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Welcome to 2023!

Jan 02, 2023

Ice skating with my kid at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY

Hi, all, and happy New Year!

I hope you’ve had a terrific week.

Below you’ll find a shorter list than usual—not because great things aplenty didn’t happen over the last seven days, but because I was too busy reveling in a holiday with my family to find them all for you.

But here are a few wins that did cross even my vacation-addled radar. Enjoy them, as well as a few uplifting readings and a truly stunning New Year’s message from Voldymyr Zelensky (please, do yourself a favor and watch it!)

I so look forward to making more victories with you in 2023. Starting tomorrow, our work begins anew!

Also? Thank you for staying on this journey to a better country with me. It matters. A lot. 💙

Read This 📖

Want to feel excited about the new year? “2023 Has Great Potential” by TCINLA is just the piece to read. Top it off with this WaPo piece, “Reasons For Optimism in 2023.”

For those interested in LGBTQ rights, this “List Of All Wins For Trans Rights And Trans People In 2022” from Erin in the Morning is great.

Celebrate This! 🎉

Starting in mid-2023, all new dressers and other clothing storage furniture made or sold in the U.S. will have to meet strong stability requirements before going to market, thanks to the STURDY Act, which was included in the omnibus spending bill approved by Congress last Friday.

One of the co-leaders of the failed plot by right-wing extremists to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 was sentenced in federal court to 16 years in prison. A few days later his counterpart was sentenced to nineteen years.

New York state approved a new roadmap this week for reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

For the first time in 2 decades, the U.S. has a new pollution rule for heavy-duty trucks! Part of the EPA's larger Clean Trucks Plan, the rule will go into effect in model year 2027 and will for the first time require manufacturers to adopt new technology that reduces pollution from trucks when they are idle or at low speed.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released Donald Trump’s tax returns, dealing yet another setback to the former president and 2024 White House candidate as he faces multiple federal and state investigations.

Murders in large U.S. cities were down more than 5 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the research firm AH Datalytics. Gun deaths, injuries and mass shootings were also down.