Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
As I was researching a statement for a client, I had to seek guidance as to whether it’s appropriate to wish a former member of the U.S. Armed Services a “Happy Veterans Day”. The answer: It depends.
Unlike Memorial Day, which is a solemn occasion intended to mourn and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, Veterans Day celebrates all military veterans – both living and deceased – who served honorably either in wartime or peacetime.
So, while it’s not necessarily a day for heavy reflection, visiting cemeteries, laying wreaths, and so on, it’s also not as upbeat as, say, July 4th.
Some veterans balk at the use of “happy” because they feel it detracts from the significance of the day, which is supposed to be about honoring service and sacrifice. It also rings a little hollow to some, because it downplays the difficulty and the pain of military services – particularly for those who see combat.
Others seem to feel like the use of “happy” is harmless enough and just appreciate the recognition. I, like many of the vast majority of people who have never served (remember, less than 1 percent of the population is currently on active duty in this country) fall back on “thank you for your service,” and that seems to suffice.
Veterans Day is one of 11 federal holidays. It started out as Armistice Day, which was observed to commemorate the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, became a federal holiday in 1938 and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia observe Veterans Day. The lone holdout is Wisconsin, which means schools are open and state employees don’t get the day off, although there have been multiple legislative attempts to change that.
It’s not entirely clear to me WHY Wisconsin, which has a long history of observing Armistice Day, has refused to get on board with Veterans Day – its seems like legislative gridlock is at least partially to blame (in the modern era, anyway).
There’s a longstanding tradition of holding parades on Veterans Day. The City of Albany has one, for example, as does the City of Amsterdam. Other Capital Region communities hold a variety of ceremonies. The biggest parade in the state is slated to take place in New York City.
It won’t be a bad day for parading, weather wise, with a mix of sun and clouds in the morning followed by all clouds in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid-to-high 50s.
In the headlines…
The House on Tuesday narrowly staved off an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, temporarily easing the political pressure facing President Donald Trump and his polarizing Pentagon chief.
By a 211-204 vote, lawmakers referred the impeachment articles to a committee for further study, effectively sidelining the measures. Had the effort advanced, lawmakers would have held final votes on the impeachment articles today.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said that she and other lawmakers were unable to reach the Capitol in time to vote against a Republican effort to block the impeachment of Hegseth because of a traffic incident and a police escort.
Alina Habba Mildon, one of President Trump’s former lawyers, was fired last week by the family company that gave her a $50 million contract weeks before Trump granted a pardon to the family’s patriarch.
Members of the Kennedy family called Trump’s plans for a 250-foot arch. close to the Arlington National Cemetery a ‘permanent denigration’ of their relatives’ grave sites, in a court filing Tuesday.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), a progressive who caucuses with the Democrats, and Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) held a joint news conference to declare they would not support Sen. Chuck Schumer for majority leader.
“(There’s) nobody who works harder than Chuck Schumer,” Sanders said. “But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be re-elected as the Democratic leader.”
Schumer this week has begun to face pockets of opposition within his ranks, and several outside advocacy groups have weighed in against his retaking the perch. But no other senator has officially entered the race against him.
Asked by reporters outside the Capitol if she would back her home state’s senator for the top spot in the upper chamber given calls for new leadership in the party, Rep. Alexandira Ocasio-Cortez said that would be up to members of the Senate.
House Democrats now have won at least 254 seats, and while some race results are still being counted, they estimate they’ll end up with a majority close to 260 – “the largest majority that any party has had this century,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio won the race Tuesday to serve as House Republican leader as the GOP prepares for its new role in the minority.
Jordan defeated a longtime rival, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), in a competitive race for the job. The two have been jockeying for leadership positions for more than a decade, and both unsuccessfully tried to become speaker in 2023.
Senate Republicans reelected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as leader of the GOP conference after a tense day of discussions about steep losses in the midterm elections that cost them their majority.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced she intends to seek another term leading the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the campaign arm for Senate Democrats, following sweeping victories across the country this year.
An S.U.V. jumped the curb near a busy Los Angeles Metro station on Tuesday, killing three pedestrians and critically injuring two others, the authorities said.
The Los Angeles Police Department said the driver of the white SUV involved, described as a man in his 60s, was hospitalized in critical condition.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Tuesday launch of a new state-backed artificial intelligence institute shows the complicated dance New York is doing with an industry that’s coming to dominate the American economy.
Democratic socialists have expanded their political influence in New York, potentially setting up a showdown with the state’s moderate governor over raising taxes.
Top New York Democrats still want to redraw the state’s congressional maps before 2028. But after Tuesday’s blue wave, their plans might not be as set in stone as they were a few months ago.
Hochul says she’s open to continuing to move forward with the State’s redistricting constitutional amendment.
Hochul’s budget director Blake Washington downplayed the calls for new taxes Tuesday, as he revealed the substantial surplus in tax revenues flowing into state coffers.
The first woman to lead the Seneca Nation took office Tuesday ready for a fight with New York state, declaring that Hochul “has a battle on her hands.”
Democratic challenger Devin R. Lander has pulled ahead of state Sen. Jake Ashby, erasing the Republican incumbent’s election-night lead as officials continue to process hundreds of outstanding ballots.
The election fiasco that delayed the counting of 180,000 Westchester County ballots originated in an unlikely way: with a local judge’s seat that no one bothered to run for.
Outgoing Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is leaving the door open to a potential run for New York governor — but says he’s done with Congress — following his stinging re-election defeat last week.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani will soon engage in contract talks with the city’s largest public-sector union, a high-stakes battle that will test his commitment to a labor movement he has readily embraced.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch accepted an award Monday night from a prominent pro-Israel philanthropist who has been deeply critical of Mamdani, in a fresh display of political independence from City Hall and the mayor’s views on Israel.
Mamdani signed a controversial law Tuesday that gives nonprofits first dibs at buying distressed residential buildings in the Big Apple. The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act is only the second bill he’s signed in the 11 months since he took office.
Dem City Councilwoman Gale Brewer blasted Mamdani for not knowing “anything’’ about housing, as she and other pols weighed his nominees for the powerful local Planning Commission.
Dozens of deteriorating properties in East Harlem that City Hall tried to deliver into the hands of an affordable housing developer are instead heading to the auction block in Manhattan.
The fight over the redevelopment of a NYCHA complex in Chelsea is playing out inside Mamdani’s political machine, pitting holdout tenants and leftwing democratic socialists against allies of the mayor and pro-housing advocates.
Mamdani is considering a group of 10 candidates to serve as Criminal and Family court judges, according to a public notice published on Monday.
When the mayor updates his budget later this week, he will be the beneficiary of two major developments that will ease his budget problems and, at the same time, get him closer to his long-cherished goal of a tax increase on the wealthy.
A man was taken into custody in Miami by New York Police Department detectives and the U.S. Marshals on Tuesday and accused of raping three women in Central Park, including one in October, the police said.
The number of New York City public school students who experienced homelessness decreased last school year for the first time since the pandemic, but still surpassed 100,000, a new report found.
New York City bars and restaurants are struggling to keep up financially amid rising operating costs and uneven customer spending, according to a survey by trade association NYC Hospitality Alliance.
A 36-year-old man died on Rikers Island early Tuesday, according to the city’s Department of Correction. He is at least the ninth person to die in the department’s custody this year and at least the second man to die in that particular facility.
The Brooklyn Democratic Party’s reformer coalition may actually get a chance to reform.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday said that a commander of a powerful Iranian-backed militia helped direct a failed plot from jail in Brooklyn that targeted an air base in England.
The heartbroken parents of a young real estate worker killed in last year’s mass shooting at a Park Avenue building filed suit against the owners of the Midtown tower Tuesday, blaming security failures for their daughter’s tragic death.
New York has been invaded by a plague of rabid raccoons, with Gothamites reporting surging numbers of foaming-at-the-mouth animals across multiple boroughs, sparking fears of infection.
Stanley Zabar, a principal owner of Zabar’s, his family’s world-renowned Upper West Side culinary and cultural landmark, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 94.
All across Lewis County, N.Y. Amish families have stories of measles sweeping through their homes in recent weeks, their community disproportionately affected by the virus.
Albany County agreed to settle a lawsuit it brought against the City of Albany over school zone speeding tickets, according to New York State court documents filed in late October.
Projects that the city of Rensselaer will select to overhaul its downtown with a $10 million state grant are moving closer to being finalized.
The Rensselaer County Legislature is poised to vote on a resolution that would raise sewer rents for thousands of residents by nearly 33% over the next three years.
A nor’easter could bring nasty weather to the Capital Region this weekend. Rain and even some snow are expected Thursday through Saturday as two low-pressure systems meet along the East Coast.
The South Colonie Board of Education took another step toward addressing racism in the district, unanimously passing an agreement with the McLean Collective for the next 90 days.
A tenants’ group representing residents in 16 Hoffman Homes mobile home parks has filed a class-action lawsuit to end an alleged conspiracy between lenders and the parks’ operators to trap low-income residents in high-interest loans for poorly constructed homes.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
