We made it through another week. Welcome to Friday.
It has been a long 24 hours here, really burning the candle at both ends, which eventually does catch up, it turns out. That means things are going to be quick and dirty here…and also a bit delayed.
I hope you can forgive me.
Thanks to the Google Doodle, I am reminded that the Winter Paralympics (an international contest for disabled athletes that is held in the wake of the summer and winter games) are getting underway in Beijing.
A record number of athletes are scheduled to compete this year – about 700 – but after a reverse decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to not let 83 of them who hail from Russia and Belaraus participate due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this year’s contests are getting underway under a cloud.
These athletes were initially going to be allowed to compete as “neutrals” (basically un-countried), despite the crisis occurring in the Ukraine, but that decision by the IPC was met with a significant backlash – and also threats from some other countries not to have their own athletes compete. And so it was rather quickly overturned.
The competition will run through March 13 and features 78 events across six Para sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, para ice hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling.
The IPC which was founded in 1989 and is based in Germany, governs the Paralympic Games. The games themselves stemmed from a competition called the Stoke Mandeville Games that was organized by neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries in 1948.
A follow-up competition took place in 1952, with athletes from the Netherlands joining in. Eight years later, the first quadrennial Olympic-style Games for disabled athletes were held in Rome; the quadrennial Winter Games were added in 1976.
Before we get into it, I feel compelled to inform you that it’s National Pound Cake Day – a day to commemorate one of the simplest and also tastiest desserts that dates back to the 1700s. Originally, the recipe called for one pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs – hence, pound cake. But there are quite literally hundreds of variations.
It will be very sunny today in the Capital Region, with temperatures in the low 30s. Here in New York City, where I am currently writing this from a hotel on the East Side, it will also be sunny, with temperatures in the 40s – a nice switch from yesterday, which was downright chilly. Hello Spring, you can show up for real any time now. Thanks.
In the headlines…
Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine have seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials said.
The nation’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, issued a harrowing warning of a massive catastrophe, but while nuclear experts outside the Ukraine expressed concern, they were not panicked.
Unshaven and wearing a military T-shirt, a haggard Zelensky hosted his first news conference since the war began, inviting journalists into his office building, now fortified with sandbags.
President Joe Biden imposed new sanctions on eight members of the Russian elite, along with members of their families, as he warned Russia is intensifying its bloody invasion of Ukraine with indiscriminate bombing.
Biden meets today with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö at the White House as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has roused fresh concern by Vladimir Putin’s other European neighbors.
Russian opera star Anna Netrebko has withdrawn from her planned performances with the Metropolitan Opera after refusing to repudiate her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A former Fox News producer was charged with violating U.S. sanctions by working for a Russian oligarch who has been accused of being a leading financial supporter of separatists in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and has close ties to Putin.
RT America — a Russian state-funded news affiliate— is closing shop in the U.S.
Spectrum is waiving customer fees on calls to Ukraine – both from its landline and mobile phones – in response to Russia’s invasion of the country.
Biden signed into law a bill that ends forced arbitration in workplace sexual assault and harassment cases, allowing survivors to file lawsuits in court against perpetrators.
The law is retroactive, freeing individuals who have been bound by arbitration language to pursue legal action against their harassers.
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and the New York attorney general have agreed to postpone depositions in the civil investigation into the Trump Organization until after an appeal is decided, likely pushing off testimony for at least several months.
Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in the AG’s office, wrote in a letter to a judge that the office is agreeing to the stay “in the interest of efficiency for both parties and the court.”
Trump will turn over some documents to AG Tish James for her civil probe into his business practices, but need not answer questions under oath while he appeals a judge’s order that he testify.
Former Attorney General William Barr said Trump became furious when Barr told him there was no evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 215,000, the lowest tally since the beginning of the year and fewer than Wall Street estimates, the Labor Department said.
In total, 1,476,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 12, a small uptick of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised number, which was its lowest level since March 14, 1970.
Layoffs have remained low for months as employers struggle to fill more than 10 million open jobs from a labor force short millions of workers from pre-pandemic levels.
COVID case rates continued a steep decline over the last two weeks with the seven-day rolling average dropping to roughly 59,000 cases a day.
The CDC released updated data that suggests 90 percent of the U.S. population are in a location with low or medium Covid-19 community levels — meaning they can stop wearing masks and no longer need to social distance or avoid crowded indoor spaces.
Rural parts of the United States have fallen even further behind urban areas in vaccinating people against Covid-19 since all adults became eligible for vaccines, the CDC reported, making it more difficult to reduce the death toll in those areas.
Top federal health officials said that they intend to begin offering low and middle-income nations access to the technology developed by government scientists that might be used to prevent or treat Covid-19.
An anti-inflammatory drug normally used for rheumatoid arthritis could turn out to be a lifesaver for people hospitalized with COVID, a large clinical trial indicates.
The surgeon general formally requested that the major tech platforms submit information about the scale of Covid-19 misinformation on social networks, search engines, crowdsourced platforms, e-commerce platforms and im systems.
The request seeks to understand the scope and impact of misinformation on Covid-19 — especially when it comes to health care and people’s willingness to get vaccinated.
Sen. Tim Kaine got Covid-19 in the spring of 2020, and nearly two years later he still has mild symptoms. He has introduced legislation intended to expand understanding of long Covid.
The NFL and NFL Players Association have suspended all league-wide COVID-19 protocols effective immediately, pausing two years of largely successful efforts to play through the pandemic.
The pandemic has hastened consumers’ willingness to test for more medical conditions at home, test makers said, expanding the market for self-diagnostic products.
A powerful pair of New York City elected officials — Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Comptroller Brad Lander — are calling on Mayor Eric Adams to require coronavirus vaccines for city school kids next year.
New York City will be transforming a major warehousing and manufacturing port into a hub for offshore wind production, Adams announced.
A Brooklyn restaurant backed by a convicted-fraudster with long ties to Adams was seized this week by the state for owing nearly $400,000 in taxes.
Adams said the alleged perpetrator in the Bronx feces attack who was twice released without bail this week bolsters his argument to change Albany’s lax criminal justice law.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber wants the authority to ban repeat offenders from the subway, including the homeless man accused of smearing a stranger’s face with his feces last month on a Bronx train platform.
Outreach workers convinced 22 homeless people to leave the subways for shelters during the first week of a citywide crackdown on the destitute, according to Adams’ office.
Adams couldn’t say when his delayed rollout of the new NYPD anti-gun violence teams will happen.
A group of LGBTQ community leaders met with Adams yesterday to “move on” from weeks of rancor over his appointment of three men with histories of anti-gay views.
The new budget proposal from Adams may have put the final nail in the coffin of a long-stalled plan to transfer control of the city’s school safety agents from the NYPD to the Education Department.
Gov. Kathy Hochul was spotted dining with techies at Priyanka Chopra’s Sona restaurant – before announcing her plan to allow restaurants to permanently serve booze to go.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was seen dining in Midtown’s Fresco by Scotto with ex-New Jersey leader Chris Christie. Asked about persistent rumors he may be eyeing a run for attorney general, he responded with a firm “no.”
A state judge indicated he would allow this year’s midterm elections to proceed using newly drawn district lines that heavily favor Democrats, rebuffing Republican requests to delay the election process while he considers whether the maps are unconstitutional.
Police officers found a grisly scene outside a Brooklyn pawnshop early yesterday after a 911 caller discovered a woman’s dismembered torso that had been stuffed into a shopping cart.
A 28-year-old man was arrested and charged with hate crimes in connection with a two-hour spree of attacks on women of Asian descent in Manhattan over the weekend, another example of a grim wave of violence against Asian Americans.
Tech workers at The New York Times voted in favor of certifying their union in a National Labor Relations Board election, making it one of the biggest tech unions in America.
AG James pushed the National Weather Service to expand the number of languages it uses to send out severe weather alerts — which are currently sent in just English and Spanish — citing Ida’s devastating effects.
Merging New York’s 11 trial courts would simplify the state’s judicial system, save millions of dollars and provide easier access to justice for New Yorkers, the state’s top judge said when unveiling a plan to re-structure the system.
The Latino Cannabis Association, a nonprofit trade group, this week launched its efforts to empower competitive license applicants of Latino heritage to enter New York’s marijuana marketplace.
A controversial proposal to expand a pilot program to put more community engagement officers in Schenectady schools was fiercely criticized by former and current students, parents and community activists who decried the move during a board meeting.
A couple who previously owned a nearby dude ranch and who want to ship military-grade titanium ore from an old mine in the area, won an auction for a 30-mile stretch of railroad track between North Creek and the old mining community of Tahawus.
The Mechanicville City School Board of Education was expected to place Superintendent Bruce Potter on paid administrative leave, changing his status from “vacation leave.”
Albany County’s new redistricting commission will hold its first of four public meetings Tuesday, March 8.
Two new laws will affect the City of Albany’s handling of its finances, giving the Common Council more oversight power.
Amazon’s 4-Star store at the Crossgates Mall is slated to close on March 19.
Members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma LP and grew wealthy from sales of OxyContin agreed to pay up to $6 billion to settle lawsuits accusing them of helping fuel the opioid-addiction epidemic.
Jan. 6 Capitol attacked Guy Reffitt’s 19-year-old son took the stand against him in federal court in a remarkable tableau that captured how one family was split by the attack.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed records and testimony from Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top fundraising official on the 2020 Trump campaign and the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr.
The Florida state Senate passed legislation banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, sending it for consideration to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has already signaled he will support it.
The only officer to be charged for his actions during the fatal police raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment was found not guilty of endangering three of her neighbors by firing bullets into their home during the botched operation.
