Good morning; it’s Tuesday, and it looks like the oppressive heat is finally over – for now, anyway.
I know, I know. It won’t be long before we’re all shivering in the dark and wishing for the days when we couldn’t step outside without being drenched in sweat.
I give you all permission to remind me of how, when I’m bitching and moaning and complaining about being too cold and unable to function, I bitched and moaned and complained about being too hot and unable to function.
Forgive me, but have to confess that I’m really looking forward to fall. It is my favorite season. I love crisp temperatures (much better for hiking and running), and the smell of leaves burning, and even apple picking. (So upstate basic).
I could, however, do without all things pumpkin spice, which is not my favorite fall flavor. (I do like pumpkin pie itself, but not FAUX pumpkin pie everything).
It appears I might be in the minority on that one, since a number of purveyors – from Krispy Kreme to Oreos to 7-Eleven (beating both Starbucks and Dunkin to the punch this year) – are already getting a jump on pumpkin spice season, even though summer isn’t even close to officially over yet
(BTW, that won’t happen until mid-September with the arrival of the Autumnal Equinox, though after Labor Day and when kids go back to school is really sort of the unofficial start of fall in my book).
But why am I jumping ahead when we still have today to get through? It’s a bad habit of mine, I’m afraid. I spend far too much time worrying about what’s coming down the pike and not nearly enough time enjoying what’s right in front of me.
And there are good things happening today – including National Book Lovers Day (a big favorite of mine) and National Women’s Day – a public holiday in South Africa, which is not to be confused with International Women’s Day, which took place on March 8.
Cool history: This is a public holiday in South Africa because it commemorates the 1956 march of some 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to deliver approximately 100,000 signatures on petitions against the country’s “pass laws”.
These laws required South Africans defined as “black” under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport – AKA a passbook known as a “dompas” – everywhere and at all times during the apartheid era. Before their repeal in 1986, the pass laws had resulted in more than 17 million arrests.
I must admit that I am woefully under-educated about South African history and apartheid. Perhaps I will take advantage of this day to kill two birds with one stone, and read up on the era.
In case you’re looking for a recommendation, it has been suggested that I start with “Cry Beloved Country,” which is described as “the most famous and important novel in South Africa’s history” that became “an immediate worldwide bestseller” when it was released in 1948. (More here).
As mentioned, it’s going to be cooler today – in the low-to-mid 80s – with thunderstorms in the morning that give way to clouds in the afternoon. Heavy rainfall is possible, so be careful out there.
In the headlines…
The FBI executed a search warrant yesterday at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the former President confirmed.
In a lengthy statement, Trump said his residence is “currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” The raid was “unannounced,” he said.
Legal historians said they couldn’t remember a case in recent history in which the FBI searched the home of a former president.
The F.B.I.’s search of Mar-a-Lago home drew swift condemnation from some Republican governors who quickly backed Trump’s message that the Justice Department was being used against him.
Revelations of possible meddling with voting machines by Trump supporters have set off a political tsunami in the critical battleground state of Michigan, as the attorney general seeks an independent inquiry into her likely rival on the ballot this fall.
NYT reporter Maggie Haberman’s forthcoming book on Trump will report that White House residence staff periodically found wads of paper clogging a toilet — and believed the former president, a notorious destroyer of Oval Office documents, was the flusher.
“Who knows what this paper was? Only he would know and presumably whoever was dealing with it, but the important point is about the records,” Haberman told CNN’s John Berman and Brianna Keilar.
Trump told his top White House aide that he wished he had generals like the ones who had reported to Adolf Hitler, saying they were “totally loyal” to the leader of the Nazi regime, another forthcoming book on the former president reveals.
John Rowley, a former federal prosecutor with multiple Trump world clients, is now representing the former president in talks with the Justice Department.
A commercial real estate firm held in contempt of court for failing to hand over records on its appraisals of several Trump Organization properties to New York’s attorney general has turned over nearly 36,000 documents, court filings show.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden yesterday witnessed the damage from deadly and devastating storms that have resulted in the worst flooding in Kentucky’s history, as they visited the state to meet with families and first responders.
Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put aside their differences to respond to the Kentucky flooding.
Biden pledged the full support of the federal government as the commonwealth begins rebuilding following flooding that killed more than three dozen people and caused catastrophic damage.
After flying over stranded cars and buses and landing to find toppled homes and a shelled-out school, Biden told local officials his administration would cover the cost of the emergency response to the torrential rain and flooding that left at least 37 people dead.
Biden said he is “not worried” about China’s military exercises around Taiwan, adding that while he is “concerned that they’re moving as much as they are,” he does not think they’re going to continue to increase the pressure.
However, when asked for his thoughts on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting the island nation, Biden said: “That’s her decision.”
Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to South Carolina tomorrow for an apparent vacation on Kiawah Island, the White House announced.
The Bidens have been known to vacation on Kiawah Island over the years. The president visited Kiawah while serving as Vice President in 2009, 2013 and in 2015.
Novavax slashed its full-year revenue outlook in half, citing a lack of demand for its Covid-19 vaccine from an international initiative to vaccinate lower-income countries and delays in winning expanded authorizations in the U.S.
The Biden administration has decided to stretch out its limited supply of monkeypox vaccine by allowing a different method of injection that uses one-fifth as much per shot, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Rather than inject doses of Jynneos subcutaneously, a traditional way of delivering vaccines into the fatty tissue under the skin, the doses would instead be injected under the top layer of the skin, using a thinner needle and less vaccine.
The Biden administration’s embrace of dose-sparing, an approach intended to stretch the limited supply of monkeypox vaccine doses, is partly based on a 2015 study funded by the National Institutes of Health, according to two senior administration officials.
Many researchers are left scratching their heads as to why monkeypox seems to be propagating so readily and unconventionally in the current global outbreak.
The same wastewater surveillance techniques that have emerged as a critical tool in early detection of COVID-19 outbreaks are being adapted for use to monitor the spread of monkeypox across the San Francisco Bay Area and some other U.S. communities.
Gov. Kathy Hochul doubled down in her blame game with New York judges, claiming her administration is busy gathering data to prove her assertion that bail reform laws don’t need to be changed any further — the state’s justices just need to do a better job.
It isn’t just the Big Apple that’s being hammered by violent crime thanks to bail reform — increased gunfire is riddling upstate cities, state figures show, with residents grieving the loss of slain loved ones and fearful to venture out on the streets after dark.
Progressive policies like bail reform, rising crime, and the “defund the police” movement have Nassau police unions backing Republicans in upcoming state Senate elections this November.
Hochul signed a package of bills into law to expand tax relief for older New York homeowners and first-time homebuyers.
Two of the measures focus on seniors, helping with home repairs and expanding property tax exemptions for homeowners over age 65.
New York’s law books will no longer use the word “inmate” to describe people in prison as part of a measure signed by Hochul.
“For too long, we as a society have thought of incarcerated individuals as less than people. The use of the word ‘inmate’ further dehumanizes and demoralizes them,” state Sen. Gustavo Rivera said of the bill he sponsored with Assemblyman Jeff Aubry.
Twitter users are mocking Hochul after she posted a photo of herself grilling burgers and dogs on Sunday that seemed very staged.
High school graduation rates across the Empire State may have been “inflated” during the pandemic, a new report found.
Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin vowed to reverse an expected lowering of the hourly threshold for when overtime pay would kick in for New York farmworkers, calling it something the agriculture industry can’t afford.
Top state and federal Republican officials pushed back against a substantial subsidy for farm owners that is intended to cover overtime costs for their workers, asserting the answer is to instead avoid lowering the overtime threshold.
Zeldin would push the “largest tax cut” in New York history if elected this November and indicated he wants to cut taxes in virtually every corner of the state budget.
A cryptocurrency billionaire has already spent nearly half a million dollars each in two Congressional primaries – and he could get involved in the high profile 10th Congressional district next.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is endorsing Manhattan Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, a left-leaning candidate in the competitive and crowded contest for a rare open House seat representing one of New York’s most liberal swaths.
With the NY-16 primary just a few weeks away, Rep. Jamaal Bowman is calling out challenger Vedat Gashi for distributing campaign material that features a photo of the Black, progressive representative with what appears to be a noticeably darker skin tone.
The parents of a bicyclist recently crushed to death by a tractor-trailer on an Upper East Side street endorsed candidate Suraj Patel over veteran Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler for a new congressional seat.
“The 12th congressional district is a horrible situation,” said Laura Bierman of the New York League of Women Voters. “The Legislature overreached and lost control of the redistricting process. This is a result of the legislature violating the constitution.”
Support for Hudson Valley Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is expanding in the state Legislature ahead of his Aug. 23 primary with the endorsement of state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick.
The Big Apple is quietly — and quickly — planning to open a sprawling facility in Midtown Manhattan to process and provide housing for the wave of arriving migrants, some of whom are being sent there by Texas and others by the Biden administration.
“Be a true American, man! I don’t think anything is more un-American than shipping people on buses for a 45-hour trip without any basic needs,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Adams said his administration was set to hold talks with White House officials to outline requests for federal assistance as the city grapples with an influx of migrants being bused from Texas to the five boroughs.
The latest NYPD figures show major crime remains up 36% so far this year – even though shootings and murders both saw a dip of about 10% as of Sunday.
City residents are concerned about violent crime, housing costs, school budget cuts and homelessness. Some believe that Adams has not met the challenge.
As food prices rise at the fastest rate in decades, it’s become more expensive to eat and drink in New York City.
New York’s street vendors and small business owners are growing increasingly worried about economic uncertainty, inflation — and their future.
The number of crimes taking place within the transit system is roughly the same as in 2019, according to police statistics, even though the subway is seeing only around 60 percent of its 2019 ridership because many say they feel unsafe.
On Wall Street, executives who want workers to return to the office are having to deal with employees who are reluctant because they’re worried about crime, and thinking the city is less safe.
The city is trying to move past compost “drama” with a new plan to help more New Yorkers separate organic waste — food scraps and yard waste that can be transformed into rich soil — from other, non-compostable trash.
The New York City Education Department is moving forward with a highly-anticipated new dyslexia initiative — after a Manhattan judge explicitly told the city the program should not get held up by ongoing litigation over the city schools budget.
An ethics complaint has been filed against a Democratic Schenectady County legislator seeking to unseat state Sen. Jim Tedisco over paying the county auditor for campaign work.
A staffing crisis that is crippling care programs for individuals with disabilities is forcing Saratoga County’s largest nonprofit human services agency to temporarily “pause” a day habilitation program in Clifton Park.
Dukes Chophouse, the fine-dining option at Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, and Lost & Found, the gastropub in Albany’s warehouse district, both have new head chefs.
Perrin W. Dake, 66, of Boulder, Colo., a member of the Dake family, the founders and owners of Stewart’s Shops, drowned in Friends Lake on Sunday afternoon, Warren County Undersheriff Terry Comeau confirmed.
A Clifton Park-based attorney nominated by Biden for a federal judgeship in the Northern District of New York is “committed” to presiding on the bench in Utica, according to a top aide to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
A federal judge sentenced Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, to life in prison for committing a hate crime and other federal violations during their murder of Ahmaud Arbery in 2020.
William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., a neighbor who was also convicted in the murder, was sentenced to a 35-year term.
“A young man is dead. Ahmaud Arbery will be forever 25. And what happened, a jury found, happened because he’s Black,” U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood said during Greg McMichael’s sentencing.
Gabby Petito’s murder “might have been prevented” if Moab, Utah, police had stepped in after witnesses saw her boyfriend assault her, according to a new lawsuit filed by her family.
RIP Olivia Newton-John, the Australian singer whose breathy voice and wholesome beauty made her one of the biggest pop stars of the ’70s and charmed generations of viewers in the blockbuster movie “Grease,” who died yesterday at the age of 73.
The death was announced by her husband, John Easterling. She had lived with a breast cancer diagnosis since 1992 and in 2017 announced that the cancer had returned and spread.
RIP David McCullough, the bestselling author whose biographies on Presidents Harry Truman and John Adams won Pulitzer Prizes, who died at the age of 89.
