Good morning. It’s Thursday.
Today, our collective happiness rests in the hands – or rather, paws – of a rodent that is colloquially known as a “whistle pig.”
I assume that doesn’t mean anything to you, so let me try this furry beastie’s better-known name: The groundhog.
Yes, folks, it’s Groundhog Day, the day on which this otherwise unassuming mammal supposedly emerges from hibernation, does a little look around, and if it sees its shadow, (in other words, if it’s sunny outside) we are in for six more weeks of winter weather.
Given the forecast for this weekend, (14 degrees on Friday swinging wildly to 40-something degrees on Sunday, WHAT?), I’m sure we could all use a little good news. Let us pray for clouds, shall we?
It’s worth a little investigation as to how we got to this moment where we’re relying on what is, tradition holds, a weather-casting woodchuck to inform us whether we need to gird ourselves for another month-plus of cold, ice, and snow.
First and foremost, what is a groundhog? It is a rodent that belongs to the family Sciuridae, which are basically a bunch of oversized ground squirrels known as marmots.
While their worth in the weather prediction department is surely questionable, groundhogs actually serve a pretty significant purpose – the burrows they dig helps bring oxygen and minerals to otherwise compacted soil, which is good for plant growth.
Also, oddly, groundhogs are one of the few animals (other than humans) that naturally contract Hepatitis B. Researchers have been able to study the spread of the virus through various colonies to help develop medicines and vaccines for combatting the disease.
Groundhogs also played a role in the discovery of not one, but two major archaeological sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
So, clearly, they are useful little buggers. But how is it that they came to also be responsible for the whole winter prediction thing? That turns out to be a fairly complicated story. I’ll try to boil it down as best I can.
Officially speaking, the OG (original groundhog) is Punxsutawney Phil, and on Groundhog Day, the members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club make the annual pilgrimage to his home – Gobbler’s Knob – sporting tuxedos and top hats, and wait to see if he emerges.
This tradition has a long origin story, but legend has it that the first organized Groundhog Day was held on Feb. 2, 1886 in Punxsutawney. Somehow, there’s a connection to Candlemas – one of four dates that demarcates the seasons, and a traditional Christian festival where Christians would take their candles to the church to have them blessed.
There’s no bright line connection between candles and groundhogs, necessarily, but there’s a connection between Candlemas (all about light and warmth and looking toward spring) and Groundhog Day (all about predicting spring, which will bring light and warmth). See? Easy.
In 1887, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club established Punxsutawney Phil as the official weather prophet. That same year, they also declared Punxsutawney the “weather capital of the world.” Once upon a time, the tradition of Groundhog Day also involved EATING the unsuspecting weather prognosticator after the poor animal was done doing its weather thing.
Thankfully, this is no longer the case.
We cannot say for certain, though, that no groundhogs are harmed in the process of celebrating this semi-silly holiday. Take, for example, that infamous day when then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped what was supposedly Staten Island Chuck (New York’s answer to Phil, although in this case, it was a stand-in named Charlotte), and the animal died of its injuries a few days later.
Even before de Blasio may or may not have caused Charlotte’s deadly injuries (that matter remains up for debate), when Chuck AKA Charles G. Hogg (or whoever was playing the role of Chuck/Charles that year) bit then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg on the finger.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, there are a number of groundhogs vying for the title of THE Groundhog Day groundhog. At least seven at last count.
Today will be the last day of semi-reasonable weather – temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s and morning clouds giving way to sun in the afternoon – before the deep freeze sets in. Enjoy it while you can.
In the headlines…
FBI agents yesterday morning searched the Rehoboth, Delaware, beach home of President Joe Biden for more than three hours, but found no documents marked classified, his personal lawyer said.
Agents did take some handwritten notes and other materials relating to Biden’s time as vice president for review, just as they had when they searched his Wilmington home last month where they also found classified items.
More U.S. adults disapprove than approve of the way Biden has handled the discovery of classified documents at his home and former office, a new poll shows, but that seems to have had little impact on his overall approval rating.
Outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain burst into tears as he talked about his boss, Biden, and his decades of work with him.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had,” said Klain, immediately crying after he said he couldn’t promise a tear-free speech. Biden gently patted him on the back.
Federal Reserve officials made their eighth interest rate increase in a year yesterday, a quarter-point move, as they continued their fight against rapid inflation.
While policymakers slowed the pace of adjustment, they signaled further rate moves to come. “We’re talking about a couple more rate hikes,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said in a news conference.
Memories of a “beautiful soul” who remained polite to the end — pleading, “Please stop,” even as he was pummeled by Memphis police officers — resounded through a Memphis church, as the friends and relatives of Tyre Nichols said their farewells to him.
Vice President Kamala Harris told the Nichols family: “The people of our country mourn with you.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy yesterday left a meeting with Biden signaling optimism about the chances of an agreement between the White House and Congress to avoid a government default, though neither side made any commitments.
McCarthy said “there’s an opportunity here to come to an agreement on both sides” on the debt limit after a meeting with Biden for an hour at the White House.
“We have different perspectives. But we both laid out some of our vision of where we’d want to get to. And I believe, after laying them both out, I can see where we can find common ground,” McCarthy told reporters.
After heavy criticism from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board released an official curriculum for its new AP course in African American Studies — stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives.
The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum.
The House passed a bill that would force executive agencies to end teleworking policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering the entities to revert back to plans in place in 2019.
The legislation — titled the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act — passed in a 221-206 vote.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, plans to challenge Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
FBI agents are investigating Rep. George Santos’ role in an alleged GoFundMe scheme involving a disabled U.S. Navy veteran’s dying service dog.
Rich Osthoff, the veteran, said he spoke to a pair of FBI agents yesterday about the incident on behalf of the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, which is investigating Santos’ finances.
“I don’t ever want to see another person, especially another veteran, go through this again,” Osthoff said.
The embattled first-time Republican congressman’s campaign spent more than $26,000 in funds at an Italian joint in Queens, New York, updated financial disclosure documents from his campaign show.
“Trust me: No one’s more frustrated than me,” the Democrat who lost to Santos last year, Robert Zimmerman, says. “There are a few times I shouted into my pillow: ‘Why didn’t this come out earlier?’”
Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a $227 billion state budget, a plan that would increase direct aid to schools and health care networks, fund measures meant to bolster public safety and law enforcement, as well as expand housing in New York.
State and federal spending would increase by 2.4%, or more than $5 billion, over the previous budget. More numbers here.
The executive budget proposed by Hochul would invest more than $18 million in programs intended to boost the state government’s lagging workforce as key agencies face a looming shortage of more than 12,500 workers.
Hochul’s budget proposal included a multiyear plan to help bail out New York City’s ailing subway system and address the migrant crisis.
Hochul proposed giving the Metropolitan Transportation Authority a rescue package worth as much as $1.6 billion, answering the agency’s prayers for a bailout.
Hochul laid out a plan to create the first-ever Office of Semiconductor Expansion, Management and Integration following the announcement last fall that computer memory chip specialist Micron plans to invest $100 billion in Central New York.
Hochul wants to allow New York City to require its contractors to hire “economically disadvantaged” job candidates — including, in some cases, workers from impoverished communities.
Dozens of new charter schools could open in New York City under a proposal unveiled by Hochul, allowing new city charters for the first time since 2019. State Sen. John Liu said in a statement that allowing more charter schools to operate is a “nonstarter.”
United Federation of Teachers president Mike Mulgrew applauded Hochul’s plan to boost funding for public schools by 10% — but said he would fight lifting the cap on charter schools in the city tooth and nail.
Two weeks after a key committee in the state Senate rejected her nominee to lead New York’s top court, it remains unclear what Hochul’s plan is for who will become the next chief judge.
New Yorkers voiced dissatisfaction with Mayor Eric Adams and his handling of crime, two days after his administration released an unflattering performance report showing a rise in violence and homelessness on his watch.
Voters disapprove of Adams by a 43-37 margin, with 20 percent declining to offer an opinion, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.
Adams questioned whether the men sleeping outside Midtown hotel were even migrants. “I’m not even sure they’re migrants,” he said. “There are some agitators, that just really I think is doing a disservice to the migrants.”
A progressive Democrat on the City Council, Lincoln Restler, blasted the accommodations at a new emergency migrant shelter in Brooklyn — because it doesn’t seem hospitable enough to make asylum seekers want to stay longer.
The ongoing migrant standoff at a Manhattan hotel turned ugly yesterday after a group of about 10 outside activists used open umbrellas to prevent the news media from documenting the scene.
The New York City Health Department has declared an end to the mpox outbreak that caused thousands of cases but has been receding in recent months.
The state Senate passed six new bills focused on stretch limousine safety this week but not without some fireworks.
A federal judge in Albany has rejected a motion by the state’s cannabis regulators to let them dole out retail marijuana shop licenses in at least four of five New York regions that have been on hold since the fall due to an earlier court ruling.
New York’s new climate plan is sure to lead to showdowns as lawmakers and regulators grapple with how to implement it and how to pay for it.
The state AG notified a state Supreme Court justice that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have private counsel paid by the state in his defense of a lawsuit filed by a State Police investigator who accused him of sexually harassing and inappropriately touching her.
A rare green comet is streaking across Earth’s skies for the first time in 50,000 years, and Capital Region residents could be able to see it with the naked eye over the next few days.
Ongoing litigation over herbicide use in Lake George isn’t stopping the lake’s regulatory body from attempting chemical treatment for Eurasian watermilfoil this summer.
The Arena Football League, which folded in 2019 after the Albany Empire’s championship win, has relaunched under new leadership and ownership, the league announced.
The Albany Black Chamber of Commerce and Social Club is now officially open at 141 Washington Ave. in Albany.
The development of the 32-acre site straddling the city of Albany and town of Colonie near I-90 would be divided into four phases, focusing heavily on apartments.
A Schenectady patrolman holds the distinction of being both the city’s highest-paid employee of 2022 and, according to the police chief, the highest-paid city worker in memory.
The Coxsackie-Athens Central School District is on thin ice after posting a photo of a dirty snowman that the district praised as being as “diverse” as its student body.
The Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office announced that one of the suspects charged in last year’s fatal shooting at a Marriott hotel near Marist College has been charged in connection with another murder two months prior.
The Rossi & Sons Rosticceria Deli in Poughkeepsie is one of the 100 best restaurants in the U.S. for 2023, according to a new list published by Yelp.
