HERNANDEZ COMMITS SUICIDE
MILFORD, Mass. (AP) – Massachusetts prison officials say former NFL star Aaron Hernandez has hanged himself in his cell and has been pronounced dead at a hospital. He was 27.
An official with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections says Hernandez was found hanged in his cell just after 3 a.m. Wednesday. Authorities tried to revive the former New England Patriots tight end, and he was pronounced dead at UMass Memorial – HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster at 4:07 a.m.
Prison officials say the Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population housing unit at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts They say he hanged himself using a bed sheet that he attached to a cell window.
SPORTS TARGETED IN BUDGET CUTS
Groton School Superintendent Michael Graner is dealing with a $5.2 million cut to the Board of Education’s funding request. He has already put forward a plan to close an elementary school and lay off approximately 70 people, but that is not enough. Yesterday, Graner said that interscholastic sports for middle school students would have to be cut. Plus a “pay for play” program would need to be implemented at the high school sports level. Town Councilors meet with the school board at 6 p.m. today.
ANOTHER BEMER VICTIM?
An Enfield man has come forward and filed a civil suit against Bruce Bemer, alleging a sexual assault more than 20 years ago. According to the “Hartford Courant,” the man claims that he was sexually assaulted by the New London-Waterford Speedbowl owner in 1993, when he was 15. Bemer was charged last month with patronizing a trafficked person. Two of those alleged victims have also filed civil suits.
LOTS OF WASTE
A senior sanitarian for Ledge Light Health District inspected the two locker rooms at the Coast Guard Academy’s field house yesterday that were recently found to be discharging waste into the Thames River. Ryan McCammon estimates that a total of 810,000 gallons of wastewater was emptied into the river over the last 20 years. The pollution was not intentional. It was discovered during a March 29th utilities assessment. Once the issue came to light, the locker rooms in question were closed and water service shut off.
SENATOR VISITS VA
For the last couple of months, Senator Richard Blumenthal has toured Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics in Connecticut. He stopped by the VA clinic in New London on Tuesday to tout a one-trillion dollar infrastructure investment proposal from Senate Democrats. The plan includes ten-billion dollars to upgrade VA facilities. Blumenthal says many VA clinics need to be expanded because physicians don’t have enough room to properly treat their patients. He says 60 percent of VA buildings are at least 50 years old. VA officials say their facilities need as much as 50-billion dollars in capital investment over the next decade.
TEACHERS CUT
The Montville School Board is preparing to end the contracts of three non-tenured teachers in response to probable state budget cuts. The board voted on Tuesday to tentatively cut two high school teachers and one elementary school teacher. If the Town Council approves a budget that keeps the superintendent ‘s spending request intact, the decision could be reversed.
