Good Wednesday morning.
In a perfect world, one would not require an official day on which to recognize, honor, and celebrate one’s spouse. But, as we all know far too well, the world is not perfect.
Hence, National Spouses Day, which, according to the interwebs, “celebrates the bond between two people and sets aside time for couples to show each other gratitude” and “reminds us to take time for our mate.”
This is not to be confused with Valentine’s Day, which is still a few weeks off yet. Maybe we can consider it a dry run?
The technical definition of a “spouse” is: “Either member of a married pair in relation to the other.” It’s sort of an antiquated word, and one that these days more often appears in formal or official contexts, such as legal documents. The good thing about the word is that it’s pretty much unisex.
Rodney Dangerfield, who was basically the king of spouse jokes, once said rather infamously: “My wife and I were happy for 20 years…then we met.” (Insert cymbal crash here).
But the reality is that being married actually does wonders for your health. There is considerable research that indicates people who are married have longer life spans, experience fewer strokes and heart attacks, are less likely to become depressed, and are more likely to survive a cancer diagnosis and/or a significant illness.
Of course, these studies were done BEFORE everyone was locked down with one another as a result of the pandemic, which sorely tested a lot of marriages and led to a spike in breakups and divorces.
As of March 2021, however, divorce rates were actually historically LOW, with some experts hypothesizing that couples facing so much uncertainty in the world decided that it would be better to stick it out with the partner they had, and not go causing even more upheaval in their lives by calling it quits.
Whatever your status – married, single, dating, polyamorous – we could all use an excuse to be a little nicer to our favorite people, even if that person is…yourself. So, take a minute and do something special for someone you care about today.
If you or your sweetie is into sweets…and nuts…this might be a good time to kill two proverbial birds with one stone and also celebrate National Peanut Brittle Day. I am not a fan, personally, but this sticky and crunchy and nutty treat is said to be quintessentially American. Its origin story is decidedly murky.
Today’s Google Doodle is worth a click-through…it was created in honor of the 124th birthday of Katarzyna Kobro, a Polish sculptor who included scientific discoveries into her artwork. She died in Poland in 1951, at the age of 53. Some of her surviving or restored works are in a collection at the Museum of Modern Art, if you happen to be in the neighborhood with some time on your hands.
Today is the two-year anniversary of the helicopter crash that killed former Lakers great Kobe Bryant at the age of 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and eight others on board.
It’s going to be sunny and cold today, with temperatures in the low 20s. BUT, a nasty nor’easter is headed our way, with a possible “bomb cyclone” in the making that could blanket the New York area with heavy snow, the National Weather Service warned.
In the headlines…
In recent days Germany — Europe’s largest and richest democracy, strategically situated at the crossroads between East and West — has stood out more for what it will not do as the standoff between the Ukraine and Russia deepens than for what it is doing.
As the U.S. continues to warn that the threat of a Russian attack on Ukraine remains “imminent,” there is one dissenting voice that has grown stronger – Ukraine’s.
Ukraine’s leaders sought to reassure the nation that an invasion from neighboring Russia was not imminent, even as they acknowledged the threat is real and received a shipment of U.S. military equipment to shore up their defenses.
The Justice Department is investigating the fake slates of electors that falsely declared Donald Trump the victor of the 2020 election in seven swing states that Biden had in fact won, a top agency official said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she plans to seek re-election this fall, but gave no indication of whether she wants to remain her party’s leader, as Democrats face an uphill battle to keep control of the chamber in the midterms elections.
Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. have reached the highest level since early last year, eclipsing daily averages from the recent Delta-fueled surge, after the newer Omicron variant spread wildly through the country and caused record-shattering case counts.
Hospitalizations with Covid-19 in the U.S. continued to decline, following the downward trend in new cases of the virus identified in the country since the middle of this month.
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have started a trial evaluating an adapted version of their Covid-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The Biden administration is withdrawing its Covid-19 vaccination and testing regulation aimed at large businesses, following the Supreme Court’s decision to block the rule earlier this month.
The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it will withdraw the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard for businesses with 100 or more employees, according to a statement on the agency’s website.
The next Covid-19 variant that will rise to world attention will be more contagious than omicron, but the real question scientists need to answer is whether or not it will be more deadly, World Health Organization officials said.
The WHO warned this week that a sub-variant of omicron, designated BA.2, was on the rise. It is not thus far a “variant of concern” but officials are monitoring the situation as cases increase around the world – including here in the U.S.
Federal health authorities warned against travel to 15 countries and territories, including Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates and five Caribbean destinations, because of “very high” risk levels of coronavirus.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the White House is withholding a COVID-19 treatment that could save lives in a state that has already lost 64,000 to the pandemic, even though medical experts deemed the therapy ineffective against the omicron variant.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications, found that people who go on to develop long Covid have lower levels of certain antibodies in their blood soon after they are infected with the coronavirus.
Two-thirds of people recently infected with the Omicron variant say they had already had Covid previously. The findings come from a large, continuing study, React, swab-testing thousands of volunteers in England.
Covid-19’s deadly effects manifest long after some patients leave the hospital, according to a new study that points to the pandemic’s grave aftermath.
Elton John’s concerts at American Airlines Center in Dallas have been postponed after the singer tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement from the arena.
New Orleans’ health director said she will miss one of the earliest Mardi Gras parades due to safety concerns following recently reimplemented COVID-19 policies.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers said they have worked out a deal to bring back paid COVID-19 sick leave.
Vachik Mangassarian, a veteran character actor known for his roles on NCIS, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., has died at the age of 78 from COVID-19 complications.
Anti-vaccination crusader Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he’s sorry for linking the plight of people who choose not to get vaccinated in the U.S. to that of Anne Frank, who died in a concentration camp during World War II.
Investors set a record for U.S. commercial-property sales last year, betting that the pandemic is reordering how Americans live, work and play.
The mask mandate for New York state was reinstated yesterday afternoon, one day after a judge struck it down. A state Appellate Court judge issued a stay on the lower court judge’s ruling, so the mandate stays in place while the case is being appealed.
Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the decision, saying in a statement: “These measures are critical tools to prevent the spread of COVID-19, make schools and businesses safe and save lives.”
The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID is falling fast, dropping by 25% from last week alone.
New York City will not investigate Elio’s, an Upper East Side restaurant, for allowing Sarah Palin to dine indoors on Saturday night without asking for proof that she had been vaccinated.
The Classic Stage Company’s production of “Assassins,” the Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical, became the latest show to cut its run short because of the coronavirus, announcing that it would cancel its remaining performances.
Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, who was gravely wounded last week in a Harlem shooting that killed his partner, has also died of his injuries, the city’s police commissioner said, adding to what she called “incalculable” grief within the department.
Mora was taken off life support at a Manhattan hospital four days after a gunman shot him and Officer Jason Rivera, 22, as they responded to a domestic disturbance call. Rivera died Friday.
The two young officers were emblematic of a changing police force that has struggled to repair its relationships with the city’s Black and Hispanic communities.
A city council member from Harlem offered her sympathy to both the relatives of two NYPD cops gunned down last week — and to their accused killer.
Mayor Eric Adams said he believes “everyone needs to see” the bodycam video of the Harlem shooting that killed two police officers.
Adams’ plan to address gun violence in the city following the death of two NYPD officers is dividing Democrats and sparking renewed debate over recently enacted bail reforms.
Hours after delivering a major speech detailing his plans to halt growing gun violence in New York City, Adams received a pep talk from Biden on Monday night, according to the White House.
New York’s legislative leaders all but declared Adams’ plan to amend the state’s controversial bail-reform laws dead on arrival, even as a top court official said judges largely agreed with his desire to let them lock up potentially dangerous defendants.
In a rare display of bipartisanship, six New York Republican congress members said they agree with Adams that Albany has to toughen up the state’s controversial bail law.
New York’s judges overwhelmingly agree with Adams that they should have greater control over setting bail for potentially dangerous defendants, the official in charge of court operations, Lawrence Marks, told lawmakers.
Progressive politicians and activists who work in communities of color are voicing their concern that Adams’ new plan will roll back recent reforms and lead to more aggressive policing and incarceration.
Rank-and-file cops blasted Adams’s plan to impose a residency requirement on the NYPD, saying they can’t afford to live in the city they serve.
Violent crime may well prove a defining issue in the 2022 midterms for Democrats, who are holding their breath to see if New York City’s new mayor (a former Republican, by the way) can live up to his big promises, fast.
Beyond de-escalating the situation with the unions, the Adams administration’s plan for Rikers is still mostly undefined.
Hochul has continued to plot a course on the gun violence epidemic that she has declared is a state of emergency. The state is soon expected to launch an “Office of Gun Violence Prevention,” according to the governor’s office.
The NYT: “Lasting solutions to what ails New York City will go beyond the police and prosecutors. They will require buy-in from leaders across the state, as well as public money to pay for them.”
A political artist was arrested for creating a fake crime scene outside Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office — complete with a tiny, bloodstained pink jacket like the one worn by a baby recently shot in the face by a stray bullet.
A nonprofit has filed a lawsuit in New York, hoping to clear the way for volunteers to help people defend themselves against debt collection suits.
Alarm has grown among some New York City dog owners in recent days as reports have circulated about the risks to canine health posed by the city’s legions of rats.
The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has scrapped a health insurance rule that could’ve resulted in tens of thousands of retired city workers being barred from seeking care at the facility.
As of Jan. 23, 114 drug overdoses were averted at the two supervised injection sites in Manhattan, both of which are operated by OnPoint NYC.
One of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s controversial top advisors, Larry Schwartz, has finally quit the MTA board.
A 2020 report by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York’s subway, determined that adding barriers was impractical. Still, Janno Lieber, who runs the M.T.A., said officials were trying to “attack the issue of people getting onto tracks.”
Several people who sleep in transit stations said the help they are supposed to receive is lacking and that they don’t want to stay in shelters, which can be chaotic and dangerous.
A new proposal could completely reshape the state Medicaid program by requiring health plans to compete for a limited number of managed-care contracts covering millions of New Yorkers.
Effective immediately, the State University of New York (SUNY) will stop withholding transcripts from students with outstanding tuition balances, Hochul and the SUNY Board of Trustees announced.
A new medical cannabis certification system launched this week by New York’s Office of Cannabis Management will expand patient access to the plant by leaving its uses up to medical practitioners.
In the first Cannabis Control Board meeting of the year, board member Reuben McDaniel III clarified the goals and funding sources for the public-private cannabis equity fund that Hochul announced in her State of the State address.
The OCM released the full list of more than 600 municipalities that opted out of the adult-use cannabis program by last month’s deadline.
Leaders at Albany Nanotech have started planning for a potential new building at its campus on Fuller Road should the state be awarded a $2 billion federal computer chip manufacturing center being pushed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
A state crew was sent to clean up a 500-gallon oil spill yesterday at the Citgo on River Road in Bethlehem, officials said.
A 30-mile stretch of track last operated by the defunct Saratoga & North Creek will be auctioned off as part of bankruptcy proceedings, opening the possibility of its return to operation.
David Ortiz, whose slugging and swagger helped the Boston Red Sox become the most successful franchise of the new century, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In his first year on the ballot, Ortiz was the only candidate who cleared the 75 percent threshold needed for election, collecting 77.9 percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were denied entry to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in their final appearance on the ballot, as voters decided for a 10th time that they would not overlook the superstars’ connection to performance-enhancing drugs.
Lawyers for Alec Baldwin called for a lawsuit involving the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” to be tossed, stressing that the suit concedes the actor didn’t intend for the prop gun to be loaded.
If you made it this far…here’s your obligatory cute animal story for the day.
