NEW YORK NEWS

New York State Legislators voted to give themselves a 29% pay raise, making them the highest paid state lawmakers in the country.  Members of the Assembly and State Senate will now be making a base salary of $142,000, a sizable increase over the $110,000 they were making.  That would send them racing ahead of state lawmakers in California, who are now the nation’s best-paid legislators with a yearly base pay of about $119,000, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New York State Senator George Borello said in a statement that “[The Democratic majorities’] attempt to buy political cover by instituting a ban on outside income won’t make Albany better, it will make it worse. With this ban, we will be discouraging enterprising, accomplished individuals with real-world experience from entering public service and moving closer to eradicating the ‘citizen legislator’ – that individual who serves, not for a hefty salary, but because they want to contribute to their state. The end result will be more ‘professional politicians’ and more out-of-touch policies that hurt New Yorkers.”  

Recap: Avi told Libby he doesn’t want to become a doctor. He wants to drop out of medical school and learn full time. They receive the medical school bill, which his father always pays, and Avi realizes that he has to tell his father about his decision.

NEW YORK NEWS

The NYPD can no longer hold people for the sole reason of checking if there is a warrant out for their arrest.  “Digital stop and frisk,” as the practice has been called, has been banned unless the search is directly related to a crime or if a crime is imminent.  Now the officers can only ask questions related to a stop itself.  Upon resolution of the stop, the person must be let go.  This is a change from the previous practice to hold someone until a warrant check occurred.  When denouncing the process, plaintiff’s lawyer Cyrus Joubin said that “This lawsuit has always been about bringing justice to innocent New Yorkers who are baselessly detained in the street so aggressive NYPD officers can run their IDs.” After the settlement was announced, City Councilwoman Joann Ariola said, “This is another decision that empowers criminals & prevents police from doing their jobs. We need to make public safety a priority in this city, but this will virtually guarantee that dangerous criminals will be able to roam at will.”