THURSDAY EVENING UPDATE

It’s now up to Preston voters to decide the fate of a proposed sale of the former state hospital property to the Mohegan Tribe.  A town meeting Thursday night decides to send the draft agreement to an April 18th referendum. The only public comment came from one  resident who thought a public safety facility should be included in the development, to be funded by the tribe.  Robert O’Neill’s comments, though, came after the meeting agreed to send the proposal to referendum. Residents also agreed to extend the polling hours on the 18th from 6 AM to 8 PM.  The Mohegans are proposing multiple uses for the 388 acre site, including a theme park, marina, synthetic skiing, senior housing, and three hotels.

TRIBES CONTINUE TO PUSH EAST WINDSOR CASINO

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Leaders of Connecticut’s federally recognized tribes are meeting with legislative leaders, trying to assure them that authorizing a satellite casino in East Windsor will not risk the hundreds of millions of dollars the tribes currently pay the state.  Thursday’s visit by the chairmen of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes coincided with the release of a letter to lawmakers, guaranteeing the existing revenue sharing agreement with the state. Under that deal, Connecticut receives 25 percent of the slot machine revenues at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino. The tribes also are promising Connecticut 25 percent of revenues generated from slots and table games at the satellite casino. House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz says the tribes’ guarantee is helpful, but the bill has a “50-50 chance” of coming up this session.

NEW PREZ FOR L & M

A new leader for Lawrence and Memorial Healthcare.  Patrick Green has been named to take over the New London-based organization as of June 5th, succeeding the retiring Bruce Cummings. Green is currently the executive vice-president and chief executive officer of Saint Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado.  Green will be overseeing Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, Westerly Hospital, The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut, as well as all other L-and-M affiliated services and facilities. He will also serve as Executive Vice-President of L-and-M’s parent organization, Yale-New Haven Health.

NASCAR DROPS SPEEDBOWL

More trouble for the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.  NASCAR has terminated its sanctioning agreement with the racetrack.  The move stems from the arrest in a human trafficking case of speedbowl owner Bruce Bemer.  NASCAR has deemed Bemer’s alleged actions detrimental to stock car racing.  This means NASCAR will not sanction the Whelen All-American Series any longer and drivers who do participate won’t get points.  The tour event at the speedbowl in July has also been cancelled.

NL MAN BEING HELD AS FUGITIVE

A New London man now faces felony drug charges from Delaware.  35-year old Delby Perez-Rosario was arrested by members of the U-S Marshalls Violent Fugitive Task Force and New London detectives, and is charged with felony drug dealing, felony aggravated drug possession, and felony second-degree conspiracy.  He’s being held locally on a fugitive from justice charge.

PAWSOX PROPOSE FENWAY REPLICA

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) – The Pawtucket Red Sox  plan to create a replica of Fenway Park.  The triple-A minor league team is developing a replica of the Red Sox’s ballpark with identical field dimensions. PawSox Senior Vice President Dan Rea says the new stadium will be identical down to a copy of Fenway Park’s Green Monster wall. Rea says the organization is surveying two possible sites for construction. Rea and PawSox Vice Chairman Mike Tamburro are working with Pawtucket Director of Administration Tony Pires to determine the distribution of building costs.  A study published in January found that building a new stadium on McCoy Stadium’s current site would cost $78 million.