“Oh, the weather outside is frightful” goes the opening of the song “Let It Snow!” by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne, words more typically associated with Christmas than inauguration day in Washington, D.C. but it appears that they are equally apt in both circumstances. Indeed, it seems that presidential inaugurations and dangerously cold weather are just part of a grand tradition that has seen inaugurations themselves held somewhere on ..read more

The archive holding the publicly available work of the great twentieth-century composer Arnold Schoenberg  was destroyed last week when the wildfires in Southern California burnt down the  warehouse holding printed scores and sheet music. No original manuscripts were lost in the conflagration, but the loss could spell trouble for orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and other groups and individuals who had planned to perform some of Schoenberg’s works. The printed music was ..read more

Starbucks announced it was ending a policy first introduced in 2018 whereby guests could enjoy the ambience of a Starbucks coffee shop without being required to make a purchase. At the time, Starbucks said that it had told its workers to consider anyone who walks into its stores a customer, “regardless of whether they make a purchase.” The new policy states that Starbucks spaces “are for use by our partners and customers ..read more

The National Weather Service said that Arctic air will spread  South and East from the Rockies starting on  Friday. The bitter cold temperatures willl continue through next week and snow squalls are possible. “A winter storm is likely to track up the East Coast this Sunday evening into Monday but the exact track is uncertain,” the NWS said. The final track will determine the ammount of snowfall throughout the region, although ..read more

In a rare overlap, this coming Monday is both Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The second inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump is just the third time a president will take the oath of office on the day dedicated to honoring the late civil rights leader. This occurred with the second inaugurations of both former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, in 1997 and 2013, respectively. To paint a picture ..read more

Part of our “News That Matters“ Series, “Friday Update” is a weekly feature that offers brief overviews of important news that might have been overlooked in the course of a busy week. Here’s what you may have missed in the period January 15 through January 17, 2025. @WEATHER Coat? Scarf? Hat? Gloves? Think About How Cold It Is Outside? Start Taking Off Coat and Hat. The National Weather Service said that Arctic ..read more

Gravy Analytics is hardly a household brand but it is on the minds of many after the company, which that tracks and sells Americans’ location data, was hacked. Russian cybercriminals hacked Gravy, one of the largest companies of its kind, in exchange for ransom, according to two cybersecurity researchers, a person who several days ago posted a virtual treasure trove of the purportedly hacked files, and a notice the company ..read more

The first full Moon of the year began to illuminate the night sky on Monday and it was magical. Not only was it also the first full moon after the winter solstice and the second of the winter season but it brought with it a cosmic magic trick, namely that the moon appeared to pass in front of the planet Mars. We sent The Travelist and Frequent Business Traveler Editorial Director Jonathan ..read more

Part of our “News That Matters“ Series, “Weekend Update” is a weekly feature that offers brief overviews of important news that might have been overlooked in the course of a busy weekend. Here’s what you may have missed in the period January 10 through January 13, 2025. @PASSINGS Anita Bryant, Who Founded the Modern Antigay Movement, Dies at 84 Anita Bryant, the former beauty queen and spokeswoman for Florida orange juice as well ..read more

A veteran American Airlines flight attendant was one of three people stabbed in the downtown area of Denver over the weekend. Two people including Celinda Levno, the flight attendant, died as a result of their injuries. Levno, who had worked for American Airlines for more than three decades, was on a layover in Denver the “senseless” attack on 16th Street Mall near California Street at around 5:17 p.m. local time on ..read more