Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
There are parts of my yard that I worry will never fully dry out, given all the rain we’ve received so far this spring/early summer. The pool has been in danger of overflowing on several occasions, and it is far too cold – both in terms of air AND water temperature – to go in and enjoy it.
If I wanted a cold plunge I would have bought one.
And it’s not my imagination, either. This past May was significantly wetter than average, with 7.43 inches of rain falling on the Capital Region compared to the usual 3.41 inches.
That puts this May among the top wettest on record, according to the National Weather Service.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like there’s more rain in the forecast – at least tomorrow, and maybe even beyond. Though, since this is upstate New York, the weather is prone to change on a dime. So, I’ll keep refreshing and will keep you posted.
Given the soggy situation we’ve found ourselves in of late, it’s probably hard to believe that as of June 10, approximately 25.12% of the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and 29.91% of the lower 48 states, were experiencing drought conditions, according to Drought.gov.
A drought, by the way, is defined in simple terms as a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water.
If you want to get more specific about it, the USDA defines meteorological drought as dry weather conditions caused by a combination of hot temperatures and lack of rain. This can lead to hydrological drought, which causes lower water levels in streams, lakes, and reservoirs, with a negative impact on flora and fauna; and also agricultural drought, resulting in reduced crop survival and productivity.
Extreme drought conditions can cause desertification, the process by which fertile land becomes desert. (This can also be caused by deforestation and the deployment of inappropriate agricultural techniques, which are generally driven by a combination of population growth, poverty, and economic forces).
Due to climate change, droughts have been increasing in frequency and this trend is expected to continue. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that due to conditions caused by climate change – hotter temperatures causing increased evaporation from the surface of the earth, filling the air with more moisture – dry areas are getting drier, while wet areas are getting wetter.
Periods of drought have not been uncommon throughout U.S. history, as anyone who has read The Grapes of Wrath is painfully aware. The Dust Bowl caused severe economic hardship, exacerbated by the Great Depression. If you’re even slightly familiar with that storyline and the real-world details of the time, I’m pretty sure you would agree this isn’t something we want to experience ever again.
Today is the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, as per the United Nations, which other ominously states: “Desertification, land degradation, and drought are among the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with up to 40% of all land area worldwide already considered degraded.”
As mentioned, the threat of drought-like conditions in our area today is, well, next to nothing. It will be cloudy with occasional rain showers, and temperatures will be in the low 70s.
In the headlines…
President Trump abruptly left a Group of 7 summit in Canada after joining other leaders in signing a statement criticizing Iran, to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran. He had previously refused to sign, but did so when the draft language was adjusted.
“We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel,” the leaders said in a joint statement focused on the conflict and condemning Iran for being the “principal source of regional instability and terror.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that French President Emmanuel Macron was “wrong” when he speculated the president was returning to Washington to engage in ceasefire talks.
Trump said that his early departure from the Group of Seven summit was owed to “much bigger” things than planning a ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Tehran, after urging Iranians to “immediately evacuate Tehran.”
Israel escalated its bombings across Iran yesterday, striking Iran’s elite military force and the nation’s state broadcaster and sending thousands fleeing from Tehran, as its offensive entered its fourth day and showed no signs of slowing.
A Canadian Indigenous leader who greeted world heads of state arriving for the Group of Seven summit says he was “filled with rage” and considered leaving before Trump arrived — saying the U.S. president has “caused much pain and suffering in the world.”
There was something else that appeared to be top of mind for Trump during the meeting in Canada: President Vladimir Putin of Russia. He argued that Russia’s inclusion in the group would have averted the war in Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that he has directed “the deployment of additional capabilities” to the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The man suspected of shooting two Democratic state lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota while impersonating a police officer appeared in court yesterday afternoon as he faces an array of state and federal charges.
Acting U.S. attorney Joe Thompson announced during a news conference that Vance Boelter now faces six federal charges, including stalking lawmakers John Hoffman and Melissa Hortman, and murdering Hortman and her husband, Mark.
The federal charges make Boelter eligible for the death penalty, but Thompson didn’t say whether prosecutors would seek that punishment. “It’s too early to tell,” he said.
Boelter said he cannot afford a private attorney to represent him against the six federal charges he faces. He said he has a part-time job, makes about $540 per week, and has no other sources of income, though he owns his home and seven cars.
Boelter drove to the homes of two additional politicians with the intent to kill them. In both cases he was thwarted. One politician was not there. At the home of the other, he encountered a police officer who might have spooked him and caused him to flee.
Senate Republicans are asking for bigger Medicaid cuts in their version of a bill to enact Trump’s agenda, according to GOP aides.
The Senate Finance Committee unveiled the text for its portion of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which encompasses the most controversial sections of the legislation including Medicaid, taxes and green energy tax credits.
The committee’s text is the final piece of the upper chamber’s version of the bill to be released, and was the most highly anticipated.
Several Senate Republicans who have withheld their support for the party’s massive tax and spending package signaled yesterday that they weren’t swayed by details unveiled by GOP leaders earlier in the day.
Trump has fired a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent federal agency that oversees America’s nuclear reactors. It is the president’s latest dismissal in defiance of job protections established by Congress.
The former commissioner, Christopher Hanson, received an email from a White House official on Friday saying that he had been terminated “effective immediately,” without providing a reason for the termination.
Trump’s administration is reportedly considering significantly expanding its travel restrictions by potentially banning citizens of 36 additional countries from entering the United States, according to an internal State Department cable.
The cable says in addition to the 19 countries, the State Department had identified 36 more that must improve on certain benchmarks within 60 days. It set a deadline of 8 p.m. EST tomorrow for the affected governments to provide remediation plans.
A federal judge declared the Trump administration’s move to cut hundreds of grants issued by the National Institutes of Health illegal, accusing the government of discrimination against minorities and L.G.B.T.Q. individuals.
Judge William G. Young of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts delivered a damning assessment of the Trump administrations’ motives in targeting grants that focused on the health of Black communities, women and LGBTQ people.
A federal judge delayed a ruling on whether to continue blocking Trump’s proclamation barring international students from attending Harvard University.
The Trump family is licensing its name to a new mobile phone service, the latest in a string of ventures that have been announced while Trump is in the White House despite ethical concerns that the president could mold public policy for personal gain.
The American Bar Association (ABA) has filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s crackdown on the legal profession, casting President Trump’s various executive orders as a “Law Firm Intimidation Policy.”
The First Amendment suit, nearly 100 pages long, argues that Trump’s targeting of firms has creating a chilling effect among all firms, regardless of whether they’ve signed deals with the administration.
All 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories have approved a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, over the company’s improper marketing of opioids.
A plan championed by Republicans from New York in Congress to quadruple the current $10,000 cap on the federal deductibility of state and local taxes was rejected yesterday in an alternative spending proposal from the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Mike Lawler would have a better shot than Rep. Elise Stefanik in defeating Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial race, a bombshell new poll claims.
Hochul, who is Catholic, hasn’t publicly disclosed her position on the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which was passed by the Legislature this session.
A new report analyzing updated financial projections from the state Department of Health about the impact of federal Medicaid cuts suggests that the consequences cited by Democrats may be inflated.
New York for All was meant to protect New York’s undocumented community, but the bill won’t make it past the finish line this year.
The State Assembly passed a bill to eliminate the decades-old “100-foot-rule” that requires utilities to provide natural gas connections to new homes, at a cost of more than $200 million a year for all ratepayers.
According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, New York will take a large financial hit to its Medicaid funding. But the impact will be $7 billion, a significantly lower amount than the $13.5 billion in cuts the Health Department and Democrats have projected.
The U.S. Supreme Court is giving religious organizations in New York another chance to challenge state regulations requiring employers to provide no-cost insurance coverage for medically necessary abortions.
A bill passed by both houses of the Legislature would give more time off to troopers directly involved in a “critical incident” — which the legislation defines as any action taken by a member of the State Police that results in someone’s serious injury or death.
Turnout is off to a strong start in New York City’s local 2025 elections, as more than 66,000 residents cast ballots during the first two days of early voting over the weekend — more than doubling the levels from the 2021 cycle.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been hit with an ethics complaint for failing to disclose his more than $2.6 million worth of stock options in an advanced nuclear technology company before launching his mayoral campaign.
Cuomo was working to pump up enthusiasm at a rally with labor unions yesterday aimed at getting out the vote, calling them “the soul of the Democratic party.”
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani entered into a second cross-endorsement agreement in the New York City mayor’s race, a sign that the left may be coalescing behind him as its best hope of toppling Cuomo, who leads in most polls.
Mamdani and Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman who also served as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, announced their cross-endorsement at a restaurant in the Bronx, where Blake is well-known.
Mamdanni says that New Yorkers “are ready for a new generation of leadership that puts working people first.
The New York Times editorial board has weighed in on the city’s crowded mayoral race, urging voters not to back Mamdani in next week’s Democratic primary despite not directly endorsing another candidate.
New Yorkers voting in the Democratic Primary are questioning why Mamdani is listed first, at the very top of the ballot sheet.
Two grieving sons who blame Cuomo’s controversial nursing-home edict for the death of their father and scores of others from COVID-19 have endorsed rival Brad Lander for mayor.
City comptroller candidate Justin Brannan’s campaign boasted that he was endorsed by more than 70 faith leaders last week — but a bunch of his supposed supporters said they never even heard of him.
After drawing backlash for hosting Sneako, an online influencer known for his antisemitic views, at Gracie Mansion, Mayor Adams said he could have done a better job vetting the internet personality and promised he “didn’t know his history” before the meeting.
During the interview, conducted at Gracie Mansion, Adams sat on a patio sofa and smoked cigars with Amber Rose, a conservative influencer, OnlyFans model and a former paramour of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. His son, Jordan Coleman, sat nearby.
Former Interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon was pushed out of his post as an assistant deputy mayor last month.
As New Yorkers face a critical shortage of affordable homes, city lawmakers are asking why thousands of public housing apartments are vacant — and why they are taking well over a year to fill on average.
The competitive eating superstar Joey Chestnut will take part in this year’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition on Coney Island on July 4th after missing out last year over a dispute related to a sponsorship deal Chestnut had with another hot dog brand.
“While I have and continue to partner with a variety of companies, including some in the plant-based space, those relationships were never a conflict with my love for hot dogs,” Chestnut said. “To be clear: Nathan’s is the only hot dog company I’ve ever worked with.”
A man stabbed and slashed at least two court officers inside a criminal courthouse in Lower Manhattan yesterday morning, in what court officials said appeared to be a “targeted attack.”
Day laborer hubs outside Home Depots in the New York City metropolitan area have become hotspots for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, according to witnesses and immigrant advocates.
The Manhattan judge presiding over Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial dismissed a man from the jury for a “lack of candor.”
State Attorney General Letitia James is conducting a misconduct probe of New York local law enforcement authorities helping the Trump administration crack down on illegal immigration.
The 64-year-old Gene’s Fish Fry is among the latest businesses to be added to the state’s Historic Business Preservation Registry, which honors businesses that have been open at least half a century.
The state attorney general’s office has launched an investigation into the death of a pedestrian who was hit and killed by an off-duty Colonie police officer.
Two physics professors at the University at Albany are trying to create a new, legitimate scientific field studying UFOs.
Ralph J. Lamberti Jr., who as Staten Island’s borough president fought vigorously but vainly to preserve a powerful city board that gave him and the other borough presidents a strong hand in shaping key municipal decisions, died on Staten Island. He was 90.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
