Good morning, it’s Friday.
The cynic in me rejects Valentine’s Day as a made-up marketing extravaganza and a myth perpetuated by the patriarchy to make us aspire to an unrealistic and unattainable concept of true love forever.
That might also have something to do with the fact with that I am supremely bad at remembering important dates – like birthdays, anniversaries, and major holidays – that normal people use to demonstrate their regard and consideration for the people they love.
I am not callous or unfeeling or selfish or even curmudgeonly, I swear. I’m just really, really scattered and forgetful. The hamster brain runs and runs and runs in so many directions.
I did manage to remember Valentine’s Day this year and purchased a card and small treats in a timely fashion. But for the record, while I enjoy gifts and attention as much as the next person, I also don’t think my entire relationship should hang in the balance based on whether or not I get flowers.
As an aside, I don’t like cut flowers, really. They’re messy and they die and they can pose a hazard to the dogs. I do recognize, however, that this is a very big holiday for the flower-selling industry, especially those who deal in roses – though apparently not quite as big as Mother’s Day (AKA the Super Bowl for florists).
Anyway, with my token V Day purchases, I have joined the millions of other Americans who have opened their wallets in the name of love. As I’ve noted in previous posts over the past week, spending on Valentine’s Day is expected to hit record highs this year – $27.5 billion, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Valentine’s Day as a concept – not a marketing ploy – dates back centuries. Some believe it has its original roots in the ancient pagan festival Lupercalia, which was held each year in Rome on February 15.
Though there was nothing sweet and soft about Lupercalia, which History.com describes as a “bloody, violent and sexually charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility.”
The name “Valentine’s Day” may or may not have something to do with not one, but two individuals named St. Valentine who were executed on February 14 in different years by Roman Emperor Claudius II in the 3rd century. One of them, Saint Valentine of Terni, reportedly officiated at weddings of Roman soldiers going against the emperor’s expressed orders – so romantic.
If the fifth century, Pope Gelasius outlawed the celebration of Lupercalia and refocused the focus on honoring the Saint(s) Valentine. Things didn’t really take a turn toward the romantic until the 1300s, with the first official Valentine – a paper declaration of love and admiration – sent in the 1400s.
I’m sorry to report that from a weather standpoint, this is going to be a great weekend for staying in and snuggling, but not such a great weekend for going out. The extremely gusty winds that some parts of the state experienced last yesterday are forecast to die down early this morning, but it’s going to be cold, struggling to get out of the 20s.
Tomorrow, Saturday, is also going to be cold (again, struggling to get out of the 20s) with snow likely in the afternoon. Sunday will bring a potential winter storm, with a mix of sleet and freezing rain, temperatures will be in the low 30s.
In the headlines…
The House Budget Committee advanced a budget resolution last night after a marathon meeting – the first legislative step toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s policy agenda but at odds with the Senate’s continued pursuit of a “two-track” plan.
To rally enough support, GOP leaders placated fiscal conservatives by tweaking the blueprint that will ultimately allow them to pass a massive bill tackling tax cuts, border security, defense spending and energy policy — all while sidestepping the Senate filibuster.
Layoffs cascaded through the federal government after its human resources division advised agencies to terminate most of an estimated 200,000 workers on probation, a sharp escalation in Trump’s drive to overhaul and shrink the federal work force.
Among the largest layoffs reported yesterday was announced by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which dismissed more than 1,000 employees, including probationary workers who had worked at the agency for less than two years.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration last night to unfreeze foreign aid spending the president had halted during his first week in office, the latest of several legal roadblocks to his aggressive first-month agenda.
Scientists and other experts who collectively spent thousands of hours working on a first-of-its-kind assessment of nature across the U.S., only to see it blocked from publication by Trump, are working to finish and publish it outside the government.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won Senate confirmation by a comfortable 52-48 vote to be President Trump’s secretary of health and human services, capping a remarkable rise from fringe environmental and anti-vaccine activist to the pinnacle of power.
The controversial anti-vaxxer swept to confirmation with the backing of all Republicans except Sen. Mitch McConnell, an ardent proponent of vaccines who survived childhood polio. All 47 Democrats opposed his bid.
Louisiana’s top health official said in an internal memo to the state’s Health Department yesterday that it would no longer use media campaigns or health fairs to promote vaccination against preventable illnesses.
The official, Dr. Ralph L. Abraham, Louisiana’s surgeon general, wrote in the memo that the state would “encourage each patient to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their provider” but would “no longer promote mass vaccination.”
In a separate letter posted on the department’s website, Louisiana’s surgeon general decried “blanket government mandates” for vaccines and criticized the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccination push.
Kash Patel won a key Senate committee vote, putting the right-wing hardliner on a smooth path for confirmation as President Trump’s new FBI director.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 to approve Patel’s nomination in a party-line vote that signals he is on track to win final confirmation.
Republicans on the committee dismissed Democrats’ demands for an additional hearing to question Patel about a host of issues. Those include grand jury testimony he gave in a criminal investigation of Trump that remains sealed.
Apple and Google restored TikTok to their U.S. app stores last night, several weeks after they removed the Chinese-owned video platform to comply with a new law that banned it in the country.
By restoring the viral video platform, Apple and Google are allowing the app to be downloaded on mobile devices. It also provides a way for TikTok to send millions of Americans software updates to debug the service and provide security fixes.
The Chinese-owned social media app had been removed from the the two stores on Jan. 18, moments after TikTok’s leadership temporarily halted service in the U.S. in response to a national security law that went into effect the next day.
Elon Musk called for the United States to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of his push under Trump to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.
A federal judge ordered the government to temporarily cease efforts to terminate foreign aid contracts and grants in place prior to Trump’s inauguration amid a fight over the future of foreign aid playing out in Washington.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) condemned the Trump administration for a second time yesterday following the Associated Press’ expulsion from the president’s reporter pool due to an editorial decision.
Rham Emanuel, who served in the Biden administration as the U.S. ambassador to Japan, is joining CNN as a senior political commentator, the network announced.
Emanuel will also be a global affairs commentator and bring his “extensive knowledge of American politics and international affairs” to the network, CNN said in a release.
A judge in Texas fined a doctor from New York for prescribing abortion pills to a woman outside of Dallas in a ruling that could change the landscape of abortion law in Democratic states.
Texas didn’t file charges against Dr. Maggie Carpenter, but accused her in a lawsuit late last year of violating state law by prescribing the medication through a telemedicine method, The Associated Press reported.
The case is widely expected to reach the Supreme Court and become a pivotal test in the escalating battle between states that ban abortion and states that support abortion rights.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has denied Louisiana’s request to extradite the same doctor – Carpenter – who faces charges for prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor in the southern state.
“Louisiana has changed their laws, but that has no bearing on the laws here in the state of New York,” Hochul said. “I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana. Not now, not ever.”
The governor also said that she had sent out a notice to law enforcement in New York that instructed them to not cooperate with out-of-state warrants for such charges.
Louisiana AG Liz Murrill tweeted, “Yesterday, I signed off on the extradition form which has been transferred to @LAGovJeffLandry’s Office in the Dr. Margaret Carpenter case. We will take any and all legal actions to enforce the criminal laws of this State!”
Hochul postponed a meeting with Trump after the Department of Justice revealed it was suing New York state over its policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Hochul was once a vocal opponent of the Green Light Law, which is the subject of the DOJ’s lawsuit, and now she has become its most vocal champion.
Immigrants are being targeted for deportation at state courthouses in New York as the Trump administration ramps up efforts targeting noncitizens, the state’s chief administrative judge said.
Hochul announced the approval of a groundbreaking plan to audit utility company salaries, marking a significant step in her ongoing efforts to combat rising utility costs and protect consumers.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who’s eyeing a run for governor in 2026, blasted Hochul’s stance against massive Con Edison rate hikes — calling it a “gimmick” as he blamed her green energy policies for the sticker shock.
The New York Power Authority backed down from a significant rate increase proposed for hydropower after facing bipartisan backlash, but it was an order from Hochul herself that ultimately doomed the plan.
More licensed pot shops would be crammed into New York neighborhoods under a new rule proposed by Hochul’s cannabis regulators, sparking outrage from weed merchants who worry the change would put them out of business.
The state Health Department announced that the first known case of a new mpox strain — which has proved more serious as it spreads in certain African countries — was detected in New York outside New York City.
Mayor Eric Adams vowed to reopen the shuttered ICE office at Rikers Island following a closed-door meeting with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan yesterday.
Adams said he would issue an executive order to allow federal immigration authorities into the Rikers Island jail complex, a significant shift in the city’s sanctuary policies.
The New York City Council approved two bills to address sexual violence in city jails yesterday, following Gothamist’s investigation into hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse on Rikers Island.
Three senior federal prosecutors resigned in connection with the department’s decision to drop the criminal corruption case against Adams.
The departures of the U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, and the officials who oversaw the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, Kevin O. Driscoll and John Keller, came in rapid succession yesterday.
Sassoon resigned three days after the acting No. 2 official at the Justice Department, Emil Bove III, argued continuing the case against Adams prevented him from fully cooperating with Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In a remarkable letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sassoon said Bove’s order to dismiss the case was “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.”
Sassoon wrote that the mayor’s lawyers had “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed” – which they denied.
The resignation letter sent by Sassoon also blasts the “rushed and superficial” reasoning she says was behind Washington, D.C., demand to kill the case against Adams.
Sassoon, 38, built a life on conservative values and amassed a daunting resume. Yesterday, she took a stand against the Justice Department where she had made her career.
Bove accepted Sasoon’s resignation in a long and accusatory letter, in which he said Adams’ case is being removed from the Souther District of New York office and transferred to Washington, D.C., where it will be dismissed.
Former Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams rushed to charge Adams – then grandstanded about the corruption case to further his own career, a top Justice Department official claimed.
Weihong Hu, a hotelier with close ties to Adams, conspired with two businessmen to steal millions of dollars from a temporary housing program designed to help slow the spread of Covid-19 in New York’s jails, according to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.
Real estate broker Diana Boutross was able to sideline a competitor from a lucrative city government contract and secure the deal for herself as a “direct result” of her close relationship with Adams aides Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Jesse Hamilton, a lawsuit claims.
The word “transgender” and all references to trans people were removed from the National Park Service website for New York City’s iconic Stonewall National Monument, in an apparent act of compliance with Trump’s new federal gender policies.
The move to strike the word “transgender” from the website for the first Park Service historic site devoted to America’s gay rights movement elicited anger in the symbolic heart of New York City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“Pride would not exist without trans people and so to erase us from a website is violence and it is disgraceful, what they have done,” said Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative board member Angelica Christina.
The rebellion at Stonewall would not have happened without trans people. To attempt to erase their existence is utterly shameful,” said Erik Bottcher, the city councilman who represents the Greenwich Village neighborhood that is home to the monument.
Hochul, in a post on X, called the move “cruel and petty.”
House Republicans are demanding details about incidents of “pervasive antisemitism” at Columbia University — even after the departure of its president who let anti-Israel students take over campus last year.
Some universities are scrubbing websites and canceling events to comply with executive orders targeting diversity efforts. Other schools are promising to resist.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that he is in a new romantic relationship with liberal activist Nomiki Konst, 41, a raven-haired progressive pundit decades his junior, who shares his lefty views and his desire to “cuddle.”
A Queens EMT has been arrested and charged in connection with a 2021 fatal gunpoint robbery in Astoria, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Some 4,000 applications have been submitted for roadway and sidewalk licenses. But as Grub Street first reported, many angry restaurant owners say they are stuck in a bureaucratic maze ahead of the busiest dining season, and only 39 have been approved.
A concerning amount of Long Island public school districts were identified by New York officials for underwhelming academic performances, according to a Newsday report.
Keri S. Mazzuca pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter to settle murder charges she had faced after the body of her newborn baby was discovered at the base of a Washington Park statute in 1997.
The Pine Hills Land Authority has authorized a $40 million bond to cover its purchase of the entirety of The College of Saint Rose campus.
The owner of a Clifton Park day care center where two employees were charged in connection with the alleged abuse of a toddler last month says he intends to fight the revocation of the facility’s license to operate.
Two Washington, D.C., men pleaded guilty for the August smash-and-grab burglary of Lola Saratoga, a luxury handbag boutique on Broadway in Saratoga Springs.
A federal judge denied a request from former Saratoga Springs elected officials and city police leaders to dismiss a civil suit that alleges they used “hostile, violent and aggressive tactics against the racial justice protesters” at a rally in July 2020 “to chill the exercise of First Amendment protected rights.”
Photo credit: George Fazio.
