5 officers charged in police van injury case appear in court

5 officers charged in police van injury case appear in court
Prisoner Injured Connecticut
Prisoner Injured Connecticut
Prisoner Injured Connecticut

Five Connecticut police officers have appeared in court for the first time since being charged with cruelly neglecting a Black man who suffered a neck injury and was partially paralyzed in the back of a police van with no seatbelts. The New Haven officers briefly faced a judge Thursday. Their cases were continued to Jan. 11. Randy Cox fractured his neck in June when police say the officer driving the van braked hard to avoid a collision. Officers at the police station pulled Cox out of the van by his feet and accused him of faking his injuries before he was brought to a hospital. The officers' lawyers declined to comment Thursday.

Massachusetts man charged with hate crime released with conditions

  • AP

A Massachusetts man accused of saying “Go back to China” to a family of Asian descent and then twice striking one of them with his car has been released with conditions. At a court hearing Thursday, 77-year-old John Sullivan of Quincy was deemed by a judge to be dangerous. He was nonetheless released to home confinement with GPS monitoring, with exceptions for medical and court appointments. Sullivan had been held without bail since his arrest Dec. 2. He has pleaded not guilty to several charges including assault and battery to intimidate based on race, a hate crime. Sullivan’s attorney said his client disputes the allegations.

Connecticut program to expunge records faces some delays

Connecticut program to expunge records faces some delays

  • By SUSAN HAIGH - Associated Press

Gov. Ned Lamont says the “vast majority” of eligible Connecticut residents with certain cannabis possession convictions — roughly 44,000 cases — should have their records automatically erased over the next 60 days. That's about a month longer than expected under a new state law that takes effect Jan. 1. The Democrat also said Wednesday it should take about six-to-eight months longer to process petitions to have other drug-related crimes erased, noting a new database had to be established. Hundreds of thousands of convictions are expected to be erased once the law is fully implemented. Advocates are urging the administration to redouble their efforts.

2.9 million visitors expected in New Hampshire this winter

  • AP

New Hampshire's Division of Travel and Tourism Development says an estimated 2.9 million people are expected to visit the state this winter and spend about $1.3 billion. Director Lori Harnois said Wednesday that spending reached a record $1.2 billion last winter. She said while there are signs the rebound from the pandemic recovery is slowing, the division expects to see continued growth this season in spending.  The division’s winter campaign will be launched in January in New England, New York, and eastern Canada. It will highlight New Hampshire’s skiing and snowboarding, snowmobiling, and off-slope activities such as snowshoeing, skating, dining and tax-free shopping.

Driver killed after hitting falling tree in wind storm

  • By The Associated Press

A blustery storm that whipped gusts up to 60 mph in New England has left tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the dark. The high winds Wednesday night knocked down trees and limbs, and downed power lines and utility poles, across the region. More than 30,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday morning after the worst of the winds had died down in New England. In New Hampshire, where the wind gusted to 60 mph in some areas, a driver was killed after hitting a tree that was falling across a road at the time. Police didn't immediately say that the weather caused the tree to fall.

Yale University sued over student mental health policies

Yale University sued over student mental health policies

  • By SUSAN HAIGH - Associated Press

Yale University is being accused of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring some to withdraw from the prestigious institution and then placing “unreasonable burdens” on those who seek to be reinstated. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut on behalf of current and former students seeks no monetary damages. Rather, it demands changes to Yale’s current withdrawal policies, including the required forfeiture of health insurance and tuition payments, among other rules. The plaintiffs contend Yale needs to implement a process for handling students with mental health needs that’s more accommodating for individuals. Yale's president has said the reinstatement policy has been eased.

Every vote counts: Connecticut race decided by 1 vote

  • By SUSAN HAIGH - Associated Press

They say every vote counts. In one Connecticut town, it really did. A race for a seat in the state Legislature has been decided by a single vote. Nearly 10,600 ballots were cast in the race between Republican Tony Morrison and Democrat Christopher Poulos. After a recount, the final tally stood at 5,297 to 5,296 in favor of Poulos. The Democrat's win was certified Wednesday by state officials. Connecticut is not alone when it comes to razor-thin races. One New Hampshire state House race ended in a tie and now awaits action in the Legislature.

Medicare open enrollment zoom Q&A session

    The Connecticut Office of the Healthcare Advocate will offer online Medicare Open Enrollment assistance via Zoom Q&As on Wednesday, Nov. 30, and Dec. 7, at 11 a.m. Medicare open enrollment runs through Dec. 7.

    New England senators seek help to avoid energy disruptions

    • By SUSAN HAIGH and JENNIFER McDERMOTT - Associated Press

    Senators from Connecticut, Vermont and Maine called on the Biden administration Tuesday to bring together federal, state and regional officials to find ways to prevent possible energy disruptions this winter across New England. The region is heavily dependent on natural gas and subsequently impacted by the war in Ukraine and tight global energy supplies. In a letter sent Tuesday, the senators also urged Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to leverage resources within her department to help bring non-fossil fuel energy as quickly as possible to the region and to review any available emergency powers. The DOE says it's closely monitoring winter fuel availability.

    Connecticut woman sentenced to year in jail for voyeurism

    Connecticut woman sentenced to year in jail for voyeurism

    • By DAVE COLLINS - Associated Press

    A wealthy Connecticut woman whose criminal case file was sealed from public view has been sentenced to one year in jail for secretly recording three people, including a minor, in a manner involving sexual desire. Fifty-four-year-old Hadley Palmer of Greenwich, was sentenced Tuesday in Stamford Superior Court. Her lawyer, Michael Meehan, called the sentence just and said Palmer has taken responsibility for her actions. Judge John Blawie earlier this year sealed Palmer’s case file over objections by The Associated Press. He ruled that the privacy interests of the victims outweighed the public’s interest in open courts. Palmer also must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

    Lamont signs bill extending gas tax holiday, free bus fares

    • AP

    Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has signed legislation that extends Connecticut’s soon-to-expire 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax holiday for another month. The tax break will then be reduced incrementally over the following five months. Lamont signed the bill into law on Tuesday following a special session of the legislature on Monday. It also increases funding for the state’s essential worker pandemic pay program after so many people applied. However, it also limited who can receive the top benefit of $1,000 to those earning less than $50,000.  The legislation also extends free public bus fares through March 30 and adds $30 million in federal pandemic relief funds to the state’s energy assistance program.

    Conn. legislators head into session on gas tax, other issues

    • AP

    Connecticut lawmakers are set to discuss gasoline taxes, heating-bill help, pandemic pay for essential workers and other issues when they convene for a special legislative session on Monday. Gov. Ned Lamont has said he's calling the General Assembly into special session to help Connecticut residents cope with rising prices. Connecticut’s 25-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax is currently suspended through Nov. 30. The Democratic governor wants to keep the tax on hold until the end of the year, then start adding back five cents per month until hitting the prior 25-cent-per-gallon amount in May.

    NY firefighter hailed for off-duty rescue in Connecticut

    • AP

    A suburban New York firefighter says his instinct and training kicked in when he spotted a burning car on a Connecticut roadside and went on to rescue the injured driver. Nicholas Perri Jr. was driving home from work and didn’t have firefighting gear when he saw the blazing vehicle on the side of Route 7 near Brookfield early Saturday morning, but he ran in to help. He tells NBC Connecticut that he used every ounce of muscle and adrenaline possible to pull the driver to safety through a passenger-side window. Brookfield volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel soon arrived and took the woman to a hospital.

    Extended gas tax holiday, pandemic pay on lawmakers' agenda

    • AP

    Connecticut state legislators are returning to the Capitol to consider extending the soon-to-expire gas tax holiday, increase funding for pandemic payments to essential workers and vote on other initiatives to help residents cope with rising costs. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont issued the first executive order of his second term on Wednesday and called the General Assembly into special session on Monday. Connecticut’s 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax has been suspended since April 1 and is currently scheduled to resume on Nov. 30. Lamont wants legislators to continue the suspension of the full 25 cents through Dec. 31 before incrementally scaling back the tax relief at five cents per month, beginning Jan. 1.

    New Haven OKs monument to replace Columbus statue

    • AP

    The New Haven Board of Alders has approved a public monument representing the Italian-American immigrant experience. It will replace a statue of Christopher Columbus that was removed in 2020 amid a climate of racial reckoning after the police killing of George Floyd. The vote was held Monday. The Board of Alders vote was held Monday. The Wooster Square Monument Committee announced a new campaign Tuesday to raise the estimated $300,000 needed to commission the sculpture and underwrite the total cost of the new monument. The statue will be created by local artist Marc-Anthony Massaro, who grew up in the heavily Italian neighborhood around Wooster Square.

    Thanksgiving travel rush is back with some new habits

    Thanksgiving travel rush is back with some new habits

    • By DAVID KOENIG and ALEXANDRA OLSON - Associated Press

    The holiday travel rush is already on, and it could spread out over more days than usual this year. Travel experts say the ability of many people to work remotely is letting them take off early for Thanksgiving or return home later. Crowds are expected to rival those of 2019, the last Thanksgiving before the pandemic. The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.6 million travelers on Monday, surpassing the 2.5 million screened the Monday before Thanksgiving in 2019.  AAA predicts that nearly 55 million people in the U.S. will travel at least 50 miles from home this week, an increase over last year and only 2% less than in 2019.

    Man is convicted in 1987 double killing in Connecticut

    • AP

    Thirty-five years after the killings of a Connecticut man and his adult son, prosecutors say a man who was long suspected has been convicted. The New Haven state's attorney's office says Willie McFarland was found guilty Tuesday of murder in the deaths of Fred and Greg Harris. They were found, with their throats slashed, in their Hamden home on Aug. 27, 1987. McFarland quickly became a suspect and was questioned soon after the killings, and investigators conducted DNA testing and took other steps over the years. Authorities said his 2019 arrest followed a new round of DNA testing.

    Judge backs full $49M jury award against Alex Jones in Texas

    • AP

    A Texas judge says she won't lower a nearly $50 million punishment against Alex Jones that a jury handed down earlier this year over the Infowars host spreading false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The decision Tuesday by Judge Maya Guerra Gamble is another defeat for Jones. Since the August trial in Texas, other judgments against Jones in Connecticut have stacked up to a staggering $1.44 billion. Experts say that sets up what is likely a long fight ahead for Sandy Hook families to try to collect that money. Jones could appeal and has already said he has little money to pay the damages.

    Undercover police officer grazed by gunshot in Connecticut

    • AP

    Authorities say an undercover police officer conducting surveillance in Connecticut was grazed by a gunshot when someone fired several shots at his police car. The shooting happened just after 10 p.m. Wednesday as officers assigned to a multi-agency violent crimes task force conducted surveillance near an Interstate 84 entrance ramp in Waterbury. Police say someone fired into an unmarked police car with two officers in it and the driver was grazed in the shoulder. The injured officer was a Naugatuck police officer. He was treated at a hospital and released. Details including a description of the shooter’s vehicle were not available.

    Sustainability group pulls Maine lobster certification over whales

    Sustainability group pulls Maine lobster certification over whales

    • By PATRICK WHITTLE - Associated Press

    An international nonprofit organization that sets sustainability standards for commercial fishing management has suspended a certification it awarded Maine’s lobster industry over concerns about harm to whales. Representatives for the London-based Marine Stewardship Council said Wednesday that the suspension of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery’s certificate will go into effect on Dec. 15. MSC’s decision to take away its certification from the U.S. lobster fishery represents the second time a sustainability organization has downgraded the industry’s status this year.  Seafood Watch of California placed the fishery on a red list in late summer.

    Sandy Hook memorial opens nearly 10 years after 26 killed

    Sandy Hook memorial opens nearly 10 years after 26 killed

    • By DAVE COLLINS - Associated Press

    A memorial to the 20 first graders and six educators killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has opened to the public, a month before the 10th anniversary of the massacre. There was no ceremony Sunday at the site, a short distance from the school. It has become a custom in Newtown on anniversaries and other remembrances of the shooting to mark them with quiet reflection. Relatives of the victims were given a private tour of the grounds Saturday. Paths at the memorial lead to a water feature with a sycamore tree in the middle and the victims’ names engraved on the top of a surrounding supporting wall.

    Ocean Community YMCA to hold food drive in Westerly and Mystic

      The Ocean Community YMCA will be running a food drive from Nov. 14 to 21. Donations brought to the Westerly-Pawcatuck Branch YMCA, 95, High St., Westerly, will be donated to the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center. Donations brought to the Naik Family Branch YMCA, 1 Harry Austin Drive, Mystic, wil…

      SHS Fall Feast for Veterans returns to an in-person dinner

        STONINGTON — Stonington High School Student Government will host a Fall Feast for Veterans free dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m., the Stonington High School cafeteria. All current and past members of the armed services are invited to attend at no charge and each may bring a guest.

        Stonington looking for Veterans to interview for monument project

          STONINGTON — Stonington is seeking local veterans who currently reside in, or have called Stonington home, to take part in on camera interviews to share their stories as part of the educational/historical component of the Stonington Veteran Monument Project. The interviews will explore topic…

          Wood-Pawcatuck accepting grant proposals

            RICHMOND — The Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic Rivers Stewardship Council is offering grants of up to $4,000 available to organizations and individuals interested in protecting, preserving, and enhancing the federally designated Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed. The grant applications must be submitt…

            Alex Jones ordered to pay $473M more to Sandy Hook families

            Alex Jones ordered to pay $473M more to Sandy Hook families

            • By DAVE COLLINS - Associated Press

            Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his company have been ordered to pay an extra $473 million to families and an FBI agent for calling the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax. The punitive damages imposed by a Connecticut judge Thursday bring the total judgment against him in a lawsuit filed by the victims’ families to a staggering $1.44 billion. The Infowars host is vowing to appeal the case and is calling the punitive damages award “ridiculous." Twenty children and six educators were killed in the shooting. Victims' relatives testified they've been threatened and harassed for years by people who believe Jones' lies about the shooting.

            Connecticut’s Hayes wins 3rd term in US House, defeats Logan

            Connecticut’s Hayes wins 3rd term in US House, defeats Logan

            • By SUSAN HAIGH - Associated Press

            Democratic U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes has won a third term representing Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District, fending off a challenge from former Republican state Sen. George Logan and resisting a red wave that hit neighboring New York. National Republicans had hoped to flip the western and central-Connecticut district, banking on voter discontent over the economy and high inflation. Hayes focused heavily on abortion rights, arguing that Logan couldn’t be trusted on the issue despite promising he wouldn’t support a national ban. Hayes also touted her record of passing legislation and delivering funding to the district, including money for police departments.

            Fishermen take case against paying for monitors to SCOTUS

            Fishermen take case against paying for monitors to SCOTUS

            • By PATRICK WHITTLE - Associated Press

            A group of commercial fishermen is asking the Supreme Court to stop the federal government from making them pay for workers who gather data aboard fishing boats. The fishermen harvest Atlantic herring off the East Coast and are opposed to a 2020 rule implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that requires the industry-funded monitoring. The monitors are workers who collect data on board fishing vessels that are important for informing regulations. The fishermen, who are with Loper Bright Enterprises of New Jersey, have made the case the requirement makes fishing financially unsustainable. They’ve lost in lower court rulings, and filed a petition with the high court on Thursday.

            'Love Sick': Trove of Dylan's teenage love letters for sale

            'Love Sick': Trove of Dylan's teenage love letters for sale

            • By MARK PRATT - Associated Press

            A deeply personal collection of love letters a smitten Bob Dylan wrote to his high-school sweetheart in the late 1950s is up for auction. Boston-based RR Auction says the 42 letters totaling 150 pages were written to Barbara Ann Hewitt between 1957 and 1959 by a Hibbing, Minnesota, teenager still known then as Bob Zimmerman. They pour light on a period in the folk-rock icon’s life for which not much firsthand information is available. The auction runs until Nov. 17. In the missives, Dylan foresees changing his name and selling a million records.

            NESS to host annual benefit on Saturday

              STONINGTON — The New England Science & Sailing Foundation will hold its Annual Benefit on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Hilton Mystic, 20 Coogan Blvd. This year’s benefit theme is ‘through students’ eyes’ and will be filled with NESS student stories and the impact donors hav…

              Three-way race welcomes 41st House District east of the Mystic River

              Three-way race welcomes 41st House District east of the Mystic River

              • By Jason Vallee Sun staff writer

              Connecticut's 41st House District will need to carve out its new identity in the coming election, with the realigned district including Stonington Borough and Mystic for the first time and the retirement of Democrat Joe de la Cruz leaving a three-way race for the open seat.