Good morning, it’s Thursday…is anybody still at work besides me?
This is a good time for a programming note: There will be no “Rise and Shine” tomorrow for what I’m calling July 4th observed.
Technically speaking, we COULD start celebrating our nation’s birthday today, since I’m sure that one of the founding fathers, John Adams, if alive and asked, would tell you that Independence Day is actually July 2, and NOT, in fact, July 4. Once upon a time, Adams predicted that this day would be celebrated with fireworks and parades.
Little did he know.
It was on July 2, 1776, that members of the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that severed ties with Great Britain. But that was only the first step in what turned out to be a fairly lengthy process.
The resolution was submitted by delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and read as follows: “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
Pretty straightforward.
However, the the members of the Continental Congress needed a public-facing document to better explain their decision. That document, drafted by the so-called “Committee of Five” – Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and the primary author, Thomas Jefferson – was given the responsibility of drafting an explanation for the reasoning behind the colonies’ decision to cut ties with the Mother County.
The resulting the Declaration of Independence was dated July 4, 1776, but wasn’t actually signed until almost a full month later, on Aug. 2. And, to further complicate matters, not everyone signed right away. New York’s delegates, for example, initially abstained from voting because they lacked the green light from back home. New York was the last colony to officially approve and sign.
Independence Day is now a federal holiday, and has been since 1938. It’s traditional to celebrate with cookouts, picnics, parades, concerts, and, of course, fireworks.
We will be getting a slight reprieve from the heat by the time Independence Day – Saturday – rolls around, with temperatures peaking in the mid-90s – down from the 100s today and Friday. By the time we get to Sunday, things will have settled down some in the heat department, with highs hitting “only” the mid-to-high 80s. Skies will be mostly sunny for the next several days, though there’s a chance of showers on Saturday night.
The heat dome is forecast to reach its peak today. The extreme heat warning will last through tomorrow at 8 p.m., with dangerously hot conditions and heat index values (the “feels like” temperature) of up to 110 expected.
We won’t be getting much relief even after the sun goes down, with temperatures remaining in the 70s and the humid conditions persisting.
Stay hydrated. Stay out of the sun. Stay inside with air conditioning if you have it. Check on your pets and your neighbors.
If you don’t have access to air conditioning, the state Health Department has a cooling center finder on its website – be sure to call ahead, however, to make sure the one you’re interested in heading for is open. The DOH notes that if there isn’t a cooling center in your immediate area, malls, libraries, and supermarkets are all places where you can go to get some temporary relief from the heat.
In the headlines…
Russia this morning launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine, targeting Kyiv and other regions across the country.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that it carried out a “massive strike using long-range precision air, land, and sea-based weapons and attack drones.”
At least 13 people were killed and more than 30 injured in the attacks, according to Ukrainian emergency services, which said that firefighters were racing to extinguish blazes in several districts of the capital.
The Drug Enforcement Administration took steps to temporarily ban supplements containing a synthetic version of kratom, a plan that had been sought by makers of a rival product with strong ties to the Trump administration.
The maker of ZYN nicotine pouches can tell consumers its products are safer to use than cigarettes, the FDA said.
A federal judge in Washington blocked the US Postal Service from carrying out changes to its delivery of mail-in ballots, writing that recent policies directed by Trump ran afoul of legal terms the agency accepted more than four years ago to ensure timely delivery.
In his drive to “beautify” DC, Trump seems to have turned portions of the city into either a construction zone or an armed camp as he seeks to prove he alone can improve a city he interacts with primarily from his armored limousine or presidential helicopter.
Trump debuted his new Air Force One with roomier seats, golden features, and more high-tech amenities than the 20-year-old 747 it replaced.
Trump touted the aircraft as “a plane that the United States of America should have”, said this country couldn’t have built it, and admired its aesthetics — featuring a bold red stripe around its body, a navy blue underbelly and an American flag on its tail.
Trump extolled his brand-new Air Force One, a $400 million gift from the Qatari government, and defended the cost of upgrading it to meet security standards ahead of the aircraft’s maiden voyage.
Federal agents yesterday raided a section of Los Angeles that has become one of the country’s most notorious child sex-trafficking corridors, arresting nine people on charges related to selling girls as young as 14 for sex.
Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed hard for changes in the state’s auto insurance laws as a way to lower costs for New Yorkers. Now that the changes have been adopted, it’s up to insurance companies to keep their end of the bargain, she says.
The New York State Trial Lawyers Association’s (NYSTLA) president used the group’s annual gala to address Hochul’s auto insurance reforms, arguing that they limit justice, encroach on people’s rights, and threaten the independence of the civil courts system.
The newly built power line connecting hydropower from Quebec to New York went down this week, leaving the state without a major source of electricity as a brutal heat wave expands over the East Coast.
An audit released by the state comptroller’s office found that calls and text messages to a statewide domestic violence hotline often went unanswered, and that in some instances there were non-English conversations that were mistranslated by the service.
A series of demonstrations were held across the state this week in protest of Hochul’s nuclear agenda, with activists claiming nuclear is prone to cost overruns, creates hazardous waste, and the state should instead invest in renewable energy sources.
The Transport Workers United union dislikes Hochul so much, it’s not only refraining from endorsing her – its international president, John Samuelsen, is urging the umbrella labor organization it’s part of, the state AFL-CIO, not to support her as well.
Qualifications for the state’s Essential Plan health insurance are changing as of July 1. New Yorkers who made between 200-250% of the federal poverty line did qualify for the plan, but that level is decreasing to 150-200%.
Congressional Democrats are using the opportunity to take aim not only at Trump for his spending bill, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who has promised to slash Medicaid spending in New York should he win in November.
New York’s school vaccination requirements can remain in place, a federal appeals court ruled, dealing another blow to schools and families who argued that the state’s school vaccination rules violated their religious freedom rights under the U.S. Constitution.
A state Supreme Court justice has ruled that taxpayers should not have to pay more than $700,000 in legal fees that attorneys for Cuomo’s former secretary, Melissa DeRosa, have billed the state over the past several years.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to deliver what his office calls a “major address” on Friday to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, “reflecting on New York City’s role in our national history and its position as the nation’s symbolic gateway.”
Mamdani has not actively pushed New York City’s role in the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, in part because of the complexities he sees in the country’s past and present.
He’ll be surrounded by recently naturalized citizens during the speech. Mamdani himself is also a naturalized citizen, and the topic is important to him personally.
Meet New York City’s newest political power couple: Congressmember-elect Darializa Avila Chevalier and Ramzi Kassem, Mamdani’s chief legal counsel.
He may reject austerity, but that doesn’t mean Mamdani’s $125.8 billion budget has room for everything; some major items – including more NYPD officers – didn’t make it into his final spending plan.
Mamdani and the City Council will provide the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) with its highest-ever yearly appropriation as part of the city’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
Clueless City Council members were blindsided by Mamdani’s 11th-hour move to ax nearly 600 promised new NYPD cops from the city’s behemoth budget – leaving them bracing for more surprises, sources revealed.
Mamdani was roasted online for urging New Yorkers to set their air conditioners to a balmy 78 degrees as a punishing heat wave wallops the Big Apple — threatening to send temps soaring to 100 degrees for the first time since 2012.
Kamala Harris is quietly strengthening ties with one of the Democratic Party’s fastest-rising progressive stars, holding an extended private phone call with Mamdani last week.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins ripped Mamdani’s progressive agenda, warning that New York’s leaders are “beginning to speak the language of control rather than of freedom.”
A judge has set a tentative trial date for August in the federal corruption case of Frank V. Carone, a Brooklyn power broker who was indicted last week on bribery and money laundering charges.
After climbing to the needle of the Empire State building, a daredevil pair seemingly shared a romantic moment, proposing and unfurling a banner calling for peace before being arrested by officials.
Cops were called to the iconic W. 34th St. skyscraper after Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, stars of a 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” climbed from the observation tower to the base of the building’s antenna around noon.
The NYPD helped ground nearly 100 drones violating the airspace over FIFA World Cup Games, fan zone events and watch parties and it plans to seize more during one of the largest July 4th celebrations in the city’s history, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Hundreds of police officers are expected to be on patrol and roads will be closed in Midtown Manhattan for a private, two-day event at Madison Square Garden around the wedding of Taylor Swift, according to interviews and an internal police planning memo
Swift and Kelce’s reported Madison Square Garden wedding, shutting down a chunk of Midtown for the Fourth of July weekend, is eliciting almost as many questions as it is guests (the latter ostensibly topping one thousand).
The heat wave in New York this week is even hotter for those working, often without air-conditioning, in the carts that line city blocks.
Several teenage cadets were hospitalized with heat-related illnesses in New York State’s Hudson Valley on yesterday after the air conditioning on the bus they were traveling in failed, the authorities said, as the region broiled in a heat wave.
Saratoga Casino Hotel is among the racetrack facilities across New York implementing fire safety provisions in response to directives issued by the New York State Gaming Commission.
Multiple 2022 court recordings in Hoosick Falls — including one of former village Police Chief Robert Ashe pleading guilty to official misconduct — have vanished under unknown circumstances, according to newly filed statements.
In the face of outrage and condemnation over anti-Muslim comments made about the death of a 7-year-old autistic boy earlier this week, the restaurant Taste of Italy is closed “until further notice,” owner Frank Cappello said in a Facebook video.
All city pools in Albany will open for the season on Saturday. Mayor Dorcey Applyrs made the announcement today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new swimming pool at the West Hill Community Center.
Longtime Troy Turkey Trot organizer George Regan has been accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the annual Thanksgiving Day racing event.
Troy will receive $15.6 million in grant funding and low-cost financing for a new corrosion control system and replacement of the lime feed system at the city’s water treatment plant.
Police confirmed that Harbe Nagi, the 7-year-old boy missing for two days before his body was found Tuesday in a Park Drive swimming pool, died from an accidental drowning.
Angelina Maloney, the superintendent of a school district covering four Rensselaer County towns, has been put on paid administrative leave for reasons that are not clear.
Every first-year law student at Albany Law School is going to be required to learn about artificial intelligence, the school announced.
Amtrak is running its trains at slower speeds on its busy Northeast routes this week due to the regionwide blast of extreme heat.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
