Good morning. Four-hundred-fifty migrants bound for New York City were stuck in New Jersey for the weekend following an emergency executive order by Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams required buses carrying the migrants to provide 32 hours advance notice before they could be dropped off in the city — or face up to $2,500 in fines. The order was meant to keep new arrivals orderly as New York struggles to house and support more than 161,500 asylum seekers sent from the U.S. southern border since 2022.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we are hearing:
Homicides in New Haven are increasing but gun violence is steadily decreasing. Police Chief Karl Jacobson said 23 homicides were reported last year, almost a 44% increase over the year prior. Meanwhile, 2023 saw 30 fewer shootings, with 76 reported. Amid these developments, more of the city’s police officers are resigning or retiring. Jacobson cited officers working without a contract since June 2022.
Prosecutors say a Greenport resident staged an overdose to avoid sentencing for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Christopher Worrell, who is reportedly a member of the Proud Boys, attacked U.S. Capitol police with pepper spray during the attack. He was scheduled to be sentenced in August but was delayed when police found Worrell unresponsive next to an empty bottle of pills. Worrell will be sentenced on Thursday and faces at least 14 years in prison.
A prominent Yale professor and advocate was forced to leave a North Carolina AMC movie theater for attempting to use his own chair for his ankylosing spondylitis. The inflammatory disease, over time, causes vertebrae in the spine to fuse. Armed security guards threatened to close the theater if Rev. William Barber II refused to leave. AMC later apologized and claimed it will work towards better accommodating audiences with disabilities.
Suffolk County Legislator-elect Catherine Stark will have her trial moved to a Southampton court after two Riverhead justices rescued themselves. Stark was arrested in December for driving while impaired by drugs for her cancer treatment. She faces a maximum fine of $1,000, up to one year in jail and a license suspension.
The second phase of the I-91, I-691 and Route 15 highway improvement project is expected to start soon. A major part of this phase will build a new two-lane exit ramp from Route 15 to I-91 on the Exit 68 ramp in Meriden and widen the existing Exit 68W ramp to two lanes. The state Department of Transportation opened bidding for this phase last week. The $500 million project began last year and is expected to be completed by 2029.
Connecticut is looking to hire a cannabis ombudsperson. Thispositionwill monitor the state’s use of marijuana and support qualifying patients and caregivers in navigating the medical cannabis system. The job will be paid up to $162,000 annually. Applications close on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Advocates against drunk driving are calling for New York to lower its blood alcohol limit from 0.08 to 0.05. This is in response to the ever-increasing number of DWI fatalities in New York, with 335 people dying from alcohol-related incidents in 2022. If approved, experts say this would limit four drinks for the average man and three for the average woman before becoming legally intoxicated. Utah adopted a similar law in 2019.
New York’s “right to repair” law has gone into effect. The law requires electronic product manufacturers, such as Apple, to make repair information and equipment readily available to everyone. It’s estimated this will save the average New York household about $330 per year in equipment repair costs.
