BOSTON (AP) – Temperature records have fallen in southern New England as summer-like warmth descended on the region. By Tuesday afternoon, many locations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut were in the 80s. The National Weather Service says Boston set a new record high of 84 degrees. The previous record was 78 degrees, set in 1955. In Windsor Locks, Connecticut, the temperature reached 88 degrees, breaking the previous record of 79. Records were also set in Providence, Rhode Island, where the temperature reached 80 degrees, and in Worcester, Massachusetts, where the temperature reached 83 degrees. The previous records were 79 in Providence and 80 in Worcester. It’ll be cooler Wednesday. The National Weather Service is predicting spring-like scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially across Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts.
NORWICH STABBER SENTENCED
A Norwich man with a previous record of assault convictions, will now spend four years behind bars for stabbing the brother-in-law of his children’s mother. Joseph Brown pleads guilty under the Alford Doctrine, of severely stabbing the victim at the mother’s home on the Taftville-Occum Road in July, 2015. Police say the mother had received a text message earlier that day from the father threatening to kill her. She asked her sister and brother-in-law to be with her when she got home, and that’s when the stabbing occurred. Brown had been living with the mother and the children, despite a court order prohibiting him from being there.
ALLEGED SEX TRAFFICKER ARRAIGNED
DANBURY, Conn. (AP) – A judge has refused to reduce bail for a man accused of involvement in a sex trafficking ring that preyed on men with mental illnesses. Seventy-two-year-old William Trefzger of Westport is being held on $250,000 bail. Trefzger appeared Tuesday in Danbury Superior Court on charges that he patronized a trafficked person. His lawyer argued he is not a flight risk, but the judge cited a prior sex assault conviction and said Trefzger is accused of taking advantage of some of the most vulnerable members of society. The owner of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Bruce Bemer, is also accused of being a part of the trafficking ring. Danbury police say they have identified about 15 victims. Authorities say the men coerced into prostitution had severe psychological disorders and were addicted to drugs.
OLD LYME MEAL-DELIVERY DRIVER DIES
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Police in Clinton say a 78-year-old woman who was delivering a meal for Meals on Wheels was killed when her pickup truck rolled over her. They say Carol Moriarty, of Old Lyme, was making a delivery to a home in Clinton on Tuesday when the accident occurred. Her pickup truck was parked on an incline in the driveway. Police say when she returned to the truck, it began to roll backward and she tried to stop it. She was knocked down. Moriarty suffered head injuries and died on the way to the hospital. She volunteered with Meals on Wheels for a senior center based in Clinton and Old Saybrook. No one else was hurt. The accident is under investigation.
RI CONGRESSMAN SAYS SPICER HAS TO GO
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A congressman from Rhode Island is calling for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to resign after he said Adolf Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons. Democratic U.S. Rep. David Cicilline says Spicer made “despicable, ignorant remarks” about the Holocaust and Hitler. Cicilline, who is Jewish, says Spicer should not work in the White House. Spicer said Tuesday that Hitler “didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons” in a clumsy comparison to Syria that drew instant rebuke from Jewish groups and critics who noted it ignored Hitler’s use of gas chambers to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust. Spicer was attempting to discuss the horror of the chemical weapons attack last week in Syria, which the Trump administration is blaming on President Bashar Assad. Spicer was raised in Rhode Island, and is a graduate of Connecticut College in New London.
JONATHAN BRINGS THEM TOGETHER
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The Siberian Husky that serves as the mascot for the University of Connecticut has helped two alumni make a love connection. Jonathan served as wingman Monday when Daniel Bronko surprised his girlfriend, Holly Korona, on a trip back to campus with a wedding proposal . The two had met in 2013 while students at UConn. Bronko had reached out to Jonathan’s handlers in advance. He brought Korona to a favorite spot by the lake on campus, then dropped to one knee when the dog showed up with the engagement ring attached to his collar. She said yes and received a kiss from Bronko and lick on the face from Jonathan. he couple, who live in Enfield and are both elementary school teachers in Ellington, plan to wed next summer.
