Good morning, it’s Monday and we’re already three days into a brand-new month.
Welcome to February – the shortest month of the year that is nonetheless jam-packed full of things to write about, from love to presidents and Black history. Hopefully, we’ll have time to get to them all, and then some.
It was a rather chilly weekend, which makes what I’m about to write all the more difficult. In case you hadn’t heard, the famous season predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow early yesterday morning, which means (if you go in for this sort of thing, which we’ll delve deeper into in a moment) that we all must endure six more weeks of winter.
Officially speaking, regardless of what Phil or any of his rival groundhogs (and it turns out there are quite a few of them) have to say about it, spring will start on March 20, which is about seven weeks away.
Also, statistically speaking, Phil hasn’t been terribly accurate in years past – he’s right somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the time, depending on which assessment you’d prefer to believe. It turns out that New York’s own Staten Island Chuck, who has a somewhat tragic past, is the most accurate of his weather-predicting brethren, with an 85 percent accuracy rate.
I’ve never been entirely clear on how Phil’s handlers can tell if he saw his shadow or not. It’s not as if he can tell them as much. Apparently, from what I’ve been able to glean from the interwebs, it’s as simple as whether or not it’s sunny on Groundhog Day when Phil is held aloft by his top-wear hearing bearer, which isn’t terribly scientific.
If you’re wondering about the origin of this day, it has something to do with Candlemas, which is the halfway point between the spring equinox and the winter solstice. As the ancient saying goes:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.
The Germans were reportedly responsible for adding a hedgehog to the mix, which later became a groundhog (I guess they were easier to find after Germans immigrated to America).
FWIW, it sounds like the folks who made the trek yesterday to witness Phil’s prediction at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania were treated to quite the party. There were fireworks, live music, food, confetti, dignitaries galore, and, of course, the star of the show: One probably rather confused groundhog (AKA a woodchuck).
Groundhogs/woodchucks, when not prognosticating on the length of winter, are typically busy digging burrows that help aerate the soil. They are also an important part of the ecosystem, as they provide food for larger animals like coyotes, foxes, hawks, and eagles.
Not surprisingly, PETA is not a big fan of Groundhog Day, and has suggested replacing the tradition of ripping Phil rudely from his warm burrow with a weather-related version of a gender reveal cake – vegan, of course.
For the record, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is not in favor of this idea. (In years past, PETA has proposed allowing Phil to retire and replacing him with all manner of things, including (oddly) a gold coin; needless to say, all of these entreaties have been rejected).
The weather roller coaster continues today, with a brief warm-up that will take us soaring to almost 40 degrees (!). Skies will be cloudy and no precipitation is predicted. But don’t get too comfortable, as the forecast is looking downright weird over the coming days, with the mercury bouncing all over the place. Ah, upstate. We love you.
In the headlines….
President Donald Trump acknowledged that his tariffs — 25 percent on Canada and Mexico, with a partial carve out for Canadian energy and oil exports, and 10 percent on goods from China — could cause “some pain.”
Canada and Mexico’s top leaders blasted Trump Saturday hours after he imposed a 25% tariff on the neighboring countries — and announced they would retaliate by working together and enforcing their own tariffs on the US.
Most items coming in from Canada will be hit with a 25 percent tariff, starting tomorrow, but electricity, natural gas, and other forms of energy will face a 10 percent tariff instead.
Canada has published a detailed list of all U.S. goods imported into Canada that will be subject to a 25 percent tariff as of tomrrow in retaliation to Trump’s blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods imported into the US. The list includes hundreds of goods.
The CEO of Canada’s second-largest publicly traded company says Canadians want their government to do all the things that Trump is demanding — and slammed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not preventing the trade war.
Trump’s tariff war with New York’s neighbor Canada will hurt businesses and consumers in the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed.
When you do something that hurts New York — because we are in such close proximity to Canada — it’s going to have a ripple effect across the country, and I’m concerned about that,” Hochul said, calling the Empire State the country’s “economic engine.”
“The president is not just randomly slapping on tariffs, he’s slapping consumers right where it hurts, their wallets,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “…it’s cities like New York, and metro areas like Long Island who will see higher costs first and often longer.”
Flights across the US were delayed yesterday after the Federal Aviation Administration’s critical NOTAM warning system experienced an outage, just days after two deadly plane crashes rocked the nation.
Notice to Air Missions — which relays important information about possible hazards to pilots and airports — went dark Saturday night, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy wrote on X.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that its primary system for sending real-time safety alerts to pilots was operational again after being down for several hours.
The authorities have drawn closer to finding and identifying all victims of the midair collision last week between a commercial jet and an Army helicopter just outside Washington, D.C., officials said at a news briefing yesterday.
Duffy and Vice President JD Vance joined Trump in blaming diversity hiring practices at the FAA for the midair collision.
A grieving friend of US Army Capt. Rebecca Lobach, who was identified as being on the doomed military chopper that crashed into a passenger jet in DC, remembered her as “brilliant and fearless” in a moving tribute Saturday.
A person in a car was the 7th fatal victim of the fiery crash of an air ambulance onto a Philadelphia street, as investigators sifted through burned cars, damaged homes and charred debris for clues to determine why the aircraft plummeted shortly after takeoff.
A United Airlines flight from Houston to New York had to be evacuated yesterday morning after the airplane caught on fire during takeoff.
The Trump administration notified four major news organizations late on Friday that they would have to give up their dedicated office space at the Pentagon to make way for other outlets, including the right-wing sites Breitbart News and One America News.
The Education Department placed a number of employees across its offices on administrative leave on Friday, part of a wave of what staff members and union representatives say are dozens of suspensions in the Trump administration’s purge of DEI efforts.
The two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development were put on administrative leave after refusing to give representatives of Elon Musk access to internal systems, according to three U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
The website for the U.S.A.I.D. went dark Saturday as lawmakers and aid workers, already reeling over freezes to foreign assistance and the suspension of senior officials, braced for the possibility that the agency might shut down.
A slimmed-down page for U.S.A.I.D. appeared on the State Department’s website Saturday afternoon, suggesting that the agency’s activities — which are currently severely limited — had been brought under the State Department’s umbrella.
More than 8,000 web pages across more than a dozen U.S. government websites have been taken down since Friday afternoon, a New York Times analysis has found, as federal agencies rush to heed Trump’s orders targeting DEI and “gender ideology.”
The purges have removed information about vaccines, veterans’ care, hate crimes and scientific research, among many other topics. Doctors, researchers and other professionals often rely on such government data and advisories
An executive order on school choice signed by Trump could have far-reaching implications for poor and disabled students — and, ultimately, may transform the federal government’s involvement in the funding and supervision of the nation’s schools.
A second federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary pause in Trump administration efforts to freeze federal funding in the latest twist over the spending of trillions of dollars in grants and loans.
Judge John McConnell sided with New York and nearly two dozen other states that requested an order preventing most federal agencies from halting funding until the court rules on a request from the states for a preliminary injunction.
The top agent at the F.B.I.’s New York field office vowed in an email to his staff to “dig in” after the Trump administration targeted officials involved in the investigations into the Jan. 6 attack, praising the bureau’s interim leaders for defending its independence.
The Democratic National Committee on Saturday elected Ken Martin as its chairman, tapping a low-profile political insider from Minnesota to guide the party forward after its crushing defeats last fall.
Martin had been the front-runner from the beginning of the race, leveraging his relationships with the more than 400 voting members of the DNC that he forged over more than a decade of work inside the institutional Democratic Party.
Neither Martin nor the pick of much of the establishment, Ben Wikler of Wisconsin, promised a major overhaul of the party. In selecting Martin, Democrats did little to answer some of the deepest questions their party faces as they search for a path forward.
Gun control activist and March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg was elected as vice chair of the DNC after securing 214.5 votes in a four-round election.
Many Americans say they do not believe the Democratic Party is focused on the economic issues that matter most to them and is instead placing too much emphasis on social issues that they consider less urgent.
Asked to identify the Democratic Party’s most important priorities, Americans most often listed abortion, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and climate change, according to a poll from The New York Times and Ipsos conducted from Jan. 2 to 10.
More than 50 interviews with Democratic leaders revealed a party struggling to decide what it believes in, what issues to prioritize and how to confront an aggressive right-wing administration.
New York elected officials yesterday scrambled to respond to Trump’s executive orders during his first two weeks back in office, arguing his efforts to freeze federal aid to states and impose tariffs on neighboring countries would lead to higher costs of living.
A group of New York state lawmakers wants to enshrine federal housing protections in state law as a preemptive defense against any attempt by Trump to roll them back.
A new bill would codify what’s known as the federal “disparate impact” standard in the state’s housing law, which ensures that anyone who files a Fair Housing Act housing discrimination claim doesn’t have to prove the discrimination was intentional.
A coalition of transit advocates, riders and elected officials gathered yesterday near Grand Central Terminal to demand that Hochul ensure the MTA capital program for transit improvements is funded in the new state budget.
On Friday, Hochul was joined by District Attorneys across the state to announce a series of improvements and essential changes to streamline New York’s Discovery Laws.
After decades of growth, craft brewing in New York has stagnated. That’s forcing local brewers to get creative. Last year, more craft breweries closed than opened for the first time since 2005, according to the Brewers Association.
New York lawmakers are discussing a bill that would give Hochul more time to set dates for special elections, which could leave Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s red North Country seat empty until the summer.
Democrats in both houses of the state Legislature met privately on Friday to consider changes to the state’s laws governing the calendar for special elections, according to multiple sources familiar with the conferences in the state Senate and Assembly.
Stefanik took a farewell tour through New York’s 21st Congressional District over the weekend, as Democrats in the state Legislature have been debating behind closed doors how to delay any special election to keep her seat empty until the summer.
Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino and Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin had a heated social media exchange, trading barbs over Constantino’s threat to launch a primary in NY-21 next year if he’s not selected as the GOP’s candidate.
Lawyers for the Justice Department met with New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ defense team and Manhattan federal prosecutors on Friday to discuss dropping the corruption case against him, a source familiar with the matter says.
Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro reportedly attended the meeting along with federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, including acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and acting chief of the criminal division Perry Carbone.
If Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim U.S. attorney, agrees to drop the prosecution of Adams, the decision could threaten the reputation of a famously independent office.
Adams and Andrew Cuomo have both been popular with Black voters, setting up a potential showdown that could decide the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, should the former governor throw his hat into the ring.
A recent private poll shows only 18 percent of likely Black voters support Adams, with 46 percent favoring Cuomo, who has not yet entered the race but is putting the finishing touches on a possible campaign launch.
Cuomo allies led by one of the former governor’s longtime and loyal advisors allies, Steve Cohen, have quietly taken steps to form a new super PAC intended to boost his candidacy for mayor of New York City should he enter the race.
Likely Democratic primary voters in the upcoming mayoral election overwhelmingly say New York City is in crisis — with nearly half saying that if things get any worse, they may leave, a dismal new survey shows.
Adams’ budget cuts prompted the Sanitation and Parks Departments to scale back cleanliness initiatives last year, causing some public spaces in the city to get dirtier, according to City Hall’s latest management report.
To win transportation funding under the Trump administration, the MTA will have to cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, can’t enforce mask or vaccine requirements and should hope New Yorkers start tying the knot and making babies.
The unusual guidelines for federal transportation funding are part of an order signed earlier this week by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — an ex-reality-TV star and two-term Wisconsin congressman — one day after his confirmation.
New Yorkers could soon see their already soaring energy bills jump by double-digit percentages as Con Edison pushes to hike its rates next year.
A group of retired police chiefs is urging New York state elected officials to back a bill in Congress to preserve the AM radio in new cars as a simple means to get the word out to the public in emergencies.
NYU Langone Health is canceling appointments for transgender children following Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments, according to the children’s parents.
If motorists avoid congestion pricing tolls leading into Manhattan via detours, other areas in the metropolitan region – like the South Bronx, which already has an air pollution problem – could see their air quality deteriorate.
The MTA’s Access-A-Ride service, a crucial lifeline for thousands of New Yorkers whose disabilities keep them from using the city’s subway system, is now run largely by third-party vendors and staffed by drivers who some riders say aren’t properly trained.
The manager of Playland, an iconic amusement park featured in the movie “Big”, accused Westchester County of violating their contract – and now taxpayers may have to fork over up to $57 million.
The Ledger, which has had a nearly century-long run as New Jersey’s dominant newspaper, printed its final edition and shifted to an online-only format Saturday. Its editorial board will vanish, as will its clipable sports photos and pages of printed obituaries.
Some University at Albany majors are now requiring that students work in their field before they can earn their diploma, in an effort to get them to actually start applying for jobs.
Central Warehouse is now in the hands of the Advance Albany County Alliance, the county’s economic development arm.
The few dozen votes spread between candidates running for Saratoga Springs commissioner of public works tightened on Friday with a hand-count of Election Day write-in votes at the Saratoga County Board of Elections.
A building that featured artist Samson Contompasis’ mural of World War I Hero and Medal of Honor recipient Henry Johnson was torn down last week after, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said, an exterior wall began to fail.
A Clinton Avenue resident is suing the company that is building dozens of apartments along that stretch of the City of Albany, claiming contractors damaged his historic home to the point of it potentially needing to be demolished.
Teachers are clamoring for free housing at the Emma Willard campus, even though it comes with extra work at night and on weekends. There’s been such a demand that the college-prep private high school is spending $10 million to build 12 more homes.
One of the surviving dogs from the plane crash that killed canine rescue pilot Seuk Kim was adopted Saturday.
The 67th annual Grammy Awards were defined by the wildfires. The show opened with a performance of Randy Newman’s hit song, “I Love L.A.” Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed “California Dreamin’” by the Mamas & the Papas.
Beyoncé made history last night when she won Best Country Album at the Grammys for “Cowboy Carter,” becoming the first Black singer to win the award.
It marked the 34th Grammy award of the singer’s career. She is also the most-nominated artist in the show’s history, after notching 11 more nominations this year for a total of 99.
The award was presented by Taylor Swift, who herself won the same honor in 2010 for “Fearless,” but lost every category she competed in last night. The entire list of winners is here.
Ye and wife Bianca Censori shocked the Grammy Awards when the model walked the red carpet in a sheer dress that left little to the imagination — moments before they were reportedly escorted out of the building and apparently uninvited from the show.
However, hours later, TMZ reported the two were invited and weren’t “forcibly removed,” but instead left on their own after getting their pictures taken.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
