Good Monday morning. In case you need reminding, it’s an hour later than you think it is.
Welcome to daylight savings time; we sprang ahead yesterday. You’re welcome.
Contrary to popular belief, Benjamin Franklin did NOT invent daylight savings time, though he did at one point suggest (perhaps more as a joke than anything else) that Parisians change their sleep schedules to save on lamp oil and candles.
So who is to blame for this wacky thing we do, shifting the clocks around twice a year? A Kiwi named George Hudson, British-born entomologist and astronomer who wanted more daylight in the evenings and presented the idea in 1895.
He actually wanted two extra hours, not one, though the whole time-changing concept didn’t catch on for some time – not even in his home country of New Zealand.
Daylight savings time first was implemented as a matter of practical use in Germany during WW I. In 1916, it was put in place to save fuel for the war effort.
Here in the U.S., Congress a bill suggesting a seasonal time shift was first introduced in 1918, but lasted a whopping seven months. It was very unpopular, and therefore was repealed in 1919 with a Congressional override of President Wilson’s veto.
It subsequently became a local option, and was continued in a few states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and some cities, such as New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
It wasn’t until WW II, when FDR re-established the time of what he called “war time”, which began in the winter of 1942, and lasted through the fall of 1945. There was no federal law declaring this, however, and so a measure of local control remained regarding whether or not daylight savings time would be observed, as well as when it began and ended.
This, not surprisingly, wrecked havoc with certain industries that rely on a uniform time in order to operate – like broadcasting and transportation (buses, trains, and airlines), especially across state lines.
By 1966, some 100 million Americans were observing daylight savings time, but that was governed by local laws and customs. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, decided to step in and establish some uniformity in the form of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. States that didn’t want to participate could opt out via passage of a local law.
Eighteen states continue to push for year-round daylight savings time, though that would require an act of Congress to achieve. Arizona and Hawaii, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands – all U.S. territories – observe uniform standard time.
There have been studies that shown that daylight savings time is not good for our circadian rhythms, and others that found it doesn’t really save all that much energy and so really isn’t terribly useful.
That took up a lot more time than I intended, when I had initially planned on focusing on the fact that today is National Pi Day. But then, as you know, I’m not really one for math, and so I guess it all worked out the way it should in the end.
I am going to go out on a limb and say (fingers crossed) that winter may well and truly be done with us. After the mess we had this past weekend, temperatures are supposed to be in the low 50s today, with partly cloudy skies.
In the headlines…
Ukrainian and Russian officials expressed optimism that they would make progress in peace talks today, even in the wake of a Russian airstrike a few miles from NATO’s doorstep that killed at least 35 and deepened fears that the war in Ukraine could spread.
Joe Biden campaigned on isolating the world’s autocrats, getting the U.S. out of foreign conflicts, weaning it off fossil fuels and building a more resilient economy. The Ukraine crisis is now forcing him to recalibrate how he tries to deliver on those promises.
Gas prices in the U.S. continued their historic climb this weekend, hitting a record high of $4.43 per gallon on average on Saturday amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The sharp rise in fuel costs, driven in large part by the war in Ukraine and related disruptions, is delivering another shock to the car business and triggering renewed focus on fuel economy after a multiyear boom in sport-utility vehicle and pickup truck sales.
While President Joe Biden has repeated that the U.S. will not send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, he warned that “Russia would pay a severe price” if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine, raising questions over what those consequences would look like.
Ukraine’s president warned of a “new stage of terror” by Russian forces in Ukraine, after what he said was the kidnapping of a mayor in the south of the country as well as a fresh round of airstrikes on the outskirts of the capital.
A Russian airstrike on a Ukrainian military training center close to the Polish border threw into sharp relief the hazards of the Western push to deliver arms support to Kyiv while avoiding direct conflict with a nuclear adversary.
Russia asked China to give it military equipment and support for the war in Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion last month, according to U.S. officials.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome today, warned yesterday that Beijing will “absolutely” face consequences if it helps Moscow evade sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
Former President Trump tore into Biden during a rally in South Carolina for his approach to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, saying Putin would have never started a war with Trump in office.
Brent Renaud, an award-winning US film-maker whose work has appeared in the New York Times and other outlets, has been killed reportedly by Russian forces in the flashpoint town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. A US photographer, Juan Arredondo, was wounded.
Andrey Nebitov, a police official in the region, posted photos on Facebook of Renaud’s body and ID documents, including a passport and New York Times press badge, though a Times spokeswoman said he wasn’t on assignment for the newspaper.
Healthcare companies say they are duty-bound to continue supplying drugs, vaccines and medical equipment to Russia, though Western sanctions and other measures have thrown up hurdles.
Former President Barack Obama has tested positive for Covid-19, he said. His wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, is negative.
“Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative,” Obama said on Twitter. “It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.”
The fatal overdose rate among Black people surpassed that for white people in the first year of the pandemic, as an increasingly lethal drug supply and Covid-19’s destabilizing effects exacted a heavy toll on vulnerable communities in the U.S.
Two of mainland China’s biggest cities, Shenzhen and Shanghai, have imposed strict COVID-19 measures amid a recent spike in virus cases.
Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn is halting operations at its Shenzhen sites, one of which produces iPhones, in response to a government-imposed lockdown on the tech hub city.
To help fend off another wave of Covid-19, people will need a fourth dose of vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.
While fourth doses are already authorized for some immunocompromised people, NIAID director Anthony Fauci said last month that the possibility of another round of boosters was being “very carefully monitored.”
Lawmakers across the U.S. are looking to enact rent control, reviving measures largely shunned in recent years in an effort to curb the surge in home rental prices throughout the country.
Nets star Kevin Durant was not quiet about his thoughts on New York City’s private-sector coronavirus vaccine mandate.
Durant called out Mayor Eric Adams, deeming the continued mandate “ridiculous” and “stupid,” and saying “somebody’s trying to make a statement or point to flex their authority.”
“When you believe, as Eric Adams does, that your mind can create its own personal reality at a subatomic quantum level, then endless versions of the self can and do exist within any given moment in time.”
Much like the rest of the United States, New York City has struggled to convince some groups of residents to get a booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine. But new data released by the city shows wide disparities among who in the city is getting a third dose.
North Country GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik has introduced federal legislation that would require all schools to offer chocolate milk after hearing that Adams wants to ban the dairy product from city cafeterias because of what he deems unhealthy sugar content.
New York City companies are finally headed back to the office. Working from home appears to be coming to an end for many businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic’s latest wintertime surge, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, is on the wane.
The Museum of Modern Art remained closed yesterday after two employees were stabbed by a man who was upset over a revoked membership, police said.
The New York Police Department released surveillance video of the attack along with photos of a possible suspect, who they have identified as Gary Cabana, 60 years old. Cabana is still being sought, police said.
A gunman has been targeting homeless men sleeping in the streets of Lower Manhattan and Washington and has shot five men, two of them fatally, in recent days, the police in the two cities said.
The NYPD and Washington, DC’s Metro Police Department released a joint statement announcing a lone gunman is wanted for sneaking up on sleeping vagrants and shooting them – including the two men attacked early Saturday morning in Soho.
A highly regarded 87-year-old singing coach has a traumatic brain injury after a woman pushed her to the ground just steps away from her Manhattan apartment building last Thursday night, the police and relatives said.
New York State’s bail reform law — which has allowed dangerous criminals back on the streets — “absolutely” needs to change, NYPD’s top cop said.
The CEO of a private security company and boyhood “fire buff” has emerged as a front-runner to become FDNY commissioner, insiders say.
Adams outlined his vision for a better social safety net — by increasing tax credits for New Yorkers.
Adams could be down about $600 — or 3 percent – in his cryptocurrency portfolio, according to a NY Post analysis.
The husband of a top Brooklyn Democratic party leader resigned from his newly appointed position in the Adams administration after THE CITY asked about rules that appear to prohibit his simultaneously maintaining a key political party role.
The city is restarting more than 100 stalled construction projects costing $417 million at parks and playgrounds, Adams announced.
Little Italy merchants are screaming “Mi offendo!” after learning Gov. Kathy Hochul awarded a $20 million economic and tourism grant to their Chinatown neighbors.
Three New York City housing sites, a Hell’s Kitchen open-air market, and the Hunts Point rail station have been recommended by Hochul for inclusion on state and national registers of historic places.
Uber is raising prices on rides across the country in response to rising gas prices. However, New York City alone is exempt from the change.
In Washington Square Park in Manhattan — a place that is no stranger to weed, surreptitiously sold or smoked — a breezy open-air market has emerged.
Trinity Wall Street, one of New York’s wealthiest and most powerful churches, said that it was placing its high-profile director of music on leave as it investigates an allegation of sexual misconduct against him.
The acting head of New York’s state prison system is under fire from relatives of prisoners who have died in custody for botching his response to COVID and allowing a climate of violence to fester.
State lawmakers this week are set to propose billions of dollars in spending meant to bolster struggling New Yorkers, including aid renters, making homeownership more affordable and increasing access to higher education and child care services.
Lawmakers in the New York state Assembly are proposing $50 million to aid homeowners affected by widespread flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida last September.
About 35 percent of households in the state live in environmentally “disadvantaged communities” according to a draft plan that outlines how the benefits of shifting to green energy should be distributed.
Public health leaders who worked on the Capital Region’s front lines believe the fallout from the COVID crisis will likely last generations. But there are actions decision-makers can take now to lessen the impact, they say.
A Schenectady building at a prominent intersection that’s been at the center of a long-running codes battle is one of the five properties in the Capital Region being recommended for inclusion on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The University at Albany women’s basketball team will face Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
NFL quarterback Tom Brady has announced he will return for his 23rd NFL season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one month after announcing his retirement from professional football.
Patrick Mahomes, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, married his longtime girlfriend, Brittany Matthews, he announced Saturday on Instagram.
William Hurt, an Oscar-winning actor known for his roles in “Broadcast News” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” has died at the age of 71. He recently battled prostate cancer that was first diagnosed in 2018.
Jane Campion’s western, “The Power of the Dog,” took the top honor at the Critics Choice Awards last night, capping off a remarkable weekend of wins that also included a Directors Guild victory for Campion and BAFTA prizes for directing and best film.
