Good Wednesday morning, welcome to a whole new month.
A whole new FREEZING COLD MONTH. OK, I know. We live in upstate New York, what did I expect? I was lulled into a false sense of security, I guess. And now I’m paying the price.
For those of you who keep track of this sort of thing, 2023 is not a leap year. That means there is no Feb. 29. I’ve always kind of been fascinated by leap year, which is a year with 366 days instead of 365 and occurs every four years.
The purpose of leap year is to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons and solar year, (that’s the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun – about 365¼ days).
So what does this mean for someone who is lucky/rare enough to be born on the last day of February in a leap year? I guess for celebration’s sake, they can have a party on Feb. 28 or March 1, but that doesn’t change the fact that their birthday was REALLY on a date that only comes around every four years.
Which technically – but not legally – means they’re not aging as fast as everyone else? If you really want to go down the rabbit hole on this one, click here.
I realize I have just spent an entire half hour Googling around to find information about something that won’t even be a thing for another year yet. So let’s turn our attention to something more immediate.
Today is the first day of Black History Month – a four-week celebration and recognition of the central role African Americans have made to the foundational history of this country.
This month was the brainchild of Carter Godwin Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian, author, journalist who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), which was dedicated to researching and elevating the achievements of Black Americans.
In 1926, the ASNLH launched what it called Negro History week in the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass. It was traditional at the time to host performances and lectures during this week, and a wide variety of celebrations and local events.
The week slowly grew in popularity, and by the late 1960s – thanks in large part to the civil rights movement – awareness of the Black experience had grown significantly, and what was once a seven-day observance had extended into a month-long experience.
President Gerald Ford was the first to officially recognize Black History Month from the White House in 1976. At the time, he called on Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
The theme of this year’s Black History Month is “Black Resistance,” which takes on a whole new urgency and level of meaning given the spate of nationwide demonstrations that have occurred in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ killing.
The Weather Channel is already flagging a wind advisory that will be in effect from Friday at 1 a.m. until Saturday at 4 p.m. (Would that it were Friday, but we have to get through the executive budget announcement first, which will occur today at noon).
Anyway, says the WC: “Dangerously cold wind chills possible. Wind chills 25 to 40 below zero.” Ugh. Dig out the woolies now. You won’t need them today, necessarily, as we’re looking at a mix of sun and clouds and temperatures in the comparatively balmy 30-something range. But it might be best to start mentally preparing for what’s to come now.
Unless, of course, you prefer denial. Like me. In that case…
In the headlines…
As President Joe Biden welcomes Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for a highly anticipated one-on-one meeting today, the White House is making one thing clear: There will be no negotiations on the debt ceiling.
In a memo, the White House said Biden intends to ask McCarthy, to “commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default” and to lay out his specific plan to reduce the deficit if he wants to attach it to an extension of the debt ceiling.
McCarthy responded on Twitter: “Mr. President: I received your staff’s memo. I’m not interested in political games. I’m coming to negotiate for the American people.”
Not so long ago, Biden and McCarthy used to talk things over at breakfast in Biden’s vice presidential home at the Naval Observatory.
Biden yesterday showcased a $292 million mega grant that will be used to help build a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, part of a broader effort to draw a contrast between his economic vision and that of GOP.
Biden was joined for a tour and announcement at the West Side Rail Yard by Governors Hochul and Murphy, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Senators Schumer, Gillibrand, Booker, Menendez and others.
Biden’s visit to New York City came as Republicans have accused him of supporting reckless spending that fueled inflation.
Biden is fine-tuning his argument for reelection in an intensive stretch of travel and fundraising, homing in on the newly powerful House GOP as a threat to the rebounding economy as the pieces of his expected campaign come together.
FBI agents searched the office Biden used after his vice presidency in Washington, D.C., in mid-November after his lawyers first discovered classified documents there earlier that month.
Since Biden intends to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, many Americans could have to start paying for Covid-19 testing and treatment after the declarations cease.
Pfizer generated nearly $57 billion in combined sales last year from its Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine and Paxlovid antiviral pill. That works out to almost 60% of the company’s total revenue for 2022. But the boom appears to be over.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic propelled pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s earnings to a record $100 billion last year, almost $57 billion of which was driven by its vaccine and antiviral pill Paxlovid, the company reported.
Republicans pushed legislation through the House that would repeal vaccine mandates and declare the pandemic over, blowing past Democratic opposition in a broader drive to use the federal response to the coronavirus spread against Biden and his party.
Michael E. Hunter, the brother-in-law of Biden died at the age of 72. The Hunter family is best known locally as the former owners of Hunter Dinerant, a diner in Auburn, NY that was frequented by the president and his two sons when they were young.
The Biden administration is expected to propose a scaled-down version of a sprawling oil drilling project in the North Slope of Alaska. The proposal would allow drilling to proceed on a limited basis as part of an $8 billion project known as Willow.
A proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to overhaul higher education would mandate courses in Western civilization, eliminate diversity programs and reduce the protections of tenure.
The Republican governor debuted the proposal as part of a larger, higher education legislative package that is expected to be taken up by the GOP-controlled statehouse when its regular session begins in March.
The proposal is a top priority for DeSantis. It also includes giving politically appointed presidents and university boards of trustees more power over hiring and firing at universities and urging schools to focus their missions on Florida’s future workforce needs.
The board of trustees at the New College of Florida, a small liberal-arts college that DeSantis has targeted for an overhaul as part of his higher-education agenda, fired its president and named the state’s former education commissioner as the interim replacement.
In the first weeks of his third presidential campaign, former President Donald Trump notched a less-than-stellar fund-raising haul, yet another signal that his hold on some conservatives may be loosening.
Embattled New York Republican Rep. George Santos stepped down from his House committee seats early yesterday as pressure mounted for him to step down from Congress.
But Santos also indicated that recusing himself from committees may be a temporary move and that he would return to his positions once his legal and ethical reviews are resolved.
Nancy Marls, Santos’ longtime campaign treasurer and trusted aide, has resigned, potentially exacerbating the congressman’s already troubled finances.
Multiple men have described past relationships with the Long Island Republican congressman – some allegedly occurring when they were still teenagers – that they said turned toxic due to a flood of lies that Santos told to try to manipulate and trap them.
In an interview with OAN, Santos, who is facing calls for his resignation for false statements, now promises that “everything is going to be above board.”
Santos’ campaign expense reports from South Florida only raise more questions about the time he spent there, with expenditures that don’t appear to add up, according to a Miami Herald report.
At noon today, Gov. Kathy Hochul will supply details of her spending and policy goals with her annual budget proposal.
Hochul rejected the Grieving Families Act, arguing that Democratic lawmakers rushed passage before its impact could be fully evaluated. The move heightened tension between the governor and the Legislature.
Hochul’s veto of the bill that would have overhauled the state’s 175-year-old wrongful death statute, angered some families whose elderly loved ones were killed in a Buffalo supermarket mass shooting.
Top Democratic lawmakers in New York said they will again look to change New York’s wrongful death law this year.
Hochul and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins have not spoken regarding the governor’s failed nomination of Justice Hector D. LaSalle as chief judge since the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the selection two weeks ago.
Three days before Memphis released four videos of officers with its police department’s SCORPION street crime unit beating Tyre Nichols to death, Hochul spoke at a police HQ in Albany, touting plans to ramp up state support for similar squads in New York.
State legislators are considering a new bill that would require hospitals to publicly list procedures they opt not to perform, an attempt to identify ‘health care deserts’ where abortions, reproductive services and gender-affirming care are not available.
New York’s debt is expected to jump 42 percent over the next five years, an increase that potentially places the state on shaky financial ground and could unfairly burden taxpayers, according to a report issued yesterday by the state comptroller’s office.
The 64-campus SUNY college system is requiring incoming freshman at all of its colleges they will have to pass a new “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice”-themed class to earn a diploma.
New York City’s “right to shelter” policy does not apply to the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have sought sanctuary in the boroughs since last spring, Mayor Eric Adams said this week.
Asylum seekers remained camped outside a Manhattan hotel for the second day in a row, and said they want to hear directly from the mayor.
After migrants faced off with New York City police over being transferred from a hotel to free housing, Adams has called the entire situation “very frustrating.”
Some migrants agreed to tour the Red Hook, Brooklyn facility, but returned to the Watson Hotel unconvinced, one said.
The world’s tallest Holiday Inn has won a judge’s approval to become a shelter for migrants in downtown Manhattan — clearing the way for a deal with the city that will pay the hotel’s owner $190 a room per night.
Adams, a former NYPD captain who was also assaulted by police as a teenager, said that police departments must concern themselves with the “basic aptitude” of police officers and recruits, in addition to training.
Adams is showing no signs of stopping a delayed plan to switch 250,000 retired municipal workers from traditional Medicare to a private Medicare Advantage plan – with or without the cooperation of the City Council or the support of retirees themselves.
New York City’s welfare agency failed to process more than half of all food stamp applications in a timely manner over a four-month period last year, and had nearly as bad of a clearance rate for cash assistance claims, the Adams administration admitted.
Members of the New York City Council clashed over a proposal to name a Harlem block in honor of Elijah Muhammad, the controversial late leader of the Nation of Islam.
Harlem Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan could be in hot water for using government resources to send out a mailer that included an address for her campaign website.
An artwork installation at the MTA’s brand new, $11 billion train terminal extension for the Long Island Rail Road beneath the historic Grand Central complex misspelled the name of one of America’s most famous painters, Georgia O’Keeffe.
After more than two decades, a developer’s mega-project could finally take root at the sprawling, fallow site near the United Nations headquarters in Midtown. Its latest bid: a proposal for Manhattan’s first Vegas-style casino – with a ferris wheel.
With its current 10-year license expiring in July, Madison Square Garden is asking New York City officials for a permanent permit to run the arena at its site above Penn Station.
Madison Square Garden has tapped a high-profile spin doctor – former White House spokesperson Hope Hicks – to help chairman James Dolan, a major Trump donor, deflect criticism of his use of facial recognition technology.
The Manhattan district attorney office’s failure to meet required deadlines allowed a disgraced NYPD detective to walk away a free man, unlike many of the people he put behind bars.
Amazon violated labor law in advance of unionization elections last year at two warehouses on Staten Island, a federal administrative judge has ruled.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has a housing plan that identifies roughly 171 underused sites across the borough where he says more than 73,000 homes can be built, an aspirational vision reflecting the depths of the housing shortage in the city.
In the wake of Nichols’ death, the leaders of Saratoga Black Lives Matter demanded that city officials either move swiftly to implement the 50-point police reform plan, including the formation of the Civilian Review Board, or abolish the police altogether.
Saratoga Casino Holdings, along with its partners, are prepping to meet the first deadline in a series with the New York Gaming Commission to win a license for a $3 billion casino on Coney Island.
A 70-year-old woman on the Troy city school board and her daughter were among 24 reputed members of a large-scale marijuana trafficking ring that authorities charged with shipping thousands of kilograms of pot from the West Coast to the Capital Region.
Smoothie King, seeing the success of an October store opening in Clifton Park, is opening more locations in the Capital Region.
The City of Cohoes will begin paying for ambulance coverage today after Empire Ambulance Service’s operating license was bought by a New York City-based company called Ambulnz, Mayor Bill Keeler said.
With the land and financing in place, Bill Brayton said he’s already getting calls from potential partners regarding his company’s plan to construct what would be Rensselaer’s only hotel near the train station.
The actor Alec Baldwin and the armorer on the film “Rust” were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of the movie’s cinematographer, according to court papers, filed in the First Judicial District Court in New Mexico.
“The district attorney and the special prosecutor are fully focused on securing justice for Halyna Hutchins,” a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said. “The evidence and the facts speak for themselves.”
