Good morning, it’s Friday.
One of the (many) good things about summer is that it is blessedly free of holidays. In between Memorial Day and Labor Day, which bracket the season, there are long holiday-free stretches, punctuated here and there by things like Juneteenth and Independence Day, which provide welcome opportunities (excuses?) to throw a party.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a holiday as much as the next person, generally speaking.
But the fall brings a lot of heaviness for observant Jews. And a lot of synagogue-going, with a little fasting thrown in for good measure. The High Holy Days, which fall in September and/or early October, include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah.
Then begins the headlong dash to the winter holiday season for people of all faiths. Thanksgiving. Christmas, Hanukkah. Kwanza. New Year’s Eve. It’s a lot to keep up with.
I like to try to spread the ecumenical love around when it comes to acknowledging religious observances. But I’ll admit it has been nice to take a bit of a break. However, all good things must come to and end, and so…
Today is the Feast of the Assumption, which also goes by a number of other names, including the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, and Dormition of the Mother of God. (As an aside, because I had to look it up myself, “Dormition” is a derivative from the Latin word “dormitio”, which means “falling asleep”).
The Assumption is the day that celebrates the church teaching that Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus who was “free from the taint of original sin”, was taken into Heaven at the end of her life. (In other words, the day that she died).
The end of Mary’s life is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but there are numerous apocryphal texts that refer to her death, which perhaps took place in the presences of the Apostles, who later opened her tomb and found her body was not there, prompting their assumption (see what I did there?) that she had been taken into Heaven.
Though it was celebrated for many years beforehand, Pope Pius XII in 1950 declared the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith with the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus.
The Feast of the Assumption is a significant holy day for Catholics, and is traditionally celebrated by attending Mass, participating in or viewing processions at which statutes of Mary are carried through the streets, and eating festive meals that double of a blessing of the summer harvest.
Many communities around the world celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, but the City of Cleveland is perhaps best known for its multi-day festival in the Little Italy neighborhood, which started on Thursday and runs through the end of the weekend.
A lovely late-summer day is on tap from a weather perspective, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures reaching into the mid-80s. Tomorrow, we’ll have a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures again topping out in the mid-80s. Sunday will be very warm, with highs in the 80s and even low 90s, and there will be a chance of a thunderstorm developing later on in the day.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump plans to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia today in Alaska. The focus of their high-stakes summit will be to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.
The venue for Trump and Putin’s meeting is the US military installation Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on the northern edge of Anchorage, Alaska’s most-populated city.
Over 100 protesters, including many Ukraine supporters, took to the streets of Alaska’s biggest city last night ahead of the highly anticipated meeting.
Putin lauded the Trump administration’s “energetic” and “sincere” efforts to end the war in Ukraine — and suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms control at their summit.
The Kremlin signaled that apart from Ukraine, it was also interested in discussing other subjects, like economic links and nuclear arms.
Federal authorities began sweeping homeless encampments in Washington as part of Trump’s sprawling takeover of the city’s law enforcement apparatus, after city officials and advocates spent the day urging homeless people to go to shelters or risk arrest.
Attorney General Pam Bondi last night rescinded Washington policies that restrict the local police from aiding in immigration enforcement as she moved to tighten the Trump administration’s grip on law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
The two-page order from Bondi also declared that DEA head Terry Cole, already been overseeing the federal takeover of the city’s police department, is now the “emergency police commissioner,” with “all the powers and duties” invested in the city’s police chief.
Referring to U.S. Attorney General Bondi’s order, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
The Trump administration has taken steps that have hobbled Washington’s efforts to reduce crime, such as gutting its U.S. attorney’s office and enacting budget cuts of more than $1 billion.
Trump last night nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Taibleson to serve as a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, making her the sixth federal appeals court nominee of his second term.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it is reviving a long-defunct task force on the safety of childhood vaccines, responding to a demand from the anti-vaccine organization founded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A highly anticipated White House report on the health of American children would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on ultraprocessed foods and pesticides that Kennedy Jr., has called major threats, according to a draft of the document.
The Empire State’s controversial bail law is again under the microscope — just as Gov. Kathy Hochul prepares to run for reelection.
Not long after members of the Public Service Commission congratulated themselves yesterday for paring back National Grid’s rate increase, Hochul put out a statement chiding them for not cutting enough.
Some 16,500 New Yorkers between the ages of 25 and 55 have applied for the state’s new free-tuition program for adults studying in high-demand fields at community colleges.
New York State has launched a website where you can look up your school district’s cellphone ban policy. Users can search by district or school name among more than 1,050 public school districts, charter schools and BOCES that have plans so far.
The state Health Department has failed to transfer eligible individuals to Medicare, costing taxpayers around $300 million in excess Medicaid spending as the threat of federal health care cuts to the insurance program looms, the state comptroller’s office said.
There has been no honeymoon for Zohran Mamdani since the front-runner in New York City’s mayoral race returned to the campaign trail after his wedding celebration in Uganda last month.
Voters in Chicago who regret supporting embattled far-left Mayor Brandon Johnson have a stark warning for New Yorkers considering backing Mamdani to lead the city: Don’t make the same mistake.
The state ethics watchdog agency has received a complaint urging a probe into how Mamdani obtained his rent-stabilized apartment and whether he complied with gift rules for elected officials.
Former President Barack Obama’s newly revealed call with Mamdani is a nod that could help make the socialist more palatable to panicking high-level Democrats, insiders tell The NY Post.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries bristled when pressed about Mamdani yesterday, snapping that he didn’t “understand” why he was being asked about the New York City Democratic nominee.
Ever since Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor two months ago, Republicans have been licking their chops, and prominent Democrats have been squirming.
Independent mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo yesterday again refused to release a list of clients he amassed as a private legal consultant in response to Mamdani’s video challenge to do so earlier this week.
He did say he’s worked for “podcasts, I’ve advocated for certain causes that are dear to me, worked with organizations, pro-Israel organizations among others, practicing law.”
Cuomo said that as mayor, he’d establish a $1.5 billion capital fund to help “induce and seduce” new businesses to come to New York City to spur sluggish private sector job growth.
Envelopes with white powder were discovered yesterday in New York City in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
The federal building in Lower Manhattan was evacuated after five envelopes containing an unidentified white powder were discovered in the mailroom of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, according to city officials.
Adams plans to stick with his fraught reelection bid to the very end, telling POLITICO in the strongest terms yet that he will not drop out of the race to stop front-runner Mamdani.
Adams returned to his roots as a law-and-order campaigner, vowing to seek the state’s permission to forcibly remove drug users from the city’s streets without their consent.
Adams unveiled the “Compassionate Interventions Act,” a proposed state law that would expand involuntary commitment for people suffering from substance abuse disorders, during an address at the New York Hilton Midtown.
“Public drug use is still a problem on our streets, across our city,” Adams said. “This cannot be allowed to continue. We must help those struggling to finally get treatment, whether they recognize the need for it or not.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced her Democratic majority will vote to override Mayor Adams’ vetoes of bills they passed that would increase salaries for grocery delivery workers and decriminalize unlicensed street vending.
The official in charge of technology at the city Probation Department resigned after being sidelined by Commissioner Juanita Holmes amid a dustup over the hiring of her niece to a senior post — the latest instance of alleged cronyism rankling the agency.
The City Council unanimously passed a plan to invigorate Midtown Manhattan by allowing the development of some 9,500 additional homes, as New York City leaders continue a push to make room for more housing.
A fourth person has died in the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem, while the number of those stricken with the severe pneumonia increased to 99, up from 90 earlier in the week, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported.
A cooling tower at Harlem Hospital was among 12 sites tied to the city’s Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that’s now killed four people and sickened nearly 100, Department of Health officials said.
Success Academy Charter students far outpaced their Big Apple public school peers on state exams this year, according to data released yesterday.
A major Southern food chain known for its chicken, biscuits and tea is coming to New York City. Bojangles announced plans to open 20 locations across the five boroughs over the next decade and another 35 in New Jersey.
Nassau University Medical Center is suing its former CEO for $10 million in damages, accusing her of widespread misconduct that includes self-enrichment, policy violations, destruction of records, and waste of public funds.
Central Hudson admitted it did not provide safe and adequate service in the lead-up to a devastating natural gas explosion in Wappingers Falls two years ago as part of a settlement that resolves the case, the state Public Service Commission announced.
When vandals spray-painted a Hudson building with messages like “Take down the rich” and “Revolt now,” Mayor Kamal Johnson rushed over to snap photographs of himself in front of the graffiti.
Candidates in Greenfield are calling for an ethics investigation into Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch’s secretary after she told Democrats in a widely circulated text message to vote against them, alleging their campaigns “are based on vitriol and lies.”
The superintendent of the Hudson City School District announced her resignation last Thursday, with the former superintendent of an Albany County district named as interim superintendent.
The executive director of the Landis Arboretum in Esperance, says he has been fielding phone calls all summer from people increasingly worried their trees and shrubs are dying. (They aren’t).
Photo credit: George Fazio.
