Good morning, it’s Friday.
The holiday weekend is almost upon us, which is as good a time as any for a programming note. In observance of Memorial Day (and to give this word weary writer a morning off), there will be no Rise and Shine this coming Monday. We’ll be right back at it at the regularly scheduled time and place on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. But hopefully, you weren’t planning on being terribly close to your computer anyway.
Since we won’t be together on the day of, I’m taking this opportunity to do a little Memorial Day primer, because, contrary to popular belief, it’s about more than the unofficial kick-off of summer, the annual racing of the Indianapolis 500, parties, picnics, fireworks, and lazy days poolside, lakeside or oceanside.
There are two official U.S. holidays recognizing and honoring the members of the country’s armed services – Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
The former is a more somber affair, as its intent is to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives while defending our country. Traditionally, a national moment of silence takes place at 3 p.m. to remember the war dead.
Veterans Day (Nov. 11), by contrast, is a moment to honor everyone who currently serves or has served in a branch of the military.
The practice of memorializing those who lost their lives in conflict dates back many decades, but became particularly notable after so many lives were lost – more than 550,000 – in the Civl War. A number of communities in both the North and the South lay claim to being the origin of Memorial Day, when it was a custom to visit the gravesites of fallen soldiers, bearing flowers, wreaths, etc.
But, according to former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who proclaimed as much in 1966, the official birthplace of Memorial Day was Waterloo, NY.
The history, however, dates back to about a century before Johnson’s proclamation – all the way back to 1865, when a local pharmacist named Henry Welles, had the idea that the Town of Waterloo should officially set aside a day to honor Civil War heroes and formally remember them by placing flowers on their graves.
His idea caught on, and the very next year, the community held its first formal observance of what would eventually be Memorial Day on Saturday, May 5, 1866. If you really want to delve deeply into all the details, click here.
Or, if you have the time and inclination, perhaps consider a road trip to Waterloo, where you can visit the National Memorial Day Museum, conveniently open Memorial Day through Labor Day.
As an aside: When Johnson issued his 1966 proclamation, America was still deep in the throes of the Vietnam War, and much of what he said in the document (understandably) focused on that fact. The mention of Waterloo, which appears alllllll the way at the bottom of the proclamation, is pretty brief, but I guess it’s sufficient to hang one’s local pride hat on:
By House Concurrent Resolution 587, the Eighty-ninth Congress has officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day began one hundred years ago in Waterloo, New York. In conformity with the request contained in that concurrent resolution, it is my privilege to call attention to the centennial observance of Memorial Day in Waterloo, New York, on May 30, 1966.
Assuming your Memorial Day weekend plans include some outdoor activities – trip to Waterloo notwithstanding – the weather is looking, well, mixed.
Today will be sunny with temperatures in the low 80s. Saturday and Sunday will see a mix of sun and clouds, and again, temperatures will be in the low-to-mid 80s. Monday, unfortunately, will see a drop in the mercury back down to the 70s with clouds and occasional rain showers.
However you decide to observe, celebrate, commemorate, remember, enjoy etc. be safe. Be respectful. Be happy. See you next week.
In the headlines…
Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said that he is calling a rare special session of the General Assembly next Tuesday to pass legislation ensuring that President Joe Biden is on the state’s 2024 ballot.
“Ohio is running out of time to get Joe Biden, the sitting President of the United States, on the ballot this fall. Failing to do so is simply unacceptable. This is ridiculous. This is (an) absurd situation,” DeWine said.
The Biden campaign is continuing to express confidence the issue will be resolved without drama. “Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” Charles Lutvak, a campaign spokesperson, said.
As he tries to secure his legacy, Biden has unleashed a flurry of election-year rules on the environment and other topics, including a landmark regulation that would force coal-fired power plants to capture smokestack emissions or shut down.
Biden hailed Washington’s six-decade-old business and political alliance with Kenya as he looked to bolster a key ally seen as a buffer to Chinese and Russian influence in Africa.
Biden welcomed President William Ruto of Kenya and said he intended to designate his country as a “major non-NATO ally.”
The sixth state dinner of Biden’s term was designed to clutch domestic allies — not the least of them former President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan — even tighter as the president makes the long slog toward November.
The Bidens invited more than 450 guests, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Carol Moseley Braun, Melinda Gates, Lester Holt, LeVar Burton and Sean Penn.
Biden’s reelection campaign held a call with a group of supporters of former presidential candidate Nikki Haley this week, after Haley said she would vote for former President Donald Trump in November.
The Memorial Day holiday will be a prelude to a bitter season of politics with a neck-and-neck presidential election already looking almost certain to come down to a few thousand votes in a handful of swing states.
Eagle-eyed observers of Biden’s re-election campaign might have noticed an unusual job posting on its website this week: “Partner Manager, Content and Meme Pages.”
The role won’t involve creating memes, but instead setting up partnerships with content creators who would then agree to create memes on the campaign’s behalf.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague is expected to rule today on a request by South Africa to order Israel to halt its ground assault on Rafah, as Israel appears to be expanding its campaign and hundreds of thousands of people have already fled.
The court has no way to enforce its orders, but the case, brought by South Africa, has put increasing international pressure on Israel to show more restraint in its military campaign in Gaza.
Israel is unlikely to comply with any such order. But a cease-fire order by judges of the International Court of Justice would heap more pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel as it continues its military assault on Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks.
The Pentagon predicted that a stream of humanitarian aid would be arriving in Gaza via the floating pier, but little relief has reached the besieged strip, officials acknowledged this week.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles, briefly formed a new encampment and then took over a campus building yesterday before police officers in riot gear moved in to disband the efforts.
Under scrutiny from Republican members of Congress, leaders of Northwestern, Rutgers and the University of California, Los Angeles, responded with phrases like “due process,” “appropriate penalties” and “task force.”
Speaking to a more diverse crowd than his events usually draw during a Bronx rally, Trump made a series of pledges to New Yorkers and railed against Biden and the migrant crisis, saying:
“We’re going to bring success back to our schools. We’re going to bring prosperity back to every neighborhood in every borough of the greatest city in our land. We’re going to reduce taxes. We’re going to bring businesses and big taxpayers back to New York.”
“I’m here tonight to declare we are going to turn New York City around, and we are going to turn it around very, very quickly,” Trump said after taking the stage. “We are going to make New York bigger, better and greater than ever before.”
While the former president had many supporters on hand, not everyone gave him a warm welcome. A large crowd gathered outside the park for an anti-Trump rally. The poster for that event read, “Trump isn’t welcome in the Bronx.”
Rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow — who were indicted last year as part of an investigation into a vast murder conspiracy by two Brooklyn gangs — exchanged warm words with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee in Crotona Park.
“As usual, Donald Trump is wrong. We don’t need his insults, and we don’t need his help to turn New York City around because New York City is already back,” a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul appeared to call Trump supporters “clowns” during a media appearance ahead of the former president’s New York City rally in the Bronx.
“Well, I’ll tell you what won’t make a difference at all, Jake, and that’s for Donald Trump to be a ringleader and invite all his clowns to a place like the Bronx,” Hochul told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The U.S. Justice Department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America — squelching competition and driving up prices for fans.
The lawsuit, filed by the DOJ and 30 state and district AGs, accuses the company of creating a monopoly over the live entertainment market that has hurt music fans, artists and promoters around the US through higher prices and frustrating consumer experiences.
“The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,” AG Merrick Garland said. “It is time to break up Live Nation.”
Live Nation said the suit “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from rising production costs, to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary ticket prices.”
As the nation faces a growing mental health crisis among people who are homeless, a bipartisan bill being introduced in Congress by two New York members may substantially increase the number of psychiatric beds covered by Medicaid.
A planned strike by fuel workers at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens during Memorial Day weekend was averted after Hochul intervened to help settle the labor dispute.
New York state is putting $5 million into hiring lifeguards amid the nationwide shortage, Hochul said.
Legislation aimed at addressing solid waste issues in New York are facing increasing opposition in advertising and lobbying efforts.
Hochul’s office this week announced 21 projects in the mid-Hudson Valley that will receive millions in funding from two state economic development programs.
Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay delivered rebuttal remarks at the LCA Show that focused on answering ESPN commentator Rebecca Lobo’s question about what there is to do in Albany.
DocGo, the publicly traded company that has a $432 million contract with New York City to oversee the relocation and sheltering of migrants upstate, is facing mounting scrutiny from public and private interests.
A DocGo employee who directed an obscene hand gesture at a reporter last week has been suspended, officials with the company said.
An ambitious hotel developer held multiple, previously unreported fundraisers with Mayor Adams, and provided benefits to several of the mayor’s longtime associates. She then scored behind-the-scenes favors and millions more in city contract dollars.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams introduced a bill aimed at expanding her chamber’s ability to weigh in on top mayoral appointments — a measure that has touched off a battle with the mayor.
“It’s about good government and effective governing,” the speaker told reporters during a City Hall press conference. “We think it’s an important conversation to have. Commissioners serve the city and all New Yorkers, not a single official, just like all of us do.”
A little more than a year after the deadly collapse of a parking garage in Lower Manhattan, the New York City Council passed a package of legislation aimed at improving the safety and maintenance of local parking structures.
As temperatures continue to rise, so does the threat of heat-related injuries. And with summer drawing nearer, some New York City officials are putting pressure on Adams to find more funding to increase the city’s population of shade-providing trees.
The city is considering buying homes from residents of a small flood-prone section of Flushing, potentially presenting homeowners with the choice of selling and relocating or putting their faith in a series of projects aimed at reducing the chronic risk from storms.
CUNY School of Law graduates protested commencement after the school known for public interest law and activism canceled its annual student address, which for the last two years has been critical of Israel.
In some ways, a walkout by pro-Palestinian students at the CUNY School of Law’s commencement was part of the unique political moment that has marked the Class of 2024’s graduation season at so many universities. In other ways, it was tradition.
Some New York City taxi drivers could get hit by the full congestion pricing charge if one of the city’s two taxi technology companies doesn’t play ball with the MTA.
MTA boss Janno Lieber’s raked in $400,999 last year, more than the US president and almost as much as Hochul and Adams were paid combined, according to payroll records compiled by See Through NY.
Tomorrow, the Prospect Park Zoo reopens after an eight-month closure, and animal lovers will get to see three new baby baboons and a brand new species – a pair of South American pudu deer.
Since the Tri-City ValleyCats moved into a then-new Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in 2002, they’ve played baseball on the original grass field, which they’re now exploring replacing with artificial turf – part of an estimated $2.5 million in upgrades.
Bethlehem school district residents elected Katherine Nadeau and Lauren Grasso to the Board of Education.
Next month’s Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival will be the last sponsored by the bakery and its parent company.
After nearly four decades of supporting American classical music and contemporary composers within Albany’s warehouse district, Albany Records co-founders Susan Bush and Peter Kermani are passing the baton to a new operator.
A 25-year-old Watervliet man was charged in connection with the Hudson Avenue hit-and-run incident that critically injured Alexa Kropf, Albany police said.
The City of Albany will pay $3 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Ellazar Williams, 24, nearly six years after a city police officer shot Williams in the back, permanently paralyzing him.
A black bear that has been roaming wooded areas near Saugerties with its head stuck in what appears to be a plastic container has sparked concern among residents and prompted a search by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
For the first time on record, cannabis has outpaced alcohol as the daily drug of choice for Americans.
If approved by a judge, a $2.8 billion settlement by the NCAA of an antitrust lawsuit would allow for the first revenue-sharing plan for college athletes. The question now: How will it work?
Photo credit: George Fazio.
