Tag: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The Story: Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. By an act of Congress in 1983, this day is commemorated on the...

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- Monday marks 31st day of the partial government shutdown, and some politicians are weighing in, as some government employees are running so short of money that they are seeking help from St. Mary's Food Bank. The Phoenix food bank is seeing 25% more business than usual for this time of the year, and believe that's because of the government shutdown. "When people hear that there are 800,000 government employees that are impacted by this government shutdown, that's a huge number," said Rep. Greg Stanton (D). GOP's Martha McSally, appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey as Senator, insisted on a border wall during her ultimately unsuccessful campaign against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. On Monday, McSally allied herself, in a way, with President Trump today, pushing for, if not a wall exactly, more of a barrier. "I'm not for shutdowns. We've gotta open the government back up," said Sen. McSally. "I'll be working with our senators on both sides of the aisle to see if we can get some movement forward, and get something on the President's desk that opens up the government, secures the border." As for McSally, who, during her campaign against Sen. Sinema, said Sinema "suggested it is OK to commit treason", ducked questions as to whether she still believes the statement.

Twitter What to watch for this week in New York politics: This week starts with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, which will include many commemorative events acoss the city and state. The week will feature a lot of action at the Democratically-controlled state Legislature in Albany, on Tuesday and Wednesday, as both houses continue to pass bills that have not moved in past sessions when Republicans controlled the state Senate, and at the New York City Council, where there will be a variety of committee hearings and one full-body Stated Meeting, at which new bills are first introduced and bills that have passed committee receive a floor vote. We're continuing to watch four other themes this week: next steps after Governor Andrew Cuomo's State of the State and budget presentation from last week; how the MTA Board is handling the change of L-train tunnel repair plans; what Mayor Bill de Blasio will do next in his rollout of his State of the City agenda and his pursuit of a national spotlight; and the race for New York City Public Advocate, with the Feb. 26 special election rapidly approaching. --The Committee on Land Use will meet at 11 a.m. --The Committees on Civil Service & Labor and Housing will meet jointly at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “Section 3 hiring requirements.” --The Committee on Cultural Affairs will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “arts, culture, and Stonewall 50.” At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform established by Mayor de Blasio and the City Council will hold its latest public meeting at 250 Broadway. Topics will include “social and public health issues affecting New Yorkers, including HIV/AIDS prevention and education, substance use, mental health, LGBT rights, and discrimination.” The forum will take place at the New School Auditorium in Greenwich Village. Thursday The City Council will hold a stated meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Speaker Corey Johnson will hold the usual pre-stated press conference at 12:30 p.m. Also at the City Council on Thursday: the Committee on Finance will meet at 10 a.m. to discuss proposed laws relating to property taxes. At 9 a.m. Thursday, City & State will host the P3 Summit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, discussing public-private partnerships. At noon Thursday, the New York State Board of Elections will hold a commissioners’ meeting in Albany. E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: bmax@gothamgazette.com (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

Last week, Mayor Sylvester Turner said the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade backed by his administration will unite Houston’s diverse population and properly honor King’s legacy. And the parade organization that is not being backed by the city has chosen Turner’s two mayoral opponents as its co-grand marshals. Though Stamps insisted that he weighed Buzbee and King’s “contributions to humanity” over their political ambitions, he appeared irritated with Turner’s decision to make the Black Heritage Society’s Original MLK, Jr. “And I hope that the people will honor the decision and we will come together ... as a community, as a city of all backgrounds, all faith, all ethnicities, and that we will come and stand as one.” Last July, he said residents have stayed home because they are frustrated by the feud and do not want to choose one parade over the other. Houston firefighters “have always been a staple of our parade productions,” Stamps said when asked about Lancton’s appointment. “We are going to celebrate a parade like we’ve never celebrated before,” Brown said, adding that Turner told him and Duncantell he wanted to make the parade the largest in the nation. Designated an official city event for the first time in its four-decade history, the Original MLK, Jr. Parade has received operational support this year from the city’s special events staff. In 1995, Stamps, who had been a heritage society volunteer, formed a new parade foundation to run a separate Houston MLK event, which went on to garner celebrity and corporate support over the years. For years, each would apply for a permit, and the city would allow only one organizer to launch a parade per day.