Good morning, it’s Thursday.
The brief flirtation with temperatures in the 70s left me itching for more warm weather. I’m sure in the height of August when we’ve had a string of 90+ degree days I’ll be lamenting saying this, but BRING ON SUMMER. I’m here for it, and it’s only (technically speaking) 70 days away. A mere blink of an eye.
I’ll admit that I struggled with what to write about today. It’s National Pet Day, which seems like a no brainer for someone who has three dogs that take up a lot of her mental, psychological, and heart space.
I also had a huge scare this week when the big boy – Manny – who is probably the least bright of the bunch, but also the sweetest and the friendliest (unfortunately for him, he’s not a lap dog) – got loose and ran wild for a good 15, 20 minutes.
It was a terrifying experience for both of us. He was completely frantic, which made it all the more difficult to get him to come back. I was convinced he was gone for good. Finding a black dog with strong prey drive in the dark is not an easy feat.
Thankfully, we (Steve, really) managed to corral him. And now I’m in the market for a GPS tracking system.
Manny wasn’t gone for all that long, but it was long enough for me to cycle through all the stages of grief several times and to start to try to imagine life without him. Sure, he is a handful, and sometimes I get frustrated with his constant need for attention, his leash pulling, his bed hogging, and the ridiculously long time it takes for him to pick a spot to poop. But I love him beyond words.
So, National Pet Day hits close to home, but so does another day we’re observing today: World Parkinson’s Day. I have witnessed firsthand the insidious impact of this lifelong and progressive diseases, which causes the brain cells that make dopamine – the chemical that coordinates movement – to stop working or die altogether.
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder with no cure, though there have been advancements in treatment. It is estimated to affect some 1 million people in the United States alone and more than 6 million people across the globe.
If you know anything about this disease, other than knowing someone who has it, it’s probably thanks to the actor Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when he was just 29 years old. He’s now 62, and has spent much of his life educating people about his experience, advocating on behalf of others like him, and raising money for research.
Today, however, is the birthday of the man credited with first “discovering” Parkinson’s in 1817, James Parkinson. He was, in fact, the first to medically describe it as a neurological syndrome, though mentions of its symptoms (tremors, most notably) date back even earlier.
James Parkison was an English surgeon and apothecary, but also – interestingly – a geologist, paleontologist, and political activist. In other words, the man had many interests and pursuits. His 66-page “Essay on the Shaking Palsy” is widely recognized as fundamental to medical history, in general, and neurology in particular, though the disease was not named for him until the 1870s.
The first World Parkinson’s day took place almost 30 years ago – in 1997 – as a collaboration between the who and the European Parkinson’s Disease Association (EPDA) to raise awareness about the disease and focus on the need to find a cure.
The symbol of this day is the red tulip, which honors a Dutch horticulturist named J.W.S. Van der Wereld, who had Parkinson’s disease and named a flower he created in honor of the scientist who had discovered the condition. As I see flowers starting to grow this spring – no tulips yet in our backyard microclimate, but we have daffodils – I am filled with a sense of hope for new beginnings and the possibility of finding a Parkinson’s cure sooner rather than later.
Another gray and rainy day is on tap with temperatures peaking somewhere in the mid-60s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden celebrated the relationship between the US and Japan, calling the alliance “stronger than it’s ever been” as he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state visit yesterday – the first by a Japanese leader to the U.S. in nine years.
Biden and Kishida unveiled plans for military cooperation and projects ranging from missiles to moon landings, strengthening their alliance with an eye on countering China and Russia.
The two leaders announced a range of moves to further enhance military, economic and other cooperation between the two longtime allies as part of the president’s efforts to counter China’s aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Through our partnership, we have strengthened the alliance. We have expanded our work together. We’ve raised our shared ambitions,” Biden said at a joint news conference. “And now the U.S.-Japan alliance is a beacon to the entire world.”
Ambassadors, billionaires, a smattering of Biden family members and even one former president were all in attendance at the fifth state dinner that the president and Jill Biden, the first lady, have held since taking office.
Biden defended his handling of the economy hours after a key economic report found that progress on slowing inflation has stalled, a continued bane on his presidency.
Then president’s former chief of staff Ron Klain said that Biden is too focused on infrastructure and should instead prioritize Americans’ economic concerns as he seeks another term.
Biden said he stands by his prediction that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by the end of the year, despite a new report showing stubbornly high inflation.
The president said that his administration is weighing whether he has the sole power to close the southern border with Mexico should the need arise.
Biden is now beating Donald Trump in the majority of recent polls, just seven months before the presidential election.
A senior Hamas official said that Hamas did not have 40 living hostages in Gaza who met the criteria for an exchange under a proposed cease-fire agreement with Israel being negotiated.
The assertion raised fears that more hostages might be dead than previously believed and came as talks between Hamas and Israel stalled amid disagreements over the permanency of a cease-fire, the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and more.
The inability – or unwillingness – of Hamas to tell Israel which hostages would be released, alive, is a major obstacle to securing a ceasefire deal.
An Israeli airstrike killed three sons of one of the most senior leaders of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who said the strike would not weaken the group’s negotiating position or its resolve in its fight against Israel.
The EPA announced new drinking water standards to limit exposure to a class of chemicals called PFAS. This is the first time the agency has set enforceable limits on PFAS in drinking water.
“There’s no doubt that these chemicals have been important for certain industries and consumer uses, but there’s also no doubt that many of these chemicals can be harmful to our health and our environment,” said EPA administrator Michael Regan.
More than 200 chemical plants nationwide will be required to reduce toxic emissions that are likely to cause cancer under a new rule issued earlier this week by the EPA.
The move comes as part of the Biden administration’s pledge to better protect communities overburdened by pollution.
Donald Trump failed yesterday — for the third day in a row — to convince a New York appeals court to halt his hush money trial from beginning next week.
In Trump’s latest last-minute bid to delay a trial that starts Monday, he filed a civil action in an appeals court against the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan. It sought to delay the trial while the appeals court reconsidered several of the judge’s rulings.
Trump’s loyal longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg headed back to Rikers Island for five months for perjuring himself during the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case against the ex-president.
The sentence, handed down by a state judge in Manhattan, came five days before Trump is to go on trial in the same courthouse on accusations that he covered up a sex scandal. Weisselberg was not charged in that case.
Trump stopped by an Atlanta Chick-fil-A, where he reportedly ordered 30 milkshakes and gave them out to patrons in an apparent attempt to woo local voters.
As providers were flooded with phone calls from frantic patients, Republican lawmakers at the Arizona State Capitol blocked efforts to undo an 1864 ban on nearly all abortions, prompting angry jeers from Democrats.
Days after saying that abortion policies should be left to the states, Trump criticized the Arizona court ruling for upholding the 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions and said he would not sign a national abortion ban if he were elected president.
The governor and state lawmakers appear near a deal to give local governments more authority to crack down on the illegal stores as part of a state budget that could come together as early as next week.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed Medicaid cuts include $125 million from Health Homes, a program that connects the neediest New Yorkers with medical care, food assistance, and more.
Hochul was in Washington, D.C. last night to attend an official state dinner with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. The full guest list is here.
Protracted negotiations over the 10-day-late New York State budget remain unsettled and are likely to spill past the end of the week, lawmakers said, as intricate talks over housing policy present the central sticking point.
State Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh said there are a “lot of moving parts” to a housing deal in the budget, adding “we’re still committed to trying to get a deal that really addresses the homelessness and the eviction crisis” plus additional supply.
With some lawmakers feeling bullish about the inclusion of “good cause” eviction in a housing deal, now there are concerns among activists about what version of the bill will make it to the governor’s desk.
A former Cornell University student pleaded guilty to posting a series of online messages shortly after the war in Gaza began last fall in which he threatened to stab, rape and behead Jewish people, federal prosecutors said.
City Council leaders vowed to defy a new policy controlling interactions with senior officials in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration — a move that followed revelations that NYPD top cop Ed Caban is also skeptical of the plan.
Adams acknowledged knowing a prominent Brooklyn activist who sued several top NYPD officials Monday for allegedly circulating sensitive details and false information about a sexual assault she suffered in order to discredit her.
New Yorkers worried about getting their packages stolen can start having them delivered to secure lockboxes instead of their front doors, under a program rolled out by Adams yesterday.
“We want to send a message to the porch pirates that your days are over of sailing away with our packages,” the mayor said, noting that 90,000 packages are reported stolen every single day in the city.
Adams defended himself when questioned about a report that the federal probe into ties between Turkey and his 2021 campaign has honed in on upgrades he allegedly received on Turkish Airlines flights, but declined to offer more specific details.
Adams is speaking out in favor of legislation to help protect homeowners from squatters.
A group of House Republicans is pressing Adams on whether any federal funds are being used for his city’s prepaid debit card program for migrants.
Jewish students at Cooper Union, who say they were forced to shelter in a school library during a tense protest over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, are suing the college for a failure to address allegations of campus antisemitism.
The Bronx district attorney’s office has assembled a team of prosecutors to review claims of sexual assault made by former detainees on Rikers Island against jail staff in response to a Gothamist investigation.
The NYPD has moved to update its dress code, banning shorts on transit beats and white turtlenecks while on patrol. It will also tell officers not to wear tactical cargo pants and reinforce longstanding guidance including a ban on shoelaces that are not black.
Thirteen members of a Hasidic Jewish community were arraigned on charges stemming from a January incident in which a Brooklyn synagogue wall was damaged by young men wielding a hammer and crowbar — setting off a melee captured on video.
A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old Queens boy, whom he mistook for a rival gang member, the authorities said.
A baby died during childbirth in late 2023 after Brooklyn hospital medical staff appeared to ignore worrying signs for several hours, a new report by state health investigators has found. The same doctor was involved in a different mother’s death. He was fired.
New York City has partially extended its one-year, $432 million contract with DocGo, the for-profit mobile health care company that has faced controversy while overseeing the sheltering of migrants upstate.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who is vying for Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s seat in one of the country’s most competitive Democratic primaries, announced a more than $2.2 million fundraising haul for the first three months of the year.
A Fulton County jail inmate is suing the county and several administrators for their alleged refusal to provide him with methadone, which promises to treat those with opioid use disorder, despite the treatment being mandated in New York correctional facilities.
Tenured faculty members at The College of Saint Rose will be left without severance pay or continued health insurance coverage after the school permanently closes its doors this summer.
Stuyvesant Plaza’s owners have started construction of a turf area for events, games and yoga sessions. The 3,000-square foot area, called The Lawn, will feature a patio area with seating and free Wi-Fi.
Paul Vandenburgh, who has been on local radio for three decades, has been named one of the top talk radio hosts in America by Talkers.com. Talkers is to talk radio what Billboard is to the music industry — a pretty big deal.
Fearing unused areas of Wilton Mall will lead to “an economic black hole,” the town board approved transforming the sprawling commercial structure into a mixed-used development.
A company pushing for a retail plaza on Colonie’s Wolf Road has sued the town and its planning board for rejecting the plan, alleging it lacked rational justification, according to court records.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
