NORWICH MOTHER ACCUSED OF LEAVING CHILD IN HOT CAR
A Norwich mother is facing charges of leaving her one year old child alone in a hot car. Police say they found the youngster inside a parked automobile at the McDonald’s restaurant on Salem Turnpike today around 12:30 PM. The engine was not turned on and the windows were opened a crack. 45-year old Dawa Dolma is accused of leaving a child unsupervised and first-degree reckless endangerment. She’s being held on 5-thousand dollars bond, and is due in court Tuesday. The child was evaluated at Backus Hospital and will be okay. The State Department of Children and Families is investigating.
CHILDREN AND MOTHER REUNITED
Two immigrant children and their parents have been reunited and freed in Connecticut after they were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy. A lawyer for the 14-year-old girl from El Salvador and the 9-year-old boy from Honduras says they were reunited with their parents and all were freed Monday. The children were being detained by a government contractor in Groton. The girl’s mother and the boy’s father were detained in Texas, but immigration officials approved placing them on parole while deportation proceedings are pending. Lawyers for the boy and girl sued Attorney General Jeff Sessions over their detentions. A federal judge in Bridgeport ruled Friday that separating the children from their parents was unconstitutional. Another hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.
HARSH REBUKE OF TRUMP IN CT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Some of Connecticut’s top Democratic politicians are sharply criticizing Republican President Donald Trump’s remarks following his historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy issued some of the sharpest remarks Monday, calling the president’s comments and actions “Shameful. Treasonous. Terrifying.” He says the Trump is “either in way over his head or does not have our nation’s best interests at heart.” Standing next to Putin, Trump questioned U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusions that Russia was to blame for meddling in the 2016 election to his benefit. Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says the president’s “so-called summit was a gift to Vladimir Putin, legitimizing his cyber-attack on America and elevating him on the world stage.” U.S. Rep. Jim Himes is accusing Trump of “total capitulation to Putin.”
GOP HOPEFULS LOOKING TO CUT INCOME TAX
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Republican governor candidates are pushing proposals to eliminate or scale back Connecticut’s income tax. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton on Monday released a 31-page plan Monday that includes phasing out the personal income tax over 10 years. He says there will be $381 million in reductions in the first year. Boughton, the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate, faces four challengers in the Aug. 14 primary. Former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst wants to eliminate the income tax for anyone making up to $75,000. Greenwich hedge fund manager David Stemerman wants to reduce the number of brackets from seven to three, while lowering rates. Westport tech entrepreneur Steve Obsitnik wants a tax cut for those earning less than $100,000. Meanwhile, Madison businessman Bob Stefanowksi proposes phasing out the income tax over eight years.
NORWICH FIRE
Firefighters respond to a house fire at 702 New London Turnpike in Norwich. It broke out around 11:00 this morning at a two-story Colonial home across from the Norwich Golf Course. Everyone inside the home managed to escape safely. Firefighters struggled with intense heat as they battled the flames. They also had to deal with an angry dog that bit two firefighters, one of whom was treated at Backus Hospital. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
CT MAN ARRESTED FOR BREAKING-INTO BOSTON APARTMENT
BOSTON (AP) – Boston police scaled an apartment building’s fire escape to arrest a Bolton, CT man for breaking and entering. Police responded to reports of a man on a fire escape in the city’s North End neighborhood early Sunday morning. Officers spoke to a resident who said someone had just kicked in their window, but couldn’t find the suspect in that apartment. They then heard glass fall from a fifth-floor apartment. Police climbed the fire escape and entered the apartment through a broken window to find the suspect in bed. The man, Kevin Dean, told police he lived there but failed to provide proof of residency. He has been charged with breaking and entering, destruction of property and disturbing the peace. Dean will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court and his attorney could not be immediately identified.
ARRAIGNMENT IN FIREWORKS SHOOTING
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – An attorney for a Connecticut man who police say opened fire as a crowd left a fireworks show says his client was targeting a group of people who had attacked him. 19-year-old Michael Robinson, of Windsor, was arraigned Monday in Hartford Superior Court on multiple charges including reckless endangerment and attempted first-degree assault. Police say Robinson shot at a group of about twenty people on a walkway at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza in Hartford Saturday night. Authorities say Robinson ran but was later apprehended. Robinson’s attorney, John O’Brien, says his client had been assaulted in an altercation earlier that night. O’Brien says Robinson wasn’t firing into the crowd. Hartford Police Lt. Paul Cicero confirmed Robinson “wasn’t firing indiscriminately.” Robinson is being held on $750,000 bond. A judge continued the case until Aug. 6.
TACKLING PLASTICS IN RI
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has signed an executive order aimed at reducing plastic pollution. The Democratic signed the order Monday at Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett. The “tackling plastics” order establishes a task force to recommend the best ways to avoid unnecessary use of disposables, prevent waste and increase recycling. Raimondo says the state must commit to a more sustainable future and reduce reliance on single-use plastics that often end up in Rhode Island’s waters. The order targets single-use shopping bags, single-use beverage containers, six-pack rings, straws and balloons. Raimondo says the task force is a way for all stakeholders, including environmental advocates, industry, businesses, municipalities, lawmakers and state agencies, to collaborate on sustainable solutions. She’ll appoint the members this summer, who will provide recommendations early next year.
