Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
If you follow the (often inexplicable) daily “holiday” list, you might have seen today’s offerings and thought that you could guess which one I would focus on in this morning’s post.
Despite my abiding love of all things canine, however, I have decided to spare you a missive dedicated to “Dog Farting Awareness Day“, even though I have admittedly spent more than my fair share of time worried about and attending to the sensitive digestive systems of my pack.
For those who want to go deep on this particular subject, I won’t deny you your indulgence. Click here, here, or here to learn about which breeds pass gas more than others and how to decode the meaning of your pet’s flatulence. (I have to confess that I am, ahem, blown away by the sheer volume of information available on the interwebs about this seemingly niche topic).
I also could not bring myself to do any research on National Dogfighting Awareness Day, for fear of stumbling onto photos that I just could not handle viewing this early in the morning – or perhaps ever. Suffice it to say that despite the fact that dog fighting is a felony crime in all 50 states, it continues to thrive in an underground manner.
It’s a tossup on which I can stomach less – senseless violence against dogs or senseless violence against humans.
Today is International Day of Pink, a global event that started in Canada to raise awareness about the need to combat bullying, particularly against members of the LGBTQ community.
This might seem familiar, and it is indeed closely related to Pink Shirt Day, which is held on varying dates depending on where you find yourself on the globe.
The International Day of Pink, however, bills itself as more specifically geared toward protection of the LGBTQ community. It was started in 2007 by two students in Nova Scotia who witnessed another student getting bullied on the first day of school because of his pink polo shirt and then responded in support of that student by organizing a pink shirt-wearing display the next day.
Canada remains the epicenter of this particular day, but it is reportedly observed by millions around the world.
The weather rollercoaster continues today with sunny and clear skies and temperatures rising into the high 40s – perhaps even flirting with the low 50s. It will be a nice contrast from yesterday, which brought SNOW flurries and unseasonably chilly temperatures.
The slow warm-up will continue as the week and weekend progress, potentially even bringing us temperatures soaring into the low 80s next week before heading back down again into more “normal” spring-like highs of the 50s and 60s.
In the headlines…
The United States and Iran announced a two-week cease-fire yesterday evening, shortly before President Trump’s deadline for Iran to unblock the Strait of Hormuz or to see its “whole civilization” destroyed.
Trump struck an optimistic tone following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, calling it a “big day for world peace.” He also predicted a “Golden Age of the Middle East.”
Even though the news sent the international oil price benchmark down 15 percent, to $93 a barrel, it remained unclear whether ship operators considered the strait — a critical passage for the world’s oil and gas — safe for transit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supports the two-week ceasefire with Iran, adding that the arrangement does not include Lebanon.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the House, said President Trump’s “instability is more clear and dangerous than ever” after his post that a “whole civilization will die tonight.”
Chris Taylor, a liberal Wisconsin judge, won a seat on the state Supreme Court yesterday in the latest strong election for liberals since President Donald Trump’s return to office.
Judge Taylor, 58, a former Democratic lawmaker, promised to defend democracy and protect the right to free speech if elected. She is the third liberal to be elected to the court in three years.
A Republican won departed former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s empty seat, but Democrats shifted the district 25 points to the left since the 2024 presidential race.
State Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger suffered a stroke earlier this month and is recovering at a hospital in Manhattan. She “is up and about and doing well, and a full recovery is expected,” a spokesperson said.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, 74, a Buffalo Democrat and one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state, will not seek re-election.
The New York state Legislature yesterday passed a second state budget extension — now a week past the budget’s deadline — and was promptly signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
It marks the second one-week extender in a row for lawmakers, and it’s a change compared to past years, when Hochul would offer two- or three-day extenders that had legislators headed back and forth from Albany even as negotiations dragged on.
Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris shrugged off the overdue state budget as business as usual under Hochul, saying it’s “built into people’s expectations” by now.
“The leaders are talking, the staffs are talking. I think there were some meetings this morning that were productive,” said Gianaris, a Democrat from Queens. “But it’s a long way to go.”
Hochul looks to push through a series of auto insurance measures as part of ongoing state budget negotiations, members of the state’s trucking industry are anxiously hoping they may provide a much-needed cost savings to their bottom line.
Neither the state Senate nor the Assembly included the governor’s auto insurance reforms in their one-house budget bills, and Hochul’s team is now trying to negotiate the proposals back in.
Hochul’s re-election campaign is raking in cash from Uber as she follows the tech giant’s nationwide playbook to erode the rights of car crash victims one state at a time.
An upstate Catholic healthcare provider is suing Hochul and the state Health Department, alleging a state law requiring long-term care facilities to respect transgender patients’ gender identities violates their civil rights as a religious organization.
Hochul is seeking a disaster declaration for Suffolk County shellfish growers, after geavy snow this winter, plus days of freezing temperatures, took a toll on the region’s aquaculture industry.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is throwing a massive event to mark his first 100 days in office — and thousands of New York City teachers and other municipal employees are invited.
A new unit is opening at Bellevue Hospital to house Rikers Island detainees with serious medical needs, Mamdani announced. The new, quarter billion dollar 104-bed facility comes complete with a basketball hoop, library and other “therapeutic settings.”
Mamdani named Rebecca Jones Gaston, who as head of child welfare under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. oversaw the expansion of abuse-prevention services for families, as New York City’s child welfare commissioner.
An indictment charged two men with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in the homemade bomb attack near Gracie Mansion, Mamdani’s residence, saying they wanted to kill up to 60 people in the name of ISIS.
In the eight-count indictment released last night, prosecutors charged the two men with crimes that included providing material support to a terrorist organization and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
To avoid confrontation with the Trump administration, Mamdani officials did not restore references to “diversity, equity and inclusion” that had been eliminated in the draft that the mayor had inherited from his predecessor, Eric Adams.
Mamdani appointed New York’s first-ever mom and pop czar, Delia Awusi, currently a director at the Business Outreach Center Network’s Women’s Business Center, with the mission to help reduce red tape for small business owners around the city.
In her role, Awusi will focus on “ultra small” businesses that generate between $1 to $2 million in annual revenue.
The mayor announced the launch of a new, centralized permitting tool for prospective child care providers, as part of the administration’s broader push to expand access to care.
An unused newspaper kiosk outside of City Hall has been converted into a hub for e-bike delivery workers to swap and charge batteries. The kiosk is now referred to as the City Hall Park Deliverista Hub and was funded with a $1 million federal grant.
“After all these years, we are fulfilling the promise of better critical infrastructure for delivery workers,” U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said after joining Mamdani for the hub’s ribbon cutting.
The mayor campaigned on a plan to make buses free. But it isn’t going to happen this year, he acknowledged in an interview.
This winter, hundreds of dead geese fell around Georgica Pond in the Hamptons after suffering from bird flu. No one knew how to dispose of the infected bodies, so a local landscaper just winged it.
The dreaded, now-annual hatch of the invasive polka-dotted Lanternfly is less than a month away — leaving New Yorkers bracing for a biblical-level plague of the superbugs.
The viral Mini Dessert “Chicken” Bucket — ice cream shaped like a fried chicken drumstick with a chocolate-covered pretzel bone and candied cornflakes and white chocolate — has sold out at Yankee Stadium.
Rochester Rep. Joseph Morelle was forced to admit he was wrong to dismiss a sex-attack victim who came forward years ago to accuse an aide to one of the most powerful Democrats in New York State, a sworn statement shows.
Albany-area Rep. Paul D. Tonko is among multiple congressional Democrats calling for Trump to be impeached for what he described in a Tuesday news release as “genocidal talk from an unhinged madman.”
Three audits from the state comptroller’s office slammed the City of Mechanicville’s financial management, criticizing officials for poor oversight, inadequate and inconsistent procurement policies and unsupported payouts to departing employees.
An aging facility on Central Avenue housing state Department of Health workers has been evacuated multiple times since early March after someone reported smelling gas.
A crash that caused a tractor-trailer to overturn closed part of Route 20 in Duanesburg yesterday afternoon, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Market 32 and Price Chopper announced that customers can now use SNAP/EBT benefits to order groceries for delivery through DoorDash.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
