Good Thursday morning.
I’m not sure how much attention people pay anymore to the Google doodle. I feel like I barely notice it anymore – unless it’s some sort of interactive time suck of a game, in which case I will spend hours fiddling around with it when I’m supposed to be doing something more productive, like work.
I did, however, notice yesterday’s rather curious cartoon of what appeared to be a rock band made up of bugs. “What on earth could this be for?” I wondered as I dutifully clicked through. (GOTCHA! Well done, Google doodlers).
Turns out, this is Google’s animated homage to the double cicada event – also known as “cicada-geddon” – in which two broods of cicadas, Broods XIII (13 year cicadas) and XIX (17 year cicadas), specifically, are emerging at the same time for the first time in more than 220 years. They are largely concentrated in the southeastern and midwestern states, and are adding to the annual cicada population, bringing about a veritable bug explosion.
This is apparently a very big deal for entomologists and also for the birds, animals, and even a few people (!) who like snacking on cicadas, but somewhere between annoying and unnerving for many so-called “regular” folks.
Cicadas are, for one thing, very loud. A cluster of 1,000 or more of them have been known to produce noise levels that exceed 100 decibels, which is about equal to the sound produced by a motorcycle or a jackhammer at a distance of 1 meter away. The males are responsible for generating the lion’s share of the cacophony, as they’re trying to attract mates. They do it by vibrating their stomach muscles – true story.
While I’m not sorry that the cicadas won’t be making their way up north this time around (we do, for the record, have a few broods in the area), I’m fascinated by their general existence.
I mean, imagine spending 99 percent of your life underground int he pitch dark, sort of groping around for sustenance and just waiting for the day when yo can explode into the light for a brief, glorious period of molting, eating, mating, laying eggs, and then…well, dying.
Kind of bleak, in my opinion.
All told, there are 15 different broods across the eastern U.S., each of which consists of four different species. They all emerge on their own personal and highly specific timetables – 13 years, 17 years, if they’re periodical, or annually – but it’s very unusual for two adjacent broods to come out at the same time, the way we’re seeing at the moment.
Once they’re above ground, the adults only live up to a month, at most. The eggs they leave behind in tree branches take six or seven weeks to hatch, at which point the nymphs fall to the ground, go into the soil and the whole thing starts all over again.
Ah, the circle of life. So mystical. So magical. So…weird.
It will be partly cloudy today, with temperatures in the low 70s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden is edging toward what may prove to be one of his most consequential decisions in the Ukraine war: whether to reverse his ban on shooting American weapons into Russian territory.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested the Biden administration could be open to tolerating strikes by the Ukrainian military inside Russia using US-made weapons, saying the US would “adapt and adjust” its stance based on changing battlefield conditions.
The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial ended its first day of deliberations without a verdict but asked to rehear potentially crucial testimony about the alleged hush money scheme at the heart of the history-making case.
A court reporter will read that testimony to the jury, most of which comes from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who prosecutors say was part of a conspiracy to suppress unflattering stories on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 election.
Each of the 34 counts Trump faces carries the possibility of up to four years in prison, but incarceration is not a given: Justice Juan M. Merchan could instead opt to impose a sentence of probation, with no prison time.
Trump lashed out at actor Robert De Niro in a middle-of-the-night rant posted to Truth Social, in response to insults the actor made outside the former president’s criminal trial in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.
Even a more sedate day outside the Trump trial includes spectacle and confrontation.
In a letter to lawmakers, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. declined to recuse himself from two cases arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol after reports that flags displayed outside his houses appeared to support the “Stop the Steal” movement.
“The two incidents you cite do not meet the conditions for recusal,” Alito wrote. “As I have stated publicly, I had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of that flag. I was not even aware of the upside-down flag until it was called to my attention.”
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not,” he added.
Biden has suggested he will appoint progressive justices to the Supreme Court if he wins a second term in the White House in November.
Biden made an aggressive push yesterday to head off Trump’s modest gains among Black voters, condemning his Republican opponent as a racist who had lied to Black Americans about what his term in office delivered them.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, in a joint appearance, thanked Black voters in Pennsylvania and beyond for being the lynchpin to their 2020 win and made the case that their agenda has had an enormous impact on improving lives for Black voters.
From red flag laws, safe storage mandates and purchase delays, here’s how Democratic women governors in Michigan, New York and New Mexico have made gun safety a priority.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the state’s first-ever Youth Workers Bill of Rights, a document that will be used to inform young New Yorkers about their workplace rights, including some protections that are specific to workers under the age of 18.
Hochul paid a visit to the Mental Health Association in New York State headquarters in Albany this week to highlight the state’s ongoing investments in mental health resources for young New Yorkers.
There will be a day when the National Guard isn’t assisting police officers who are checking bags at the entrances of highly trafficked New York City subway stations — just don’t expect it anytime soon.
Students and environmental advocates are pushing for the passage of two major climate bills as the state Legislature nears the final week of the legislative session.
It’s looking like state lawmakers will not pass a measure that would have made it easier for prosecutors to convict people accused of sex crimes.
The bill was introduced after the Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of Harvey Weinstein in April, largely because prosecutors had been allowed to introduce evidence that included prior, unproven sexual assault allegations against him.
A tense debate between Assembly Democrats during a closed-door conference likely killed the chances of state lawmakers passing a bill in the remaining week of session that would give New York prosecutors of sex crimes more teeth.
Manhattan prosecutors signaled they might seek to indict Weinstein on new charges, saying they’re vetting allegations from people who have accused him of sexual assault in recent years as they prepared to retry him after his 2020 conviction was overturned.
Prosecutors are still deciding which of the new claims fall under the statute of limitations, and some potential survivors who were too timid to testify during Weinstein’s first trial might be willing to step forward for his second.
A state bill targeting pro-Israel charities in the New York that’s backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is deepening the rift within the Democratic Party over the war in Gaza.
The State Legislature has passed a measure that would require insurance companies to cover the cost of donor breast milk for newborns in need, even after they leave the hospital.
Physician assistants are pitching themselves as the answer to a primary care provider shortage, particularly in rural upstate areas, and say that pandemic-era rules that expanded their ability to deliver more health care services should be extended.
As many as 500 schools could choose to repurpose gyms and faculty lounges as classrooms as new York City scrambles to meet the state’s class size mandates amid soaring enrollment.
Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi, Grace Meng and Dan Goldman are taking a rare stand in a competitive primary by endorsing centrist John Avlon over liberal rival Nancy Goroff in a Long Island congressional race.
The anti-Israel Democratic Socialists of America has formally endorsed embattled “Squad” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who is facing a serious primary challenge from moderate Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the 16th Congressional District.
A senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams abruptly walked out of a City Council hearing after refusing to answer questions about a bill that would expand the chamber’s oversight of top mayoral hires amid simmering tension between the two sides of City Hall.
“This, to me, illustrates a contempt for this council, which we have all witnessed with great clarity,” council Speaker Adrienne Adams said as the mayor’s director of intergovernmental affairs, Tiffany Raspberry, exited the stately red chamber.
In opening remarks at the hearing, Speaker Adams said her bill had nothing to do with the current mayor and builds on the Council’s authority to review candidates for various agency and board roles.
As investigators reportedly prepare to bring Sean “Diddy” Combs’ accusers before a federal grand jury, Adams said that his team is still “in the process of looking into” taking back the key to the city he gave to the embattled rap impresario.
New Yorkers are already drowning in bills. And now, if a NYC proposal is approved, property owners will have to pay 8.5% more for water — or an additional $100 — annually.
Some New York City leaders are pushing back on the mayor’s new policy to permanently evict single asylum seekers over the age of 24 from shelters after 30 days.
Eighteen teenagers and young men who the authorities said belonged to street gangs were charged with unleashing a wave of gun violence in Brooklyn that killed two 16-year-old boys and injured 10 others over a three-year period.
A man who police say drove onto a sidewalk and tried to strike pedestrians outside an Orthodox Jewish school in New York City was arrested yesterday on charges including attempted murder, reckless driving and hate crimes.
The owner of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria and the manager of the restaurant’s Manhattan location pleaded guilty to stealing more than $32,000 in wages from 18 employees by bouncing checks and sometimes by not paying workers at all, prosecutors announced.
Sen. John Fetterman told Yeshiva University graduates that he was “profoundly disappointed” in Harvard University’s inability to address antisemitism on campus before removing the ceremonial crimson academic hood representing his alma mater.
Marymount Manhattan College, a small liberal arts school that has been buffeted by fluctuating enrollments, has agreed to merge with Northeastern University, which has expanded beyond its Boston base, in part by absorbing smaller colleges.
Nassau County officials requested a no-fly zone above the T20 Cricket World Cup on Long Island following a social media post depicting a hooded figure flanked by drones in a stadium.
Fighting against inflation, climate change and aging infrastructure, National Grid has submitted new rate plans to state regulators that would increase a typical residential gas and electric bill by $37 a month.
Fighting against inflation, climate change and aging infrastructure, National Grid has submitted new rate plans to state regulators that would increase a typical residential gas and electric bill by $37 a month.
Thirteen affordable housing and infrastructure projects from Kingston to Mount Vernon received the first awards from a new state fund designed to spur development in the Hudson Valley.
The City of Watervliet is looking for a new police chief to replace Chief Joseph Centanni who has taken a job as deputy police chief with a Florida police department, officials said.
Montgomery County officials are warning residents of an Amsterdam neighborhood to be wary after reports that a red fox bit three people recently.
Americade, the venerable motorcycle rally that draws thousands of riders to Lake George began this week.
For fans of the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival trying to buy tickets, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s pricing model is hitting a sour note.
If you missed out on the luminous display of auroras earlier in May, you’re in luck — they could make a return in early June.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
