🌱 Indoor Mask Mandate Extends + LI Schools Will Stay In-Person

Hey, people of Five Towns! It's me again, your host of the Five Towns Daily.

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy, a little rain. High: 52 Low: 29.

Here are the top three stories in Five Towns today:

1. Gov. Kathy Hochul is extending the state's indoor mask mandate until Feb. 1. A record number of 76,555 new cases was reported in one day and hospitalizations in the state have hit 7,919. (News 12)
2. New York’s statewide coronavirus positivity rate hit 22% Thursday, but school districts on Long Island will still open this week. Dr. John Zaso, East Meadow School District physician, says they are not seeing intra-school spread and that it is safe for children to go back to in-person learning, with many children remaining asymptomatic. (News 12)
3. Valley Stream's Lee Kaufman and her husband, Morty, became famous when they were chosen to pitch Swiffer cleaning products on television and the internet. Kaufman passed away earlier this month at age 99. (The New York Times)

Today in Five Towns:

Danny Marx, Grasso's, 134 Main Street, Cold Spring Harbor, noon to 3 p.m.

From my notebook:

• More at-home COVID test kits will be distributed today from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (News 12)
• Long Islanders joined Americans in celebrating Betty White, who died at age 99. “Don’t try to be young,” she once said. “Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them.” (Patch)
• A new spa opened in December in the Garden City Hotel. Red Hots Spa has a warm rose mud cocoon and a Signature Massage with aromatherapy and hot stones.(Subscription: Newsday)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Announcements:

• Behind The Scoreboard – Horses Can Guide The Blind (Details)
• Add your announcement

Loving the Five Towns Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

• Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe
• Get your local business listed in front of readers
• Send me a news tip or suggestion at FiveTowns@Patch.com

Alrighty, you're all good for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Jackie