perspective. The South got dumped on in a big way, and then there was a tsunami caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano.
In short, it’s a good morning to stay inside and not be on the roads, which is a lot easier for many of us, since today is also a national holiday.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed annually on the third Monday in January. The creation of this holiday was actually a fairly recent occurrence, relatively speaking.
After King, an iconic Black civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, He was in town to support a strike by black sanitation workers.
Rep. John Conyers and Sen. Edward Brooke introduced a bill to formally memorialize his birthday by making it a national holiday. (Bear with me, I’m well aware that the third Monday in January is NOT anywhere near April).
Beginning in 1970, a number of states and cities made King’s actual birthday – Jan.. 15, a holiday. But, there was significant opposition, on both racial and political grounds, that blocked passage of the Conyers-Brooke bill.
Legislation making the third Monday in January a federal holiday in King’s honor did not pass until 1983. It was signed into law by then-Republican President Ronald Reagan in a White House Rose Garden ceremony.
Its first observance nationwide occurred three years later, though some state legislatures gave it another name or combined it with another holiday. All 50 states didn’t get on board until 2000.
A very consolidated – and not at all exhaustive – version of King’s achievements during his fairly brief and very busy life:
He founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, led the 1963 March on Washington, was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, and employment; and also the the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Since today is a national holiday, a lot of things are closed – including schools, banks, and government offices. The state’s MLK Day observance will be virtual again, due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19. It will be hosted by Christopher Jackson, a Tony Award-nominated actor best known for starring as George Washington in “Hamilton.”
The program will also be broadcast on PBS stations throughout New York State. Check local listings or click here.
In terms of the weather, we went through that a the top of this post, but there’s a Winter Weather Advisory in place until noon. Rain, sleet, and freezing rain will be mixing with snow showers by the afternoon, and temperatures will be in the mid to high 30s.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and her team yesterday urged New Yorkers planning to travel to do so in advance of the intense winter storm that was forecast to unleash up to 20 inches of windblown snow on parts of upstate.
Actress and comedian Betty White would have turned 100 today. She died just 18 days short of her milestone birthday.
And now, the headlines…
The FBI identified Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British national, as the man who held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue in an hours-long standoff Saturday before a rescue team entered the building and killed the suspect.
The service had been livestreamed, and on the stream, Akram could be heard shouting about dying and demanding to get a woman he said was his sister on the phone.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said it is “too soon to tell” if the Texas synagogue hostage situation was part of a broader extremist threat.
Local and federal law enforcement credited Congregation Beth Israel Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker’s “calm and collected” demeanor for helping bring about a miraculous end to the ten-hour hostage crisis at his northern Texas synagogue.
President Joe Biden condemned the Texas synagogue standoff as “an act of terror”.
“Let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate — we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden will meet virtually on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discuss the two nations’ economies, security matters, climate change and other bilateral issues, the White House announced.
Democrats made a full-throated push for voting rights legislation as the Senate prepares to take up election reform this week, setting the scene for a high stakes battle.
Democrats will keep fighting for sweeping voting and ethics legislation even though it’s “on life support,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn said.
As he marks the anniversary of his inauguration this week, there are growing doubts over whether Biden can fulfill this theory of his own presidency.
For Biden, it’s been a year of lofty ambitions grounded by the unrelenting pandemic, a tough hand in Congress, a harrowing end to an overseas war and rising fears for the future of democracy itself.
Biden didn’t just have a bad week, he has had a bad year, Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said.
Filling food boxes and singing the Philadelphia Eagles fight song, “Fly, Eagles, Fly,” Biden returned to Philadelphia to visit Philabundance, the anti-hunger agency where he stopped for day-of-service duties in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day last year.
Former President Donald Trump repeated his baseless claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and castigated Biden for his handling of inflation, supply chain issues, the pandemic, and the southern border at a rally in Florence, Arizona.
“We all knew that Joe Biden would be not so good but few could have imagined that he would be such a disaster for this country, what they’ve done,” Trump said.
The former president falsely claimed that white Americans were being denied the Covid-19 vaccine, among other inaccuracies.
Dick Morris, a onetime top adviser to former President Bill Clinton, says there’s a “good chance” of a 2024 rematch between Hillary Clinton and Trump.
A spat over Covid has exposed friction between the former president and Florida’s Ron DeSantis, a rising G.O.P. governor unwilling to curb his ambitions.
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, warned that the Omicron surge of coronavirus cases had not yet peaked nationally, saying that the next few weeks would be very difficult in many parts of the country as hospitalizations and deaths rise.
While the outbreak is starting to plateau or decline in parts of the Northeast — a change Murthy hailed as “good news” — the U.S. is still seeing more than 800,000 new COVID cases per day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday clarified its stance on various kinds of masks, acknowledging that the cloth masks frequently worn by Americans do not offer as much protection as surgical masks or respirators.
As Covid-19 cases have surged, top Biden administration officials have been divided over how strongly to encourage Americans to wear high-filtration masks such as N95 respirators.
Although children have generally fared well when infected with SARS-CoV-2, preliminary research suggests that pandemic-related stress during pregnancy could be negatively affecting fetal brain development in some babies.
Omicron is pushing Covid-19 hospital admissions among children to record levels in the U.S. and the U.K. Doctors say the variant’s infectiousness—and not any increased severity—is probably mostly responsible.
School employees are stepping up across the U.S. to provide classroom instruction, as a lack of available substitute teachers compounds ongoing staffing shortages caused by Covid-19-related teacher absences.
France’s National Assembly voted 215-58 in favor of pandemic legislation that includes a vaccine pass barring unvaccinated people from venues including restaurants and sports arenas.
Hawaii will likely soon require visitors to have a Covid booster shot if they want to travel to the islands.
The stunning Covid vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna drew upon long-buried discoveries made in the hopes of ending past epidemics.
Thailand’s Baiya Phytopharm wants to develop the country’s first plant-based Covid vaccine.
Calendar year three into the pandemic, and vaccination coverage among pregnant people remains staggeringly low.
Novak Djokovic’s last chance to stay in Australia — other than just getting the COVID-19 vaccine — failed yesterday and the tennis star has been kicked out.
Credit Suisse Group Chairman António Horta-Osório is leaving the global bank following a board investigation into his travel and personal conduct. He was reportedly found to have broken the UK’s Covid-19 quarantine rules.
The world’s 10 wealthiest men doubled their fortunes during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic as poverty and inequality soared.
Officials in Beijing on Saturday reported the city’s first case of the Omicron variant, prompting authorities to order an immediate lockdown and mass testing in one neighborhood just three weeks before the opening of the Winter Olympics in the capital city.
American manufacturers are worried that China’s zero-tolerance coronavirus policy could throw a wrench in the global conveyor belt for goods this year.
China’s economy slowed markedly in the final months of last year as government measures to limit real estate speculation hurt other sectors as well.
CVS and Walgreens, two of the biggest pharmacy chains in the United States, are temporarily closing some stores this weekend because of staff shortages complicated by the soaring number of people infected with the Omicron variant.
The government will start taking orders for free rapid at-home Covid-19 tests on Wednesday through a site called covidtests.gov.
The Biden administration’s plan to buy and distribute 1 billion rapid Covid-19 tests is sending manufacturers and distributors racing to boost tight nationwide supplies.
Restaurants, fitness centers and other indoor businesses in the District Saturday began requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination, the first day of a mandate in the nation’s capital that is geared toward curbing the latest surge of the coronavirus.
Hotels, fitness clubs, tour bus companies and minor league ball clubs are part of a long line of businesses seeking billions of dollars in new Covid-19 relief aid—if they can overcome opposition from many Republicans who say Congress has already given enough.
A Norwegian cruise ship is returning to New York after its voyage was cut short amid COVID-19-related issues, a spokeswoman for the company said.
“The COVID forecast is improving…the COVID clouds are parting,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “Overall, the prognosis, the forecast, for COVID is much brighter than it had been before.”
The Health Electronic Response Data System has reported 51,264 positives since Saturday, Down from a peak of 90,132 on January 7.
Due to weather, all state testing & vaccination sites north of Rockland County will be closed today and reopen tomorrow.
While the number of people admitted to hospitals for Covid is slowing, hospitals remain under tremendous strain, struggling to manage staffing shortages that leave doctors and nurses no choice but to make difficult decisions about whose care to prioritize.
Without hard rules about employees who test positive, NYC restaurant owners and workers are weighing safety against finances, and not always agreeing on the answer.
The Omicron variant that has barreled into the city, sending coronavirus case counts soaring, is now battering Broadway, leaving the industry facing an unexpected and enormous setback on its road back from the pandemic.
Police arrested more than a dozen activists outside Hochul’s Manhattan office Friday afternoon during a protest calling on the governor to take action before the state’s eviction moratorium expired Saturday.
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is challenging Hochul in the June primary, was at the protest.
Hochul is making good on her promise to have more affordable housing built in the city, granting three development projects a total of $423 million in bond financing and subsidies to produce such units.
The state Assembly has passed a bill that would allow state employees to work remotely when possible, and it is getting support from the workers themselves.
Facing criticism for giving his brother a top job and other controversial hires, Mayor Eric Adams claimed Friday that he has the prerogative to appoint whoever he wants “because I’m the mayor.”
Adams is picking the brains of his past two predecessors – Mike Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio – on how to govern America’s largest city.
Adams insisted that Big Apple subways are safe, arguing there is just a “perception of fear” — but try telling that to riders after Saturday’s fatal random subway push in Times Square.
Michelle Go, 40, the straphanger randomly pushed to her death by an alleged unhinged vagrant, was a senior manager at the top consulting firm Deloitte — and volunteered as an advocate for the homeless.
Friends and neighbors of Go’s agonized over her cruel slaying as doctors evaluated the subway vagrant accused of shoving her to her death beneath a moving train at a Times Square station.
After the attack, Simon Martial, who served two prison terms for robbing taxi drivers while threatening use of a gun, rode a train to Lower Manhattan, where he told officers at the Canal Street station that he had pushed a woman onto the tracks, the police said.
Asian voters are rejecting the Democratic Party, angered by mounting violence targeting their communities and by other quality-of-life crises plaguing New York City.
New York City picked a pro-business, ex-police captain who wants to get paid in Bitcoin and hobnobs with Republicans to lead City Hall. The left flank of the Democratic Party is chafing at the choice. If the past two weeks are any indication, the feeling is mutual.
A man who the police say fatally shot a 19-year-old worker at a Burger King in Upper Manhattan during a botched robbery has been arrested and charged with murder, Adams and other officials said at news conference Friday.
Eating like Adams claims to takes a lot of planning and willpower.
Tears and demands for justice pervaded yesterday’s funeral services for 15 of the people killed in last week’s horrific Bronx apartment building fire — the deadliest blaze in the city in three decades.
The leader of the Islamic Cultural Center upbraided elected officials, saying of the victims, “The conditions in which they lived in the Bronx caused their death.”
Hochul announced $2 million in aid for the tenants affected by the tragic Bronx fire that left 17 people dead.
When the building where they made their home became a smoke-filled death trap, hundreds of residents had to make life-or-death decisions as rescue workers raced to save them.
Bronx prosecutors have dropped all charges against a Rikers Island doctor’s assistant accused of raping women inmates after failing to comply with new laws on the handling of evidence.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani was hit in the face with a flower pot as he tried to break up a fight near Penn Station.
New Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg admitted that his first two weeks in office have been “challenging” — amid backlash over his progressive prosecutorial policies.
He hasn’t even officially entered the governor’s race but Republican millionaire Harry Wilson’s past $1,000 donation to Bragg has come back to haunt him.
The owner of the Albany-area restaurant Innovo Kitchen is seeking an apology from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who swept into his restaurant Friday without wearing a mask.
John LaPosta, who posted a video of a maskless Gillibrand on his restaurant’s Instagram account, said a sign on the entrance asks all patrons to wear a mask.
Gillibrand said in a statement that “I will do better going forward.”
The Buffalo Bills had an offensive performance for the ages on Saturday night, a feat that has never been executed in NFL history.
The Bills dominated the teams’ third meeting in 41 days, winning 47-17 to move on to the divisional round of the playoffs.
Niagara Falls was lit light red, white, and blue in support of the team as players headed into the game.
Taxpayer funding for any future new Buffalo Bills stadium deal is expected, as Hochul has been saying for months, to be a part of the 2022 state budget. But it probably won’t show up in the document she releases tomorrow.
Despite a net worth of $5.7 billion, Bill and Sabres owner Terry Pegula received stimulus money during the pandemic intended to help households that needed it the most.
Even if Biden’s full $2 trillion Build Back Better plan isn’t passed in the near term, many of the green energy proposals such as tax credits and other incentives could be passed separately, policymakers said.
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras is eligible for a $450,000 one-year paid leave and lifetime employment, according to his contract, though the terms of his severance are still “under review” due to ambiguous language contained in the document.
In an unprecedented shakeup, cannabis company Ascend Wellness Holdings is asking a New York court to force medical marijuana license holder MedMen to hand over its operations in the state.
The New York Racing Association said it plans to reconstruct the historic “Wilson Chute” at Saratoga Race Course, for use during the 2022 summer meet and allow for one-mile races to be contested on the main track.
The Adirondack Park Agency is bolstering its ranks, adding a top administrator and counsel.
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” returned to the airwaves for the first time since Dec. 18, with a fake Biden blaming the COVID-19 surge that sidetracked its last episode on the new Spider-Man movie.
The show deployed plenty of New York-centric humor after its month-long break — including its first spoof of Mayor Adams — and featured Ariana DeBose of “West Side Story” as host.
Albany High graduate and professional boxer Abraham Nova bested his opponent in a nationally televised match on ESPN Saturday night.
The president of the University of Michigan, Mark S. Schlissel, has been fired for having a relationship with a subordinate that the university’s Board of Regents said violated university policy.
The board terminated Schlissel effective immediately, ordering him to return all university property and canceling an agreement that would have continued paying him his base salary of $927,000 for two years after his contract was supposed to end in 2023.
