Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
I mentioned yesterday that I went trail running this past Sunday in New Paltz.
It was jut 10 miles, which takes me slightly under two hours (I’m slow, and there’s a good amount of elevation in this route). I left a little later than I wanted to – sometime around 10 a.m. when the sun was already fairly high in the sky – and it was warmer than I had expected, so I left my t-shirt at home.
The other thing I left at home was sunscreen. I usually do OK without it, especially compared to my fair-skinned husband, who burns just looking at the sun. But I miscalculated the sun’s strength (more on this in a moment) and also forgot how exposed this particular path was.
As a result, I returned home slightly pink. Actually, Steve noticed it, and I did not. There’s no pain, and I’m confident the burn will fade fairly quickly.
But your skin, the largest organ in your body, measuring about approximately 2 square meters in area and weighing around 3.5 to 10 kilograms, has memory. What does that mean? The cumulation of hurts over time – including burns – adds up and can cause skin cells to mutate, which results in diseases like cancer.
That’s in part why dermatologists recommend wearing sunscreen every day – even when it’s cloudy – and selecting a product that blocks both UVA and UVB radiation, which are the two types of rays emitted by the sun.
What’s the difference? UVA rays are longer and account for up to 95% of the radiation that reaches the Earth. They penetrate deeper into the skin, causing long-term damage. UVB rays are shorter but also more intense, accounting for about 5-10% of UV radiation; they primarily impact the outer layer of the skin.
When it comes to selecting a sunscreen there are a LOT of options out there.
You should be looking for something that is broad spectrum to address the two types of UV rays, with SPF (sun protection factor) 30 at least for everyday use – short outdoor walks or drives (yes, sun exposure through the window of your vehicle does count). You’re going to want something water resistant and SPF 50 or higher if you’re going to spend an extended period of time outside – gardening, hiking, swimming, and, yes, distance running.
You can choose a mineral or chemical sunscreen – both work, but some people are sensitive to the latter and prefer the former, which reportedly is better both for you and the environment, though it can leave a white cast on the skin (think zinc here). As for how frequently to reapply, it really is something you have to stay on top of every two hours – especially if you’re outside and/or in the water.
Sunscreen is not perfect. Most people don’t wear enough of it or reapply frequently enough throughout the day. If you really want to double down, which experts say you should, wear a broad-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and protective clothing (long sleeves and pant legs, light colors etc.)
May 12-18 is Sun Awareness Week, a good time to revisit all your skin protection best practices. And yes, it’s not your imagination, while the sun isn’t technically getting stronger, the amount of UV rays reaching the Earth’s surface has increased over the past several decades due to deterioration of the ozone layer.
Today will be a good day, weather wise, to start practicing good sunscreen habits, because it will be mostly cloudy – but remember, we need that skin protection every day! Temperatures will top out in the high 70s.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump arrived this morning in Saudi Arabia, his first stop on a four-day tour through the Gulf, the first major overseas trip of his second term.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often known by his initials MBS, has greeted Trump at King Khalid airport.
Trump’s campaign promise of U.S. “energy dominance” is running into a flood of OPEC crude oil — a surge of fuel production pushed by the Saudi leaders greeting him during his Mideast trip this week.
The United States and China announced a 90-day pause on most of their recent tariffs on each other, fueling hopes on Wall Street of a cooldown in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Stocks swung sharply higher after the United States and China agreed to temporarily lower tariffs on each other, a significant step-back in the trade war that’s roiled markets for nearly six weeks.
The Trump administration’s plan to accept a $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family is only the latest example of an increasingly no-holds-barred atmosphere in Washington under Trump 2.0.
American Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency firm co-founded by Eric Trump, announced that it would become publicly traded, the latest expansion of the Trump family’s investments across the crypto industry.
The company, which focuses on Bitcoin mining, is set to merge with Gryphon Digital Mining Inc., a firm that is already traded on the Nasdaq. Trump, the president’s middle son, is listed as one of the founders and a member of the company’s management team.
Trump named the No. 2 official at the Justice Department and his former personal lawyer to serve as the acting librarian of Congress, initiating a shake-up at the main research library of the legislative branch that prompted an instant staff revolt.
Trump named Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general who was his lead defense lawyer in his criminal trial in Manhattan last year, to take over from Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress whom the president abruptly fired late last week.
Trump inserted his considerable influence into the race for governor of New Jersey yesterday, announcing his endorsement of Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican who came within three points of defeating the state’s Democratic governor in 2021.
“Jack Ciattarelli is a terrific America First Candidate running to be the next Governor of a State that I love, NEW JERSEY!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
As few as three air traffic controllers were scheduled to work last night at the facility guiding planes to and from Newark Liberty International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said, far fewer than the target of 14 controllers for most of those hours.
Staffing shortages affected flights at the airport for much of the day, forcing the F.A.A. to hold up incoming flights from taking off.
United is offering travelers waivers to rebook Newark flights to Philadelphia or LaGuardia Airport through May 23. Officials say they are trying to resolve the issues, but concerns remain.
Israel has released emotional footage showing Edan Alexander’s mom blissfully speaking to her 21-year-old son on the phone just after he was released by Hamas in Gaza after 19 months in captivity.
Alexander is “on his feet,” and he’s talking, Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the General Medical Division of the Israeli Ministry of Health, said during a press conference from Ichilov Hospital after Edan was transferred to the hospital from Reim Military Base.
Trump congratulated Alexander’s “wonderful parents, family, and friends,” on the release in a post on Truth Social.
Calling Alexander’s release “a very moving moment,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the release was “achieved thanks to our military pressure and the political pressure exerted by President Trump.
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. spent last Friday at a hospital in Philadelphia after a “small nodule” was discovered on his prostate that required “further evaluation,” according to a spokesman.
It is common for a man of Biden’s age — 82 — to experience prostate issues, and his spokesperson declined to elaborate on any additional details about his care.
House Republicans unveiled the legislative text of their sweeping tax proposal for the massive bill for Trump’s agenda, but a key divide within the conference remains: how much to lift the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT.
The legislation released by the Energy and Commerce Committee heads to a markup this afternoon, and includes a 160-page section covering health care and Medicaid.
The bill would make spending reductions through stricter eligibility verification, citizenship checks, tougher screenings on providers who get reimbursements and federal Medicaid funding cuts to states that offer coverage to residents living in the U.S. illegally.
The bill would also require many enrollees in the government health care program to prove they are either working, volunteering or in school to receive coverage.
Equinor will terminate a New York offshore wind project in the coming days unless the Trump administration lifts a stop-work order issued by the Interior Department, a company executive said.
Equinor ASA’s CEO met with a top White House official last week, but there was no indication of a change in stance on the halted Empire Wind project.
Norwegian-based Equinor said it’s losing a whopping $50 million a week since Trump’s Department of the Interior halted construction on the controversial project that is expected to deliver energy to 500,000 homes in New York City, its leaders said.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is facing a difficult decision as he weighs whether to run for New York governor against incumbent Kathy Hochul, potentially putting him at odds with a close Trump ally, or run for reelection in a competitive House district.
Will Buffalo and Western New York host an NFL Draft? Hochul seems to think so.
Some of the 2,000 correction officers fired in the wake of a three-week illegal strike in February and March could be heading back to work.
Included in New York’s 2025-26 state budget is a plan to close three prisons in a continued effort to reform the state’s prison system.
Several Democratic lawmakers, including Orthodox Jewish legislators, said that changes to New York State Education Department regulations in the budget will allow nonpublic schools in the state to thrive.
New York business groups are blasting Attorney General Tish James for a pro-consumer push that they fear would be a legislative misfire — boosting greedy lawyers and unleashing “legal shakedowns.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin has named state Sen. James Skoufis of Orange County to the DNC’s “People’s Cabinet.”
Mayor Eric Adams said that the feds intended to “humiliate” him with a plan to carry out a search warrant on him at the New York City Marathon finish line.
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo was penalized $622,056 for breaking campaign finance rules by improperly coordinating with a super PAC dubbed Fix the City.
But the ex-governor, 67, did net $1.5 million in public matching funds from the city’s Campaign Finance Board, though its members warned they will continue to probe the ties between the campaign and pro-Cuomo super PAC.
Cuomo is pledging if elected mayor to stop a shelter development in southern Brooklyn that has drawn intense pushback from local residents, including the neighborhood’s Council member, who recently endorsed Cuomo’s bid for City Hall.
Cuomo rolled out new endorsements from the unions representing FDNY firefighters and FDNY officers, as his rivals continued to criticize their fellow Democrat.
Assemblymember and mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani secretly held an engagement and wedding ceremony in Dubai with his seldom-seen wife, Rama Duwaji, in December 2024.
Mamdani has proposed eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly property tax exemptions for Columbia University — exemptions that he and his family benefited from for years as tenants of a stylish apartment complex owned by the Ivy League.
A bipartisan group of City Council members is urging Trump’s Department of Justice to step in to overrule the Big Apple’s sanctuary city laws.
A 16-year-old girl was fatally shot near a South Bronx school building, and a 14-year-old boy was being sought in her killing, officials said. The girl was an unintended victim of a shooting that occurred after a fight broke out among children leaving the schoolyard.
Two months after Yeshiva University said it would recognize an L.G.B.T.Q. student club on campus, bringing a yearslong legal battle to an end, the school has reversed course and banned the organization.
New York City is now home to more people over the age of 65 than ever before, and an alarming number are living with no retirement income and increasingly working into their senior years, according to The Center for an Urban Future.
According to a new report from WalletHub, New York renters spend a whopping 54.52-percent of their median monthly household income on housing.
More than a third of New Yorkers admitted to littering in a new survey that also showed the Bronx and Queens have more litterbugs than other boroughs. The data was collected by the non-profit Sanitation Foundation, which surveyed 1,000+ people.
As it seeks to enforce a local law cracking down on short-term rentals, New York City has taken aim at a Greenwich Village hotel with several safety violations that offered rooms on sites like Airbnb.
Police yesterday were investigating five separate homicides that happened across New York City over the weekend, including one that took place on an MTA shuttle bus, according to NYPD officials.
The trial of the music mogul Sean Combs began yesterday in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan, where prosecutors accused him of leading a criminal enterprise that enabled his abuse of women and worked to cover it up.
Harvey Weinstein’s trial will resume today in Manhattan with the cross-examination of his latest accuser, who has said he first sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager newly arrived in New York City.
More than 20 school districts across Long Island were hit by cyber hackers leaving more than 10,000 students’ records and personal info vulnerable to criminals, state education records revealed.
Food bank and religious leaders joined farmers and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in Rensselaer to warn about proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps low-income families purchase groceries.
NY CREATES, the entity that owns the Albany NanoTech complex on Fuller Road, says its new NanoFab Reflections building will now cost $614 million, an increase of $64 million.
A long-running dispute between Lee Kindlon and a Schuylerville man he defended years ago hasn’t ended after Kindlon left private practice to be sworn in as Albany County district attorney.
Hours before the County Legislature was expected to approve a deal to sell a county-owned building across from MVP Arena to a downtown developer, the resolution was pulled at the request of the county executive, who said the process will be restarted.
The Town of Colonie’s attorney was appointed as a town justice last week, filling in a gap after a different justice resigned amid a state investigation.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
