CHARGES DROPPED IN HIGH SCHOOL SLAP-BOXING CASE
NORWICH, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a former Montville high school principal accused of failing to report a student “fight club,” while the substitute teacher charged with organizing the classroom fights has applied for a probation program. Recently retired principal Jeffrey Theodoss and other defendants appeared Tuesday in Norwich Superior Court. The Bulletin reports it wasn’t clear why charges against Theodoss were dropped. He and two other administrators charged in the case deny wrongdoing. Investigators say teacher Ryan Fish allowed “slap boxing” fights inside a math classroom during school hours last year. Officials fired Fish and disciplined students, but police say they didn’t alert authorities until two months later. Fish on Tuesday applied for accelerated rehabilitation, which could result in several charges being erased from his record.
ARREST WARRANT STILL SEALED
The arrest warrant in a Griswold triple murder will remain sealed, at least through the end of next month. New London Superior Court Judge Hillary Strackbein Tuesday granted the state’s motion over the objections of the Hartford Courant in the case of Sergio Correa. The warrant will remain sealed until at least October 26th. Correa continues to be held on 3-point-3 million dollars bond in the deaths last December of Janet and Kenneth Lindquist, and their son, Matthew. Correa also faces charges of setting their house on fire. Correa hasn’t indicated yet if he will demand a probable cause hearing, whereby the state has to demonstrate in court why the case should be prosecuted.
BETTER SOUND
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – A new environmental report says Long Island Sound’s water quality is improving. The Long Island Sound Report Card 2018 released Monday by environmental groups includes 10 years of data and an assessment of how water quality is trending in each region of the Sound. In most regions, the water quality improved. The New Haven Register reports that the study grades areas based on oxygen levels, water clarity, the amount of phytoplankton in the water and levels of dissolved organic carbon. Curt Johnson, president of Connecticut Fund for the Environment-Save the Sound, says the Sound’s overall condition has improved dramatically since the late 1980s when a steady increase in population and poorly treated sewage led to harbors full of dying fish and shellfish, dirty beaches and waters almost devoid of oxygen.
DISTRACTED DRIVING SURVEY
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – New Haven and Hartford lead the state in distracted driving accidents, according to a new study. The Travelers Institute and the Connecticut Safety Research Center say between 2015 and the first half of 2018 there were 1,392 crashes caused by people on cellphones, eating or otherwise distracted in New Haven, or about 5 percent of all crashes in the city. There were 1,055 similar accidents in Hartford, and 899 accidents distracted driving accidents in Bridgeport. The data came from the state’s Department of Public Safety and Department of Transportation. The researchers labeled several roadways as trouble spots for distracted driving, including Route 1 south along the coast; Interstate 84 in Waterbury and Hartford; Interstate 91 north in Meriden; Route 9 north in Middletown; Route 2 west near Norwich; and I-95 along the eastern shoreline.
SNAKE IN THE CAN
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) – A Connecticut man trying to be a friend to the environment when he picked up a bag of trash got a dangerous surprise. Police in Hamden say the man threw the bag into a trash can at his home, and the next day found a venomous copperhead snake in the can. Assistant Animal Control Officer Mitch Gibbs said in a statement Tuesday the man is a frequent visitor West Rock Ridge State Park.
He noticed the trash bag near the park last week so grabbed it and took it home to properly dispose of it. A day later he saw the snake in his trash can. The man called Gibbs, who informed state environmental officials, and then returned the snake to the park.
