Danbury Police were called to the Subway shop on Main Street Saturday afternoon by an employee who told officers that a dark skinned male came in and put a knife against her demanding money. The incident happened around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
The suspect took off on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. The employee didn't know which direction the man went.
She was cut on her wrist and treated on the scene.
Police on Sunday were called to Citgo on White Street. An employee told responding officers that she was behind the register when a man in a mask came in and pulled a knife on her.
The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash around 7 pm and headed toward Cross Street on foot. He was described as a dark skin male, approximately 5'8 with a medium build.
Anyone with information about either of these robberies is asked to call the Detective Bureau at 203-797-4662.
There is some new spending included in the proposed budget up for a vote today in Brookfield.
The proposed $20.7 million municipal budget is a 4.93-percent increase. The proposed $38.29 million education budget proposal is a 3.4-percent increase. There is $125,000 included in the budget for school resource officers.
First Selectman Bill Davidson says over the past three years only about 35-to-40 percent of eligible residents have voted on the budget.
There is also another question on the ballot. Brookfield residents are being asked to approve a $2.5 million sewer project for three condo developments. If the project is approved, those benefitting from it will pay for the cost though an assessment.
Polls are open at Huckleberry Hill Elementary and Brookfield High School until 8pm.
Danbury Police received a call early Saturday morning of an accident involving a scooter and a man stumbling away from the scene. Officers found a scooter lying on its side near East Liberty Street and saw 21-year old Kevin Broggy trying to leave the area.
He refused to stop for police and had to be chased down.
Witnesses Identified him as the operator of the scooter. Broggy failed field sobriety tests and was charged with driving while intoxicated, interfering with a police officer and operating without a license.
Broggy was released on $1,000 bond for a court appearance next Wednesday.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Defense attorneys have decided not to call any witnesses in the federal corruption trial of Roberty Braddock Jr., a campaign aide to former Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan.
The jury is expected to begin deliberating Braddock's fate on Tuesday after final arguments.
Braddock was the finance manager for Donovan's failed campaign last year for the 5th Congressional District seat.
He has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he was part of a scheme in which nearly $28,000 was funneled to Donovan's campaign in an attempt to kill state legislation that would raise taxes on ``roll-your-own'' smoke shop owners.
Donovan, whose campaign was derailed by the allegations, wasn't charged in the probe and denies wrongdoing. Seven co-defendants have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) A woman who lost a child in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School is visiting her hometown in Utah this week for a private ceremony to honor her slain daughter.
Alissa Parker is also planning to speak about a program in which she and other victims' parents are raising awareness of school security issues. It is called Safe and Sound a Sandy Hook Initiative.
Parker's 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, was among 20 first-graders killed in the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown. Emilie was buried in Ogden, Utah, the hometown of her parents Alissa and Robbie Parker.
The Parkers are among six Sandy Hook families involved in the initiative that encourages communities to review and update their school security plans. It is also raising money to provide grants for school districts.
One person was killed and one injured in what police say was a high speed crash at the Danbury Fair Mall on Saturday afternoon. The accident happened shortly before 2:30pm.
Police say a speeding car hit a curb when the driver lost control and flipped over. The driver and passenger were transported to the Hospital. The passenger later died of injuries sustained in the crash.
The driver has been identified as 18-year old Robert Stevenson of Danbury. The passenger has been identified as 21-year old Davon Lasane of Danbury.
Anyone with information about the accident is asked to contact Sgt. Rory DeRocco at 203-797-2157.
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) Vermont State Police have arrested a Connecticut man after they said they found 7 pounds of marijuana in his car during a routine traffic stop.
Police said they stopped 23-year-old Erik Yoo of Weston, Conn., on Interstate 91 in Brattleboro on Saturday night.
They said he produced a small amount of marijuana and consented to a search of his sedan.
Police said they also found 2.5 grams of cocaine and several thousand dollars in the car, in addition to the 7 pounds of marijuana.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Lawmakers, advocates and the mother of a child killed in the Newtown school shooting are unveiling a new proposal for child mental health at the state Capitol complex in Hartford.
Nelba Marquez-Greene is scheduled to join Sen. Dante Bartolomeo of Meriden, Rep. Diana Urban of North Stonington and child advocates at a Monday news conference to discuss the bill, which has not yet come before the General Assembly.
Marquez-Greene's 6-year-old daughter, Ana, was one of 20 children and 6 educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
Bartolomeo's office provided few details about the bill but called it ``comprehensive'' and said it would complement the gun violence prevention and school safety measures enacted last month.
The legislature has until June 5 to act on all remaining proposals.
STORRS, Conn. (AP) The University of Connecticut is hosting a training session for New England educators this week on how to prepare and respond to a crisis.
The program developed by the National Association of School Psychologists will be held at the Storrs campus from Monday through Wednesday for teachers, administrators and graduate students from around New England.
Schools across the country have been re-evaluating security in the wake of the December school shooting in Newtown in which 26 people were killed.
The event has been organized by faculty in the university's psychology program with the Connecticut Association of School Psychologists.
One workshop will offer training on how school buildings can be made safer and how to design a crisis response plan. Another will focus on what to do once the crisis has occurred.
A two decade old organization in Newtown is looking to build on their community help for people with addiction and mental health issues. American Idol winner Philip Philips has provided his hit song HOME to Newtown Parent Connection. NPC Board member Bob Gaines says the non-profit organization wants to fill a long-term need and is hoping the video will connect with people across the country emotionally.
Gaines says they are looking to expand long-term programs of education, prevention, healing and wellness related to mental health, drug and alcohol issues in the community.
Newtown Parent Connection co-founder Dorrie Carolan says now more than ever the community has to come together for the long term to help heal families heal. Co-founder Donna DeLuca says the trauma of December 14th can lead to an increase in depression, anxiety, and other serious problems that are devastating over time.
Newtown native and executive producer Greg Williams created the video that depicts am inspirational story of Newtown. He says its theme refers to restoring the town and becoming a beacon of hope to the world.
An alleged armed robbery is Brewster is being investigated by the Putnam County Sheriff's office. Deputies and New York State Troopers were called to the BP Gas Station on Route 22 early Monday morning.
The attendant reported that a person dressed in all black pointed a gun and demanded money. The suspect got away with an undetermined amount of cash in a waiting car. The worker was uninjured.
Police scoured the area but couldn't find the vehicle.
Anyone in the area around 4:30 Monday morning is asked to call the Sheriff's Bureau at 845-225-8060. All calls will be kept confidential.
Main Street in Danbury will be closed for several hours this morning as a 5K walk and run honoring two Sandy Hook educators takes place. The event features 26 “Inspiration Stations” created by Danbury schools’ PTOs and students. The messages of hope and healing will line the route.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Lauren Rousseau Memorial Scholarship and the Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Memorial Fund. Hochsprung, was a vice principal at Rogers Park Middle School for several years and Rousseau was a former student-teacher there.
An opening ceremony will be held at 8am in front of Rogers Park Middle School with speeches from Monsignor Robert Weiss, Mayor Mark Boughton and Superintendent of Schools Dr Sal Pascarella.
Runners will start at 8:30am and those walking will follow at 8:50am. Main Street will be closed until approximately 10:15am.
The Danbury Mad Hatters are holding a special event tonight at Brookfield High School. Vice president of public relations Al Paparesta says the barbershop quartet and two other groups will be on hand for a show that centers around a 50th wedding anniversary celebration.
The show will be opened by Mayor Mark Boughton with a proclamation designating next week as "Barbershop Music Week in Danbury".
This is the Mad Hatters 46th annual show. Paparesta says there will be some music for everyone's taste. A performance of "The Impossible Dream" will be dedicated to Sandy Hook.
The barber shop quartet will be joined by a doo wop band and Western Connecticut State University's a capella group. There will be about 100 men on stage.
The $67 million budget represents a 2.9 percent increase. The $26 million municipal budget was approved by 445 votes while the $40.9 million dollar school budget was approved by 349 votes.
First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker says part of the tax increase is from the state mandated revaluation. He estimates though that some 70-percent of homeowners will see a decrease in property taxes because of a shift back from homeowners to commercial properties.
On the budget advisory questions, Bethel residents said both allocations were too high.
Two men who lost relatives at Sandy Hook elementary school have urged New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte to change her position on a gun control measure that would expand background checks. Neil Heslin and Gilles Rousseau spoke at a news conference held by advocacy group Granite State Progress that has criticized Ayotte for voting against a key part of President Barack Obama’s push to curb gun violence.
The measure would have required criminal and mental health background checks for people buying guns online or at gun shows.
Heslin's 6-year old son was killed and Rousseau's daughter was a teacher at the school.
Rousseau said he tried unsuccessfully to talk to Ayotte at a town hall meeting she held in New Hampshire. He said he realizes background checks might not have prevented his daughter’s death, but believes the checks are the most effective way to stop felons, domestic abusers, the mentally ill and other dangerous people from getting guns.
Ayotte was recently confronted at a town hall meeting by a woman whose mother was principal of the school.
A Danbury man has been arrested for hitting a neighbor in the face after being asked to move his car. Police say 28-year old Carlos Soliz was asked to move his car around 11:15 Wednesday night because it was parked in the other man's assigned place.
During an argument the victim said he was struck in the face and sustained minor injuries.
Soliz was charged with assault and breach peace. He was released on a thousand dollars bond for a May 28th court appearance.
Four police officers were placed on administrative leave for alleged rude behavior during a traffic stop that could lead to charges as an investigation continues.
A routine stop was made on March 8th based on probable cause, but what happened was not routine. Police Chief Al Baker said in an emailed statement that an anonymous tip from outside the agency was made that said the officers showed rudeness and a civility complaint was registered.
The Professional Standards Division matched the information to a traffic stop and contacted the motorist, who had not made the complaint. The investigation was started on April 10th. It found four officers violated the rules of the Danbury Police Department and the Chief's office is preparing formal charges.
The alleged incident was reportedly caught on cell phone camera and involved an unlicensed motorist in the country illegally. Baker says the officers had no knowledge about the driver's race, ethnicity or country of citizenship at the time of the traffic stop.
The case is also being referred to the Mayor's Office and the State's Attorney's office.
Danbury Police Detective Rachel Halas was among the nearly two dozen officers from across the state honored Thursday during an event called "A Salute to Connecticut's Finest". It was held by the Connecticut District Exchange Club.
She was also presented with the 15th annual Danbury Police Officer of the Year Award by the Danbury Exchange Club in April. Detective Halas works in the Special Victims Unit.
Selection Committee Chair Joseph DaSilva says it's obvious of the pride and respect she has for her job. He adds that Detective Halas constantly and consistently demonstrates her commitment to the community in which she works and lives.
A new grocery store is opening in Danbury. Whole Foods Market is opening this morning at the "Shoppes at Marcus Dairy". Instead of a ribbon cutting, the company and city officials will break bread. It's the company's 9th store in Connecticut.
Northeast Region Spokesman Michael Sinatra says they designed this store around the history of the site. Since the land used to be the Dairy Bar, this store will have a burger and shake venue.
The company is also giving back to the community. 5-percent of the day's profits is being donated to the Danbury Museum and Historical Society. The first 350 shoppers are receiving some free food items to mark the opening of the store's 350th location worldwide.
Each quarter through 2014 the store plans to donate some proceeds from a given day to a community partner.
There are just a few weeks left for registered Republican Brookfield residents interested in running for office to make their intentions known. The Brookfield Republican Town Committee Vacancy Committee says they are looking for candidates for many municipal positions.
Among the positions candidates can run for are First Selectman, Boards of Finance and Education and planning and zoning commissions.
Candidates interested in interviewing for a position could get in touch with the BRTC by May 31st so recommendations can be made at a July caucus.
Former Governor Jodi Rell, a Brookfield resident, is chairing the capital campaign for Regional Hospice and Home Care of Western Connecticut as the agency builds a private-suite hospice facility in Danbury.
It's the first of it's kind in the state.
The group's CEO, Cynthia Roy-Squitieri, says Rell was instrumental in passing legislation that allows hospices designated as specialty hospitals. The 12-suite facility off of exit 2 is expected to cost $10-million and open next fall.
It will also house Health Hearts Center for Grieving Children and Families.
The state Department of Transportation is urging Connecticut commuters to find alternatives to driving solo. The 2nd annual CT Rides Week is wrapping up Friday.
Project Manager Kay Carson says a Danbury corporation is taking part in the program. Cartus Corporation offers preferred parking for carpoolers with a reserved convenient location for those drivers. Events are also held three or four times a year with CT Rides. The business also allows flexible work schedules to spread out the peak traffic time.
Tomorrow in Bethel, people who bike to work can take part in a free breakfast at the train station on Durant Avenue.
The initiative is aimed at reducing congestion and improving air quality in the state. Carson says solitary drivers can save time and money on maintenance, parking and gas by taking a bus or train or by joining a carpool. She adds that drivers can also reap health benefits by biking or walking instead of driving.
People can find out about their options at 877-CT-rides.
27-year old Kyle Lutrus of Brookfield pleaded guilty in court on Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone. U.S. Attorney spokesman Tom Carson says in late 2011 the Brookfield Police Department started investigating the town resident.
Over the course of three months Lutrus made multiple sales of oxycodone to an undercover DEA Task Force officer. Nearly 400 pills were purchased from the man during the investigation.
Lutrus, who is free on bond, will be sentenced on August 1st. He faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $1 million. He's agreed to forfeit $60,000 and his car.
Bethel residents are at the polls today to vote on a $67-million budget. The $26-million municipal budget proposal and $40.9 million school plan will be on the ballot along with a question about capital improvement spending. First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker says school security was taken into account.
Funding was added back in for 7 non-profit agencies including Meals on Wheels, WeCahr and Ability Beyond Disability.
The budget represents a 2.9 percent spending increase. Bethel Action Committee Founder Billy Michael believes spending is too high.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A key witness in the federal trial against a campaign aide to former Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan is discussing his role in a scheme to illegally funnel contributions to the one-time Democratic congressional candidate.
Harry Ray Soucy, a former Department of Correction officer and union official, testified for more than three hours Wednesday at U.S. District Court in New Haven, explaining his efforts to use money and political connections to try and kill a bill before the General Assembly that would have taxed roll-your-own cigarette establishments. The tax later passed in a special session.
Soucy appeared at the trial of Robert Braddock, Donovan's former congressional campaign finance director.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Glover led Soucy through tape recordings involving plans by roll-your-own shop owners to buy support from legislators.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut consumers who miss out on getting a free item from a ``two-for-one sale'' may receive a second chance.
The Senate passed legislation Wednesday requiring stores that sell consumer goods and run such a promotion to honor the terms for at least two business days after the sale ends. Eligible consumers must provide a receipt proving they purchased a qualified item during the promotion and did not receive the free good.
If the good is a prepared food item, the retailer is required to comply with the terms on the same day the food item was purchased.
The bill, which passed 27-9, moves to the House.
Senate Republican Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown, called the bill ``not well-thought-out'' and said there's no way to prove that someone didn't receive their free item.
Putnam County Sheriff Deputies responded to a 911 call early Monday morning of a car accident on Main Street in Brewster.
A heavily damaged vehicle that had been driven onto the sidewalk was involved in an accident in which five vehicles parked at a used car dealership was hit. 28-year old Marcos Castro-Beltran also hit a car parked in a driveway, a utility pole and an embankment.
The South Carolina man, who was standing near the car when deputies arrived, admitted to drinking that night. He was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated after failing field sobriety tests.
There could soon be more Danbury police looking out for those who text and drive. The Police Department has received approval from the City Council to apply for a grant from the state Department of Transportation.
Council President Joe Cavo says there would be four officers and one supervisor working 56 hours each on the enforcement.
The federal funding through the division of highway safety can be applied for in June. The cost of the program will be no more than $15,000 with the state covering 75-percent and the City being responsible for the other 25-percent of the cost.
The City's $3,750 portion is available in the Police Department's budget for the current fiscal year.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Local Connecticut police departments may soon be required to submit electronic fingerprints to the state police for background checks, a move some legislators hope will ease a backlog.
The Senate on Tuesday voted unanimously to amend a bill to require municipal departments with devices that can electronically capture fingerprints to use those machines on members of the public who request criminal history records checks. Waterbury Sen. Joan Hartley said departments typically use the machines for fingerprinting alleged criminals.
The bill moves to the House for further action.
The Associated Press reported last week that about 9,300 people were waiting for background checks to be completed for gun permit applications and employment requirements.
State police officials have blamed part of the backlog on faulty, traditional ink fingerprints taken at local departments.
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) When Australian golfer Marc Leishman heard about the December school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, he immediately went to a map.
The 29-year-old won his first and so-far only PGA Tour event last June at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, and wanted to see how far away Newtown was from the TPC River Highlands. The answer was just 48 miles.
Leishman returns to Connecticut next month to defend his Travelers title and was back Tuesday for the tournament's annual media day.
He told The Associated Press he feels connected to the state and would like to meet some of the families of the victims, if it can be arranged. Tournament director Nathan Grube says they have been working with Newtown officials to figure out how to honor the 26 people killed at the school.
He said they would like to do something that would be educational and long-term, but said if any of the families want to meet golfers during the tournament, that can be arranged.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) The fate of legislation that would restrict public access to death certificates in the wake of the Newtown school shooting appears in doubt. Two bills are sitting on the House calendar. One imposes a six-month waiting period before a minor's death certificate can be released to the public. The other limits the information that can be released.
Representative Ed Jutila--co-chairman of the General Assembly's Government Administration and Elections Committee--says time is running out on this year's legislative session which ends June 5th. There are many bills still waiting to be taken up. Jutila said he hasn't heard from advocates, and notes there's still opposition.
Newtown's Town Clerk says she is not giving up on the restrictions because the information can be misused.
Redding Police Chief Doug Fuchs is continuing on in that position. The Redding Pilot reports that The Board of Selectman expressed full confidence on a job performance evaluation Monday in the job he is doing.
The evaluation was held in executive session held because Fuchs' contract had expired.
The report says the contract was signed by Fuchs and the town when he was hired to protect both parties, and now there is no official contract, similar to other Redding officials. Prior to Fuchs being hired, Redding had a Resident State Trooper program.
A Ridgefield teen has been arrested for assaulting officers who responded to a medical assist call. Police say 18-year old Bryan Jimenez tried to pull one of the officer's firearm from his holster and assault the pair.
The officers determined that a domestic incident had taken place and Jimenez allegedly attacked them.
He was arrested and taken to Danbury Hospital for treatment of injuries. No details about the officer's conditions or the injuries to the teen were provided by police. Jimenez was held on bond for arraignment Monday.
A Silver Alert has been issued for a missing Danbury teen. 14-year old Shakii Watson was supposed to return from a friend's home on East Pembroke Road Saturday night, but he never showed and didn't call home.
The Black teen was last seen wearing Khaki pants, black sneakers and a white-red-and-black shirt. He is about 5-foot-10, 150-pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on Watson's whereabouts is asked to call Danbury Police at 203-797-4611.
Some want to forget that Superstorm Sandy ever blew through the region, but the cost of clean up still needs to be paid off in Danbury. The City Council last week authorized a fund transfer while waiting on reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Councilman Ben Chianese had a question for Finance Director David St Hilaire about the debris removal.
He wanted to know how much of the cost would be paid for by FEMA and what the overall cost is. Reimbursement is for 75% of the cost. Debris removal is costing the City $160,000
The fund are being transferred to accounts within the Special Revenue fund. The Contingency Account will be left with $196,000 after this allocation.
The 2012 crime statistics report is out from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
According to the annual report, Putnam County had the lowest total index crime rate among all counties in New York State for the third year in a row and an index crime rate that has declined each year since 2009.
Sheriff Donald Smith says the decline is noteworthy considering Putnam County is surrounded by Dutchess, Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties--all of which have been designated by the State as being among 17 counties which account for 80% of the crimes occurring in New York State outside of New York City.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Despite the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to keep open 149 control towers at small airports, including six facilities in Connecticut, concerns are being raised about what will happen to the towers once the federal fiscal year ends.
The tower at Danbury Municipal Airport and five others in Connecticut were slated to close.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned Monday that ``we're not here to do a victory lap.'' He said the fight to retain funding for the towers, operated by contractors for the FAA, will continue after Sept. 30.
The Transportation Department announced Friday it will keep open the towers that were slated to close as a result of government-wide automatic spending cuts. Sequestration is a 10 year program.
Congress passed a bill last month giving FAA authority to shift $253 million from accounts with unspent funds to keep controllers on the job. Connecticut airport officials warned such furloughs could compromise safety.
Bethel-based Cannondale Sports Unlimited, the well-known bicycle manufacturer, is planning to establish a new headquarters in the state and add 75 jobs with the help of a $3 million state loan proposed by the governor.
Cannondale had outgrown its current location in Bethel, and it had considered several sites in the Connecticut and New York.
David Treadwell, spokesman with the state's department of economic and community development, says Cannondale would move its headquarters to Wilton where it will lease 50,000 square feet of space in the town's I-Park. The company would handle marketing, research and development and product design in the space.
The State Bond Commission must still approve the loan.
DANBURY, Conn. (AP) Newtown's first selectman and school superintendent were honored during graduation ceremonies at Western Connecticut State University.
First Selectman Pat Llodra and former Newtown Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson each received the school's President's Medal yesterday for their actions after December's shooting rampage at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, which left 26 people dead.
Shooter Adam Lanza briefly attended the university.
Llodra, a Western Alumna, urged the more than 650 graduates to make themselves a part of a community and serve others, while Robinson told them they won't always be able to control what happens to them in life, but they can control their response.
Western President James Schmotter called the women role models for courage, compassion and professionalism.
NEW YORK (AP) Dave Brubeck's family and musician friends have paid tribute to the jazz legend's life and music at a special celebration held at a New York City cathedral.
The jazz pianist and composer died Dec. 5, a day before his 92nd birthday, and a private funeral was held near his home in Wilton, Conn., that month.
The Saturday afternoon celebration was the only family sponsored tribute. About 2,000 people turned out to hear performances of Brubeck compositions by such jazz stars as Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Paquito D'Rivera and Roy Hargrove as well as Brubeck's four musician sons.
His wife of 70 years says the hundreds of letters she's received since his death often ``expressed the deep joy his music had brought'' to people all over the world.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A trial is scheduled to start for a former aide to Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan charged in an alleged campaign finance scheme.
Robert Braddock Jr.'s trial starts Monday in federal court in New Haven.
Braddock was the finance director of Donovan's failed 5th congressional district campaign last year. Prosecutors say Braddock and seven other defendants who have pleaded guilty were involved in a scheme that used straw donors to hide the source of nearly $28,000 in contributions to Donovan's campaign.
Authorities say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on roll-your-own tobacco shops. Donovan wasn't charged.
Braddock pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and campaign finance charges.
The State House has approved a bill that would to legalize and regulate the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, a combination of boxing, wrestling and karate that's already allowed in most other states. The two tribal casinos in the state already schedule Mixed Martial Arts performances, now public venues could do the same.
Proponents say it would bring in a lot of revenue because of growing popularity. Glover Teixeira of Danbury, a professional mixed martial artist who fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, urged lawmakers to pass this year's legislation. He said he'd like to perform in his home state, adding how it's a popular sport here.
Teixeira said more than 16,000 fans turned out to watch him fight in Chicago. The live gate was $1.3 million.
Monroe Representative Debra Lee Hovey says it's a bad throwback for society. John Frey of Ridgefield and Representative Dan Carter were also among the 26 no votes.
Danbury State Representative Jan Giegler says if the Senate passes the bill, New York would be the only remaining state that outlaws the sport. But she notes the New York General Assembly is considering a bill to legalize it.
The bill's fate is uncertain in the Connecticut Senate.
There are plans for a Candlewood Lake cleanup after all. The Candlewood Lake Authority decided not to hold a cleanup this year, which upset the leaders of the towns that surround the Lake.
Brookfield, Danbury, New Milford, New Fairfield and Sherman are hosting a clean up effort. They are looking for volunteers and people to volunteer with their boats.
New Fairfield Hodge says First Light Power, the owners of Candlewood Lake are donating two large dumpsters for the cleanup so there is no cost to the towns.
The cleanup is set for June 15th with a rain date of June 22nd. Volunteers are asked to contact the Danbury Mayor's office at 203-797-4511or the New Fairfield First Selectman's office at 203-312-5600.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Officials in Newtown, Conn., say the district should tear down the elementary school where 20 first-graders and six educators were shot to death in December and construct a new building on the property.
A task force of 28 town elected officials unanimously recommended the plan Friday night after residents expressed mixed opinions on what should be done with Sandy Hook Elementary School. The proposal now goes to the local school board, which has final authority.
The panel had narrowed a list of choices to renovating or rebuilding on the school site or building a new school on property down the street. A study found the cost of rebuilding on the same site would be $57 million.
The 430 surviving students are attending a renovated school renamed Sandy Hook Elementary School in the Monroe. The students can stay there through 2016.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) State officials are setting aside millions of dollars to address backlogs in background checks that have soared since the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
Officials in Connecticut are working with lawmakers to come up with $3 million to $5 million to make technology improvements and fill as many as 39 civilian positions to help address a backlog, estimated by state police at about 9,300 people.
Gun rights advocates fear the delays in Connecticut, which recently passed one of the toughest gun laws in the country, could grow longer once a requirement for background checks on any sale or transfer of a long gun takes effect in January.
But the administration predicts there won't be problem once the new staffing is in place and the workers will likely become permanent.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) A national gun rights lobbying group based in Connecticut has severed ties with a gun show organizer over the company's decision to restrict sales of assault weapons at an unrelated event earlier this year.
The Newtown-based National Sports Shooting Foundation says the ban imposed by Reed Exhibitions at its hunting and fishing show conflicts with the group's mission to serve the shooting sports industry. Reed's show was originally scheduled for February in Harrisburg, Pa., but it was canceled following an outcry over the assault weapons ban.
Reed Exhibitions also had been the manager and producer of gun shows put on by the NSSF for three decades, but the lobbying group said in a statement Thursday that it and the company had terminated their agreement.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge is resigning. His resignation takes effect May 25th so he can devote all of his time to working with the Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named for his firefighter cousin who died on September 11th.
Hodge says the Foundation has grown immeasurably in the last several years. Hodge says he wants to make sure New Fairfield is 100-percent protected and he doesn't feel he can devote enough time to both jobs simultaneously.
His cousin, who was off duty that Tuesday in 2001, and the bridges and tunnels had been shut down. So he put on all his gear and ran from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel right to the World Trade Center to help with the response effort. He was last seen entering one of the towers. Every September the Foundation hosts a run that retraces Siller's footsteps.
Hodge, the Foundation's Director of Operations, says after what happened at the Boston Marathon, any similar event needs more preparation, especially one dedicated to 9/11.
New Fairfield has a Town Meeting form of Government run according to state statutes. Selectmen Susan Chapman and Mike Gill will decide who will become First Selectman. If they can't reach a decision, the other 5 elected officials will decide. If residents aren't happy with the choice 5-percent of register voters, about 400 people, could sign a petition to call for an election.
But Hodge says by the time it goes through the entire process, it would be early fall. He had previously made up his mind not to run for another term in November because the town is in great shape. Residents passed a budget last weekend and it looks like New Fairfield will be ending this fiscal year with a surplus.
Hodge adds there are no major pending matters in the town.
A local baseball team is looking to set a World Record. The New Milford Express 15U baseball team is hosting a community event lasting from today all the way through Sunday night. Rawling Sporting Goods Northeast Region Sales Manager Dan Olson says they are trying to become world record holders for the longest nonstop game of catch with a baseball.
For a donation of any amount, people can join the game and be linked to the world record. The funds raised from this weekend-long activity will be donated to Western Connecticut Health Network's Breast Health Program.
The theme of the event is a play on words from the classic baseball movie Field of Dreams. In the final scene of the movie, Kevin Costner's character says "Hey Dad? Wanna have a catch?". So in honor of Mother's Day, the event will be called "Hey Mom? Wanna have a catch?".
The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown out at 6pm at the New Milford Village Green. The effort will last through 6pm on Sunday, Mother's Day.
Ridgefield residents have set a budget referendum date. A budget vote will be held Tuesday on a $128.3 million budget. There is about $32-million in the municipal budget proposal, about a .60 percent increase in spending. $82-million is being proposed for the education plan, a nearly 2-percent increase.
First Selectman Rudy Marconi says that includes approximately $500,000 dedicated to school security. That cost is covering unarmed security guards to be placed in every school and the hiring of two additional Student Resource Officers.
School officials say some of the spending increase for school security and mental health programs is being offset by savings in a new bus contract and cuts in medical benefits.
Five other questions will be on the ballot including capital questions about roads, infrastructure and replacement vehicles among other items. One is Phase 2 playground that is actually a spray bay, an outdoor facility that's handicap accessible. Marconi says the town is looking for $170,000 contribution from private donors, so it's a small ultimate cost item from taxpayers.
35 smaller items, each under $100,000 in value, but totalling about $1 million were approved at the annual town meeting.
Voting on Tuesday takes place at Yanity Gym between 6am and 8pm.
Redding residents have approved a budget plan for the coming fiscal year. Residents approved the $47.53 million budget, a 1.3-percent increase, on Tuesday.
The $13-million municipal allocation and the $21.7 million for Redding Schools was approved by 35 votes. $12-million for the town's share of the Region 9 budget was also approved.
Redding's share of the budget for Joel Barlow High School is higher this year because of a shift in enrollment. More Redding students are attending Barlow while Easton's population at the school is decreasing.
In response to the shootings in Newtown, Redding has added money in the budget for a school resource officer to serve the elementary and middle schools.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Newtown officials will be continuing a debate on what to do with the school where 20 first-graders and six educators were killed in December.
A task force of 28 town elected officials is scheduled to meet again tonight and may vote on a recommendation to the local school board. The issue eventually will go before voters at a referendum.
The panel has narrowed the choices to three: renovating Sandy Hook Elementary School, tearing it down and building a new school on the same property or tearing it down and building a new school on nearby property.
The task force struggled last Friday to move toward a recommendation as a crowd of more than 90 people watched. A town consultant says the board is likely to make a recommendation tonight.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A Congressional task force dedicated to curbing gun violence is holding a field hearing in Hartford.
Congressman John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, is hosting today's hearing at Hartford High School. The group's chairman, congressman Mike Thompson of California, is also expected to attend along with Gov. Dannel Malloy and experts on gun violence prevention.
The task force was set up to help Congress identify ways it might reduce gun violence.
President Barack Obama has made it a priority to restrict guns since the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
A Danbury man has been arrested for driving while intoxicated after being seen by police driving erratically. The Putnam County Sheriff's office reports that a Deputy on patrol in Patterson early Saturday morning saw the car driven by 33-year old Luis Omar Torres-Dejesus.
The man was was also charged with driving in excess of .08 blood alcohol content and driving left of pavement markings.
Also early Saturday morning a Deputy was patrolling an area of Southeast when he pulled over a car driven by 63-year old Abilio Freitas, who showed signs of being intoxicated. A driver's license check revealed that his driving privilege in New York State was suspended.
Freitas was charged with driving while intoxicated, in excess of point-08 blood alcohol content and unlicensed operation, a felony.
Each were arraigned and released for a future court date.
A Putnam County man has been arrested for a reported domestic violence complaint. The Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from a Southeast home early Sunday morning.
Deputies found that Angel Ramierez-Perez had an argument at the home and allegedly intentionally hit another resident. The 36-year old was charged with assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned and ordered to the Putnam County Correctional Facility in lieu of $10,000 bond.
A man whose 6-year-old son was among those killed in at Sandy Hook Elementary School has made a court appearance on several charges dating back to 2011.
Neil Heslin was offered a plea deal, which he has until July to accept or decline. The 50-year old was facing charges of operating a motor vehicle under suspension and allegations he issued bad checks to purchase building materials for his construction company.
According to court records, under the deal the Shelton resident would serve a month in prison for pleading guilty to the two motor vehicle charges. Since he's made restitution for the checks, he would avoid jail time on those charges if to-be-determined conditions of the plea agreement are met.
Heslin and his attorney, public defender Bruce Weiant, declined to comment. He become an outspoken advocate for gun control when his son, Jesse Lewis, was killed.
ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) Two Republican members of Enfield's Board of Education are planning to open a gun store.
Board members Tom Sirard and Kevin Fealy along with a third man, Michael Brennan, plan to open the store, called ``A Call to Arms'' on Memorial Day weekend.
Sirard says he understands the timing appears awkward, coming five months after the fatal shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, but says the decision had nothing to do with that tragedy. He says plans for the store have been in the works for two years.
He says the store will sell handguns, long guns, ammunition, and accessories and will have a section dedicated to products made in the U.S. It will not include a range.
Enfield is one of only two school districts in the state opting to have armed security guards in schools as a response to what happened in Newtown.
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) Connecticut officials say they're seeing potential security problems at schools across the state, even after the Newtown shootings in December and subsequent efforts to improve safety.
State police officials say they've found propped-open doors at most of the 75 schools they've assessed for security, as well as other problems including cluttered hallways, open janitor closets full of cleaning chemicals and overgrown bushes blocking views of school grounds.
State counterterrorism officials described their findings Wednesday at the annual Connecticut Emergency Management Symposium in Cromwell. They urged school officials to work with local and state law enforcement to take simple, inexpensive steps to improve security, including fixing old doors.
Twenty first-graders and six adults were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation that would require any armed security guard working in a school to be certified.
Members of the Senate agreed Wednesday to language requiring the guards to be certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the organization that sets standards for being a police officer in Connecticut.
The bill was sent to the General Assembly's Public Safety Committee for further review.
Waterford Sen. Andrea Stillman, the co-chairman of the Education Committee, said legislators want to make sure people hired to patrol schools are appropriately trained. But she acknowledged she doesn't expect many schools will hire guards.
About four months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, only two districts are pushing forward with the idea. Others said it's unaffordable or imprudent.
NEW MILFORD, Conn. (AP) A masonry company has been fined more than $6,000 after a man lost eight fingers in an accident in February.
The victim, Scott Ackerman, was working at New Milford Block and Supply Corp. after he was displaced from his home in New York by Superstorm Sandy. He was among families provided temporary housing on church property in New Milford in a project organized by former New Yorkers.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for three violations. OSHA says the company did not provide a safeguard to prevent access to a wire rope for a skip hoist used to move concrete and that the employee contacted the wire rope, resulting in the amputation of eight fingers.
A Danbury man has been arrested for robbing a gas station early Wednesday morning. Police say a white male entered Danbury One Stop gas station on White Street just before 3am and jumped over the counter.
The man, later identified as 39-year old Daniel Maze, grabbed an undetermined amount of cash from the register and fled the scene. Maze was found a short time later behind his Beaverbrook Road home.
He has been charged with robbery and was held on $10,000 bond.
Newtown's First Selectman is holding extended office hours this week and this weekend for residents to ask questions abut the budget. A second referendum is being held Tuesday.
First Selectman Pat Llodra says she will also be available to listen to any concerns residents have with the re-worked budget plan. Members of the Boards of Education and Finance along with the Legislative Council have been invited to sit in on the meetings as well.
In addition to evening hours during the week, the First Selectman's office will be open on Saturday from 4pm to 6pm and on Sunday from 2pm to 4pm.
There was a fire in Danbury Tuesday morning that left a pet dead. Three Stillman Avenue residents were taken to the hospital for observation. Eight residents in the two-family home were displaced. Fire Chief Geoff Herald says there were also seven dogs at the home, six made it out before firefighters arrived.
Firefighters had to withdraw from the house at one point because the flames were too intense for their safety. Herald says the fire consumed the 2.5 story wood frame home and spread up to the attic area. He says at one point in the morning they raised the call to a 4-alarm blaze because of the number of personnel at the scene.
Herald says they could see the column of smoke from the house, which is about a mile away from the fire station, when they left to respond to the 911 call.
Mutual aide from four surrounding towns staffed Danbury firehouses in case of another call during the response.
The Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause of the blaze.
Bethel residents will be voting next week on a proposed $67million budget. At a town meeting this week, residents opted to send the $26 million municipal budget and $40.9 million school budget to a referendum on Thursday May 16th.
First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker says the budget represents a 2.9 percent spending increase.
Funding was added back into the budget by the Board of Finance for seven non-profit agencies including Meals on Wheels, WeCahr and Ability Beyond Disability.
Knickerbocker says there is money for school security upgrades and adds an instructor to the Junior ROTC program.
A forum was held Tuesday night by the Newtown Action Alliance about what's next for gun safety. Among the speakers were Virginia Tech shooting survivor Colin Goddard, a member of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Senator Richard Blumenthal. He discussed legislation in Washington.
Blumenthal said that it was shameful last month when the Senate failed to advance common sense solutions to reduce gun violence and a low point in his career in public service.
He said he is not discouraged though. He wants to continue to push for background check legislation, work to close loopholes that allow for gun trafficking and address the difficulties within the mental health system.
Despite a proposal from the education budget committee of the Danbury City Council to reduce the allocation to the Board of education, the Mayors proposed $227 million budget has been approved by the City Council.
Many council members voiced concerns that once the overall funding made to the Board of Ed, the Board can't be told how to spend the money. Some Council members said that if the schools came to the council asking for more money during the year, they would be hard pressed to get a nickel. There was a late effort to try and take out $100,000 from the budget that is slated for non-union personnel raises, but Council members reiterated that once the money is allocated, or not, the council has no say over how it's used.
Councilwoman Colleen Stanley expressed frustrations that administrators were receiving raises while department heads in city government have gone without raises for years. She chided the school Administrators for not knowing if textbooks were purchased last year when the budget called for $120,000 and this year are asking for $250,000 for textbooks.
Councilman Warren Levy said if school officials were just guessing on numbers because of unknown factors like state and federal assistance or health care costs, they should guess a little lower. He added that he would give them an "F" for budget presentation.
There are still some unknowns in the Danbury education budget, including how much funding is coming from the state. Mayor Mark Boughton says the Education Cost Sharing formula is unbalanced. He says the one factor in the Education Cost Sharing formula that helps Danbury, has been taken out. That's the number of English Language Learnings students in a district partially determining how much funding each municipality gets.
Boughton says the reason it was taken out was to give West Hartford more money. He says that's the problem with funding education in the state.
He also wants the legislature to explain why New Britain, the 8th largest city in the state, receives $75 million for education aid while Danbury, the 7th largest, receives just $23 million. He says the City has more students than New Britain, but gets less than a third of the funding.
A car versus telephone pole accident has led to drunk driving charges against a Danbury woman. Danbury Police responded to an accident on Grand Street late Sunday evening to find that a driver had crashed into a telephone pole.
Officers saw 45-year old Charlene Anderson walking away from the car just after 10pm. She showed signs of being drunk so officers administered field sobriety tests, which Anderson failed. She was charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to drive right and evading responsibility.
Anderson was released on $500 bond for a May 16th court appearance.
A car versus tree accident has led to drunk driving charges against a Danbury man. Danbury Police responded to an accident on Town Hill Avenue late yesterday evening to find that a driver had crashed into a tree.
Officers say 48-year old Ruben Gonzalez showed signs of being drunk so officers administered field sobriety tests, which he failed. Gonzalez was charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to drive right, operating without a license, failure to carry registration and failure to carry insurance.
He was held on bond.
A Danbury man causing a scene at a City bar refuses to leave the property and is arrested. There was a disturbance reported at Molly Darcys early Saturday morning. Police responded to the Mill Plain Road bar just after 1am and found security struggling with a man on the front sidewalk.
Security told officers that they wanted 23-year old San McNamara off the property because he had caused a disturbance inside the bar. Officers asked the man to leave several times, but he refused.
McNamara was then arrested and charged with breach of peace. He was released on $250 bond for a court appearance next Monday.
The Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury has received a $25,000 forgiveable loan from the City. The money will be used to cover a shortfall in the current fiscal year that was created when the Community Action Center of Danbury pulled its state funding to the Center.
City Council President Joe Cavo says the CACD has been involved in some controversies over its own funding sustainability and cancelled its contract with the Hispanic Center abruptly. Cavo says the Mayor has been asked to intercede with the Department of Social Services, but it's a slow process. The balance of the contract from DSS through CACD was for $128,000.
To make up that shortfall, the Hispanic Center sold property and other assets. It has raised $80,000, but is not enough to cover expenses for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The Hispanic Center said that it's also working to become a multicultural organization.
There's the Amber Alert system to help find missing or abducted children. A Silver Alert System to help find missing seniors. Now Connecticut could be the latest state to enact a Blue Alert System.
Newtown Representative Mitch Bolinsky says the House unanimously passed a bill last week that would create an emergency alert system to to alert the public when a law enforcement officer has been killed, seriously injured, or missing and a suspect, considered an imminent threat, is at large.
There is no fiscal impact by creating this system because the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection can implement it using existing infrastructure. Representatives Jan Giegler and David Arconti were also among the bill's co-sponsors.
The bill was moved to the Senate calendar on Friday.
Public hearings that were scheduled to take place today and tomorrow in Newtown about the distribution of money by the Sandy Hook Community Foundation have been postponed.
The Board of Directors is instead meeting with representatives of the state Attorney General's office to review the process that was used to determine the amount of funds to be distributed to the families most impacted by what happened December 14th.
After the meeting with the Attorney General's office, the distribution committee will announce rescheduled public hearing dates. The Foundation has proposed distributing $7.7 million to 40 families. The families of the 26 victims, the two people injured by the shooter and the families of 12 children in the two classrooms where the shooter killed 20 children.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) The six educators killed in the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School have been honored by an organization composed of Medal of Honor recipients.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society presented awards Monday in Newtown to the families of the women killed in the Dec. 14 shooting.
The society said it chose Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto to receive its Citizen Honors Medal, the highest award it gives to a civilian, after receiving dozens of nominations for their actions during the shooting.
Janet Robinson, the former superintendent of schools in Newtown, said the educators acted to protect the children and there is nobody more worthy of the award.
DERBY, Conn. (AP) An Oxford woman has pleaded not guilty to 41 counts of animal cruelty after having a menagerie removed from her home in February.
Oxford Animal Control began investigating 47-year-old Karen Desrosiers after it received a report of a roaming dog Feb. 20. That investigation led to the discovery of numerous malnourished animals.
State agriculture officials, troopers and local animal control officers seized 18 chickens, six turkeys, six guinea fowl, a horse, a donkey, two miniature horses, a goat, one pig, four dogs and a cat.
Attorney Philip Fazzone tells the Connecticut Post that Desrosiers had good intentions, but could not physically or financially care for the animals.
She was released Monday on a $5,000 bond and is due back in court on June 7.
Danbury is looking to hire some entry level firefighters this summer. The application period closes Tuesday for the position with a salary of about $52,000 year. Fire Chief Geoff Herald says Danbury firefighters are responsible for not only fire suppression, but also protecting city residents and property.
The Department hasn't hired new members since 2008 and has vacancies created through retirements.
There are a number of requirements applicants must meet including having a high school diploma--or equivalent, a valid driver's license, a current Candidate Physical Agility Test and current Connecticut or National Registry EMT certification.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
Herald says there will be written, oral, psychological and physical exams along with background checks. There will be an information session on April 30th at 7pm in Council Chambers of City Hall.
Applications are only being accepted electronically through a link on the city's website or through FirefighterApp.
As paper applications will not be accepted, internet access is available at the Human Resources/Civil Service Department, Danbury City Hall 155 Deer Hill Ave Danbury, CT 06810. A $75 application fee is required and payable online.
A local official is already staring to think about next winter and what can be done to protect the health of Candlewood Lake during the off season. New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge says in the short term there are a few things that need to be focused on, including how to get rid of milfoil. He says this winter was probably the last deep draw down for Candlewood Lake because of environmental reasons.
Hodge says scientists are looking into whether the deep drawdown to take care of milfoil is leading to quality and clarity issues. The drawdown exposes the milfoil to cold temperatures killing it.
He notes that if it is, alternatives to getting rid of milfoil have to be found.
A Kent New York man is due in court today on charges filed against him when the driver of the car he was in was pulled over for a routine traffic stop. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office reports that a motorist was stopped on Route 6 in Brewster on April 17th for a traffic violation.
The passenger, 21-year old Steven Schoenfeld had an illegal knife and marijuana in his possession. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of marijuana.
He's been free on written promise to appear in court today.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) The Congressional Medal of Honor Society plans to honor the six educators killed in the December massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut with its highest civilian award.
The society says Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto exemplified courage, sacrifice and selflessness in trying to protect students from the gunman.
Harold A. Fritz, the president of the society, tells the New Haven Register the women's families will be presented with the Citizen Honors Medal during a ceremony today at Newtown High School.
The organization, which is made up of Medal of Honor recipients, also will present its Certificate of Commendation to all of the other teachers and staff of the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Voters in 13 Connecticut communities are going to the polls on Monday to choose their mayor or first selectman and other municipal leaders.
Polls are scheduled to be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the city of Groton and towns of Andover, Bethany, Union and Woodbridge. Elections are also planned in the boroughs of Bantam, Danielson, Fenwick, Jewett City, Litchfield, Newtown, Stonington and Woodmont.
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill urged voters to participate. Elected officials make decisions on budgets, schools and land planning.
She asked voters to report problems at the polls to her office or state Election Enforcement Commission by telephone, email or mobile device.
Most general elections for municipal candidates in Connecticut are scheduled for November.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of a former aide to Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan charged in an alleged campaign finance scheme.
Prosecutors and lawyers for Robert Braddock Jr. are scheduled to start picking jurors Tuesday in federal court in New Haven. The trial is expected to begin May 13.
Braddock was the finance director of Donovan's failed congressional campaign last year. Prosecutors say Braddock and seven other defendants who have pleaded guilty were involved in a scheme that used straw donors to hide the source of nearly $28,000 in contributions to Donovan's campaign.
Authorities say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on roll-your-own tobacco shops. Donovan wasn't charged.
Braddock pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and campaign finance charges.
School safety was the focus of a conference in Hartford this week. During the conference, Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra commented on how the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary put school safety at the top of the agenda. She has concerns that the focus on making schools safe from those outside through the use of police officers and security guards is communicating to those inside that "we are in danger".
However Llodra said Newtown, which now has police officers in every school, must do what it has to do to relieve the anxiety and ease some of the pain.
Llodra says to think that 20 children and six educators could be taken in such violence in a mere five minutes is almost incomprehensible. She noted that what happened was in a school that did the right things to ensure the safety of students and staff
While there's nothing that can be done to keep schools completely safe, State Police Spokesman Lt Paul Vance says sharing information about what can be done to improve safety is a step in the right direction. He says having awareness of safety issues that could lead to the prevention of future tragedies is a good first step.
The Sandy Ground Project is an effort of the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association to build playgrounds dedicated to the memory of the twenty-six victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The playgrounds in Connecticut, New york and New Jersey are located in towns devastated by Superstorm Sandy.
This afternoon the ribbon will be cut on a playground at Fireman's Park in Union Beach New Jersey that honors Jack Pinto. The 6-year old was an avid Giants fan, and was buried in his Victor Cruz jersey. Some NFL players are expected to attend the opening.
Jack’s older brother was named as the honorary foreman of the project.
This is the second playground to open in New Jersey, the first is in memory of the school psychologist Mary Sherlach.
Ground was broken this week at an Ansonia Elementary School for a playground celebrating the life of Catherine Hubbard.
A public meeting was held last night in Newtown to discuss two possible options for where to locate a new Sandy Hook Elementary School within the town of Newtown. Currently students are attending classes in a renovated Middle School in Monroe, where they can stay until 2016 if needed. The 28-member Sandy Hook School Building Task Force is leaning toward two options.
One is to renovate or rebuild at the site of the December shootings. The other is nearby at 28 Riverside Road. No decision was made last night. The group heard mixed opinions on the two sites and even some who wanted other locations considered. Brian Engel, who lost his daughter Olivia, says he doesn't want her brother going into the building where his older sister was killed.
The group is meeting again next Friday night at 7.
The Newtown town clerk's office is open today for resident to pick up absentee ballots for the May 14th budget referendum. The second budget vote is being held in 10 days at the Newtown Middle School gymnasium.
Any registered voter who will not be in town on the 14th, can't make it to the polls because of illness or religious reasons or are serving active duty in the military can apply for an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots can be returned in person to the Town Clerk's office until 4:30pm on May 13th, or by mail by 8pm on May 14th.
The town clerk's office is open today from 9am until noon.
The traditional summer recreation season is coming up and funding for the Candlewood Lake Authority is being discussed as surrounding towns vote on their budgets. New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge says the lake's owner, First Light Power, is considering lowering their contribution to Candlewood while increasing funds to Lakes Zoar and Lillinonah.
He says a long term plan needs to be made for milfoil and he's not sure the Candlewood Lake Authority has come up with one. Hodge says in the short term he would like the chief elected officials from the five towns to work directly with First Light.
First Light has proposed possibly lowering their contribution to the Candlewood Lake Authority while increasing funds to the authorities that oversee Lakes Zoar and Lillinonah.
Hodge says First Light might stop deep drawdowns soon. Lowering the lake and exposing the milfoil to freezing winter temperatures has been the method used in the past to kill the non-native invasive species.. He says using mechanical harvesters, big lawn mowers, are one option. He notes that Lakes Zoar and Lillinonah have been using chemicals to treat milfoil issues.
A Rabbi and his wife who lost their own son to violence in Israel will speak with family members of the Sandy Hook shooting and others this Sunday at the Congregation Adath Israel in Newtown at 4:30 PM. The talk is called Building Resilience After Tragedy. The Newtown Interfaith Clergy Association is also sponsoring the event, which is open to the public.
Rabbi Seth and Sherri Mandell lost their 13-year old son Koby in the Jerusalem hills 12 years ago. Since their sons brutal murder, they have devoted their lives to helping the survivors and the families of victims of similar violence in Israel and around the world.
Rabbi and Mrs. Mandell have developed an approach to helping children cope with loss and trauma in the safety of summer camp programs. They also offer support groups and therapy groups for grieving parents. They have a charitable foundation established in their sons name called the Koby Mandell Foundation.
Congregation Adath Israel Rabbi Shaul Pravor says they will speak with the families one on one also and there is also a musical portion of the program.
For more information on the Mandells and on the work they do, visit their website.
A bill about brownfields is awaiting action by the state Senate, but a local lawmaker has concerns with it. New Milford State Representative Cecilia Buck-Taylor says the proposed legislation, which creates a new brownfield liability relief program among other changes, could have a potentially negative impact on economic development.
More environmentally contaminated properties in Connecticut could be labeled as brownfields under the legislation, but Buck-Taylor says the state is already not taking care of identified brownfields.
She says New Milford is trying to get the state to move forward with environmental remediation of the former Century Brass mill site. It's a 72-acre former industrial property that has some environmental contamination.
There is a public meeting tonight in Newtown to discuss two possible sites for the new Sandy Hook Elementary School. Students are currently attending school in Monroe at a building that was transformed from Chalk Hill Middle School into the renamed Sandy Hook Elementary.
The Sandy Hook School Advisory Committee's 187-page report that came out in April had several possibilities listed along with their pros and cons.
The Sandy Hook School Building Task Force has selected two locations to hear public opinion about. One is to renovate or rebuild the current site. The other is nearby at 28 Riverside Road, but some of that land will need to be purchased.
There are 28 members of the Task Force, which has heard mixed opinion from families of those killed December 14th.
The meeting is tonight at 7pm at the municipal center.
Governor Malloy's advisory panel charged with reviewing the Newtown school shooting is convening again to discuss mental health issues.
The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission is holding its 12th meeting today to hear from behavioral health professionals on access to mental health services. Mandatory reporting and barriers to access will be discussed by professors from Columbia, Yale and UConn along with a representative of Hartford Health Care. There will also be a presentation from pediatricians.
Last month, the commission forwarded preliminary recommendations on gun laws and school security to the governor, who empaneled the commission in January. A final report on mental health issues is not expected until later this year.
Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, who chairs the commission, said the panel seeks to create policy models for not just Connecticut but the entire nation.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) A Connecticut gun manufacturer is considering locating in Horry County after this state passed stricter gun control laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook School shootings.
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports Horry County is one of six locations around the country being considered for the plant that could hire 100 workers within three years.
PRT Industries is looking to move because of the cost of doing business in the Northeast. Company CEO Josh Fiorini said the final push came when Connecticut passed stricter new gun laws after the Newtown, Conn., shootings.
The company has been contacted by 41 states. The six finalists have not been disclosed although Kansas courted the company and Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he's eager to bring the company to his state.
A Walk to End Alzheimer's Disease is being held on Saturday. The Alzheimer's Association hosts the event to raise awareness and funds for care, support and research. The disease is the nation’s sixth-leading cause of death. In order to raise awareness and funds for care, support and research, the Alzheimer's Association hosts walks across the country.
A Danbury-based doctor's office has formed a team for the Day. Associated Neurologists Clinical Psychologist Dr Lori Wagner says the public is invited to walk with them, or if they have available resources, to provide financial support.
Wagner says memory difficulties are often associated with depression and anxiety as well. Associated Neurologists hosts a support group. It provides information about the disease and advice for caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's.
More than 600 communities nationwide hosts these types of walks annually to reclaim the future for millions. The New Milford walk is from 9am to noon on Saturday at Harrybrooke Park. More information can be found here.
A $13 million investment is being made on Danbury's west side. New Oak Credit Services, a subsidiary of New Oak Capital will be opening an operation at the Matrix Corporate Center. Mayor Mark Boughton says the City negotiated with the company for about 8 months to bring 100 new jobs to Danbury.
Governor Dannel Malloy was on hand for the announcement Wednesday by New Oak, a Manhattan-based financial services company. His Economic Development Commissioner says the state offered the company a $3 million dollar forgivable loan if they meet the 100 position hiring goal within their first three years of operating.
Another economic development announcement was made at the Old Ridgebury Road complex in March, a $90-million 10 year lease extension by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Two men have been arrested for sexually assaulting an 18-year old girl. Danbury Police received the complaint on Saturday from the teen who said she was separated from a group she was with when the men offered her help.
Police say since the teen was not familiar with the area the men brought her to the Harambee Center on West Street, which they broke into.
The teen gave detailed descriptions of the men to police who located them walking along Main Street Tuesday. 20-year old Dylan Kennedy and 18-year old Janell Jackson, both of Danbury, are being held on bond.
The pair were arraigned in Danbury Superior Court on Wednesday. The Judge set bond at $200,000 each.
Jackson was charged with one count each of burglary, larceny, unlawful restraint and conspiracy to commit sexual assault. He was also charged with two counts of Criminal Liability for Acts of another and four counts of sexual assault.
(Contributed photo)
Kennedy was charged with one count each of burglary, larceny, unlawful restraint and conspiracy to commit sexual assault. He was also charged with four counts of Criminal Liability for Acts of another and two counts of sexual assault.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A Newtown man has been sentenced to more than 23 years in prison for producing and trading child pornography.
Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Edward Wilson took photographs and video as he abused a 4-year-old girl in 2011 and 2012. He also traded hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.
Wilson pleaded guilty to production of child pornography in February and was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Hartford.
He has been in state custody since he was arrested in April 2012. State charges against him are still pending.
Connecticut's top federal prosecutor, David Fein, said his office his committed to using the full weight of child exploitation laws to prosecute offenders.
Wilson also faces state sexual assault and child pornography charges pending in Danbury Superior Court. He is scheduled to be in court on those charges June 10th.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) The police chief from Newtown, Conn. is supporting calls for a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons in Rhode Island.
Chief Michael Kehoe was in Providence Wednesday to address state lawmakers reviewing several gun control proposals crafted in response to last year's school shooting in Newtown, which left 26 people dead.
Hundreds of gun owners rallied outside the Statehouse to protest the proposed ban, which would outlaw the sale or possession of semi-automatic assault weapons and large-capacity magazines after July 1.
Supporters including Gov. Lincoln Chafee say banning assault weapons would reduce gang violence and possibly prevent mass shootings.
But Second Amendment Coalition member Frank Saccoccio, says the proposals would violate the rights of lawful gun owners and won't reduce gun violence.
NEW MILFORD, Conn. (AP) A student in New Milford is accused of bringing live ammunition onto an elementary school bus.
Police say the student, whose age and gender have not been released, was caught by a bus driver throwing the bullets while riding on the bus Wednesday afternoon.
The driver pulled the bus into an elementary school parking lot, where the school's resource officer boarded and removed the child.
Nobody was injured.
Police say its Youth Investigation Division is looking into the incident, but did not say if the student or anyone else would face charges.
The non-profit technology center is located next to the Danbury Public Library and is set to open this summer. Work started last month to gut the former Union Savings Bank branch building. Mayor Mark Boughton says right now work stations are being put in and they are laying the groundwork for all of the IT that will be needed.
The Danbury Hackerspace and Western Connecticut SCORE facility will feature educational activities and networking events.
Boughton says the facility will offer high speed internet and machinery to create objects and products. He also called it a workshop of ideas. People with ideas they want to turn into small businesses can also go to the space for mentoring.
He says the Center will have technology such as a 3D printer, laser cutters, table saws and other tools. It will be open to the public, but Boughton says there will be a monthly fee for those who use the Center.
WASHINGTON (AP) Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is said to be assuring lawmakers that 149 small airport towers, including the one at Danbury Municipal Airport, will remain open.
The disclosure came as senators put signatures on a letter to LaHood, saying that their support of the legislation was based on the understanding that the towers would be "fully funded."
He's telling them the Obama administration will prevent the closure of those towers, as well as end furloughs of air traffic controllers nationwide, as a result of legislation passed by Congress. That's according to officials involved in negotiations on the bill.
The towers had been ticketed for possible closure in June as the FAA carries out its share of the across-the-board spending cuts that took effect in March.
A spokesman for LaHood says the department is reviewing the legislation and will make a decision about the towers.
Tuesday's developments coincided with congressional passage of a follow-up bill that fixed a stenographic error in the legislation that cleared last week. Now that the letter 's' has been added to the word 'account,' President Obama is expected to sign the bill quickly.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Newtown First Selectman Patricia Llodra are speaking about school safety at a Hartford conference that's expected to draw more than 400 people who work in or around schools.
The event, organized by the Capitol Regional Education Council, will be held Wednesday at the Connecticut Convention Center.
Besides Malloy and Llodra, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra and Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance are also scheduled to deliver remarks.
Michael Dorn is set to give the keynote speech. Dorn is CEO and co-founder of Safe Havens International, a non-profit organization dedicated to school safety and crisis management.
The conference was prompted by the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
CREC is a non-profit organization that runs 19 magnet schools in the Hartford area.
The final co-defendant in a Greater Danbury area drug ring has pleaded guilty. 47-year old Kevin Lubic, a reported member of Hell's Angels, was in court Monday. He and three others were charged in 2011 with conspiring to distribute large quantities of marijuana.
The plea deal calls for Lubic to be sentenced to up to 37 months in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. Sentencing is set for July.
The others charged in the case are 50-year old Glenn Wagner of Brookfield, 63-year old Richard Sciaccetano of Florida and 47-year old Mark Mansa of Bethel.
Wagner was sentenced last July to just over five years in prison. Mansa, who also was accused of distributing steroids to students was sentenced in June to a little under four years in jail. Sciaccetano, who reportedly has ties to the Bonanno crime family, was sentenced in June to three years in prison.
An odd discovery has been made at a Sandy Hook home by Newtown Police. Officers responded to an anonymous suspicious activity report at 82 Berkshire Road Thursday. What officers found was a back door that was broken down, and inside 200 to 300 jugs.
The one gallon jugs were spread through two rooms in the house and contained a brownish liquid, which turned out to be urine.
The state Department Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was called in. DEEP Spokesman Dennis Schain says they spoke with the property owner and believe containers were put there by that person. The man's name has not been released because he has not been charged.
Phone records show though that the home is owned by Santiago Britt.
Environmental contractor Clean Harbors secured the contents of the jugs. The jugs were then taken to a wastewater treatment plant to be processed.
Redding residents will be voting on a budget next Tuesday, but as of now absentee ballots are available.
The Town Clerk's office has absentee ballots for Redding resident who will be out of town during referendum hours, are physically unable to get to the polls, can't turn out next Tuesday because of religious beliefs or are serving active duty in the military. If residents are unable to get to the Town Clerk's office, they can designate a family member to drop off the application and return the ballot.
The office will be open on Saturday from 9am to 11am to process applications.
Ballots must be returned to the office by 8pm on May 7th.
A routine traffic violation has led to a drunk driving charge for a Danbury man. Police stopped 44-year old Jose Rodriguez Saturday evening after officers saw the man speed through a stop sign.
He was pulled over just before midnight on Hayestown Avenue.
Rodriguez had an odor of alcohol coming from him and he failed field sobriety tests. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, traveling unreasonably fast, failure to obey a stop sign and failure to obey a control signal.
Rodriguez was released on 500-dollars bond for a May 9th court appearance.
Several 911 calls to Danbury Police prompted officers to respond to a Cedar Drive home Saturday night. A large fight outside the home was reported shortly before midnight. When officers arrived, they were being allowed into the house by the homeowner, but a Danbury man was stopping them.
Police say 25-year old Jeff Marra did not live at the Cedar Drive home but yelled and screamed at officers while trying to stop them from going inside. Officers asked him several times to stop interfering with the investigation. When he would not, he was arrested.
Marra was charged with breach of peace and interfering with the duties of a police officer.
Danbury Police were called to Foster Street because of a disturbance early yesterday morning. Police determined that 24-year old David Latacela was asked by a neighbor to turn down his car stereo. The Danbury man was upset and punched the neighbor.
He was charged with assault and breach of peace. Latacela was held on $1,000 bond.
On Saturday night a concerned citizen called Danbury Police from a Padanaram Road parking lot to report that three children had been left in a car. Responding officers found the children, ages 10 years old, 5 years old and 7 months, were left unattended. The officers were waiting about five minutes before the mother returned.
33-year old Thyda DeLeon was charged with three counts of risk of injury to a minor. She was released on a written promise to appear in court on May 10th.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Relatives of the Connecticut school shootings children are pressing for stronger gun control laws in New Jersey.
They'll join Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver and Assembly Majority Leader Low Greenwald at a news conference in Trenton Tuesday as a Senate committee considers bills aimed at preventing gun violence.
The Assembly in February passed a 22-bill gun violence package. But the Senate version does not include a 10-bullet limit on ammunition magazines. The state's current law has a 15-bullet limit.
New Jersey's gun laws are among the strictest in the nation. The state limits purchases, has a waiting period and bans assault weapons.
Gov. Chris Christie wants to expand government-funded mental health treatment and restrict children's access to video games.
First the contract air traffic control tower closures were put off to June 15th because of legal challenges. Now Congress has acted to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to move around some funding to stop furloughs and closures through the end of the fiscal year--September 30th.
Danbury Municipal Airport Administration Paul Estefan says he's pleased they're staying alive this year. But he cautions that sequestor budget cuts are part of a 10 year program. He says it's hard to tell what's going to take place in the next nine budget years.
Assistant Airport Administrator Michael Safraneck says the 6 controllers are all former military with a highly specialized skill set.
An annual tradition at Candlewood Lake will not be happening this summer. The Candlewood Lake Authority says the 2013 Clean Up has been cancelled. The organization says the event has become a tradition to kick off the summer where the community removes debris that collected during the year.
Executive Director Larry Marsicano says they are anticipating budget cuts from First Light Power, the Lake's owner, and the possibility of budget cuts from the towns which surround the lake.
Marsicano says the Clean Up requires a significant amount of planning time and resources that just weren't available this year. He says they had to cancel once before, in 2009, so its not unprecedented.
He adds that they hope to bring the vent back next year.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Two school districts are going ahead with plans to hire armed guards even as other Connecticut municipalities and states across the country have backed away from such a move as unaffordable or imprudent.
North Branford hired private guards in January in response to the Newtown school shooting in December and is awaiting state approval to arm them. Enfield is anticipating funding in its new budget to bring on armed security guards through the town's department of public safety.
Other districts across the nation are experimenting with a variety of initiatives that balance safety and cost in tough economic times.
Meanwhile, Connecticut is moving forward to establish a council for school safety infrastructure as laid out in the gun control legislation signed this month by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) The finance director of former Connecticut House Speaker Chris Donovan's failed congressional campaign is due back in court on charges of trying to hide the source of campaign contributions.
Robert Braddock Jr. of Meriden has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He's scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in New Haven for a pretrial conference.
Prosecutors say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on ``roll-your-own'' smoke shop owners.
Seven of eight people charged in the case have pleaded guilty and jury selection for Braddock's trial is set to start May 7.
Donovan lost the Democratic primary and withdrew from the race. He was not charged and has denied knowing about the scheme.
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) Connecticut U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty has scheduled a roundtable discussion on immigration reform.
The 5th Congressional District Democrat has scheduled the event on from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at Waterbury City Hall.
Esty is expected to be joined by students, workers, local elected officials and community leaders to learn first-hand what immigration reform would mean for people living in central and northwestern Connecticut.
Immigration legislation being considered in Congress would strengthen the border with Mexico, allow tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers into the country, mandate that all employers verify workers' legal status and provide an eventual path to citizenship for those living here illegally.
After collecting more than 1,000 tons of expired, unwanted prescription medications at previous events over the past three years, the Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a sixth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day across the country on Saturday.
New Milford Hospital and Community Partners are sponsoring a Drug Take-Back Day today.
New Milford Hospital Director of Patient Experience Damon DeChamplian says area residents can clear their home of unused or expired prescriptions and over-the-counter medications in the original containers. Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern, because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, diversion, misuse, and abuse.
Only solid medicines may be turned in. No liquids, injectables or needles will be accepted.
The event is scheduled for today from 10:00 a.m. to – 12:00 p.m. and will be held at New Milford Hospital at the the 21 Elm Street parking lot.
Other locations include:
Bridgewater Resident Troopers Office
Bethel Police Department
Danbury Police Department
New Fairfield Resident State Troopers Office
Newtown Police Department
Oxford Resident State Troopers Office
Roxbury Resident State Troopers Office
Sherman Resident State Troopers Office
two Connecticut State Police Troop A locations in Southbury
A Danbury man has been arrested after being found asleep in a stolen pick up truck. Police say 47 year old John Booth was woken up in a parking lot on Main Street Thursday afternoon. The truck was stolen the night before from a store parking lot on Mill Plain Road. He was charged with Larceny and will be in court May 3rd.
Danbury Police arrest two city residents in separate incidents on breach of peace charges. On Thursday night 40-year old Daniel Davis was charged for yelling at another person and chasing him down the street with a rock. He was held on $500 bond.
Later in the evening, officers responded to an altercation between neighbors. Police say 27-year old Raul Santiago allegedly yelled at the neighbor and pushed him several times. Santiago was released on a written promise to appear in court on May 9th.
Early Friday morning police were called to an Abbott Avenue home where there was a large party taking place. Officers had been at the address several times recently for the same reason. When officers arrived, they saw windows open and could hear loud music coming from the house.
The residents are all Western Connecticut State University students and have been cited before for creating a public disturbance.
Four residents were charged with breach of peace. 21-year olds Alexander Kappel and Christopher Daniel along with 22-year olds Michael Fraguada and Nathan Newdick, all of Danbury, were held on $500 bond.
Two Mahopac teens arrested for attempted burglary were charged with other crimes after hitting an investigator and damaging a wall at the Putnam County Sheriff's office. The Putnam County Sheriff's office received a call from a Putnam Valley resident April 17th saying a man approached his house and demanded money.
18-year old Philip DeSanctis allegedly had a BB pistol. The suspects fled without any money.
DeSanctis, 18-year old Abel Perez, 19-year old Sabrina Kurti and 17-year old Katrina Kurti were all charged with two counts of attempted robbery. The sisters were also charged with criminal facilitation.
While at the Sheriff's office, the boys became combative and an investigator sustain injuries. DeSanctis was charged with criminal mischief while Perez was charged with assault and resisting arrest.
The girls were released without bail. Perez was later released on bond while DeSanctis was ordered held on $150,000 bond.
Congress has easily approved legislation ending furloughs of air traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights daily and would save 149 contract air traffic control towers, including the one at Danbury Municipal Airport. Senator Richard Blumenthal says the bill would transfer $253 million from other Federal Aviation Administration programs.
Danbury Airport Administrator Paul Estefan says the bill's intent is that as much as $50 million of that would be used to keep the towers open through September 30th.
The FAA has furloughed the controllers as part of the government-wide, 85 billion dollar spending cuts called the sequester.
Blumenthal says this provides flexibility for the FAA to avoid more inconveniences to air travellers, threatened costs increases and solves some air safety issues.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's advisory panel charged with reviewing the Newtown school shooting has convened again to discuss mental health issues.
The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission held its 11th meeting on Friday to hear from experts on trauma, violence and mental illness.
Specialists from UConn, Yale University, the University of Virginia School of Law, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the Connecticut Center for Effective Practice addressed the panel.
Last month, the commission forwarded preliminary recommendations on gun laws and school security to the governor, who empaneled the commission in January. A final report on mental health issues is not expected until later this year.
Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, who chairs the commission, said the panel seeks to create policy models for not just Connecticut but the entire nation.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut medical examiner's office employee accused of letting her husband see the body of the Newtown school shooter has been fired.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver, in a dismissal letter to Jean Henry released Friday, wrote that bringing her husband into the morgue in December violated the agency's ethical mission and showed ``extremely poor judgment.''
Henry, a processing technician, was accused of showing Adam Lanza's body to her husband on Dec. 16, two days after he killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
A message was left Friday for Henry at her home.
Chris DeFrancesco, a University of Connecticut Health Center spokesman, says a grievance process is underway and no further information is available. The center handles personnel matters for the medical examiner's lab.
An 87-year old Carmel resident made an Honor Flight to Washington DC this weekend. Mario Antoci, an army veteran was among 90 other veterans and their guardians who went to visit the World War II memorial on Saturday.
The National Honor Flight Network was created in 2004 by a retired Air Force physician assistant to allow any veteran who wanted to make the one-day trip to the monument the chance to view the memorial in their honor. Guardians pay their own way.
There are more than 70 Honor Flight chapters in the country and more than 81,000 World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans have made the trip to the nation's capital.
Antoci enlisted without his parents knowledge and told the draft board he was 18. He spent the last five months of his deployment as a prisoner of war in Germany.
Brookfield is among the 10 towns receiving state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection grants. There is $49,000 in America the Beautiful grants for urban forestry projects.
Brookfield through its Conservation Commission will use $1,700 to plant trees on the Gurski Homestead property to create a forest buffer as part of its 2013 Earth Day celebration.
DEEP Commissioner Daniel Esty says these grants will also help implement recommendations of a 2012 report that will better prepare the state for future storm events.
The combined municipal and school budget is about $52 million. The plan increases spending on both sides by about $600,000 each. New Fairfield officials say the proposed budget would raise taxes by a little less than 4-percent.
According to budget documents, there is funding included in the school's plan for security improvements.
The Board of Selectmen requested about $60,000 for the Candlewood Lake Authority, but the Board of Finance trimmed that to $1,500. While the Selectmen included no funding for the Lake's administrative costs, the Finance committee proposed $60,000.
NEW YORK (AP) General Electric's finance arm is cutting its last ties with gun dealers, halting financing offers at about 75 gun shops across the U.S. in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., massacre.
The gunman's father, Peter Lanza, is a vice president of taxes for GE Energy Financial Services.
The December school shooting has ignited a national debate about gun laws and driven some companies to distance themselves from the gun industry. General Electric Co.'s headquarters is in Fairfield County, Conn., about 20 miles from Newtown.
GE Capital says that ``industry changes, new legislation and tragic events'' sparked it to do an audit of its 200,000 customers. GE Capital originally cut ties with gun stores in 2008, but discovered less than 75 stores were still receiving financing packages.
GE Capital says the policy change won't have a material effect on sales.
MIAMI (AP) NBA MVP LeBron James is trying to raise money for families affected by the December massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The sneakers he wore in Miami's game against Washington on Dec. 15 one day after the shootings in Newtown, Conn. are up for grabs in an online auction that runs through tomorrow.
Proceeds will benefit the Newtown Memorial Fund, through the LeBron James Family Foundation.
James' signature is on one of the shoes, and an inscription of ``vs. Wizards 12/15/12 Never forget!!'' is on the other. The auction is expected to generate at least $5,000.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut's two U.S. senators are expected to discuss plans to push for gun control legislation following its recent Senate defeat.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy have scheduled a meeting today with members of the media at the Legislative Office Building to talk about ``the path forward for federal gun violence legislation.''
The two Democrats plan to discuss the ramifications the Senate's rejection of an amendment expanding background checks for gun purchases, as well as other proposals, earlier this month.
Both senators had expressed optimism before the April 17 vote there would be enough support to extend required federal background checks to gun shows and online firearms sales. They had credited the lobbying efforts of the parents and family members of the victims of the Dec. 14 Newtown school shooting.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) The foundation overseeing the largest pot of donations sent to Newtown following the December massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School is nearly doubling the amount of its initial disbursement.
The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation announced Thursday it would increase the amount of money going to the 40 families most affected by the tragedy from $4 million to $7.7 million. The funds will be distributed by May 23.
The beneficiaries included the families of the 26 people killed, 12 surviving children from the classrooms where people were shot and the two people wounded during the shooting.
The foundation also announced that retired U.S. District Court Judge Alan Nevas will chair the initial distribution committee. The panel will be advised by attorney Kenneth Feinberg, an expert in disaster-fund management.
This is Sexual Assault Awareness month and a documentary involving the U.S. Military is being shown to mark the month. The Women's Center of Greater Danbury is hosting a screening tonight of The Invisible War.
Training and Program Development Director Melanie Danyliw says the 2012 Sundance Film Festival winner explores the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The director says in the documentary that female soldiers in combat zones today are more likely to be raped by fellow servicemen than attacked by the enemy. The Department of Defense estimates that 19,000 assaults go unreported every year; in 2011, less than 8% of the 3,192 reported rapes were prosecuted.
Survivor stories and interviews with military leadership are featured in the film.
Following the screening, staff from the local VetCenter and the Women's Center will look at parallels between sexual assault in the military and civilian society. They will also discuss resources available for survivors, and steps to end sexual violence.
The screening tonight is at 7pm at the Palace Theater.
The State House has approved a bill that would amend the state constitution giving the legislature power to make future changes to the process of casting ballots. It would also eliminate the requirement for voters to gather at a designated date to cast their votes.
Southbury Representative Arthur O'Neill says this is a slippery slope to internet voting. O'Neill says early voting and online voting is far from a fool-proof, integral and safe method of casting votes. He says that would mean never knowing who truly won elections and would leave the process open to being hacked by people here and in foreign countries.
He says whether for vandalism or by people being paid to subvert the election process for a larger and darker purpose, it would leave questions.
O'Neill says these changes to election laws will render the elections meaningless and subject to potentials for fraud. He says the fraud would be difficult to detect and once it has occurred , impossible to correct. He adds that there is no reset button or way for election officials to reimburse citizens if their votes are stolen.
The amendment would also remove restrictions for absentee voting.
A Danbury man arrested yesterday afternoon and released, was then rearrested for other offenses later in the evening. Danbury Police charged Edmond Ampeloquio with disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and possession of marijuana around 4:30 yesterday.
Police say his mother reported that her son punched several holes punched in the walls of their Great Plain Road home Tuesday during a fight about his pot use.
He was released on $500 bond.
Then around 9:30 Wednesday night Police charged Ampeloquio with breach of peace, carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia, of methamphetamine and narcotics. He was also charged with possession of meth with intent to sell.
Police say mall security called the Department to report a man with what appeared to be a handgun was in the mall after closing time. The handgun turned out to be a BB pistol.
The Connecticut Hall of Fame, established in 2005 to recognize the outstanding achievements of people from Connecticut, has four new members.
Former Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun and UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma were inducted Wednesday. Auriemma says it's a great honor to represent the players and coaches in the program.
The pair were inducted on Wednesday along with Roger Sherman and toy maker A.C. Gilbert, known for creating the erector set. Sherman, a founding father who helped draft the Declaration of Independence, moved to New Milford at the age of 22. He served two non-consecutive terms in the state House in the 1700s.
A complaint was filed with Danbury Police earlier this month about a registered sex offender. It was reported on April 5th that Neang Nuth was hanging out by his house and trying to talk to people walking past him.
The 30-year old is on probation and one of the conditions is that he not have contact with juveniles, but Police say he engaged in an inappropriate conversation with a minor.
The Special Victims Unit applied for an arrest warrant, which was served on Wednesday. Police saw Nuth walking on Main Street just before 2pm and took him into custody without incident. Nuth was held on $100,000 bond.
U.S. News and World Report is out with its 2013 rankings for the Best High Schools in the country. Several Connecticut schools are in the top 500, including many locally. Connecticut has 11 gold medal schools, 24 silver medal schools and four bronze medal schools. Students here are assessed via the Connecticut Academic Performance Test.
Weston High School is ranked 3rd in the state and 240th nationally. Ridgefield High School comes in at number 4 in Connecticut and is nationally ranked at 250.
Ridgefield High School Dr Stacy Gross has congratulated the staff. She says she is very proud of the teachers, students and parents. She says students that feel safe, secure and appreciated tend to do better academically.
Wilton High School places 6th in the state and 292nd nationally. Joel Barlow in Redding is 9th in Connecticut and 434th nationally.
Brookfield High School is ranked 22nd in Connecticut.
A complete list of Connecticut rankings can be found here.
Sean Salasevicius has been sentenced to five years in prison following by four years of supervised released. According to court documents, the 32-year old was part of a large-scale trafficking organization in the Greater Danbury area. The group also operated in New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont during 2011 and 2012.
The investigation found that Salasevicius had a marijuana growing operation in his Linda Lane home.
During the investigation, authorities seized marijuana, more than $350,000 in cash, 10 firearms, vehicles and real property.
He and 6 others were charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than a thousand kilograms of marijuana.
What started as one little tweet has grown into an all out war of words between a New York state lawmaker and a TV personality. State Senator Greg Ball of Patterson, whose district includes Putnam County, put out a tweet on Friday about one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings and wondered if torture should be used on the man.
Ball said in a press release Sunday, that terrorists play by a different set of rules and the question has to be asked of whether torture is justified if it can save lives. He said on most days New York is terrorist target #1 and that playing paddy cake with mass murdering killers is not effective.
He didn't mince words when asked if he stood by that statement on Piers Morgan's show Monday. Ball uploaded the exchange to Youtube.
The pair ran out of time and Morgan asked if Ball could stay after the commercial break, but didn't get an answer. Ball was slated to have an appearance 10 minutes later on another show on a different station, so he left. Morgan said Ball showed cowardice in the face of the ongoing debate.
Tuesday, Ball's Communication Director issued a statement calling Morgan a snake for suggesting anything but scheduling was to blame.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Newtown residents have rejected a budget that included money for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings.
Voters turned down the $72 million school budget by 482 votes and rejected the $39 million town government budget by 62 votes yesterday. Nearly 4,500 residents voted on the plans, which would have increased spending by 4.7 percent next fiscal year.
Officials put an extra $1 million in the school and town budgets to hire extra police officers and unarmed security guards to put in each of Newtown's seven schools. The plan was spurred by the shootings that killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
First Selectman Pat Llodra says she's not sure what message voters were sending. She says officials will revise the budget.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A bill establishing a bill of rights for the state's homeless population is progressing through the Connecticut General Assembly.
Some lawmakers, however, questioned Tuesday whether the legislation is necessary.
The bill, which passed the Planning and Development Committee, 12-7, spells out how each homeless person has the right to move freely in public spaces, have equal employment opportunities, receive emergency medical care, and the ability to register to vote and vote. The bill also lists their right to a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding their private property, and to receive equal treatment by government agencies.
New Fairfield Rep. Richard Smith said homeless individuals already have those rights.
Proponents say there's a need for this legislation because the homeless are often ostracized and alienated, and often have their constitutional rights ignored.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) The State Bond Commission is expected to approve funding for repairs and improvements to Connecticut recreation and maintenance facilities damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday the commission, which he chairs, will vote Friday on $1.7 million in bonds to replace metal roofs and install new windows and doors at Hammonasset State Park's maintenance facility in Madison.
Some of the funds will also be used to make improvements to the state's Marine District Headquarters in Old Lyme. The structural work is expected to also make the buildings more energy efficient.
The commission is also anticipated to approve an additional $1.4 million in bonds. Some of the funds will help close the sewage treatment plant at the Southbury Training School, which the governor's office said is outdated.
A traffic violation has led to a drunk driving arrest in Danbury. Police on patrol on Friday observed a car make a right turn on red when the intersection was clearly marked as a "no turn on red" zone.
27-year old Angel Guzman failed field sobriety tests and was arrested.
Guzman was charged with driving while intoxicated, operating without insurance, operating without a drivers license and violation of signs. Guzman is being held on $2,500 bond.
A Danbury woman has been arrested for punching a store clerk in the face. Danbury Police were called to Food Bag on West Street just before 2:30 Sunday morning on a report that a customer struck an employee.
Police determined that 23-year old Tiffany Fitzgerald was asked to leave after causing a commotion in the store. But as she was being escorted out by an employee and a customer, she punched the employee in the eye.
Fitzgerald was charged with assault, breach of peace and refusal to be fingerprinted. She is being held on $2,500 bond.
Hitting a building in Danbury has led to a number of charges against a New York man. Danbury Police were called to Liberty Avenue just after 3:30 Sunday morning for a report of a car accident.
When officers arrived, they found that 37-year old Philip Smith of Brooklyn New York hit a parked car and caused damage to a building.
Smith was charged with driving under the influence, failure to drive right and operating a vehicle without a license. He was held on $5,000 bond.
Emergency Medical Technicians were treating a patient in the back of an ambulance parked on Sandpit Road Friday night when it started to move. An unknown person had gotten into the driver's seat around 4pm and moved the ambulance about 50 feet.
Danbury Police were called to Engine 23 Fire Station on a report of a person interfering with medics and their ambulance.
The medics and fire fighters were able to get the plates of the vehicle when the man got back out of the ambulance. 52-year old Peter Prunty of Oxford was charged with interfering with EMS. He was held on $500 bond.
One of the actions being made by the Federal Aviation Administration because of the sequester budget cuts is getting rid of contract air traffic controllers, like those at Danbury Airport. While that won't take effect until June, Monday was the first weekday on which thousands of air traffic controllers are being forced to take an unpaid day off.
Senator Richard Blumenthal says preventing delays at airports should be a priority.
Blumenthal wants the furloughs delayed by 30 days to give Congress an opportunity to address options for avoiding the costs and inconvenience of delays and cancellations.
At LaGuardia Airport, one out of every five flights scheduled to take off before noon Monday was delayed 15 minutes or more. Some flights into New York, Baltimore and Washington saw delays of more than two hours.
The FAA kept some planes on the ground because there weren't enough controllers to monitor the busy air corridors.
The Connecticut chapter of The Alzheimer’s Association is hosting a Caregiver Support Group to help families and caregivers in caring for people with memory-related disorders. The gathering tomorrow will be at the Watermark at East Hill in Southbury--an independent living, assisted living, skilled rehabilitation retirement community.
Director of Health Services Denise Julian says the group helps educate caregivers on necessary skills for caring for people with Alzheimer's. She notes that every meeting is different with spouses, children and siblings sharing personal concerns and issues.
Julian says they also provide emotional support and problem solving solutions related to giving care.
The group meets the last Wednesday of every month from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. The Caregiver Support Group is free of charge and open to the public, however reservations are required. Please RSVP by calling The Watermark at East Hill at 203-262-6868.
The legislature's Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee has advanced a budget plan. Representative Toni Walker says their plan is a little better than the Governor's proposals when it comes to the impact on programs and the public.
Payment in Lieu of Taxes payments were changed a bit. PILOT was taken out of the ECS grant and put into its own grant. But the Committees ultimately cut it by $11-million
Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown, says he hopes Republicans will have a role in upcoming negotiations.
The committee budget plan still makes big cuts in aide to Hospitals while giving raises to judges and preserving most aid to municipalities to compensate for revenue losses due to tax exempt state facilities. Western Connecticut Health Network, which includes Danbury and New Milford Hospitals, stands to lose 30-million dollars.
A bill that would bring tolls back to Connecticut has been moved to the House calendar. The Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee Tuesday took no action the bill to place tolls on Route 11 in Southeastern Connecticut, forwarding it on.
New Milford State Representative Cecelia Buck-Taylor was among the Western Connecticut legislators on the committee to vote no. She wants the Department of Transportation study on issues related to reinstating tolls completed first.
Transportation Committee Ranking Member Brookfield Representative David Scribner says if tolls are put on roads, it may impact the availability of federal funding to fix highways.
Danbury State Senator Mike McLachlan says tolls on Route 11 would open the door to tolls elsewhere in the state, including at the borders.
The Connecticut Better Business Bureau cautions that more scams are likely. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is cautioning people about potential red flags concerning tragedy-related philanthropy.
About 40 of the 50 states require charities to register with a state government agency, usually a division of the State Attorney General’s office, before they solicit for charitable gifts. If the charity is not registered, that may be a significant red flag.
State Attorney General George Jepsen says 43 of the identified 69 charities involved with raising money after the December 14th shooting in Newtown have respond to a short survey. Jepsen's office plans to follow up with charities that didn't respond. about their intentions and how much they raised. The groups were also asked how much funding has been distributed and where the money went.
BBB Wise Giving Alliance says organizations raising funds should get permission from the families to use either the names of the victims and/or any photographs of them. Some charities raising funds for the Colorado movie theater and Sandy Hook Elementary School victims did not do this and were the subject of criticism from victims’ families.
People are also being reminded never click on links to charities on unfamiliar websites or in texts or emails. These may take you to a lookalike website where you will be asked to provide personal financial information. These also may download harmful malware into your computer.
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) A study by a University of Connecticut professor has found increased levels of mercury in fish in seven waterways.
The Hearst Connecticut Media Group and Connecticut Health Investigative Team report that the study by Christopher Perkins showed that fish in waterways such as Canoe Brook Lake in Trumbull and Lake Kenosia in Danbury contained increased levels of mercury.
However, in 22 lakes tested statewide where comparisons were made from one year to the next, mercury concentration declined by 17 percent. It fell from 0.41 parts per million in 1995 to 0.34 parts per million in 2005-06, the most recent data available.
But it's still higher than the 0.2 parts per million threshold for unhealthy mercury levels.
Mercury, which is toxic to humans, can attack the central nervous system and damage the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys and immune system.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) The Connecticut Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether the state's repeal of the death penalty for future crimes violates the constitutional rights of the 11 men on the state's death row.
Justices are scheduled to hear the case tomorrow.
The arguments come in the case of former Torrington resident Eduardo Santiago, who was sentenced to death for the 2000 killing of a West Hartford man in exchange for a broken snowmobile.
The state Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and ordered a new penalty phase last year. But the ruling came two months after the state repealed the death penalty for murders committed after April 24, 2012.
Justice will decide whether the repeal law bars the state from executing the death row inmates.
Former State Senate Andrew Roraback, now a Judge in Connecticut, had long opposed the death penalty but voted against the repeal bill on grounds of certain provisions in it. He said the 11 people on death row would continue to face execution if the bill was approved, and he disagreed with that. He called it "inconsistent".
Danbury State Senator Mike McLachlan also opposed the repeal bill. He said Connecticut would be at a disadvantage not having the death penalty for egregious crimes. He added that listening to the testimony of Dr. William Petit, whose wife and two daughters were killed in a home invasion, in favor of the death penalty solidified his position.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) The state Department of Consumer Protection has scheduled a hearing on proposed regulations for Connecticut's new medical marijuana program.
Members of the public can testify today at the State Office Building in Hartford, on the wide-ranging package of rules. Medical marijuana was approved by the General Assembly and signed into law last year.
The regulations touch on numerous aspects of the program such as the rights and responsibilities of medical marijuana dispensaries, security requirements for those dispensaries and rules for manufacturing marijuana products.
The Department of Consumer Protection is expected to submit the final regulations to the legislature by July 1.
Patients receiving medical treatment for an applicable debilitating medical condition included in the law may qualify for a temporary registration certificate to legally use medical marijuana.
Wilton State Senator Toni Boucher filibustered during most of the debate on the bill. She spoke for about five hours before introducing several amendments. Boucher and others introduced 48 in total, though none of them were approved.
During her remarks she said licensed dispensaries were little more than dope dealers with licenses and that marijuana isn't medicine. She quoted from studies that found marijuana use leading to health issues ranging from cancer and heart defects to depression and schizophrenia.
A Danbury man has been arrested on drug charges after a visit by his probation officer. Danbury Police say 39-year old Santos Grullon was found to be in possession of cocaine during a home visit Thursday by the Connecticut Department of Adult probation.
The probation officer then discovered evidence that Grullon also had items in his possession used for sale and distribution of narcotics.
The man was arrested on charges of possession of narcotics and possession with intent to sell, destruction of property and interfering with an officer. He is being held on $250,000 bond.
Grullon is set to be in court next on May 14.
According to court documents, Grullon had been sentenced in February of 2009 to five years in prison for a felony failure to appear in court charge from June, 2003. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail, suspended after five years and five years of probation on a felony charge of sale of hallucinogen/narcotics for a February 2003 arrest. He pleaded guilty to both counts in 2009.
A witness called Danbury police late Wednesday night to say several men just burglarized Lush Bar on Ives Street. Police responded to the area of Tower Place just after 10pm. The witness said the men smashed out the window of the bar and entered. The men were then seen leaving with several bottles of alcohol.
Officers found 19-year old Joshua Adames, 20-year old Jason Perez, 22-year old Tavon Hughes and 23-year old Abraham Muniz a short time later with several of the bottles that were stolen.
All four Danbury men were charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, criminal mischief, conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny.
Adames was held on $2,500 bond. Perez was held on $1,000 bond. Hughes was held on $5,000 bond. Muniz was held on $25,000 bond.
The legislature’s Appropriations Committee is keeping one of Governor Dannel Malloy’s most controversial proposed spending reductions. Deep cuts in state aid to hospitals are in the Democratic majority's plan.
A budget voted on yesterday by the committee reduces state funding used to help reimburse hospitals for caring for uninsured patients. Western Connecticut Health Network, which includes Danbury and New Milford Hospitals , stands to lose $30 million over the two-year budget plan.
The Committee does replenish $5.6 million in the first year and $58.8 million in the second to continue providing health insurance to certain needy parents. Malloy cut that coverage as of January 1st, when the health care exchange begins.
Friday’s votes by the Appropriations and Finance Revenue and Bonding set the stage for full-fledged budget negotiations between lawmakers and Malloy.
The Newtown budget referendum is being held on Tuesday. There will be a single polling place for the $111-million budget.
This is the first time that Newtown residents will be voting on separate school and municipal budget allocations and also a guidance question, if the funding is too low. The proposed municipal budget is about $39-million while town officials are asking for $72-million in school spending.
It's a 4.7 percent increase in overall spending.
The referendum Tuesday at Newtown Middle School is from 6am to 8pm.
A Wolcott man charged in connection with illegal contributions made to the failed congressional campaign of former state House Speaker Christopher Donovan has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.
36-year old George Tirado, who was in court Friday, was charged last summer with conspiring to hide the source of $27,500 in contributions to Donovan's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat last year through straw donors. Prosecutors say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on roll-your-own tobacco shops.
Tirado co-owns Smoke House Tobacco shops in Waterbury and allegedly provided two 25-hundred dollar checks to the campaign under other people's names, paying one back with money from business proceeds.
Tirado faces up to 5 years in prison when he is sentenced July 23rd.
6 others have pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme, including Donovan's former campaign manager Joshua Nassi of Fairfield.
Donovan was not charged and has denied knowing about the scheme.
WASHINGTON (AP) Now that he's been blocked by Congress from expanding gun sale background checks, President Barack Obama is turning to actions his administration can take on its own.
The Health and Human Services Department is starting a process aimed at stopping gun sales to people barred for mental health reasons.
Federal law prohibits certain mentally ill people from buying guns, but not all states are providing mental health data to the FBI's background check system.
A federal review last year found 17 states contributed fewer than 10 mental health records to the database. That means many deemed by a judge to be a danger still could buy a gun.
Some states say they are not reporting the information because of health privacy laws. Obama wants to remove barriers in the law.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Gov. Chris Christie has announced a multi-faceted plan to curb gun violence.
The proposal calls for expanding government-funded mental health treatment, requiring parental sign-off before minors can buy or rent violent video games and mandating would-be gun owners show government-issued IDs.
The New Jersey governor also recommended banning the sale of Barrett .50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles. But his plan doesn't address classroom security or propose limits on magazine capacity.
Christie announced his proposals Friday, a week after receiving a report from a task force he created after the mass school shootings in Connecticut.
His proposals come two days after the U.S. Senate rejected expanded gun background checks. Members of the Democrat-controlled state Legislature have proposed their own gun laws.
New Jersey's gun laws are among the strictest in the nation.
NORWALK, Conn. (AP) Authorities in Connecticut say they searched trains in Norwalk and Darien for one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects but didn't find anything.
Norwalk officials say Boston police asked them to search an Amtrak train that left South Station in Boston at about 5 a.m. Friday. Police say the Acela Express train was the only Amtrak train to leave Boston on Friday morning before Amtrak suspended service between Boston and Providence at the request of Massachusetts officials.
Police from Norwalk, Stamford and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority boarded the southbound train in East Norwalk with at least one bomb-sniffing dog shortly before 8:30 a.m. and didn't find anything.
An MTA spokesman says police also searched a Metro-North train in Darien and didn't find anything. The southbound train originated in Danbury.
A Silver Alert has been issued for a missing Danbury teen. Police say 16-year old Elianid Rodriguez was last seen in the area of Coal Pit Hill Road on Monday. The white teen is 5-foot-2 and weighs about 100 pounds. Rodriguez has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans.
Police did not provide a photo of the girl.
Anyone with information on the teens whereabouts or has seen her is asked to call Danbury Police at 203-797-4611.
A town meeting will be held in Redding next Thursday to set the date of the budget referendum. The Board of Selectmen has decided to send the budget to a machine vote referendum, so the town meeting will only be to set the date.
There have been public hearings already about the proposed budget, which represents a 1.3 percent increase in spending.
The town budget meeting will be held on Thursday in the afternoon at town hall. Officials are recommending the referendum be held May 7th.
In response to the bombings at the Boston Marathon, Newtown is providing a space for the community to gather for support, guidance and to be with one another.
Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert says as the town continues to navigate through the response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the events in Boston will impact people differently. She urged residents in the coming days to do whatever gives comfort whether it's talking, exercising, working or art.
C. H. Booth Library will be open today from 11am to 5pm for people to gather. Weekend hours are still to be determined.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A California man and his girlfriend have pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges for supplying four pounds of methamphetamine to a Roman Catholic priest's Connecticut drug operation.
Forty-three-year-old Chad McCluskey of San Clemente and 47-year-old Kristen Laschober of Laguna Niguel pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Hartford. Sentencing is set for Aug. 8 and both could face up to 10 years in prison.
The Connecticut Post reports a judge ordered McCluskey and Laschober released to an inpatient drug treatment center.
They admitted supplying meth to suspended priest Kevin Wallin of Waterbury. Wallin pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this month and faces 11 to 14 years in prison.
Church officials suspended the former pastor at St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport from public ministry last May. He previously served with St. Peters Parish in Danbury.
Monday is Earth Day and Danbury is doing a little spring cleaning this weekend. Clean City Danbury Day is being held on Saturday. Mayor Mark Boughton says it's a time for residents to drop off their bulky waste.
Volunteers are supplied with safety vests and trash bags. Bulk garbage dumping is restricted to city residents and property owners, ID will need to be shown at drop off. No commercial vehicles will be allowed. That means no vehicles with any business name on them, no vehicles with a commercial plate, and no vehicles that can clearly be used for hauling.
Boughton says a number of people have volunteered to help keep Danbury beautiful by picking up litter off city streets and helping residents unload bulk waste.
Construction debris and grass clippings or yard debris will not be accepted. Electronics can be recycled year round, for free, at the Recycle Ceter on White Street and must be brought there. Hazardous waste won't be collected tomorrow. Hazardous Waste Day is in September.
Scrap metal, tires and white appliances containing freon must be kept separate from other garbage.
Bulk waste collection will run from 8am to noon.
DUMPSTER LOCATIONS:
City Hall (155 Deer Hill Avenue)
Rogers Park (by tennis courts)
Mill Ridge Intermediate School (1 School Ridge Rd.)
For the past several weeks the Special Investigations Division of the Danbury Police Department has been investigating drug sales taking place at a Lincoln Avenue home. That led to the arrests of 32-year old Shawn Pennywell and 43-year old Robert Cherry. Surveillance at the home showed an unusual amount of vehicle and foot traffic, consistent with drug activity. Police say many of those seen coming and going from the home were known drug users with violent criminal histories.
Search warrants were issued by the court for the suspects and the house. The warrants were carried out on Tuesday by the Community Conditions Unit, Special Investigations Division and the SWAT Team.
Police say several known drug users were found in the house. Quantities of heroin, crack and drug paraphernalia were found in the possession of the two men who lived at the house and seized.
Pennywell has been charged with possession of: drug paraphernalia, narcotics, narcotics with intent to sell, a narcotic substance within 1,500 feet of a school and a narcotic substance within 1,500 feet of a school.
Cherry has been charged with possession of: drug paraphernalia, narcotics, narcotics with intent to sell, a narcotic substance within 1,500 feet of a school, a narcotic substance within 1,500 feet of a school and a narcotic substance. He was also charged with criminal attempt to sell heroin and criminal attempt to sell heroin within 1,500 feet of a school.
New Milford Police have arrested a town man for firing a gun into the air during an argument Tuesday night. Police say officers responded a fight and gun fire to find that two acquaintances were involved in an altercation.
31-year old Joshua Westlake was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, reckless endangerment and breach of peace for firing the gun into the air.
He was held on bond for arraignment in Bantam Superior Court.
Parents of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are speaking out about the Senate's failure to approve background checks for more firearms sales.
We are not defeated and we will not be defeated. Those words from Mark Barden whose son Daniel was killed on December 14. He appeared with President Barack Obama following the vote yesterday. He says families are returning home ``disappointed but not defeated.'' He said no one should feel the pain of those who've lost loved ones to senseless violence and that what happened in Newtown can happen anywhere, in an instant any dad in America could be in his shoes.
Barden said the families will return home disappointed, but not defeated. He continued to say they they will return with the determination that change will happen.
"We will always be here because we have no other choice, we are not going away. Everyday as more people are killed in this country because of gun violence our determination grows stronger. We leave Washington hoping that others here and across the country will take The Sandy Hook Promise, a pledge that we had great hope more U.S. Senators would take literally."
Barden then quoted the opening words: "Our hearts are broken, but our spirit is not."
Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was killed, calls the vote discouraging but says the process is only just beginning.
Also appearing with the President were Jimmy Greene, Nicole Hockley, Jeremy Richman and other members of the Barden family along with former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut officials are reacting with shock and anger after the U.S. Senate rejected gun control legislation inspired by the school massacre in the state, including tightened background checks.
State lawmakers recently passed a sweeping bipartisan package of measures including a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines and an expanded assault weapons ban.
State Republican House Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr. appeared stunned the U.S. Senate couldn't pass a background checks compromise. He says ``I just don't understand how you could vote no.''
Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy says senators who voted against the measure ``should be ashamed of themselves.''
Senator Chris Murphy says it's shameful that so many in the Senate chose to turn their backs on Newtown families, victims of gun violence and the vast marjority of the American public. He continued to say that he saw cowardice on the Senate floor, but has faith that public opinion is moving in only one direction and that the tide of support for gun violence reform will ultimately prevail.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) A Newtown 911 dispatcher who helped handle the chaos after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings has been honored with a national award.
Robert Nute was honored in Newtown Wednesday as the national winner of the Smart Telecommunicator Awards. He was among 12 finalists chosen from hundreds of nominations.
Nute was humble in accepting the award, saying he just did his job like dispatchers in any other town would have done.
The award is given by software company Rave Mobile Safety, the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies and the Denise Amber Lee Foundation.
Also Wednesday, the Association of Public Safety Officials awarded the entire Newtown dispatch team a plaque honoring them as Dispatch Center of the Year.
Twenty students and six adults were killed in the December shootings.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Republican Mark Greenberg has entered the race for Connecticut's 5th Congressional District, eight months after losing the GOP primary for the same seat.
Greenberg says he filed the required paperwork to run for the 2014 Republican nomination for the House of Representatives post now held by freshman Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty. He's the first person in the northwestern Connecticut district to announce his candidacy.
The Litchfield real estate developer also ran for the 5th District seat in the past two elections. He lost last year's GOP primary to Andrew Roraback.
Greenberg criticized the current members of Congress for not doing enough to reduce the national debt and for being more concerned about re-election than helping struggling families.
A new Breast Imaging Center is open in Danbury to replace the diagnostic imaging done at Danbury Hospital. The Center on Germantown Road is a bigger space that's staffed by certified technologists and board-certified radiologists.
Western Connecticut Health Network Breast Care Program Director Dr. Valerie Staradub says the Breast Navigator at the imaging center will help guide women through the diagnostic process. She says screening mammography is often the initial point of access to the services provided by the Breast Care program.
Dr. Staradub says the Center will provide all aspects of imaging care from mammography to biopsy services. The center has state of the art technology and plans to incorporate new technology soon.
She notes that women often feel more comfortable coming to a place that's not a hospital because many of the people they see aren't sick, but coming in for routine screenings.
An event is being held at Western Connecticut State University tonight to mark the one year anniversary of Connecticut abolishing the death penalty. Marilyn Kain, whose husband is an adjunct professor of Justice and Law Administration, is organizing the celebration.
Her husband George has traveled across the country and across the globe to advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty.
The keynote speakers are a Hartford Reverend who's son was murdered at the age of 24 and his son's killer. Reverend Walt Everett and Mike Carlucci have appeared at a number of events together.
Tonight's event is at 5:30 at the Campus center Ballroom on the Westside campus.
The national initiative is designed to help consumers better manage personal finances through free programs and activities. The events in Brookfield are being held on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
On Monday a program called the Key to Affordable Housing will be held at 7pm. The Connecticut Finance Housing Authority, which offers mortgage programs and assistance for first time homebuyers and others will discuss all of the programs they offer.
Wednesday April 24th at 7:30 Brookfield Library will host a panel discussion with Entrepreneurial Moms sharing their secrets for success. There will be four moms with different business ventures sharing their stories and advice.
On Thursday at 7pm, Brookfield residents will learn how to spot frauds, scams and identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission reports that more than 30 million Americans fall victim to fraud each year and that individuals are 40 times more likely to be defrauded than to have a car stolen or home burglarized.
The panel will also talk about how to limit the harm if you are an identity theft victim.
MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) Connecticut officials will be honoring the good work of state environmental conservation police officers.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has scheduled an awards ceremony for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Connecticut State Police Museum in Meriden.
Department Commissioner Daniel Esty says awards will be given this year to 11 environmental conservation officers who responded to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December. A gunman killed 20 first-graders, six adults and himself at the school, after shooting his mother to death at their home.
Esty said the 11 officers helped evacuate the school and search the building.
Also receiving awards are three DEEP emergency dispatchers and the Maine Warden Service critical incident stress debriefing team.
BOSTON (AP) Laura Nowacki had rushed to help the shooting victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. As a first responder, the pediatrician was stunned at the horror she encountered.
Just four months later, she hurried out of Boston with her husband and four children, anxious to keep them safe after the deadly explosions near the finish line of the historic marathon she had just completed.
The race was supposed to help Nowacki recover from the shock of the Newtown shootings that killed 20 children and six educators and from which her 10-year-old daughter fled uninjured. Instead, it brought the painful memories back.
About 40 minutes after she completed the Boston Marathon on Monday, two explosions near the finish line killed three people and injured more than 170.
Governor Dannel Malloy has ordered U.S. and Connecticut flags to fly at half-staff in honor of the victims of Monday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton says the city is on heightened alert and follows a security protocol set up by homeland security.
Metro North increased security along the commuter railroad in response to the bombings.
The 26th mile of the Boston Marathon was dedicated to Newtown victims. Karen Alexander, of Sandy Hook, who was scheduled to run but stayed home, said she heard from all the local participants, and they were safe. Alexander said the group completed the race before the explosions.
A Danbury man has been arrested after fighting with his landlord over cable. Danbury Police were called to a city home on Saturday on a report of an argument. 50-year old Gary Ross allegedly became upset when his landlord shut the cable off.
He then went outside and ripped all of the cable wires off the house causing significant damage. He was charged with breach of peace and criminal mischief.
Ross was released on a written promise to appear in court on the 25th.
On Saturday afternoon, police patrolling the area of Patch Street saw a car with heavily tinted windows. The car was stopped and the driver, 21-year old Martel Gibson of Danbury got out of the car and approached the officers. K9 Koda was alerted to something in the car. The police dog found marijuana and cocaine.
Gibson's two young children were in the vehicle at the time.
Gibson was charged with possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a housing project, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of marijuana and possession of narcotics. He was also charged with two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
Gibson was held on $100,000 bond for arraignment. The state Department of Children and Families was notified and the children were released to a family member.
A Georgia-based company has been selected by Danbury schools to act as a consultant on school security. Safe Havens International, which has conducted more than 2,500 school safety assessments, was selected by the Danbury Board of Education.
The company charges a $34,000 fee.
The company says they have developed state-wide school safety security, climate, culture and emergency preparedness assessment approaches for the states of Georgia, Indiana, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
MONROE, Conn. (AP) Monroe police say they charged a woman with driving under the influence after she blacked out while driving her 4-year-old daughter to day care.
The Connecticut Post reports that 32-year-old Melissa Pinto of Newtown was charged with DUI, evading responsibility and risk of injury to a minor last Thursday.
Police say Pinto told them she suffers from narcolepsy, which causes people to suddenly fall asleep. But officers say she admitted to taking several medications before getting in her car with her daughter, including oxycodone.
Authorities say Pinto drove across a local resident's lawn on her way to her daughter's day care, where she was arrested. The resident followed Pinto to the day care.
State child welfare officials took custody of Pinto's daughter. It's not clear if Pinto has lawyer.
BETHEL, Conn. (AP) A Bethel restaurant co-owner is denying criminal charges accusing him of raping two waitresses.
Bethel police say 50-year-old town resident Tony Fernandes turned himself in Friday and was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault. He posted $200,000 bail and is due in Danbury Superior Court on April 23.
Fernandes is a co-owner of Tonelli's Restaurant. Police say he raped a 20-year-old waitress in a storage room in the restaurant in December 2011 and raped a 26-year-old waitress in an office in October 2011.
Police say Fernandes told them the sex was consensual.
Fernandes' lawyer, Eugene Zingaro, says his client denies the allegations and is shocked by them. Zingaro says Fernandes is a respected businessman and law-abiding community member with no criminal record.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut officials say 43 charities that collected funds after the Newtown school shooting report raising nearly $20.4 million and distributing nearly $2.9 million of that money.
State Attorney General George Jepsen and Consumer Protection Department Commissioner William Rubenstein said Tuesday that they identified 69 charities involved with raising money after the Dec. 14 massacre. Each were contacted by letter and asked to respond to a short survey.
Jepsen's office plans to follow up with charities that didn't respond.
The foundation handling the largest charitable fund, worth $11 million, voted this month to release $4 million to a distribution committee that has not yet been named.
That $4 million is expected to be dispersed directly to families of the victims, 12 children who escaped and two people who were injured.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Parents, Jeremy Richman and Jennifer Hensel were plunged into grief when their only child, 6-year-old Avielle, was killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As scientists, they wanted answers about what could lead a person to commit such violence.
The couple believes it's unlikely there ever will be a full answer explaining why a man gunned down 26 people inside the Newtown, Conn., school last year. But they feel more research into brain health - and how a propensity for violence is manifested - could help prevent future tragedies.
"When we started reaching out to scientists to talk about the underpinnings of violence and how this particular factor played a role in what happened to us, there is some, but no real, research going on this field," Hensel said.
On Monday, they announced a scientific advisory board for the Avielle Foundation, which was established with the goal of reducing violence. While some other victims' families have immersed themselves in the push for tighter gun restrictions, Avielle Richman's parents see the foundation named for their curly-haired daughter as their response to a tragedy that has launched advocacy work on many fronts, including school safety and mental illness.
The Dec. 14 massacre was carried out by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who killed 20 first-graders and six educators inside the school with a military-style semi-automatic rifle before committing suicide. The isolated, socially awkward Lanza played first-person shooter video games in a weapon-filled house where he lived with his mother, according to search warrants released last month, but authorities have not described a possible motive or released details of any medical condition that might shed light on his actions.
Avielle, a girl who loved horses, Harry Potter and the color red, had moved to Connecticut with her family about two years before the shooting. Her father kept a blog called "Avielle's Adventures," telling friends about a trip to a Thanksgiving Day parade, her 6th birthday at a horse stable, a road trip to Iowa.
Jeremy Richman is a researcher at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. Hensel, his wife, is a medical writer with her own company. The foundation is a way for them to harness their training and skills - and to channel their grief.
"I think the best way to help from a tragedy such as this is by action where your strengths lie," Hensel said. "This is our motivation now. We will never stop being parents to Avielle."
The Avielle foundation, funded through donations and grants, aims to raise $5 million this year and begin reviewing its first grant applications later this year.
One member of the foundation's advisory board, Terrie E. Moffitt, said science on the origins of violence has been neglected by federal agencies that provide research grants.
"Families of individuals with autism, ADHD, learning problems or schizophrenia demand that funding agencies support research into these disorders," said Moffitt, a neuroscience professor at Duke University and at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. "Families of violent individuals don't."
The other members of the board announced Monday are R. John Krystal, chair of the psychiatry department at the Yale University School of Medicine, and James Blair, chief of the unit on affective cognitive neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health.
The Avielle Foundation says it hopes to remove stigmas for people seeking mental health aid, develop the concept of a "brain health check-up," and identify behavioral and biochemical diagnostics for detection of people at risk of violent behaviors.
There is a public hearing tonight in Danbury on the Mayor's proposed budget. Residents are being urged to attend the 7pm hearing at City Hall to discuss the budget and $3-million in proposed bonding.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton has proposed a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes a $7.5 million spending increase, or 3.3 percent. Much of the increase is due to health insurance costs. As of now, the proposed budget would not increase property taxes on 60-percent of residents. There is however a 19-percent hike in the mill rate because of the state-mandated reval.
City Council Minority Leader Tom Saadi says he hopes residents will attend the public hearing to voice their concerns or support for various proposals.
The budget plan includes $2.2 million for road repairs, funding for Still River dredging and patrol cars. 25 of the 56 vacant positions in city government will go unfilled to save $2-million in spending. Boughton is keeping a tax freeze in place for eligible seniors.
The sewer and water rates are not slated to increase.
The Education system will be getting an additional $3.1 million. That funding must be used, in part, to pay for school security measures and mental health care. All-day kindergarten, which was started in many elementary schools in the City, will be expanded to King Street Primary, Ellesworth Avenue and South Street Schools.
Committees of the General Assembly have all voted which bills would go further in the legislative process, and which would be put off. One bill not forwarded by the Transportation Committee this session would have banned smoking in a car when a child younger than 6 is a passenger.
Committee member Wilton State Senator Toni Boucher says it's like going into someone's home and that's too far reaching. She says smoking is restricted in public places, but the question is whether a car is a public place or not.
Boucher says the state does a good job of educating kids on the dangers of tobacco.
Representative Henry Genga and 6 others introduced the bill, calling it a matter of public health, and 36 other lawmakers co-sponsored his proposal.
A concert is being held in Newtown on Friday to continue to raise money for the restoration and renovation of Edmund Town Hall Theater. "Live at the Edmond Town Hall" music series will feature Phosphorescent, a band from Brooklyn New York that's been together for 10 years.
The group leaves the following week for Europe after an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Series organizer Hayden Bates created the event in 2011.
Friday's will be the first show to use the new state of the art sound system. Edmond Town Hall was build during the Great Depression and is the only $2 movie theater in Connecticut.
The concert on Friday is at 7pm.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online and more information can be found on their Facebook page.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is trying to get his 2002 Connecticut murder conviction overturned by arguing his trial attorney failed to competently defend him.
A trial starts Tuesday in Rockville Superior Court in the latest appeal by Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel. Skakel is serving 20 years to life for the 1975 golf club bludgeoning of his Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley when they were 15.
The trial is reigniting a debate over the strength of the evidence in the sensational case.
Skakel's current attorney, Hubert Santos, argues Skakel's conviction is based on two witnesses of dubious credibility who claimed Skakel confessed.
Prosecutors say Skakel's conviction came after more than a dozen witnesses testified he made incriminating statements, including three direct confessions.
Danbury Children First is offering scholarships for kids to attend Hillside Camp in Brewster this summer. Executive Director Linda Kosko says the children, age 3 to 15, must live in Danbury. Parents need to apply before April 22nd.
The scholarship will be based upon financial need, but also based on a child's particular circumstance. Scholarships are made possible by Danbury Children First’s partnership with Green Chimneys.
The Hillside Camp is located on 160 acres with fields, forests and streams, with an indoor swimming pool and gym, farm and wildlife center featuring over 350 animals, riding arenas, sandy canoe launch along the East Branch of the Croton River, archery range, playground and pavilion. Kosko says the programs are designed to help campers to learn, grow, make friends and have fun.
Parents must be willing to contribute at least $150 toward the cost for each 3-week session their child will be attending. The regular cost per session is $850–$1,250.
About 18 scholarships will be awarded in total. Application can be found online.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Two of eight people charged in connection with illegal contributions made to the failed congressional campaign of former state House Speaker Christopher Donovan have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges.
Joshua Nassi of Fairfield, Donovan's former campaign manager, and Benjamin Hogan of Southington face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced in July.
The men were charged last summer with conspiring to hide the source of $27,500 in contributions to Donovan's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat last year through straw donors. Prosecutors say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on roll-your-own tobacco shops.
Donovan, who wasn't charged, issued a statement saying he was saddened by Friday's events and disappointed in Nassi.
Hogan and Nassi are scheduled to be sentenced July 9th and July 16th respectively.
Roll your own tobacco smoke shop co-owner Paul Rogers, Harry Raymond Soucy, David Moffa and business owner Daniel Monteiro have also pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme and await sentencing.
WASHINGTON (AP) The mother of a Newtown, Conn., shooting victim is making a deeply personal plea from the White House for all Americans to take action on gun violence.
Francine Wheeler's 6-year-old son, Ben, was killed inside Sandy Hook Elementary School. She's stepping in for President Barack Obama to deliver the president's weekly radio and Internet address. She is the first person to deliver the address other than Obama or Vice President Joe Biden since the two took office in 2009.
Wheeler says "I’ve heard people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded. But not for us. To us, it feels as if it happened just yesterday. And in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other Americans have died at the end of a gun. Thousands of other families across the United States are also drowning in our grief."
She asks for help to do something, in her words, ``before our tragedy becomes your tragedy.''
Wheeler then talked about the place where she heard the news about her son.
"Sometimes, I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Firehouse for the boy who would never come home – the same firehouse that was home to Ben’s Tiger Scout Den 6. But other times, I feel Ben’s presence filling me with courage for what I have to do – for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon."
In the Republican address, congresswoman Jackie Walorski of Indiana criticizes Obama's budget blueprint as a blank check for more spending and debt.
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal is defending an electronic fundraising appeal sent to supporters that refers to the elementary school massacre in Newtown.
Appearing at the University of Hartford on Friday, Blumenthal said he's been ``immersed in advocating for sensible, commonsense, preventive measures dealing with gun violence'' and ``the outreach was in support of that cause.''
The email mentions ``the horror of the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre of 20 beautiful children and six dedicated educators in Newtown'' and how Blumenthal has ``focused on serving as a leader in the national effort'' for meaningful gun reform. It then asks supporters to contribute $5.
Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. said Blumenthal's appeal ``was at best insensitive.''
A New Haven Register editorial Thursday called Blumenthal's fundraising message ``tasteless as it gets.''
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Marathon is honoring the victims of the Newtown, Conn., shooting with a special mile marker in Monday's race.
Boston Athletic Association president Joanne Flaminio said there was "special significance" to the fact that the race is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died at Sandy Hook Elementary school.
Laura Nowacki, a spokeswoman for the Newtown Strong Fund, says the runners will hit Heartbreak Hill knowing it's nothing like the pain felt by the runners back home. She says, "It's just running, but we want our steps to count."
The mile marker that will hang at the end of the 26th mile will feature the city seal surrounded by 26 stars, one for each victim.
There will also be 26 seconds of silence at the start before the race.
Connecticut hospital workers took to the state capital yesterday to lobby against proposed cuts in state aid. Governor Malloy's two-year budget plan cuts state aid to hospitals by $550 million.
Danbury State Senator Mike McLachlan and others in the delegation met with representatives of Danbury and New Milford Hospitals.
Among those at the state capital was Danbury Hospital Nurse Andy Hull. He was shot and wounded by an elderly male patient in 2010. Hull, a former Marine, protected his co-workers while subduing the man who carried a gun into the building and hid it under his hospital gown.
Western Connecticut Health Network President and CEO Dr John Murphy says they are looking at a 30 million cut. He says they will be forced to scale back on programs and services, including those for low-income families and mental health services. Murphy says among these would be several community clinic programs, many of the patients who need care most are those who lose care first.
Murphy says they are looking at a 30 million cut. Gov.Malloy says hospitals can absorb the cuts because of additional revenue we will receive from the Affordable Health Care Act through newly insured patients. But Dr. Murphy says the care provided to patients on government-sponsored plans, such as Medicare and Medicaid, will likely receive the lowest reimbursements, and will not cover the cost of the services.
McLachlan says state government is not cutting its spending, but instead calling on hospitals to take the brunt of cuts. He calls that imbalanced and says it should be reconsidered.
The Exchange Club of Danbury has held its 15th annual Police Officer of the Year Award. This year's Officer of the Year is Detective Rachel Halas, a 17-year veteran of the Department.
She started in the Patrol Division and worked her way through Community Services Division Bike Patrol up to Detective in 2000. Selection Committee Chair Joseph DaSilva says Halas currently works in the Special Victims Unit, which had been the Youth Bureau.
DaSilva says Detective Halas’s police work frequently involves investigating heinous crimes committed against children and has resulted in the removal of violent criminals from the streets. He says her work with outside social agencies has also been instrumental in improving care provided for families in Danbury.
Detective Halas has taken active leadership roles in community activities such as the Special Olympics Tip-a-Cop and Torch Run events, PAL charity fundraisers, as well as the Danbury Fire Department’s Annual Children’s Fishing Derby among others.
DaSilva says it's obvious of the pride and respect she has for her job. He adds that Detective Halas constantly and consistently demonstrates her commitment to the community in which she works and lives.
The Special Investigations Division has been looking into illegal narcotic sales by James Davis over the last several months and found the 36-year old had been using his car and cell phone to make the sales.
Search warrants were issued by the court and carried out on Thursday. Officers, including the SWAT Team noticed Davis leaving the methadone clinic on Beaver Brook Road and carried out one of the warrants.
Davis had several packets of heroin on him.
Further searches found a substantial amount of heroin in his home as well as handguns, which he is disqualified from possessing, including one that was stolen.
Davis was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of narcotics, possession of a controlled substance, possession of narcotics with intent to sell and larceny. He was also charged with three counts of criminal possession of a revolver.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Three gun rights organizations, including the National Rifle Association, are joining forces to challenge Connecticut's new gun control law in court.
Scott Wilson, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said Thursday that his organization, the NRA and the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen are raising funds from gun clubs, gun shops and individuals to help finance a legal team.
Last week, the General Assembly passed and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law a wide-ranging bill that bans the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines, expands the state's assault weapons ban, and imposes other restrictions on gun owners. Malloy contends package is ``on a strong footing.''
On Thursday, New London resident Scott Ennis filed the first lawsuit challenging the new law. He's the founder of the Disabled Americans for Firearms Rights.
EAST WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) An attorney for a Connecticut gun shop that legally sold weapons to the Newtown school shooter's mother years ago says federal authorities didn't think violations warranted revoking the owner's license until after the massacre.
Robert Altchiler, attorney for Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor, said Thursday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was discussing a temporary shutdown of the store last year. He says the revocation came about a week after the massacre in which Adam Lanza killed 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
An ATF spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
The documents accuse Riverview of committing more than 500 violations and say the licensee received 11 instances of instruction from ATF dating back to 2004 on how to comply with federal firearms laws.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Two of eight people charged in connection with illegal contributions made to the failed 5th Congressional District campaign of former state House Speaker Christopher Donovan are expected to plead guilty.
Joshua Nassi of Fairfield, Donovan's former campaign manager, and Benjamin Hogan of Southington have change of plea hearings scheduled today in federal court in New Haven. They are expected to plead to a single conspiracy count that carries up to five years in prison.
The defendants were charged last summer with conspiring to hide the source of $27,500 in contributions to Donovan's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat last year through straw donors. Prosecutors say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on roll-your-own tobacco shops.
The state Department of Transportation has finalized the timing of the crossing gates at Long Ridge Road in Redding at the Metro North railroad tracks. Crews were on site Tuesday to finish work at the new gates, which were installed following a fatal accident in December.
Driver, 19-year old Jausheema Perkins of Danbury, succumbed to her injuries several days after the accident. 21-year old Wayne Balacky of Danbury, a passenger in the car and Perkins boyfriend was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two passengers were seriously injured.
The installation was also part of a future signalization project along the branch line, though the gates will be moved to the original proposed location in the future when intersection realignment work is also done.
The interim Superintendent of Newtown schools is set to start next month. At the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night it was decided to have Dr John Reed start May 6th. Reed is a former Newtown Superintendent of Schools.
May 6th will also be the final day in office for Dr Janet Robinson.
She will be taking paid vacation days through the end of June, and will be paid for 21 remaining vacation days owed.
Robinson verbally agreed to take the same position in Stratford on December 13th. She formally submitted her resignation to the Board of Education in March.
Wednesday was the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities' annual Day on the Hill event. Mayors and First Selectmen from across the state were at the capital to lobby lawmakers about Governor Malloy's proposed budget.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton was among those in Hartford.
In addition to the proposed elimination of the car property tax on most vehicles, Boughton says he is concerned with the proposed elimination of PILOT money. PILOT, or Payment In Lieu Of Taxes, is a reimbursement to municipalities for hosting facilities like Danbury Hospital and Western Connecticut State University.
Boughton says Danbury also never really receives its fair share of education funding.
Danbury police were called to the intersection of Maple Avenue and Patch Street around 8 o'clock Monday night for a serious collision involving a pedestrian. Police say Eulario Vasquez of Danbury was crossing Maple Avenue and was struck by a car.
The driver, Jack DeCarvalho also of Danbury, was in the left lane. He told police he did not see Vasquez as he walked in front of the vehicle.
Vasquez was treated and released from Danbury Hospital's Emergency Room.
Police say speed was not a factor, but any witness is asked to call Sgt Rory DeRocco at 203-797-2157.
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut gun maker has announced it intends to leave the state following the passage of gun-control legislation it says tramples on the rights of citizens and does not show enough consideration for the industry.
Bristol-based PTR says in a statement posted on its website that it has not decided where it will move but it has commitments from most employees to relocate. The company makes military-style rifles and employs more than 40 people.
PTR Vice President John McNamara said Wednesday that it expects to make a more formal announcement about a move within six weeks.
Several Connecticut gun makers have indicated they were considering a move after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy last week signed the law imposing new restrictions on weapons and large capacity magazines.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut hospitals are organizing a day at the Capitol to lobby against proposed cuts in state aid.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's two-year, $44 billion budget plan cuts state aid to hospitals by $208 million in the first year and $342 million in the second year.
The Malloy administration says that as Medicaid expands and health insurance exchanges are put in place, the number of uninsured will decrease in a few years. As a result, uncompensated care by hospitals will shrink.
The administration says the state is still spending $1.6 billion despite the cuts.
Hospitals say the budget cuts would lead to reductions in jobs, programs and services and shift health care costs to businesses, leading to higher premiums for families.
Western Connecticut Health Network President and CEO Dr. John Murphy says the Governor's proposal calls for unprecedented cuts to patient care reimbursements that, over the next two years, total more than $550 million to hospitals statewide and $30 million to Western Connecticut Health Network. He says these cuts could devastate the hospitals and agencies that provide health and human services in Connecticut. Every patient, physician, hospital employee and community in the state will feel the impact.
Murphy says the Governor indicates that hospitals can easily absorb the cuts because of additional revenue we will receive from the Affordable Health Care Act through newly insured patients, but the fact is the care we provide for patients on government-sponsored plans, such as Medicare and Medicaid, will likely receive the lowest reimbursements, and will not cover the cost of the services we provide.
The $30 million reduction in reimbursements - added to the millions of dollars in new taxes and the $4.8 million in cuts faced in December means Western Connecticut Health Network will be forced to scale back on programs and services, including those for low-income families and mental health services. Murphy says among these would be several community clinic programs, many of the patients who need care most are those who lose care first.
Murphy says if Western Connecticut Health Network is forced to cut programs and services, it cannot sustain current levels of employment.
In 2012, Western Connecticut Health Network subsidized this care by more than $25 million.
Murphy says in order to bolster earnings, they sold inpatient dialysis service and retail pharmacy, and captured nearly 60% of our earnings from investment performance. Western Connecticut Health Network missed their budget last year by $7 million and did not achieve the 3% operating margin typically needed to receive the best credit rating.
Murphy says the Hospital can't count on investments to grow at the same rate each year. He notes that the Hospital doesn't have any more services to sell.
56-year old Fred Stevens was ordered to 12 months and a day in jail followed by three years of supervised release, the first three months in home confinement. He must also pay a $7,500 fine.
U.S. Attorney spokesman Tom Carson says Stevens was a Westport mortgage broker who participated in the scheme with William Trudeau Junior and others.
They submitted loan applications for various Fairfield County properties. Carson says the co-conspirators used fake income information to get loans on properties they would not have otherwise been qualified to purchase. The group wanted the loans in order to develop and sell the properties for profit, and to pay off debts owed to “hard money” lenders from whom they had previously obtained high interest loans.
Stevens submitted eight such applications causing lenders to lose $2-million. He has been ordered to pay that amount in restitution.
Trudeau was sentenced in February to more than 16 years in jail.
The dispatchers from the Newtown Emergency Communications Center involved in the response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School have been recognized. They were honored during the annual statewide Telecommunicator Day Conference yesterday in Southbury.
Lt Governor Nancy Wyman noted that it was an honor to be able to say thank you. She says often times people forget these people save lives every day, it might not be as large of a tragedy as what happened at the school, but they save lives daily.
She said the dispatchers were able to calm callers down and get first responders out to save lives. One dispatcher who went to Sandy Hook as a student and his kids went there, told Wyman his account of the day.
The man told Wyman that he received a phone call at the Center from people he knew and they were yelling over the gun shots in the background. She praised how quickly he and others reacted to get first responders to the school.
State Police Troop A also responded on December 14th and Wyman praised them for their work as well.
The Time is Now. That was the rallying cry in downtown Danbury as a group of immigrants and supporters marched down Main Street to raise awareness about the need for immigration reform. Tribuna Newspaper Editor Emanuela Leaf says the whole system needs to be changed.
Leaf says about 35-percent of Danbury's population is made up of immigrants, but it's not known what percentage are undocumented. She notes that the line a lot of people talk about and the need to get in line, can happen and undocumented immigrants can then file for citizenship.
Rally co-organizer Carolina Bortolleto is part of a group of students working for passage of the DREAM Act for citizenship.
The U-S Senate is expected to debate a plan this week.
$4 million of the $11 million donated to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund is being distributed to 40 families most closely impacted by the shooting.
The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation will make the payments to the families of the 26 victims, of 12 surviving children from the two classrooms, and the families of two people injured that day. Foundation Board Member Attorney Ann Ragusa says these families could receive other monies in the future.
Officials overseeing the fund have faced criticism over the pace of their work from people, including a daughter of Principal Dawn Hochsprung.
Ragusa says immediate needs of first responders and school personnel are currently being considered.
WASHINGTON (AP) Two pivotal senators have announced a bipartisan deal on expanding background checks to more gun buyers. The agreement could build support for President Barack Obama's drive to curb firearms violence.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania said their agreement would help keep firearms from criminals and the mentally ill.
The checks would now apply to commercial sales, such as transactions at gun shows and online. The sales would have to be channeled through licensed firearms dealers, who would have to keep records of the transactions.
Manchin said that since the slayings of school children and educators in Newtown, Conn., both sides in the gun debate must find common ground. Toomey said he considers expanded background checks common sense, not gun control.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Municipal officials from across Connecticut are headed to the Capitol to propose changes to Gov. Dannel Malloy's budget plan.
Mayors, first selectmen and town managers have scheduled meetings with lawmakers today.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is among those at the state capital. He says Danbury would lose $11 million in revenue if the car tax proposal goes through. His proposed budget for the coming fiscal year assumes that the idea doesn't gain approval.
Local officials are expected to ask the legislature's Finance and Appropriations committees to ``do no harm'' to municipalities, and they will highlight possible cuts in municipal aid that would result from Malloy's proposed budget.
Municipal officials and others have criticized Malloy's two-year $43.8 billion budget plan for proposing to exempt the first $20,000 of a vehicle's assessed value from the local property tax. Town and city officials worry they'd have to raise property taxes to cover the lost revenue.
Hundreds of real estate agents from around Connecticut are also expected to come to Hartford to meet with state lawmakers.
The Connecticut Association of Realtors opposes increases in the real estate conveyance tax and wants changes to the state's foreclosure regulations.
The professional trade association has expressed displeasure with Malloy's proposal to increase the municipal portion of the real estate conveyance tax to help cover the state's budget deficit.
A Bethel man has been arrested by Danbury Police as a result of an investigation into narcotics sales in the city. Danbury, along with Bethel Police carried out a search warrant Friday at the Bethel home of Savuth In.
The 35-year old's home, car and business--The Full Belly Deli--were searched. Several grams of crack and powder cocaine and drug paraphernalia were seized.
In was charged with two counts each of possession of narcotics and os possession with intent to sell along with one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Two Danbury men are arrested after one nearly hit a police officer with his car on Friday. Danbury officers were off to the side of Federal Road just before midnight on Friday for a motor vehicle stop when one of them was nearly struck by another car.
39-year old Horacio Melo was eventually pulled over and charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to yield to and office and possession of marijuana. He was released on bond for an April 16th court appearance.
His passenger, 37-year old Jeffrey Esposito, was charged with interfering with the duties of an officer, possession of marijuana, refusal to be fingerprinted and breach of peace.
All of the contract air traffic control towers being closed because of federal budget cuts received a small reprieve last week when the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would not close the towers until this summer. Danbury officials say over the coming weeks they will work to keep the six controllers employed at the Danbury Municipal Airport tower.
New Haven officials and Tweed New Haven Regional Airport are planning to sue the FAA in an effort to stop the closing of the airport's air traffic control tower.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. tells the New Haven Register that officials will do everything possible to stop the closing of the tower and retain commercial service, including filing a lawsuit or joining existing litigation over tower closures across the country.
The FAA intends to close control towers at 149 small airports nationwide on June 15 because of government-wide spending cuts. Towers at five other Connecticut airports would close under the plan.
Tweed officials first have to file an administrative complaint with the FAA before suing, but expect the agency to reject the complaint.
WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Democrats continue to mull strategy for their efforts at gun legislation, especially expanded background checks.
They're holding a lunchtime meeting today to assess whether West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin has reached an acceptable compromise or has a realistic chance of getting one with Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey.
Some Newtown, Conn., families are spending time today lobbying lawmakers.
Democrats will be deciding in the next couple of days whether they should try to get Republican support or follow the shakier path of pursuing it on their own.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) President Barack Obama says the contentious debate over gun control measures ``shouldn't be about politics.'' He's warning Republican lawmakers against using delay tactics to sink legislation.
Obama spoke Monday night about his gun proposals in Connecticut, where 20 children and 6 adults were killed in a horrific school shooting last year. The shooting spurred fresh debate in Washington over gun control measures.
The president is singling out GOP lawmakers who want to use procedural maneuvers to block legislation. Obama says the move would be akin to saying the public's opinion doesn't matter.
He's also challenging the notion that gun legislation would be a political victory for him. He says the debate ``isn't about me'' and should instead focus on families that have been torn apart by violence.
Police in Connecticut say they arrested a man who pulled out a rifle-like BB gun as President Barack Obama's motorcade passed by him.
Authorities say the man was pacing back and forth and then pulled out the gun yesterday as the motorcade went by in Bloomfield while returning to Bradley International Airport, after the president's speech on gun control at the University of Hartford.
Bloomfield police have not released the man's name or the charges against him.
Police say officers noticed the man acting suspiciously and took him into custody by force when he pulled out the gun.
The man is expected to be arraigned in Hartford Superior Court today.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Newtown officials and the families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school have given away nearly 64,000 stuffed animals and thousands of other gifts that poured into town after the massacre.
An official says the last boxes of toys, teddy bears and school supplies were shipped out of the warehouse the town had been using on March 29.
Newtown officials say they have distributed all of the 63,790 stuffed animals and thousands of other items sent there in the wake of December’s shooting. The town received enough school supplies to fill 2,211 large moving boxes, and games and puzzles to fill 159, said Chris Kelsey, the town assessor, who was in charge of organizing the gifts. Other gifts included clothing, bicycles and quilts.
Sandy Hook and later Newtown families were able to pick what they wanted from the donations, through town-sponsored giveaways.
The rest went to charities, mostly chosen by the victims' families. They include hospitals, programs for children with mental health issues, victims of Superstorm Sandy even street children in India.
Tree Arrington, founder and director of REAL Skills Network Inc., said he became emotional as he watched the parents of 6-year-old Daniel Barden lug boxes of toys and school supplies up the stairs to his office in Poughkeepsie.
The organization provides educational and summer programs for underprivileged children in the area, and after their niece’s experience there, the Barden family decided it would be a perfect place to share some of the gifts.
Arrington said the Bardens’ donation allowed him to provide book bags and pencil cases to children who wouldn’t otherwise have one, as well as toys for a reading program.
Robbie Parker, who lost his 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, sent some of the donations to a group called Green Chimneys, which provides help for children with emotional and behavioral problems.
‘‘To go from the darkest moment that you could ever imagine yourself being in and being overwhelmed with love and support really does help you get out of that hole,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s been amazing to be a part of that.’’
Six-year-old Ben Wheeler’s family sent teddy bears in his memory to victims of Sandy in the hard-hit Rockaways area of New York City.
The Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., ended up with 240 boxes of toys, school supplies and clothing, which the church’s youth group is repackaging to send to India to give to homeless children there. The church became the beneficiary through the family of 6-year-old victim Jesse Lewis. His grandmother has a good friend who is a member of the church and told them about the India project.
The families of Jesse and teacher Victoria Soto, who was hailed as a hero after her death for trying to shield students from the gunman, asked that some be given to the state Department of Children and Families.
Two Ridgefield schools hace come out of modified lockdown.
The Ridgefield Press is reporting that a town resident went to their home around 11am and interrupted a burglary in progress. The white male in a hoodie ran toward the area of Ridgefield High School.
The High School and Scotts Ridge Middle School were alerted that a suspect may be in the area.
The man was described as stocky with short hair and was believed to be on foot. He may have taken off along Route 116.
Danbury state Senator Mike McLachlan and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney will answer taxpayers' questions during a 90-minute forum at the Broadview Middle School Auditorium in Danbury. The event is part of McKinney’s statewide “Fiscal Responsibility” tour.
McLachlan says it's important for the legislature and the Governor to hear from taxpayers as the General Assembly finds a way out of the fiscal crisis. The pair will discuss the proposals in the state budget, Connecticut's deficit and pension obligations.
McLachlan says in order to get the state back on the right fiscal track, the General Assembly and the Governor need to listen and learn from taxpayers.
They will then take questions. The session tonight at Broadview Middle School is from 7pm to 8:30.
SEA BRIGHT, N.J. (AP) Organizers in New Jersey have opened the first of several memorial playgrounds that are being built across the region in honor the 26 victims of the Newtown, Conn. Schoolhouse massacre.
The playground that opened Saturday in Sea Bright honors special education teacher Anne Marie Murphy.
The playgrounds one for each child and teacher killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are being built in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut communities hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.
The project, named ``The Sandy Ground Project: Where Angels Play,'' is being spearheaded by New Jersey's Firefighter's Mutual Benevolent Association. It connects the two tragedies that share the name ``Sandy.''
Sea Bright was chosen for the first playground because of the level of devastation brought by Sandy.
(Photo Courtesy The Sandy Ground Project)
Ground was broken this weekend for another playground. That one dedicated to a 6-year old boy.
Jack Pinto's playground in Union Beach is just about finished. The ribbon cutting will be May 4th at Firemen's Park. Jack's 8th birthday would have been May 6th. His older brother was named foreman of the project.
Ben drills the first hole in the cement to start the build (Photo Courtesy The Sandy Ground Project)
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) Four people are dead following separate weekend accidents in western Connecticut.
Bridgeport police say a motorcyclist died yesterday after colliding with a pickup truck at Boston Avenue and Orchard Street. The pickup driver left the scene and is being sought by police. The motorcyclist's name hasn't been released.
A 19-year-old woman died yesterday in a crash on Route 7 in Danbury. Police say Mayra Tenesaca of Danbury struck a guardrail and was ejected from her car.
In Brookfield, 20-year-old Marina Callisen of New Milford died when her car crashed off Route 7 at about 1 a.m. yesterday
A 28-year-old woman died in a head-on crash Saturdayon Thomaston Street in Waterbury. Police say Mallory Mailhot of Waterbury died.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama is trying to boost the chances of gun legislation that could be in jeopardy this week with a trip to the home state of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Obama is visiting Hartford, where last week the governor signed a law with widespread restrictions on firearms. The U.S. Senate could take up national legislation this week.
Obama plans to meet with Sandy Hook families and argue that lawmakers have an obligation to the children killed and other victims of gun violence to act on his proposals.
Senators have yet to reach a deal to pass expanded background checks for gun sales. An assault weapons ban doesn't appear to have enough votes, and the prospect for a ban on high-capacity magazines also appears bleak.
Obama is bringing 11 families of those killed in the shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School to Washington on Air Force One.
A nonprofit organization that works with the families, Sandy Hook Promise, says the president is bringing victims' relatives with him on his plane after he delivers a speech Monday on gun control in Hartford. The White House says Obama is going to say in his remarks that lawmakers have an obligation to the children killed and other victims of gun violence to act on his proposals.
Gun legislation is up for debate in the Senate this week after lawmakers return from spring break. The Sandy Hook families want to speak to lawmakers to encourage their vote amid tough opposition to the proposals.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers are declining to consider a bill that would permit physicians to prescribe medication to help a dying patient end his or her own life.
The legislature's Public Health Committee faced a deadline of Friday to vote on the bill. Supporters said they removed it from the agenda to avoid lengthy discussion or filibuster that could jeopardize other vital bills.
Supporters said they would reintroduce the bill in the next legislative session.
The bill would have made Connecticut the third state in the country, after Oregon and Washington, to allow what is sometimes referred to as assisted suicide.
Danbury State Senator Mike McLachlan says this bill tells Connecticut residents that suicide is an acceptable solution to life’s hardships. He calls it a dangerous precedent that will legitimize suicide.
McLachlan says in states where assisted suicide has been approved suicide rates have increased. 13 years after assisted suicide passed in Oregon, the suicide rate was 41% higher than the national average.
A Bethany woman has been arraigned on charges of interfering with an officer and hindering prosecution in a case about her husband, a former Henry Abbot Tech basketball coach.
44-year old Donna Warecke was arraigned Thursday and released on bond for an April 28th court appearance.
She allegedly told authorities she hadn't seen her husband in months, even though the pair appeared on a March episode of Dr Phil. 46-year old Frank Warecke, a convicted sex offender, was wanted on a probation violation.
He was sentenced last year to a month in prison for violating a court order and could be returned to jail for this new violation. Police say Warecke cut off his monitoring bracelet and was found hiding in a relatives attic in New York.
A 28-year-old Danbury man accused of sexually abusing a young child has been arrested
Police say Kyle Paul Layok was taken into custody at his Ball Pond Road home Thursday by members of the department's Special Victims Unit. An investigation had been started into allegations in March.
The court warrant charges Layok with sexual assault, risk of injury and risk of injury illegal sexual contact. He was held on $250,000 bond.
The air traffic control tower at Danbury Municipal Airport won’t be closed this month as initially planned. But it will be closed this summer. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday it has decided to delay the closure of the 149 contracted towers until June 15th as part of the agency’s required $637 million in budget cuts under sequestration.
A phased, four-week closure process was scheduled to begin this Sunday. This additional time will allow the agency to attempt to resolve multiple legal challenges to the closure decisions.
Included in its announcement Friday, the FAA said it continues to consult with airports and operators and review appropriate risk mitigations. Trade groups representing companies that operate the towers under contract for FAA filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Washington.
The agency says about 50 airport operators and communities have also indicated they may want to pay for operation of the towers themselves, and more time is needed to work out those details.
Danbury Municipal Airport say they remain disappointed with the closure decision, which will result in six controllers losing their jobs.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Longtime Texas Rangers fan Robbie Parker was trying to calm his nerves before throwing the ceremonial first pitch in honor of a daughter who died in the Newtown school shooting.
So he turned to former star catcher Ivan Rodriguez and jokingly asked if they were the only two people around, even though they were on the field at sold-out Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Friday. It sure seemed that way when the pair shared a long, emotional embrace after Parker met his goal of getting the pitch all the way to the 14-time All-Star's glove.
Parker's 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, was among the 26 people who died in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy say they hope this week's passage of a sweeping gun control bill in Connecticut will prompt support in Washington for universal background checks, tougher gun trafficking laws and a ban on high-capacity magazines.
Joined by U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, the lawmakers who dub themselves ``Team Newtown,'' in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, plan to renew their efforts this week and next. They hope to persuade their colleagues to support gun law changes. They appeared on the steps of Hartford City Hall.
Murphy said he hopes the passage of Connecticut's bipartisan legislation will be ``a turning point in the national discussion about gun violence'' because the state has shown that Republicans and Democrats can work together to reduce gun violence.
The state's largest teacher's union is applauding passage of the gun control legislation which was signed into law Thursday. Connecticut Education Association President Sheila Cohen says the establishment of School Safety Committees and Safety Standards for school building projects as well as tougher gun laws will go a long way to improving school security.
While some districts have put armed guards and police in schools, Cohen says the CEA was pleased that was not mandated in the bill and left as a local decision. She is pleased the school security measures in the bill will not turn facilities into prisons.
The CEA was also pleased that some mental health reforms were also in the bill, including a measure that calls for training to be able to more easily recognize warning signs in kids.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and 5th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty are discussing the chances for gun control measures coming out of Washington. Esty was asked if Congress will pass new controls given pro-gun lobbying, political maneuvering and skepticism about member's ability to accomplish anything.
Esty urged resident to write to lawmakers asking for common sense gun reform laws.
Blumenthal says he hopes Connecticut's new gun law will inspire Congress to take action rather than bypass the issue because it's controversial. He says Congress can pass universal background checks.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton has proposed a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes a $7.5 million spending increase, or 3.3 percent. Much of the increase is due to health insurance costs. Boughton has created a retirement incentive program that will de-leverage the current pension system of millions of dollars of required payments.
The budget assumes that the Governor’s plan to eliminate the car tax will not take effect. If the car tax is eliminated, the City will have an $11-million hole to fill with either higher taxes or drastic spending cuts.
Boughton says as of now his proposed budget would not increase property taxes on 60-percent of residents. There is however a 19-percent hike in the mill rate because of the state-mandated reval.
The Education system will be getting an additional $3.1 million. That funding must be used in part to pay for school security measures and mental health care. All-day kindergarten, which was started in many elementary schools in the City, will be expanded to King Street Primary, Ellesworth Avenue and South Street Schools.
The budget plan includes $2.2 million for road repairs, funding for Still River dredging and patrol car replacements.
25 of the 56 vacant positions in city government will go unfilled to save $2 million in spending.
Boughton is keeping a tax freeze in place for eligible seniors. The sewer and water rates are not slated to increase.
22-year old Patricia Brown was ordered Thursday to serve a 21-month consecutive prison sentence for the assault. Authorities say last May, Brown put two padlocks in a sock and hit the inmate in the head.
The other prisoner needed 3 stitches to close the wound and now suffers headaches.
Brown is serving a 30-year sentence after having been convicted of murder in 2009 in Minnesota. According to court documents she stabbed a 14-year old in the chest outside of a social gathering before getting into a fight with the two other teens, cutting one on the hand, causing severe, permanent damage.
She was found not guilty in 2009 on a separate count of assault with a dangerous weapon alleged to have been committed on a 16-year old.
EAST WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut shop that sold a gun to the Newtown school shooter's mother has lost its federal firearms license.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revoked the license of Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor, about 15 miles north of Hartford, in December. The agency didn't disclose why. It was first reported yesterday by The Journal News of White Plains, N.Y.
Authorities raided the store for undisclosed reasons shortly after the December school shootings. Around the same time, a man was arrested for stealing a rifle from the shop.
Shop owner David LaGuercia has said Nancy Lanza bought a gun from him years ago, but couldn't remember what kind.
DANBURY, Conn. (AP) Attorneys say a Connecticut jury has awarded $6.5 million to the family of a man whose death at Danbury Hospital was blamed on excessive sodium.
The Danbury Superior Court jury deliberated more than four days before reaching the verdict Thursday. A court clerk confirmed the verdict amount.
Attorneys for the family of 44-year-old Jeffrey Pattison say he was admitted to Danbury Hospital March 1, 2006 due to low sodium, and died March 16, 2006 when his sodium level rose rapidly.
Attorneys Sean McElligott and Joshua Koskoff, who represented Pattison's estate, say Danbury Hospital did not properly monitor Pattison and continued to administer a sodium solution despite the obvious danger that was resulting.
Hospital officials say they disagree with the judgment.
Governor Dannel Malloy, who four months ago broke the news to shocked parents, is touting new restrictions on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines similar to the ones used by the gunman. In the hours after the shooting Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as anxious family members gathered inside a firehouse and waited for news, Malloy told them their loved ones were not coming home. He said later that he didn't think it was right for the families to wait for the victims - 20 first-graders and six educators - to be formally identified.
Here is a tally sheet of how Greater Danbury area lawmakers voted:
STATE SENATORS
24th District Michael McLachlan (R) YES
26th District Toni Boucher (R) YES
30th District Clark Chapin (R) NO
28th District John McKinney (R) YES
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
2nd District (R) Dan Carter NO
106th District (R) Mitch Bolinsky YES
107th District (R) David Scribner NO
108th District (R) Richard Smith YES
109tth District (D) David Arconti YES
110th District (D) Robert Godfrey YES
138th District (R) Jan Geigler NO
67th District (R) Cecilia Buck-Taylor NO
112th District (R) DebraLee Hovey YES
135th District (R) John Shaban YES
111th District (R) John Frey YES
Here is a look at how the proposals compare to laws passed this year in Colorado and New York:
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AMMUNITION MAGAZINES
Connecticut would ban the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. The legislation allows people to keep high-capacity magazines they already own if they're registered with the state by Jan. 1 but limits their use to the home and a shooting range.
New York restricted ammunition magazines to seven bullets and gave current owners of higher-capacity magazines a year to sell them out of state. Colorado banned ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.
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ASSAULT WEAPONS BANS
Connecticut wants to expand its assault weapons ban, adding more than 100 types of weapons in addition to those that have more than one banned military-style feature.
New York also expanded its assault weapons ban. Colorado did not pass an assault weapons ban.
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BACKGROUND CHECKS
Connecticut would require universal criminal background checks for the sale of all guns as soon as the bill passes, closing a loophole in private sales of rifles and shotguns. Background checks also would be required to buy ammunition and magazines.
Colorado expanded background checks to private and online gun sales but did not require them to buy ammunition. New York expanded background checks to private gun sales and became the first state to require background checks to buy bullets.
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DANGEROUS WEAPON OFFENDER REGISTRY
Connecticut created what officials called the first statewide dangerous weapon offender registry in the nation. Individuals who have been convicted of any of 40 weapons offenses must register with the state for five years after their release.
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MENTAL ILLNESS
People involuntarily committed by court order to a hospital for psychiatric disabilities within five years would not be allowed to possess a gun, up from one year under current Connecticut law.
New York required mental health professionals to tell state authorities if a patient threatens to use a gun illegally.
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FIREARMS STORAGE
Connecticut wants to expand the legal duty to securely store a firearm to cover situations where a resident of the premises poses a risk of personal injury to themselves or others.
New York requires locked storage of guns if you live with someone prohibited from them because of a crime, commitment to a mental institution or court protection order and made the unsafe storage of assault weapons a misdemeanor.
Newtown Representative DebraLee Hovey says the law passed early Thursday strikes a very difficult balance between the second amendment right to bear arms and the protection of citizens that as a state must be provided.
She said it's unfortunate that honest, law abiding gun owners will have to jump through so many hoops but in response to the victims and families who were personally affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy, but that she had no option but to vote yes. Hovey continued by saying the rhetoric of the two opposing positions has pitted neighbor against neighbor, but hopefully, now the community will be able to begin to heal.
Newtown Representative Mitch Bolinsky said in prepared remarks:
"Today, I dedicate my vote to the memory of those whose lives were lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. For the families I represent, I vote yes to a comprehensive, bipartisan bill that, while not perfect, provides a foundation of common sense firearms legislation, while preserving the rights of responsible citizens under the Second Amendment. I am also encouraged to see the bill before us as a beginning in the process of addressing critical mental health issues and establishing historic school safety guidelines, giving municipalities the ultimate choice - without mandates."
"Twenty-six families and the entire Newtown community suffered unimaginable losses on December 14, 2012. I hope the victims' families, our first responders and everyone affected can sleep a little better and feel safer knowing that, through an arduous and deliberate process, we in the legislature and the State of Connecticut listened carefully to all perspectives and took action. I would like to thank every resident who spoke at our public hearings, wrote, called, e-mailed, texted or engaged me on the street, at the grocery store and even at Newtown's Edmond Town Hall movie theater."
Danbury Representative Jan Giegler says the bill does not focus on the true issue in the tragedy at Sandy Hook. In an emailed statement, she said mental health which was at the root of the rampage at Sandy Hook and that the tragedy in Newtown was caused by a person who should never have had access to a gun in the first place. “This bill package, which includes only a sliver of information about mental health and school safety, only attacks responsible gun owners and their 2nd Amendment rights. Every two years as elected officials, we stand and raise our right hands and swear to uphold the State and Federal Constitutions which I feel I would not be doing by voting for this bill.”
Giegler added: “As a parent I deeply care about the safety of our children in their learning environment but this bill has missed the mark, creating more regulation and little to make individuals safer, consequently I cannot support it.”
Redding Representative John Shaban said in an emailed statement:
"As a father, gun owner and resident of northern Fairfield County, these issues and the tragedy that prompted this discussion weigh on me as they do all citizens of Connecticut. Notably, the bill is not simply a “gun bill,” it addresses school security, mental health reforms and new gun control measures as one package. From the beginning of these discussions, my consideration and calculus has been to focus more on people than devices – and specifically, how can we best protect our children and neighbors from those who chose to use a gun to commit violence, without vilifying law abiding citizens who chose to own a gun under their inalienable rights. This has been a difficult process."
Shaban continued by saying: "Thus, as a gun owner, lawyer and legislator, I believe that the resulting gun restrictions -- both the common sense ones and the problematic ones -- are acceptable (and Constitutional) when viewed, as they must be, in conjunction with the larger package containing the reforms in school security and mental health treatment. (Indeed, a republican motion to “divide the question” was defeated on a party line vote.) I support the final bill because, in total and on balance, I think it will effect a positive change despite its remaining imperfections."
Danbury Senator Mike McLachlan says he spent many nights thinking about how he would vote on this bill. He was inclined to vote "no" before the grandfather clause was added for fears that the new law would not pass constitutional muster.
"December 14th changed a lot of people's view points on a lot of things. The preciousness of life, the priority of our lives and it certaintly affected me in a very great way quite frankly more than I would have anticipated."
McLachlan says this tragedy forced him to take pause and think about this debate in a different way than he never would have before.
"What I found was that Caroline Pheobe Previdi, who was 6 years old...whose grandparents and great-grandparents I have known my entire life, was lost that day at Sandy Hook...Under different circumstances I would look at this bill very differently. But today I am support this bill. In hopes, in hopes, that I am properly honoring Caroline Pheobe Previdi."
New Milford Senator Clark Chapin said he gave great consideration to the many different viewpoints that have been shared by email, phone and in person during several town hall meetings.
“During today’s legislative session, the final bill was shared with legislators only hours before the debate was scheduled to begin. After reviewing the 138-page document, I continue to have concerns with some of the provisions that would penalize law-abiding gun owners. While there are some worthwhile provisions that focus on gun violence, improving mental health care and school safety measures, I could not support today’s legislation since some provisions negatively impact those who responsibly use firearms for hunting, sports competition and self-defense in northwest Connecticut.”
Wilton Senator Toni Boucher said when a parent sends their child to school they expect them to be safe. She also related a story of her neighbor's children visiting her and telling about their school day. She said the kids practiced hiding in closets to see if they would fit and one tried to get inside her locker. Boucher said it's awful to think that that is what kids have to worry about now.
Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown, said he felt he was representing the interests of the Sandy Hook victims as he cast his vote. ‘‘I stand here as their voice, as their elected representative,’’ he said, reciting the names of the 26 victims at the school.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers have approved wide-ranging legislation in response to last year's deadly school shooting in Newtown, including gun control measures that ban the sales of large-capacity ammunition magazines and more than 100 weapons that previously had been legal.
Following hours of respectful and at times somber debate, the House and the Senate voted in favor of the 139-page bill crafted by leaders from both major parties in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.
The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who plans to sign it at noon on Thursday.
Some of the measures take effect right away. Those include expansion of the state's assault weapons ban, background checks for all firearms sales and a ban on the sale or purchase of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The bill also addresses mental health and school security measures.
The bill passed 26-10 in the Senate and 105-44 in the House.
House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz says he prays the bill will prevent other families from experiencing the loss felt by the 26 families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims.
House Republican Leader Lawrence Cafero helped craft the legislation. He says he realizes gun owners aren't happy with the bill, but he stresses that no one will lose their legally owned guns or magazines.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) A photo of the gunman who killed 20 first-graders and six adults at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school has been released by the college he attended several years ago.
The college identification photo of a wide-eyed Adam Lanza was released by Western Connecticut State University in Danbury in response to a records request by the media.
Among the newly released records, Lanza responded ``none'' to a question asking if he had any documented disabling condition.
The 20-year-old, who went on a shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, was said to have been diagnosed with Asperger's, a disorder not associated with violence.
Lanza took his last class at the college in 2009. He declined to answer questions in 2008 about his gender and how he described himself.
WESTON, Conn. (AP) Weston school officials say two teenagers have been arrested for bringing pellet guns to Weston High School.
The Connecticut Post reports that Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer wrote a letter to parents saying the two juveniles were arrested Tuesday after one of them was seen in the parking lot pointing a gun at the school. Police say they seized two pellet guns.
The students have been suspended and face expulsion hearings. Palmer says the school district can't be too cautious or tolerate any threat to school safety in the aftermath of the Newtown school shootings.
The students' names haven't been released because of juvenile offender laws. They're charged with reckless endangerment.
Last week in Simsbury, police arrested three Simsbury High School students for bringing pellet guns to school.
A branch of the Naugatuck Savings Bank on Main Street in Southbury was robbed just before noon on Wednesday.
State Police say a witness described a man entering the bank and demanding money from the teller. The man implied that he had a weapon. The suspect is described as being a white man, about 30-years old and six feet tall.
Police are looking for a green Honda that may be associated with the robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to call State Police at 203-267-2200. All calls will be kept confidential.
A New York man who moved to New Milford after his home was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy is on the mend after suffering severe injuries at a local masonry company in February. Scott Ackerman lost 8 fingers in a workplace accident at New Milford Block and Supply Corporation.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge says the Tunnel To Towers Foundation, which helped with the relocation effort after the storm is continuing to help. The organization has found a vendor who is going to donate the balance of the services that worker's compensation doesn't cover, to give Ackerman bionic hands.
Ackerman and his wife were among 15 families affected by Sandy that relocated to New Milford in early January. He was only working for two weeks when the accident happened.
Hodge says they are still looking for donations to help Ackerman and his family.
A Patterson man has been arrested for a home break in and robbery two years ago. In April of 2011, a Carmel resident called the Putnam County Sheriff's office to report that a number of items, including jewelry were stolen from her home.
After an initial probe by deputies, the case was turned over to an Investigator.
On Saturday, the investigation led to the arrest of 23-year old Justin Gombert. He was located at a Carmel health care facility.
Gombert was charged with criminal possession of stolen property and released without bail for an April 25th court appearance. If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail.
Governor Dannel Malloy approved the funding for the Connecticut State University System on Tuesday. The bond money will be used for CSUS 2020 projects during the 2014 fiscal year. The long-term capital infrastructure investment plan started in 2009.
Western is receiving $1 million for code compliance infrastructure improvements. There is also $4.6 million earmarked for equipment and furniture for the new Fine Arts Instructional Center. $4.2 million is being used for a new police department facility.
Western Spokesman Paul Steinmetz says there is nearly $3 million for the design phase of renovations at Higgins Hall.
Alterations and improvements to auxiliary service projects systemwide will share $5 million.
A bulk of the bond money, $71.5 million, is going to Eastern for construction of a Fine Arts Center.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers are expected to pass a package of gun control and other measures they believe are some of the most comprehensive in the country, following the Newtown school massacre.
Debate on the far-reaching legislation, negotiated by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, is expected to begin late Wednesday morning.
It could last for hours. Both gun rights advocates and gun control supporters are expected to show up in large numbers.
Some measures in the bill would take effect immediately, including expansion of the state's assault weapons ban, background checks for all firearms sales, and a ban on the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he'll sign the legislation into law. Family members of the shooting victims have voiced their support.
The mother of a child killed in the Dec. 14 school shooting says she's grateful and pleased with the gun control proposal that state lawmakers have unveiled. Nicole Hockley and five other relatives of Newtown victims visited the Capitol on Monday, asking lawmakers to ban existing high-capacity ammunition magazines.
The proposal fell short of that but did include a ban on new high-capacity magazines and registration requirements for existing ones.
Hockley said lawmakers had listened to her and other victims' families by strengthening the provision on large capacity magazines.
Tim Mackris, co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, called the bill ``a step in the right direction.''
President Barack Obama is planning a trip to Connecticut Monday to step up the pressure on a reluctant Congress to pass gun control legislation.
A White House official speaking on a condition of anonymity says the president will speak at the University of Hartford. Families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December are being invited to attend.
It will be the president's second trip in a week to a state hit by a mass shooting tragedy. He's traveling Wednesday to Colorado, the site of a shooting at a crowded movie theater last summer.
The official spoke on a condition of anonymity since the trip had not yet been officially announced.
SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) South Windsor police say they've caught the man who spray painted swastikas and other graffiti referencing mass shootings in Newtown and Colorado on the outside of the town's high school.
Twenty-nine-year-old Jason Rivera of South Windsor was charged yesterday with desecration of property and criminal mischief. He is detained on $100,000 bail and will be arraigned today at Manchester Superior Court.
Police say the graffiti was discovered Friday and included several swastikas, disparaging comments about President Barack Obama and the words ``Newtown'' and ``Colorado.''
Authorities say Rivera lives a couple of miles from South Windsor High School and has no connection to the school.
It's not clear if Rivera has a lawyer.
Town officials are calling the vandalism a hate crime
An estranged couple is arrested in Bethel on a number of charges, including assault an officer.
Bethel police were called on Sunday by a tenant of the couple's rental property because the owner, Clare Woodward, was harassing the tenant and refused to leave when asked. Police say she died go outside at some point and grabbed a hammer to start breaking windows of the garage.
She was charged with disorderly conduct.
Police say 58-year old Jeffrey Woodward, who now lives in Brewster, was called by his daughter to the Bethel home. He punched one of the officers and had to be subdued with a Taser.
He was then charged with attempting to commit assault of a public safety officer, interfering with an officer--resisting arrest and violation of a protective order. He was released on $10,000 bond and is due in court on the 18th.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would provide immunity from civil liability for school security consultants.
The legislature's Judiciary Committee heard public testimony Monday on the proposal, co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown.
Many school districts have revisited their security plans following the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Under the bill, any person hired by a school board, charter school or regional educational center as a consultant and who designs a security plan for a school or a district would be immune from civil liability for damage or injury resulting from any errors or omissions made in a school security plan.
There would be an exception for damages and injuries caused by reckless and willful misconduct.
SEYMOUR, Conn. (AP) An internal affairs investigation has cleared a Seymour police officer of wrongdoing in a car chase last year that ended with a fatal accident.
The New Haven Register reports that the investigation findings released Monday say Officer Anthony Renaldi didn't violate policies or procedures when he pursued a car with three teenagers on the night of March 9, 2012.
The accident killed 15-year-old Brandon Giordano of Oxford, who was a passenger in the car driven by Eric Ramirez of Oxford. Police say Ramirez drove at more than 90 mph and crashed into a building.
Police say Renaldi had tried to pull over Ramirez for illegal lighting on his car and ended the pursuit for safety reasons shortly before the crash.
Reckless driving and other charges remain pending against Ramirez.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut lawmakers say they hope their announcement of sweeping proposals to curb gun violence sends a message to Congress and other states that bipartisan agreement on gun control is possible.
Legislative leaders yesterday revealed proposals spurred by the Dec. 14 Newtown school shooting following weeks of bipartisan, closed-door negotiations. A vote is expected tomorrow in the General Assembly, where passage is all but assured.
Senate President Donald Williams Jr. says Democrats and Republicans were able to agree on a ``strong, comprehensive bill,'' and that message should resound around the country.
The proposals include a ban on new high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children and six educators, and a statewide dangerous weapon offender registry.
The fund is intended to provide immediate financial help for emergency responders, medical and mental health professionals, and Sandy Hook Elementary School employees who suffered a mental or emotional impairment because of the shooting.
The Program limits each eligible person to a total of 52 weeks of financial help, including any retroactive payments to cover time lost and medical expenses before filing the application.
All medical and mental health expense payments will be made directly to applicants who will be responsible to pay providers directly for services. If vacation or sick time compensation is being requested, the employer will be reimbursed and vacation or sick time would be restored.
Eligible persons can receive financial help for unpaid wages from their employment and payments for related medical and mental health expenses that are not covered by health insurance or any other financial resources. If applicants had unpaid lost wages or a decrease in income, payments will be made directly to that individual.
In addition to the medical opinion, applicants must also submit a letter from employers or the agency they volunteer for that documents being at or provided necessary duties related to the Sandy Hook crisis.
More information about the Fund can be found here.
Danbury Police were called to a robbery scene on New Street late Thursday night. Officers found 19-year old Alexis Sandoval bleeding from his throat and hands. He told police that he was walking on Spring Street when 41-year old Melissa Myers and another woman approached him and asked if he had money.
When he said no, the women allegedly put their hands in his pockets and took cash. Sandoval told officers that Myers then pulled out a small knife and cut him before fleeing.
Myers was found nearby and also had injuries. She told officers that Sandoval solicited them for sex and that it was the other woman who stole his money and ran from the area of Williams Street. Myers told officers Sandoval punched her and hit her with a vodka bottle because he was angry the other woman stole his cash.
Police say both of their injuries matched up with their statements.
Sandoval was charged with assault and patronizing a prostitute. Myers was charged with assault and robbery. Each were held on $5,000.
Bethel Public Library will be closed for much of April. That's because of construction happening on the second floor and in the Seelye House. Library officials say the work that will be done over the next several weeks means the completion of Phase 1 of construction.
New walls have been built in the historic Seelye House for offices for the Children's and Technology Departments.
(Photo courtesy Bethe Library Pinterest)
The first floor is being restored to look like the original library. It will then serve as the Connecticut History Room.
The partially finished addition has been home to the library since 2005. The project was stalled for several years because of funding and other issues.
A Danbury man has been arrested as the result of an investigation into crack cocaine sales in the city. Members of the Danbury Police Department Special Investigations Division along with the K-9 unit went to 37-year old Kenneth Wright's home Thursday with search warrants.
Several grams of crack and several thousand dollars of suspected drug proceeds were seized.
Wright was charged with risk of injury to a minor, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of crack, possession of crack with intent to sell and other related charges. There were also several outstanding warrants for his arrest that were also served.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut officials are seeking more information about the amount of money collected and the intended purposes of dozens of charities related to the Newtown school shooting.
Attorney General George Jepsen and Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein sent out letters Thursday with a short survey to 69 charities registered with the state or identified as having accepted donations related to the tragedy.
The letter says donors need information to help make informed giving decisions and to understand the purposes for which their gifts will be used.
Officials cited estimates that more than $15 million has been donated to Newtown-related charities since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December in which 20 children and six educators were killed.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Firearms manufacturers upset over gun laws and proposals are getting a message from other states: Move here, where the climate is favorable to your products and so are the tax codes.
Politicians in Virginia and West Virginia have said they would welcome Beretta if it chose to leave Maryland. Alaska's House speaker has written a resolution encouraging gun makers to consider doing business in the state.
In New Hampshire, conservative Republicans have sent letters wooing two gun companies that have voiced frustration with proposed gun laws that they say could hurt business.
Several states are considering or have passed tighter gun legislation in the wake of the mass killings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., last year.
CARMEL, N.Y. (AP) Another Putnam County officeholder is getting involved in a child-rape case that has put the sheriff and district attorney at odds.
The case has won extra attention because the suspect, 35-year Alexandru Hossu, is the personal trainer of District Attorney Adam Levy and recently lived with him. Levy is the son of TV's "Judge Judy'' Sheindlin.
Levy recused himself from the case. But county Sheriff Donald Smith has accused the district attorney of continuing to interfere with the investigation. Levy, in turn, fired back, accusing the sheriff of making false allegations.
On Friday, County Executive MaryEllen Odell suggested that the sheriff's office also recuse itself. She said neither agency may have the objectivity needed to guarantee fairness.
In response, the sheriff said Odell was unqualified to comment on the case.
The athletic director for Bethel High School has resigned after she and another school athletic director were arrested for allegedly fighting at a hotel.
Jayme McGoverno has submitted her resignation this week.
Lance Pliego submitted a letter of resignation to the New Milford school superintendent Wednesday.
Pliego and McGovern were charged with misdemeanor breach of peace shortly before 2 a.m. on March 22 at the Sheraton Hartford South Hotel in Rocky Hill. The hotel was hosting a conference of the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors at the time.
Pliego and McGovern have declined to comment. Both were place on administrative leave after their arrests.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Legislative leaders say the newly released search warrants in the Newtown school shooting help confirm the need for many of the gun law changes they've been negotiating for weeks.
Several leaders said Thursday it was chilling to learn the extent of weaponry and ammunition the 20-year-old shooter, Adam Lanza, had amassed inside his home.
Democratic Senate President Donald Williams said it ``absolutely confirms we're on the right track in pursuing a very strong and comprehensive bill.''
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr. says he expects the General Assembly will be ready to vote next week, possibly Wednesday, on a package addressing the shooting.
While Williams said he hopes there will be a vote next week, he stressed that leaders were still meeting on Thursday and hadn't yet finalized a deal.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Newly released search warrants in the Newtown school shooting have revealed that gunman Adam Lanza's home was packed with weapons and ammunition, but the documents do not shed any new light on what could have driven him to slaughter 20 children and six educators inside an elementary school.
Lanza left behind journals, which state police turned over to the FBI for analysis, but if investigators have any ideas about his motive, they aren't saying.
Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was among the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, said she has come to grips with the fact that she may never know why Lanza carried out the massacre. But she's focused on measures to prevent violence.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) A Newtown home destroyed by a fire this week was owned by a couple whose children survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December.
The News-Times of Danbury reports that Wednesday afternoon's fire left Hans and Audra Barth and their three children homeless. The American Red Cross has put them up in a hotel.
Two of their children attended Sandy Hook Elementary School, including a first-grader in teacher Kaitlin Roig's classroom. Roig has been called a hero for barricading her students in a bathroom as the shooter killed 20 other first-graders and six educators.
Friends say the family lost everything in the fire, and their pet dog and several baby chickens died. St. Rose of Lima Church is taking donations.
Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky has released 5 redacted search warrants related to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In an emailed statement accompanying the documents, he released some details about what happened at the school on December 14.
"Recovered from the person of the shooter, in addition to more ammunition for the handguns, were three, 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster, each containing 30 rounds. Located in the area of the shootings were six additional 30-round magazines containing 0, 0, 0, 10, 11, and 13 live rounds respectively. One-hundred-and-fifty-four spent .223 casings were recovered from the scene. It is currently estimated that the time from when the shooter shot his way into the school until he took his own life was less than five minutes."
According to one search warrant, a responding Police officer said there were numerous school children and school personnel located dead from apparent gun shot wounds in the first two classrooms located off the main hallway. That's also where a white male dressed in military clothing was located.
A person, whose name was redacted, told investigators "...rarely left the house...considered a shut in, was an avid gamer...played Call of Duty". This person also said there was a gun safe with at least 4 guns in the home. The unidentified witness said Adam Lanza attended Sandy Hook Elementary and that the school was "his life".
One of the search warrants was for the car that Lanza took to the school. In addition to DNA evidence, there was a shotgun with two magazines containing 70 rounds.
Receipts and emails documenting firearm ammunition and shooting supplies, printed email conversations located in the living room and books about Asbergers, Autism and the NRA guide to basics of pistol shooting were recovered from the home. Police also seized 3 Samurai swords, a BB gun, 9 knives with blades ranging from 5 inches to 12 inches, a rifle scope and other similar items.
There was also a holiday card with a check, made out by Nancy Lanza, to Adam Lanza for the purchase of C183 firearm.
Also seized were three photographs with images of what appeared to be dead people covered with plastic that had blood visible, an article about the shooting at Northern Illinois University, 1 military style uniform and a box of personal writings from Adam Lanza's bedroom.
As previously reported. investigators found a smashed computer hard drive, a gaming console and a gun safe in what is believed to be Adam Lanza's bedroom.
In another search warrant, the contents of a gun safe was detailed.
The National Association of School Resource Officers will be at John Read Middle School in Redding for two weeks this summer for a basic school resource officer course and for an advanced course. There are fewer than 50 spots for each course and is open to any municipality in the area.
The basic course will be held August 5th through the 9th and is intended for officers with less than two years experience in schools and for school administrators. Those attending the sessions will recieve a National School Resource Officer Basic Course Certificate.
The course will focus on working as a problem solver, developing teaching skills and working as a police officer in a school setting.
The Advanced Course will be August 12th through the 14th. That course is designed for officers already working in an education environment and will advance their knowledge nd skills as a law enforcement officer, informal counselor and an educator. The program will also help SROs identify and diffuse potentially dangerous situations.
Those participating are asked to bring a laptop and copy of their Memorandum of Understanding.
More districts are employing School Resource Officers in response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary.
A Wilton man was sentenced Wednesday on a murder charge to 50 years in Connecticut Valley Hospital . 23-year old Aaron Ramsey was found to have an acute psychotic condition when he killed his father last May at their Wilton home.
He faced up to 60 years at the Whiting Forensic Division of the hospital. Ramsey was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
The Medical Examiner said last year that 73-year old Edward Ramsey suffered a blunt traumatic head injury and had at lease 50 stab wounds.
Police found the younger Ramsey at a nearby house covered in blood, rambling and screaming about aliens and evil spirits.
NEW MILFORD, Conn. (AP) The athletic director for New Milford schools has resigned after he and another school athletic director were arrested for allegedly fighting at a hotel.
Lance Pliego submitted a letter of resignation to the New Milford school superintendent yesterday.
Pliego and Bethel Athletic Director Jayme Lynn McGovern were charged with misdemeanor breach of peace shortly before 2 a.m. last Friday at the Sheraton Hartford South Hotel in Rocky Hill. The hotel was hosting a conference of the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors at the time.
Pliego and McGovern have declined to comment. Both were place on administrative leave after their arrests.
Pliego said in his resignation letter that he stepped down because of the ``media frenzy'' after his arrest and his emotional state.
BETHANY, Conn. (AP) A former Connecticut high school girls basketball coach who served prison time for having sex with one of his players has been arrested again after an appearance on the ``Dr. Phil'' television show this week.
Forty-six-year-old Frank Warecke of Bethany was charged in Mamaroneck, N.Y., with violating the terms of his 10-year probation. Authorities tell WTNH-TV that Warecke cut off his electronic monitoring ankle bracelet in January.
Warecke and his wife appeared on ``Dr. Phil'' Monday for a segment about him being a fugitive.
Warecke was the girls basketball coach at Abbott Tech High School in Danbury. He served about two years in prison for having sex with the student in 2003 and is a registered sex offender.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gov. Dannel Malloy and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra are participating in a national effort to end gun violence.
Both are scheduled to appear at Hartford City Hall for a news conference this morning as part of The National Day to Demand Action, which is being organized by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.
The coalition is co-chaired by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
Organizers say similar events are being held at more than 100 locations across the country. They're planning petition drives and calls to congressional district offices, demanding support for gun laws such as comprehensive background checks.
Malloy has often spoken of the need for federal legislation following the deadly Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
A New York woman has been arrested for shoplifting from a Carmel supermarket. The Putnam County Sheriff's office reported yesterday that they received a call on Saturday from the loss prevention officers of the Hannaford Supermarket on Route 6.
35-year old Vanessa Bobe of Kent New York allegedly was seen on surveillance cameras hiding several items in her clothing and leaving the store without paying for them. She was stopped and held until a Deputy arrived.
Bobe was charged with petit larceny and released on a written promise to appear in court at a future date.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has signed a new 10-year lease for 327,000 square feet of office space at the Matrix Corporate Center.
The $90-million lease is an extension for the space the world's largest privately held pharmaceutical company in the United States is currently located. This lease keeps some 900 jobs in Danbury.
Mayor Mark Boughton says this is a major hold for the city's employment rolls. He notes that Boehringer is making a tremendous committment at their nearby campus, with continued expansion this summer and fall.
The negotiations for the lease, which ends in December 2022, took about a year and a half.
Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce President Steven Bull said the Matrix is a world class facility and worked hard to keep a world class business here. He called it a testament to the business climate in Danbury that BI has decided to stay in the city.
Boughton says the employees will continue to shop and dine along Mill Plain Road, at the mall and elsewhere in the Greater Danbury area. He called the lease renewal a great economic spinoff for all.
In the first lease in 2002, there was a redesign agreement for the intersection with Old Ridgebury Road and tax breaks, but there was no incentive included in the new lease.
BI is redesigning the space into an open floor plan to employ more people in the same footprint. Boughton called it a more efficient use of the space.
SOUTHEAST, N.Y. (AP) A suburban district attorney who is the son of TV's ``Judge Judy'' is being accused of interfering in a child rape case in which the suspect is his personal trainer.
Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy has recused himself. But the local sheriff says Levy is still trying to influence, and perhaps undermine, the investigation.
Levy says he has acted properly and the sheriff's allegations are unfounded.
The two politicians have also argued over whether the suspect lived with Levy and whether Levy's recusal was his own idea.
The rape case is being prosecuted by the district attorney from neighboring Westchester County. A spokesman would not say whether Levy would be questioned.
Levy's mother, Judy Sheindlin of ``Judge Judy,'' says the investigation should focus on the rape case.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A court filing shows a suspended Roman Catholic priest in Connecticut accused of taking in more than $300,000 from sales of methamphetamines plans to plead guilty to one of the charges against him.
Kevin Wallin is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Hartford next week for a hearing in which he would plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Tuesday's filing was obtained by The Associated Press.
Wallin was once a Pastor of St. Peters Church in Danbury.
A message left with his attorney wasn't immediately returned.
Authorities say the 61-year-old Wallin had methamphetamine mailed to him from co-conspirators in California and made more than $300,000 in drugs sales out of his Waterbury apartment last year.
As the General Assembly works on gun control reforms in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Governor Dannel Malloy weighs in on the pace of progress.
Lawmakers are slow in making progress on gun control reforms in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School according to Malloy. He says whatever bill is passed in Connecticut will have meaning, regardless of if the federal Government takes similar action.
Malloy says some would like to see high capacity magazines already owned not be included in the bill--to have them "grandfathered in", but he doesn't think that's the right solution.
ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) Enfield officials have approved putting armed guards in all 11 public schools starting in the fall in response to the Newtown school shootings.
The Board of Education voted 5-4 Tuesday night in favor of a series of security measures including armed guards.
There's mixed reaction to the plan. Some parents worry the guards might scare children and others say extra security isn't needed.
Police Chief Carl Sferrazza says all the guards will be trained and the town is looking to hire retired law enforcement personnel for the jobs.
Enfield appears to be the second Connecticut town to approve armed guards for all schools, after North Branford. School officials nationwide are considering doing the same, following December's killings of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The New Fairfield Board of Selectmen at their meeting earlier this month approved a new grant assignment certification for the Senior and Disabled Dial-A-Ride Service. The grant is filed by the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials through HART on behalf of the town.
The Board also voted on a contract for EMT services.
The group received bids and it was recommended that Western Connecticut Health Network be given the contract. Danbury Hospital Emergency Medical Services will provide paramedic and daytime coverage in New Fairfield.
Connecticut Republicans are honoring Newtown's First Selectman. Pat Llodra is set to receive the Women's Leadership Award at the State GOP Party's annual Prescott Bush Dinner, taking place next month.
State GOP Chairman Jerry Labriola says Llodra demonstrated exceptional leadership under extraordinary circumstances. The group also cited her lengthy experience in both the public and private sector and her record of leadership in the award announcement.
Labriola says Llodra has made service to others her life's work, whether it's serving on the PTA, the Board of Education or helping the community heal. Llodra served as Leader-In-Residence with the state Department of Education, was interim principal at Newtown High School, served on the Legislative Council and was elected First Selectman in 2009.
Bethel and New Milford High Schools athletic directors have each been arrested on breach of peace charges. The Newstimes reports that 42-year old Lance Pliego of New Milford and 30-year old Jayme Lynn McGovern of Danbury were arrested just before 2am Friday at a hotel in Rocky Hill.
The report says the pair were at The Connecticut State Athletic Conference being held there the night before.
McGovern now has a protective order against Pliego. Both have been placed on administrative leave.
Each school says sports will go ahead as scheduled.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) The Patriots will hold a free youth clinic for kids in Newtown on May 18th. The Patriots say current and former players will gather at Newtown High School to give tips on running, tackling and throwing to Newtown students.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft the team admires ``the Newtown community for their strength'' following the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. is optimistic the Connecticut General Assembly will be ready to vote next week on a bill addressing the deadly Newtown school shooting.
The Democrat had hoped for a vote Wednesday, but said Monday that legislative leaders now plan to wait for the expected release of more information in the Dec. 14 massacre.
Williams said Prosecutor Stephen Sedensky III told legislative leaders Friday that search warrants in the case and the completed return of the search warrants, which typically includes a documented inventory of property seized, will be released late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Williams said the leaders met with Sedensky for about an hour but did not learn any new information about the case. They were only allowed to ask questions of the prosecutor.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) State lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a Connecticut Antiques Trail, an effort to highlight the state's numerous antique shops.
Sen. Rob Kane, a Republican from Watertown, proposed the legislation. In 2009, he worked with the state Department of Transportation to erect signs along Interstate 84 to highlight a collection of antique hopes in his district.
Kane said it makes sense to expand the trail statewide to connect more antiques dealers with collectors, likening his idea to the Connecticut Wine Trail.
Ed Dombroskas, executive director of the Eastern Regional Tourism District, supports the bill. His organization recently put together an antiques brochure for his region and received thousands of inquiries seeking copies.
The bill awaits a vote in the General Assembly's Commerce Committee on Tuesday.
Kane's district includes Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford, Seymour, Southbury, Roxbury, Washington, Watertown, and Woodbury.
Danbury State Senator Mike McLachlan was among the Judiciary Committee members Friday who heard testimony on a bill that would repeal the state's Risk Reduction Credit program which allows for the early release of prisoners.
Fabio Gazal, who's father was murdered at his Meriden convenience store by an ex-inmate freed by the program, urged support for repeal.
But the Governor's criminal justice policy advisor Michael Lawlor defended the program. Department of Correction Commissioner Leo Arnone says early data show it has had positive results. He supports another bill that ensures violent offenders cannot be released until they serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
McLachlan calls the program dangerous public policy. He also said the program has led to repeat offenses.
WESTON, Conn. (AP) Connecticut health officials say they've received numerous reports in recent years of arsenic and other contaminants in residential drinking water across the state, but a published report says little research on the source or location of the pollution is being done.
State Department of Public Health officials say well water contamination is a sporadic but statewide problem.
An estimated 400,000 private wells in Connecticut serve nearly 527,000 people, but it's not known how prevalent contamination is. The state only requires water testing when new wells are installed.
30 percent of 104 wells tested in Weston showed arsenic levels above acceptable limits, and some residents report health problems. In Stamford, arsenic was detected in 24 of 227 well water tests since 2010.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Some residents in Newtown, Conn., say they're outraged they've been getting robocalls from the National Rifle Association only three months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.
Town residents say the automated calls began last week and urge people to tell their state legislators to oppose gun control proposals. Lawmakers are debating whether to ban military-style assault weapons, prohibit high-capacity ammunition magazines and other measures in response to the school shootings.
Dan O'Donnell lives in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown and tells WVIT-TV that the robocalls are ``ridiculous and insensitive.''
Messages seeking comment were left with the NRA, which like other nonprofit groups is allowed to make robocalls under federal law.
A gunman killed 20 first-graders, six educators and himself in December after shooting his mother to death.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Organizers say a 5K to benefit the victims and others affected by the Newtown school shooting has raised more than $438,000.
Thousands of runners and well-wishers turned out for Saturday's run through the streets of Hartford, Conn.
The start of the Sandy Hook Run for the Families was preceded by a moment of silence as a solitary bell tolled 26 times in tribute to the children and educators killed when a gunman attacked the elementary school on Dec. 14.
Some 15,000 people were registered to run and thousands of others lined up along the route.
Gov. Dannel Malloy was among the runners. He called the run ``an amazing and healing experience.''
The charity run benefited the Sandy Hook School Support Fund administered by the United Way of Western Connecticut.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut's attorney general says he sees no basis for lawsuits against the state or Newtown over the shooting deaths last December of 20 children and six educators.
Attorney General George Jepsen said in an interview on WFSB-TV's ``Face the State'' on Sunday that he believes there's no basis to sue Connecticut for anything it may have done. He also said he doesn't believe there's a reasonable basis to sue Newtown.
A lawyer earlier this year withdrew a claim to sue the state for $100 million on behalf of a 6-year-old survivor of the Dec. 14 school massacre. Irving Pinsky withdrew the lawsuit but said he might refile.
He said he is reviewing new evidence on security at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) Quinnipiac University's soccer program is remembering one of the Newtown shooting victims by auctioning off soccer jerseys from around the world.
Most of the jerseys display the number 26, in memory of the 20 children and six educators who were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary school on Dec. 14.
Money raised in the auction will fund a scholarship in memory of Rachel D'Avino, a teacher's aide who was among those killed. She was a cousin of a former Quinnipiac soccer captain, Lauren Carmody-Grenier.
The online auction has so far raised more than $10,000. Items still on the block include a Barcelona jersey signed by the entire team and another from Argentina's national team signed by superstar Lionel Messi.
The Danbury Whalers have done something no other Danbury hockey team has been able to do, bring a trophy home to the City. The Danbury Whalers announced that the end of December 2009 that they would called the Hat City home.
The Danbury Whalers have won the Federal Hockey League Championship during game 3 of the Commissioners Cup, played Friday night at the Danbury Ice Arena. They took the first two games in Dayton and returned to Danbury to finish the best-of-five series.
The team defeated the Dayton Demonz 6-3.
The Whalers made the only goal of the first period, but soon into the second, Dayton tied it up. In practically no time, the Whalers regained the lead. Then the two teams repeated that a few minutes later. The Whalers also sank another goal in the second. Dayton was able to only score once more in the third period.
(Photo contributed from fan)
Goalie Mike Brown was named MVP.
(Photo contributed from fan)
The Whalers were invited to participate in Danbury's St Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday. The parade runs along Main Street from St Peter's Church, takes a left on West Street and ends at the Irish Cultural Center on Lake Avenue. The Whalers will ride on two flatbeds and a 1970 Chevelle Convertible.
A Southeast resident has been arrested on charges that he forcibly raped a 12-year old girl. 35-year old Alexandru Hossu was arrested Wednesday night on two counts of rape for alleged incidents in October of 2010.
The victim, now 15, reported the incident to a school counselor.
The Romanian national is in the country illegally after over staying a work visa. He is reportedly working as a personal fitness trainer in Putnam County.
Hossu is being held on $100,000 bond. A judge ordered Hossu to surrender his passport. Immigration officials have lodged a detainer warrant for potential proceedings.
A Putnam County District Attorney has asked Westchester County to handle the case because he is acquainted with the suspect. Adam Levy said in an emailed statement that he knows Hossu. Published reports are that Hossu is Adam Levy's personal trainer.
Levy said his family had known Hossu for years and that his office contacted the chief of the sex crimes investigations unit of the Westchester County District Attorney’s office to ensure the 15 year-old complainant was safe, secure and provided with all necessary services to reduce the overwhelming trauma associated with a disclosure of this type.
Also in the statement, Levy said that Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith omitted the place of Hossu’s arrest as his residence at 221 Clock Tower Commons Drive and instead, "erroneously listed Mr. Hossu’s address as 70 Indian Wells Road, my address."
That triggered a response from the Sheriff's office.
"During the investigation, it came to the attention of the investigative team–the assistant D. A., the CAC caseworker, and sheriff’s investigators–that not only did Mr. Hossu and Mr. Levy know each other, but that Mr. Hossu was his live-in personal trainer."
Sheriff Donald Smith's full statement can be read here.
Danbury Municipal Airport is among the 149 airports that is having their contract air traffic control towers closed by the Federal Aviation Administration because of federal budget cuts. The agency announced the decision yesterday. Danbury officials say they are very disappointed.
Assistant Airport Administrator Michael Safraneck says six people will be losing their jobs. He says the FAA is basically wiping out almost the entire industry so there won't even be other jobs for them to pick up with someone else.
Safraneck says the six controllers are all former military, FAA certified and weather certified. He notes that they have been on the job for many years with specialized training and now they're not going to be able to put the skills they learned in the military and through practical use to work for them.
All of the affected airports will remain open. Pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency with no help from ground controllers. Airport directors have raised concerns about the potential impact on safety.
Safraneck likened to a busy intersection without stop lights or stop signs. Traffic will still flow through the intersection, but it makes it more difficult for vehicles to get through.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a statement that the agency will take steps to ensure safe operations at the affected airports.
Early this morning, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy offered an amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution that would make it easier to restore federal funding for the towers. The amendment passed the Senate by unanimous consent. They say the towers are important to local economies that depend on the safety and services of these airports.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) The father of a 6-year-old girl who was among the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut will throw the ceremonial first pitch before the Texas Rangers’ home opener.
Robbie Parker is a longtime Rangers fan who grew up in North Texas.
Parker’s 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, was among 20 first-graders and six adults killed in the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14.
The Rangers said Friday that Robbie Parker will be accompanied by his wife, Alissa, and daughters Madeline and Samantha for the first-pitch ceremony April 5 before the game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Robbie Parker took Emilie to several Rangers games in Arlington, Seattle and Boston.
The Rangers said thousands of dollars have been donated by individuals in North Texas to Emilie’s Fund, which assisted families of those impacted by the tragedy. Earlier this year, Parker’s brother, Jeremie, who still lives in North Texas, read a message of gratitude on his brother’s behalf on the team’s flagship radio station.
‘‘I am so proud to be a Ranger fan, because I know that as a fan I actually belong to a community. I am glad I was able to share the community with my precious daughter and that the same community has reached out to her and let our family know that she is remembered and loved,’’ part of the message read. ‘‘Thank you for all you have done to support our family through this time.’’
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) The parents of four children slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School went to Hartford to meet privately with legislative leaders, who are trying to craft a bipartisan response to the massacre in Newtown.
Mark Barden, whose seven-year-old son Daniel was killed, told reporters Friday that the parents traveled to the Capitol ``to applaud the efforts'' of the lawmakers, who are focusing on ways to address gun violence, mental health and school security issues following the Dec. 14 massacre that left 20 first graders and six educators dead.
While gun control advocates criticized lawmakers Friday for taking too long to pass legislation, the parents appeared more patient.
Barden said ``they're doing a great job trying to address these issues'' and remains hopeful Connecticut will ultimately have ``the strongest, most effective laws.''
Two Danbury residents have been arrested after a fight on West Street.
Danbury Police were called to West Street late Wednesday night on a report of a disturbance happening outside. Officers determined that as 25-year old Cristiana Magevski tried to call 911 from her cell phone, 27-year old Rinah Silva grabbed the phone from her and threw it against a wall.
Magevski was charged with breach of peace. Silva was charged with assault, breach of peace and interfering with an Emergency call. Each were released on written promises to appear in court on April 3rd.
Two people, including one who fled police, have been arrested on drug related charges.
Members of the Danbury Police Department Community Conditions Unit patrolling the area of Rose Street Wednesday afternoon saw a drug sale happen and approached the suspects. 29-year old Michael Fennick, who was in a car, sped off when he saw officers, but was stopped a short time later. He was charged with sale of crack cocaine, disobeying the signal of an officer and reckless driving.
49-year old Susan Daniels of Danbury was charged with possession of crack cocaine and of drug paraphernalia. She was released on a written promise to appear in court on April 3rd.
Fennick was held on $25,000 bond.
Nearly striking a dump truck has landed a Danbury resident under arrest.
The incident just before 9am Wednesday started out as a traffic stop. Danbury Police stopped 41-year old Pauline Georgi for crossing the double yellow line and almost hitting a City of Danbury Public Works dump truck. When officers pulled Georgi over on West Street, officers smelled alcohol on her breath. She also head slurred speech.
Georgi failed field sobriety tests and was charged with driving under the influence and failure to drive right. She was released on a written promise to appear in court on April 2nd.
The Board of Regents for Higher Education has voted to increase tuition and fees on student next year. Wilton State Senator Toni Boucher, a member of the higher education committee, says she is extremely disappointed that the Board would approve a nearly 11-percent increase in tuition and fees on students.
Boucher called the costs a huge burden. She says during this still difficult economic period, the state should refocus its priorities. She would like to see money invested in training the future workforce. She cited figures that show Connecticut is losing its 18-to-30 year old population at the fastest rate of any state in the country.
Boucher called it unconscionable to ask hardworking students and parents to pay more during one of the most challenging economic periods since the Great Depression.
The increases would affect students at 12 community colleges, Charter Oak State College and students attending the Western, Central, Southern and Eastern Connecticut State Universities.
For in-state students living on-campus at universities, tuition and fees increase next year by 4.1 percent. In-state tuition at Charter Oak State College was increased by $13 per credit, to $258, and fees increased $9 per semester to $180. Community colleges will charge 5.25 percent more.
The board's finance committee recommended the increases last week.
Schools must set aside 15 percent of tuition for financial aid, so more will be available.
Danbury Hospital is applying for a grant of up to a million dollars to do a study of firefighter cardiovascular health. Research and development in firefighter health and safety is one of the FEMA grant opportunity categories.
City Councilman Paul Rotello asked what the likelihood of Danbury getting this grant would be. There is some $400-million in FEMA funding for grant opportunities.
Fire Chief Geoff Herald recently told the City Council that the study will determine how well the testing program works for Danbury Hospital and how it works for the fitness of the fire service.
Danbury firefighters already have their annual physicals done at Danbury Hospital, so their records can be used for a baseline study. The study will involve Danbury Hospital staff running checks on volunteer and career firefighters every three or four months and recommending exercises or dietary restrictions. Some grant money would be set aside to outfit the department with equipment to increase cardiovascular exercise and to have a nutritionist visit the firehouse to help with dietary issues.
The study would be for a year and requires no money from the City.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Parents of the Newtown school shooting victims say they're frustrated with the opposition to gun control proposals prompted by the massacre and are calling on Congress to act.
One parent has even invited the head of the National Rifle Association to her home on Easter weekend to try to reach middle ground. Nelba Marquez-Greene's 6-year-old daughter Ana was among 20 first-graders and six educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December.
Neil Heslin was among several parents of children killed in the shootings who joined Vice President Joe Biden and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Manhattan on Thursday to call on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban and other measures.
Heslin says he's ashamed that Congress ``doesn't have the guts'' to pass gun control measures.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gov. Dannel Malloy's advisory panel that's reviewing the Newtown school shooting is turning its focus to mental health.
The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission is scheduled to hear today from experts on issues related to mental health care, public awareness and discrimination.
The meeting comes days after the commission forwarded the governor some preliminary recommendations on gun laws and school security, including universal background checks for guns.
Commission members expect to present the governor with a comprehensive final report within the year.
Meanwhile, gun control advocates plan today to deliver letters to legislative leaders, who are crafting a bipartisan bill that addresses the shooting. The letters come from Newtown victims, survivors, clergy and other groups who support a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines and other gun control measures.
Some Connecticut legislators hope recent interest in stopping gun violence will prompt lawmakers to adequately fund the task force charged with enforcing the state's gun possession and trafficking laws.
Funding and staffing for the Statewide Firearms Trafficking Task Force has dwindled since the entity was created in 2000. Today there is only one state police detective assigned to the unit.
Sen. Anthony Guglielmo, a Republican from Stafford Springs, and Rep. William Tong, a Democrat from Stamford, have proposed separate bills to fund the task force.
Guglielmo says the task force has a good record of removing illegal guns from the streets.
Both bills are scheduled to be discussed today at a public hearing before the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says the Chief State's Attorney will release additional information to the public about the Connecticut State Police investigation into the deadly Newtown school shooting.
Malloy said Thursday he was ``disappointed and angered'' certain information about the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was reportedly disclosed by a top state police commander at a law enforcement seminar.
Malloy said he's concerned victims' families may have heard the news for the first time. A column published this week in the New York Daily News, citing an unnamed police officer who attended the seminar, reported that Col. Daniel Stebbins discussed evidence that has been uncovered.
Malloy said additional information about the investigation will be released by March 29. His spokesman confirmed it will be released publicly.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Newtown officials have named former town schools chief John Reed to serve as interim superintendent while they search for a permanent successor to Janet Robinson.
Reed was superintendent of Newtown schools for two decades until 2002 and recently has volunteered at the relocated Sandy Hook Elementary School in neighboring Monroe. Students were relocated there after the December school shootings that killed 20 first-graders and six educators.
Robinson is stepping down as superintendent in June to become superintendent of Stratford schools. School board members say Reed will work with Robinson and take over after she leaves until a new superintendent is hired.
School board Vice Chairwoman Laura Roche says the board wanted someone highly knowledgeable about Newtown to serve as interim superintendent in the wake of the school shooting.
A legislative committee has held a public hearing about a bill that would allow a physician to prescribe medication to a dying patient who wants to end their own life.
Danbury State Senator Mike McLachlan says this bill tells Connecticut residents that suicide is an acceptable solution to life’s hardships. He calls it a dangerous precedent that will legitimize suicide.
McLachlan says in states where assisted suicide has been approved suicide rates have increased. 13 years after assisted suicide passed in Oregon, the suicide rate was 41% higher than the national average.
The Director of Massachusetts Second Thoughts, a grassroots organization representing people with disabilities, John Kelly opposed the bill. He said there were 3,800 cases of elder abuse reported a few years ago in Connecticut and called this bill a ticket for murder.
He says there are no safeguard for abuse. Kelly argued that lawmakers should instead consider increased access to hospice care, adequate staffing in nursing homes and required training in pain management.
But advocates say the bill is a humane way to give dying and suffering patients a choice.
Proponents said the Public Health Committee's hearing Wednesday marked the first time such legislation has been brought to a public hearing in Connecticut. The bill will likely be retooled before it faces a committee vote.
The committee has until April 5 to act on the bill.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A Wolcott contractor has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with alleged illegal contributions to the failed congressional campaign of former state House Speaker Christopher Donovan.
Thirty-three-year-old Daniel Monteiro entered the plea in New Haven federal court yesterday. The head of Villwell Builders in Waterbury faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced June 12.
Monteiro was one of eight people charged last summer with conspiring to hide the source of $27,500 in contributions to Donovan's campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat last year through straw donors. Prosecutors say the money was aimed at killing state legislation to raise taxes on roll-your-own tobacco shops.
Donovan wasn't charged, but his campaign manager and top legislative aide were arrested.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) Newtown officials have named former town schools chief John Reed to serve as interim superintendent while they search for a permanent successor to Janet Robinson.
Reed was superintendent of Newtown schools for two decades until 2002 and recently has volunteered at the relocated Sandy Hook Elementary School in neighboring Monroe. Students were relocated there after the December school shootings that killed 20 first-graders and six educators.
Robinson is stepping down as superintendent in June to become superintendent of Stratford schools. School board members say Reed will work with Robinson and take over after she leaves until a new superintendent is hired.
School board Vice Chairwoman Laura Roche says the board wanted someone highly knowledgeable about Newtown to serve as interim superintendent in the wake of the school shooting.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Just days before 20 children and six educators were killed at a Connecticut school in December, state development officials offered the maker of the rifle used in the massacre a $1 million loan to bring new jobs to the state.
The offer, capping six months of negotiations between the Department of Economic and Community Development and Freedom Group, was dropped after private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced it would sell Freedom Group, manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15.
The deal was ended four days after the killings.
The Hartford Courant first reported the deal and its unraveling.
Deputy agency commissioner Ronald Angelo said Wednesday that Cerberus' announcement made the deal untenable. He said the killings also were a factor.
Freedom Group did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) The parents of one of the 20 first-graders killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre met with the gunman's father for more than an hour in an effort to bring some closure to the tragedy, asking him about his son's mental health and other issues.
Alissa Parker told "CBS This Morning" in an excerpt of an interview that aired Thursday the meeting with Adam Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, was her idea. Her 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, died in December's shooting rampage.
"I felt strongly that I needed to tell him something, and I needed to get that out of my system," Alissa Parker said. "I felt very motivated to do it and then I felt really good about it and prayed about it. And it was something that I needed to do."
It was unclear what they discussed or when the meeting took place. CBS plans to show the rest of the interview with Alissa and Robbie Parker on Friday morning, revealing more details about their meeting with Peter Lanza.
No one answered the phone at the Parkers' home Thursday morning. A message seeking comment from Peter Lanza was left with a Lanza family spokesman.
The Parkers told CBS they wanted to ask Peter Lanza about his son's medical history, his and his ex-wife's relationships with Adam Lanza and other issues.
Robbie Parker was the first parent of a child killed at the school to speak publicly about the massacre. A day after the Dec. 14 killings, he fought back tears and struggled to catch his breath as he spoke lovingly of Emilie at a wrenching, lengthy news conference.
"She was beautiful. She was blond. She was always smiling," he said, adding that the world was a better place because Emilie was in it. "I'm so blessed to be her dad."
The Parkers have roots in Ogden, Utah, north of Salt Lake City, and had moved to Newtown less than a year before the shooting.
Adam Lanza, 20, shot 20 children and six educators to death at the school and killed himself as police arrived. He also fatally shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their Newtown home before going to the school.
Peter Lanza, who was divorced from Nancy Lanza, said in a statement after the killings that his family also was asking why Adam Lanza would go on a shooting spree.
People close to the investigation have told The Associated Press that Adam Lanza showed interest in other mass killers.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Legislative leaders upset that a Connecticut State Police commander reportedly disclosed information about the Newtown school shooting at a law enforcement seminar in New Orleans say the state police should be briefing them on details of the crime.
Senate President Donald Williams Jr. said Wednesday that any information state police have that wouldn't adversely affect any potential prosecution should be released ``for everyone's greater understanding of the terrible crime.''
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr. said lawmakers have asked several times without success for information would help them as they craft a legislative response to the massacre.
Cafero called it ``really galling'' to read an account in the New York Daily News of comments Col. Daniel Stebbins made to ``strangers to our state'' about evidence in the case.
Several media outlets are opposing the continued sealing of search warrants related to the Newtown school shooting.
The outlets, including The Associated Press, filed a motion in Danbury Superior Court on Wednesday seeking to intervene to oppose any move to extend the sealing of the search warrants.
Prosecutor Stephen Sedensky III successfully argued in December for keeping search warrants related to Lanza's house and the car he drove to the school sealed for 90 days, saying disclosure would jeopardize an ongoing investigation. He said at the time that arrests were not anticipated but had not been ruled out.
The media outlets contend the public has a right to see the records.
A fight amongst neighbors leads to charges for a Danbury man. Police arrested 54-year old Ismael Perez late Sunday night. He was charged with two counts of threatening. A police Spokesman said the arrest stemmed from a dispute where Perez threatened two neighbors.
Police did not elaborate on the argument.
Two Connecticut men have been arrested for stealing car parts. Danbury Police were patrolling the area of Federal Road early Sunday morning when they saw two men in the parking lot of Ingersoll Automotive. Officers checked the area and saw some cars had parts missing while other vehicles had parts that were partially removed.
31-year old Damian Liberda of Berlin and 28-year old Andrzej Wiktorek of New Britain were each charged with criminal trespass, conspiracy to commit larceny, criminal attempt to commit larceny and tampering with a motor vehicle.
A drug transaction that happened in plain view of Danbury Police officers has landed two Connecticut residents under arrest. Members of the Community Conditions Unit were in the area of Main Street late Saturday night when they saw a crack cocaine sale.
Police charged 32-year old Neil Schultz of Sandy Hook with possession of crack cocaine. 30-year old Matthew Doris of Bethel was charged with possession and sale of crack cocaine, possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to sell.
Each were released on a written promise to appear in court next Thursday.
There was a bit of a scare yesterday at Stadley Rough School in Danbury. Police were sent to the area after a report of a man with a gun at a nearby store.
Deputy Superintendent of Schools Bill Glass says police called the district to alert officials to the attempted robbery in the Lowes Home Improvement parking lot around 9:30am. They then called administrators at Stadley Rough and Great Plain School.
Glass says they were notified a short while later that the police no longer had any concern in the area.
Officers and the K-9 unit searched the area but they were unsuccessful in locating a suspect described by a woman who said she was robbed at gunpoint. A dark skinned man in his late 30s got away with an undisclosed amount of money and a cell phone.
Witnesses are urged to contact the Danbury detective bureau at 203-797-4662.
The Newtown Emergency Communications Center has been presented with the 2013 "911 Call Center Award". The presentation was made last night in Washington DC. The team from the Center is being recognized for working without pause on December 14th to aid and inform emergency personnel, parents and the community.
Senator Richard Blumenthal says call center dispatchers, like other first responders, showed immense bravery in the face of unspeakable tragedy. He said Maureen Will, Jennifer Barocsi, Robert Nute and others provided comfort, care and courage to the families and the community.
Senator Chris Murphy says the entire team of the Center remained composed while handling some of the most horrifying emergency calls imaginable. He says the team managed the emergency response with tremendous courage.
5th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty says the group displayed professionalism and committment to the community on the darkest of days in the most difficult of circumstances. She says the Center used sound judgement and quick action to mobilize a response, adding that they went beyond the call of duty in the weeks that followed.
Angel Arocho is chairman of the nonprofit NG9-1-1 Institute that is among the groups honoring the Newtown center. He says the workers helped emergency personnel to act quickly and reunite parents with frightened children.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Applications for gun permits have jumped in Newtown, Conn., since a school massacre there revived the national debate on gun control and led to worries about new restrictions.
Newtown in recent years has issued about 130 gun permits annually. Police say the town received 79 permit applications in the three months since the Dec. 14 massacre, well over double the normal pace.
Robert Berkins, records manager for Newtown police, says many applicants are expressing concerns that their gun rights will be taken away.
Firearms sales have surged around the country, driven by Washington's new focus on gun control.
The killing of 20 first-graders and six staff members at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School has led to proposals for universal background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
LOS ANGELES (AP) Fran Warren, whose 1947 recording of ``A Sunday Kind of Love'' was one of the classic hits of the big band era, has died.
Alan Eichler, a spokesman for the singer-actress, says Warren died March 4 of natural causes at her home in Brookfield, Conn. She was 87.
Warren's career spanned more than 50 years with hits that included the Tony Martin duet ``I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Prayers),'' the Lisa Kirk duet ``Dearie'' and ``It's Anybody's Heart.'' Her films roles included ``Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd.''
She frequently appeared and performed on the talk shows hosted by Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and Steve Allen.
Warren is survived by two daughters, a son-in-law and two nieces.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A Newtown man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography at his home and sexually abusing three girls under 12, including one who was 18 months old.
Thirty-six-year-old David Csanadi was sentenced yesterday in federal court in New Haven. He pleaded guilty in November to one count of producing child pornography.
Federal prosecutors say Csanadi abused the three girls in 2006 and 2007 and recorded the assaults on video. Officials say he also downloaded child porn from the Internet onto his home computer.
The Connecticut Post reports that federal prosecutor Neeraj Patel called Csanadi a ``monster'' during the sentencing hearing.
Csanadi also has pleaded guilty to state sexual assault and child pornography charges and is set to be sentenced next month.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A legislative commission is sending along several gun-related proposals as legislative leaders continue closed-door talks, seeking to come up with a bipartisan response to the school shooting in Newtown.
Members of the General Assembly's Public Safety and Security Committee on Tuesday approved bills that would require criminal background checks for all private firearm sales and toughen the rules against carrying a loaded weapon while intoxicated, lowering the threshold for drunkenness.
The committee also voted to require local authorities to issue permits for gun shows in their communities.
Another bill that cleared the committee requires the state's Emergency Services and Public Protection commissioner to use the statewide police emergency radio network to notify all local police of a shooting involving multiple victims.
Legislative leaders are expected to continue their discussions Wednesday.
Connecticut lawmakers are considering ways to boost security measures at the state's colleges and universities, in addition to primary and secondary schools, following the deadly massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Members of the General Assembly's Higher Education Committee on Tuesday heard testimony on a bill that would require each state and independent higher education institution to submit an up-to-date security protocol plan to the state's Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection by Oct. 1.
The schools would also be required to establish trained threat assessment teams for their campuses.
Rep. Roberta Willis, the committee's co-chairman, said a bipartisan legislative task force had originally planned to review higher education security but did not have enough time. The members decided to instead focus on primary and secondary school safety measures.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Some highway lanes are closed because of tractor-trailer accidents and many schools are opening late in Connecticut as a late winter storm drops snow, sleet and freezing rain a day before spring starts.
The state Department of Transportation reports that a tractor-trailer jackknifed Tuesday morning on Interstate 84 eastbound in Newtown and another semi jackknifed on I-84 eastbound in Middlebury. The left and center lanes in Newtown are closed and the left lane in Middlebury is blocked.
Some towns in northwestern and northeastern Connecticut have cancelled school, while scores of schools across the rest of the state are opening 90 minutes to two hours late.
Metro-North reports normal rail service, and only one flight cancellation is reported at Bradley International Airport north of Hartford.
A state police spokesman is taking another police officer to task over the release of confidential information related to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
State Police spokesman Lt Paul Vance's statement follows Monday's story in the New York Daily News quoting an unnamed person who attended last week's International Association of Police Chiefs and Colonels mid-year meeting in New Orleans. He says the recent seminar was designed for law enforcement professionals only.
The report focused on an alleged 7-foot long 4-foot wide spreadsheet in the shooter's possession with names, body counts and weapons used in other mass murders.
Vance says the Connecticut State Police has not and will not speak publicly on the Sandy Hook investigation. He the families of the victims continue to be a priority in this investigation and that fact was clearly stated at the seminar.
He called it unfortunate that someone in attendance chose not to honor Colonel Stebbins' request to respect the families' right to know specifics of the investigation first.
The final Connecticut State Police report is still likely several months away.
An interim report has been released with 42 recommendations in response to the shooting in Newtown. Governor Dannel Malloy's Sandy Hook Advisory Commission is recommending universal background checks for all gun sales and transfers, the registration of all firearms, and bans on high-capacity magazines.
Commission member, Former Newtown State Representative Chris Lyddy says they are also suggesting a ban on the possession or sale of guns capable of firing more than 10 rounds of ammunition without reloading.
The panel also believes Connecticut officials should consider requiring all K-12 classrooms to be equipped with doors that can be locked from the inside and hardware that's capable of implementing a full perimeter lockdown.
Chairman Scott Jackson says the group plans to continue its work, focusing on mental health services. They are next meeting on Friday. Members expect to present a comprehensive final report within the year.
A group of Republican and Democratic senators is backing legislation that would block the Federal Aviation Administration from eliminating funding for air traffic control towers, including 6 in Connecticut. Senator Richard Blumenthal says the legislation would make $50 million available in the FAA budget.
Danbury Airport Manager Paul Estefan says the funding would be enough for the rest of the fiscal year. He adds that the FAA hasn't said if the cuts go through when the towers will reopen, if at all.
Blumenthal says the cuts are preventable because the money is there. Danbury Municipal Airport is among the 6 in Connecticut with towers that could close next month if the automatic budget cuts go through.
Blumenthal says the measure also makes clear that contract tower programs are subject to the same 5 percent budget cut as other programs in the FAA's budget. The FAA is seeking a 75 percent spending cut at contract air traffic control towers.
A Brewster man suspected of vandalizing a neighbor's car has been arrested after a short police chase. The Putnam County Sheriff's office Monday released a report for the February 24th incident in which a neighbor called to report that his car was spray painted.
61-year old James Cullen was identified by the neighbor and a deputy approached the man. Cullen attempted to flee in his car, but was stopped and found to be drunk.
Cullen was charged with Driving while intoxicated, criminal mischief and obstructing governmental administration. He is being held on bond.
A Torrington man has been arrested for falsely reporting that he was shot in New Milford in September. New Milford Police say 30-year old Joshua Cable has also been charged with possession of a firearm, possession of a silencer, tampering with evidence, false statement and interfering with an officer. He was arraigned Monday.
Cable, a former New Milford resident, was treated at the hospital on September 26th for a gunshot wound.
He told police at that time that he was walking along Route 7 in the early morning hours when he was shot.
A serious car accident is being investigated Danbury Police. Officers were called to Route 7 near Starrs Plain Road just after midnight on Sunday. The Subaru Wagon is registered to Luis Samaniego of Danbury, though police did not release the name of the driver.
The unidentified operator of the car was headed northbound when the driver lost control and drove off the road. Witnesses told police that the car hit a large rock face causing significant damage to the vehicle.
The driver was transported to Danbury Hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash. The operator remains in critical condition.
Anyone who may have seen the accident is asked to call Sgt. Rory DeRocco at 203-797-2157.
Even though lawmakers this session didn't write any bills about bringing tolls back to Connecticut's highways, the issue isn't completely closed this year. No bill will come before the General Assembly about adding electronic arms over the highway, but the state Department of Transportation is being asked to study the issue.
Issues the DOT Commissioner is being asked to study include the appropriateness of the highways as a place for tolls, congestion on the roadways and the ability of the DOT to limit the use of any revenue for transportation purposes only.
The Commissioner is also being asked to report back to lawmakers by next February on if the motor vehicle fuel tax can be lowered when tolls are established.
Brookfield Representative David Scribner says he has not wavered in his opposition to border tolls, but feels the federally funded study a sensible approach. He says border tolls would disproportionately damage the local economy, but thinks the federally funded study is better than hastily implementing tolls.
Data released last week shows the Danbury Labor Market area has the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 7.1 percent.
Connecticut's unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in January.
Governor Dannel Malloy says revised data from the state Labor Department proves what he's been saying for months--the state is making progress on job growth. Malloy says the data throws cold water on his critics who claim despite spending millions on grants and loans to have companies locate or expand in Connecticut, jobs weren't being created.
Malloy says there are other positive signs including a strong increase in real estate sales and a rise in new construction permits. But Malloy added that he understands the frustrations of those still seeking work.
Ballot shortages, extreme weather and power outages are all addressed in a new Emergency Plan crafted by Danbury's Registrars of Voters. Danbury's plan calls for poll workers to check each hour on the number of ballots used and the number of voters crossed off the rolls.
A copy of the plan, required by state law, must be sent to the Secretary of the State's office by the end of the month.
Danbury's plan says if a polling place is running short on ballots, moderators have to see if the Town Clerk has extra absentee ballots. If there are none, a ballot should be copied and brought to the polling location.
City Councilman Don Taylor says he is concerned about photocopies, which would have to be counted by hand.
Mayor Mark Boughton told the Council that everyone is paying for the sins of Bridgeport. He was referring to the 2010 election when that city only had enough ballots for less than a third of registered voters.
Poll workers will have to coordinate with the Civil Preparedness Director for help with transportation when they are unable to get to the polls due to the weather.
Danbury's plan also details what to do in the case of a power outage. There are also evacuation procedure details. That portion of the plan calls for voting equipment and materials to be secured. If the polling location can't be reopened, there are details for how to alert voters of a new location.
Only minor clerical errors were corrected after the meeting.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he's got a proposal to help protect federal funding for third-party contract air traffic control towers, including some in Connecticut slated for closure because of automatic federal budget cuts.
Blumenthal is scheduled give details at a news conference today at the Brainard Airport hangar in Hartford.
Danbury Airport Manager Paul Estefan will join Blumenthal for the announcement. Representatives from the Connecticut Airport Authority, Tweed-New Haven Airport and Sikorsky Memorial Airport are also expected to be on hand for the noontime announcement.
Connecticut's federal delegation announced earlier this month that six state airports may lose all their air traffic controllers in April as a result of the $85 billion in automatic cuts that have taken effect.
