LEDYARD SHOOTING
Ledyard police are investigating a shooting. India Robinson says she and two cousins were backing out of the driveway at 904 Shewville Road around 10 Tuesday night, when she says gunshots came at them out of nowhere. Robinson says one of her cousins was hit in the stomach, but is expected to be okay. Police say the three drove to the Preston Citgo gas station on Route 2, where they called 911. Police detectives have been reconstructing the crime scene, with the help of state police and the Mashantucket-Pequot tribal police. Anyone with information is asked to contact Ledyard police at 860-464-6400.
CAR CRASH
Two people have been hospitalized with serious injuries after a two-vehicle crash this morning on Route 97 near the Norwich-Sprague town line. Rescue officials say the two had to extricated from their cars, both of which suffered front-end damage. No further information is available right now.
DEMS PUSHING SALES TAX HIKE
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut Democratic lawmakers have proposed increasing the state sales tax to raise more than $660 million over two years to help curb potential cuts to education aid to cities and towns. Democratic House members released a two year, nearly $39.9 billion budget plan Wednesday that calls for raising the sales tax to 6.85 percent from 6.35 percent. A House vote on the budget is expected the week of Sept. 11. The state faces a two-year, $3.5 billion budget deficit. Lawmakers have been unable to agree on a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 and the following year. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy doesn’t support increasing the sales tax. Malloy last week proposed major cuts to local school aid, if a budget isn’t approved by next month.
NEW UCONN-HARTFORD CAMPUS READY FOR STUDENTS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The University of Connecticut has opened a satellite campus in downtown Hartford. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and university president Susan Herbst cut the ribbon in a ceremony at the campus Wednesday. About 2,300 UConn students and 300 full-time faculty are scheduled to begin classes Monday in the capital city. The school spent $140 million to move the satellite campus from West Hartford, much of it on a major renovation and five-story addition to the historic centerpiece building that once housed the Hartford Times newspaper. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin says the new campus is a big piece in the ongoing revitalization of the city, which earlier this year opened a new minor-league baseball stadium. The state this month began a new hourly bus service linking Hartford with UConn’s main campus in Storrs.
BIG TUMOR GONE ON POODLE
NAUGATUCK, Conn. (AP) – A poodle named Oreo is on the mend after having a 6.4-pound tumor removed – nearly a third of its body weight. Daryl Masone says her group, Poodle Rescue Connecticut, got custody of the 6-year-old, 26-pound poodle mix earlier this month after a neighbor noticed it was struggling with the large tumor. She says it was hard for the dog to walk or do anything else, and it was also struggling with fleas and Lyme disease. The Watertown Animal Hospital performed a 2 1/2-hour surgery to remove the growth last week. Masone said Wednesday that Oreo is doing great and now weighs 19 pounds. She says it will eventually need a second surgery to remove extra skin.
