Well, we made it to another Friday! Welcome, friends.
Did you know that scientists estimate there are about 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence, but only 1.2 million – give or take – have been identified and described, and most of those are insects?
So you could be forgiven for not knowing all the nitty gritty details about a particular animal – say, the pygmy hippo, for example.
The pygmy hippopotamus, or pygmy hippo, Choeropsis liberiensis, is an endangered mammal endemic to the threatened Upper Guinea forest hotspot of West Africa.
It was estimated in 2015 that there were between 2,000 and 2,500 pygmy hippos in the WORLD, and their numbers are likely to have declined since then. They are classified as Endangered IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
One distinct pygmy hippo subspecies (C. liberiensis heslopi) that once existed in Nigeria is believed to be extinct.
The decline in their population is due to a combination of habitat loss (deforestation to make room for mining, logging, agriculture expansion) and hunting.
The pygmy hippo, by the way, is about half the height as a standard hippopotamus and weighs about 1/4 less. They are very cute, which would perhaps lead to the assumption that they are friendly and cuddly. Au contraire!
They are, in fact, solitary and reclusive and not at all social. In fact, they are perfectly happy spending most of their lives alone, and only are seen in pairs during mating season.
Another misconception about hippos is that they are slow and not very fast (something about their rather lumbering gait and their rotund body shape, I guess).
Also, not true. They can get up to speeds of about about 19 mph on land. They are also territorial and prone to charging anyone who stands between them and their body of water of choice. (They are, however, avowed vegetarians).
Hippos are distinctly NOT friendly. In fact, they kill more people than any other African mammal – somewhere between 500 to 3000 annually.
And here’s a kind of crazy story – President Calvin Coolidge had a pet pygmy hippo named Billy (short for William Johnson Hippopotamus, naturally) that lived at the Rock Creek Zoo. He was apparently very popular, and also went on to father 18 calves during his lifetime.
Oh, and in case you hadn’t guessed by now, it’s National Pygmy Hippo Day. You’re welcome.
Today’s weather forecast is considerably more encouraging than yesterdays – we’ll have clouds giving way to partial sunshine, with temperatures potentially hitting 60 degrees. The weekend looks a little iffy, though, with rain on Saturday and a mix of clouds and sun on Sunday. Neither day will be terribly warm.
But no snow! #Winning!
In the headlines…
The US Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court yesterday, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the high court.
Cheers rang out in the Senate chamber as Jackson was confirmed 53-47, mostly along party lines but with three Republican votes. Presiding and emotionally announcing the vote was Vice President Kamala Harris, also the first Black woman to reach her office.
Though Jackson’s ascension will not change the ideological makeup of the court – where conservatives hold a 6-3 advantage – she will be the first federal public defender to sit on the high court.
In nominating Jackson, President Joe Biden delivered on a campaign promise to select the first Black woman to serve on a court that was made up entirely of white men for almost two centuries.
Emotional photos show Biden and Judge Jackson celebrating a historic vote after she was confirmed to the high court. (They watched the Senate vote together on TV).
Former First Lady Michelle Obama praised the historic confirmation of Judge Jackson, thanking her for giving Black girls and women “a new dream to dream.”
Ukrainians are bracing today for renewed attacks in the country’s east, where officials have warned that the window was closing for civilians to flee as Russian troops regrouped for a major offensive that is expected in the coming days.
The United Nations General Assembly suspended Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council over reports of “gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights” in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to announce it was quitting the body.
Biden lauded the UN General Assembly decision to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, describing it as a meaningful step by the international community.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, acknowledged in an interview published yesterday that Russia had sustained “significant losses of troops” and called it a “huge tragedy.”
Pink Floyd is getting back together for their first song in nearly three decades, for a tune aimed at raising money for aid to Ukraine. “Hey Hey Rise Up” will be released today.
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was severely injured in Ukraine last month, paid tribute in a tweet to two colleagues who were killed in the attack.
New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to a near 54-year low as employers held on to workers in a tight labor market.
Initial jobless claims fell to 166,000 during the week that ended on April 2, compared with a revised 171,000 the prior week. The weekly total was the lowest since November 1968, when the labor force was less than half of its current size.
Some of the volatility in the most recent weekly jobless claims data likely reflects a change in the way the Labor Department adjusted the figures to account for seasonal factors.
An appeals court upheld Biden’s mandate that all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. The majority on a three-member panel said that under the Civil Service Reform Act, a lower court lacked jurisdiction to issue the injunction on the mandate.
The future of Covid-19 vaccines – including when and how often booster doses might be needed – remains unclear and “complex,” according to advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that he thinks there will be an uptick in cases of Covid-19 over the next few weeks and that it is likely that there could be a surge in the fall.
The House approved a $55 billion aid package for restaurants and other small businesses who did not receive assistance during earlier rounds of pandemic relief, but it is unclear whether it will clear the Senate.
A “Frankenstein”-style new Omicron subvariant is spreading in the UK — and some experts fear the mutation may be the most contagious form yet of COVID-19.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for Covid-19, a spokesman for the California Democrat said.
“After testing negative this week, Speaker Pelosi received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic,” a Pelosi aide tweeted. “(She) is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided.”
Pelosi was at the White House on Tuesday for the health-care event with President Biden and former president Barack Obama, and she attended the bill signing on a postal reform measure with Biden on Wednesday.
Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, tested positive for COVID-19 this week, but her publishing company said she did not have close contact with the president or first lady Jill Biden prior to her diagnosis.
First Matthew Broderick tested positive for COVID-19 and a few days later his wife and co-star, Sarah Jessica Parker, has done so herself. The couple has been co-starring in the Broadway revival of “Plaza Suite,” which has now been cancelled.
Driven by an Omicron subvariant, coronavirus cases have been ticking up steadily across Manhattan, Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, threatening New York City with a fifth wave just weeks after the city lifted many mask and vaccine requirements.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams blasted anti-mask activists and reminded people that COVID isn’t over. In fact, the number of cases in Manhattan has been tracking north of the yellow threshold this week.
Three parents enraged they couldn’t get into a Brooklyn elementary school without proof of COVID vaccination beat up a school safety agent, sending her to the hospital, according to union officials.
The Justice Department has begun taking steps to investigate former president Donald Trump’s removal of presidential records to Mar-a-Lago — some of which were labeled “top secret,” people familiar with the matter said.
State Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge to hold Trump in contempt, claiming he is refusing to comply with an order to turn over documents in her probe of his company’s business dealings.
James also requested that Trump be fined $10,000 a day until he complies with the ruling.
Trump could still face criminal charges over his business dealings, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg signaled in a statement that said his investigation is continuing and that he would explain his final decision to the public.
Bragg said in an interview that his office had recently questioned new witnesses about Mr. Trump and reviewed additional documents, both previously unreported steps in the inquiry.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she and state leaders have reached a deal for a record-breaking $220 billion budget — a week after they blew past the deadline for the spending measure.
Neither the leader of the state Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), nor Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) joined the governor at her press conference announcing the “conceptual” deal, encapsulating the contention among legislators.
The deal includes a suspension of the state’s gas tax, an increased investment in child care, changes to the 2019 bail law and an alcohol to-go option for bars and restaurants that was utilized in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overall spending plan will add around $4 billion in additional spending to the governor’s record $216 billion budget proposal.
A revenue bill introduced yesterday afternoon laid out some of the details of the gas tax holiday, which will only apply to about 16 cents of the state’s 33 cent gas surcharge.
The revised law will direct judges to consider new factors — including whether a defendant is accused of seriously harming another person or has a history of gun use — in setting bail.
Hochul vowed to further roll back parts of the state’s controversial criminal justice reform law — including closing the “Raise the Age” loophole and giving judges more discretion in setting bail in cases.
“We’re not here to undo the progress that was made in the past,” Hochul said from the Capitol. “Never been my objective. Never will be. But I also said we have to realize there are areas where improvements can and need to be made.”
Also in the new budget: $600 million to help build a new Buffalo Bills stadium, despite criticism from elected officials and good government groups who derided it as a taxpayer gift to billionaires with little economic benefit.
Hochul won her first budget amid an increasingly unsettled and uncertain political terrain. Voters have soured on the direction the state is headed in. Republicans believe this is their best chance of recapturing the governor’s office in a generation.
One of Hochul’s primary opponents, Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi, panned the deal, saying the governor “showed her inexperience by botching the process and saddling New Yorkers will millions more in spending” – including the Bills stadium.
Hochul announced that the State Environmental Facilities Corporation Board of Directors has approved more than $189 million in funding for nine municipalities and public authorities for critical wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects.
A New York appeals judge said he will “likely” rule today on whether to continue blocking a lower court ruling that declared the state’s new congressional and legislative district maps unconstitutional.
The state appellate judge ripped the Legislature for creating a redistricting panel that lawmakers knew was “flawed from the outset” — resulting in a messy, partisan “stalemate” over disputed congressional district maps that have ended up in court.
Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin admitted he did not tell Hochul his failed NYC comptroller campaign had been subpoenaed prior to his appointment to his current post.
Hochul is standing by Benjamin, saying she has the “utmost confidence” in him and he will remain on the November general election ticket.
Disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo will not be on the Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot as other candidates submitted the required signatures. If he wants to run as an independent, he has until May 31 to submit the necessary petitions.
At least five Democrats and three Republicans submitted the paperwork needed to appear on New York’s gubernatorial primary ballot this June.
A judge ordered the firm that built the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo bridge to pay $1.69 million in attorneys fees and expenses to the legal team that represented a whistleblower who accused the company of covering up defects in bolts used to build the twin span.
Adams is reportedly poised to name Jessica Tisch as his new Sanitation Commissioner.
Adams and dozens of faith leaders held a Christian praise rally in City Hall Park yesterday — an event that featured Adams invoking the apostles as justification for his policy of removing homeless encampments from city streets.
Attorney Daniela Jampel said she’s “extremely confident” that she was canned from her city lawyer job for speaking out against masks — but that she will not sue over the ouster.
Adams’ administration set a $190,000 salary at the city’s public assistance agency for the spouse of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party boss, who has since resigned his post.
No taxpayer money is going to the private developers slated to helm proposed skyscrapers around Penn Station, state officials claimed, even as they prepare to negotiate secretive tax breaks with Vornado Realty Trust and other property owners.
Albany Curling Club’s season finale was cut short last weekend when its lads and lassies bonspiel turned into a coronavirus super spreader event.
The upcoming interactive Vincent van Gogh exhibit will be held at the Armory Center in Schenectady. Promoters of the “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” announced the location after weeks of speculation about where it would be held.
A Malta man received probation in connection with a deadly boating trip on Saratoga Lake last summer, Saratoga County District Attorney Karen A. Heggen said.
In a tight vote, the town board voted this week to allow recreational cannabis dispensaries in Guilderland.
An attacker opened fire into a crowded bar in central Tel Aviv, killing at least two people and wounding several others before fleeing into a dense residential area, Israeli officials said.
Los Angeles County has barred official travel to Florida over the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law — but Sunshine State officials are calling the “woke” move California’s loss.
Two Black coaches have joined a lawsuit filed in February by Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins who accused the N.F.L. and its 32 teams of discriminating against African Americans in their hiring practices.
The three offspring of a fox captured on the grounds of the Capitol have been euthanized because they were exposed to their rabid mother, city health officials announced yesterday, in yet another tragic turn to the canine saga that has gripped Washington.
