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Joseph Gambino, the easy-going son of Mafia don Carlo Gambino who became a millionaire businessman thanks to his father’s crime family clout — but who steered clear of the rest of the family business — died of natural causes last month at the age of 83. Gambino and his older brother Thomas were longtime owners and operators of numerous Garment District trucking companies. The family’s chokehold on the trucks that filled the West Side streets where the city’s rag trade once thrived was so total that competitors who tried to park their own rigs risked flat tires — or worse...

With the American population fighting over a single precious roll of toilet paper amid the coronavirus outbreak, police in North Carolina uncovered nearly 18,000 pounds of commercial bathroom paper products inside a stolen tractor-trailer on Wednesday. Police said they aren't releasing the name of the driver because the topic of toilet paper is “fairly sensitive right now.” "After further investigation, it was determined the 53-foot Hyundai dry-van trailer was reported stolen locally and was being utilized to transport nearly 18,000 pounds of commercial bathroom paper products," the Guilford County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Thursday blasted China's monopoly on key pharmaceutical ingredients as the United States continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. In a video posted to her Twitter account, Blackburn called China's threats to plunge the U.S. into a "mighty sea of coronavirus" by withholding access to critical medication a national security and public health issue. "Relying on foreign countries like China for instance, for our pharmaceutical supply chain can lead us to critical shortages," she said.

CHINO HILLS (CBSLA) — A sign outside a Chino Hills Costco alerts shoppers that they are out of 13 essential hygiene and food items. For the past week, it has been hard to find items like water and toilet paper at any store across Southern California. That’s why the company is cracking down on panic buying amid the coronavirus pandemic. While shopping carts are still stacked high at Costco stores across the Southland, customers say buying in bulk during the COVID-19 outbreak is starting to run a bit smoother. “This was my second time coming within the last few hours,”...

Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, plans to hire 150,000 temporary workers by the end of May as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep through the country. The company said it is hiring the associates to work in stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers. "These roles will be temporary at first, but many will convert to permanent roles over time," Walmart said in a press release. "We've reached out to industry groups representing restaurants and hospitality to facilitate temporary roles that can be a bridge for their employees during this difficult time." The company said it...

Five days ago I wrote that New York Will Be The Next Italy, But Doesn’t Have to Be. In it, I forecast that NYC’s hospitals would be at capacity as early as March 30. Unfortunately, I was wrong. New numbers suggest that NYC’s hospitals will reach capacity of approx. 3,000 cases by March 24. (This error was from a lower than anticipated case detection rate.) While there is now nothing we can do to prevent reaching capacity short of immediately adding beds, we can prevent additional deaths and hospitalizations by fully shutting down NYC except for absolutely essential services, like...

My latest song. Contains a cute cat, and weirdness.

Spring equinox comes with two notably different features in 2020 -- one sad, one happy. First is the inescapable way the coronavirus pandemic has reshaped almost every aspect of life. And that includes the cancellations of annual equinox rituals and celebrations around the world, including popular places such as Stonehenge in England and Chichen Itza in Mexico. But on a much brighter note, the sun and Earth continue their eternal business unimpeded by a virus -- and we're getting a little jump on things this year. This is the earliest arrival of spring equinox in 124 years. It's coming on...

A 600-pound man who lost his job as a bus driver after failing repeated medical and physical evaluations cannot claim that he was discriminated against for being obese, state judges ruled Thursday. Corey Dickson sued Community Bus Lines, which does business as Coach USA, claiming that he was subjected to a hostile work environment before he lost his job. But a Superior Court judge last year dismissed the lawsuit because fat people are not one of the protected groups under the state Law Against Discrimination. That decision was upheld Thursday by a three-judge appellate panel. While disabled people are considered...

Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters Washington, D.C. 2:40 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Everybody ready? Okay, Chad, do you want to start it? Do you — do you want to start off? ACTING SECRETARY WOLF: Well, Mr. President, Vice President, thank you for being here. Really appreciate your visit to FEMA. I think your visit really, as you indicated last week by signing the national emergency, has really empowered FEMA. We’ve gone to a level one here at the NRCC and continue to support the emergency — continue to support all elements and really working with the interagency and our state...

ROCHESTER, NY (WROC) All across the nation, doctors, nurses and first responders are already hard at work dealing with the growing outbreak of Covid-19. That includes one local nurse who works at an emergency room overflow unit at a major Rochester hospital. “Literally I’m on the front lines, so it’s an interesting take,” said the nurse, who wished to remain anonymous. She spoke to News 8 by phone. Weeks ago, she said she felt nervous about what lay ahead. “We (didn’t) know what it looks like yet,” she said. “I’m scared, obviously. I’m scared for myself, but even more so...

The crisis gripping the town at the centre of the global COVID-19 crisis in Italy has been witnessed by Sky News' Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay. Italy has hit a grim milestone in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and authorities there want to send a warning to the rest of the world.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Thursday endorsed Joe Biden for president, joining several other former White House hopefuls in uniting behind the frontrunner in the Democratic race. Gillibrand, the junior senator to New York, ended her campaign for president in August. She threw her support to the former vice president on the same day that Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard dropped out and endorsed him. Gillibrand said in a statement: “It is clear that our country desperately needs a president with experience, honesty and integrity — that person is Vice President Joe Biden. Not only does Joe have the experience to lead...

While the rest of us hole up indoors with hand sanitizer, one chucklehead online personality is flipping the coronavirus the bird by licking New York City subway poles, as seen in a revolting viral video. The “corona-viral” vid has racked up almost 300,000 views since being posted Wednesday to the WorldStarHipHop Twitter account. The eight-second clip shows New York’s Zeeshan Ali — known as Princezee on YouTube — vigorously lapping a subway pole like a lollipop on an undisclosed train, while a facemask-sporting straphanger scoots away from him. As of Thursday, New York City boasts almost 2,000 cases of COVID-19,...

Just before 2 p.m., “Desperado” hit WPLJ’s airwaves, with Fink introducing it by saying, “This is ‘Desperado’ for the desperate trucker.” When Rivera, still barricaded in Manne’s office, heard the first few lines — “Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? You been out riding fences for so long now” — he burst into tears. Rivera called police to the door and said, “I’m going to give you the gun.” He handed Manne his pistol and said, “You can go now.” She was wheeled out of the building on a stretcher and taken to a hospital for observation.

Signals from existing global navigation satellites near the Earth could be used to guide astronauts in lunar orbit, 385,000 km away. Cheung and Lee plotted the orbits of navigation satellites from the United States’s Global Positioning System and two of its counterparts, Europe’s Galileo and Russia’s GLONASS system—81 satellites in all. Most of them have directional antennas transmitting toward Earth’s surface, but their signals also radiate into space. Those signals, say the researchers, are strong enough to be read by spacecraft with fairly compact receivers near the moon. Cheung, Lee and their team calculated that a spacecraft in lunar orbit...

Supermarkets across the U.S. are launching seniors-only shopping hours for older people looking to avoid larger crowds during the coronavirus pandemic. But some public health experts are split on whether the benefits outweigh the risks. A few big chains, including Whole Foods and Stop & Shop, as well as some mom-and-pop stores, announced this week that they are blocking off the first hour or two of the business day for only people 60 or older to shop. The special hours afford seniors, one of the populations most vulnerable to the coronavirus, a chance to navigate a store thatÂ’s hopefully been...

.."What my company is doing is adapting antibodies to recognize and neutralize the novel coronavirus. So this would ... [be] sort of skipping what a vaccine does," Glanville said. "Instead of giving you a vaccine and waiting for it to produce an immune response, we just give you those antibodies right away. And so within about 20 minutes, that patient has the ability to neutralize the virus." Glanville told MacCallum that once his colleagues are done engineering the antibodies they will send it to the U.S. military before eventually conducting a human study this summer. "The completed drug is going...

I’m announcing new steps to combat the spread of #COVID19. These actions are based on the facts and on data, and come after careful consultation with public health experts from every county in Arizona, our hospitals, local elected officials, and private sector partners. They reflect guidance from the CDC and the latest recommendations from the Arizona Department of Health Services while going even further to bolster our efforts with additional manpower and resources. To ensure Arizonans have continued access to food, I’m activating the National Guard to assist grocery stores & food banks in the face of heightened demand. This...

Keep Savannah Creepy. That is the mission of Ryan Graveface, owner and curator of the Graveface Museum. Savannah has a weirdo reputation to uphold and Graveface works tirelessly to maintain it. Even those familiar with Graveface’s other businesses — his many record labels, his bands, his record store and curiosity shop in the Starland District — may be shocked by the sheer depth of rare and fascinating objects that fill his museum. Located on Factors Walk — the creepier, more shadowy side of River Street — the Graveface Museum is home to a priceless collection of weird memorabilia and artifacts...