The owner of Mel’s Diner in Montville has been charged with possessing eight pounds of marijuana inside the business. Police say the pot was found in a second floor room as well as near a food preparation area. Business owner Melanie Lamperelli has been charged with marijuana possession with intent to sell, as well as possession within 15-hundred feet of a school, as the Palmer Academy alternative high school is near the Route 163 diner. Police say Lamperelli told them she was going to use the marijuana for cooking.
STERLING FIRE
A house fire Monday morning in Sterling has displaced two residents, and killed two dogs. Fire officials say the blaze at 727 Plainfield Pike was reported around 12:30 AM, and was under control within 45 minutes. Fire officials say the fire began in the garage and spread to the house. There were no human injuries.
BALTIC MAN’S PURPLE HEART BEING DONATED
STORRS, Conn. (AP) – A Purple Heart medal discovered in a filing cabinet in Willington is being donated to the University of Connecticut. The medal was awarded posthumously to 1st Lt. Alonzo Marcil of Baltic, who was killed in action in Germany in 1945 during World War II. It was discovered several years ago in a filing cabinet at the Hall Memorial School in Willington. A nonprofit group, Purple Hearts United, could not find any surviving family members, so the decision was made to give the medal to UConn, the school from which Marcil graduated in 1943. The university plans to display the medal next to one it received from Purple Hearts United in 2015. The medal belonged to another alumnus, 1st Lt. John Dunne, who was killed in action in 1950 in Korea.
SKAKEL DECISION FINALIZED
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The Connecticut Supreme Court has finalized a ruling that reinstated the murder conviction of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. The court on Monday released a final, edited version of a decision announced in December. Skakel’s request for justices to reconsider that decision remains pending. Skakel was convicted in 2002 of murder in the bludgeoning of Martha Moxley in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood in 1975, when they were both teenagers. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, but was freed on bail in 2013 after a lower court granted him a new trial because of mistakes made by his trial lawyer. The state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in December that Skakel’s trial lawyer, Michael Sherman, provided an adequate defense and overturned the lower court. Skakel remains free on bail.
GE GROUNDBREAKING
BOSTON (AP) – General Electric has broken ground on its new Boston headquarters, another step in the company’s digital transformation. GE executives said at the ceremony Monday that it was attracted to Boston because it’s a hotbed of innovation with a deep talent pool. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt says Boston is becoming one of the most important cities in the world and GE wants to be part of the renaissance. The $200 million headquarters is being built in the city’s Seaport District, at the site of a former candy factory. Two older buildings are being refurbished, and a new 12-story tower is being built. Eventually, 800 GE employees will work at the site. Massachusetts lured GE from Fairfield, Connecticut with the help of $120 million in state incentives and $25 million in city property tax relief.
