Good morning, it’s Wednesday already! This week is steaming right by.
I have a lot of fond memories of grade school, but visits to the school nurse are most definitely not among them.
I was a nervous kid when it came to matters related to my health (and subsequently grew into a hypochondriac adult, but that’s a subject for a different day). As such, I tried to avoid the nurse’s office at all costs – unlike some kids, who seemed to really enjoy camping out there.
I most feared the annual battery of tests the nurse ran us through, though some of them were more anxiety provoking than others.
The hearing test was the least worrisome, as I recall. Raising your hand at the sound of the beep – no matter how faint – was pretty low stakes. And I was fairly certain that I had no deficiencies in the hearing department.
The eye chart was a bigger issue, since I started out with a bad hand (both parents worse glasses) and went downhill from there, but once I got glasses myself and got used to the fact that I had to wear them, it was fairly routine.
My worst fear was the annual scoliosis screening, which requires girls to remove their shirts and stand in bathing suits or training bras for the nurse to check their spine.
This was physically painless but emotionally scarring for a kid who had some serious body dysmorphia. (Apparently, though their efficacy has been debated, these screenings are still a thing – including here in New York State – though whether they are mandated varies from one state to another).
These days, having a nurse on site is an exception rather than the rule for a lot of school districts across the nation. Only about 60 percent of schools have a full-time dedicated school nurse, according to the National Association of School Nurses, and the bulk of them – just over 62 percent – are working in elementary schools.
The school nurse shortage is particularly problematic as the number of kids with physical and mental health challenges continues to rise. Allergies, in particular, pose a significant problem, as they can require medication to manage and exposure – if not properly and quickly managed – could be life threatening.
There are plenty of stories of how school nurses have contributed to averting public health crises and/or prevented health tragedies from occurring, and, sadly, how their absence can result in a significant negative impact on the health of vulnerable young people – and even, in some rare cases, can be deadly.
Schools are being forced to get innovative as the school nurse shortage continues, in some cases relying on telehealth combined with trained on-site medical assistants to fill coverage gaps. Advocates say low pay and unsustainable workloads have, over time, contributed to the lack of school nurses, and are sounding the alarm on what is an all too often overlooked crisis.
Today is the last day of National Nurses Week, and it is set aside to honor and recognize the work school nurses are doing to keep young people safe and healthy. Happy School Nurse Day to all those who celebrate!
Skies will be partly cloudy today with highs reaching into the mid 60s. Occasional rain showers will develop overnight and last through tomorrow.
In the headlines…
A top Pentagon official testified that the cost of the war with Iran had risen to around $29 billion, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to tell members of Congress how much he would request on an emergency basis, or when, to fund the conflict.
Jay Hurst, the Pentagon comptroller, said the cost of the war had risen to “closer” to $29 billion since Hegseth testified on Capitol Hill two weeks ago, when he estimated it had cost $25 billion.
With just six months before midterm elections in which President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House majority, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the war with cost of living issues.
FBI Director Kash Patel offered a series of angry, insult-laden denials to Democratic lawmakers in response to questions about his conduct, including whether he drank to excess, forced subordinates to take polygraph exams and made false statements to Congress.
The remarks, delivered at a hearing about the coming budget for the F.B.I. and other law enforcement agencies, veered from sedate exchanges about operational matters to ugly personal confrontations, particularly between Patel and Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
Patel said he would take an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), as long as he did it “side by side” with the senator.
The Justice Department is holding internal discussions about settling President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS in the coming days, a move that could involve the government directly providing taxpayer funds or another public benefit to the president.
Nebraska Democrats last night maneuvered toward a favorable matchup in a high-profile Senate race, and were locked in a close primary contest for a battleground House seat that could be important to the party’s effort to regain control of Congress this fall.
In West Virginia, meanwhile, Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s effort to mete out Trump-like retribution against political opponents in Republican primary races met some success.
Former President Barack Obama appeared with James Talarico in Austin, Texas, yesterday, aiming to boost the rising Democratic star in his uphill bid to flip a U.S. Senate seat in the reliably Republican state.
A state Supreme Court justice overturned a decision by New York’s campaign finance board that had barred Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and his running mate, Todd Hood, from receiving public matching funds.
Judge Denise A. Hartman decided that a decision by the state Public Campaign Finance Board to remove Blakeman over a paperwork error was arbitrary and capricious.
The decision cleared the way for Blakeman to receive up to $3.5 million in public matching funds that Republican leaders are hoping will provide a jolt to his campaign against Hochul.
Hartman issued an order that will force the New York State Public Campaign Finance Board to reverse its party-line decision from March 31 that penalized Blakeman for failing to submit paperwork that never existed in the first place.
Democratic infighting over taxing the rich is giving New York’s beleaguered Republican Party an opening. The question remains whether they can capitalize on it.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a budget proposal that would fill New York City’s $5.4 billion deficit without making any drastic cuts, thanks in large part to a massive cash aid promise from Hochul.
“For years, the relationship between City Hall and Albany has been defined by dysfunction and infighting,” the mayor said. “(Hochul) and I, however, share a belief that government works best when we work together on behalf of the people we serve.”
Mamdani’s $124.7 billion executive budget proposal retreats from his threats to close the budget gap through property tax hikes or by raiding the city’s reserves — and without the significant income or corporate tax hikes he pushed for on the campaign trail.
The plan closes significant budget gaps without raising property taxes, cutting services, or tapping into reserve funds – moves the administration says protect working-class New Yorkers.
Mamdani is turning the page on a plan that would have cut funding to New York City libraries, adding an additional $31.7 million in funding to the three library systems — Queens, Brooklyn and New York — as requested by the City Council.
Any changes to the city’s five pension funds, which the mayor has proposed to help close the budget deficit, need to be approved by each pension board that oversees the funds, including representatives from municipal unions.
After issuing dire warnings about a multi-billion budget gap, Mamdani expects to save hundreds of millions from a pending deal to delay a state mandate to reduce New York City’s class sizes.
The the budget is hardly a symbol of fiscal rectitude. It relies on billions of dollars in one-shot or short-term money to fund permanent programs and it projects a $7 billion deficit for the 2028 fiscal year that will need to be closed just one year from now.
Mamdani announced a nearly ninefold increase in funds for preventing hate crimes as part of his budget proposal, fulfilling a campaign promise that was central to his outreach to Jewish voters amid concerns about his stance against Israel.
When asked whether he’s throwing in the towel on his push for income and corporate tax increases, Mamdani signaled that he’s content with the commitments he’s already secured from Albany this year.
The mayor’s budget includes a host of fee hikes – from increasing the costs for ambulance transportation and charging people for EMS help even if they aren’t taken to a hospital to upping enforcement on the trade waste industry and public wholesale markets.
Trump defended Mamdani on a conservative talk radio show after its host described the city as “a mess right now,” but also warned against policies — like the pied-à-terre tax — that he said could drive out wealthy residents.
Mamdani’s administration will today announce a host of changes designed to significantly speed up the leasing process for affordable units, reducing the median amount of time these apartments remain empty to less than three months.
NYC Comptroller Mark Levine said the mayor’s new spending was more “conservative” than that of previous mayors. Only 8% of new spending in the fiscal year 2027 budget is for new programs and administration hires, worth $1.39 billion.
A new group, NYC Common Sense, has formed to counter the Mamdani administration. It will be led by Jim Walden, a lawyer who ran for mayor last year, will run attack ads and be prepared to sue over policies it disagrees with.
A major New York City hospital system said it had received a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor in Texas demanding information about adolescents who received gender-related medical care during the past six years.
The city will build a bus lane before next month’s World Cup to speed up rides between the subway and LaGuardia Airport in Queens, Mamdani announced.
A resident of the Inwood apartment building where a fire killed three people last week was arrested and charged with negligent homicide, police said.
Harvey Weinstein’s attorney yesterday said the woman at the center of his rape trial was either delusional or a liar, pulling pages from the defense playbooks of many a high-profile rape suspect in the #MeToo era.
Congressional candidate Anthony Constantino announced this week he will pursue additional legal action against his Republican primary opponent, state Assemblyman Robert Smullen.
Bard College’s next permanent president likely won’t take office until 2028, the college’s Board of Trustees announced. The board plans to hire two temporary leaders during a lengthy search to replace departing President Leon Botstein.
Voters in the New Lebanon Central School District will decide May 19 whether to approve a proposed budget that would override the state tax cap and raise taxes by 6%.
The 2,500-acre Saratoga Spa State Park will expand to include an additional 79 acres of wetlands, forests and open space, Hochul announced.
Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs said last week that she, former Mayor Kathy Sheehan and other city officials were aware Albany faced a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in late October 2025, before the Common Council voted on the 2026 budget.
Troy’s Democratic City Council and the auditor it appointed, Jeff Neisch, are suing Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello over her decision last month to use emergency powers to keep payments flowing to an automated license plate reader company.
If plans go through to sell 26 acres of riverfront land for redevelopment in South Troy, a notorious mound of road salt could be lifted away earlier than expected.
A chlorine leak was discovered yesterday morning at the New Salem Water Treatment Facility, Bethlehem town officials announced.
High tariffs, federal and state policy changes and increased costs of connecting to the electrical grid have suspended the largest permitted solar project in the Adirondack Park.
Conan O’Brien will host the Academy Awards presentation for the third time on March 14, 2027. ABC announced. The network referred to O’Brien’s return as “the trilogy event Hollywood’s been waiting for.”
Photo credit: George Fazio.
