Good morning, it’s Wednesday.

There’s a lot going on in the world – Snowmageddon, Epstein files fallout, potential war with Iran, Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping, State of the Union address, the Olympics. The list of things competing for your attention goes on and on.

So, perhaps you may have missed the great Reesse’s Peanut Butter Cup Controversy of 2026? If so, let me fill you in.

First, before you say: What’s the big deal, it’s only candy? It’s so much more than that.

We’re talking here about an iconic brand that consistently ranks among the top candy choices in the US (along with M&Ms, Skittles, and and Snickers bars – especially around Halloween, when trick-or-treaters consider Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to be a premium score.

Reese’s is the nation’s top-selling candy brand, with more than $2 billion in sales annually and 25 million peanut butter cups produced daily. It acts as the top economic driver for The Hershey Company, which now owns the brand, though it was invented by a former employee, H.B. Reese, in 1928. Reese’s sons sold the H.B. Reese Candy company to Hershey in 1963 for a stock value that was worth about $23.5 million at the time.

According to the Hershey’s official website, which is linked above, the Reese family’s decision to sell to Hershey’s and not some other candy company was “rooted in trust: trust that the brand would be cared for in the same place, and in the same spirit, it was built – right here in “Chocolate Town,” or as we call it, The Sweetest Place on Earth.”

However, according to Reese’s grandson, Brad, that trust has been broken. Specifically, he claims that The Hershey Company has changed his grandfather’s recipe for the worse and has replaced pure milk chocolate and peanut butter with chemically enhanced, sub-standard ingredients.

Brad Reese said he used to eat a Reese’s product “every day”, but recently threw out a bag of heart-shaped Valentine’s Day candies that were made with, according to the packaging, “chocolate candy and peanut butter cream” because he found them inedible. He called the experience “devastating.” (Brad is not, for the record, backed up by other members of the Reese family and a lawsuit could be in the offing).

The Hershey Company responded swiftly, insisting that all was well in peanut butter candyland, though it seems clear that the formulas in some of its candy have indeed changed. The company acknowledged that “recipe adjustments” have been made to allow for “new shapes, sizes and innovations” – particularly when it comes to novelty, holiday-specific candy.

It remains to be seen whether this whole dust-up eats into (see what I did there?) Reese’s overall profit. The company certainly has weathered PR storms before. This past fall, for example, a judge rejected a lawsuit brought against Hershey’s by customers who said they had been victims of deceptive marketing, effectively “tricked” by the packaging of Reese’s pumpkin-shaped treats.

If you’re wondering, by the way, how I landed on today’s topic, it’s National Chocolate Covered Nut Day, and while I’m not a huge fan of chocolate covered nuts (I think chocolate covered raisins are better – sorry, not sorry), I thought it was close enough to chocolate covered peanut butter to credibly make the leap.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s more precipitation in the forecast. Snow showers will change over to steady rain today, which will likely wash away some of the accumulation on the ground, but will also make for a sloppy, slushy mess. Temperatures will top out in the high 30s. Break out the boots!

In the headlines…

President Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in American history last night, insisting that he had overseen a “turnaround for the ages” during his first year back in office, even as voters lose confidence in his handling of the economy.

Trump’s address lasted approximately one hour and 48 minutes making it the longest speech before a joint session of Congress in at least 60 years, according to the American Presidency Project.

Trump introduced few new policies and instead appeared to relish the theatrics of the moment. He used the opportunity to berate Democrats as “crazy” for not standing or applauding for his priorities, especially on crime, immigration and the economy.

When Trump accused “the Somali community” – of which Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar is a member – of having “pillaged” billions of taxpayer dollars, Omar could be heard shouting that he was a liar.

Trump repeatedly used his speech to recount violent crimes in vivid detail, using those stories to bolster his push for stricter criminal penalties and tougher immigration enforcement.

Trump said in his State of the Union speech that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the crisis with Iran, but at the same time laid out a case for a potential war against the Islamic Republic.

While some Democrats boycotted the speech, attending counter-programming events in protest of Trump, many party members sat in pointed silence throughout the president’s speech.

Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green was removed from the House chamber at a second consecutive presidential address to Congress. He was holding a sign in the center aisle reading “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!” as Trump entered the chamber before his speech.

Green, has repeatedly sought to impeach Trump, was removed from last year’s address after interrupting Trump and waving his cane at him.

Not long into his address, Trump welcomed the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team to the chamber amid controversy over a viral video of the athletes’ phone call with the president.

The president shouted out Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying in the middle of his speech: “The new communist mayor of New York City, I think he’s a nice guy, actually. I speak to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy.”

Democratic leadership’s choice to have Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger deliver the rebuttal was a strategic move to keep the party’s focus on affordability. But Democratic factions held their own events in an effort to harness rising furor against Trump.

The House struck down aviation safety legislation that would have required planes to carry a type of tracking technology that federal investigators determined could have helped avoid a midair collision over the Potomac River last year that killed 67 people.

Savannah Guthrie’s family is putting up a $1 million reward for information that leads to “recovery” of her elderly mother, Nancy Guthrie, who was nabbed from her home in the middle of the night, and who the “Today” show host acknowledged may have died.

In a new video, the “Today” host acknowledged that her 84-year-old mother may already be dead, but said the family was holding out hope for a miracle.

Republicans in Congress, with the strong encouragement of Trump, have ramped up efforts to pass the SAVE America Act, which would mandate strict voter ID laws for every state in the union. 

A new poll released by the Business Council of New York State suggests that the cost of living remains the strongest concern for New York residents, transcending political party lines ahead of this year’s election. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul called on the Trump administration to refund the estimated $13.5 billion in tariff payments to New Yorkers after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down many of the president’s far-reaching tariffs on Friday.

The average New York household has faced an estimated $1,751 in added costs due to tariffs since they were enacted last year, according to estimates by the Yale Budget Lab.

“These senseless and illegal tariffs were just a tax on New York consumers, small businesses and farmers — and that’s why I’m demanding a full refund,” Hochul said in a statement.

Hochul spared a Long Island granddad’s pee-themed license plate from getting flushed down the toilet after the DMV had revoked the tags. She personally called the West Hempstead man personally to give him the good news.

The DSA is rallying today in Albany for a bill that would boost state income taxes by nearly 10% on couples filing jointly who make more $500,000 – and soaking top earners with a 220% hike that would make New York’s top tax rate the highest in the country.

Mamdani’s campaign pressuring Hochul to back a tax hike on the richest New Yorkers is falling flat, leaving it up to his ardent left-leaning supporters to persuade the moderate Democrat to flip-flop.

Senate Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes; Assemblymember John McDonald, and Sen. Pat Fahy have introduced legislation to create a tax credit to incentivize converting underused office buildings and space into residential housing.

Legislative leaders aren’t discussing rolling back New York’s ambitious green energy mandates – even as Republicans blast out-of-control energy and utility costs.

More snow is possible in the New York metro area this week, meteorologists said, as residents continued to dig out from a blizzard that dropped at least 20 inches of snow across the city.

A large snowball fight that was promoted on social media turned into a political reckoning for Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the episode drew condemnation from top officials. NYPD Commissioner Jessicia Tisch called it “disgraceful” and “criminal.”

The governor said it was unacceptable to throw anything at an officer. The city’s comptroller said the episode couldn’t be normalized. Mamdani at first praised police officers for their help in the storm and told New Yorkers to treat them with respect.

At a news conference later that afternoon, the mayor appeared to break with Tisch, saying he did not think the encounter constituted a crime and did not believe participants should face charges for “kids doing snowballs at members of the NYPD.”

The police said that two officers had been taken to Northwell Greenwich Village Hospital after being struck by the snowballs and by ice at close range, causing injuries to their heads, necks and faces. A police official said the NYPD was investigating the incident.

Only 63.3% of students showed up at school yesterday, as Mamdani took heat for reopening the schools while New Yorkers were still digging themselves out of a historic blizzard.

Mamdani has selected Erin Dalton, a public official in the Pittsburgh area, to head New York City’s Department of Social Services at a time when his handling of homelessness has come under sharp scrutiny.

Mamdani, who in his eight-week-old mayoralty has contended with two unusually grave winter storms, called this weekend’s weather the “snowstorm of the decade,” and he may be right.

A new version of a City Council bill would let the NYPD decide when city houses of worship should be protected from protesters by “buffer zones” and how big the zones should be.

A recent post on New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino’s social media account, decried as “Islamophobic” by her Democratic colleagues, has stirred fresh outrage over remarks tied to the Queens Republican.

AG Letitia James filed an amicus brief defending New York City’s sanctuary city laws, arguing that the laws are essential to preserve public safety and that they do not limit cooperation between local and federal authorities on criminal investigations.

City University of New York Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez revealed that a Hunter College professor who made racist remarks at Upper West Side school board meeting remains in the classroom as the school conducts an investigation.

Richard Axel, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and professor, announced that he was resigning as a co-director of a flagship neuroscience institute at Columbia University because of his friendship with Jeffery Epstein.

An audacious scheme to dupe vulnerable immigrants, as alleged in new court filings in Brooklyn federal court, should serve as a wake-up call for New York’s immigrant communities, the leader of a Queens-based immigrant rights organization said.

A Rhode Island college student from Long Island died of carbon monoxide poisoning after charging his phone in a running car during a historic blizzard, according to authorities.

The Albany Common Council is getting behind Mayor Dorcey Applyrs’ push for significant changes to the city’s inclusionary zoning law as the state prepares to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into redeveloping large swaths of the city’s downtown core.

A tow company operator and a used car dealer involved in a car theft scheme in the Capital Region have been sentenced.

For the second time, Edward Holley’s legal defense team surprised the court by choosing not to call witnesses in the trial for the murder of Megan McDonald — this time, despite earlier indications they would present a nearly weeklong case.

Schenectady’s Carl Williams has been deep in prayer about the challenges ahead of him as the new City Council president. He knows that in order to address some of the city’s more pressing issues, he’ll have to first bring the divided council together.

The trend is unambiguous: Lake Champlain is freezing over less often than it did historically. But a run of consistently cold weather this winter set up the region’s largest lake for its first full freeze since 2019.

Rensselaer County intends to fully renovate the old Susan Odell Taylor School for Children by mid-2026 to accommodate the county Board of Elections. Election services are currently operated out of a smaller downtown Troy location.

Photo credit: George Fazio.