Good morning, it’s Thursday.
Yesterday was absolutely glorious, weather-wise, with temperatures soaring into the low 70s, which was record breaking in some parts of upstate.
The record high in the Albany area, however, was 76 degrees (set in 1994), and so the forecast was calling for highs a hair shy of that. For comparison’s sake, though, the normal high for this time of year is 54 degrees, so we are well above that.
I was wondering if we could say definitively that we are experiencing what used to be known as an Indian Summer – and also if it is appropriate to use that term anymore. The answers are “yes” and (increasingly) “no”.
The term traditionally has been used to describe a period of unseasonably warm, calm, and sunny weather that occurs in mid- or late autumn, usually after the first hard frost.
The Capital Region had its first frost warning back in early October, as colder air moved into the area, bringing widespread subfreezing temperatures and localized hard freezes.
Increasingly, the term “Second Summer” has been used to describe the phenomenon – a post-frost warming period – that we are now experiencing amid growing recognition that “Indian Summer” is both culturally insensitive and derogatory. (One theory is that the term had its roots in the idea of a “false” summer, which infers that Indians are somehow deceitful).
Another alternative is “St. Martins Summer“, which is preferred in the UK, though that technically occurs after St. Martins Day, which his Nov. 11.
It hasn’t exactly been pumpkin spice latte or hot apple cider weather, but I have still been enjoying some other traditional fall treats – namely apple cider doughnuts, which, for the record, do indeed contain cider (usually boiled to concentrate the flavor). If you want to go VERY deep on the history of cider doughnuts and how they’re made, click here.
Buffalo, of all places, has an early connection to the cider doughnut, as a 1901 article in the The Buffalo Enquirer reportedly made mention of the cake doughnut treat being served at Halloween parties, though the cake doughnut itself dates back far longer.
Today is one of two days dedicated to the celebration of all things round, sweet, and fried (or baked). The other, observed on the first Friday in June, was created back in 1938 in Chicago by The Salvation Army in honor of the so-called “Donut Lassies” – women who volunteered to serve fried donuts to soldiers on the front lines during World War I.
There are few treats tastier than a fresh, hot, cinnamon sugar-dusted cider doughnut paired with a cup of hot chocolate, coffee, or cider on a crisp fall day. I’m not even sure that two days are enough to fully do them justice.
It will be cooler, though still on the warm side, today, with temperatures topping out in the high 60s. We’ll see a wet start to the day, with showers morphing into full-fledged rain, which will end somewhere in the early afternoon. The sun maybe, possibly will make an appearance later in the day, but don’t count on it.
In the headlines…
President Trump touted the construction of the White House ballroom in his first appearance since Republicans’ overwhelming losses in the midterm elections, hosting a celebratory event that stood in stark contrast with his new political reality in Washington.
His party just suffered a drubbing unseen in decades. But the president, leading a tour of his ballroom project, was placid and eager to wax on about construction instead.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ruled out voluntarily leaving his job to take a Senate appointment — as President Trump considers whether to make him his whipping boy for the brutal midterm election wipeout.
Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, expected to be the next House speaker, said his party would focus on affordability after seizing control of Congress with at least a 50-seat majority.
“The American people don’t want us to get even. They want us to get things done on their behalf,” said Jeffries, who is all but certain to become the first Black Speaker of the House when the new Congress is seated in January.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Wednesday that the massive blue wave that brought Democrats control of the House and Senate signifies a “generational remake of the Senate map.”
Schumer says he will be reelected as Senate majority leader next month when Democrats hold leadership elections despite the dissent of a handful of newly elected senators who threatened not to support him serving another term as leader.
Victories by moderates in competitive or Republican-leaning states and districts paved the way for large new Democratic majorities likely to be shaped by their priorities.
President Trump and Vice President Vance have both blamed the ongoing Iran war for the Republican Party’s abysmal results in the midterm elections, brushing off other issues that appeared to tank GOP candidates.
The vice president offered his striking critique of the administration’s agenda and messaging with Trump’s apparent approval.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. has told people close to him that he does not intend to retire immediately from the Supreme Court, despite Democrats’ commanding win in Senate contests, which means Republicans will hold the chamber for only a short time longer.
Republicans are crediting Gov. Ron DeSantis with keeping Florida red – sparking buzz about his 2028 prospects after the Sunshine State bucked a Democratic blue wave that swept the GOP out of power across much of the country.
Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana told aides that he would not seek to lead the House G.O.P. conference in the minority, setting off a scramble among ambitious Republicans to succeed him. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio announced he would seek the role.
Heavily favored Long Island Republican Rep. Nick LaLota declared a midterms victory against Chris Gallant — his Democratic challenger with a past bondage modeling stint that resurfaced during the campaign.
A new memo from the camp of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is promoting her as an effective surrogate with a national reach, sparking buzz around New York Democrat as the political world digests the seismic midterms and eyes the 2028 presidential contest.
President Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, after the day’s “ridiculous” early sunset.
“Too bad the Senate has not yet approved the Sunshine Protection Act or, the ‘I Don’t Want to Change My Clocks Anymore Act,’” he wrote on Truth Social. “It’s so dark outside, so early (Sunset was 5:06 P.M., and it was dark by 5:31 P.M. — Isn’t that ridiculous?).
Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are “cheaters” who rigged the pitches they threw to help out their gambling buddies and benefit themselves, prosecutors said at the MLB players’ federal trial Wednesday.
In the end, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman may have failed to carry his home county in his effort to upset Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who holds a slim lead on Long Island, according to preliminary election return numbers.
Blakeman carried all but one county – Hochul’s home of Erie – in Western New York.
Hochul erased doubts over her performance in the 2022 midterms, scoring a crushing 20-point win over Blakeman that set the tone for her party.
New York’s Democratic Party boss taunted Republicans after their dismal midterms showing — joking President Trump should repeat his campaign trail visit to Long Island as local candidate Blakeman was headed for a loss to Hochul on his home turf.
Outgoing Rep. Elise Stefanik ripped state Republicans for their dismal results in Tuesday’s midterm elections — calling the disaster a “political reckoning” and failed gubernatorial contender Blakeman a “low energy” candidate.
New York’s slow-moving transition away from requiring Regents exams to graduate has a new critic: Gov. Hochul.
The New York attorney general has appointed Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, to lead a criminal investigation into a former Cornell University student’s allegations that she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity party in 2024.
Almost everything went right for both New York and national Democrats Tuesday, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was sure to take a victory lap while imploring the left wing of the Democratic Party to put their “foot on the gas” – full speed ahead.
A Brooklyn appeals court on Wednesday greenlit Mayor Mamdani’s tax on pricey secondary properties owned by people who don’t call New York City home, reversing a lower court ruling that would have required the city to restart the process
The court reversed a judge’s order that had said New York erred in its rollout of the tax, granting Mamdani a victory over a key piece of his agenda.
When New York lawmakers passed a tax on $5 million second homes, opponents worried wealthy buyers would flee. So far, that hasn’t happened.
Mamdani heard testimony Wednesday morning on Romanch’s Law, which will ban carriage horses in the city by 2028.
Mamdani is reportedly scrambling to save face with Congressmember-elect Darializa Avila Chevalier and other increasingly frustrated city socialists after he put a campaign promise to scrap an elite NYPD unit on the “backburner”.
Advocates said Wednesday that a ballot measure that passed Tuesday night reforming the process for construction of bus and bike lanes means more street safety projects throughout the five boroughs.
A man who used a social media app to meet someone at a Bronx hotel told police he believed he was drugged and was robbed of nearly $40,000 in cash, along with his car and cellphone.
Three brothers sentenced last week on federal sex-trafficking charges engaged in a wider campaign to discredit their accusers than previously known, paying to arrange for favorable coverage ahead of their trial, their publicist confirmed.
More than a century ago, New York’s wealthiest families built palatial mansions along West 57th Street, filling them with the splendor of the Gilded Age. Now, one of the last survivors of that vanished world has changed hands for a staggering $42 million.
A New York appeals court on Wednesday struck down Nassau County’s ban on transgender girls and women participating in certain sports competitions at county-owned facilities, marking a turning point in a years-long legal battle.
In his decision, Justice Darrell M. Joseph wrote that the New York State Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Law prohibit Nassau County from restricting access to school sports teams “based on a person’s gender identity or expression.”
The Albany Med Health System’s board ousted President and CEO Daniel T. Pickett III on Wednesday amid a messy and ongoing legal battle involving a former girlfriend who has accused him of sexual assault.
The Democratic blue wave across the nation on Election Day did nothing to change the balance of power for the Republican-held Saratoga County Board of Supervisors.
A man who was charged with robbery under an anti-racketeering law by the FBI last week died by suicide Wednesday at the Albany County jail, according to Sheriff Craig Apple.
Mechanicville voters ended the form of government the city has used for 111 years and their counterparts in Albany County eliminated a coroner office that dates back even further.
Rotterdam Town Supervisor John Polimeni narrowly won reelection on Tuesday, defeating Clark Collins by a little more than 300 votes.
Republican state Sen. Jake Ashby is clinging to a narrow lead over Democrat Devin R. Lander as election officials count thousands of mail-in ballots.
A blue wave that surged across the country and up the Hudson Valley painted two Republican state Senate districts blue, sweeping its representatives out with the tide.
Democrat Chloe Pierce has claimed victory in the race to represent the 107th District in the state Assembly, flipping control of a post that Republicans have held for decades.
State Sen. James Tedisco’s lengthy tenure representing portions of the Capital Region ended Tuesday when political newcomer Sarah Rogerson, a Democrat, defeated him in the race for the district encompassing Saratoga County and portions of Schenectady County.
Five months after narrowly defeating Rachael Ward in a Democratic primary, Schenectady Councilman Justin Chaires beat her again by a significant margin.
A plan working its way through Greenfield Town Hall seeks to transform the historic Whitney Polo Grounds into an 184-unit apartment complex with a dog park, pickleball courts, and a clubhouse that can seat up to 220 people.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
