Good Tuesday morning.
I have lived in upstate New York for most of my adult life, just a stone’s throw – OK, an easy, few-hour drive – away from a foreign country, Canada, and yet for some reason I can count on one hand the number of trips I’ve taken to visit our neighbors to the North.
For some people, Canada is best known as the focus of a very catchy and funny, but also insulting South Park movie song, or the place where really good maple syrup is made, professional ice hockey is played, moose wander freely, and cheese fries (poutine) are consumed. But it is really so much more, if only you give it a chance.
I’ve been to Quebec City, which completely charming and has an amazing foodie scene, a total of once. Ditto Montreal. I did make a pilgrimage to Nova Scotia – one of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories – which is admittedly a bit of a haul. And once I ventured across the Peace Bridge to see the (admittedly much nicer, sorry) Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
But that’s about it. Really sad, if you think about it. I am about to get on a plane and fly nine hours to visit a French-speaking country when there’s one within easy access literally right next door.
I am also woefully under educated when it comes to Canadian history. I did pay attention to their residential schools scandal, but I had a professional interest in the subject at the time. Suffice it to say that neither the Canadians nor the Americans have covered themselves with glory when it comes to how they’ve treated indigenous people.
So, I guess it’s not too surprising – albeit a little embarrassing – that as I was Googling around in search of a subject for today’s post that I was unaware of the fact that today is National Acadian Day, (AKA Fête nationale de l’Acadie).
This holiday is observed in honor of the Acadians, an ethic group who descended from French settlers who colonized Canada in the 17th century, living mostly in the areas that are today known as the Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, (home to the beloved fictional character Anne of Green Gables).
For the record, the Canadian Acadians and the Louisiana Acadians (AKA Cajuns) are intertwined, with many members of both groups forced off their lands by the British in what is known as the “Great Upheaval” or”Le Grand Dérangement, which translates into the Great Disturbance. For more on that, if you’re the sort who goes in for history, click here or here.
Acadian Day has its roots in the first National Convention of the Acadians, which was held at Memramcook, New Brunswick, in 1881. There was initially some debate over which date to hold this holiday on, some argued for June 24, which is Saint-Jean Baptiste Day (the national holiday of French Canada), while Our Lady of Assumption on Aug. 15.
Obviously, the Aug. 15 side won, but it wasn’t until more than a century later that the country’s federal and provincial governments introduced legislation to support National Acadian Day in 2003 and in 2004, respectively.
The festivities that occur on Acadian Day sound like a lot of fun, and mainly involve a celebration called the Tintamarre, which calls for parading around while wearing costumes and making a lot of noise using improvised instruments. (Tintamarre is also the name of a Caribbean island, so don’t get confused if you go do a quick search of the interwebs).
Today is not looking great for parading about, weather-wise. There’s rain in the forecast for the morning, with clouds and showers hanging around through the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid-70s. Maybe just stay in and eat some poutine instead.
In the headlines…
A Georgia grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump – his fourth to date – charging him with felony racketeering and numerous conspiracy charges as part of a sweeping investigation into the effort by him and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.
An Atlanta grand jury spent hours hearing evidence as prosecutors began laying out their investigation of Trump and some of his former advisers.
The 41-count indictment also names lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Ray Smith and several other people.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave Trump and 18 co-defendants until Aug. 25 at noon to voluntarily surrender in Georgia following the indictment.
Taken together, the Georgia charges allege a sweeping criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election result and undermine U.S. democracy.
Trump launched a post-midnight attack on the judge handling the case charging him with seeking to steal the 2020 election, despite a warning from the court late last week against “inflammatory statements.”
In a Truth Social post just before 1 a.m., Trump assailed U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan as “highly partisan” and “very biased and unfair,” citing a statement she made during the sentencing of a woman who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The Justice Department (DOJ) is fighting an effort from Trump’s legal team to reestablish a secure facility in Mar-a-Lago, arguing he would be “the only defendant ever” in a classified document case to review evidence in their home.
The Fulton County, Ga., court clerk’s office addressed what it called a “fictitious” document that Reuters reported had been briefly posted on the court’s website indicating charges against Trump for his attempts at overturning his 2020 election loss in the state.
The New York judge presiding over the criminal case against Trump in Manhattan has declined to remove himself from the proceedings, a loss for the former president as he anticipates a potential fourth indictment this week.
Finding that recusing himself would not be in the public interest, Justice Juan Merchan said he had examined his “conscience and is certain” in his “ability to be fair and impartial.”
Biden is facing a backlash for his reportedly dismissive responses this past weekend to questions about the recent wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, that have taken the lives of 96 people with more still unaccounted for.
Biden had yet to offer a verbal statement last night in response to the mounting death toll in Maui — the deadliest US blaze in more than a century — after spending the weekend on the beach near his Delaware vacation home.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency encouraged survivors of the Maui wildfires to register with the government as soon as possible to receive a range of assistance, including an immediate payment of $700 to cover food and water.
In the hunt to determine what caused the fire that consumed Lahaina, the focus has increasingly turned to Hawaii’s biggest power utility — and whether the company did enough to prevent a wildfire in the high winds that swept over Maui last week.
Nevada Republicans confirmed that the state would jump the traditional line in the presidential nominating calendar by scheduling a caucus for Feb. 8, 2024.
A national political movement that could offer an independent presidential ticket in 2024 as an alternative to major-party nominees said it has won ballot access in 10 states, after North Carolina election officials formally granted status to a “No Labels” affiliate.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he supported a federal ban on abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy, then quickly backtracked — underscoring both the importance of the issue and his ideologically uncomfortable position within the Democratic primary field.
Dozens of advocacy groups have joined in a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul demanding the state force towns to accept migrants from New York City, pressuring the governor to take a more aggressive approach to the city’s deepening asylum seeker crisis.
Hochul should take executive action overruling county-level orders meant to block the movement of migrants, according to the letter, which was led by the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Society.
New York plans to use $25 million in state funds to rent temporary homes for up to 1,250 asylum-seeking families who opt to leave New York City’s crowded shelters.
Hundreds of beds in the city’s shelter system sat vacant while a large group of migrants were sleeping on a Manhattan sidewalk for several nights in a row earlier this summer, according to city Department of Homeless Services data.
Staten Island elected officials are making it known to City Hall and the Biden administration to halt plans to use Fort Wadsworth as a possible migrant shelter site, charging that doing so would violate federal protections of national historic landmarks.
Fuming New Yorkers accosted Mayor Eric Adams over the weekend, claiming he is going to “destroy” the city with his handling of the migrant crisis — as the mayor made a subtle dig at Biden.
A Florida-based company has been awarded an $18 million no-bid contract to provide emergency shower trailers for New York’s asylum seekers, after complaints from electeds and advocates about the absence of showers at shelters housing migrants.
The second wave of asylum seekers in Rochester has been postponed. Monroe County Executive Adam Bello has asked Hochul to send in the National Guard and other resources to assist with asylum seekers bused from New York City to Rochester last week.
Most county leaders across New York say they do not have the capacity to welcome asylum seekers, and are putting the pressure on state and federal officials to stop playing “hot potato” as the consequences of the immigration of thousands weighs on localities.
A coalition of 175 concerned CAURD stakeholders within New York’s cannabis industry, urgently requested that Hochul intervene and address the critical situation arising from the codification of the CAURD (Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary) program.
North Country leaders and advocates are asking Hochul to veto an election bill that was passed by the Legislature at the end of the session.
A New York appellate court has dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by a former commissioner for the state’s now-dismantled ethics panel accusing Andrew Cuomo’s attorney of defamation for suggesting he had leaked confidential information to the press.
The battle for control of Congress next year could hinge on the outcome of a court battle over New York’s political boundaries that is set to be argued before the Court of Appeals in November.
Over $3.2 million in federal funding is coming to assist fire departments across New York state, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced.
Adams named his press secretary, Fabien Levy, as deputy mayor for communications – the first time someone has been appointed to such a role in city government since Mayor Bloomberg’s administration.
Adams’s promotion of Levy – the first Jewish deputy mayor – is part of his all-out focus on controlling his messaging through political stagecraft and calculated choices about whom the mayor talks to and when.
New York City councilmembers are calling a new law that fines landlords leasing space to illegal weed shops a “game changer.” It’s in response to what members called an “explosion” of unlicensed smoke shops opening up across the city.
The law, which is now in effect, will see owners of commercial spaces fined under a two-strike system if they are busted knowingly leasing space to unlicensed sellers, the City Council announced.
A looming school-bus-driver strike could impact up to 150,000 city students, according to Big Apple schools Chancellor David Banks.
New construction in Manhattan slowed markedly in 2023, with just 21 building permits filed in the first half of the year, the lowest midyear total since 2010, according to a REBNY report, following the expiration of a critical tax break for developers known as 421a.
Investment firms are buying smaller buildings in the outer boroughs of New York City from families and smaller landlords. Some tenants are wary.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Police Chief Eric Hawkins touted the city’s efforts to tamp down gun violence in what they said would be an ongoing discussion around public safety in the city.
A longtime employee with Albany’s Department of General Services is suing the city alleging she endured years of sexual harassment that culminated with her being assaulted by a supervisor in 2011.
The owner of the Troy Harbour Point Gardens apartment complex has filed a motion in State Supreme Court to quash City Council subpoenas to compel testimony by the owners and staff and the delivery of documents related to the apartments’ condition.
A home chef Bobby Flay bought two years ago on Fifth Avenue is back on the market for nearly double the $1.7 million purchase price.
Considering his wealth and longtime devotion to summers at the track, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy bought a thoroughbred racehorse for $650,000 in a seemingly inevitable development.
