Good Thursday morning.
In today’s version of things I didn’t know existed, I bring you Miracle Treat Day.
This is a day that supports Dairy Queen’s philanthropic efforts. On this day, $1 from every Blizzard sold at participating locations is donated to local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The money raised stays in the community, and is the company’s way of giving back.
I guess we need to establish a few things first, like what’s a Blizzard, for example?
If you didn’t grow up with Dairy Queen, (raises hand), it’s sort of like a very thick ice cream shake made from soft-serve mechanically blended with mix-ins like nuts, or cookies, or candy. It has been a staple on Dairy Queen menus since its introduction in 1985, a year in which more than 100 million Blizzards were sold.
Actually, before you come at me, I stand corrected. The FDA maintains that a product must contain at least 10 percent butterfat or milk fat to be called ice cream. Dairy Queen’s soft serve is only 5 percent, so the Blizzard is referred to as a “treat” and not an ice cream dessert.
Maybe I didn’t know about this because Dairy Queen (or DQ, as it prefers to be known these days) is more of a midwestern thing – the first location opened in Joliet, Illinois in 1940, though there are, according to the official DQ website, 44 locations in New York – including a few right here in the Albany area.
We were more of a Friendly’s family, though, perhaps because the nearest DQ was in Wappingers Falls, which is kind of a hike from New Paltz.
So Blizzards, the most popular flavor is Oreo cookie, and also apparently, starting in 2016 (or maybe just in 2016 as some sort of weird promotion?), if your Blizzard fails the upside-down test – employees have to flip it on its end to prove its thick enough – you get your treat for free at participating franchises.
Texas has the most Dairy Queen franchises with more than 600 locations across the state. DQ is also apparently very big in Canada, where there are 704 locations, the bulk of which are concentrated in Ontario.
So now that you’ve gotten through all this and are probably jonesing for a Blizzard, I hate to be the one to inform you that you missed Miracle Treat Day here in the U.S. It took place on July 28. You could, of course, just go to DQ and get yourself a full-price Blizzard and then write a check to a local children’s hospital and call it a day.
OR, if you’re anywhere near the Canadian border, you’re in luck, because our neighbors to the North celebrate Miracle Treat Day TODAY (Aug. 11), with some participating locations even donating all their Blizzard proceeds to the local hospital of their choice.
It looks like Miracle Treat Day might have taken a hiatus at some point, but was brought back with the help of actress Vanessa Lachey (“Love is Blind”), who the company signed to serve as its campaign ambassador. DQ says it has raised more than $166 million through its Miracle initiatives since 1984, when the effort first launched.
It’s going to be on the warm side today – nothing like last week’s heat wave, but still in the mid-to-high 80s – which is perfect Billzard consumption weather. We’ll have partly cloudy skies, and, as has become more or less the norm, there’s a chance of a stray shower or thunderstorm.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden arrived in South Carolina to begin what is expected to be at least a seven-day vacation with members of his family.
The first couple was planning to be in Kiawah Island, noted for its private beach and golf resort, through next week, according to Federal Aviation Administration advisories.
Biden’s public approval rose this week to its highest level since early June following a string of legislative victories, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed this past Tuesday.
The increase is partially fueled by more Democrats approving of Biden’s job performance. The poll showed Biden’s approval among Democrats rose 9 points from last month to 78 percent. Only 12 percent of Republicans approved of Biden’s performance.
Gas prices in the United States fell below $4 a gallon, retreating to their lowest level since March, a drop that has brought relief to Americans struggling with the skyrocketing cost of everything from groceries to rent.
Inflation cooled notably in July as gas prices and airfares fell, a welcome reprieve for consumers and a positive development for economic policymakers in Washington — though not yet a conclusive sign that price increases have turned a corner.
White House officials plan to meet this week with student debt activists and advocacy groups ahead of Biden’s self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31 for deciding whether to approve broad-based debt relief for millions of Americans.
Biden signed into law a bill that expands medical benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxins from burning pits of trash on military bases, ending a yearslong quest for support by veterans and their families.
An attorney representing former President Donald Trump called the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Trump’s Florida residence “an overzealous hunt.”
Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 440 times and declined to answer questions from the New York attorney general at a scheduled deposition yesterday.
Trump answered only one question, about his name, during the daylong interview with AG Tish James’ office, repeatedly invoking his right against self-incrimination as he was pressed about his business practices.
Trump’s decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination leaves James with a crucial decision: whether to sue him or to seek a settlement that could extract a significant financial penalty.
Hours after his deposition in Manhattan, Trump returned to his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., to host a fund-raiser for Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a onetime Democrat who joined the Republican Party in 2019 after pledging his “undying support” to the then-president.
The F.B.I.’s seizure of Rep. Scott Perry’s phone this week was at least the third major action in recent months taken in connection with an escalating federal investigation into efforts by several close Trump allies to overturn the 2020 election.
An Iranian national plotted to assassinate at least two former Trump administration officials, the Department of Justice said, in what it described as a likely retaliation for the 2020 killing of a prominent Iranian general.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus, ordering a lifting of maximum anti-epidemic measures imposed in May, state media said.
Kim is credited with eradicating the virus despite falling “seriously ill with high fever” himself — though state media did not specify whether the fever was from coronavirus infection.
Three years after COVID-19 first emerged within its borders, China is battling a new virus. It is called Langya henipavirus (LayV) and has sickened dozens of farmers who have complained of fevers, fatigue, coughing, nausea, headaches, and vomiting.
Among the 35 patients, 26 were infected only with LayV, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. There was no evidence they had been in close contact or had a common exposure history.
An international team of scientists identified a new virus that was likely to have been transmitted to humans after it first infected animals, in another potential zoonotic spillover.
Though the sample size is small, investigators suspect Langya virus was hosted by shrews before infecting humans
Some people with COVID-19 related symptoms are reporting that they are repeatedly testing negative on at-home rapid tests. This has brought up the question of whether these tests are working for newer omicron variants.
The manufacturer of the only vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration to protect against monkeypox privately warned senior Biden health officials about their plan to split doses and change how the shots are delivered.
As monkeypox cases climb in the United States and children prepare to return to school, some parents worry that the outbreak could reach their little ones in class.
The Onondaga County Health Department confirmed the county’s first case of monkeypox in a resident earlier this week.
After weeks of accelerating, daily monkeypox numbers appear to be leveling off in New York.
Assaults on primates around the globe have led to the World Health Organization — which declared monkeypox a global health emergency last month — issuing a reminder that despite the virus’s name, monkeys should not be blamed for its transmission.
Legislation that aims to expand Holocaust education in New York was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
At the bill signing ceremony, Hochul tried to land a joke at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ expense.
The mandate directs New York’s education commissioner to conduct a study verifying whether public schools are properly educating students about the persecution and genocide suffered by European Jews at the hands of Nazi Germany.
Former NYC mayoral candidates Bo Dietl and Curtis Sliwa joined Republican gubernatorial nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin in bashing Hochul for not repealing bail reform ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
Dietl said he is ready to pack his bags and move to Florida if Hochul wins a full term in office.
State Department of Labor officials will conduct a study of the employment picture facing transgender people in New York as part of a bill signed by Hochul.
Leaders of the Democratic-controlled state legislature and Hochul are proposing that a court reconvene the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to redraw districts for the state Assembly 2024, after they were invalidated earlier this year.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan faced a test in a closely watched public corruption case yesterday as lawyers for former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin pushed to have charges of bribery and other offenses dismissed.
Benjamin’s lawyers plan to deploy the “de Blasio defense.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign shot back at Mayor Eric Adams after he threatened to send busloads of New Yorkers to Texas to campaign against Abbott in the gubernatorial election in retaliation for him sending busloads of migrants to the Big Apple.
Abbott tapped into his inner “Dirty Harry” publicly dared Adams to “make my day” by carrying through on his threat to send New Yorkers to campaign against his re-election bid.
Three migrant buses arrived in NYC early yesterday morning, following the path of the group of 50 migrants who were bussed to the same area on Friday, Aug. 5.
After another round of rattled asylum seekers from Texas arrived in New York, Adams said Abbott is betraying American ideals and damaging the nation’s reputation, intensifying a whirlwind war of words between the two leaders.
Adams’ Commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Service Gary Jenkins stunningly withheld key information from him about migrants sleeping on the floor at a city intake shelter.
The revelation about the omission comes as the agency’s chief public information officer, Julia Savel, was fired after complaining internally that Jenkins was withholding the information from Adams and the public.
More than $200 million in cuts to the New York City public school budget are back in effect, at least temporarily, after a state appeals court put a hold on a lower court’s ruling requiring the city to redo the budget.
Adams has appointed a former New York City police official and close confidant, Timothy Pearson, as a paid senior adviser — while allowing him to keep his job as an executive at the Resorts World New York City casino in Queens.
The years-long effort to toll vehicles in the most congested parts of Manhattan as a way to bankroll billions of dollars in mass-transit improvements and reduce traffic is no longer stuck in neutral.
Immigration, infrastructure and the prospect of a comeback attempt by Trump dominated the Democratic primary debate for New York’s 10th congressional district last night.
Candidates hurled accusations of carpetbagging, self-dealing and nefarious investments during the first televised debate in the six-way, free-for-all congressional race, with no candidate emerging a clear frontrunner.
Midterm elections are traditionally bad cycles for an incumbent party, like the Democrats this year, but a tightening in the polls could lead to a close finish for whoever controls Congress come January.
Former President Bill Clinton waded into one of New York’s most contentious Democratic primaries, saying he would vote for Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in a newly redrawn district that includes his Chappaqua home and “urge all my neighbors to do the same.”
Albany’s South End residents continue to voice their opposition to a proposed Capital City Rescue Mission expansion.
Sunrise Wind and state economic and labor leaders heralded a program to recruit and train workers in the city’s South End neighborhood for union construction jobs they say will be critical to the transition to clean energy.
