DEMS TURN TO YOUTH
Norwich Democrats side with youth rather than experience in their selection of a mayoral candidate. Newcomer Derell Wilson receives the party endorsement last night over current city alderman Tucker Braddock. Braddock says he won’t mount a primary challenge. The 25-year old Wilson is seeking his first political office. Wilson has served in leadership roles on the Norwich and state NAACP Youth Councils and has worked in a Norwich after-school program. Joining him on the Democratic city council slate are six other newcomers: Samuel Browning, Zato Kadambaya, Robert Phoenix, Stephanie Burnham, Joseph DeLucia, and current school board member Kevin Sathany. Democrats endorsed for the Board of Education are: Incumbents Bob Aldi, Yvette Jacaruso, and Joyce Werden, along with first-timers Heather Romanski, James Maloney, and Mark Kulos .
HOUSE APPROVES LABOR DEAL
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The Connecticut House of Representatives has approved a labor-savings package negotiated by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration and state employee union leaders. The House voted 78-72 on Monday in favor of the deal, which is projected to save the state $1.5 billion over two years. The Senate plans to vote next week. House Democratic Leader Matt Ritter says the labor concessions deal vote will bring lawmakers “closer to a final state budget,” but it’s unclear whether that will be the case. House Republican Leader Themis Klarides says the concessions do not save the state enough money and tie the hands of future state officials for years.
HOUSE APPROVES CASINO DEAL
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The House of Representatives has approved amended agreements that could lead to Connecticut’s first casino on nontribal land. Lawmakers voted 118-32 on Monday in favor of amended compacts and memoranda of understanding between the state and the two federally recognized tribes, the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans. The revised agreements ensure that a proposed satellite casino the tribes want to build in East Windsor to compete with MGM Resorts’ casino in Springfield, Massachusetts, will not compromise the state’s current revenue-sharing arrangement with the tribes, who own Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun. The Senate and federal Bureau of Indian Affairs still needs to sign the legislation. The Senate is expected to vote next week.
NORWICH FIRES RULED ARSON
NORWICH, Conn. (AP) – Police are searching for information after two local fires were deemed arsons.
The Norwich Police Department says first responders were dispatched to a fire at an apartment building on Third Street Monday morning. No injuries were reported, but an eight-member family has been displaced.
Police say firefighters responded to another blaze at an apartment building in Norwich July 3. No injuries were reported, but an unspecified number of people were displaced from a South Second Avenue home in Taftville. The Norwich Fire Marshal’s Office has determined the cause of the fire in both cases to be arson.
Firefighters say the fires are not connected.
RIVERA SPEAKS
New London’s School Superintendent has a contract that would have kept him in the city until 2021, but earlier this month Manuel Rivera announced that he would be retiring. He would like to leave by August 31st. In an interview yesterday with “The Day,” Rivera stated that there is no one single reason that led to his decision. While he is pleased with the direction the district is taking, he says he was often frustrated with the lack of support for the schools by city and state leaders. The school board is now beginning the process of finding an interim superintendent.
JURY GETS SEX CASE
A jury will begin deliberations today in New London Superior Court in the trial of a former Lisbon man charged with five counts of risk of injury to a minor. Douglas Crossley is accused of sexually touching five underage girls between 2005 and 2010. Four of the now young women were in court for closing arguments yesterday, as were the defendant, his wife and their daughters.
ALL-DAY KINDERGARTEN A GO
Plainfield school officials made implementing all-day kindergarten a top priority, and the plan will move forward this coming school year. Due to a tough budget season, other cuts had to be made in the school system, including the elimination of two elementary school teachers and the postponement of other programs. Three kindergarten teachers had to be added to the two person staff, but the classes will now be open to dozens more students.
BALTIC WOMAN RINGS BELL
A Baltic woman and other members from the Global Emergency Response Coalition rang the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday. Kimberly Coletti and the others were on hand to draw awareness and funds for the more than 20 million children and families facing starvation in Yemen and Africa.
