BLUMENTHAL BELIEVES ACCUSER
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he believes Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying she has provided the country with “an amazing teaching moment.”
The Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday credited the college professor with having “inspired and given courage to women” while also enlightening men in America “to listen respectfully to women survivors and men who have survived sexual attack.” Blumenthal says “that is a profound public service, regardless of what happens with this nomination.” Kavanaugh has denied Ford’s accusations. A former federal prosecutor, Blumenthal says one reason why he believes Ford is because she’s been “very honest” about what she can and cannot remember. He says “someone composing a story can make it all come together.”
YALE STUDENTS WATCHING HEARING
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – Many Yale University students have gathered around televisions or been glued to their phones during the Brett Kavanaugh hearing.
About 70 students watched Thursday’s hearing in a lounge at Yale Law School as Christine Blasey Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh is denying the sexual misconduct allegations by Ford and other women as the committee considers his nomination to the Supreme Court. Student Alyssa Peterson says the lounge became quiet and some people gasped as Ford testified about the alleged assault. Many Yale students have been protesting Kavanaugh’s nomination, including at a rally Wednesday outside a Yale building where a second woman says Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were students there in the 1980s.
DEVELOPER SEEKS MORE TIME
Developers of a proposed upscale apartment complex in New London are seeking another extension. The Tagliatela Family say they still haven’t secured a financing partner for its planned 30-million dollar Shipway 221 project, which would be built on Howard Street in the Fort Trumbull Municipal Development area. The developer was granted a six-month extension that ends October 30th. The 30-million dollar 210 apartment facility is to be built in phases, with groundbreaking for the first phase expected later this year. The executive committee of the Renaissance City Development Association took no action on the developer’s extension request Wednesday, and is to meet at a later date.
GRISWOLD MAN SENTENCED FOR DUI ACCIDENT THAT KILLED DAUGHTER
A Griswold man will serve six years in prison for driving while intoxicated in a crash that occurred on Halloween 2016 in Groton that killed his four year old daughter. 30-year old David Ali is also being sued by the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash that occurred on the Gold Star Highway. Police say Ali was attempting a left turn onto Packer Road when he struck the other vehicle. Ali’s daughter, who was strapped into her car seat, suffered a fatal head injury. The child’s mother suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.
CANTERBURY MAN ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT
A Canterbury man is being accused of stealing 12-thousand dollars from his employer. Police say 31-year old Christopher Saunders took the money between March and June of this year from The Tire Store in East Lyme. Saunders is out on 12-thousand dollars bond and is to appear October 4th in New London Superior Court.
MORE WEST NILE
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Five more Connecticut residents have tested positive for West Nile virus, bringing the total to 15 human cases this season. Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino on Thursday said all five became ill in early to mid-September. He called it “very unusual” to have this many people seriously ill with the infection in early to mid-September. He urged residents to continue taking precautions to prevent mosquito bites, especially with warm weather in the forecast. Three of the new cases are residents of Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford. One patient is from Thompson and another is from Westbrook. Their ages range from 40 years old to over 70. Three required hospitalization. The Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station expects to find infected mosquitoes until the first hard frost in October.
PLAINFIELD WOMAN ACCUSED OF FIGHTING, INSTEAD OF WATCHING
A Plainfield woman is to appear in court Tuesday after being charged with failing to watch the 3-year old child under her care, instead deciding to fight a 15-year old. Police say 18-year old Jamia Patterson was intoxicated when they responded to a Main Street residence to find her fighting with the teen. Police say she didn’t know where the toddler was. She’s out on 25-hundred dollars bond, awaiting arraignment.
WANTS AUNT OUT
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The Vermont man accused by relatives of killing his millionaire grandfather and his mother to collect inheritance money is asking a Connecticut probate judge to remove his aunt as executor of a trust established for him by his grandfather. Nathan Carman is seeking up to $150,000 transferred to him from that trust. He says he needs the money to hire a lawyer for suits related to the sinking of his boat during a trip where his mother was lost at sea. Carman told a judge Thursday the funds are being withheld because his aunt wants to punish him for his grandfather’s death. Carman’s grandfather was fatally shot in his Windsor, Connecticut, home in 2013. Carman’s mother disappeared in 2016 during a fishing trip. Carman has not been charged in either case.
