Good morning, we made it to Friday – our first collective victory of the new year!
At this time of year, when it’s still dark out as I get up and get the day underway, I’m reminded of how much I like having very short hair. People who know me in what I like to call my barber shop era might be surprised to know that I once sported a long, curly, and unruly mane that stretched far beyond my shoulders.
That ended when I got a job in television, but why the higher ups at news stations across the nation believe that women anchors, in particular, all need to conform to some sort of weird visual template, is a conversation for a different day.
Aside from the time-saving benefits of having hair that one does not need to style, another boon is that I am more or less immune that static electricity that can be the bane of a long-haired person’s existence.
Have you ever to a science museum and come into contact with a Van de Graaff generator – that domed doohickey that causes your hair to stand on end when you place your hands on it? If so, then you have experienced first-hand the sort of problems that I used to face – especially in the drier winter months – before I cut my hair off.
Perhaps you do not recall your grade school science class or have never seen a Van de Graaff generator. A primer on static electricity is therefore in order.
Says the Encyclopedia Britannica: “Static electricity is the buildup of an imbalance of electric charges (positive or negative) on the surface of a material, often caused by friction (triboelectric effect) when two objects rub together, transferring electrons from one to the other. This charge stays “static” (at rest) until it finds a path to flow away, resulting in a sudden discharge like a small shock or lightning.”
So that’s about as clear as mud for me. Try this example:
When you walk across a carpet, you generate friction and transfer negatively charged electrons from the carpet fibers to your body. This causes an imbalance of said negative electrons that builds up on your skin – this is known as the triboelectric effect. When you touch a neutral or positively charged object, like, say, a doorknob, those extra electrons rush from you to said object, causing a small spark.
Today is National Static Electricity Day, the origins of which are a bit murky to me. I went down a bunch of rabbit holes and couldn’t figure out much about why we’re observing this particular day on Jan. 9, other that the speculation that the air is very dry in January, which means there’s fewer water molecules and more opportunities for friction.
If you’re not a fan of experiencing the small electric shocks that results from static electricity, you can try the following:
- Use a humidifier in your home or office to put moisture back into the air.
- Wear natural fibers like cotton or wool (synthetics are better insulators, which means they hold their electrons tightly).
- Hold a metal key or pen in your hand, which helps painlessly discharge static electricity.
- Wear leather-soled shoes instead of rubber.
It’s going to unusually warm for this time of year all weekend, with highs today reaching into the 40s. We’ll see cloudy skies with a chance of showers in the afternoon. Today and tomorrow, we’ll see partly cloudy skies with a chance of rain showers in the afternoon. Sunday will be cloudy but dry.
In the headlines…
Disputes between Minnesota officials and the Trump administration intensified yesterday over a federal agent’s fatal shooting of a woman, after the state withdrew from the investigation into the incident because federal officials had denied it access to evidence.
The ICE officer who fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis has been identified as Jonathan Ross, who was the same officer who was dragged 50 yards in Bloomington back in June 2025.
Federal agents shot two people in Portland yesterday during a traffic stop, a day after the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis stoked outrage over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The shooting in Portland was at least the 10th since September by federal agents who are part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — and all 10 involved people who were in their vehicles.
President Donald Trump said the United States will soon strike drug cartels on land, without providing further details about the plans.
Trump said his “own morality” guides his decisions on foreign intervention in a interview published yesterday, following weeks of scrutiny for U.S. strikes overseas.
“Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me,” Trump told the The New York Times Wednesday night when asked if there were any limits on his international power.
A group of 17 House Republicans joined with Democrats yesterday, against the wishes of House Speaker Mike Johnson, to pass a measure to restore health insurance subsidies that lapsed at the end of last year.
The passage of the bill was a triumph for Democrats, who drew substantial Republican backing. But it has no path forward, and an election-year compromise is a long shot.
In a 230 to 196 vote, 17 Republicans joined all Democrats in favor of the measure. The legislation is unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form, but some lawmakers are hopeful it will serve as the starting point for a broader compromise.
Gov. Kathy Hochul wants expanded legal options for New Yorkers negatively impacted by Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts — and is poised to push for them in the coming days.
New York officials are kicking off 2026 with new AI proposals and probes aimed at protecting consumers.
Hochul prepares for what could be the most consequential stretch of her career, much will hinge on her relationship with New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, a man of a different generation and outlook.
Hochul said increasing taxes for wealthy New Yorkers – one of Mamdani’s key campaign promises – is completely off the table.
New York would become the first state to require manufacturers of 3D printers to block production of guns and gun parts under new legislation that Hochul proposed this week.
Federal prosecutors have opened a new probe into New York State Attorney General Letitia James that’s connected to her longtime hairdresser.
Investigators are looking into a total of $36,000 that James’ campaign paid Iyesata Marsh, owner of a Brooklyn hair salon and an event manager, between May 2018 and February 2019 during the AG’s successful reelection bid, according to sources and reports.
A statewide investigation found that 87 of 223 medical spas across New York were cited for alleged violations, including the unlawful practice of medicine.
A federal judge ruled that acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III was improperly appointed to his position by the Trump administration as she invalidated two grand jury subpoenas that were served on the state attorney general’s office last summer.
An audit released by the state comptroller’s office found that Anthem Blue Cross failed to recover tens of millions of dollars in improper hospital payments for the health insurance program that covers roughly 1.2 million active and retired public employees.
New York is poised to vastly expand free and low-cost child care for families across the state over the next several years, and to put New York City on track to become the first city in the United States to provide free universal child care.
The state is taking the “unprecedented step” of committing to two years of funding “to show you that we’re in this for the long haul,” Hochul said, appearing alongside Mamdani at a YMCA in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
During his first full week as mayor, Mamdani took time out for a private visit with the film director and producer Steven Spielberg, a significant Democratic donor, at his Central Park West apartment.
Mamdani and UAW president Shawn Fein are flexing their political power and backing a democratic socialist in a high-profile race to replace Rep. Nydia Velázquez in a district that covers Brooklyn and Queens.
Queens state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez — a Democratic Socialists of America member and Mamdani ally — formally announced her candidacy to replace Velázquez.
A federal bankruptcy judge rejected an attempt by Mamdani’s administration to delay the sale of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments owned by the real estate firm Pinnacle Group – an early setback for the new mayor.
A closed-door auction for thousands of rent-stabilized apartments is proceeding as planned after a federal bankruptcy judge denied Mamdani’s last-minute attempt to delay the sale.
Mamdani is now raking in a salary of nearly $260,000 in City Hall, but his fundraising pleas are still paying off. His transition committee raised a hefty $1.2 million over December, lifting his total transition fundraising haul to just over $3.8 million.
Trump said that he was “surprised” Mamdani criticized his Saturday raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but also called the mayor a “nice guy” with a “great personality.”
Federal immigration officers have arrested 54 people in New York in recent months as part of a crackdown on the Dominican American Trinitarios gang, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in Manhattan yesterday.
A day after a federal immigration officer shot and killed a woman in Minnesota, Noem defended the officer’s actions, traveling to New York City to vow that Trump’s immigration crackdown would continue unabated and slamming Mamdani.
New York City police officers shot and killed a man inside a Brooklyn hospital last night in a dramatic scene that could present an early test for Mamdani, a democratic socialist with a history of criticizing the NYPD.
Dan Garodnick is leaving city government under Mamdani, he said, concluding a significant four-year run leading the Department of City Planning in which he spearheaded the City of Yes housing plan and five major neighborhood rezonings.
Jocelyn Strauber is stepping down as commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation after being told her status at the agency was uncertain.
The Cooper Union will make sweeping changes to its anti-discrimination and protest policies to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students who accused it tolerating antisemitism, most strikingly at a pro-Palestinian protest that trapped them inside the library.
Pro-Palestinian pâtissiers at the Big Apple’s biggest Jewish bakery chain are unionizing against their Israeli-born bosses — and one of their top demands is for the company to cut support of the Jewish state.
New York City health officials urged ongoing vigilance against the flu, including flu shots for kids and adults. Preliminary data suggests that bouts of the viral illness have already peaked, but the city’s health commissioner urged caution.
Four safety-net hospitals in Brooklyn and Queens reached tentative labor deals with the nurses’ union on staffing and workplace protections, but wage increases remain contingent on negotiations with academic medical centers in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Capital Region lawmakers and protesters are condemning ICE after one of its officers shot and killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother and calling for new laws to protect individuals and hold the agency accountable.
Former Rensselaer Mayor Richard Mooney is set to earn $25,000 assisting part-time Democratic Mayor John DeFrancesco while he’s working his day job at the state DOT. Mooney’s gig, also part-time, comes with a new title: operations director.
Elected officials and demonstrators crowded around the federal courthouse on Broadway in Albany to protest Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Renee Macklin Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs announced a new director for the Department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance and the breakup of the Department of Recreation, Youth and Workforce Services into two separate departments.
The mother of an 8-year-old Schenectady boy is demanding answers more than two weeks after a school staff member told her that her son ended up lying face down on a classroom floor last month with a librarian’s foot placed on his back.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
