Good morning, we made it to Friday, collective exhale.
Let’s first talk about the weather, which has been – at least from a temperature standpoint – a complete blessing. (I admittedly haven’t been a fan of the thunderstorms, as they seriously stress out my older dog and that makes me feel terrible for him).
The good news is that today will be balmy, with highs in the low 70s, with cloudy skies in the morning giving way to some sun in the afternoon. Saturday will be much the same, with highs in the mid 70s and partly cloudy skies.
The bad news? We’re heading into a downward temperature trend, with the highs dropping into the low 50s on Sunday and rain throughout the day. We’ll dive down into the 40s on Monday before things even out a bit, heading back into the more springlike 50s and 60s for the foreseeable future.
The warmer weather means more outdoor activities are on tap – a welcome reprieve from being cooped up for the long, cold winter. I remember the giddy feeling about being able to shed jackets, boots, scarves and hats and truly enjoy outdoor recess when I was a kid, though anything involving organized games brought considerable stress.
While I really love being active and spend a lot of time working out in various forms, team sports has never been my thing. Ditto anything to do with hand-eye coordination, as I tend to close my eyes at the crucial moment when I’m supposed to be concentrating on connecting with the ball – something to do with fear of being smacked in the face, I think.
Given this admission, you are probably not going to be surprised to learn that I was not very good at kickball, which is a standard (or was, anyway, when I was a kid) playground and/or gym class pastime.
I’m not sure how this might be, but in case you’re not familiar, kickball is similar to baseball – played by two opposing teams on a diamond-shaped field with four bases. Generally, there are seven innings and three outs in an inning. The goal is to score more points than your opponents.
The difference is that the ball in question is inflatable and rolls on the ground to the kicker, who tries – like a baseball player – to run the bases and score points. The opposing team tries to get the kicker out by catching a kicked ball in the air or tagging the kicker on the run, or throwing them out before they reach a base.
Kickball was in some corners referred to as “kick baseball”, given its similarities to the aforementioned game. Its invention is usually attributed to a guy named Nicholas Seuss, who was a Cincinnati Park Board playgrounds director in the early 1900s. But that story has actually been disputed. If you have some time on your hands and want to go deep on the origin story of kickball, click here.
What is certain is that kickball became a time honored favorite of physical education teachers everywhere because it’s relatively easy to learn and doesn’t require a lot in the way of materials (really, just a ball will do and something to mark the bases) or skill to play. These days, kickball is having something of a renaissance, thanks to its adoption as a competitive adult league sport.
Happy National Kickball Day! Since we’ve already dispensed with the weather, let’s get down to the business of the news.
In the headlines…
The House unanimously passed a short-term extension of the nation’s spy powers this morning after GOP rebels dramatically rejected a last-minute deal to extend for five years while adding some reforms and language intended to woo the holdouts.
The Senate would need to also approve the stopgap measure that passed the House early today. Libertarian-leaning House Republicans had balked at a long-term extension.
President Donald Trump defended his administration’s economic policies at an event in Las Vegas yesterday amid rising energy costs resulting from the U.S.’s conflict with Iran.
Trump cast doubt on a recent Labor Department report that showed a 0.9-point hike in inflation last month. This was the highest consumer price spike in nearly four years, and it was primarily driven by increased energy costs.
Trump announced that he was nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz, who served as deputy U.S. surgeon general during his first term, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr. Erica Schwartz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “She is a STAR!”
Senators from both parties chided the Trump administration for continuing to withhold funding Congress has approved, more than a year after the White House first froze billions of dollars for temporary “review.”
House members got their first opportunity to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees.
Kennedy said he’s overhauling a group of external experts who decide what medical services are preventive and must be covered fully by insurers under the Affordable Care Act.
Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that he would resign at the end of May, shaking up the leadership at the agency responsible for carrying out President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a rising star in the Democratic Party until sexual assault allegations ruined his political fortunes, killed his estranged wife and then himself weeks before a judge’s deadline to move out of their family home.
The couple’s two teenage children were inside the home when the shootings occurred, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said, noting their son had placed the 911 call.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she wants to prohibit law-enforcement officials from covering their faces while interacting with the public as she continues to negotiate a bill limiting when local police can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
“I want to make sure ICE agents can no longer hide behind a mask while violating innocent Americans,” the governor said. “…They will no longer be able to conceal their identities while interacting with the public.”
Hochul took a break this week from negotiating the delayed state budget to speak about state and private-sector investments in childcare.
The latest budget quarrel revolves around immigrant protection measures as the Legislature and executive close in on a compromise they’ve been trying to iron out for months.
New York state will use $43 million to go toward helping communities afford water and sewer infrastructure improvement projects, Hochul’s office announced.
President Trump claimed that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “destroying” the city with his new proposed tax on second homes — perhaps his most direct criticism of the Big Apple’s leader since their two friendly White House meetings months ago.
A New York City tax proposal targeting ultrawealthy homeowners is drawing fierce backlash from business and financial figures.
Mamdani said that he and President Trump “are in touch” and are “honest, direct about the fact that we have many disagreements.”
Mamdani’s administration has reportedly been in talks with Hochul’s office about trimming the costs of three expensive programs as part of a potential deal to send more state aid to the city.
Mamdani has confirmed that he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will be skipping the Met Gala this year, framing his decision to avoid the glamorous fund-raiser as a way to keep his focus on affordability.
Mamdani condemned the U.S. war with Iran, saying it has inflated costs in New York City that were already high.
In 2025, Mamdani and his wife reported a total income of roughly $145,000, the bulk of it coming from his state assemblyman’s salary of $131,296. They reported $1,643 in royalties from the mayor’s former career as a musician.
Mamdani’s meteoric rise as a celebrity politician has brought only a modest increase in hip-hop profits: he took home $1,643 in music royalties last year, up only slightly from $1,267 in 2024, according to the couple’s tax filings.
Mamdani is so eager to raise taxes that he overpaid his own – and got a $7,011 refund on Tax Day.
The City Council voted overwhelmingly to confirm ex-federal prosecutor Nadia Shihata as the Department of Investigation’s new commissioner – a win for Mamdani, who scrambled to shore up support for her after concerns emerged about her ties to his team.
New York City is adding 240 new 3-K seats this fall — part of a broader push to expand early child care that is beginning to take shape across the five boroughs.
The federal government has agreed to release nearly $60 million in withheld funding for New York City’s Second Avenue subway extension, ending, for now, a monthslong battle that had threatened the $7 billion project.
A new law would force Big Apple businesses to let customers use their own cups when ordering a beverage — but workers tasked with turning away massive bucket-sized mugs aren’t toasting the idea.
The extraordinary price for a round-trip train ticket from New York City to New Jersey would offset the $48 million in expected extra transit costs during the FIFA World Cup games, according to people familiar with the plan.
In recent years, the number of restaurants across the city that can offer outdoor seating has dwindled to just over 2,000 from 6,000 to 8,000 at any given time during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Birthrates are down. Families are leaving New York City. So educators, especially at charter schools, are expanding their marketing efforts on social media and in subway stations.
Kayakers, Canoers and rowboat-enthusiasts are fighting a proposed federal ban on all “human-powered” small vessels in the waters around New York City during the blockbuster maritime semiquincentennial celebration of tall ships called Sail 4th 250.
Officers in the Police Department’s Mounted Unit do not often make arrests. But this week, one of the unit’s officers rode his horse through the streets of Manhattan in pursuit of a woman accused of stealing a purse.
A $100 million transformation is underway at the Capital Region’s major airport, where new spaces and upgrades are designed to reflect what modern travelers expect.
SCREEN set up a new research center at the Albany NanoTech complex on Fuller Road in Albany. It is the first research center the company has built outside of Japan.
In September, members of Troy’s union for city workers voted to approve a contract. In October, members of the City Council ratified the agreement. It was then signed by Mayor Carmella Mantello. But the contract is not yet complete.
Albany officials are weighing cuts to seasonal municipal workforce to address the budget crisis. Also, the Finance, Taxation and Assessment Committee chair warned anticipated cash transfers could wipe out the city’s savings and threaten its credit rating.
The Hudson City School Board’s interim superintendent presented options to plug a $4 million budget gap to the school board, including cutting 33 full- and part-time positions and consolidating bus routes. But board members are not happy with the plan.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
