Good morning, it’s Thursday, but not just any Thursday. This morning, at 5:01 a.m. to be exact, the long cold winter officially came to and end. SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!
Happy March equinox, everyone! (AKA spring equinox or vernal equinox; “vernal” means “fresh” or “new” in Latin, and “equinox” is a mix of two words – “aequus” (equal) and “nox” (night)). Whatever you want to call it, we’ve waited a long time for this moment to occur – or at least I have, and I suspect I’m not alone.
It has already been feeling plenty spring-like, in part thanks to the fact that daylight savings time is making the days last a lot longer. I feel like I look up and it’s 7 p.m. already, but it’s still light outside. Love that.
Also, the weather has been more or less cooperating, in the usual upstate New York fashion. For example, there’s the possibility of snow in the forecast tonight, mixing with rain as temperatures drop into the 30s. This is sort of rude of Mother Nature after the incredible day we had yesterday, but it’s par for the course. The weekend is looking pretty clear at the moment, but we’ll revisit that tomorrow.
Officially speaking, the equinox occurs when the sun crosses the equator, shifting from the sky above the southern to the northern hemisphere. (Interestingly, last year the spring equinox fell on March 19, which was the earliest first day of the season in 128 years, according to the Farmers’ Almanac).
Since the winter solstice, the days have been getting progressively longer and the nights shorter. The equinox marks the point when the balance tips over in favor of the light, after a day of more or less equal periods of both.
The days will get progressively longer until we hit the summer solstice, which is the turning point for heading back in the other direction (less light, more darkness). Day and night will be equal once again when the autumnal equinox rolls around, but that’s a LONG time from now.
Interestingly, the warm seasons – spring and summer – are both a few days longer in the Northern Hemisphere than fall and winter, even though the latter is often called the “longest” month. Actually, the complete opposite is true. This has something to do with the fact that the Earth’s orbit is not circular, but elliptical, which causes it to be faster in some places than others. (Hey, I’m a communicator, but not a scientist; if you really want to go deep on this, click here).
The spring equinox coincides with Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which is celebrated by millions across the globe including but not limited to countries like Iran, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan. The holiday has its roots in the ancient Zoroastrian religion, (the dominant faith in Persia before Islam), but has evolved to be largely secular.
Celebrating Norwuz mostly involves a lot of eating, as far as I can tell, with meals including something called a haft-sin – a symbolic display of seven ingredients all beginning with the Persian letter “sin”, including sprouts, vinegar, apples, garlic, sumac, and hyacinths, as well as painted eggs, flowers, mirrors, and other decorative items.
It will be cloudy but warm today, with temperatures again reaching up into the low 60s. As mentioned above, things are going to take a turn for the messy/chilly etc. So let’s enjoy this weather moment while we can.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order today instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the agency, according to two White House officials.
The department cannot be closed without the approval of Congress, which created it. But the Trump administration has already taken steps to narrow the agency’s authority and significantly cut its work force while telegraphing plans to try to shutter it.
The order will direct McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure the (department) and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
Advocates for public schools said eliminating the department would leave children behind in an American education system that is fundamentally unequal.
The University of California said that it would stop requiring the use of diversity statements in hiring, a practice praised by some who said it made campuses more inclusive but criticized by others who said it did the opposite.
The Trump administration has suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over the participation of a transgender athlete in its swimming program, the White House said.
The federal money was suspended in a separate review of discretionary federal money going to universities, the White House said. The money came from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The decision is the latest clash between a university and the administration as it pushes schools to end diversity programming and adopt stricter discipline, among other things.
Lawyers at NYU Langone Health have identified terms to avoid or scrutinize as the medical center navigates Trump administration executive orders aimed at D.E.I. programs.
Columbia University is reportedly considering capitulating to Trump’s demands — including a mask ban and a major crackdown on campus anti-Israel protests — as a deadline looms to comply or risk losing some $400 million in federal funding.
A Columbia University student activist detained by ICE over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations can challenge the legality of his detention, but the case should be heard in New Jersey, rather than in New York or Louisiana, a federal judge ruled,
The U.S. government detained an Indian citizen who was studying and teaching at Georgetown University, and said he had been deemed “deportable” for violating the terms of his student visa.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national in the US on a student visa, was arrested at his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, by masked agents from the Department of Homeland Security, his lawyer alleges in a lawsuit obtained by CBS News and Politico.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine agreed in a phone call with Trump to accept Russia’s offer of a mutual pause in attacks on energy targets for 30 days as a step toward a broader cease-fire.
It was not immediately clear how or when a pause in strikes on certain targets would take hold. “Everything will continue to fly,” Zelensky said in a later news conference from Finland, until “there is an appropriate document” negotiating terms.
Possible US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants was also discussed during the call, the White House said, although Zelensky later stated this was only about the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia facility.
Trump on Truth Social said much of his call with Zelensky was “based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs.”
Canada is in advanced talks with the European Union to join the bloc’s new project to expand its military industry, a move that would allow Canada to be part of building European fighter jets and other military equipment at its own industrial facilities.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in its meeting for a second time in a row, and officials stuck to their previous forecast for two more cuts this year.
The central bank’s decision to hold interest rates at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent extends a pause that has been in place since January, following a series of cuts in late 2024 that lowered borrowing costs by a percentage point.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNN that Trump respects the Federal Reserve’s independence, just hours after two Democratic FTC commissioners said they were “illegally fired” by the Trump administration Tuesday.
Investors took much solace in hearing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell say the economy is on solid footing despite a slew of recent economic surveys sparking concerns of the opposite.
Stock investors breathed a sigh of relief, with Wall Street’s major benchmarks climbing after Powell reiterated that the American economy remained on solid footing, and that the Fed was prepared to react if conditions changed.
In the 64,000 pages of documents released regarding the 1963 assassination of President JFK, there appeared to be no redactions – blacked-out sections that typically dot sensitive material, even once it is declassified, to mask confidential or compromising data.
Critics said that failure was evidence of an F.B.I. rush to vet material released after a president’s demand. And it exposed at least one C.I.A. agent’s complete personnel file and the Social Security numbers for hundreds of other people.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is reviving her push to restrict the wearing of masks in public, urging lawmakers in state budget talks to bring back some form of a previous ban.
In so doing, Hochul is involving herself in a hot-button issue that pits civil-rights and health concerns against unease over anti-Israel protests and crime.
Hochul is concerned there could be an increase in measles cases in New York in the coming months but cautioned that residents don’t need to fear a widespread outbreak of the highly contagious virus that has plagued other states and parts of Canada.
Hochul confirmed a fourth person has been diagnosed with the measles in New York, and called on clergy, activists and other “pillars of our communities” to help disseminate accurate information about the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine.
The governor joined State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald to update New Yorkers on the cases and encouraged everyone to ensure they are current on all recommended immunizations.
Democrats in the Legislature are throwing their weight behind two central pieces of climate legislation this spring, both of which seek to shift the onus of sustainability onto big businesses.
More than half of the human trafficking survivors referred to state social services offices did not contact them, an audit from New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found.
A commission that supports closing the jail on Rikers Island acknowledged that the decrepit facility will not be shuttered by the 2027 deadline – and New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed vindication with the news.
The 114-page report, produced at the behest of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, urged City Hall to speed up construction of the four jail projects across the city.
“We are glad that the Lippman Commission is finally recognizing what we have been sounding the alarm on for years — the plan for Rikers was flawed and did not offer a realistic timeline,” the mayor said in a statement.
Adams enlisted an army of contractors to build a one-stop benefits platform. Two years and $100 million later, the website is a skeleton of what it was supposed to be.
Adams blamed the perception that New York City is unsafe and its sprawling homelessness crisis squarely on the Democratic challenger in the 2025 NYC Mayor’s Race who says he is best positioned to fix those issues: former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The criminal justice reforms signed by then-Gov. Cuomo are to blame for the Big Apple’s spiraling recidivism problem, Adams charged, leveling his sharpest attack yet against his formidable campaign rival.
Assemblymember and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is “more radical than the radical left,” according to one veteran of local and national political campaigns.
The Adams administration is continuing to pay over $500,000 a month to a hotel developer who could potentially provide valuable testimony to prosecutors against the mayor and several of his top allies.
Huma Abedin gave ex-hubby Anthony Weiner a lowball $175 donation for his comeback campaign for City Council, well short of the maximum contribution limit. She could have given up to $1,050.
Moderate-income New Yorkers are increasingly becoming the face of eviction in the city, according to a new report by the Community Service Society of New York.
The report concludes that a middle-income family of three earning $50,000 to $110,000 – two to five times above a poverty-level income – is almost as likely to face eviction in the city as a family living in poverty.
The MTA, which oversees the subway and bus systems, announced that it would stop selling MetroCards at stations on Dec. 31 and in the fall at retail locations such as drugstores and bodegas. The cards debuted in 1993.
The MTA threatened another “Summer of Hell” if the Big Apple doesn’t continue ponying up big bucks — even as a recent watchdog study warned the city’s payments keep snowballing.
Enraged Brooklyn residents are accusing the city of a “bait and switch” to replace a building slated for affordable housing with a new homeless shelter.
A snack food magnate declared himself mayor of the Village of Sea Cliff, on Long Island. The voters said otherwise.
The founder of popular Pirate’s Booty cheese puff snack who got clobbered in his long-shot Long Island village mayoral bid claimed the tally was rigged and shockingly compared his blowout loss to the plight of Anne Frank.
Capital Region history museums are on edge as federal funding cuts target another agency: the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
A judge put on hold Advance Albany County Alliance’s efforts to negotiate a contract to level the Central Warehouse until she can hear a claim from a demolition company that says it should have been awarded the $14 million contract.
The Schoharie County Democratic Committee has filed a lawsuit against the county challenging the recent reappointment of the county’s Democratic elections commissioner.
In the midst of proposals from the town Planning Board to turn Normanside Country Club into a rural multi-district zone, residents gathered to express concerns if rezoning would allow for more development.
Niskayuna Board members will likely decide within the next month if they will bring back the school resource officer program to the district, and possibly do the unusual move of placing it on the May ballot for residents to vote on separately from the budget.
A couple who own an Airbnb in the hamlet of Salt Point were charged with manslaughter after their rental property burned down while a family was inside, killing two people.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
