Good Monday morning.
What a wild weekend. Absolutely other-worldly bizarre and deeply unsettling.
First, an attempt on the life of a former president and current presidential candidate. Something that, sadly, has indeed occurred here before in the U.S. – long before our political process became so divisive and overheated, though social media has surely taken things to a level the Founding Fathers never could have foreseen.
Remember Abraham Lincoln? James Garfield? William McKinley? Ronald Reagan? JFK? TR (after he left office – in fact, until this past weekend, he was the last former president shot while seeking a comeback).
We also see political assassination attempts with some regularity overseas. Again, I am not excusing the horror of what happened in Pennsylvania, nor am I somehow trying to explain it away or diminish it. I’m just saying that all this handwringing about the hate-filled atmosphere reaching a fever pitch and causing this kind of extremism is, well, not accurate.
As if this unsettling incident wasn’t enough, we lost three icons in a span of 24 hours this past weekend: Dr Ruth, Richard Simmons, and Shannen Doherty, (yes, sorry, she WAS an icon to those of us who grew up with Beverly Hills 20210 and Charmed). Of these three, I have to say that I feel Doherty’s loss the deepest – she was about my age (53) and fought cancer for a long time. She was feisty and she didn’t fit the Hollywood mold. I liked that about her.
None of this helps the fact that I am, by nature, an anxious person. (Newsflash, I know).
If there is something in the world to worry about, chances are that it’s on my radar. For example, we live in a wood frame house with two chimneys (the fireplaces are both gas powered – come at me, Governor Hochul!), so naturally, I am concerned about fire.
Fire used to be very high on my list of worries. This may have stemmed from the fact that when I was young, my parents kept one of those portable chain link ladders in my room – just to be on the safe side.
They also had child safety locks installed on the windows. This might seem counterintuitive, until you learn that I regularly walked in my sleep as a kid and at least once unlocked the front door and walked outside – only to wake up extremely freaked out and disoriented when I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.
Anyway, as I got older, I didn’t think all that much about fire risk – it was somewhere between nuclear war and drowning in my car after driving off a bridge – until recently. During one of the many electrical storms we have experienced this summer, a brief power outage caused our hardwired alarm system to go bananas.
It basically rang and rang for what seemed like an eternity (probably because it was 2 a.m.) until Steve finally located malfunctioning culprit and removed it from the wall.
Now, all it peaceful again, but I’m left wondering if the system is working at all. This is no small matter, as a quick Google search determined that there are 135,193 properties properties in New York City alone – about 15 percent of ALL properties – that have some risk of being affected by wildfire over the next 30 years.
The City Troy, where our house is located, has a moderate risk during that same timeframe, but all the same, a fire is something I would very much like to avoid.
It turns out that our risk of a fire is higher because we have pets – three dogs, to be exact. Three very curious, rambunctious, chew-happy dogs. Allegedly, National Fire Protection Association statistics show that something in the neighborhood of 1,000 home fires are accidentally started by pets every year.
This estimate might be on the high side, as I found another story in which the NFPA itself put the number at closer to 790 fires, which includes not just blazes accidentally ignited by Fido or Fluffy, but also wayward squirrels chewing through your wires. This is pretty darn low, considering the fact that there are quite literally millions of pets living in homes across the nation.
Whether or not they’re at fault, a fair number of pets are negatively impacted by home fires every year – about 500,000 overall, some 40,000 of which die (usually from smoke inhalation). This statistic makes me incredibly sad.
Of course, the first priority should be to save yourself and any humans who might also be in a burning building, but personally, I’m fairly confident in saying that I would be risking my own safety in order to get my fur babies out.
Once you are all out of harm’s way, finding a place to stay and regroup is a challenge, because most shelters and nonprofits that help people in these sorts of predicaments don’t extend their services to pets.
But that’s a topic for another day. On this National Pet Fire Safety Day, the focus should be on what we can do to prevent pet-induced fires, helping to keep our furry (or scaly, I guess) loved one safe. Some helpful hints can be found here and here.
It was incredibly hot this weekend, and today brings more of the same. There’s a heat advisory in effect from noon today through 8 p.m. tomorrow. Temperatures will be in the low 90s, but it will feel more like 100, thanks to the humidity. Scattered thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon.
About the heat, you know the drill. Drink a lot of water. Take the usual precautions. Stay inside in the AC, if you can. And, speaking of pets, be aware that if the pavement feels hot to your bare feet, it’s probably too hot for their paw pads.
You’re welcome.
In the headlines…
Former President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally on Saturday in Butler, Pa. Trump, who emerged with a bloodied face, said he was shot in the ear and described a “whizzing sound” and a “bullet ripping through skin.”
The FBI said the shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was immediately killed by the Secret Service. A motive is still not known.
F.B.I. officials said the gunman did not appear to have a history of mental illness and had never been on their radar as someone of concern. He did not indicate strongly held political beliefs in the posts and texts they have been able to review so far.
The gunman was a registered Republican, his mother was a Democrat and his father a Libertarian, a fairly typical mix for the area – a relatively affluent suburb in the South Hills region of Pittsburgh, about an hour’s drive from the site of the rally.
A spectator, 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed after shielding his family from the gunfire. Two others were injured and are now in stable condition, according to the Pennsylvania State Police.
Trump called for unity and resilience after the shooting injected fresh uncertainty into an already tumultuous campaign, while President Joe Biden implored Americans to “cool it down” in the final stretch and “resolve our differences at the ballot box.”
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” said Trump, who was sporting a loose, large white bandage that covered his right ear. “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” he added.
Trump’s family expressed gratitude for the quick actions of law enforcement officials who “risked their own lives to protect” him when an gunman opened fire at a rally on Saturday, with a bullet grazing the former president and leaving a bystander dead.
In brief remarks from the White House on Sunday, Biden called the assassination attempt “contrary to everything we stand for us as a nation, everything. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not American. And we cannot allow this to happen.”
Biden called for an independent review of the Secret Service’s actions after the attack on Trump, which left an audience member dead and two critically wounded.
Trump had a brief call with Biden late Saturday night, according to the White House. One person briefed on the call described it as cordial and respectful, although it wasn’t clear what was said.
Former law enforcement officials are asking questions about the Secret Service’s protective perimeter and how closely the agency’s counter-snipers were watching the building where the gunman fired shots into the Trump rally.
Trump said he considered delaying his trip to Milwaukee, where the RNC is set to start today, but decided against it and left yesterday afternoon, as planned.
The assassination attempt on Trump will likely mean tighter security screenings for political rallies, demonstrations, and other large events, amid a ratcheting of political tensions across the nation leading into the contentious November election.
The Republican Party and its conservative allies are engaged in an unprecedented legal campaign targeting the American voting system, laying the groundwork to contest an election that they argue, falsely, is already being rigged against Trump.
As tens of thousands of Republicans arrive in Milwaukee today for their party’s convention, another large gathering is expected just outside the official meeting site: Thousands of left-leaning protesters.
“I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Political violence has no place in our country.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement Saturday after Trump was shot, saying that “any violence against a fellow American is disgusting and unacceptable.”
Mayor Eric Adams deployed NYPD officers across the city in the wake of the Trump assassination attempt.
Adams, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and other city politicians and faith leaders came together at City Hall yesterday to pray for Trump.
The group of New York City officials and faith leaders rebuked what they called “toxic violence” pervading American politics, and invoked Trump’s own words of unity.
A State Police investigator’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Andrew Cuomo suffered a setback Friday when a federal judge dismissed her claim of retaliation against the former governor.
The state Office of Cannabis Management has issued a recall for more than two dozen THC-infused food products that regulators said were produced by an unlicensed processor and may pose a safety risk.
Laura Kavanagh, the FDNY’s first woman fire commissioner who had repeatedly butted heads with the department’s chiefs, announced Saturday that she is stepping down.
“While the decision I have made over the last month has been a hard one, I’m confident that it is time for me to pass the torch to the next leader of the finest Fire Department in the world,” said Kavanagh, who will remain on the job until a replacement is found.
While Adams is still “very supportive” of Kavanagh, she’s feeling plenty of heat within the administration over a slew of firestorms under watch.
Sunday service is back at some of New York City’s public libraries, nearly eight months after budget cuts ordered by Adams forced branches across the five boroughs to cut back on hours of operation.
City Council members are raising concerns about the next step of Adams’ landmark “City of Yes” plan to bring thousands of apartments to the East Bronx — claiming the chosen area lacks crucial infrastructure.
State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar’s newly announced run for city comptroller is raising eyebrows in Big Apple political circles.
Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs, who just won his re-election bid in Harlem, is now catching heat for some nasty, post-victory remarks he directed at Rep. Jerry Nadler.
Mark Levine, the borough president of Manhattan, is using his power to appoint community board members who are amenable to change and pro-housing – and to replace those who would stand in the way.
New York City’s minimum-wage hike has boosted pay for food-delivery workers who have managed to hang onto their jobs, but thousands have lost work — even as the price to get a meal delivered goes through the roof, according to a report by city officials.
New Yorkers have been handing over more and more cheddar for their bacon and their bread — NYC has the third highest inflation in the nation, a new study found — and financial experts warn prices could rise even higher.
A special-needs elementary school near the toxic Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is the latest neighborhood property to be flagged for contaminated air.
Long-awaited repair work on the East River Tunnel linking Penn Station to Queens is scheduled to begin by year’s end, with Amtrak issuing a $1.6 billion contract to construction venture Skanska E-J ERT, officials for the federal railroad announced Friday.
Andrea Morse, the Democratic challenger running against Rep. Nicole Malliotakis for her Staten Island congressional seat, formally demanded that the House launch an investigation into a “highly suspicious” stock purchase Malliotakis made in 2023.
Two people living in a Brooklyn migrant shelter have tested positive for measles — raising the number of cases across the city to 11 this year.
Knife-wielding migrants are attacking each other and staff at the sprawling Randall’s Island shelter, a former worker claimed in a lawsuit.
New York City officials will seek to relocate the remaining 1,800 migrants staying in upstate hotels in permanent housing by the end of the year.
American Oystercatchers are attacking drones that have been deployed at Rockaway Beach to scan for sharks and swimmers in distress.
State agencies are advising residents to test their well water and avoid swimming in the Indian River after an equipment malfunction spilled 400 gallons of firefighting foam last week at the Saint-Gobain facility.
The foam, which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, was spilled at the plastics facility Friday, July 5, in the Washington County village after a power outage caused fire alarms to go off, the DEC said.
The body of kayaker Alfred Arzuaga was found in the Hudson River yesterday in the town of Chester.
Redburn Development has secured a $10 million state grant to demolish Albany’s Central Warehouse.
Three large sheets of animal skin documenting centuries-old contracts have found their way back to the Capital Region.
While dismissing the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin on Friday, the judge did not hold back.
She delivered a searing criticism of the prosecution and state law enforcement officials who oversaw the case, declaring that they had intentionally and deliberately withheld from the defense evidence related to the fatal shooting on the set of the film “Rust.”
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist whose unequivocal manner and unending charm made her a talk show superstar, has died at age 96.
Westheimer died Friday at her home in Manhattan where she lived for more than 60 years, surrounded by her family, her publicist confirmed Saturday. A cause of death was not given.
Richard Simmons, television’s hyperactive court jester of physical fitness who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging the overweight to exercise and eat better, died Saturday. He turned 76 on Friday.
Shannen Doherty, the “Beverly Hills, 90210″ star whose life and career were roiled by illness and tabloid stories, has died at 53. She fought breast cancer for years.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
