Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
We are smack in the middle of this polar vortex, and it is very cold. I guess I should be thankful that we (Albany-area folks, anyway) are not experiencing the heavy snow, power outages, travel restrictions, and deadly conditions they’re seeing elsewhere in the country – all the way up to New Jersey.
When things get this cold, walking the dogs is an adventure that requires serious suiting up. I wear a long coat, boots, mittens, and not one, but TWO different hats – one of which has furry ear flaps that also cover the back of my neck, which is an important thing to consider when one wears one’s hair very short.
I don’t usually do a balaclava because I don’t like rebreathing my own breath. Also, it’s sometimes bracing to feel the cold air on one’s face – for a short time, anyway, until frostbite starts to threaten.
I can understand around this time of year why men grow facial hair. I must admit that I am partial to a man with hair on his face, which might be because my father had a mustache when I was a young child (it was the 1970s, and it was a very bushy specimen). I remember crying when he shaved it off without warning.
It seems I am not alone when it comes to preferring hirsute men. At least one study published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology found that women prefer men with some level of hair on their face – light stubble is a big crowd pleaser, though a full beard is considered most masculine (also aggressive, which isn’t so great). And there’s more data where that came from.
Not all men can actually grow full beards, which might have something to do with genetics, stress, diet, or even hormones. It is not necessarily true, however, that an individual’s testosterone is low if he is unable to successfully grow hair on his face.
If you are a man who’s toying with the idea of growing a beard – or a mustache, or even some sideburns – and the chilly weather isn’t sufficient incentive to follow through, perhaps consider participating in Manuary, which has only just gotten underway.
Manuary is sort of like Movember, in that men are encouraged to grow out their facial hair (in November, it’s specifically mustache-focused) to raise awareness and, in some cases, funds, for men’s health issues.
Movember is about prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health, and suicide prevention, while Manuary is more beard and general wellness-focused, though some sites indicate it’s about raising awareness for head and neck cancers.
The Urban Dictionary, however, describes a baser version of Manuary, focused on engaging in all things that are stereotypically “manly” – including getting in senseless fights, which seems sort of pointless and dumb (not to mention dangerous) to me.
But what do I know about being a man? I can’t grow a beard, or even a measly mustache. Thankfully.
As foreshadowed above, it’s going to be cold (low 20s), windy, and cloudy. A traditional winter triumvirate. There could be gusts of up to 40 miles per hour, so hang on to your hats – literally.
In the headlines…
Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump’s election win yesterday, four years to the day after thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
With Vice President Kamala Harris presiding, lawmakers braved a nasty snowstorm to meet under tight security to rubber stamp Trump’s comeback and send the once and future commander-in-chief back to the White House in two weeks’ time.
President Biden decried an “unrelenting effort” to downplay the Jan. 6 riot in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 election, seeking to contrast the chaos with what he promises will be an orderly transition returning Trump to power for a second term.
Trump is seeking to stop his sentencing from going ahead Friday as his lawyers appeal a pair of rulings upholding his historic criminal conviction for the 2016 Stormy Daniels hush money scheme.
Defense lawyers asked both the Justice Department and a federal judge to stop the special counsel, Jack Smith, from publicly releasing a report detailing his investigation into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents after he left office in 2021.
The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported — a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.
State health officials announced the death yesterday, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it was the nation’s first due to bird flu.
A federal judge in New York City said that Rudy Giuliani was in contempt of court for failing to properly respond to requests for information as he turned over assets to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment granted to two Georgia election workers.
The ruling by Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Liman, which he read for more than 15 minutes from the bench, came after he heard several hours of testimony from Giuliani, 80, about his efforts to comply with the judgement against him.
All U.S. Postal Service offices will be closed Thursday, Jan. 9 to honor Jimmy Carter. The closure is part of an observance following the passing of the 39th president, who died Dec. 29, 2024, at the age of 100.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has been selected to lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm for the caucus, for the 2026 election cycle, Senate Democrats announced.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he intends to resign as Liberal Party leader and prime minister once a new party leader is determined.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide, competitive process,” Trudeau said yesterday from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
Trump reiterated his suggestion that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state, just hours after Trudeau announced his plan to resign.
Trump tapped Nassau County Judge Joseph Nocella Jr. as his pick to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
“Judge Nocella has a strong record of bringing Law and Order to the incredible people of New York, serving as a Nassau County District Court Judge, and Family Court Judge,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed an expansion of the state’s child tax credit that would more than double what some families currently receive.
Under her proposal, families would receive an annual credit of up to $1,000 per child under age 4 and up to $500 per child from age 4 to 16. The current rate is set at $330 per child. Families earning up to $170,000 annually would be eligible for the credit.
Hochul and lawmakers are expected to weigh more taxes and fees to fill a massive $33 billion hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget even after hitting drivers with the controversial new Manhattan congestion toll.
Hochul is proposing a series of improvements to Hudson Valley train services in her 2025 State of the State address.
“Hudson Valley commuters deserve fast, high-quality rail service they can count on, and the investments I am proposing we make today will drive transformational change for generations to come,” Hochul said.
Hochul in December vetoed the Jury of Our Peers Act – which allows people with past felonies to serve on juries – shooting down what would have been the last bill made into law by now-retired Queens Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry.
Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, in a scathing op-ed for the New York Post this past weekend, demanded that Hochul do more to protect residents, including stopping a practice of “releasing repeat offenders.”
New York state just might send you a check of up to $250 soon – without you having to make any kind of application or take any step first.
Ahead of their official return to the state Capitol tomorrow, Democrats are jostling for pet projects and political priorities in a year when the main focus is likely to be contentious New York City mayoral primary and the governor’s promised reelection bid in 2026.
Mayor Eric Adams announced a small annual drop in crime yesterday, as he seeks to reaffirm his central promise of making the city safer ahead of a tough reelection bid.
Joined by his new police commissioner, Jessica Tisch — the fourth person to hold that job during his three-year tenure — the Democratic mayor announced the seven major index crimes tracked by the NYPD decreased by 2.9 percent from 2023 to last year.
While overall crime in the city edged down 3% in 2024, city and police officials said that they plan to put 200 more police officers on trains and platforms in order to make New Yorkers feel safer, especially on the subway.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said Adams’s friendliness with Trump could hurt his chances of winning reelection this year.
Adams isn’t waiting for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to announce a run for mayor — he’s already on the attack. “Who was there for the original bail reform? Who signed some of these procedures? You’re going to have to answer these questions,” Adams said.
Few politicians in America face a tougher reelection than Eric Adams. Still, the enigmatic mayor maintains a narrow path to reelection, and laid out how he intends to succeed in an exclusive interview with POLITICO.
Jim Walden, a prominent lawyer who is a candidate for mayor of New York City, filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to run on the Independence Party line in the general election in November.
An internet outage disrupted classes in 115 New York City public schools yesterday, after a fiber optic cable was damaged, education and union officials said.
In a post on X, the United Federation of Teachers estimated closer to 200 schools were impacted by the outage. “Service will hopefully be back by the day’s end,” the post read.
Transit officials in New York City are counting on congestion pricing to generate billions of dollars to pay for urgent upgrades to the region’s subways and buses.
The state’s E-ZPass website crashed yesterday morning during the Manhattan toll program’s first workweek rush hour.
It’s just a matter of time before critics of congestion pricing come around to it, according to Kathryn Wylde, the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City.
City Council Member Vickie Paladino suggested that New Yorkers use laser pointers to foil cameras enforcing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new congestion pricing tolls.
Some Big Apple motorists were recently spotted with license plates subtly obscured using ultra low-tech methods — which could potentially be used to evade New York’s unpopular congestion toll that just went into effect.
The city took a critical step toward developing the long-neglected Kingsbridge Armory, selecting a developer for the project that, once complete, will include event space, sports fields, educational community space and 450 units of affordable housing next door.
Attorneys representing multiple Sean “Diddy” Combs accusers aren’t happy with the jokes made by comedian Nikki Glaser at the Golden Globes.
The vote for a new city of Saratoga Springs commissioner of public works that was expected to tip the balance of the City Council to Republicans might now not be a guaranteed win for the GOP.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan has reactivated SeeClickFix, an online system to report and efficiently address non-emergency issues, after a local law was passed to protect the city in case filed complaints are used as proof of negligence and legal liability.
Tiffany Payton, a reporter at WNYT, left the station at the end of November, and Steve Caporizzo, WTEN’s chief meteorologist, announcement his retirement.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
