Good Monday morning. Happy Valentine’s Day.
I have such mixed feelings about this day, because a lot of my memories of it are tinged with anxiety.
All the way back to grade school, when we had to exchange cards – those pre-printed perforated ones that came in sheets? We were supposed to give one to everybody so no one felt left out, but of course that didn’t really work out the way it was supposed to.
Some of the more popular people definitely got more valentines, and also candy – when we got a little older – those cheap drugstore Whitman’s assortment boxes made by Russell Stover (I know you know the one I mean).
And also those hearts printed with silly sayings that taste like sweet sadness. At least to me.
Then in high school, there was always some sort of fundraiser going on for Valentine’s Day in which the cheerleading squad or whoever was selling carnations and/or balloons or both. And the cool girls would have veritable bouquets and big balloon canopies that floated behind them in the halls.
I was not one of those girls. I mean, maybe I got one or two flowers or balloons, but not a whole bevy of them. And I felt that deeply. Believe me. I did.
As a young adult, the pressure mounted to do something “special” on V Day – make a homemade dinner, or an expensive and impossible to get reservation – plus buy a card and a gift of candy, or flowers, or stuffed animals, or jewelry. And what IS appropriate for someone you’ve only just started dating?! I have never really managed to get that right.
So much stress. And for what? Can’t we just express our love for one another every day instead of just one that has been designated as important by the greeting card, candy, flower, and jewelry industries?
OK. Rant over.
There is a history to Valentine’s Day. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one of two – or maybe even three? – early martyrs named Saint Valentine. There’s some speculation that the Church decided to honor (the) St. Valentine(s) in the middle of February in order to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.
Originally held on the ides of February (the 15th), Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
As for sending Valentine’s cards, apparently that custom dates back to around the Middle Ages, but the oldest known version was a poem sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415, to his wife, which he wrote while imprisoned in the Tower of London after he was captured at the Battle of Agincourt.
Super romantic, right?
Speed up to semi-modern times, when the European tradition of sending love letters in February allegedly migrated across the pond to the U.S. due to the efforts of Esther Howland, a native of Worcester, Mass., who is credited with starting the Valentine’s Day card industry on these shores.
Since Valentine’s Day lands on a Monday this year, I’m assuming dinner reservations on the early side are incredibly hard to come by. The lifting of the indoor mask mandate certainly came just in the nick of time for those of you who enjoy celebrating. Me? I’ll probably be eating toast with the dogs, who might get one or two more treats than usual.
Because this is upstate New York, that tantalizing taste of spring we had is over. After two days of unseasonably warm weather, we’re back to temperatures in the 20s (though the skies are going to be mostly sunny), but don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be yo-yoing all over the place a few more times before it’s suddenly 90 degrees.
In the headlines…
Cooper Kupp was named Super Bowl LVI Most Valuable Player following the Los Angeles Rams’ comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Kupp caught the game-winning touchdown pass, a reception from one yard out with 1:25 remaining in regulation to give the Rams a 23-20 lead over the Bengals after a wild sequence in which an earlier Kupp touchdown was wiped out by penalty.
The Rams’ star wide receiver, Odell Beckham Jr., who became one of Matthew Stafford’s top targets down the stretch, was forced out of action just before halftime with a non-contact knee injury.
Eminem kneeled on stage during his Super Bowl 2022 halftime show performance, despite apparent objections from the NFL to the act that has been used as a form of protest against police brutality and racial inequality.
With worries growing over the weekend of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, diplomats from the U.S. and Ukraine kept up efforts to stave off a feared conflict.
President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a roughly hour-long call yesterday that the US would respond “swiftly and decisively” if Russia takes further steps toward invasion, according to a White House readout of the call.
Zelenskiy invited Biden to visit Ukraine soon.
Pope Francis led a silent prayer for Ukraine in St. Peter’s Square as fears mount over the possibility of a Russian invasion of Kyiv.
The threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is shaking up a fragile global oil market, pushing prices closer to $100 a barrel as traders calculate that supplies will struggle to cushion the effect from any significant disruption in Russian fossil fuel exports.
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to put greater emphasis on potential damage from greenhouse gas emissions when creating rules for polluting industries.
Consumer prices rose faster last year in large U.S. metropolitan areas seeing an influx of new residents than in the nation overall, while inflation was milder in large coastal cities with less population growth.
The president who entered the White House last year with the most ambitious climate agenda in history is struggling to notch major wins. And his progressive base is losing patience.
A new national poll suggests that less than half of Democrats want Biden as their party’s presidential nominee in 2024, and Republicans are split on whether former President Donald Trump should be their standard-bearer in the next White House race.
Biden in a new interview said the NFL should be held to a “reasonable standard” in hiring minorities, after a former head coach sued the league over accusations of racist hiring practices.
The NFL’s dismal number of black head coaches shows a lack of “generic decency” from a league that hasn’t kept its promises, Biden said.
Biden called veteran NBC journalist Lester Holt a “wise guy” for his line of questioning regarding rising inflation during an interview that aired before the Super Bowl game.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted that if Biden were to nominate South Carolina federal judge Michelle Childs to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, Childs would likely win more than 10 Republican votes in the Senate.
The U.S. Postal Service would get a $50 billion boost under a bill aimed for the Senate floor this week, which supporters like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer say is critical to revive the ailing institution.
In the weeks since Biden’s agenda stalled in a bitterly divided Congress, something unusual happened on Capitol Hill: Democrats and Republicans started working together.
Some Democrats are pushing Biden to use his planned State of the Union speech to endorse a return to a sense of normalcy as Covid-19 cases fall, pressuring the White House as many of the party’s governors are rolling back restrictions in their states.
Biden responded to American frustration with pandemic restrictions, saying that it was still too soon to end measures like indoor mask mandates, while suggesting that other restrictions may soon be able to end.
The governors of Maryland and New Jersey defended their moves to ease Covid restrictions, saying that falling coronavirus cases in their states justified a change even as new cases and deaths remain fairly high in some regions of the United States.
The likelihood of surviving Covid-19 is improving around the world.
The U.S. has almost reached the end of the “full blown” pandemic and could reach immunity levels sufficient to limit the spread of the virus soon, Dr. Anthony Fauci says.
“As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of COVID-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated,” Fauci added.
The CDC should amend its guidance to recommend lifting mask guidance in areas experiencing low rates of the virus, the FDA’s former head said.
Biden’s free covid tests plan shortchanges Americans of color and hardest-hit communities, say health workers and activists.
New COVID-19 variants that emerge could cause more serious illness and fatalities than previous strains, some scientists warn.
Wall Street executives are taking another crack at bringing staff back to the office. This time, they’re hoping it sticks.
Canadian law enforcement officials said that they had reopened a major international bridge that protesters had been blockading for almost a week, raising hopes for industries the unrest had slowed to a near-standstill.
The Detroit International Bridge Co., which operates the Ambassador Bridge, said all lanes were open for traffic as of 11 p.m. The Canada Border Services Agency said normal border processing had resumed but advised against nonessential travel.
Hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday in Buffalo at the border spanned by the Peace Bridge to echo the continuing backlash against Covid-19 mandates across Canada, in Ottawa and at key international crossings.
Hong Kong reported 1,347 new daily COVID-19 infections yesterday, down from the previous day’s record, but the spread, with 2,000 more suspected cases, threatens the city’s overstretched healthcare system, authorities said.
Hong Kong authorities said supplies of vegetables and chilled poultry to the global financial hub may be temporarily disrupted after some mainland goods vehicle drivers preliminarily tested positive for Covid-19.
Yesterday, the statewide positivity rate in New York stood at 2.28% of COVID-19 infections, its lowest since October 31, 2021.
“I am so proud of the hard work New Yorkers have put in this winter to get us past the omicron surge and put us on the pathway to normalcy,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
State health officials acknowledged they have no precise, numerical goals they are using to establish the metrics for determining whether to end a mandate requiring masks in New York schools.
Poly Prep Country Day School, an elite, expensive Brooklyn institution, will continue to require students and staff to wear masks in school, reversing a decision to make masks optional starting today.
The Brooklyn Democratic Party formally endorsed Hochul in the primary race for governor — solidifying her institutional dominance against rivals NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Rep. Tom Suozzi, party sources said.
Hochul and two powerful state legislators say they are looking to make a significant change in welfare law so New Yorkers in need will no longer be denied temporary public assistance because they exceed outdated limits on how much they can earn and save.
While the State Office of Cannabis Management continues to put together licensing information, a group of lawmakers in the State Assembly and Senate have proposed a new bill that could jump-start hemp growers.
Asian-American groups in New York City are calling on Albany to significantly boost funding for their work as the Big Apple reels from an ongoing series of horrifying hate crimes.
A woman was stabbed to death inside her Lower Manhattan apartment by a man who had followed her from the street and into her building. Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was the latest person of Asian descent injured or killed in a string of random attacks in the city.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli scored a major union endorsement in his reelection bid. The Communications Workers of America backed the incumbent, calling him “a true champion of labor.”
Adams is calling on social media companies to help police gun violence linked to “alarming” drill music.
Adams has promised 150 miles of new bus lanes in New York City, but some drivers and businesses say they have created headaches in the past.
The city’s five borough presidents will ask Adams to plant a million new trees by 2030, a revival of an ambitious and successful “million trees” initiative that started under former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and was completed under his successor, Bill de Blasio.
Adams backed state Attorney General Letitia James’ reelection bid, less than two weeks after he dined with disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned on the heels of James’ monumental sexual harassment probe.
James is backing Nikki Lucas in the hotly contested special election for the 60th Assembly District in Brooklyn.
A dozen former aides and allies say Cuomo has been conferring with them to determine his best course for a comeback.
Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the presumptive Republican nominee for New York governor, once gushed that “our nation would be a better place” if Cuomo were president, according to a newly unearthed video.
A startling number of New Yorkers have dropped dead in subway trains and stations this year — and accounts from police and transit workers suggest the bulk of them were homeless people who turned to mass transit for shelter.
Disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s long-delayed divorce from wife Huma Abedin is “all but finalized”.
State Assemblyman Phil Ramos, of Long Island, likened the spread of charter schools to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in a bizarre rant at an NAACP-sponsored event.
The healthcare insurer that the city recently chose to provide medical coverage for 275,000 retired NYC workers is being sued by the US Justice Department for overcharging Medicare by millions of dollars.
Trial proceedings wrapped up Friday in former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, with a jury set to decide one of the biggest media-law battles in years.
New Jersey Senator and onetime presidential candidate Cory Booker and actress-activist Rosario Dawson have called it quits on their two-plus-year relationship, long-rumored reports confirm.
The driver of a bus transporting the Cohoes varsity girls’ basketball team on its way home from an away game was pulled over and charged with driving while intoxicated on Friday night.
Every Green Island High School student was sent home to learn virtually for the next week, after incidents of violence and bullying occurred recently at the school.
The City of Mechanicville will likely let the voters decide whether to ditch its commissioner form of government, even though some of the commissioners want to keep the system.
The Coeymans police union claims recent changes in the police department appear to be a move to “defund” the agency.
Cheating has endured in the horse racing industry in part because of languid state investigations that rarely involve law enforcement authorities.
Chinese officials issued a blizzard warning for Beijing as the city hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Erin Jackson, a 29-year-old Florida native and lifelong rollerblader, became the first Black woman to win Team USA a gold medal in speed skating.
Jackson didn’t view herself as some sort of trailblazer. She didn’t think about the slip that could’ve snatched away her spot on the U.S. Olympic team. She simply wanted to go faster than everyone else.
The young United States men’s hockey team held on to beat Germany 3-2 last night, finishing the preliminary round unbeaten and clinching the top seed in the knockout round at the Olympics.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, 15, will remain eligible to compete in the Olympics women’s individual competition slated to begin tomorrow in Beijing after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a reversal of a previous provisional suspension.
The panel, in a statement, said it would be unfair and cause “irreparable harm” if she were barred from the competition, despite having tested positive for a banned substance in December.
Kaillie Humphries of the United States won gold in the inaugural monobob event, in which one female athlete pushes and pilots her sled down the icy track.
Stephanie Selby, 56, who was the high-profile subject of “A Very Young Dancer,” a book that inspired a generation of would-be ballerinas and future dance stars, but who abruptly dropped out of the ballet world and disappeared from view, died in Cody, Wyo.
