Good morning, it’s Friday, and I again find myself relieved to have made it to the end of the week. This week was heavy. It was hard. I don’t know about you, but I find myself deeply depressed about the state of the nation.
Frankly, I could use a little encouragement. The definition of “encouragement” is “the act of giving someone support, confidence, or hope, or something that is given (words, action, or support) to inspire such feelings in others.” Synonyms include “aid”, “help” and “inspiration.”
Today happens to be the National Day of Encouragement, which is so appropriate and timely, because I feel like we could all use a collective pep talk.
The timing of this day is actually not a coincidence. It was initiated in 2007 – six years after 9/11 terror – by a group of college students who saw a distinct downturn in the positivity and “united we stand” attitude that followed in the immediate aftermath of the terror attacks in Lower Manhattan, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
As an aside, I remember those days, when we were all scared out of our minds and wondering what would come next. People came together and helped one another in ways they could not possibly have imagined would be necessary just a few days earlier.
President George W. Bush made a visit to the still smoldering oil on Sept. 14, 2001 and delivered an impromptu speech (one of his better moments, I’d argue) through a bullhorn in which he said: “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” He was met by resounding chants of: “USA! USA!”
But this “all in it together” thing dissolved pretty quickly, which did not go unnoticed in the years that followed by Harding University’s National Leadership Forum students and their Bible professor, Dr. Andrew Baker.
Their idea of a formal day of encouragement was first embraced by Belinda LaForce, the then-mayor of Searcy, Arkansas, and then picked up a year later by Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, who issued a proclamation designating Sept. 12 as “State Day of Encouragement.” A few years later, there was a U.S. Senate resolution in support of making the day national and a message from “W”, too.
These days, it’s harder than ever to remember a time when this country felt truly united. In the wake of the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk this week, it feels like we’ve never been so divided as a nation. So, yeah, I could use a little encouragement these days, and today is as good a day as any for it.
If there’s anything to be encouraged by, it’s most certainly the weather, which has been unspeakably fabulous of late. Today will bring more of the same, with mainly sunny skies and temperatures topping out I the mid-70s. Tomorrow will bring more of the same, though there will be a few more clouds in the sky and high temperatures will flirt with 80 degrees.
Sunday is looking like a mixed bag, with rain showers early followed by sun later in the afternoon. Temperatures will again possible top out around 80 degrees. I guess summer isn’t quite done with us just yet.
In the headlines…
The FBI has released images of a person of interest being sought in connection with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and an ally of President Donald Trump.
“We are asking for the public’s help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University,” the FBI’s Salt Lake City office said in a post on X, which also included two images of the individual.
A new video released by the FBI shows the still-at-large person of interest in Kirk’s assassination leaping off his rooftop sniper’s den and dashing away minutes after shooting the conservative activist dead.
During his quick escape, the man left behind a palm impression and other smudges on the roof that authorities said could be used to collect DNA and narrow down the search.
Officials believe the person “blended in well” at the scene of the shooting because he appeared to “be of college age.” They said he arrived on campus shortly before noon local time and climbed a stairway up to the roof of a university building.
The last person to speak to Kirk before his assassination was a liberal TikToker with a small audience who disagreed with him on just about everything — except for their shared belief in free speech and raw political debate.
The problem of protecting campus speakers with polarizing opinions has confounded universities around the country in recent years.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House is in a “deliberate review process” to determine how to enhance security for lawmakers following Kirk’s killing.
A “South Park” episode lampooning Kirk was pulled from Comedy Central’s lineup after the right-wing activist was killed on a Utah college campus Wednesday.
Kirk’s widow held a rosary in her hand as she waved to supporters from the backseat of an SUV while escorting her husband’s body to a chapel in Arizona. The 31-year-old conservative activist was flown to Arizona aboard Air Force 2.
Vice President JD Vance personally accompanied Kirk’s body from Utah back home to Arizona — a touching final tribute in a long friendship that helped launch the former Trump critic into the White House and onto the international stage.
Already, a series of missteps by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, in recent months have invited worries that he has eroded public confidence in the agency. Kirk’s killing has intensified scrutiny of the agency and its leadership.
Authorities identified Desmond Holly as the 16-year-old who shot and wounded two fellow Colorado high school students and then himself the day before.
Indications were that the teen, who later died of his self-inflicted wounds, had been “radicalized by some extremist network,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley told reporters. But she said there was no clear motive for the shooting.
Trump gave the New York Yankees a pep talk yesterday, and the players took it to heart — clobbering the Detroit Tigers with the commander in chief looking on. “You’re gonna win. You’re gonna go all the way,” Trump told the Bronx Bombers before the game.
Millions of dollars’ worth of birth control pills and other contraceptives destined for people in low-income countries have been destroyed at the direction of the Trump administration, the United States Agency for International Development said.
Brazil’s Supreme Court convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of overseeing a failed conspiracy to overturn the 2022 Brazilian election in a coup plot that included disbanding courts, empowering the military and assassinating the president-elect.
Four of the five justices weighing the case voted to convict Bolsonaro and seven co-conspirators, including his running mate, defense minister and Navy commander, in a forceful rebuke by one of the very institutions the men sought to overthrow.
State lawmakers have introduced new legislation that would allow New Yorkers to sue federal immigration agents over violations of constitutional rights in state court.
The bright blue sky above the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan did little to improve the solemn mood felt by the hundreds of visitors marking the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The pastor of a Buffalo church is defending Gov. Kathy Hochul after she warned his Black congregants not to spend their government “inflation refund checks” at the liquor store.
Rep. Elise Stefanik will co-chair a bipartisan congressional review of how the federal government has implemented post-9/11 intelligence reforms, launching a yearlong effort ahead of the attacks’ 25th anniversary.
Winning the governor over on at least some key issues is crucial for a socialist mayoralty’s success. Does the Left have any leverage over Hochul?
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrived at Ground Zero in a wheelchair and large body brace for the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony – his first public appearance since his recent serious car crash in New Hampshire.
A Manhattan judge ruled yesterday that former mayoral candidate Jim Walden’s name will stay on November ballot — a decision that points to the likelihood Mayor Eric Adams’ name would also remain on ballots were he to leave the race.
In a marked shift, Adams is planning to “soon” commission an internal poll that he will use to help him decide whether to continue his longshot bid for reelection, one of his top advisers, Frank Carone, said.
During an off-the-record roundtable with about 20 city leaders Wednesday afternoon, three people in the room said Adams appeared to shift his position, implying he might consider dropping out in the future if it was best for the city.
Adams has publicly insisted that he plans to stay in the race. But in his remarks to the business group, the Association for a Better New York, he acknowledged an openness to leaving the contest.
Adams’ job prospects in Trump’s administration are seemingly dead in the water, with the president only appearing willing to poach the Big Apple mayor if GOP mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa comes along, insiders told The Post.
A relative of a firefighter killed on 9/11 took a veiled jab at Zohran Mamdani during yesterday’s anniversary ceremony in Manhattan — calling out all public officials who refuse to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada.”
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, said that he intended to apologize for comments he made in 2020 calling the New York Police Department “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.”
Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who spent $8 million in opposition to Mamdani in the June primary, met personally for the first time yesterday with the candidate for a wide-ranging discussion on policy and how to staff City Hall.
Speaking at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice’s 2025 Mazal Awards Mamdani condemned both the recent killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and the Israeli government’s continued killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Mamdani didn’t interact with a cadre of Trump administration officials or his opponents in the City Hall race during the 9/11 memorial ceremony in Manhattan yesterday.
Mamdani has a 22-point lead among likely voters in the four-way New York City mayor race, even as three-fourths of Jews disapprove of the Democratic nominee and self-identified socialist, a new Quinnipiac poll found.
Mamdani is still the clear front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, though at 39% he has less of a lead compared to some of the other polling that’s come out in recent days, a new survey found.
The same survey, conducted by a sex worker advocacy group, found that 44% think consenting adults should be able to buy and sell sex, and 26% said they knew someone who had purchased sex.
Mamdani drew surprising praise this week from prominent national Democrats — but top New York pols are still silent on whether they will back their party’s mayoral nominee.
New York City low-income families can continue to participate in city-run Head Start programs for at least another year after the Adams administration stepped in to fill a funding gap following the cancellation of a federal grant.
Small business advocates slammed Republican Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola for voting to override Adams’ veto of legislation to decriminalize illegal vending — after she first opposed the bill along with other conservatives.
A measure approved by the City Council is intended to address the chronic vacancy problem by requiring the city’s social services agency to post information on the number of empty apartments and the reason why no one has moved into each one.
A new from the New York City Independent Budget Office found that as evictions climb to pre-pandemic levels, most New Yorkers facing eviction may not be getting the legal representation they are entitled to.
Five unions representing nearly half of the Long Island Rail Road’s workforce could walk off the job as early as Thursday, Sept. 18 after contract negotiations with the MTA broke down.
The city plans to expand the sidewalks on a notoriously cramped stretch of Canal Street where street vendors hawking bootleg goods create a pedestrian bottleneck, according to a transportation department proposal obtained by Gothamist.
A man accused of killing an elderly couple and setting their Queens house on fire lashed out with a bizarre claim — attempting to cast blame on his victims — as he was led out of a NYPD station house to appear in court.
An Israeli law professor at Queens College was only minutes into her online lecture about the erosion of the rights of women and sexual minorities in her country on Monday when an eruption of hate and misogyny filled the screen.
The MTA lost about $1 billion in revenue in 2024 because of fare and toll evasion, according to a report released by the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group. But that trend appears to be slowing.
Scannell Properties is seeking local approval to build a $48.4 million distribution center in Halfmoon, which could potentially house Coca-Cola, replacing an existing distribution facility in Colonie.
For months, Democratic leaders have been trying to determine whether Albany County Legislator Beroro Efekoro lives in the district he represents, and this summer even dispatched a county investigator to track his movements for two weeks.
The man responsible for a fiery 2016 alcohol-related crash into a Colonie tavern that led to the death of teenager Niko DiNovo has again been charged with driving while intoxicated.
Incumbent Schenectady City Council members Marion Porterfield and Damonni Farley — maverick Democrats seeking reelection on the WFP line after being snubbed by the Democratic Party — formally kicked off their reelection bids on the steps of City Hall.
After several incidents of alleged animal abuse, including the death of a French bulldog at a dog day care in Halfmoon and 55 dogs living in alleged “deplorable conditions” in Milton, Saratoga County lawmakers are considering creating an animal abuser registry.
Aaron Judge keeps rising up the Yankees’ all-time home run list. Judge hit two more homers in last night’s 9-3 win over the Detroit Tigers in the Bronx, giving him 361 in his career and tying him with Joe DiMaggio for the fourth most in Yankees history.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
