Good morning, it’s Friday, and it’s also a whole new month. Welcome to November!
There are a number of different directions we could go for this post, but I think it’s best to start with a PSA. OK, well, two of them.
First, the easy – and the most obvious, in my humble opinion – early voting is still underway and will last through Sunday. If you aren’t one of the millions of people who have already availed yourself of this option and are interested in exercising it, click here for all the pertinent information.
Second: Daylight Savings Time (DST) is this weekend. Every year on the first Sunday in November, we “fall back”, turning the clocks back an hour and officially launching the months of awakening to darkness (and also returning from work in the dark). Personally, I find this all rather depressing – and it turns out that I’m not alone.
Changing the clocks around can cause sleep disruption, which is NOT at all good news for those of us who have difficulty sleeping to begin with. Disrupted sleep can lead to fatigue (obviously) and decreased performance levels, and also can exacerbate depression, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorder.
A pretty substantial portion of Americans have said in public polls that they are in favor of doing away with DST, but can’t seem to agree on what to replace it with. The National Conference of State Legislatures, which keeps tabs on this sort of thing, reports that 18 states have passed legislation or enacted resolutions that would switch to permanent daylight saving time if Congress allowed it.
Arizona and Hawaii are the only two U.S. states that don’t observe DST.
Congress has certainly tried to address this very controversial issue. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has for several years now been beating the drum for his proposed Sunshine Protection Act, which would end the twice-yearly clock changing ritual and instead adopt a permanent daylight saving time. (He even has a handy catchphrase he employs in support of this proposal: “It’s time to lock the clock”).
In March 2022, the Senate passed the reintroduced Sunshine Protection Act with unanimous approval through an expedited process. But the House declined to take up the bill, and that’s pretty much where things have been stuck ever since.
If you’ve got some time on your hands and want to go very deep on this one – including the on-again, off-again fraught history of DST and the arguments for and against getting rid of it – click here.
Moving on from the PSA portion of our show, we are midway through the celebration of Diwali, the five-day Festival of Lights, which is the most important festival of the year in India, and celebrated by millions of people – particularly Hindus, but also Jains, some Buddhists, and Sikhs – across the world.
The celebrations typically include some combination of prayers, feasts, and fireworks displays, but also gambling, as there is a belief that those to bet on the first night of Diwali will prosper all year long. It’s also thought that if you leave your doors and windows open during the holiday, luck, blessings and wealth will find their way inside.
You might also see Rangoli – art that features intricate designs made from chalk or colored powders – on the floor in the entryway of homes or buildings. These are intended to welcome the Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good luck, and also the practice of making these time-consuming and beautiful pieces is a form of meditation.
Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word “Deepavali,” which translates into “a row of lights.” As such, it’s traditional to light rows of outdoor clay oil lamps, which symbolize the victory of light over darkness and the triumph of knowledge over ignorance. The date of the holiday is based on the Hindu lunar calendar, and so changes from year to year, but typically falls sometime between late October and early November.
It looks like we’re in for one more day of unseasonably warm weather, with temperatures in the low 70s, and a mix of clouds and sun, before dropping back down into the 50s for the weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday will be in the low 50s, with partly to mostly cloudy skies. Perfect for bundling up in your flannels and sweaters and hunkering down in preparation for the clock change.
In the headlines…
The presidential campaign headed west yesterday with Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump taking their closing arguments to voters in the critical swing states of Arizona and Nevada.
Harris and her team seized on Trump’s latest comments about women, including a statement that under him, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would work on “women’s health.” The Trump team lashed out over remarks by a top Harris supporter.
Howard Lutnick, the head of the team planning Trump’s potential White House transition, said that Kennedy Jr. had persuaded the former president to embrace Kennedy’s anti-vaccine claims, which have been widely debunked.
At his final campaign event in Arizona, Trump last night insulted Liz Cheney, one of his most outspoken Republican critics, and used menacing imagery to suggest she should be sent into the line of fire.
Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS News, alleging the network engaged in election interference by doctoring a “60 Minutes” interview with Harris, per a court filing. He seeking $10 billion in damages.
With five days to go until Election Day, Harris’ campaign is projecting confidence in her chances of victory in next week’s contest, while pledging that it is prepared for any potential effort by Trump and his fellow Republicans to challenge the results.
Jennifer Lopez defended Puerto Ricans and women at Harris’ Las Vegas rally after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist jokes went viral.
Trump acknowledged that Elon Musk and Kennedy Jr could be “influential figures” in a potential second administration as he sat for a lengthy interview with conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson in battleground state Arizona.
Sen. JD Vance criticized “gender transition craziness,” dismissively claimed were “celebrating” their abortions and said studies “connect testosterone levels in young men with conservative politics” during a three-hour episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience”.
Trump and his running mate, Vance, escalated their false attacks about the security of the Pennsylvania elections, ramping up baseless accusations about voter fraud that could erode confidence of the results in one of the most critical battleground states.
Members of the Muslim and Arab American community endorsed Trump during an event in The Bronx yesterday morning.
A state appeals court ruled Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney for Trump, will have his law license suspended and could be disbarred in connection with his guilty plea in what Georgia prosecutors said was an effort to overturn that state’s 2020 election results.
Two days after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Harvard University officials wrestled with how to respond. Drafting a public statement, they edited out the word “violent” to describe the attack, when a dean complained that it “sounded like assigning blame.”
The internal debate among Harvard leaders including Claudine Gay, then the school’s president, played out in emails and text messages that were released in a report yesterday by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is being slammed as a traitor following damning claims he instructed Columbia University administrators to dismiss any criticism of the school’s handling of blatant violence and antisemitism on campus in the wake Oct. 7.
Columbia University reached a $395,000 settlement with a Jewish student who was one of two students suspended after allegedly using a“fart spray” during a campus protest, according to a report from the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The incident, which protesters initially reported as a “chemical attack” involving “skunk spray,” was later found to involve a non-toxic novelty item, the Republican staff report stated.
Gov. Kathy Hochul took a gamble this year when she became a key Democrat in the effort to flip five New York House seats. If it pays off, she will have friends in a new Democratic House majority.
Hochul traveled to the Southern Tier to check in on the revitalization of the Greater Binghamton Airport, which she said she hopes will be completed next spring.
Hochul made a series of stops around the Binghamton area, including one stop at the Kopernik Observatory & Science Center in Vestal, where she announced $1 million in state funding for the facility.
The New York state Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal from the state Republicans challenging part of a state law that allows boards of election to count absentee ballots as soon as polls close on Election Day – a win for Democrats.
“We hold that the statute does not violate the constitutional principles of separation of powers or of judicial review,” the decision said. “Ultimately, plaintiffs’ reading is inconsistent with the constitutional framework.”
Dark money is funding a recently created group that is behind misleading Proposition 1 ads.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is scheduled to return to court today as he seeks to fend off federal corruption charges while battling for his political future.
The mayor’s team claims there is no basis for the bribery count because prosecutors are unable to show any quid pro quo.
House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that Adams might have made himself a target for the Department of Justice by speaking out about the migrant crisis plaguing the Big Apple and the White House’s border policies.
Drone footage released by the New York City Police Department shows subway surfers jumping for joy atop trains – as Adams insisted the cameras in the sky saved 114 daredevils’ lives this year, despite a tragic six fatalities.
Adams says the city is going to continue shutting down suspected illicit smoke shops — despite a Queens judge’s Tuesday ruling that found the recently enacted law allowing the city to shutter over a thousand shops is unconstitutional.
The chief executive of Evolv, the firm behind the Adams administration’s controversial subway gun scanner program, has been fired in the wake of revelations that employees of the tech company engaged in misconduct during business deals.
A broad coalition opposes the citywide questions placed on the ballot by Adams’s charter revision commission, saying they weaken City Council power.
One of New York City’s biggest and most important rental aid programs has been “plagued with problems” that make it harder for people to leave the city’s overburdened homeless shelters and find permanent homes, according to a state audit report.
Women who say they were sexually abused by staff at the Rikers Island jail complex urged officials to take their allegations seriously at a City Council oversight hearing yesterday.
Nearly 18 months after a video of Daniel Penny fatally choking another man in a subway car in Manhattan spread online, a jury today will hear the first official arguments about whether or not his actions were criminal.
Many New Yorkers could start to feel at home in Midtown, as the city released updated plans of what thousands of new homes in the traditionally commercial area could look like now that a state law on residential restrictions has been lifted.
The MTA opened a new assessment center for paratransit users, marking the first time since 2022 that Manhattanites won’t need to travel outside the borough to qualify for accessibility services.
Those seeking to escape New Jersey this winter might need to brave the ferry. The Port Authority announced that the Hoboken terminal of the PATH train will be closed for 25 days in February for a major overhaul.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” has long been beloved as an off-the-wall musical, but in recent years its popularity has freshly reached a fever pitch. This October alone, New York had well over 40 showings of the cult classic.
One of New York City’s elite private schools told families that “students who feel too emotionally distressed” the day after Election Day will be excused from classes, and that psychologists will be available during the week to provide counseling.
Authorities were searching for a person they say shot and injured a New York state trooper on the Southern State Parkway on Long Island overnight. Anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction could receive a $5,000 reward.
The Trooper who was shot during a Wednesday night traffic stop on Long Island had emergency surgery — as cops continue their massive manhunt for the gunman.
The political ad features a fifth-generation dairy farmer assailing Rep. Marc Molinaro and pledging never to vote for the incumbent Republican, “who made it easy for China to take advantage of farmers like me.” The problem: He doesn’t live in the district.
It is one of the few congressional seats in New York where Democrats are on the defensive. Hudson Valley Rep. Pat Ryan, a Democrat, is looking to rebuff a challenge from Republican Alison Esposito in New York’s 18th District.
More than 200 pieces of mailers in support of Esposito were found strewn near a creek in the Hudson Valley, according to the New York State Republican Party — which filed a complaint with the US Postal Service over the alleged “election interference.”
After huge lines seen during some time periods and at certain locations for early voting, Saratoga County will open each polling site an hour early this weekend.
The Nordstrom Rack at Colonie Center is closing as of Feb. 1, 2025, according to a layoff notice shared by the state Department of Labor.
Police are still seeking answers more than 10 days after buried skeletal human remains were found in Burden Pond Preserve in Troy.
A long-awaited housing vacancy study showed that the City of Albany is not eligible to declare a housing emergency in order to enact rent stabilization.
Three months since three members of the all-Republican Berne Town Board resigned, leaving the town of nearly 3,000 people without a functioning, representative local government, a solution to the crisis does not appear close.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
