Good Wednesday morning. (I had to check that one twice, as I’ve been having trouble keeping the days and dates straight recently…is this the first sign of an addled mind? Or maybe just an over-worked one?)
It’s sad that today’s day – National Curling Is Cool Day – happens to come AFTER the Winter Games are already over. But it’s a sport I’ve always been sort of curious about, and so I thought it would be worthy of examination anyway.
Did you know that curling is one of the oldest known team sports? Yeah. That was a surprise to me, too, because I think I only really learned of its existence until it became an official Olympic sport in which one could medal in the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan after spending the three preceding games relegated to exhibition status only.
It’s crazy that it took so long, because curling was a part of the inaugural Winter Olympic Games held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. It was subsequently discontinued and reintroduced as a demonstration sport at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid.
In case you’re not familiar, curling is basically like lawn bowling, except it takes place on the ice, and two of the participants furiously sweep the path in front of the stones thrown by a third in order to speed and/or control its trajectory toward a target, potentially blocking and/or bumping opponents’ stones in the process.
The sweeping thing apparently dates back to the days when people played on outdoor lakes and needed to clear the rocks’ path of snow and other debris.
These days, the ice on a curling rink is meticulously groomed and also misted to create a pebbled surface that purportedly helps guide the stones toward their ultimate destination.
Curling is generally known as a Scottish game, though it’s hard to say whether the sport actually originated there. It is, not surprisingly, more popular in countries with colder climates. Curling provided a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing Olympics this year for the Brits, whose women’s team won gold – but just barely.
The American men, who shocked the world four years ago to win our country’s first-ever curling gold under the leadership of team captain John Shuster, did not medal this year. The gold went to Sweden, who lost to the U.S. and settled for silver in 2018.
If ice and curling is your bag, today isn’t your day. We’re in for temperatures in the mid-50s with showers in the morning and clouds in the afternoon. But not to fear! We’re in for some icy weather very shortly. Old Man Winter isn’t quite done with us yet.
There is a chance a snowstorm expected to hit the Mid-Atlantic states and New England could deliver snow to upstate tomorrow.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden described events now underway in Ukraine as “the beginning of a Russian invasion” as he unveiled tough new sanctions to punish Moscow.
Biden said Russia “will pay an even steeper price” if aggressions continue.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva this week, in the latest sign that diplomatic avenues with Russia over Ukraine are quickly closing.
Biden directed additional U.S. troops to NATO’s eastern flank as Russia moved a step closer toward a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During a podcast interview, former president Donald Trump all but praised Putin, saying it was “genius” to simply declare a “big portion” of Ukraine as independent and to move in with “peacekeeping” forces.
“I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper…We could use that on our southern border,” the former president said, describing Putin as “a guy who’s very savvy” and whom he knows “very, very well.”
The Biden administration announced late yesterday that it hopes to take a second look at a road that would provide access for a mining area in Alaska.
The Department of Justice’s response brief filing in the U.S. District Court for Alaska, on behalf of the Interior Department, suspends the federal rights-of-way for the 211-mile road that would provide access to the Ambler Mining District.
The president announced new investments in the domestic production of minerals and materials crucial to creating a wide array of technological devices, including computers, smartphones, batteries, household appliances and vehicles.
A landmark United Nations report has concluded that the risk of devastating wildfires around the world will surge in coming decades as climate change further intensifies what the report described as a “global wildfire crisis.”
Biden reportedly has met with three potential Supreme Court nominees – including Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger and J. Michelle Childs.
The White House says the president is on track to decide on a nominee to fill the seat vacated by Justice Stephen G. Breyer by the end of February.
The Supreme Court turned away Trump’s legal fight with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, bringing an end to his quest to stop investigators from accessing reams of documents from his final weeks in the White House.
The National Archives continues to process Trump-era presidential and vice-presidential records requested by the House investigation.
Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll are no longer seeking to depose Trump in their defamation lawsuit, saying doing so would cause too much delay.
Trump’s lawyers lawyers asked a federal judge to allow him to amend his answer to rape accuser Carroll’s complaint in order to file a countersuit.
The Trump Organization and its longtime CFO asked a judge to dismiss the criminal charges against them, arguing in court filings that the case was politically motivated and was only brought because the defendants were linked to the former president.
Trump’s social-networking platform, Truth Social, has gone live in the U.S., but some would-be users reported being unable to create an account or received error messages when trying to do so. Others were prompted to join a wait list.
A jury found the three white Georgia men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery guilty of a federal hate crime, determining that they were motivated by racism when they chased the 25-year-old Black man through their neighborhood.
The verdict — handed down one day before the second anniversary of Arbery’s death on Feb. 23, 2020 — was symbolic, coming just months after all three defendants were convicted of murder in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life in prison.
The federal charges carry a maximum life sentence. The defendants will have 14 days to file appeals and a sentencing hearing will be set at a later date.
Canada told banks to unlock financial accounts belonging to individuals involved in a weekslong Covid-19 protest in Ottawa that police shut down this past weekend, according to a finance ministry official.
The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as it prepares for trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week.
New coronavirus infections dropped globally for the third consecutive week, falling by 21%, as the surge fueled by the omicron variant continues to recede, the World Health Organization said.
Hong Kong will require its more than seven million residents to undergo coronavirus testing in March, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said as the territory struggles to contain its worst outbreak.
Target will no longer require its employees or customers to wear masks, according to an update on its corporate website.
A new variant of omicron is making the rounds, but indications are that in the U.S. at least, it’s not spreading very far.
As federal regulators continue to investigate the COVID-19 vaccine in children under 5, a new report by the CDC has identified cases of a potentially dangerous but quite rare hyper-inflammatory condition in vaccinated adolescents.
It’s a rare complication in kids who have had COVID-19, and very rarely affects adults. The condition often leads to hospitalization, but most patients recover.
A federal survey released yesterday of public and private teachers and principals in all 50 states reflects how K-12 education shifted dramatically in early 2020 when COVID-19 shuttered buildings and confined families to homes.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II canceled her planned virtual engagements yesterday as she continues to suffer from mild Covid-19 symptoms, Buckingham Palace has said
The National Invitational Camp, the organization that operates the N.F.L.’s annual scouting combine, relaxed Covid-19 restrictions for draft prospects scheduled to attend next week’s event in Indianapolis amid fears of a potential boycott.
New York State has formally extended its authority to keep mask requirements in place.
More than half of New York voters – about 58% – believe schools should keep mask requirements in place until data from early March can be collected and reviewed, according to a Siena Poll.
Forty-five percent said the state should have kept in place its rule requiring masks or proof of full vaccination in indoor public places, which was recently rescinded. Some 31 percent said the mandate should have been ended earlier.
In light of declining coronavirus cases, the Bethlehem school district plans to ease its outdoor masking requirement and some of its more stringent COVID-19 protocols when students return from the midwinter break.
Hochul announced that the state is forming a team to combat cybersecurity threats and is beefing up New York’s digital defenses amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and vowing to “thwart” potential online attackers.
“The reality is that because New York State is a leader in the finance, healthcare, energy, and transportation sectors, our state is an attractive target for cyber criminals and foreign adversaries,” Hochul said in the statement.
A Joint Security Operations Center will open in Brooklyn to help combat cyber attacks in New York.
A bill that would allow hemp farmers in New York to obtain licenses to grow adult-use cannabis was signed into law by Hochul.
New Yorkers have wagered more than $2 billion since online sports gambling became legal in the state in early January, blowing past projections and making the Empire State the leader in mobile betting.
New York’s sudden transformation into the biggest bookmaking market in the nation is part of a stunning post-Covid reversal of fortune for the gaming industry as a whole.
Some platforms and trains had fewer people sleeping on them than normal yesterday, but there were still many people taking shelter in the system, despite the launch of Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to move homeless people out of subways.
Outreach workers engaged with 100 homeless people on the first night of a crackdown against sleeping on the subway, Adams said, but on the morning after, it wasn’t clear how many were taken off trains and moved into shelters.
“We had six teams out yesterday…We’re going to reach the point of 30 teams,” Adams said during an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn.
L.G.B.T.Q. groups are planning to gather on the steps of City Hall tomorrow to protest Adams’s decision to name former Councilman Fernando Cabrera and two other men who have voiced opposition to gay marriage to City Hall posts.
Adams dismissed criticism over his decision to tap two Christian pastors with histories of anti-gay views for senior roles in his administration, declaring that the controversial hires are “what’s best for the city.”
Herbert Lambert, 64, a retired MTA executive is returning to the agency to run the subways.
Student weapons busts have skyrocketed by 80 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to startling new NYPD data.
Millionaire GOP businessman Harry Wilson announced his bid for governor, vowing to fix a pandemic-ravaged New York with the same skills he’s used to save reeling corporations.
“I’m running for governor to turn around New York,” Wilson said in a tweet.
“Our state is totally broken,” Wilson added. “Rising crime, sky-high taxes, closed schools, corrupt politicians. I’ve spent my career turning around failing organizations. Let’s get this done.”
The New York Working Families Party is moving to shore up four of their New York City congressional favorites, rolling out endorsements for incumbents facing newly redrawn districts.
The Brooklyn Democratic Party has a new director who was recently a registered Republican, bringing fresh scrutiny to a social media account in his name rife with right-wing talking points like the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.
A majority of voters believe disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a serial sexual harasser and reject his claim of vindication after prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges.
As the pandemic ebbs, New York City landlords are sticking their tenants with surging monthly rents — part of a record-breaking bump in housing costs that’s sweeping the nation, reports show.
Delta Air Lines’s rebuilt Terminal C, expected to open this spring as one of the last big features of La Guardia Airport’s $8 billion transformation, will be defined by six new large-scale, site-specific permanent artworks.
The state Gaming Commission is seeking more information on the purchases made by people and businesses who were clients of a vet who was recently convicted of federal criminal charges as part of the largest race horse doping investigation in U.S. history.
Should older New Yorkers, say, those over 50, have protections enshrined in the state constitution?
Protect the Adirondacks is angling to get the state to close certain snowmobile trails in the Adirondack Park in the wake of the state Court of Appeals decision that found the trails were illegal.
Nauman Hussain, the Capital Region limo operator who admitted to criminal negligence in the 2018 Schoharie limo crash that killed 20 people, has finally broken his silence on the case, at least in the court system.
Grammy Award-winning hip-hop superstar Nelly has been announced as the headliner of the Great New York State Fair this year. It’s the second time around for the St. Louis native behind the hits “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” “Hot In Herre” and “Dilemma.”
Mark Lanegan, a singer for Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age and an integral part of the 1980s and 1990s grunge scene in the Pacific Northwest, died at his home in Killarney, Ireland. He was 57.
