GOP DEBATE INCLUDES ABORTION TALK
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) – The five Republican candidates for Connecticut governor are talking about abortion, albeit reluctantly. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, the endorsed candidate in Tuesday’s primary, said at a WBSB-TV debate Wednesday that he personally opposes abortion but believes “government should not get between a woman and her doctor.” Westport tech entrepreneur Steve Obsitnik says he shares the same view. But all the candidates say abortion will likely remain legal in Connecticut, arguing Democrats are making it an issue to deflect attention from the state’s fiscal woes.
Former Greenwich hedge fund manager David Stemerman says the fact he has five children speaks to his abortion stance, but he too doesn’t believe government should be involved. Former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst and Madison businessman Bob Stefanowski say they support a parental notification law.
NORWICH COCAINE DISTRIBUTOR
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – A Norwich man has pleaded guilty in federal court for distributing cocaine. Prosecutors say 31-year-old Joseph Barros waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and distribution in New Haven federal court Wednesday. Investigators made three undercover purchases of cocaine from Barros in 2017. He was arrested in Dec. 2017 after a wiretap revealed Barros was supplying cocaine to local distributors. A working number for Barros could not be found. He will be sentenced in October and has been released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing. He faces a maximum imprisonment of 20 years.
LOOKING FOR BETTER POLICE RADIO SYSTEM
An almost 30-year effort to upgrade the radio system used by the Norwich police force may finally bear fruit later this year. Chief Pat Daley tonight unveiled a 2-point-7 million dollar bond proposal that would have the city hook-into the state’s emergency communications network. Daley says it would be a very cost-effective way to give city officers the type of radio coverage they need. Daley says the current radio infrastructure was established in the 1940’s, and is plagued with areas where police transmissions can’t be sent out. He says connecting with the state network is far more cost-efficient, than setting up an entire new system, which would cost more than 10-million dollars. The city council’s Public Safety Committee heard about the bond proposal tonight. Aldermen are scheduled to decide August 20th whether to send the bond measure to the November ballot.
SEPARATING FAMILIES LAWSUIT MOVED
SEATTLE (AP) – A lawsuit by 17 states challenging President Donald Trump’s separation of migrant families at the Mexico border has been transferred to a California courtroom where a federal judge is already overseeing several related cases. Washington, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and other states led by Democratic attorneys general filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said Wednesday that transferring the case would be more efficient. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego ordered the administration in late June to reunite more than 2,500 children with their parents. Several hundred children have yet to be reunited, in some cases because their parents have been deported. Pechman said she didn’t want any orders she might issue to conflict with decisions by Sabraw.
FAILURE TO APPEAR ARREST
A Norwich woman, who was stopped Tuesday afternoon by police for going too fast on a Ledyard highway was also arrested for a previous charge for failure to appear in court. Police say 31-year old Tania Desir was driving northbound on the Colonel Ledyard Highway. She was charged with second-degree failure to appear, traveling unreasonably fast, and driving with a suspended license. She’s out on 2-thousand dollars bond, and will appear in court August 16th on the driving charges, and the following day on the failure to appear charge.
SANDY HOOK MEMORIAL APPROVED
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) – A committee has chosen a design for a permanent memorial to honor the 26 people killed in the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Newtown-based group chose a design by San Francisco-based architecture and design firm SWA, featuring a coiling wooded walkway leading to a sycamore tree planted in the middle of a small man-made reflecting pool. Alan Martin, the vice chairman of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission says the design was picked from almost 200 submitted and received overwhelming approval from the victims’ families. The commission will formally vote Thursday to recommend the design to the town’s board of selectmen. Martin says plans are for the memorial, on a donated 5-acre site near the elementary school, to be dedicated on Dec. 14, 2019, the seventh anniversary of the shooting.
MORE WEST NILE
WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (AP) – Officials say mosquitoes tested at a site in Wethersfield have come up positive for West Nile virus. The Central Connecticut Health District says they have found virus-infected mosquitoes there. Nineteen municipalities this year, including Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury and Bridgeport, have had mosquitoes that tested positive. No human cases have been reported so far. State officials say there have been higher rates of mosquitoes carrying the virus this year due to humid weather. The health district recommends people drain standing water, wear effective mosquito repellant and cover children’s playpens with netting when outdoors. Since 2000, there have been 134 human cases of West Nile virus-associated illnesses and three deaths in the state.
