OIL SPILL UNDER INVESTIGATION
State environmental officials are investigating whether to levy any penalties against the owner of a van and trailer which spilled three 55-gallon drums of heating oil Monday in Norwich. Town officials say the oil began spilling on the Eighth Street Bridge shortly before noon. The trail of oil continued along Smith Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue, and Roosevelt Avenue Extension in Norwich and Long Society Road and Brickyard Road in Preston. No oil spilled into the Shetucket River. Police say they will cite the Ledyard driver of the trailer for failing to secure its load. The bridge was closed for several hours while the oil was cleaned up.
QUAKER HILL WOMAN TURNS HERSELF IN
A 31-year old Quaker Hill woman is being charged in the death of her 5-year old son. Whitney Bosselman turned herself in to police Monday, and is being held on 50-thousand dollars bond. Police say they found her son unconscious and with no pulse buckled in the back sear of a car on her Maple Avenue property on May 3rd. Bosselman had reported that her son was missing. Police say the conditions that existed in the home prompted them to notify state officials about the welfare of two other children that lived there.
SLOTS DOWN LOCALLY
September slots numbers are down at the two local tribal casinos. Foxwoods Resort Casino say slots revenues are down by 5-point-2 percent, compared to September of last year. Mohegan Sun reports a dip of 8-point-8 percent for the same time frame. It was the first full month of operation for MGM Springfield, which is reporting 18-million dollars in gross slots revenues in September, and another 8-point-8 million in table games. MGM officials says the numbers are on track with company expectations. Meanwhile, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun is forwarding 21-point-6 million dollars of its slots revenues to the state.
WATERFORD SEARS CLOSING
The Sears store in Waterford’s Crystal Mall will be closed for good by the end of this year. Company officials announced today that 142-quote-unprofitable stores across the country are shutting down, as the retail chain is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Liquidation sales are expected to begin shortly. Another Connecticut Sears store in Milford is also closing. The latest closures are in addition to 46 previously-announced closures of Sears and K-Mart locations by November.
FLEXOR CAN’T MAKE IT
A planned debate Tuesday between the two candidates in the 29th district state senate race will now be a just a one-man show. Democratic incumbent Mae Flexor says she won’t be able to attend due to previous commitments. Her Republican challenger David Coderre will be there, to take questions from the public and the media. The forum begins at 5:30 PM at Windham Town Hall.
NEW LONDON SCHOOL APPOINTMENTS
New London education officials have announced two administrative appointments. Maribel Olivero is the new director of Bilingual Education, English as a second language, and World Languages. Olivero has worked in the city’s schools since 2000 when she was a bilingual teacher at New London High. Meanwhile, Carol Paldino is the new principal of the Jennings Dual Language and International Elementary Magnet School. She has been the assistant director of the school since 2014, as well as the director of the city’s summer school program.
ACA SCAM
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A father and son from California have pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme that defrauded more than $27 million from Affordable Care Act programs in at least 12 states. Federal prosecutors in Connecticut say 60-year-old Jeffrey White and 33-year-old Nicholas White, both of Twin Peaks, California, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Authorities say the Whites fraudulently enrolled people in ACA plans in states where those people did not live, often using phony documentation.The Whites then paid for those people to enroll in substance abuse treatment programs in California. Those programs paid the Whites thousands of dollars per referral. The scheme defrauded ACA programs in Connecticut, Arizona, California, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Sentencing is Jan. 4.
