WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE

DEFENSE SPENDING INCREASED

A fi­nal de­fense au­tho­riza­tion bill has been submitted by Congress. It would boost mil­i­tary spend­ing and pro­vide more dol­lars for Con­necti­cut de­fense con­trac­tors including Electric Boat. The de­fense bill in­creases mil­i­tary spend­ing to $716 bil­lion for 2019.   Elec­tric Boat and the De­fense De­part­ment are currently negotiating to build  12 sub­marines, in­stead of the ten re­quested by the White House.  Rep. Joe Court­ney said it’s likely the Pen­tagon will dis­cover “that there are sav­ings and ef­fi­cien­cies” in pur­chas­ing 12 in­stead of ten Vir­ginia- class sub­marines.

LAND IN LEGAL LIMBO

Own­er­ship of the Nor­wich Hos­pi­tal prop­erty changed hands June 20th with the com­ple­tion of a mort­gage fore­clo­sure ac­tion. But fu­ture de­vel­op­ment issues may not be over, as the for­mer devel­oper has in­cluded the prop­erty in his Chap­ter 7 bank­ruptcy fil­ing in fed­eral court.   Norwich Mayor Peter Nys­trom said the city has made it clear, the land where a for­mer sub­di­vi­sion of sin­gle- fam­ily homes existed might be suit­able for “very limited” hous­ing but that a mixed use would be the best for the area. The bank­ruptcy court has sched­uled a hear­ing for 10 a.m. Aug. 9th.

THREE MOTORCYCLES STOLEN

Groton police responded to a report of a stolen motorcycle around 6:30 Tuesday morning at the Country Glen  apartment complex on Meridian Street Extension. Two other reports were received with one motorcycle being taken from the same complex and another being stolen from the Ledges Apartments on Ledgewood Road. Police say it appears all three were taken late Monday night or yesterday morning. Police say the bikes were locked up and parked in well-lit outdoor spaces. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 860-441-6712.

TEEN GUILTY OF HOME INVASION

A Westbrook teen was sentenced Tuesday for a home invasion in Montville back in January. Seventeen-year-old Wesley Lacombe entered a home through an unlocked door on Pequot Road to get back an item a friend had left at a party the night before. When confronted, he threatened Tyler Radics, who was in the home at the time, by holding a knife to the man’s neck. Radics sustained a small cut on his shoulder. Lacombe grabbed $15 from a television stand and backed out of the apartment, pointing the knife at Radics. A sentence of five years in prison was imposed but suspended.  Lacombe was put on three years probation.