Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
I am fighting my umpteenth cold of the season, and it feels like it’s dragging on forever. I am admittedly a hypochondriac, but there is no denying this stuffed nose/sinus pressure/general malaise that has me in an iron grip.
A cold is one of those annoying things that makes you feel just all-around crummy, but isn’t enough to send you to the doctor. I have a love-hate relationship with doctors, as is probably the case with most people. I do get over my dislike long enough to prioritize an annual physical, though, which is not the case for a surprising number of people.
While about 80 percent of the population sees a doctor at least once a year for a wellness checkup and 90 percent of all American say they think an annual physical is important for optimal health, only about 60 to 62 percent of adults in this country – roughly 1 in 5 – actually get one every year.
Not every physician agrees that an annual checkup is necessary – especially for those who are healthy and relatively young. They can be costly and stress-inducing and, in some cases, result in unneeded testing. Forgoing the annual physical could also, some argue, free up doctors’ valuable time to let them focus on patients who have significant medical challenges.
I personally find a routine touch-base with my doctor helpful and since our primary care physician is nearing retirement, I have been thinking a lot lately about how to find someone to replace him.
I would very much like that replacement to be a woman – did you know that patients treated by women physicians have better mortality rates and lower rates of readmission to the hospital? – but that could prove challenging. Why? Because while the number of women entering the medical profession is rapidly rising, male doctors still make up as much as 64 percent of practicing physicians across the U.S.
Men are particularly dominating certain medical specialities. Most surgeons are men, for example. The same goes for most cardiologists, gastroenterologists and respiratory specialists. One area where women are clearly dominating – obstetrics and gynecology – which makes a ton of sense to me. They’re also going into other areas in higher numbers, including pediatric medicine, endocrinology, and pelvic surgery.
Let me be the first to say it: Thank goodness, it has been a long time coming.
If you happen to be part of the almost 51 percent of the population that has female reproductive organs then you know how frustrating it is to live in a male-dominated medical world. And, by the way, this applies to medical research, too, which has long contributed to health care disparities.
This is slowly changing. For the sixth consecutive year in 2024-2025, the majority of medical school applicants were women, and, as a result, the majority of those matriculating at medical schools were also women. More women are pursuing STEM careers and fields in general. And as more top roles in academia, research, pharma, biotech etc. are filled by women, then more young women are able to see themselves in said roles and pursue them.
Of course, it would help if women had pay equity with men – not only in the medical field, but overall. But this post is getting very long, and so I will leave that (very important) topic for another time. Happy National Women Physicians Day!
A veritable heat wave is occurring, with temperatures zooming up into the high 20s and perhaps even hitting 30 degrees. Skies will be partly cloudy, with more sun in the morning than the afternoon.
In the headlines…
Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, capitulating to the demands of its GOP chair days before the House was likely to vote to hold them in criminal contempt.
The National Football League said it would look into the New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch’s involvement with Epstein, after the connection between the two men was revealed in documents released by the Justice Department.
“We are going to look at all the facts, we are going to look at the context of those, we are going to try to understand that,” Roger Goodell, the league’s commissioner, said, though he stopped short of saying a formal investigation would occur.
A Manhattan federal judge said he would hold a hearing today to consider shutting the government website that houses millions of files in the Epstein case after victims’ names were improperly disclosed.
The Trump administration’s rewrite of long-recognized immigration law has directly impacted New Yorkers and indefinitely separated countless more Americans from their families, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday.
The Trump administration says these immigrants take welfare intended for Americans, which the lawsuit says is an “unsupported and demonstrably false claim.”
The Manhattan Federal Court complaint against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department says a policy barring visa applicants from 75 countries is based on demonstrably false claims that immigrants of specific nationalities rely on cash welfare.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has come out in favor of at least one reform that Democrats are demanding — in one of the most turbulent cities where the Trump administration has been engaging in immigration enforcement.
Noem posted on X that after speaking with border czar Tom Homan, ICE acting director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, “every officer in the field in Minneapolis” will now be wearing body cameras.
Trump insisted that he was not going to tear down the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, one day after his abrupt announcement that he would shut it down for two years for major renovations starting in July.
Trump has reportedly backtracked on a major point in negotiations with Harvard, dropping his administration’s demand for a $200 million payment to the government in hopes of finally resolving the administration’s conflicts with the university.
Trump said late yesterday that his administration is pursuing $1 billion from Harvard to settle federal probes into the university over school policies, with the two sides yet to reach a final deal despite months of talks.
Trump called in a new interview for the Republican Party to “nationalize” voting in the US, an aggressive rhetorical step that was likely to raise new worries about his administration’s efforts to involve itself in election matters.
Savannah Guthrie’s sister is believed to be the last person who saw their now-missing mom just hours before she was allegedly snatched from her bed, according to a report.
Annie Guthrie reportedly told Arizona cops she didn’t see “any red flags” while enjoying dinner with Nancy, 84, on Jan. 31 before the matriarch returned to her million-dollar Catalina Foothills home, according to US Weekly.
It’s official: Punxsutawney Phil says to brace for six more weeks of winter – a forecast sure to disappoint many after what’s already been a long, cold season across large parts of the United States.
A U.S. judge ruled that a wind farm being developed by Orsted off Long Island can resume work halted by the federal government, the fifth such court win for an industry that Trump has sought to cripple.
New polling shows that Gov. Kathy Hochul is starting her reelection year hot with record favorability, big leads on her opponents and high marks for her policy agenda.
Hochul signaled her administration may be open to bundling multiple immigration-related proposals into a single bill, as she presses lawmakers to move quickly to limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
Hochul aims to make pre-kindergarten universal in New York, but advocates say they may need more help.
NPR spoke with Hochul about new legislation that would block police departments from collaborating formally with federal immigration authorities.
NYSNA, the nurse’s union, is calling on the governor to stand with them as they fight for higher wages and better safety conditions inside city hospitals.
Hundreds of striking nurses focused their ire on Hochul, marching to her Midtown offices to highlight how they say she has been helping executives at deep-pocketed hospitals drag out contract negotiations.
A proposal by Hochul has the potential to reshape how corporate philanthropy is planned, how risk is priced into charitable partnerships, and how New York is positioning itself as a buffer against federal tax uncertainty.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman delivered remarks at the Conservative Party Political Action Conference at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Albany, attacking Hochul for high energy costs while defending his own stances on immigration and abortion.
An independent commission charged by a judge to redraw the boundaries of New York’s 11th Congressional District has paused its work due to a pending appeal of the issue, the group’s staff said.
A blizzard of lingering life-or-death failures after Winter Storm Fern had even Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s lefty allies blasting his fledgling administration.
Thousands of Brooklynites have lost power in recent days because of last week’s snow, and the lingering cold has made it harder for Con Edison to get the lights back on.
At least 16 people have now died outside in New York City during the recent period of extreme cold, Mamdani said. The death toll is two more than officials stated in a previous update over the weekend.
Of those, preliminary findings show that in 13 of those deaths, hypothermia played a role, and three of those deaths appeared to be overdoses, the mayor said. Ten had past interactions with the homeless shelter system, officials said.
The death toll linked with the cold spell exceeds the 14 deaths in the city due to the remnants of Hurricane Ida in 2021, according to a 2024 study by researchers at the city’s health department.
Mamdani has said he’s dispatching 20 “warming buses” around New York City, but on a recent night at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, no one there knew two warming buses were parked outside.
Temperatures in Central Park breached 32 degrees yesterday after nine consecutive days below that mark, according to the National Weather Service. But conditions are still anticipated to be frigid through the rest of the week.
City sanitation workers battling massive snow and ice piles left by last week’s storm have kept up with trash collection — but have fallen a day behind on recyclables.
Mamdani said garbage collection is running 24 hours behind schedule, despite 2,500 sanitation workers on 12-hour shifts and 1,500 additional workers from across different city agencies who are working to clear bus stops, sidewalks and crosswalks.
Massive snow piles were still clogging up streets near Big Apple hospitals more than a week after deadly Winter Storm Fern — creating dangerous obstacles for emergency responders.
Mamdani has promised a rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants, and he intends to make appointments to the Rent Guidelines Board in order to carry out that vision. Will that actually happen and before you have to sign your 2027 lease? It’s hard to say.
Starting in June, New Yorkers and visitors will able to see the city from atop the Dinkins Municipal Building, Mamdani announced.
A new business alliance has launched in New York to protect Jewish and Israeli companies under Israel-bashing Mamdani and his band of anti-Zionist socialist allies — who are pushing to expand their influence in Albany and City Hall.
A Trump administration threat to strip federal funding from states and cities with sanctuary policies has so far failed to materialize, days after the president’s self-imposed Feb. 1 deadline came and went with no action from the White House.
Morris Katz, one of Mamdani’s top political advisers, has urged progressive groups to support state Assembly Member Micah Lasher’s congressional campaign, two people with knowledge of the outreach said.
Early voting has closed ahead of the special election to replace Mamdani in the 36th Assembly District today, with almost 10,000 voters braving freezing conditions to cast their ballots over the past week.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced that New York City just had its safest January on record, with the number of shootings and murders plummeting to new lows.
An immigration judge denied bond to a Venezuelan City Council staffer being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention upstate.
Data analyst and Venezuelan national Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez will remain in a Hudson Valley facility for now after he was detained by federal agents when he showed up to a Jan. 12 court check-in on Long Island.
New York City’s transit system, the largest in the United States, is creating a new unit to steer a $12 billion effort to replace decades-old trains and modernize its bus fleet.
Former Republican state Assembly Member Michael LiPetri Jr. is set to announce that he will seek his party’s nomination again to run against Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi this fall.
City Council Member Julie Won filed to run in New York’s 7th Congressional District, joining an already hotly contested race that is dividing New York Democrats in one of the city’s most progressive districts, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
Won will face two other Democrats, one backed by the departing incumbent, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, and the other by Mayor Mamdani.
About half of the companies that deliver home heating oil to New Yorkers failed at least one inspection of truck gauges meant to ensure residents get the fuel they pay for, an analysis of records shows.
The agency overseeing construction of a $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River sued the federal government for cutting off the project’s funding and leaving it without enough money to keep building beyond this week.
The police are investigating the death of a Brooklyn woman whose remains were found in the basement of a public housing building over the weekend, officials said.
A dog named “Meatball” was killed yesterday morning after it fell onto the subway tracks at the Bowling Green station and was electrocuted by the third rail, police said.
For-hire Pennsylvania groundhog “Wolfgang” spotted his shadow at Brooklyn’s McCarren Park Saturday, whispering his weather prediction to perennial mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa — who claimed he’d don his own groundhog costume next year.
The state attorney general’s office is suing the owners of a Newburgh apartment complex for allegedly forcing tenants to live in horrific conditions for years.
Michael Logan, the most recent appointee to Albany’s beleaguered Community Police Review Board, has resigned a little over a month after the TU discovered he had pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a multimillion dollar fraud scheme.
A state Supreme Court justice ordered Justin Chaires to be seated on the City Council, ending a monthslong battle between lawmakers who chose Chaires for the position and Mayor Gary McCarthy, who went to court to block it.
Persia Nelson, convicted of murder for leaving her 11-month-old daughter to freeze to death in a utility area at GE’s downtown plant, was given the maximum prison sentence after the judge rebuked her for the killing and her insistence it was an accident.
A village water main break has been repaired in the midst of numerous fixes to Mayfield’s water system, but residents are still under a boil-water advisory for what is likely several more days, officials said.
A Jefferson County man has been indicted in the sexual abuse of two boys in Albany County across multiple incidents dating to at least 2023.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
