This year’s Christmas tree didn’t survive as long as those in years past. What we’ve discovered is that tying them to the roof of the car and careening for a couple of hours down the Taconic State Parkway — a trauma-inducing ride under any circumstances — isn’t good for the sprig’s psychological or physical health.

Across New York, our public schools share a common problem hiding in plain sight: they are old. Very old.

Hudson Valley-based Afrobeat group Armo brings its Fela Kuti-derived party music to Barrington Hall at Crissey Farm in Great Barrington, Mass., tonight at 7:30 p.m.

In a week when the news felt unbearable, I found myself clinging to something seemingly small and yet luminous: rooting for American figure skater Max Naumov to make the U.S. Olympic team.

Everyone love an upset. Well, everyone but the fans of the team that was supposed to win. But generally speaking, in sports, David over Goliath is as time tested as any sports narrative there is, with all due respect to Rags to Riches and Overcoming Adversity.

Have you ever had a question that you wanted to answer about your government or your community where data might help you answer the question? You’re contemplating “how bad is the City’s crime rate, is it increasing or decreasing?”, “Are streets getting safer for pedestrians?”, “Is our Town in a better financial position than 5 years ago?”

Reporting to New Yorkers on the “State of the State” is a job requirement for every governor. The state Constitution commands that “The governor shall communicate by message to the legislature at every session the condition of the state and recommend such matters to it as he or she shall judge expedient.”

The big stories right now, in terms of popular and press reaction appear to be the attack on Venezuela, seizure of its president, and the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

We are living in a worldwide crisis of gloom. That, anyway, is what I took from a new international poll of 20,000 people across western democracies and Japan.

It’s not every day that I’ll spend close to forty bucks on a lightbulb. But the LED spotlight I bought at Lowe’s a few years back made extraordinary claims.