Good morning, it’s Monday.
I don’t know about you, but the holidays are a very distant – hazy and somewhat indistinct – memory for me. I didn’t even enjoy them all that much, what with being sick and all, and now I find myself longing for them. Yeah, 2025 has come on like a freight train – fast and furious and very hard.
I think for the most part, my neighbors are in the same boat. With the exception of the outdoor decorations – because, honestly, who wants to spend hours taking down their lights, wreaths and garlands in sub-zero weather – it looks like most people are done with ChrismasKwanzaKah 2024.
I don’t see any festive trees in the windows when I walk the dogs at night, and all the stores have long since moved on to the next commercialized holiday – Valentine’s Day – combined with a whole slew of wellness-related items for those who are doing penance for their holiday overconsumption.
I did the other day see on social media a post by someone in my acquaintance circle who mentioned going to a holiday party this past weekend. A holiday party? In the second week of January? Who even are these people?
I do get the desire to extend the joy and everything. But most people I know are in the abstinence phase. What does one even serve as a post-Jan. 1 holiday party? Green juice and crudites?
Apparently, though, there are some parts of the world where the party is still going strong. Today, for example, is Calennig, a New Year’s tradition associated with something called Hen Galan – a Welsh community celebration that takes place in the Gwaun Valley of Pembrokeshire. (Don’t be ashamed; I had to look it up, too).
“Calennig” comes from the Welsh word “calan,” which means “first of the month” or “New Year’s Day,” depending on which Google source you’re reading. Traditionally, observing this holiday involves children going door-to-door in a sort of trick-or-treat kind of way, asking for food, money, or small gifts.
Sometimes the kids sing for their treats, and also carry an apple or other fruit that is pierced with spices and/or sticks and symbolizes good luck. They may also carry sprigs of evergreen. Once upon a time, it seems costumes were also involved, a la Halloween, but that practice seems to have fallen y the wayside.
So, why, you might ask, is this tradition observed on Jan. 13 and not Jan. 1? Well, it IS actually celebrated on the latter date in some communities. However, the residents of Cwm Gwaun apparently never got around to accepting the Gregorian calendar, and still go by the old Julian calendar.
This seems like a charming way to ease into the new year. Sadly, we are very far away from the Gwaun Valley. There is, however, good news in the weather department – sorta. Temperatures will flirt with 40 degrees again today, which is great. Skies will be cloudy, and there’s a chance of light snow and/or rain later in the day. Dress accordingly.
In the headlines…
The blazes tearing through Los Angeles have killed at least 24 people, officials said yesterday, as forecasters issued a rare red flag warning for strong winds expected to hit the area from late Monday through Wednesday.
President-elect Donald Trump offered fresh criticism early yesterday of the officials in charge of fighting the Los Angeles wildfires, calling them “incompetent” and asking why the blazes were not yet extinguished.
“The fires are still raging in L.A.,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom hit back at Trump, accusing the president-elect of spewing “disinformation” and urging him to trek to the region and see the devastation for himself.
At least 29 people have been arrested, many for looting, since wildfires broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, officials said. One of the arrests included a suspect dressed as a firefighter while burglarizing a home, Journalist Gigi Graciette wrote on X.
Newsom sparked fierce outrage for soliciting donations to victims of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires via his super PAC, which pushed users to add their personal information to a Democratic fundraising site.
Newsom has signed a broad executive order that aims to make it easier to rebuild after the fires by suspending California’s costly and time-consuming environmental review process for homeowners and businesses whose property was damaged or destroyed.
Two LA-based actresses claimed embattled Mayor Karen Bass is only facing backlash because of her race — instead of forcing drastic cuts to the fire department and being out of the US when the historic deadly wildfires started.
Bass has been criticized for being out of the country when the wildfires broke out. Three years ago, she promised in an interview to cut back on her world travel and focus on the city.
Hiring a private fire crew costs thousands of dollars a day, and most work through government contracts or with insurance companies. Some wealthy LA property owners are calling them in directly.
Hundreds of incarcerated people are firefighting in Los Angeles. They are paid a maximum of $10.24 a day, and receive an additional $1 for each hour that they battle the deadly blazes.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has postponed the premiere of her new Netflix show, “With Love, Meghan,” because of the California wildfires, the streaming service said in a statement.
Trump was sentenced Friday for falsifying business records in a years-old scheme to defraud voters, closing out the historic case that involved a hush money payoff to a porn star and formalizing him as a convicted felon days before his White House return.
New York Justice Juan Merchan issued a so-called “unconditional discharge,” a decision that will spare the incoming president any jail time, fines or probation.
Trump will not go to jail or face any other punishment for his criminal conviction, but Merchan noted that Trump’s inauguration would not erase the jury verdict. Unless the conviction is overturned, some of his rights could be affected.
Vice President-elect JD Vance said people who “committed violence” on Jan. 6, 2021, “obviously” shouldn’t be pardoned by Trump.
“I think it’s very simple, look, if you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
Vance said that there were scores of individuals who “were prosecuted unfairly” after the Jan. 6 ransacking of the Capitol and that the Trump administration will “rectify that.”
Four years after receiving a pardon from Trump for crimes related to foreign lobbying, Paul Manafort is again seeking business from political interests abroad.
Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday suggested that Trump’s remarks about Canada becoming America’s “51st state” has distracted attention from the harm that steep tariffs would inflict on U.S. consumers.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said that he is aware that the possible TikTok ban “is controversial,” yet the app “has a national security risk to it.
Lunch and breakfast would be free for every student in every school in New York under a proposal Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday will be rolled into her policy agenda for this year’s legislative session.
The plan is part of Hochul’s State of the State affordability agenda. By offering free meals, the program aims to combat food insecurity and support families across the state by saving them an estimated $165 dollars per child, per month on groceries.
Hochul is expected to announce an anti-pollution “cap-and-invest” plan in her State of the State speech tomorrow that critics warn may hike home-heating costs and send gas prices soaring by as much as 22 cents on the gallon.
Hochul is pledging to work with a future Andrew Cuomo administration in New York City — if her former boss’ speculated run for mayor proves successful.
Barriers will be installed on platforms at subway stations in New York City starting in 2025, the governor said.
New York City Congressman Ritchie Torres is eviscerating Hochul for her “passive” stance on an insidious open-air drug market festering in the South Bronx.
Long Island is getting a mere 7.8% of the state’s next annual transportation budget — a third of what it typically nets — and local pols and trade groups are crying foul.
Hochul proposed creating the nation’s first-ever Crime Analysis Joint Special Operations Command (CA-JSOC) Headquarters to help fight crime and coordinate intelligence sharing among hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement entities.
Hochul wants another round of funding in the state budget to improve technology at police departments across New York, she said during a visit Saturday morning to a Buffalo police station.
Seymour P. Lachman, a former New York State senator who was so fed up with the political shenanigans in Albany that he quit the Legislature and wrote two books that helped spur reforms, died on Jan. 2 at his home in Manhattan. He was 91.
In a Saturday night meeting with Republican members of New York’s House delegation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the incoming commander in chief agreed he would help try to nix the city’s first-in-the-nation congestion tax.
The trip to Florida, attended by a posse of local lawmakers including Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino, came less than a week after New York became the first place in the country to launch congestion tolls.
Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday marked the final chapter of the infamous migrant tent city at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field — and apologized to New Yorkers for the massive shelter placed in their backyards.
“I just want to personally say sorry…because this is something that none of us wanted. The federal government did not do its job, and New Yorkers had to do it for them,” Adams said in front of giant, deserted tents as they were being broken down by workers.
Adams on Friday announced plans to shut down 13 migrant shelters by June 2025. The new closures include Hall Street in Brooklyn, one of the city’s largest facilities which houses 3,500 migrants.
Adams said Friday he would like to attend the inauguration of Trump on Jan. 20, explaining: “If it’s possible for me to get there, I look forward to it.”
Brooklyn real estate magnate Erden Arkan pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court to funneling thousands of dollars to Adams’ 2021 campaign in coordination with a Turkish government official, setting him up to potentially testify against the mayor.
AR Bernard, a prominent Brooklyn pastor appointed to Adams’ latest Charter Revision Commission, resigned from the panel Friday after the Daily News pressed questions about whether he was legally able to serve on it.
Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is running for mayor, will unveil his signature campaign issue today: trying to end homelessness on the streets and subways for people with severe mental illness.
Some of the Big Apple’s top politicians supported the controversial $9 congestion toll — but they won’t have to pay it as they are chauffeured around in NYPD vehicles.
Damien Williams is returning to Paul Weiss after four years of serving as US Attorney for the Southern District during the Biden administration.
Former Gov. Cuomo is living in a posh Sutton Place pad on the Upper East Side, across the street from his 93-year-old mother Matilda — as he weighs whether he’ll challenge Adams in this year’s mayoral race.
A small surcharge for ticket sales at sports and music events in New York City could raise millions in badly needed funds for public parks across the five boroughs, according to a new report.
Big Apple eateries say a new “char broil” rule is totally half-baked. The city’s environmental cops could force restaurants that use char broilers to cut their smoky emissions by 75% — or figure out a new way to cook meat and fish.
Two women who worked for disgraced ex-NYPD honcho Jeffrey Maddrey are reportedly ensnared in the federal probe of the sex-for-overtime scandal.
The MTA said A train subway service in the Rockaways will be shut down for four months starting Friday, affecting approximately 9,000 daily riders.
The labor union representing stagehands went on strike yesterday against Atlantic Theater Company in Manhattan, prompting the prestigious nonprofit to postpone two productions that had already begun performances.
The oldest FDNY retiree who died at 103 Friday bravely raced toward the wreckage of the infamous 1960 mid-air plane collision over the Big Apple as part of a lifetime of service – but remained humble throughout his heroics, his son recalled.
The Republicans who are battling to succeed U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik are intensifying their efforts behind the scenes as her confirmation to become U.N. ambassador in the administration of Trump is expected to go through next week.
Tim Dymond, who retired this month from the State Police, is launching a campaign for Sullivan County sheriff against incumbent Sheriff Michael A. Schiff, who has been in the position for two decades.
Skaters glided across the new sheet of ice at Troy’s Knickerbacker Ice Arena Friday evening for the first time since the skating facility closed in 2018 when ice-making equipment failed.
One man is dead after falling through the ice on Great Sacandaga Lake yesterday morning.
Troopers arrested a 22-year-old Troy man last week after he led police on a car chase that began in Vermont and ended in Queensbury.
Despite the state AG’s office validating that a mobile home park must remain as such until 2026, the Saratoga Springs planning board is moving forward in reviewing plans to transform the Saratoga Lakeview Mobile Park into a boat and RV storage facility.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
