Good morning, it’s Friday, and I’m going to keep this post short.
Usually, I look forward to the end of the week, but today is a day I’ve been dreading for some time. This morning, I’m going into the hospital for a routine medical test that is both highly unpleasant and extremely necessary.
Given my extreme fear of needles and doctors and my intense hypochondria, there are any number of procedures that could fall into this category. I’ll spare you the gory details.
An alarming number of Americans are skipping recommended preventative health screenings and diagnostic tests, according to the health insurance provider Aflac, which has for the past three years conducted a wellness survey.
The survey found that as many as 90 percent of adults are either forgoing regular checkups or deciding against screenings – everything from mammograms and pap smears to prostate exams and colonoscopies – that could catch serious illnesses early and improve their chances of survival.
There are a variety of reasons for why this is – everything from barriers to accessing health (too expensive, wait times are too long, hard to get time off from work, etc.), to being afraid of doctors. According to the survey results, millennials (those who are 30 to 45 years old) and Gen Zers (14 to 29 years old) are most likely to avoid overall screenings in the recommended time frames.
I certainly understand the deep desire to avoid discomfort, inconvenience, and – perhaps most of all – bad news. But the possibility of catching something earlier and improving one’s chances of survival seem to me to outweigh the negatives.
Mammograms, in particular, I am not a fan of. As a smaller person and someone with a lot of dense tissue, they are especially not fun.
But, when you consider that mammograms detect about 87 percent of breast cancer overall, according to the CDC, AND that when breast cancer is caught early, the five-year relative survival rate is 99 percent, it’s hard to make a credible argument in favor of skipping this important screening.
Today is National Mammography Day, which is observed annually on the third Friday of October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in an effort to encourage women to get breast cancer screenings. The best way to observe? Make an appointment. You might have to wait (they were booking out two months when I called my provider), but I bet you’ll be glad you did.
Oh yeah, and men can get breast cancer too, though it is rare, just in case you needed a reminder about that.
It’s going to be a mixed bag of a weekend from a weather perspective.
Today will be the worst of the lot, with rain expected throughout the day and the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon/early evening. It will remain on the warmer side, with temperatures topping out in the high 60s.
Things will clear up partially Saturday with clouds dissipating steadily as the day progresses. Sunday will be mainly sunny, though both Saturday and Sunday will be markedly cooler, with highs only reaching into the high 40s (Saturday) and mid-50s (Sunday).
Apparently, some parts of the state might even see some snow.
In the headlines…
A 16-year-old blasted his way through locked doors into an Oregon elementary school yesterday, killing three children and a teacher before an armed bystander pursued him inside and shot him dead, the police said.
A bystander who saw the 16-year-old suspected shooter enter Silver Rail Elementary School followed him, confronted and fatally shot him, officials said during a press conference.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the bystander for “heroically” intervening and stopping further loss of life. “Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” Gov. Kotek said.
A teenager in suburban Chicago was arrested before carrying out what was planned to be a mass shooting at a Hindu temple last weekend, officials said on Thursday.
A strong majority of voters believe that President Donald Trump is falling short at home and abroad, and they want major change in the upcoming midterm elections, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
A list obtained by The Washington Post reveals all the major donors to the White House ballroom, including previously undisclosed contributors who have benefited from regulatory decisions, government contracts and, in one case, a pardon for a family member.
Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, confirmed that she had never passed a bar exam or been an “attorney,” even while maintaining in her first extended interview since taking the job that she had not misrepresented her legal career.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a social media video boosting his moderate Democratic ally Gov. Kathy Hochul and blasting her Republican foe Bruce Blakeman.
The short-form vertical video knocks Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, for deriding Hochul and Mamdani’s shared push for expanding no-cost child care as well as his pledge to cut Medicaid spending in half.
Hochul had to refund millions of dollars after her primary was canceled. But in the midst of an expensive general election fight, much of that money may still be fueling her campaign, because she redirected it to the state Democratic Party.
About 3 million New Yorkers have received energy rebate checks of up to $200, with another 5.2 million checks expected to be sent in the coming weeks, Hochul announced.
Hochul’s top budget adviser warned in a letter to her cabinet that unforeseen federal actions and a deceleration in artificial intelligence investments may complicate the state’s financial picture next year.
A pro-charter school super PAC bankrolled by Mike Bloomberg is spending seven figures on a get-out-the-vote effort and media campaign to re-elect Hochul.
Before Trump walked on stage last Friday night in Syracuse, he hosted a private discussion with nine businessmen who agreed to donate at least $100,000 per person to Blakeman’s campaign.
A federal judge on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s lawsuit against New York City’s sanctuary laws, ruling that the U.S. government can’t compel police officials and other city agencies to help enforce civil immigration laws.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch received a standing ovation at the Alfred E. Smith dinner and joked about calls for Mamdani, who was also in attendance, to fire her. The mayor was less warmly received, with scattered cheers and boos.
New York City’s cost-of-living crisis continues to be crushing nine months into Mamdani’s tenure. Nearly half of a sample of City voters surveyed in a new poll said they are likely to leave the five boroughs within the next five years due to the cost of living.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber is brushing aside the Mamdani administration’s claim that a violent incident earlier this month where MTA inspectors tackled a suspected fare evader shows the need to eliminate bus fares.
Far-left congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier repeated her call for NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to step down in the wake of last week’s shooting by ICE agents in Marble Hill. But she insists it hasn’t caused a rift with Mamdani.
Citi Bike has increased its footprint by about 11% in New York City, adding 234 stations across seven new neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, Mamdani announced.
Mamdani plans to ask private New York City garage and parking lot owners to block ICE agents from using their property.
TWU President John Samuelsen is unhappy about the impending Central Park carriage horse ban, and blames City Council Speaker Julie Menin more than Mamdani for the deal they struck.
It’s not just a ban on horse carriages – New York City Council’s new Animal Welfare Caucus has big legislative plans for next year.
The City Council is slated to vote on a measure next week that would give certain nonprofits and joint ventures the first opportunity to buy distressed multifamily properties when they go up for sale.
New York City is spending millions on services for homeless people living on the street. But more New Yorkers are sleeping outside than ever before.
Developers are largely continuing to steer away from building larger projects under a key rental housing tax break, according to new data.
The work to repair a Midtown Manhattan high-rise that became dangerously unstable this summer is expected to take a major step forward next week, after the city approved a plan to lift its sagging floors.
Rep. Mike Lawler was trashed by his Democratic opponent for “mansplaining” to her about the legal issues surrounding the Cornell gang rape probe during their final debate as the midterm fight for the suburban NY-17 congressional district enters the home stretch.
Top Republican and MAGA Inc.-aligned super PACs are hitting the brakes on their spending plans for TV ads attacking Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi after previously booking millions of dollars more in commercials, an independent political ad tracker shows.
North Country Democratic nominee Blake Gendebien snubbed Hochul live on the air last week, refusing to answer a radio host’s question about whether he supported the incumbent governor or Blakeman.
Measles cases are inching closer to the Capital Region less than two weeks after Hochul declared a statewide emergency following a spike in cases in central and western New York.
Hundreds of residents mailed their school tax payments to the wrong address after Capital Region BOCES sent out envelopes with the wrong return addresses printed on them, BOCES said.
A policy for ousting City of Schenectady lawmakers over extensive meeting absences could become law just months after a councilmember returned from a monthslong hiatus due to a stroke.
A legal battle between the volunteer firefighters and commissioners of a Colonie fire district may soon reach a conclusion after a state Supreme Court justice compared it to a knot found in Greek mythology that is “all but impossible to untie.”
A faction of city Democrats is accusing Schenectady Democratic Committee executive officer Brendan Savage of impropriety for meeting with a GOP Council candidate who quit the race and endorsed a candidate backed by one of his employers, Mayor Gary McCarthy.
A 15-year-old girl was shot and wounded just blocks from the New York governor’s mansion in Albany.
A City of Albany development agency that backed the long-stalled construction of an apartment building at 1211 Western Avenue is suing the building’s owner to recover more than $785,000 in tax breaks.
Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs’ proposed 2027 budget allocates $65.8 million to the police department, a figure that underscores the high cost for the city to try to control lawlessness and keep the community safe.
The New York State Democratic Party filed a complaint with Albany police on Wednesday after a window was broken at the party’s coordinated campaign office in Albany in an apparent act of vandalism.
The 62-year-old former mayor of Laurens has been convicted by an Otsego County jury of first-degree rape.
In the finale of the National League Championship Series, the Milwaukee Brewers pulled off yet another come-from-behind win to sweep the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and advance to their first Fall Classic since 1982.
Photo credit: George Fazio
