Good morning, it’s Thursday.
If you haven’t been paying attention to the national news (no judgement here), you might not be aware that today is a national day of mourning for James “Jimmy” Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President of the United States, who died at 100 on Dec. 29, 2024.
Carter was America’s longest living former president and the first to reach the century mark. In his executive order providing for the closure of federal departments and agencies in observance of this day, President Joe Biden wrote:
“I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter Jr. I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.”
The day of mourning is concurrent with Carter’s funeral, which is also being held today at Washington National Cathedral. Biden will deliver a eulogy. Another eulogy, written by the late former President Gerald R. Ford, who died in 2006, will be read by his son Steven Ford.
Flags on all federal buildings, military bases, and embassies worldwide are being flown at half-staff in honor of Carter for 30 days after his death. He has been lying in state at the Capitol in the Rotunda since this past Tuesday. There will be a private funeral at 3:45 p.m. at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school for many, many years.
Assuming you won’t be attending the funeral services today, (they will be live streamed here starting at 10 a.m., if you’re interested), what does the day of mourning mean for you? You might not recall, but the last time we experienced this was in 2018 when the late former President George H.W. Bush died.
Most notably, the U.S. Postal Service won’t be delivering any regular mail today and their retail offices will be closed. Package delivery will continue on a limited basis. National Parks will be open, but their administrative offices won’t be staffed. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are closed. Ditto the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal courts, and the Library of Congress.
I have to confess to being a crappy student of national history. New York I have covered (thanks, Dad), and can quote chapter of verse all sorts of obscure incidents and details related to politics and policy. It’s all I can do to keep that straight, though. Start adding in U.S. and world history and I lose the thread.
Carter became president when I was five, and he only spent a single term in office. So, maybe I can be forgiven for only being half aware of what he did – or did not – do in office?
I know about the Iranian Hostage Crisis, of course, thanks largely to the movie “Argo.” Other than that, I was more familiar with what Carter did after he left office, especially in connection to Habitat for Humanity and the controversy related to his writing and commentary about the Israeli peace process.
Since the former president’s passing, I have had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about who he was and what he was about. You can say a lot of things about him, and perhaps disagree with some of his positions and policies, but the man was a dedicated humanitarian and public service. He dedicated his entire life to trying to make the world a better place.
And he was tough. He was in hospice for close to two years, and hung on even after his beloved wife, former First Lady Rosalynn, died in 2023. (They were married for 77 years). After her passing, he said:
“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
I think we can all agree that they just don’t make presidents like they used to anymore. Someone broke the mold after Carter. His passing is a loss. May his memory be a blessing.
Slowly, slowly, we’re coming out of the deep freeze. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel…somewhere in the not-too-distant future. Sadly, though, today’s high will again be in the mid-20s. It will again be windy, with gusts potentially hitting 40 mph or more. That icy wind is like a knife. I can handle the cold until that wind starts to blow. Brrrr.
Bundle up.
In the headlines…
President-elect Trump blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the massive wildfires that have swept through the Los Angeles area and forced tens of thousands to evacuate, saying he should have signed a declaration to pump more water through the state.
Trump lashed out at Newsom for implementing a water management plan that many Republicans and farmers oppose. “[Newsom] didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump falsely claimed Newsom’s plan restricted the amount of water firefighters had to fight at least four major blazes that have already killed at least two people in Los Angeles and destroyed more than 1,000 homes.
The historically devastating wildfires left outgoing President Joe Biden briefly stuck before taking off to Washington D.C. yesterday.
Biden landed in Los Angeles on Monday to visit the Coachella Valley and designate a new national monument, CNN reported. But worsening wind conditions, including winds reaching 99 mph, resulted in the cancelation of the monument trip.
The wildfires ravaging Southern California are making no exceptions for fancy neighborhoods like the Pacific Palisades, where Hollywood couple Adam Brody and Leighton Meester and “Scary Movie” star Anna Faris reportedly lost their homes.
The Sunset Fire has so far torched more than 40 acres near the landmarks such as the Dolby and TCL Chinese Theaters, the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Jim Henson Company Studios, the Hollywood Bowl and historic Whitley Heights.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass became stone-faced when confronted by a reporter as she returned to the U.S. from Ghana to find her city burning. She did not respond when asked if she regretted cutting the city’s fire department budget by $17.6 million.
The NFL is ready to move one of its wild-card round games as wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles County. The Rams-Vikings matchup is slated for 8 p.m. Monday at SoFi Stadium in LA, and as of last night, the NFL plans to play the game as scheduled.
Trump arrived on Capitol Hill late yesterday to meet privately with Republican senators as House and Senate GOP leaders are straining to come up with a strategy for tackling his legislative priorities as the party takes power in Washington.
Trump emerged from a marathon 100-minute huddle with Senate Republicans touting what he called a “very strong” discussion of how to implement his agenda — after he paid his respects to the late Jimmy Carter feet away at the Capitol.
Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent Friday’s sentencing in his New York criminal hush money case, with his lawyers arguing argued that doing so would damage “the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government.”
Federal prosecutors said they planned to hold off on releasing a portion of a report by the special counsel, Jack Smith, detailing his investigation into Trump’s refusal to give back a trove of classified documents he took from the White House after leaving office.
The court has asked New York prosecutors to respond to Trump’s request by this morning, giving the justices time to act before the sentencing proceeding.
A new study shows gender-affirming medications are rarely prescribed to transgender and gender-diverse U.S. teenagers, countering growing concerns from some policy makers that these drugs are being over-prescribed to children.
A consortium of 25 scientists and legal experts has released a paper calling for sweeping changes to federal law regarding chemicals, in order to protect children’s health.
Former Rep. George Santos has leveraged his criminal notoriety as a con man and serial liar into a lucrative cottage industry with a nearly million-dollar windfall.
The disgraced ex-congressman still says he needs more time to record enough episodes of his new podcast, “Pants on Fire with George Santos,” to pay off his forfeiture obligations, and he wants his Feb. 7 fraud sentencing delayed for six months.
Ports on the East and Gulf Coasts could close next week if dockworkers and employers cannot overcome their big differences over the use of automated machines to move cargo.
Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed several measures that would restrict hedge funds and private-equity firms from buying up large numbers of single-family homes, the latest in a string of populist proposals she intends to include in her State of the State address.
New York’s high cost of living will be a top issue for Democrats who control the Legislature this year. But lawmakers across the aisle also pegged that as a priority as this year’s legislative session kicked off yesterday.
The New York Public Interest Research Group has a new leader. Megan Ahearn was named NYPIRG’s new executive director on January 1st. She takes over for Blair Horner, who will remain as NYPIRG’s Senior Policy Advisor.
The number of nonprofit agencies has fallen in New York even as those types of organizations have increased across the rest of the country, according to a report by the state comptroller’s office.
New York recently took a step toward improving access to services for residents with traumatic brain injuries with a bill signed into law by Hochul.
Hochul will reportedly announce in the coming days her support to fund universal school meals in the next state budget as part of her State of the State executive agenda.
Hochul is under growing pressure to replace Upstate University Hospital’s outdated and, at times, dangerous emergency room, which is too small and too overcrowded to serve its Upstate New York patients.
Hochul has announced that up to $2 million will be made available to expand suicide prevention efforts for the military and first responders.
A Livingston County judge issued a temporary restraining order against the New York State Department of Health that will impact at least part of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program transition.
A string of high-profile crimes on New York City’s streets and in its subways is reverberating through the halls of the state Capitol some 150 miles away.
New York’s Advisory Council on Lead Poisoning Prevention convened yesterday at the Capitol to review the state Department of Health’s draft regulations for a statewide lead rental registry — which advocates hope will protect children from lead poisoning.
More than 50 medical transportation companies received cease and desist notices from the state attorney general’s office instructing them to cease any alleged fraudulent Medicaid activity involving illegal billing schemes.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams will present his fourth State of the City speech today at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, attempting to highlight his administration’s wins even as he faces a federal corruption trial.
These addresses are as much about setting a thematic vision and overarching goals for an administration as they are about laying out new policy proposals – if not more so – especially in an election year, as Adams faces deep uncertainty about his future.
The embattled mayor is gearing up to address the state of America’s most populous city—just as the nation hits pause to honor the late President Jimmy Carter with a state funeral.
The Turkish House — the building at the core of Adams’ indictment — has been operating for months without a required certificate of occupancy from the city, an investigation from the city comptroller’s office revealed.
The comptroller, Brad Lander, is running for mayor against Adams. His investigation, a 34-page document, didn’t mention Adams by name, save for one reference to his indictment. But Mr. Lander said in a statement that city officials had put public safety at risk.
“By rushing to allow the opening of Turkish House in advance of a ribbon-cutting ceremony with President Erdogan,” Lander said, the city “cut serious corners that could have compromised the safety of the occupants and neighbors of the building.”
The Adams administration has requested a deadline extension to submit an annual report on involuntary removals by police and outreach workers.
Republican state lawmakers want the MTA’s head honcho to resign after he brushed off New Yorker’s concerns about subway crime — as questions swirl over the flailing agency’s chaotic financial picture.
Layla Law-Gisiko, president of the City Club of New York and a vocal proponent of the state’s controversial congestion pricing plan who is nudging New Yorkers into the city’s troubled transit system, was attacked at a Manhattan subway station over the weekend.
Although New York City’s congestion pricing program is less than a week old, there are early signs that it is already accomplishing its primary goal of reducing Manhattan’s gridlock, which is among the worst in the world.
Nearly 200 people were slapped with tickets, three were arrested and more than two dozen vehicles were seized as NYPD officers went out to enforce the contentious congestion pricing plan in Manhattan this week, authorities said.
The City Board of Elections rejected the government integrity watchdog’s recommendation to remove its executive director after an investigation that found he repeatedly subjected two female staffers to racially biased and sexually inappropriate comments.
Investigators said that the response, coupled with a previous episode in which its former general counsel subjected two employees to physical exams and asked them to wrestle him, suggested severe shortcomings in the agency’s approach to nondiscrimination.
Antisemitic hate crimes exploded across the Big Apple last year, with 345 anti-Jewish incidents reported, according to troubling NYPD data released this week.
New York faced a whopping 53% spike in homelessness last year — marking the highest per capita rate in the nation — thanks largely to the influx of migrants housed in Big Apple shelters, according to the feds.
Doctors at four of New York City’s public hospitals agreed to postpone a planned strike after resuming negotiations over a new contract yesterday, this time with a mediator.
Suffolk County taxpayers could be on the hook for $60 million in a migrant class-action lawsuit for holding on to illegal immigrants until the feds could show up and ship them out of the country, officials said.
With the holiday season winding down, New York has seen an uptick in respiratory infections such as influenza and COVID-19, resulting in delays, backups and a surge of patients at Capital Region hospitals.
Latham-based medical technology company AngioDynamics is ramping up marketing of its NanoKnife cancer treatment machine after receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its use on prostate cancer patients.
Something is flooding Knox’s town park, submerging bridges and swamping the nearby road. The alleged culprit? New York’s state mammal, the North American beaver.
The Saratoga County sheriff will not be running for a fourth term. After five decades in law enforcement, Michael Zurlo is getting ready to step aside.
The first long-term substance abuse rehab facility in Saratoga County opened this week.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
