Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
I feel a severe case of spring fever coming on. It’s probably premature, given the precarious nature of spring in upstate New York. I’m feeling optimistic, though, and lulled into a false sense of security by the 50+ degree weather – even though looking ahead I’m seeking a roller coaster of highs and lows from the 30s into the 60s.
This time of year, my emotional state tends to also swing about as wildly as the weather.
I am so DONE with gray and mud and wet. I long for long, warm days when I don’t have to don 10 layers just to take the dogs for a brief jaunt. Of course, by the time that happens, I’ll be worried about other things related to taking the dogs outside…like ticks and mouldering dead things they might eat/roll in.
But let’s not think about that for now.
I know I write a lot about the dogs in this space – probably too much for the taste of those who are not dog people. WHO ARE YOU EVEN THOUGH? I think if I hadn’t come to be a dog person myself so late in life I might be less…evangelical? Effusive? Emotive? …about how much I adore them.
I also know that it’s a luxury to own one pet, let alone three. Pet ownership is expensive.
Depending on the dog’s needs (like, does it require a special diet? Make lots of trips to the vet? Wear designer clothes? Go to doggie daycare or require a dog walker’s services? etc.), an owner can spend anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month on their fur children. This is certainly less than it costs to raise human children, mind you, but it does add up.
Aside: Apparently, according to one survey of 1,000 U.S. owners, the average annual cost of owning a dog is $376 a month or $4,512 a year. I find this on the low side, personally.
Assuming, however, that you have a non-picky eater dog who thinks sticks are fine toys, sleeps on your bed or – better yet – on the floor, and doesn’t require frequent vet visits, the biggest expense (early on, anyway) is likely to be getting your dog “fixed” (spayed or neutered), so they can’t reproduce.
Unless you’re planning on breeding your dog, spaying or neutering is pushed very hard as something a “responsible” pet owner does to address overpopulation. And, as we have discussed before in this space, there are far too many animals waiting for adoption – a process that can end in euthanasia with alarmingly increasing frequency – in this country.
But, like most things, the decision to spay or neuter your pet is far more complicated than all that. There are pros and cons, and some studies have shown that the hormonal loss associated with removing an animal’s sexual organs can have both a negative AND positive impact on their overall health. There are hormone sparing options, but they also have pros and cons.
I feel like it’s only fair to put this information out there before also telling you that it’s World Spay Day, the stated purpose of which is to educate pet owners and caretakers on the “importance and benefits of sterilization.”
Homeless pets reproducing by the thousands – if not millions, worldwide – are a significant problem, no doubt. And there are many nonprofit programs out there to assist in addressing this problem – as well as to help low-income pet owners access these surgeries, if they so choose. (There are far too many for me to link them all, but try here, here, and here for starters).
Another amazing day is on tap…there went my productivity, right out the window. It will be mostly sunny with temperatures flirting with 60 degrees.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden said he was hopeful that a temporary Gaza ceasefire could begin as soon as next Monday, as American officials pressed hard to revive a stalled diplomatic process.
“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet,” Biden told reporters during a visit to New York after taping an appearance on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. “My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.”
In a major shift, Israeli negotiators have signaled that Israel could release a group of high-profile Palestinian prisoners serving lengthy jail terms in exchange for the freedom of some of the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, officials say.
Biden last night made his surprised audiences during the 10th-anniversary episode of “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
Biden was a guest on the first episode of Seth Meyers’ talk show a decade ago when he was vice president. He appeared alongside actor and comedian Amy Poehler last night, who was also on the first episode of Meyers’ show.
During his appearance, Biden joked that a potential 2024 endorsement by Taylor Swift is “classified”. He has come up with a new defense against claims that he is too old to run for another term: At least he knows who his wife is — as opposed to “the other guy.”
Biden and House Speaker Mike Johnson have virtually no relationship, which is putting an additional strain on the nation’s government this week, as both men barrel toward another government funding deadline on Friday.
Biden will convene the top four congressional leaders at the White House today as lawmakers swiftly run out of time to strike a deal to avert another partial government shutdown.
Biden is planning to make a rare visit to the southern border on Thursday, his press secretary said, traveling to Brownsville, Texas, on the same day that former President Donald Trump has already scheduled a border trip.
Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas. He last visited the border in January 2023 when he stopped in El Paso. He faced immense criticism from Republicans for not going to the border as migrant encounters reached a record high in December.
Meanwhile, Trump reportedly will deliver remarks at Eagle Pass, Texas, which is about 330 miles from Biden’s stop.
More than three-fourths of voters say they want special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden released, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll shared with The Hill.
Months out from November’s high-stakes election, the White House and the Biden campaign are going public with growing frustration about how the president is being portrayed in the media.
Trump has appealed his $454 million New York civil fraud judgment, challenging a judge’s finding that he lied about his wealth as he grew the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency.
Trump’s attorneys maintain Judge Arthur Engoron may have “committed errors of law and/or fact (and)…abused his discretion and/or acted in excess of his jurisdiction” when he handed down the judgment against Trump and his company earlier this month.
Trump’s stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, his social media company, could be worth as much as $4 billion once a long-delayed merger closes, which could provide him with a potential financial lifeline as a civil penalty looms.
Manhattan prosecutors are asking the judge overseeing Trump’s criminal case involving hush money payments to impose a gag order to stop the former president from publicly disparaging potential witnesses and others involved in the trial.
In their request, prosecutors cited what they called Trump’s “longstanding and perhaps singular history” of attacking people he considers to be adversaries, including those associated with his other criminal and civil cases.
Trump and Mitch McConnell haven’t said a word to each other since December 2020. But people close to both men are working behind the scenes to make bygones of the enmity between them and to pave the way for a critical endorsement.
The Supreme Court yesterday appeared conflicted over far-reaching social media laws in Texas and Florida aiming to control how platforms moderate content — particularly ones that are political in nature.
The justices invoked everything from how the law could impact the hand-made craft online marketplace Etsy, and whether Google-owned Gmail could delete the accounts of Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow, in arguments that spanned nearly four hours.
Highway superintendents and local officials in Rensselaer County gathered yesterday to push back against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to cut local street and highway improvement funding by $60 million next year.
Hochul pledged her support to Long Island’s Muslim community in a visit to the Islamic Center of Melville, Long Island, following a racially charged outburst last week, which left many Mosque members frightened.
Hochul’s plan for New York to transition to electric school buses is getting backlash from Republican lawmakers and school officials on Long Island.
Hochul has released the New York State Cyber-security Grant Plan, which details a whole-of-state approach to reduce cyber risk and build cyber resiliency in local governments statewide.
The state Legislature has officially rejected a proposal from the Independent Redistricting Commission to enact new congressional maps. Lawmakers will now need to draw and approve their own map.
Republicans have vowed to sue if the resulting map tilts more toward Democrats, arguing it would violate the state constitution’s ban on political gerrymandering.
The Public Employees Federation quietly parted ways with a top union staffer in January, months after it could not substantiate allegations that he had sexually abused a female union member during a conference in 2019.
Former Gov. David Paterson claims he was discriminated against and blocked from his law school alma mater Hofstra University because he supported opening a casino near the school on Long Island.
Mayor Eric Adams won’t be releasing any data about the toxic chemicals floating around Ground Zero after 9/11 until an “extensive legal review” determines the city’s liability risk.
Adams said during a community event last night that the sanctuary city law needs to be modified and the city should be able to turn those who commit felonies over to ICE and to be deported.
City Councilman Yusef Salaam, in his first hearing as chairman of the Public Safety Committee, referenced his imprisonment in the Central Park jogger case while pressing the NYPD to explain how it tries to prevent wrongful convictions.
Hampton Jitney — the popular bus operator that shuttles New Yorkers to the Hamptons — warned that it may be forced to hike ticket prices when New York City’s imminent congestion pricing takes effect.
New York City supermarkets, bodegas and other small retail businesses would be eligible for cash grants to beef up their security systems under a bill set to be introduced in the City Council this week in response to a local surge in shoplifting.
A 15-year-old who prosecutors said shot two people earlier this month after shoplifting in a Times Square store pleaded not guilty Monday to attempted murder charges, Bragg said.
The police said footage from a surveillance camera in a subway car helped lead to the arrests of three people in connection with the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man last week.
A new report from the NYPD’s federal monitor blasts the department for not fully complying with court-ordered reforms after a decade.
The MTA is testing out placing physical barriers onto the platform at a Harlem subway station in hopes of reducing attacks on train conductors, the agency said.
Flaco the owl’s death is the realization of many conservationists’ fears about his safety in an urban environment – and about the safety of other birds at sanctuaries and zoos across the country.
Three days after Flaco met an untimely fate, apparently succumbing after a crash with a landmarked eight-story building on the Upper West Side, legislators in Albany launched a bid to use the tragedy to whip up support for a package of bird-safety bills.
Students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx will no longer have to pay tuition after a longtime professor donated $1 billion to the school, removing a major financial hurdle to becoming a physician in a historically underserved borough.
Ruth Gottesman, a longtime professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the 93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier, is making free tuition available to all students going forward.
Sean Combs was sued by a music producer who accused the hip-hop mogul of making unwanted sexual contact and of forcing him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them.
A new federal authority that regulates horse racing issued a report finding that wet conditions may have contributed to a spate of injuries that led to 14 horses dying at Saratoga Race Course last year, although other factors may also have been an element.
Four Troy city police officers are facing discipline for an incident in December when they circled their patrol cars around two troopers who had driven into the Lansingburgh area, taunting them with spotlights and warning them to leave the city.
As some of New York’s most influential politicians celebrate the infusion of federal money to expand the GlobalFoundries Fab 8 campus in Malta, questions remain about the ability of the state’s electrical grid to meet the needs of another high-demand project.
Zoom Flume in Greene County was fined $38,010 for employing 15-year-old lifeguards at the top of water slides.
RIP Paul L. Gioia, a former apprentice electrician who for five years oversaw New York State’s utility companies as they struggled to cope with the public’s growing concerns over nuclear power plants and consumer complaints about their costs, who died at 81.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
