STORMY WEATHER
Severe storms have pounded Connecticut, leaving at least one person dead and more than 100,000 homes and business without power. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton says a man was killed when a tree fell on his truck Tuesday afternoon. Boughton also says a teenager suffered serious injuries when he was hit by the roof of a dugout on a baseball field. The storms downed trees and power lines across the state. More than 120,000 customers lost power and roads in many towns were impassible. The Brookfield Police Department said on its Facebook page that First Selectman Steve Dunn had “declared a town disaster.” Schools in Brookfield, Danbury and other towns announced they would be closed on Wednesday due to storm damage. Bradley International Airport briefly grounded flights and Metro North temporarily suspended some train service.
CUMBY’S HAS TO WAIT
No decision yet from the Commission on the City Plan regarding a proposed Cumberland Farms gas station and convenience store in the East Great Plains section of Norwich. The panel heard more than two hours of testimony tonight from those for and against the 4-million dollar project, which would be built at the corner of West Main Street and New London Turnpike. Project attorney Joe Williams says it’s not contingent on whether the state goes ahead with a controversial plan to put in roundabouts on West Main. The Cumberland Farms plan is opposed by the owner of the Mobil gas station located diagonally across from the site. The proposed gas station-convenience store would replace an abandoned auto service center and the Universal Package store. The liquor establishment would move to a new building to be constructed just east of its current spot. The City Planning Commission is expected to rule on the project June 19th.
TRAIN AND CAR COLLIDE
MONSON, Mass. (AP) – Three people were injured when a train and car have collided in the western Massachusetts town of Monson. WWLP-TV reports a vehicle carrying three seniors was driving on Route 32 near the Connecticut state line when it was struck by the train. Police responded shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday. Witnesses told police the railroad crossing lights were on, but the car did not stop until it was partially on the tracks. All three people were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, with injuries that are not life-threatening.
SLOTS UP AND DOWN
Slot revenues are up at one local tribal casino, down at the other. Foxwoods Resort Casino says the numbers for last month are 3-percent higher than April, 2017, while Mohegan Sun’s are down 3-percent for the same time period. Foxwoods is giving the state 10.5 million dollars, while Mohegan Sun is turning over some 12-point-84 million dollars, as part of the state’s slots agreement.
WILLI MAN IN PRISON
A Willimantic man will spend more than 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl numerous times. 49-year old Michael McCurdy admitted back in February that he started molesting the child several years ago when she was 7. McCurdy has already served prison time for assaulting a 14-year old babysitter 30 times back in 2002. McCurdy will serve 23 years for his latest crime, followed by 35 years probation. He will also be labeled as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
PLAINFIELD SNORTER
A Plainfield man will enter drug rehabilitation in the hopes of not having to serve any more jail time. Police say 43-year old Christopher Hasbrouck was found unconscious in October in his parked car in a Montville McDonalds. He admitted to snorting heroin, and police found numerous bags of the drug in his car. He has served 3 months in prison for violating probation. He has now been placed in a rehab program, and has been told he can avoid further prison time if he stays clean.
DRONE MAN CHARGED WITH CHILD PORN
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) – A Connecticut man who was investigated but never charged for flying weaponized drones has had several criminal cases involving allegations of child pornography possession and enticing minors continued for two weeks. The cases of 21-year-old Austin Haughwout of Clinton, went before a state judge in Middletown on Tuesday. A new court date of May 29 was set. Haughwout has pleaded not guilty in seven criminal cases involving charges of possession of child pornography, enticing minors by computer, attempted sexual assault and assaulting police. His lawyer has declined to comment on the allegations. Haughwout drew the attention of the Federal Aviation Administration after he posted videos on YouTube showing flying drones shooting a gun and flamethrower in his backyard in 2015. The FAA investigated, but didn’t take any action.
A-G’S FIGHT TRUMP RULE ON FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Twenty attorneys general, including Connecticut’s, are challenging Trump administration rule changes they say will reduce access to family planning services. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday that the president is playing politics with patients by changing rules that would shift federal family planning funds toward organizations that stress abstinence. The AGs filed a brief supporting lawsuits filed in Washington two weeks ago by Planned Parenthood groups in Wisconsin, Ohio and Utah, and the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association. The lawsuits target proposed rule changes for about $260 million in family planning funds. The supporting brief was also signed by prosecutors in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
CT DRUG COMPANY TARGETED
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Nevada and five other states are filing new lawsuits accusing a Connecticut-based pharmaceutical company of using deceptive marketing to boost drugs sales that fueled opioid overdose deaths. Nevada state Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt alleges in a civil complaint filed Tuesday in Las Vegas that Purdue Pharma minimized risks and overstated benefits of long-term use of narcotic opioids including OxyContin. Laxalt spokeswoman Monica Moazez says similar lawsuits were expected in Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. Purdue denied the claims in an email statement that said it will defend itself. Company spokesman Bob Josephson says the civil lawsuits followed months of negotiations with state officials to address the opioid crisis. He says the filing by these attorneys general promises costly and protracted litigation.
TAKIN ON THE LOOSE!!
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – An 800-pound animal described as a “goat-antelope” that escaped its enclosure at a Rhode Island zoo was captured by the time the zoo opened for visitors. The takin escaped just after 9 a.m. Tuesday and was captured by trained zoo staff an hour later at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence. A zoo spokeswoman says it started when a veterinary team approached the takin for a routine hoof procedure. The animal charged the heavy reinforced doors multiple times, finally breaking through onto zoo grounds. The horned animal named Har-Lee was sedated and taken back to an enclosure.
One animal keeper and one veterinary intern were treated on the scene for minor injuries. Zoo officials say the takin is doing fine. Takins are native to the eastern Himalayas.
