SEAT BUS REDUCTIONS DISCUSSED
Routes would be eliminated, combined, or scaled back. Evening and Sunday service would be gone, and Saturday service cut back, under a series of reductions being proposed by SEAT bus service, as of July 1st. General Manager Michael Carroll tells those in attendance tonight during a public hearing at Norwich City Hall, that an anticipated 15-percent reduction in state funding is prompting the action. He urges the public to tell their state representatives and senators to restore the funding, by replenishing the state’s Special Transportation Fund. SEAT is holding more public hearings on the proposed cuts tomorrow night in Groton, Wednesday night in Griswold, Thursday night in New London, and Monday night in Stonington.
HIGH GRAD RATES
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Officials say graduation rates in Connecticut are at a record-breaking high. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the State Department of Education say graduation rates reached 87.9 percent in 2017, marking an increase for the seventh consecutive year. Malloy called the results “dramatic,” particularly for the lowest-performing districts in the state. The rate marks an over five percent increase since 2011. Graduation rates for English learners improved to 68.4 percent in 2017, up from 62.4 percent in 2011. The state also says that it used free and reduced-priced meal eligibility as an indicator of family wealth to discover the graduation rate gap between low-income and affluent students. The gap has decreased from 27.7 points in 2011 to 17.4 points in 2017. Malloy and Commissioner Dianna R. Wentzell made the announcement at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven on Monday.
JANITOR THREAT LEADS TO SCHOOL LOCKDOWN
STAFFORD, Conn. (AP) – Police say a middle school janitor in Stafford threatened a school shooting in a move that prompted a district-wide lockdown. Fifty-eight-year-old David Wachta of Monson, Massachusetts has been arrested and charged with breach of peace and first-degree threatening. Police say school administrators learned Wachta, a janitor at Stafford Middle School, had made the threat on Friday, saying he was going to “shoot up the school.” The schools were on lockdown until after Wachta was arrested shortly before noon on Monday. The schools were on a soft lockdown, which means students and teachers were allowed to roam but not leave the buildings. Wachta is being held on a bond of $100,000.
MONEY FOR CRUMBLING FOUNDATIONS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Two Connecticut senators have plans to amend a bill awaiting Senate action with language to financially assist homeowners with foundations crumbling because of an iron sulfide. East Hartford Sen. Tim Larson and Sprague Sen. Cathy Osten, both Democrats, proposed Monday a $10 fee on new and renewed mortgage loans and a $10 surcharge on new or renewed homeowners and rental insurance policies after July 1. Their proposal also would require insurance companies to pay a $10 fee on new or renewed policies. All the funds would be deposited into the Crumbling Foundations Assistance Fund. The amendment would also increase how long homeowners can sue an insurer for denying a claim, from two to four years. Last week, the Judiciary Committee defeated another bill imposing a $20 surcharge on homeowner policies.
DOG APPARENTLY STOLEN BY OWNERS
Plainfield police believe a dog stolen over the weekend from the town’s animal control office is now with its owners, heading toward North or South Carolina. Police say the German Shepherd was taken sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. The dog was being quarantined due to several dog bite incidents. Authorities believe Sean Simmons and Cierra Pensis, both from Wauregan, now have their dog, and are traveling south. Anyone with information is asked to contact Plainfield police.
WILD RIDE IN LEDYARD
A New London man has been charged with driving under the influence, speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving without a license, and misuse of license plates. Ledyard police say 27-year old Domingo Osorio-Suc was doing more than 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone on Route 117 just before 1 this morning. Police stopped him near Peachtree Hill Avenue, and said he was drunk, and driving a car whose registration expired in 1999. They also claim Osorio-Suc didn’t have a valid driver’s license, no insurance, and the plates on the car were registered to a different vehicle. The accused is out on a 1-thousand dollar bond, and is due on court April 26th.
TEMPER, TEMPER
A Ledyard man has been charged with punching-out a light at the town’s police station. 18-year old Skylar Davis is accused of arguing with someone Saturday evening as he was leaving the station. He then came back, and punched out an exterior light. Police say he then resisted arrest. Davis is out on a 15-hundred dollar bond, and is due in court April 20th.
