Good morning, it’s Thursday. The weekend is so close you can almost taste it. Hang in there.

There has been a lot of distressing news intruding on this summer season, making it difficult to disconnect and fully relax (for me, anyway). Extreme weather, ICE activity, fires, war, food borne illness, violence, hate, vaccine deniers – the list is pretty is pretty much endless.

One thing that I hadn’t been worried about – at least no more than normal – until this morning when I started researching this post: Mosquitoes. As it turns out, however, I should be doubling down on the bug spray before I venture outside to hike or train.

First, it should be said that I am a mosquito magnet. Apparently, there are some people who do not get bitten by mosquitoes – and it’s only the females that bite, for the record, because they need the protein and iron in blood to feed their offspring.

Those who are immune to bites lack the chemical cues, body heat, or carbon dioxide levels that attract these flying bloodsuckers. Some research has indicated that mosquitoes prefer Type O blood over Type A or B, though I cannot for the life of me ever remember what type I am.

Ostensibly there are some things you can do to reduce your attraction level – wearing light-colored clothing, for example, but that has never really worked for me. Every season, I end up covered with bites and itch until I scab and scar.

I’m not sure how I missed the news that this would be a particularly bad mosquito season in the Northeast.

Oddly, the Midwest and Western regions of the nation, the number of mosquitoes is actually DOWN, but the number of mosquito-borne illnesses – namely West Nile virus – is UP. That increase is actually being seen across the country, in part due to climate change – longer and hotter summers that start earlier give mosquitoes more time to emerge, breed, and bite people.

This year, we had a warmer-than-normal winter, followed by a wet spring and a hot summer – all primo conditions for mosquito breeding. Lots of heavy rainfall leaves behind lots of standing water, which is a mosquito’s preferred mating locale. (Pro tip: If you want to reduce your backyard mosquito population, start by eliminating standing water sources and you’ll have won half the battle).

In New York City, which one does not generally think of as a mosquito hotbed – too much asphalt and concrete and not enough green space – West Nile virus has been detected in nearly twice as many mosquito pools as last year, according to the city Health. Just this week, both the city and Suffolk County reported their first human West Nile cases of the summer.

West Nile is the primary mosquito-borne illness that we here in the Northeast have to worry about. As infections go, this one isn’t SO terrible, with about 80 percent of people showing no symptoms.

You might get some mild flu-like symptoms, and in very rare cases – less than 1% of those infected – you could develop severe central nervous system illness like brain inflammation, which could be fatal. Less prevalent, but more serious, is Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), and there’s also the Jamestown Canyon & La Crosse Viruses, which are very rare.

None of those have any preventative vaccines or curative treatments, which is why prevention is critical. Other mosquito-borne diseases include yellow fever, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and, of course, Malaria, for which there ARE both vaccines and treatments. Malaria, which is a parasite, is entirely curable via prescription drugs.

Today is World Mosquito Day, which, as the official website notes “shines a spotlight on the world’s deadliest animal and the diseases it spreads.” Yes, it’s true, the more than 3,000 different types of mosquitos are responsible for 725,000 to up to1 million deaths each year – more than sharks, snakes, and large predators combined – by acting as vectors for lethal parasites and viruses.

The date for World Mosquito Day was selected because it commemorates the discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes could transmit malaria to humans. This was a landmark moment in public health and led to Ross being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.

It will be cloudy and slightly cooler today – but still prime mosquito weather! – with highs reaching only into the high 70s. There’s no rain in the forecast, which is a plus.

In the headlines…

America’s gross national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time, an ominous milestone for an economy that sits on a shaky fiscal foundation after decades of borrowing to pay for the rising costs of the military, social safety net programs and Trump’s tax cuts.

The Treasury’s latest daily cash and debt balances statement showed total public debt outstanding at $40.047 trillion on ‌Tuesday, a total that includes Treasury securities held by the public of $32.266 trillion and intra-governmental debt holdings of $7.782 trillion.

The unprecedented $40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting the defense spending that the U.S. relies on to carry out the president’s almost-6-month-old Iran war to lowering the cost of gas and groceries.

The Trump administration abruptly scrapped a plan to recruit retiring Pentagon lawyers to represent unaccompanied minors in immigration court, which would have asked attorneys with little relevant legal experience to help migrant children facing deportation.

A series of losses by Trump-endorsed candidates has eroded his winning record, raising fresh questions about whether a president approaching lame-duck status can still exert as much control as he wants over his party’s voters.

The U.S. service member who was arrested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol last month after he advocated for President Trump’s impeachment was detained again, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson confirmed Wednesday evening. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are moving back to Great Britain. Their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will start attending school overseas in September. The royal couple reportedly plan to be there for an “extended period” starting soon.

Gov. Kathy Hochul warned that artificial intelligence poses a significant threat to administrative roles held by women as New York maps out its plan to address workers displaced by AI.

The governor launched the next phase of her FutureWorks Commission, kicking off a series of public listening sessions focused on how artificial intelligence will impact workers and industries across New York.

Hochul was in eastern Brooklyn this week to announce new state funding for a community health clinic as part of a larger tour focused on crime in a historically neglected area.

Hochul issued a warning about a financial scam targeting Holocaust survivors, saying an entity calling itself the “Jewish Holocaust Claims Center,” or “JHCC,” has sent unsolicited fraudulent messages to survivors and their families.

An unhinged Long Island man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to travel to Washington, DC, to “put a bullet” in US Attorney Jeanine Pirro‘s head.  

Mayor Zohran Mamdani let a bill he opposed that requires New York City’s public school system to send $10,000 in checks to low-paid teacher aides become law on Wednesday without his signature.

The Mamdani administration then sued the Council over the bill to pay paraprofessionals one-time $10,000 payments, saying it runs afoul of the state law that restricts public sector wage increases to collective bargaining and could set an expensive precedent.

“We will not allow the political process to replace the collective bargaining table,” Matt Rauschenbach, the mayor’s spokesman, said in a statement.

Our Time NYC, a nonprofit created to back Mamdani’s policies, is shutting down only nine months after it launched, facing competition from New York City chapter of the DSA, the mayor’s political base, and later, the Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement.

Mamdani is looking to add a new cook to his kitchen at Gracie Mansion. The job posting, for a $64,000 position, requires applicants who have experience with “multiple cuisines, with a focus on South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine.”

The Mamdani administration released a preliminary target to build 350,000 housing units to meet housing needs across the five boroughs over the next five years.

The top DSA leader whose parents set him up in cushy Brooklyn digs short-circuited as a union electrician and then convinced his socialist party comrades to pay him a near-six-figure salary.

Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman is tapping the progressive ad shop that helped propel Mamdani to victory, despite hundreds of Democratic Socialists urging candidates to cut ties with the firm over its work for a scandal-plagued Senate hopeful.

Mamdani’s one-time Senate campaign manager, journalist Ross Barkan, 36, apologized amid a plagiarism scandal that threatens to end his career and said he’s taking a break from writing.

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin made it clear she intended to beef up the City Council’s oversight powers, but eight months into her term, the council has yet to flex one of its strongest muscles: the rarely used subpoena power. 

Menin rejected rejected calls for Mamdani to stay away from the 25th anniversary commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks, calling the push “absolutely inappropriate.”

A group of immigrant-owned grocers who have threatened to sue New York City over Mamdani’s plan to open government-owned supermarkets is poised to take legal action as soon as this week.

The rising popularity of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic have become such a hazard for New York City’s strongest that officials are cracking down on people who throw loose injector pens in the trash.

The Mount Sinai Health System stopped offering doctors’ appointments to new patients on specific government-subsidized insurance plans this month, then mysteriously erased any mention of the change from its website.

The MTA risks falling short of its 2040 goal to make its bus fleet 100% zero emission, according to a new audit from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office released yesterday.

As summers grow hotter due to the climate emergency, New York City is taking a crucial step toward addressing the devastating impacts of climate change on people and the ecosystem by designing its first Urban Forest Plan (UFP).

A man being held at a newly opened detention facility in Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital died Tuesday morning, officials said.

A former NYPD sergeant admitted on Wednesday to killing a beloved Manhattan doorman during a wrong-way, drunk-driving crash on a Westchester highway, officials said.

The legendary Carnegie Deli, one of the city’s most iconic delicatessen restaurants, is apparently returning to Midtown after a 10-year absence, with pastrami and corned beef fans cheering  in anticipation.

The deli this week dropped a video on social media teasing a reopening with a brick-and-mortar location. In a video set to Kiss’ “New York Groove” workers are seen moving yellow signage panels into place at the storefront.

The biggest freshman class in recorded history for the University at Albany has moved in. The university reported a 20% increase in the freshman class, a huge number as other colleges report persistent decreases.

It seems more and more Capital Region and Hudson Valley residents are encountering bats in their homes this summer. But these encounters may not be all that unusual.

Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy called Council President Carl Williams by his first name and criticized him for prioritizing a proposal to expel council members on extensive leave and not spending more time putting forward solutions for trash collection. 

Photo credit: George Fazio.