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A government reform group has filed a lawsuit to stop a pay raise granted to state lawmakers by a compensation commission. The conservative-leaning Government Justice Center said the salary increase is unconstitutional because it also “radically” changes the rules surrounding serving in the state Legislature.

We could have scared up some pinch-faced academic juror to compile a best-of-the-year selection from Photo of the Day, or I could have just imposed my own taste upon everyone, but it seemed more in the spirit of a crowd-submitted photo feature to let the crowd decide. After running the math on the various platforms where we publish these photos, here are the 26 Photo of the Day images that received the most visits on the website and/or most engagement on social media. The crowd seems to have plenty of wisdom, because the selection is awesome.

St. Lawrence County is launching a task force to try to combat the opioid epidemic. According to North Country Now, the task force aims to collect data such as the number of overdoses, arrests, emergency room visits and 911 calls related to drug use.

Naturalist and educator Paul Hetzler will stop by The TAUNY Center in Canton tonight to talk about and sign copies of his book, Shady Characters: Plant Vampires, Caterpillar Soup, Leprechaun Trees and Other Hilarities of the Natural World. Copies of Paul Hetzler’s book will be for sale at this event, from 5:30 - 7:00 pm. Hetzler's work has appeared in magazines, and the medical journal The Lancet. He also writes weekly natural-history columns for newspapers and magazines in northern New York State, as well as NCPR's All In blog.

Howard Glass didn't move to the Adirondacks to jump out of helicopters. Howard came up to the Adirondacks in 1977 with a masters degree in biochemistry and cell biology and worked at a lab in Lake Placid for four years before it closed. Howard then went on a huge job search around the Northeast, but decided to stay in the Adirondacks to avoid jobs "surrounded by concrete."

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Barley farmers supporting New York's craft beer industry will get some help under an amendment to the federal Farm Bill passed by the House and Senate.

CANTON, N.Y. (AP) Authorities say the former head cook at a northern New York county jail has been indicted on rape and other charges for having sex with inmates who worked in the facility's kitchen.

COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) Vermont State Police have ended a longstanding program that used military helicopters to search for illegal marijuana farms.

Although we'll see some warmer weather this weekend, ice and deep snow rein in the backcountry. Plan for the possibility of encountering light rain or show showers, especially through tonight and again on Sunday.

Next year will be the first time some upstate House Republicans will be in the minority. Central New York Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) said he has built a lot of bridges with Democrats over the last four years.

The drug naloxone, or Narcan, is on the front line of response to the opioid epidemic. It can reverse an overdose, immediately, but temporarily. With rising overdose rates, law enforcement and emergency medical personnel commonly carry the life-saving drug. St. Lawrence County Undersheriff said, "Anything that law enforcement and the sheriff’s department can do that saves lives, that’s what we obviously want to do out there, serve the public and save lives in any way we can." But just regular folks are learning how to use Narcan too. The Canton Free library hosted an open training on how to use the drug last week.

The Adirondack Park Agency commission meets today in Ray Brook. Their agenda includes consideration of a new state plan that would expand and enhance cross-country ski trails on the Park's forest preserve. The commission could also approve regulatory changes that would allow removal of the rail line from Tupper Lake to Lake Placid.

Juliet Linderman, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) The House has easily passed the farm bill, a massive legislative package that reauthorizes agriculture programs and food aid.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Sen. Chuck Schumer says the sweeping farm bill approved by Congress will help New York dairy farmers.

LERAY, N.Y. (AP) A northern New York town justice accused of making homophobic and inappropriate comments to a fellow attorney has agreed to resign.

People who support legalizing recreational marijuana for adults in New York say 2019 may be the year that it happens. At a conference to explore the best way to craft legislation, participants also said it needs to include reparative justice for communities most adversely affected by the decades-long marijuana prohibition in New York.

The modern supermarket holds a bewildering variety of oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines and more. But they are all the product of 4,000 years of selective breeding by humans to tease out tastier, larger, sweeter and juicier variations and hybrids from four ancestral Asian fruits. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley climb back down the citrus family tree to look at the Mandarin orange, the pomelo, the citron and the papeda.

Each week we catch up on Tri-Lakes area news with Peter Crowley, managing editor of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Last week he talked with Martha Foley about Essex County's coroners. An Enterprise report said one coroner out of four was fed up with doing most of the work and was threatening to quit. Since then there has been a lot of reaction to that story, so we’re following up today.