A former Connecticut city employee has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for his role in the theft of more than $600,000 in federal coronavirus relief funding. John Bernardo also was ordered to pay nearly $59,000 in restitution during Wednesday's sentencing in federal court in Hartford. Prosecutors say Bernardo and former state Rep. Michael DiMassa had formed a company that fraudulently billed the city of West Haven for nearly $637,000 in COVID-19 relief funds for services never rendered. Bernardo apologized at sentencing. DiMassa, his wife and a fourth person are awaiting sentencing for their roles in the thefts from the city of West Haven.
STONINGTON — Nestled against the "Welcome to Wequetequock" sign on the western side of Anguilla Brook along Route 1, a white bicycle stands to honor the lifelong Stonington resident and cyclist who was killed in a hit-and-run incident involving an SUV on March 6.
A Connecticut lawmaker has been removed from her leadership roles after being arrested on drunken driving charges when her car flipped and landed on its roof near the state Capitol. State Rep. Robin Comey was an assistant majority whip for her Democratically led chamber. She was handcuffed at the scene by Hartford police following a field sobriety test. House Speaker Matt Ritter says he removed her from committee and leadership roles “in light of the seriousness of this situation.” He is urging Comey to focus on her health and well-being.
STONINGTON — The saying goes that “neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail” will stop the mailman from his or her route. Those elements won’t stop 80-year-old Hugh McGee from greeting children outside the Deans Mill Elementary School every morning, either.
STONINGTON — Police in Stonington and Groton are issuing temporary parking restrictions and will have detours in place on Sunday for the 2023 Mystic Irish Parade.
Vermont has agreed to a legal settlement that will allow a Connecticut woman to be the first out-of-stater to take advantage of its decade-old law that allows people who are terminally ill to end their own lives. Seventy-five-year-old Lynda Bluestein, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, sued Vermont last summer, claiming its ban on non-state residents using Vermont's medically assisted suicide law was unconstitutional. Under the settlement filed Tuesday that was shared first with The Associated Press, she will be allowed to end her life in Vermont when the time comes. Vermont's Legislature is also considering lifting the restriction on non-residents taking advantage of the law. Only Oregon currently allows non-residents to die by medically assisted suicide.
A Catholic-run health care system has withdrawn its application to affiliate with Day Kimball Healthcare, an independent, financially struggling hospital and health care system in rural northeastern Connecticut. Covenant Health’s decision to terminate its agreement with Day Kimball in Putnam comes weeks before the state was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the planned merger. An official with the Massachusetts-based system says the decision was based on new and updated information, not concerns raised by residents and the attorney general about reproductive and other health care services being at risk because they're at odds with Ethical and Religious Directives set by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Antonina “Ann” Uccello, the first woman elected a mayor in Connecticut when she won an upset victory in Hartford as a Republican in 1967, has died. She was 100. Uccello, who went on to serve in the U.S. Department of Transportation during the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations, died Sunday night at a hospital in Hartford. Her death was disclosed by Jacqueline Gustafson, who is married to Uccello’s nephew, David Gustafson. Uccello served as Hartford mayor from 1967 to 1971 and is remembered for comforting city residents after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
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STONINGTON — The Stonington Community Center is accepting applications for its 2023 scholarships. The scholarships are open to Stonington residents enrolled in college and high school seniors pursuing higher education.
Massachusetts sports fans raced to their cell phones Friday to begin placing bets as the state allowed online sports wagering just days ahead of tipoff of the NCAA Tournament next week. The move comes a little over a month since the state began allowing in-person sports betting at the state’s three casinos — Encore Boston Harbor in Boston, Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, and MGM Springfield in Springfield. Lawmakers estimate sports betting could generate about $60 million in annual tax revenue and $70 million to $80 million in initial licensing fees, which must be renewed every five years.
STONINGTON — The Stonington High School auditorium was filled with energy and excitement Wednesday night as students involved with this weekend's production of "Mamma Mia!” — the hit movie and Broadway musical based on the songs of the Swedish pop group Abba and centered on a mother-daughter…
STONINGTON — The Stonington High School Class of 2023 Safe Graduation Party Committee is holding a Winter White Disco Party fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, at the Velvet Mill in the borough.
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A construction company owner and one of his employees have been charged in the death of their colleague in a trench collapse accident last year in Connecticut. Vernon police say they charged Bottichello Inc. owner Dennis Botticello and equipment operator Glen Locke with manslaughter on Friday. Police and workplace safety officials say no trench collapse safety devices were being used on July 22 when a trench collapsed in Vernon and killed Dennis Slater, a 56-year-old worker. It was not immediately clear if Botticello and Locke have lawyers who could respond to the charges. Federal officials have proposed $375,000 in safety violation penalties against Botticello Inc.
STONINGTON — A special town meeting on Monday will allow residents to provide input on a proposed increase in parking violation fines, seek to establish cultural districts in town and ask to send an ordinance regulating short-term rentals to referendum.
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STONINGTON — When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern and central Turkey on Feb. 6, Stonington High girls basketball assistant coach Cenk Akarpinar awoke uneasy from a dead sleep at 3 a.m. and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
An increasing number of states are installing warning systems designed to curb the number of deadly wrong-way highway collisions. In Massachusetts, a $2.6 million pilot program consists primarily of wrong-way vehicle detection systems at highway ramps. When the system discovers a car entering a ramp in the wrong direction it sets off flashing lights, signs and, at some locations, audible alarms to alert the driver. Each year in the United States, wrong-way crashes result in 400 to 500 deaths. Older drivers, younger inexperienced drivers and drivers under the influence of alcohol are more at risk of causing wrong-way crashes.
STONINGTON — Have questions for your state legislators? Then stop by the Stonington Police Department on Friday morning to ask them.
WWE, an organization that is already king of the ring on social media, will attempt to expand its online presence this year with the $6.5 billion sports entertainment company talking about the possibility of putting itself up for sale. WWE surpassed 20 million followers on its flagship TikTok account during its most recent quarter, the first sports league to do so, and is launching three international TikTok accounts after the WWE Español TikTok handle reached nearly 2 million followers in its first year. But the company’s presence online is broad. The company says its YouTube channel topped 92 million subscribers in the fourth quarter.
Connecticut is poised to pay $12 million to settle a case involving a neglected 14-month-old boy who was placed by the state’s child welfare agency in 2015 with a relative and ended up severely malnourished and physically abused. The proposed legal settlement comes a year after the Connecticut Department of Children and Families was finally released form three decades of federal oversight. A top agency official told state lawmakers the placement of “Baby Dylan,” who is now eight years old and suffers from complex medical and developmental issues, does not reflect the agency’s policies then or now. The settlement cleared the committee and now awaits action in the House and Senate.
Connecticut's inspector general says Norwich police will not face criminal charges in the death of a man in their custody last year. Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr. released a report Tuesday saying Brenton Chambers' death in the Norwich police lockup was from a fentanyl overdose and not from any actions by police. Devlin says Chambers was wearing clothing with hidden pockets and likely had the drugs on him, but police and probation officers didn't find them during searches. A message has been left for a lawyer who represented Chambers in the past. Devlin is recommending that police take custody of arrested people’s clothes and provide them with other garments while detained.
STONINGTON — A town police sergeant was flown via Life Star to Rhode Island Hospital on Monday after a car hit his parked cruiser at a work detail on Providence-New London Turnpike near the intersection with Taugwonk Road.
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STONINGTON — A local business received a major boost in the form of a Farm Transition Grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
MYSTIC — The Rotary Club of Mystic’s 2023 spring grant cycle for area 501(c)3 organizations will begin accepting applications Monday, Feb. 20. The application deadline is Friday, March 31.
STONINGTON — Absentee ballots for the Monday, March 13, budget referendum are now available at the Town Clerk’s office, 152 Elm St.
PAWCATUCK — State Sen. Heather Somers and state Rep. Greg Howard will host a coffee hour on Friday, Feb. 24, at 8:30 a.m. at the Stonington Police Department’s Community Room, 173 South Broad Street.
MYSTIC — A Mystic couple celebrated Valentine's Day by renewing their wedding vows, celebrating their reunion and proclaiming their love.
MYSTIC — A man suffered a serious leg injury after he was struck by an Amtrak train as it was arriving at the Mystic train station on Sunday night.
That glass of milk on your table used to come from local cows, eating local grass. But those days are pretty much gone.
MYSTIC — Artist Kevin Osborne sat on a small, wooden bench inside the Mystic Seaport Museum one morning last week, mesmerized by the enormous 1884 oil painting on the wall before him.
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STONINGTON — During the coming budget deliberations, the Board of Selectmen will explore solutions for the former circus lot property at the end of Noyes Avenue and parking issues in downtown Mystic. Now they are seeking feedback from the public as they prepare to move forward with both projects.
NOAA Fisheries is asking for public comment on proposed regulations to govern the incidental harassment of marine mammals related to the Sunrise Wind Offshore Wind Farm Project.
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KINGSTON — The U.S. Navy has announced that a future Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship will be named in honor of University of Rhode Island alumnus and Professor of Oceanography Robert Ballard.
MYSTIC — At Mystic Market West, on Noank Avenue in the western part of town, things haven’t changed much over the past 30 years.
