Good morning, it’s Thursday.
I am, as has been previously established in this space, a big dry cereal fan. One of the big perks of eating in the dining hall at college was the cereal bar, where I spent a lot of time coming up with the perfect mix of multiple brands in a single bowl.
I was a little like a kid in a candy story at the time, because I had access to a wide array of sugar cereals that I had not been allowed to eat at home. Golden Grahams, Frosted Mini Wheats, and Honey Nut Clusters were among my favorites, though I wouldn’t turn down a basic bowl of Grape Nuts, either. (I know that malty flavor is an acquired taste, but I love the texture).
I briefly went through a Rice Krispies phase. They don’t really have all that much to recommend them – low in fiber and nutritional content, not terribly big on taste.
But in terms of volume versus calories, which is something I worried about a lot at that time, Rice Krispies offers a considerable bang for the buck, and it also has the benefit of having a nice crunchy consistency, assuming you eat it fairly quickly (or dry) and don’t let it sit in the milk for too long.
Given the relatively bland flavor profile of Rice Krispies, the cereal is sort of a blank canvas. This, combined with the crunch factor, is what – in my opinion – makes Rice Krispies Treats so delicious. Well, that and the fact that pretty much anything can be made delicious when you add enough butter and melted marshmallows.
Rice Krispies Treats are an entry-level “baked” good for a lot of young aspiring chefs. Marshmallow squares, as they’re more commonly known, don’t require much in the way of fancy ingredients or preparation. If you’re able to use a pan and the stove – or, even easier, the microwave – to melt butter (or margarine) and marshmallows, or, better yet, marshmallow fluff, you’re in business. No oven required.
You can get fancy and brown the butter for a nuttier flavor profile, or add food coloring, peanut butter, cocoa powder, butterscotch, nuts, raisins or other dried fruit, candy, sprinkles, graham crackers, other cereals (Fruity Pebbles is a big favorite), or even a “healthier” option like puffed millet. The variations are pretty much endless.
Rice Krispies Treats have an origin story; they were reportedly created in 1939 by two Kellogg Company employees – Mildred Day and Malitta Jensen – for a Kansas City fundraiser held to benefit the Camp Fire Girls, the nation’s first nonsectarian organization for young women. The recipe was probably inspired by a treat that had been made by home cooks for years, using puffed wheat and molasses.
The Krispies creators felt that marshmallows were less messy than molasses, which, if you’ve never encountered it, is viscous and incredibly sticky. Their creation was a big hit – so big that the company included the recipe (with the additional of an optional dollop of vanilla) on the side of Rice Krispies boxes in 1940, forever enshrining the use of marshmallows as a binder.
The treats steadily grew in popularity, especially during the 1940s, as they were easily packaged up and sent to servicemen fighting overseas. The first commercially-prepared Rice Krispies Treats weren’t on the market, however, until 1995.
Today, for some unfathomable reason known only to the internet gods, is Rice Krispies Treats Day. It will be a perfect day for preparing non-baked desserts, as more hot weather is on the way, with temperatures again topping out in the low 80s. Skies will be partly cloudy. (If you like your Septembers more on the cool side, hang in there: The coldest air of the season so far could be here by the weekend).
In the headlines…
ABC announced last night that it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show “indefinitely” after conservatives accused the longtime host of inaccurately describing the politics of the man who is accused of fatally shooting the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The abrupt decision by the network came hours after the FCC Chair Brendan Carr slammed Kimmel and suggested that his regulatory agency might take action against ABC because of remarks the host made on his Monday telecast.
Many Democrats immediately criticized the move, with Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, calling it “outrageous.” But Trump, in a social media post from Windsor Castle in Britain, where he is traveling, described it as “Great News for America.”
As news was breaking of Kimmel’s late-night show being suspended, guests booked on yesterday’s episode were reportedly already on their way to the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is recorded.
“Absolutely f–king livid,” one producer told the outlet about how Kimmel took the news, adding that the “pissed” late-night host is currently meeting with the network.
Carr described the “unprecedented” rejection of Kimmel by local broadcasters as a “turning point” for legacy media outlets — which he argued have been serving viewers “progressive foie gras.”
A group of more than 100 nonprofit leaders pushed back against Trump’s promised crackdown on liberal activism in response to Kirk’s killing.
The heads of organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and the MacArthur Foundation signed a joint letter decrying the reported White House plans to take still-unspecified steps to squelch what it calls “hate speech”.
Three officers were killed and two remain in critical but stable condition after a suspect opened fire while law enforcement officials attempted to serve a warrant yesterday in rural central Pennsylvania, State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris said.
The gunman, who has not yet been publicly identified, was killed by police, Paris said. He added that authorities know “who they are and who they work for,” but did not comment on the motive.
The attack in Pennsylvania is now among the nation’s deadliest tragedies of the last 25 years involving law enforcement. Officers following up on a domestic violence-related issue were met with a hail of gunfire in North Codorus Township.
“This is an absolutely tragic and devastating day,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said. “We grieve the loss of life of three precious souls who served this county, who served this Commonwealth, who served this country…We need to do better as a society.”
Senate Democrats unveiled an ambitious proposal to fund the government past Sept. 30 that would restore the nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid made by Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which could cause scores of rural and smaller hospitals to close.
Congressional Democrats proposed adding well over $1 trillion for Medicaid and other health programs to a stopgap spending plan needed to fund the government past Sept. 30, laying out steep demands in a showdown that is threatening a shutdown in weeks.
Trump thanked King Charles III for “one of the highest honors of my life” last night as he was feted at an ornate state dinner in Windsor Castle — before calling for the US and UK to continue to defend “the values of the English-speaking world.”
Trump was set to conclude a two-day state visit to Britain today with a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a joint news conference and announcements of business deals involving American and British companies.
Trump’s approval rating dropped to its lowest level of his second term in the YouGov/Economist poll released this week; 39 percent of surveyed Americans approve of his handling of the presidency, down from 40 percent recorded in mid-August.
The chairman of the Senate health committee yesterday cast doubt on the trustworthiness of a federal advisory panel on vaccines, and major insurers said they would continue to cover routine shots even if the panel tried to limit their use.
The former director of the CDC told a Senate panel that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., called employees “corrupt” and accused them of “killing children” during a tense private meeting with her the week before she was fired.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to continue improving conditions for migrants being held in a Manhattan federal building, writing that he was intervening to protect detainees from potentially “unconstitutional and inhumane treatment.”
An immigration judge ordered that a former pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil, be deported to either Algeria or Syria for not disclosing certain information on his green card application.
Khalil’s lawyers suggested in a filing that they intend to appeal the deportation order, but expressed concern that the appeal process will likely be swift and unfavorable.
The order from the immigration judge, Jamee Comans, came despite a separate order in Khalil’s New Jersey federal case blocking his deportation while that court considers is his detention and deportation are unlawful retaliation for his Palestinian advocacy.
In a statement, Khalil’s legal team argued that the immigration judge “rushed to a decision without providing a hearing on the evidence as due process requires, engaging in multiple procedural irregularities.”
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point yesterday as officials signaled that two more cuts could follow this year in light of rising risks confronting the labor market.
The decision to lower borrowing costs for the first time since December shifts interest rates to a range of 4 to 4.25 percent. The decision was not unanimously supported, the second straight meeting that featured at least one dissent from a Board member.
Newly installed Governor Stephen Miran was the only policymaker voting against the quarter-point move, instead advocating for a half-point cut.
North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik will declare her bid for governor after the November elections, and will have a clear path to the Republican nomination, State GOP Chair Ed Cox said, insisting the party would not have a primary in 2026.
Federal changes to how states like New York subsidize health care are looming, spurring criticism from Democrats who say GOP-led policies will almost certainly drive hundreds of thousands of people to pay more for their health insurance or to lose it entirely.
Gov. Kathy Hochul received her latest COVID-19 vaccine in Hell’s Kitchen this week while vowing to keep New Yorkers protected from the potentially deadly infection even as the federal government seeks to make the inoculation harder to obtain.
Hochul announced $300 million to establish the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub at SUNY Stony Brook, further catapulting New York’s national leadership in groundbreaking research that saves lives, grows the economy and improves national security.
Top Trump administration officials are pressuring federal prosecutors in Virginia to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, despite investigators so far failing to find sufficient evidence supporting such charges.
A New York State judge this week ruled that Rudy Giuliani must pay more than $1.3 million to lawyers who represented him in numerous criminal investigations stemming from his work for Trump.
New York County Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled in Manhattan in favor of law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron in the lawsuit it filed in 2023 against Giuliani seeking to collect fees for work performed for him between November 2019 and July 2023.
Giuliani contended he never agreed to pay the fees and didn’t receive the bills, but the judge rejected the arguments.
New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani scored endorsements this week from key members of the state party establishment, but he’s still waiting on two of the biggest names from this city.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, one of the three key Albany leaders, said he is “wholly supportive” of Mamdani’s affordability agenda, adding that he’s “not concerned” that moderate Hochul will prevent it from being passed.
Hochul, who’s facing a difficult path to reelection in 2026, has said a tax hike on the rich is a nonstarter for her next year, even though she endorsed Mamdani just days ago. Tax rates are set by the state, so the mayor can’t raise them on his own.
The powerful Bronx Democrat — when asked whether he’d wield his influence in Albany to deliver Mamdani’s proposals of free buses and child care, as well as hiking taxes on the rich — made clear that he’s all-in on the firebrand’s progressive agenda.
Hochul is using Mamdani as a shield to protect herself against a challenge from the left, capitalizing on his anti-President Trump defiance, political insiders said.
The names of Mamdani and Republican Curtis Sliwa will both appear twice on the Big Apple’s November ballot — long before voters will even get to the obscure independent lines of incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
A bipartisan duo of congressmen representing both sides of the Hudson joined forces to slam Mamdani for opposing a Holocaust remembrance group’s definition of “antisemitism.”
Adams is calling for a ban on carriage horses in New York City and signed an executive order aiming to harness the industry by the end of next year.
Adams, in announcing his support for the pending bill, Ryder’s Law, cited what he said were several episodes in recent years that had “raised concerns about the welfare of the horses, as well as the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and carriage operators.”
Adams went on a bizarre, seemingly stream-of-consciousness rant after railing about his far-left foe and the Democratic Socialists of America, proudly declaring he won’t “succumb” to allowing little girls and boys to share the same bathroom.
Empower NYC, an independent spending group, has raised nearly $1.5 million to back Adams’ long-shot run for reelection — much of it from donors who have big real estate developments in the works as the clock ticks down on his first term.
The Adams administration built and preserved more than 33,000 affordable housing units during fiscal year 2025, up 15% year over year, according to the mayor’s annual management report.
New Yorkers are waiting longer than ever for ambulances to arrive during emergencies, but most kinds of crime have dropped in the city and timely processing of social assistance benefits, like food stamps, is improving modestly, the report found.
The report also showed that about one-third of public school students were considered chronically absent last year, defined as missing at least 10% of school days.
Queens Democratic City Councilman James Gennaro is drawing heat over an apparently MAHA-inspired proposal to remove fluoride from Big Apple drinking water.
Dueling big-name proposals to develop casinos in Times Square and Hudson Yards were voted down, narrowing the field in the high-stakes contest to secure a lucrative state license to bring a casino to the New York City area to half a dozen contenders.
A 95-year-old woman was charged with beating her 89-year-old roommate to death in a Brooklyn nursing home after a witness saw her washing her hands in their blood-spattered room, the authorities said.
Barron Trump, the youngest child of President Trump, is taking classes at the Washington campus of New York University, less than a mile from the White House, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
State environmental officials told a riled-up crowd of Greenpoint residents that an asphalt recycling facility would face a fine and a legally binding order to mitigate the “acrid” and unhealthy fumes residents say they’ve been subjected to for years.
The founder of Success Academy charter schools admonished several hundred employees during an “emergency meeting” for failing to lobby elected officials in sufficient numbers ahead of a march over the Brooklyn Bridge today.
The Metropolitan Recreation Center in Williamsburg will not be reopening anytime soon — leaving Brooklyn with just one operational city-run indoor pool for now.
Comedian and actor Adam Sandler stopped into Motor Oil Coffee on State Street near City Hall and the state Capitol yesterday morning after performing for a sold-out crowd of nearly 11,000 at the nearby MVP Arena.
Brunswick Town Clerk Rebecca Del Gaizo hasn’t shown up to Town Hall during regular business hours for the past two months while working a new full-time job because she believes the work environment there is “toxic.”
A 23-year-old Selkirk man who earlier this month appeared in Town Court in an impaired condition was arrested on a drunken driving charge after he left court and drove off, police said.
Children playing soccer at a Bethlehem park were startled Tuesday when an SUV fleeing police drove across the pitches before the occupants abandoned the vehicle and ran off, police said.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the Troy Public Library budget despite a 30% tax hike in next year’s spending plan. The $2.5 million spending plan passed by a vote of 1,074 to 309, according to unofficial election returns.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
