Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul starts her first day as New York Governor this week

On this Tuesday, Kathy Hochul starts her new role as Governor of New York. Andrew Cuomo resigned on August 10, as governor of New York over a myriad of sexual harassment allegations. The 63 year old Democrat denied his wrongdoings with diverse women, as there were a total of eleven women that had accused the governor of sexual harassment. New York’s attorney general, Letitia James; released the results of her investigation in early August 2021. With the resignation, Cuomo's political career is virtually over. Cuomo was also under fire over the discovery that his administration had concealed thousands of COVID-19 deaths, among nursing home patients. Next, Kathy Hochul will be the 57th governor of New York and the first female to hold the post. Cuomo had plans to run for reelection in 2022, and many politicians wanted him to be impeached. Many prominent politicians including President Biden had urged Cuomo to resign. Cuomo still faces the possibility of criminal charges, with a number of prosecutors around the state continuing to investigate him. At least one of his accusers has filed a criminal complaint. In contrast, Cuomo’s national popularity soared during the harrowing spring of 2020 when New York was the lethal epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak. In addition, Cuomo’s briefings won an international Emmy Award. He went on to write a book on leadership in the coronavirus crisis. But, Cuomo’s administration was fiercely criticized for forcing nursing homes to accept patients recovering from the virus. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the state’s handling of data on nursing home deaths. Letitia James is looking into whether Cuomo broke the law in using members of his staff to help write and promote his book, from which he stood to make more than $5 million. Cuomo's book is titled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Furthermore, Cuomo faced increasing criticism over his rough and sometimes vindictive treatment of fellow politicians and his own staff. Many former aides conveyed stories of a brutal work environment, to the press. New York has seen a string of high-level politicians brought down in disgrace in recent years. This list includes former Gov. Eliot Spitzer; Rep. Anthony Weiner; and former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Cuomo's last days in office are the end of the Cuomo dynasty, which started with Mario Cuomo. Mario was governor of NY from 1983 to 1994; and he was Andrew's father. In this penultimate paragraph, let's talk about Kathy Hochul. She will lead in a collaborative manner and build an agenda that reflects the needs of New Yorkers from the bottom up. She is prepared to step into the executive chamber in Albany, NY. Hochul has worked in government at every level. Yet, she has the unenviable job of restoring faith in the state government. She's an active and accountable leader who gets involved in every part of the state's actions. In closing, Hochul has demonstrated she is someone who leads with her values. See the picture above of the Cuomo brothers, Chris and Andrew. Chris Cuomo works as a CNN anchor. Here's to wishing the very best for Kathy Hochul, who will handle the staff crisis at the NY Health Department in one of her first important actions as NY Governor.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics end with US edging China, in total gold medals

Tonight, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ended with the USA winning the total gold medals by one. China had 38 gold medals, and the USA had 39 gold medals. USA won the most medals with a total of 113. China had 88 total medals, which was 2nd. Throughout the Olympic games, China was leading in the race for the most gold medals. These Olympic games had its twists in various events. Furthermore, some of the twists involved the USA women's gymnastics team. Simone Biles won two medals (1 silver in the team event, 1 bronze in the balance beam event), and she survived a temporary loss of air balance awareness during different events. She went through the 'twisties;' which prompted her to withdraw partially from various events. Biles withdrawal led to other US gymnasts picking up the slack per se. Jade Carey won the gold medal for USA, in Women's floor-Artistic gymnastics. Mykayla Skinner won the silver medal for USA, in Women's vault-Artistic gymnastics. In other Olympic statistics, the women athletes of the USA won 60% of the total medals. Katie Ledecky won two gold medals, and two bronze medals in swimming for team USA. She has won ten total medals at three Olympic games (London, Rio De Janeiro, and Tokyo). US women's basketball team won their seventh consecutive gold medal. April Ross and Alix Klineman won their first gold medals in beach volleyball. In the picture above, Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad won gold and silver in the women's 400 meter hurdles. Next, US swimming won 30 total medals in Tokyo thanks to Caeleb Dressel; Ryan Murphy; and other familiar names in the pool. This number of medals is a major domination, as Dressel won five gold medals. Ryan Murphy won three medals: 1 bronze, 1 silver, and 1 gold. Yet, Murphy made some controversial comments by alluding that Russia was guilty of doping. Ryan stated that the 200 meters backstroke final was ‘probably not clean.’ Murphy earned a silver medal in that event, while Russia snagged the gold. In this penultimate paragraph, some countries like India did win that elusive gold medal. Neeraj Chopra won gold for India, in the men's javelin throw event. Chopra is a 23 year old track and field athlete, who hails from Panipat; Haryana; India. On another note, the US won twenty six medals in track and field. This number of medals was second only, to their haul of medals in the pool. Other big names in track and field were Athing Mu; Rai Benjamin; and Allyson Felix. In closing, Paris will host the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics. Brisbane will host the 2032 Olympics. Tonight's closing ceremony had an ending, that showed Japan passing the games to France for the summer of 2024. This summer's Olympic games will be remembered for Japan staging an event, with a global pandemic raging onwards in a depressing fashion. In 2024, hope the seats are filled with fans cheering for their home country. Sayonara from Tokyo, Japan.