SWAB SUMMER UNDERWAY
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) – Military training for the newest class of cadets at the Coast Guard Academy in New London has begun on one of the hottest days of the year. A total of 292 students were expected to be sworn in Monday for the start of training. They hail from 48 states and include also international students from Belize, Cambodia, Iceland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Palau, Panama, Rwanda and Ukraine. The incoming class includes 14 cadets from Connecticut. The first day of the seven-week training regimen known as Swab Summer includes haircuts, uniform issue and drills. Cadets attend the academy at no cost for four years and graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree and an obligation to serve at least five years in the Coast Guard.
ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION PROTEST
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Police in Hartford have arrested more than 30 people protesting the immigration policies of President Donald Trump outside a federal office building. Police began arresting people Monday morning when they started blocking entrances to the Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building. The building hosts a courthouse and a local office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Protest organizer Carolina Bortolleto said demonstrators want the administration to stop jailing and prosecuting immigrants. Police say 35 protesters were charged with breach of peace and trespass, and one person was charged with interfering with an officer. Over the weekend hundreds of thousands gathered for marches in cities and towns across the country in act of mass resistance against Trump’s immigration policies.
MAN CHARGED WITH LEAVING DOG IN CAR
New London police have charged a man with leaving a dog in a hot, locked car Sunday with the windows rolled up. 43-year old Ian Adolphe of Springfield, Massachusetts is out after posting a 15-hundred dollar bond. Police say they found the dog inside a car parked on Hillside Road near Lower Boulevard around 5:30 Sunday afternoon, broke one of its windows, and put the animal inside an air-conditioned police cruiser, giving it water. Police say the dog recovered after a brief period of time. No word about a court appearance for the accused.
COMPTROLLER: DEFICIT NOT QUITE AS BAD
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – State Comptroller Kevin Lembo is predicting the last fiscal year has ended with a lower than anticipated deficit in Connecticut. . In his monthly report to the governor, released Monday, the Democrat estimates the fiscal year ended with a $594.5 million deficit. Last month, Lembo predicted Connecticut was on track to end the fiscal year June 30 with a $721 million deficit. The new fiscal year began Sunday. Lembo is attributing the decrease to a combination of lower spending by state agencies and a net improvement in revenues, including a one-time personal income tax windfall. Lembo notes in his report that Connecticut continues to lag behind the nation’s economic recovery from the recession. The state has recovered 81 percent of its overall jobs lost. He says the wages attached to those jobs are weaker.
CAMPAIGN SPENDING CHALLENGE
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is urging his fellow Democratic candidate for governor, wealthy businessman Ned Lamont, to limit his campaign spending to $1 million. Ganim issued his challenge on a Sunday on WFSB-TV and repeated it Monday. He’s calling on Lamont “not to become the Linda McMahon of this election cycle,” referring to the former two-time Republican U.S. Senate candidate who spent a total of $100 million of her own money. A spokeswoman for Lamont is giving no indication the party’s endorsed candidate plans to agree to Ganim’s challenge. Patty McQueen says Republican candidates are committing tens of millions of dollars to the race, in addition to “unlimited outside money pouring in.” She says “there’s too much at stake.” Ganim was denied access to the state’s public campaign financing system.
VFW POST SUPPORTING OFFICER WHO WAS KKK MEMBER
WALLINGFORD, Conn. (AP) – A Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Connecticut is standing by an officer who was convicted of crimes involving bigotry as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Scott E. Palmer, senior vice commander of Post 591 in Wallingford, was among several Klansmen arrested as a part of an investigation in the mid-1990s into a rising number of hate crimes in the area. Post commander Michael Del Monaco said he is concerned with what Palmer has done for veterans and not his past role with the KKK. Palmer didn’t respond to requests for comment. Palmer was convicted in 1993 of intimidation based on bigotry for punching a customer outside a gay bar. He also pleaded guilty to intimidation based on bigotry for yelling slurs at Hispanic men.
CHAMBER CHIEF NOW ALSO AIRPORT CHIEF
The head of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut now has new responsibilities. Tony Sheridan has been appointed as chairman of the Connecticut Airport Authority. The group oversees operations at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, as well as at the state’s five general aviation airports, including Groton-New London. Governor Dannel Malloy announced Sheridan’s appointment Monday. The airport authority is charged with growing the state’s air transportation industry. There are eleven volunteer members on the board.
UCFS TO RUN HEALTH CENTER
A new operator for the Norwich Free Academy Health Center. United Community and Family Services has signed a three year agreement with the school, effective this August. New London-based Child and Family Agency had run the center for about 20 years, but says budget cuts forced them to discontinue its service there. A new NFA Health facility in the school’s Latham Building will open this August, offering both medical and behavioral health services.
SPEEDWAY TRUCK ARREST
Fans at the Thompson Speedway Sunday are being credited with assisting in the arrest of a suspected truck thief. Police say Brandon Ayala allegedly got into an unlocked truck, and tried to leave the speedway parking lot. They say fans and volunteers re-gated the entrance to the track, preventing Ayala from leaving. Ayala fled on foot through the nearby golf course but was later caught. He’s been charged with second-degree larceny, and is being held on 5-thousand dollars bond.
