SEN. SOMERS REPORTING POSSIBLE RACIAL INCIDENTS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut state officials say they’re investigating reports of “racially offensive incidents,” which a state senator says includes a noose looped around the head of a toy chicken that was found hanging in a black state worker’s office. Republican State Sen. Heather Somers of Groton told The Hartford Courant that she was informed the noose was found in the office of a worker at the Department of Development Services regional office in Torrington. Somers provided photos of the fake chicken in the noose to the newspaper. Department of Development Services officials said Monday that they’re “actively investigating reports of racially offensive incidents,” but declined to elaborate. The department’s commissioner says in an email to employees that it takes “all allegations of this nature very seriously.” The department provides housing and other services to people with intellectual disabilities.
NFA A.D. STEPS DOWN
Norwich Free Academy’s athletic director has resigned. School officials say Eric Swallow will be stepping down as of today. They’re not saying whether Swallow’s resignation has anything to do with an on-going police investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a student or students by a former school employee. Head of School David Klein said last month that NFA terminated its relationship with the unidentified subject of the police probe. Swallow has been the school’s athletic director since June 2015. His duties will be shared among three school administrators in the interim.
MOHEGANS TO RUN NIAGARA FALLS CASINOS
Mohegan Sun’s parent company will soon be expanding its workload. It’ll be managing the three casino properties in the Niagara Falls, Canada area starting next summer. Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment will be overseeing day-to-day operations of Fallsview Casino Resort, Casino Niagara, and the 5-thousand seat Niagara Falls Entertainment Centre, which is now being built. Fallsview is Canada’s largest gaming facility: It includes 200-thousand square feet of gaming space, a 30-story hotel, and a 15-hundred seat theater.
J.C. ROBBER SENTENCED
Two years in prison is the sentenced given Monday to a Jewett City man who robbed two stores in the borough late last year to support his drug habit. 36-year old Michael Warner agreed to a plea deal in July, after admitting using a realistic-looking pellet gun to hold-up the Best Way Food and Fuel convenience store on North Main Street November 29th, and then the Smokers’ Discount World shop, also on North Main Street, on December 7th. Police say Warner told them he was using between five and ten heroin bags a day.
NL MAN SENTENCED
A New London man will serve more than two years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition. 42-year old Manuel Arteaga is accused of selling a loaded handgun to an undercover law enforcement official in January of last year. Arteaga has previously been convicted of firearms and drug offenses in Connecticut and New York, and is facing potential new drug charges. Federal law prohibits those convicted of felonies to possess firearms or ammo. Arteaga was sentenced to 16 months behind bars in federal court in Hartford.
RAPPER ADMITS TO MISBEHAVING AT BRADLEY AIRPORT
ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) – Rapper Kamaiyah has pleaded guilty to creating a public disturbance at Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport in May when police say she went on a profanity-laced tirade against security officers. The hip-hop artist from Oakland, California, will be required to pay a fine of $50. The Hartford Courant reports that her attorney said in court Monday in Enfield that she also wrote letter of apology to a state police trooper as part of a plea deal. Kamaiyah Johnson hit the scene with her 2016 debut mixtape “A Good Night in the Ghetto” and appeared in a Sprite commercial with basketball star LeBron James. She was arrested after police say she refused to remove a head covering after setting off an alarm. She was charged with misdemeanor breach of peace and interfering with police.
CT REMEMBERING 9/11
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – U.S. and state flags in Connecticut have been directed to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday in remembrance of the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in New Haven also will be illuminated in red, white, and blue lights on Monday and Tuesday evenings in recognition of the anniversary. Beacons that can project light nearly six miles into the night sky will be lit both nights. There are 161 victims with ties to Connecticut who were killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Malloy said the anniversary is a day to “renew our commitment to the freedoms, strength, and moral integrity that make our country great.”
