Good Wednesday morning. Welcome to a brand new month. Spring is just 20 days way (March 20), though it’s still hard to believe, given all the snow that’s on the ground out there.
My advice? Think warm thoughts.
First, I know it’s predictable, but I would be remiss if I didn’t note that today is National Peanut Butter Lovers Day, not to be confused with National Peanut Butter Day (Jan. 24) OR National Peanut Butter Month (all of November).
This day was reportedly created by the National Peanut Board and the Adult Peanut Butter Lovers Fan Club, the existence of which I cannot officially confirm because while it’s mentioned on the internet, there is no website I can locate…though maybe this is it?
Supposedly, this day was initially selected and celebrated in 1990 to commemorate the first commercially available peanut butter in the nation. But I can’t really find a citation of that, either, though there’s a lot to be found on the history of how this delectable and delightful and downright delicious spread come to be.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on to something I know a lot less about, but find no less fascinating: Comics.
Yes, you read that right. I’ve been interested in comics – especially graphic novels – for a long time now. “Maus”, by Art Spiegelman, of course is a classic, and I also love anything by Lucy Knisley, who is really worth checking out if you haven’t had the chance. The “Persepolis” series by Marjane Satrapi is also amazing. And there are far too many online serials to mention here.
I grew up reading “Archie”. My Brooklyn grandmother would always indulge my passion for these comics at the corner store when I came to visit.
I distinctly remember the rotating stand near the door where the comics were displayed, and poring over them until I chose just the right one. I was a fast reader, though, which was something of a problem, and so moved on to books of comics pretty quickly.
When I lived in France as a young adult, the Tintin books were easily accessible and helped me hone my language skills. And when we lived in Japan, I recall all the businessmen on the subway reading magna – some of which were downright pornographic and violent. Doraemon and Doraemi Chan and Hello Kitty were more my speed at the time. (I was 7).
From the multibillion-dollar Marvel franchise to comic cons, (a fan convention that is primarily focus edon comic books and comic book culture, in case you’re not in the know) all things graphic art are big business these days.
If you’re skeptical about how influential and important an art form this is, read “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,” the incredible Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Chabon. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you download it or, better yet, run out a buy a hard copy without delay.
I’m down this rabbit hole because today is the kickoff of Will Eisner Week (March 1-7), which an annual celebration honoring a the Brooklyn native who is believed to have coined the term “graphic novel” and is credited with recognizing that comics were, in fact, not trash as their critics would have you think, but literature.
Eisner, (no relation to Disney’s CEO Michael Eisner). is best known (among those who know him) for creating the masked crime-fighter comic book character of Spirit/Denny Colt, though as one half of the studio Eisner & Iger, he and Jerry Iger co-created and scripted a number of popular adventure comics in the 1930s.
One of the comic industry’s most prestigious awards – The Eisner Award, which is sometimes referred to as the as the ‘Oscars’ of the American comic book business – is named after him, or rather, it was posthumously named for him after he died in 2005.
It is traditional during this week to participate in a comic con in Eisner’s honor. But maybe just reading up on him would also be a good place to start – it was for me.
It’s going to warm up a bit today, with temperatures reaching into the 40s. Look for occasional rain showers in the afternoon.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden accused Republicans of “playing politics” with people’s lives as he tried to strike a contrast between his plans to expand access to health care and Republican efforts to cut into federal programs to reduce the budget deficit.
While in Virginia Beach, Biden outlined the tenants of his health care proposal during an address which contrasted his plans with that MAGA Republicans who he said would make deep cuts in programs that, in particular, support families and seniors.
The White House has confirmed that Biden will travel to Alabama to take part in the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
Biden announced that he would nominate Julie Su as Labor secretary, moving swiftly to fill a coming vacancy within his cabinet. She is currently deputy Labor secretary, and will replace Marty Walsh, who is departing to run the professional hockey players’ union.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed deeply skeptical of the legality of Biden’s plan to wipe out more than $400 billion in student debt, heightening the prospect that justices will thwart efforts to forgive the loans of tens of millions of borrowers.
Chief Justice John Roberts indicated the administration had acted without sufficiently explicit congressional authorization to undertake one of the most ambitious and expensive executive actions in U.S. history, violating separation-of-powers principles.
If the conservatives do ultimately rule in favor of the policy’s challengers, the hearing made clear they will have to grapple with the legal questions around why states and individual borrowers should be allowed to sue over the program.
The Commerce Department kicked off the application process for semiconductor manufacturing subsidies under the $53 billion Chips Act, along with conditions aimed at advancing some of the Biden administration’s priorities.
Amid tensions with China marked by the dramatic downing of a spy balloon and new warnings that Beijing is considering providing lethal aid to Russia, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s sales pitch is simple: Making chips is core to US national security.
House Republican lawmakers said they plan to allow a broad group of media outlets to view security-camera footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, about a week after Fox News host Tucker Carlson said his show was granted access to the tapes.
At least 36 people were killed and more than 85 injured when a passenger train and a freight train collided in northern Greece, with an impact so intense that cranes were being used to remove wreckage in the search for survivors, a Greek fire service official said.
Recovery efforts are underway, with the focus on the first two carriages of the passenger train, the Greek Fire Service said. The death toll is expected to rise.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman and first openly gay person to lead the city, lost her re-election bid, a resounding defeat that reflected voter dissatisfaction over her handling of crime and policing in the nation’s third-largest city.
The two candidates to emerge from the first round of voting in Chicago and advance to an April 4 runoff, were Paul Vallas, a former public schools executive, and Brandon Johnson, a county board commissioner.
Lightfoot, who is the first sitting mayor in Chicago since 1989 to lose re-election, said in a concession speech that she “will be rooting and praying for our next mayor to deliver for the people of this city for years to come.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Covid pandemic was probably the result of a lab leak in China, providing the first public confirmation of the bureau’s classified judgment of how the virus that led to the deaths of nearly seven million people emerged.
Wray said that Beijing has stymied efforts by the U.S. and others to investigate the origins of the coronavirus.
Savannah Guthrie tested positive for COVID yesterday while hosting Today, causing her to leave the show ‘s set during a live broadcast.
This marks the third COVID-19 diagnosis for Guthrie, who tested positive for the virus in January and May of 2022.
While U.S. offices are half empty three years into the Covid-19 pandemic, workplaces in Europe and Asia are bustling again. Americans have embraced remote work and turned their backs on offices with greater regularity than their counterparts overseas.
A court has temporarily blocked a repeal of New York’s Covid vaccination mandate for health care workers. The state Supreme Court Appellate Division granted the stay at the request of the state Health Department.
The state asked for the stay until the Appellate Division hears its appeal of a Jan. 13 decision that struck down the vaccination mandate for nurses, doctors and other employees of hospitals and other health facilities in New York state.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that Robert Megna will return to his former post as state budget director, starting immediately. He will serve through this legislative session and assist with the search for a long-term replacement before returning to SUNY.
“Bob brings a wealth of experience and knowledge built over his multi-decade career in New York state government and I am grateful for his commitment to public service and his leadership during this crucial time,” Hochul said.
Charles King, CEO of the nonprofit Housing Works, was arrested along with other demonstrators at a state health budget hearing in Albany yesterday, a dramatic start to a long day of policy discussions.
King and the other protesters were there to denounce upcoming changes to the state’s Medicaid pharmacy program, one of the more contentious health care issues on the budget agenda this year.
Though she’s now calling for more federal rail regulations, in December, the governor vetoed legislation requiring freight trains to be staffed with at least two crew members. Rail workers say it’s a bare minimum for safety.
Backers of the massive offshore wind tower plant slated for the Port of Albany want more money from Hochul and are facing further delays as their prime contractor has told its subcontractors that they should seek other work, at least for the time being.
State lawmakers recently introduced a series of bills intended to curb the use of corporal punishment in New York schools after news reports revealed incidents of physical force being used for discipline.
A federal authority established by Congress is preparing to take the reins of regulating horse racing from state agencies in New York and across the country on March 27.
Two of the state Legislature’s most outspoken opponents of charter schools are also among the biggest recipients of campaign cash from New York’s teachers’ union and its political action committee.
A bill set to be introduced in the Legislature as early as this week by state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-Staten Island) and Assemblyman Manny De Los Santos (D-Inwood) would make it a felony to commit even minor assaults against retail workers.
Acting New York Chief Judge Anthony Cannataro for the first time publicly addressed the fallout from the Democratic-led state Senate’s rejection of Hector LaSalle’s nomination to become the chief judge of New York. LaSalle was in the audience.
Mayor Eric Adams dismissed the idea of the separation of church and state, and also suggested that banning organized public school prayer was a mistake, saying, “When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools.”
“State is the body, church is the heart,” Adams said while at a prayer breakfast. “You take the heart out of the body, the body dies. I can’t separate my belief because I’m an elected official. When I walk, I walk with God. When I talk, I talk with God.”
Adams, who’s Christian, has over the course of his political career spoken extensively about how important faith is in civic life and said as recently as last February that “God” told him to become mayor.
Adams’ speech drew swift condemnation and criticism from many left-leaning groups and people in New York and beyond.
“It is odd (Adams) would need a refresher on the First Amendment,” NYCLU’s Donna Lieberman said. “…he has sworn to uphold the constitution more than once…The very opening passage of the Bill of Rights makes clear that church and state must be separate.”
Adams’ Subway Safety Plan — which is turning a year old — only began to yield results after City Hall flooded the system with police officers on overtime shifts five months ago, a NY Post analysis shows.
In a kind of culmination of FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh’s tumultuous early tenure, four of her top chiefs sued her and the department that took aim at her experience, repeatedly leaning on the same phrase: “Never a day as a firefighter.”
The FDNY’s highest-ranking black woman and a longtime spokesman are reportedly preparing to get the boot in just the latest turmoil to rock the department.
Twenty three dead whales have washed ashore along the East Coast since early December, including 12 in New Jersey and New York, according to NOAA. The pace of the deaths worries federal scientists, even if the total numbers are below some prior years.
Citing the deaths of notorious inmates James “Whitey” Bulger and Jeffrey Epstein, jailed NXIVM leader Keith Raniere warned prison officials he is in imminent danger as a “trophy target” if transferred from his Arizona federal lock-up to a more restrictive facility.
Neal Estano is leaving NewsChannel13 after a decade with the station and more than 35 years in broadcast media. He confirmed he’s not going to another station.
A Greenfield man who was accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old got the lowest sentence possible, three and a half years, in a plea deal with the Saratoga County District Attorney’s office.
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy this week officially kicked off his re-election bid for a third term at a well-known Woodlawn diner, reiterating that he is the “best qualified” and that his political “record is clear.”
The City of Albany has reached a new contract with its firefighters that will provide raises each year of the four-year deal.
The Flurry Festival, a 35-year-old event held in Saratoga Springs over Presidents Day weekend that is one of the largest celebrations for folk dance and music in the nation, is facing a financial crisis after two years of pandemic-related low attendance.
Authorities found a BB gun Tuesday morning at Shenendehowa High School West after students reported that a classmate had a firearm, the school district said.
A week before the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference starts its men’s and women’s basketball championships in Atlantic City, the league has still not announced where it will hold the event next year and beyond.
Despite one of the mildest winters on record, several Capital Region school districts ran out of snow days before Tuesday’s storm.
Los Angeles County agreed to pay Vanessa Bryant and three of her daughters nearly $30 million to settle a lawsuit and potential claims over the sharing of graphic photos of the January 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, and one of their daughters.
