WELL, that was a rude awakening.
It’s Tuesday morning, and I don’t know about you, but there was no easing back into the work thing on my end. Instead, it was like going from zero to 100 in less than a minute. Any vestiges of my relaxing holiday vacation have been eraseed.
If yesterday was any indication, it’s going to be a very long week indeed.
Also, the post-holiday blues have set in, exacerbated by the ongoing omicron surge. January stretches out ahead of us, long and cold and dreary, with nothing much to look forward to other than….Valentine’s Day? No. Sorry. That’s not even a real thing.
Adding insult to injury, if you’re one of those people lucky enough to have held on to your original Blackberry – and boy, do I miss mine, because an iPhone cannot hold a candle to that thing, not even on its best day – service for all classic/legacy devices officially ends today.
Bummer.
For those of us who have not vowed to cut carbs in the new year, there’s some good news: Today is National Spaghetti Day.
Trivia time: The word spaghetti is plural for the Italian word spaghetto – a diminutive of spago, which means “thin string” or “twine.”
But, the earliest known version of pasta actually originated in the east, where it was made from rice flour and is believed to have been brought back to Europe by Marco Polo. (If you really want to go down the rabbit hole on this origin story, click here).
In Italy, pasta was made from hard wheat and stretched into long strands that are reminiscent of today’s spaghetti, though the earliest version was closer to vermicelli, which unfortunately translates into “little worms.” Yuck.
Pasta, when eaten in moderation – especially the whole grain variety – can actually be part of a well balanced diet. The trouble is often the serving size, which is far smaller in Italy than here in the U.S., and also what we put on top of a bowl of noodles, which can make the calorie count add up quite quickly.
Personally, I’m not a huge pasta fan. I ate my fill of it during my starving student days, and I’m quite content to forgo it now. But if you’re looking for an excuse to enjoy it, now you’ve got one – at least for today.
More seesaw weather is in the cards today, with temperatures back up to the comfortable mid-30s (for January, anyway), and sunny skies. I am really enjoying our lack of snow, I do have to admit, but it’s not at all good for our friends in the winter sports industry. So fingers crossed they get a big dump of the white stuff soon.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden met virtually with family farmers and ranchers to highlight his administration’s ongoing effort to support independent meat processors, and to pressure the four biggest meatpacking companies into easing prices for consumers.
The U.S. will issue new rules and $1 billion in funding this year to support independent meat processors and ranchers as part of a plan to address a lack of “meaningful competition” in the meat sector, Biden said.
Biden returned to the White House yesterday after his holiday break in Delaware in severe winter weather that sent airport crews scrambling to clear the runway for Air Force One and forced his motorcade to crawl through snow-covered streets.
First lady Jill Biden will visit Kentucky on Thursday to accompany state and federal officials as they survey the damage from the tornados that tore through the state last month.
Law-enforcement and intelligence agencies are grappling with online chatter promoting violence, along with threats against lawmakers, inspired in part by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, officials say.
Biden will engage in a delicate dance Thursday when he delivers remarks addressing the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Attorney General Merrick Garland will give a speech about the efforts to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the Jan. 6 riot, stressing the “unwavering commitment to defend Americans and American democracy from violence and threats of violence.”
Many of the extremist groups that participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot have undergone a transformation, focusing on local politics — most notably school boards and county health boards.
Covid-19 infections continued to soar far above previous peaks across the U.S., as students returned to classrooms while some workers remained home after contracting or being exposed to the virus.
Covid-19 cases in Florida have risen by 948% in just two weeks, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant drives a huge wave of infections and hospitalizations across the U.S.
The seven-day average of daily reported Covid-19 cases in the U.S. reached a pandemic record 403,385 on Sunday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.
The latest surge in coronavirus cases is putting Democrats in a difficult position ahead of November’s midterm elections as Americans voice frustrations over Biden’s response to the rapid spread of the omicron variant.
The Food and Drug Administration expanded the Emergency Use Authorization of a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to include youths 12 to 15.
For anyone now eligible to get the extra dose, the FDA said, the booster could be administered five months after their second shot, instead of the six months previously set. It also cleared a third dose for children with compromised immune systems age 5 to 11.
After spending two months in a coma due to Covid-19 earlier this year, a California woman is urging people to get vaccinated.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the new year is bringing bad news as the super-contagious omicron variant powers a “vertical spike” in COVID cases, but he believes the wave could peak quickly.
Betty White died of natural causes and did not receive a COVID booster shot a few days before her death, contrary to online rumors, her friend and agent Jeff Witjas said.
Jimmy Fallon battled a case of COVID-19 over the holiday break for “The Tonight Show,” the comedian revealed on Instagram.
A clip from a New Year’s Eve episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” was removed from YouTube due to content promoting COVID vaccine hesitancy amid a raging global pandemic.
According to data site Burbio, more than 2,700 schools began 2022 either with remote instruction or with a day off.
Starbucks is requiring its U.S. employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to regular testing, one of the first large restaurant chains to take such a step ahead of potential federal vaccination mandates for large employers.
Institutions that put on awards ceremonies, concerts, film festivals and high-profile schmooze events are considering postponement, cancellation or going virtual as the Covid-19 variant sweeps through the U.S.
Covid has brought America’s beer-vs.-liquor rivalry to a head. Brewers are struggling to retain their dwindling edge, while spirits makers see a chance to further their ascension by burnishing liquor’s reputation and using canned cocktails as a new beer rival.
Hospitalizations for the coronavirus are rising steeply in New York State, approaching the peak of last winter’s surge and driving the number of deaths reported in a single day above 100 for the first time since last March.
“We’re not in a good place,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “This is not that wave we saw last year. It kind of kept going up and up. This is straight up.”
New York state hospitals will have to start reporting the numbers of patients being treated for symptoms of COVID-19 separately from those who test positive after being admitted for other reasons, Hochul said.
The governor has asked hospitals to start clearly identifying which Covid-19 patients are being treated for the illness and which happened to test positive after coming in for another reason.
She signaled that efforts to keep schools running remained her top priority, and expressed hopes for a brief if brutal period, noting that cases spiked and then fell suddenly in South Africa’s initial run-in with the omicron strain.
New coronavirus cases leaped 64% in New York in the week ending Sunday, as 367,687 cases were reported and authorities warned the omicron variant was threatening already overburdened hospitals.
Two hospitals on Long Island said they are halting some elective surgeries because of a surge of COVID-19 patients, while the state surpassed 100 daily deaths from the virus for the first time in nearly a year.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) hospitalizations on Staten Island surged past 300 yesterday, hitting 311, a number six times higher than the patient count just over a month ago.
The COVID-19 infection rate in city jails, including at Rikers Island, has hit a staggering new high – with almost 37% of prisoners recently tested for the virus coming back positive, data released by the city shows.
Omicron is shaking the Big Apple to its core thanks to crippling staffing shortages caused by the raging COVID-19 variant.
As New York City schools came back into session yesterday after more than a week of winter break, many started with a basic math problem: how to keep classes running with scores of staffers out sick because of surging COVID-19 cases.
Some LaGuardia Airport travelers are missing flight after flight while waiting in the freezing cold — with their kids — for COVID-19 tests.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams took aim at major investment firms in the city for ordering their employees to work from home for the time being as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continue to swell in New York.
On his first weekday in office, Adams insisted that New York City’s schools would stay open despite an extraordinary spike in Omicron-driven cases of the coronavirus, insisting children are “safest” in school buildings.
Adams has started his tenure as New York City mayor by rejecting a request from the city’s largest teachers’ union to temporarily move public schools to remote learning, capping off a frenetic first 72 hours of his administration.
A group of New York City school teachers asked a judge to force remote classes in city schools for two weeks amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, new court papers show.
Adams said the city’s new enhanced testing program for schools, which relies on at-home tests to limit quarantines and doubles the number of students and staff randomly tested each week, will mitigate disruptions and keep everyone safe.
The University at Albany and nine other college campuses across New York will be transformed into coronavirus testing sites this week as a surge in a less severe variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly.
Hochul plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to impose term limits for New York governors and other statewide office holders whens she delivers her first state of the state address tomorrow.
The proposal, a milestone change that would require a constitutional amendment, would apply only to statewide elected officials — including the lieutenant governor, the attorney general and the comptroller, according to state officials.
Hochul also will propose a ban on statewide elected officials being able to earn outside income in the wake of her own predecessor, disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, pocketing $5.1 million on his ‘American Crisis’ COVID book deal.
Adams and Hochul seem intent on getting along, breaking the mold of previous mayors and governors. Both of them have a vested interest in cultivating this relationship.
Progressives and advocates have voiced concerns at the slow emergence of Adams’ plans and priorities, and worry about positions he has taken including increasing the use of the heavily criticized “stop-and-frisk” policy and resurrecting plainclothes police units.
Adams opened his first remarks from City Hall on Jan. 1 by arguing the city’s government has been dysfunctional “for far too long” and promising New Yorkers that the city’s overall recovery will be tied to an improved municipal workforce.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has closed its investigation into how the Cuomo administration handled Covid-19 in nursing homes, a lawyer who represented the administration said.
Defense attorney Elkan Abramowitz said he was contacted by the head of the Manhattan district attorney’s elder-care unit. “I was told that after a thorough investigation – as we have said all along – there was no evidence to suggest that any laws were broken.”
The Manhattan prosecutor’s office, now headed by new DA Alvin Bragg, declined comment. The probe was initiated by ex-DA Cyrus Vance Jr., whose term ended New Year’s Eve, and it was under Vance that the investigation was quashed last Thursday.
The Albany County district attorney’s office is expected to drop a forcible touching complaint against Cuomo. The decision comes just days before he is scheduled to make his first appearance in Albany City Court Friday to face a misdemeanor charge.
Although Brittany Commisso is said to have wanted to move forward with the case against Cuomo for allegedly groping her, she was told by prosecutors that the charges will be dropped because of the matter in which the criminal complaint was filed.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office and Commisso did not respond to the NY Post’s requests for comment. “I have no new information,” Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said.
Cuomo’s signature structural change to state government during his first term was an overhaul of political mapmaking in New York. That bipartisan commission flunked its biggest test, with its 10 members deadlocking 5-5 on a pair of competing proposals.
The standoff makes it more likely that the Democratic-controlled New York Legislature will draw their own district maps in what Republicans expect to be a partisan process.
The two sides do agree on combining the districts of GOP Reps. John Katko and Claudia Tenney to create a new NY-22.
Carolyn Pokorny, who also served as a special counsel to Cuomo, has moved to the Brooklyn federal prosecutor’s office as the first assistant U.S. attorney.
Cuomo’s three daughters rang in the new year without their disgraced dad — choosing instead to wish for a better 2022 with the Kennedy side of their family.
The New York State attorney general’s office, which last month subpoenaed Donald Trump as part of a civil investigation into his business practices, is also seeking to question two of his adult children as part of the inquiry.
The subpoenas for Trump, his son, Donald Trump Jr., and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, stem from an investigation “into the valuation of properties owned or controlled” by Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, the filing said.
Alan Futerfas, an attorney for Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, and Ronald Fischetti, who represents Donald Trump, confirmed that the Trumps will soon file a motion to quash the subpoenas.
Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle are headed to the altar, having been engaged for nearly a year.
Smith’s, a restaurant since the late 1930s that for decades was a legendary hangout for the Albany County Democratic machine, is being purchased by developer Patrick Oh, who is adding it to his portfolio of multiple Remsen Street properties.
Williams-Sonoma is closing in Crossgates Mall, where it has been for two decades.
The City of Albany is wasting no time in asking the Common Council to approve a series of raises and personnel moves that will add more than $750,000 to the city budget.
You may want to check the flight schedule if you are planning to fly out of or pick someone up from Albany International Airport, with bad weather and ongoing airline staff shortages leading to continuing cancellations and delays.
A city of Schenectady garbage truck driver has been fired for driving without a valid license — and after causing significant damage to the truck the worker was operating.
Multiple towns across New York have once again begun discussing if the state should split up into three autonomous regions.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to jump-start the push for new voting rights protections over the objections of Republicans by Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 17.
A federal jury found Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty on four counts of wire fraud, more than two years after she was charged with misleading investors with fraudulent claims about the efficacy of her blood-testing technology.
The jury made up of eight men and four women found Holmes, 37, guilty after a four-month trial on three counts of wire fraud against Theranos investors and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Holmes could be going to prison for years, though likely will be allowed to stay free on bail until her sentencing, which could take place six months or more from now, sentencing experts said.
The Twin Cities are preparing for another big trial stemming from the killing of George Floyd, as three former Minneapolis police officers face federal charges later this month that they violated Mr. Floyd’s civil rights during his May 2020 arrest.
A Jeffrey Epstein victim’s $500,000 settlement deal in 2009 with the notorious sex offender, which Prince Andrew says shields him from lawsuits, was unsealed by a Manhattan federal judge.
Apple, the computer company that started in a California garage in 1976, is now worth $3 trillion. It became the first publicly traded company to ever reach the figure yesterday.
David Bowie’s estate has sold publishing rights to the “Changes” singer’s extensive and innovative song catalog for $250 million, according to Variety.
