Good Wednesday morning.
WHAT IN HOLY HELL WAS THAT? Truly though, nothing makes one question one’s decision to live in upstate New York and start Googling “houses for sale in Florida” more than a late spring snowstorm.
How significantly you were impacted depended on where you live. Those in higher elevations really got dumped on, with some seeing more than a foot in accumulation.
But that doesn’t mean those who didn’t see much accumulation escaped entirely unscathed.
The combination of largely leafless trees and wet, heavy snow led to downed branches and power outages, which is no fun at all – even when temperatures aren’t below freezing.
All things considered, though, it wasn’t the worst spring storm we’ve ever seen, nor was it the latest in the season. As far as I can tell, there was one in May 1945 that dumped just over five inches of snow in Albany and caused 60,000 power outages across the region.
Another May storm in 2002 brought 2.2 inches of snow to Albany and as much as 8 inches in the higher elevations. At the time, it was the latest ever measurable snowstorm of the season.
There’s a good chance that those of us who only saw a few inches of slushy disgustingness won’t even remember it was there by the end of the day today. Temperatures will be back up into the 50s, and skies will be partly cloudy with no precipitation in the forecast.
OH, and by the way…it’s National Cheddar Fries Day. Personally, I prefer my fries unadulterated. No cheese. No gravy. No ketchup. Mayo, maybe. And salt, always. Also, if you have not tried fries made in duck fat, you have not lived, my friend, not even close.
In the headlines…
The Biden administration is expected to announce in the coming days another package of military assistance for Ukraine that will follow an $800 million package announced last week.
Details of the latest package are still being privately discussed and could change, but President Joe Biden did say that the US plans to send more artillery to Ukraine.
Biden reportedly has told former President Obama that he is planning to run for reelection in 2024.
The Biden administration said it plans to make it easier for lower-income student-loan borrowers to get debt forgiveness through an existing program that has enrolled millions of people, but provided few with relief.
The Biden administration is restoring stricter environmental standards for approving new pipelines, highways, power plants and other construction projects, including requiring consideration of how such projects might affect climate change.
Biden warned Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine would continue to “take its toll” on the global economy as he acknowledged soaring inflation while touting his domestic accomplishments in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Ukraine’s allies are scrambling to deliver more advanced weapons, long sought by President Volodymyr Zelensky, to bolster the nation’s defense against an escalating Russian campaign to capture the east.
Ukraine’s nuclear regulators have restored direct communications with the defunct Chernobyl plant, more than a month after contact was lost during Russia’s occupation of the site, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Russia rejected calls for a cease-fire to allow for civilian evacuations in Ukraine, saying that requests to pause the fighting were not sincere and would only provide time to arm Ukrainian fighters.
The number of refugees fleeing war in Ukraine neared five million, according to the United Nations, even as the country’s border force said more than one million Ukrainians have entered the country since the outbreak of the conflict.
Russia’s new offensive in the Donbas region could prove to be extremely significant and decisive in the war, analysts warn, and could determine how the country’s territorial boundaries look in weeks and years to come.
Ukraine hopes to send 90 buses to the besieged southern city of Mariupol today to evacuate about 6,000 women, children and elderly people, the city’s mayor said on national television.
Wimbledon officials were set to announce they would bar Russian and Belarusian players from playing in this year’s tournament because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Belarus’ support of the war.
Malcolm Nance, 61, a Kinderhook resident and MSNBC commentator, has reportedly left the network to join an international legion fighting on the side of Ukraine as it seeks to repel a Russian invasion.
The Department of Justice announced that it will appeal a Florida judge’s ruling blocking the federal mask mandate for travelers if the CDC deems the mandate necessary for public health.
The Justice Department will not, however, ask the court to stay the decision, meaning passengers will be able to continue traveling maskless while the decision is litigated.
Many public health experts reacted with alarm to the ruling striking down a requirement from the CDC that passengers wear masks on buses, trains and planes.
Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are no longer requiring U.S. riders or drivers to wear a mask.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the area’s airports, said that mask rules would stay in place at New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports. Masks wouldn’t be required at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
There is plenty of evidence showing that masks protect the wearer, even when others around them are mask-free, though that depends on the quality of the mask you select, how well it fits, the ventilation of the place you wear it and more.
After backlash on social media, Delta Air Lines has walked back a comment falsely claiming that the coronavirus, which continues to account for more than 35,000 new cases per day, has become “an ordinary seasonal virus.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced mounting pressure to rescind the city’s toddler mask requirement in the wake of a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the national mandate.
Adams declared that he feels “excellent” as he returned to City Hall after holing up in Gracie Mansion all last week after testing positive for COVID-19.
Biden told reporters that Americans should make their own decisions on wearing masks on planes – further muddying White House and administration messaging on pandemic mitigation efforts.
Walt Disney World has lifted the last of its mask requirements, meaning face coverings will be optional for visitors at all locations on the central Florida Disney property.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis escalated his battle with Walt Disney Co., asking state lawmakers to consider ending the special tax district that has allowed the company to govern the land on which its theme parks sit.
Moderna said new clinical data had found that its “bivalent” COVID-19 booster shot was more effective against all variants of concern when compared to its currently available coronavirus vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson lowered its full-year sales and earnings outlook, and stopped providing Covid-19 vaccine revenue guidance due to a global supply surplus and demand uncertainty.
Preliminary results from a study testing a vaccine that targets both the original strain of the virus and the beta variant — a so-called “bivalent” vaccine — appears to produce high levels of antibodies for months that can neutralize the virus.
Coronavirus cases continue to steadily rise in the U.S. with the spread of the BA.2 variant, and now two northern U.S. metros in Illinois and Vermont – not New York – have become the top areas for high COVID-19 case rates.
Gov. Kathy Hochul hit the airwaves with her first gubernatorial campaign ad yesterday, a week after her federally indicted second-in-command stepped down and two months before the Democratic primary.
The 30-second commercial titled “Hard Work,” touts her efforts to reduce gun violence, enact state income tax reductions for middle-class New Yorkers and her work ethic. “Kathy Hochul, a governor who works as hard as you do,” the ad concludes.
Rep. Tom Suozzi said Hochul was untrustworthy and inexperienced, accusing the governor of fostering a “culture of corruption” while praising her disgraced predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.
Hochul “doesn’t have the ethical standing” to name a replacement for her recently indicted former lieutenant governor, Suozzi said.
Cuomo is taking aim at his successor, Hochul, over a Buffalo Bills stadium deal that includes $850 million in taxpayer funding.
Cuomo wants a judge to toss two claims in a sexual harassment suit filed against him by a New York state trooper.
The Democratic Party is considering banning its army of consultants from engaging in anti-union activity following a report that one of its pollsters had helped Amazon combat organizing efforts.
Structural racism, discrimination and health inequality are contributing to women in New York dying of preventable childbirth complications, a new state report said.
Some New York state lawmakers who represent the districts around the State Capitol say the multi-building complex should set an example for the rest of the state and switch to all-renewable energy to power lights and heating.
Despite cold temperatures and a wind advisory, about 200 people, many of them members of the Seneca Nation, gathered in Buffalo’s Niagara Square Friday to protest Hochul’s handling of a revenue sharing dispute with the Nation.
Protestors expressed their belief that, despite the Seneca Nation being a major economic contributor, they have been routinely disrespected by the state. The Nation has created 4,500 jobs through its casinos.
Adams pledged to release his “tax information,” days after initially saying he wasn’t committing to making his returns public.
“We’re going to release tax information, no hesitation,” Adams said at an unrelated news conference in Staten Island. “Remember, I’m not required. We know that, right? So let’s be clear on that.” (He did not say what that tax information would be).
Speaker Adrienne Adams has granted rare waivers exempting three top Council staffers from a rule requiring such workers to live in the city.
Martial Simon, the schizophrenic man accused of fatally shoving a woman in front of a subway train in January, will be sent to a locked psychiatric facility indefinitely, after prosecutors agreed not to contest a finding that he is unfit to stand trial.
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office threatened to wrest control of Rikers Island and the rest of the city jails system from Mayor Adams unless Correction Commissioner Louis Molina presents a clear plan to fix ongoing staffing, security and other problems.
The union representing doormen and other workers in more than 3,000 NYC apartment buildings reached a contract agreement, averting a strike that could have left thousands of tenants standing guard in lobbies, sorting mail and hauling trash to the curb.
The Diocese of Camden, N.J., said that it had agreed to pay $87.5 million to settle claims made by hundreds of people who accused clergy members of sexually abusing them, one of the largest such settlements involving the Catholic Church in the United States.
Joseph F. Kahn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning China correspondent who rose to lead the international desk of The New York Times, and then as managing editor helped steer the newspaper into the digital era, has been selected to be The Times’s next executive editor.
Millions of dollars in settlement money paid out by large pharmaceutical companies have been delivered to the Capital Region to combat the opioid crisis in the first round of payments destined for local governments, state AG Tish James announced.
The EPA has started its third five-year review of PCB cleanup in the Hudson River, a move that may reignite the dispute between New York state and federal officials as well as General Electric Co. over the health of the river and what should be done about it.
The Saratoga Race Course today begins accepting reservations for the 2022 season, which runs July 14 through Sept. 5, with Monday and Tuesday as dark days.
Buffalo native Kristen Oehlrich, an art historian and nonprofit leader with museum and academic art experience, has been named the new executive director of the Albany Institute of History & Art.
Former Schenectady school superintendent Larry Spring has dropped his planned legal action against the school district, according to his attorney Kevin Luibrand.
Netflix said it is exploring offering a lower priced ad-supported version of the platform to boost its subscriber base, after the streaming giant posted its first quarterly subscriber loss in more than a decade.
The actor Johnny Depp took the stand in the defamation case he brought against the actress Amber Heard, his former wife, seeking to clear his name from domestic abuse allegations that he said were “not based in any species of truth.”
Ezra Miller, who has played the superhero The Flash in several movies and television series, is facing an assault charge in Hawaii after being accused of hurling a chair.
Britney Spears, newly able to drive alone again, was pulled over by California Highway Patrol last month and ticketed for driving at an “unsafe speed for prevailing conditions.”
