NL STABBING
New London police say a man suffered life-threatening injuries this afternoon after a stabbing at 25 Brainard Street. Police say they were called to the scene around 2:15 PM to find the victim suffering from multiple stab wounds. A suspect was arrested on South Water Street. Police say the stabbing appears to have been caused by a domestic incident. Names of the suspect or victim haven’t been released yet.
MANSFIELD TORNADO
NEW CANAAN, Conn. (AP) – The National Weather Service says two tornados touched down in Connecticut earlier this week as a series of severe thunderstorms made their way across the state. An EF0 tornado touched down in Mansfield at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday. It had maximum winds of approximately 70 mph, a width of 30 yards and a path length of just under half a mile. An EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph touched down in New Canaan at 5:29 p.m. Tuesday and lasted about 12 minutes, cutting a nearly four-mile path to Norwalk. It was about 100 yards wide. The weather service says no fatalities or injuries were reported but there was damage to trees and cars. EF0 and EF1 are the two weakest of six tornado strength categories.
BLUMENTHAL SAYS FBI INVESTIGATION A “WHITEWASH”
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he’s “deeply disappointed” in a confidential FBI report about sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, calling it a “whitewash.” A Judiciary Committee member, Blumenthal said Thursday the report doesn’t include interviews with numerous potential witnesses or follow-ups on key leads. He says it’s “far from thorough,” referring to a description made by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who had pressed for the renewed background check of Kavanaugh. Blumenthal says the report, which he calls a series of interviews, “is, in a word, a whitewash. It smacks of a cover-up.” Blumenthal says he plans to reach out to Collins and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona, saying “they really wanted a genuine investigation, not a check-the-box sham.”
AETNA/CVS HEARING
In a hearing before the Connecticut Insurance Department today, C-V-S said its purchase of Aetna will help reduce healthcare costs. C-V-S says the merger will allow better analysis of healthcare data shared between the two companies and better coordination of care by pharmacists. Georgia State University Insurance Professor William Custer was hired by the state to review the deal. Custer says the merger may make the companies more efficient and save customers money in the short term, but he says the deal could also spark more mergers, reducing competition in the long run. Hartford-based Aetna has more than 5-thousand employees in Connecticut.
TRIAL FOR NEW LONDON RAPE SUSPECT
A man accused of raping two New London women after breaking-into their homes last Fall is headed to trial. 34-year old Monte White has turned down a state plea offer where he would’ve served 20 years in prison and five years probation. His attorney has filed a motion for a speedy trial, which state law mandates should occur within 30 days. White could now face as much as 120 years in jail for the alleged sexual assault cases, and another 45 years on unrelated drug charges.
LAWSUIT APPEAL FILED
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A group of Connecticut parents and students intends to appeal after a federal judge dismissed most of its claims in a lawsuit challenging the state’s restrictions on magnet schools, charter schools and school choice programs.
The families sued state officials in 2016, saying a moratorium on new magnet schools and other restrictions are unconstitutional and have forced thousands of low-income and minority students to attend low-performing public schools. A lawyer for the group said Thursday it will appeal a decision last week by U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson in Hartford to a federal appeals court in New York. The judge dismissed six of seven claims in the lawsuit, saying the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that there is no fundamental right to equal educational opportunity under the U.S. Constitution.
CARMAN SAYS HE STILL CAN’T AFFORD LAWYER
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The Vermont man accused by relatives of killing his millionaire grandfather and his mother to collect inheritance money has told a New Hampshire court he still lacks money for an attorney just three months ahead of an expected trial.
Nathan Carman sparred with his relatives’ attorney over his request to have $150,000 transferred to him from a trust. He said he needs the money to hire a lawyer for suits in New Hampshire related to his inheritance and the sinking of his boat during a trip where his mother was lost at sea. The relatives’ attorney, Dan Small, argued in a New Hampshire court Thursday that Carman didn’t need the money for legal representation, noting that previous attorneys whom he fired were working on a contingency basis.
