Somersville, CT Reverse Mortgage in Connecticut

East Windsor budget plan gets third look by voters. Woman dies, brother injured in house fire in Enfield.

Old Mill Seeks New Life

I am a 46-year-old disabled man living in Enfield on Social Security Disability Insurance. via Hartford Courant

"It really is coming down to a matter of survival"

Now entering her 60s, Cindy Woodman thought this would be an easy time in her life, a time for taking trips with friends and family and quiet nights in front of the television.

But last year, when her daughter became addicted to drugs and could no longer provide for her family, Woodman put serene visions of her elderly years aside to take over custody of her granddaughter, 7-year-old Delilah Ortiz.

It's an unexpected responsibility placed on a growing number of grandparents in Connecticut and around the nation, and many of them - such as Woodman - would like to be better compensated from the state. Read more

"The most prevalent drug we see abused on campus is still marijuana"

A University of Connecticut freshman caught in a campus parking lot with 200 bags of heroin told undercover police who arrested him Tuesday night that selling drugs was the only way he could pay for college.

Police said they apprehended Stephen H. Laurencin, 19, of Hartford, and fellow student Alimahad A. Isa, 21, of West Hartford, in W lot on the northern edge of campus off Route 195. The heroin, packaged for street sale, was found in a laptop computer bag inside the car Isa was driving, police said. Read more

"We do not believe that the plea offer carries sufficient punishment for Miss Hall's involvement in the events which took place at the time and death of our daughter Carlee"

- The parents of the University of Connecticut freshman killed a year ago in a hit-and-run crash urged a judge Friday to reject the plea agreement reached by prosecutors and lawyers for Michele Ann Hall of Long Island.

Hall, a UConn freshman at the time her then-boyfriend Anthony Alvino's SUV struck and fatally injured Carlee Wines, was charged as an accessory after she urged Alvino to drive off after the crash. Friday, in Superior Court in Rockville, Hall pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to a single count of third-degree hindering prosecution. With an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but concedes that the state has enough evidence to win a conviction. The agreed-upon sentence is four years in prison, suspended after Hall serves six months. Her lawyer, Emanuel R. Gold, will have the opportunity to argue for less time in jail. Read more

"Last year we were a little bit tight on space ... so you couldn't really enjoy the experience at times."

- The 116th Wapping Fair will return to Evergreen Walk, although this year the fair will be able to spread out a bit.

John Finguerra, who owns the property behind LA Fitness where last year's fair was held, agreed to allow the fair to return and use some newly leveled land, said Deputy Mayor Cary Prague, who worked with fellow council member Edward Havens and others to find a new site for the fair.

The fair used to be at the Rye Street Park, but was displaced after the town decided to build new ballfields there. Read more

"We previously did 'Satisfaction"

After glee club and the church choir, Patricia Larese had to wait about 60 years for her big break. via Hartford Courant

"There was so much screaming and yelling, I didn't know, like she was being beaten or something"

A man who had what neighbors described as a volatile relationship with his pregnant girlfriend is accused of shooting her during an argument while their two small children watched. via Hartford Courant

"It is something that will be looked at down the road"

At least 1 million Connecticut residents, and possibly as many as 1.5 million - more than one-third of the state - lack dental insurance, according to the state dental association, and a new state medical plan for the uninsured, which includes tens of thousands of children, will not help. Gov. M. Jodi Rell's Charter Oak Health Plan - a cornerstone in the state's effort to provide more affordable health care - will not include a direct dental health component when it launches July 1, although providers may offer dental insurance as a separate rider to those who can afford it. More than 1,000 of those uninsured people braved driving rain, lightning and long lines in the pre-dawn chill this past weekend to take advantage of Connecticut's Mission of Mercy, the state's first large-scale free dental clinic that opened for two days in Tolland. Read more

"I was able to carry over 10 drinks on me into a school. We need to be more aware. We need to be one step ahead."

Dressed in a suit and tie, Ryan Obedzinski walked to the front of Ellington High School's auditorium and began his lecture on underage drinking with a series of slides.

He rapidly clicked through pictures of colorfully labeled bottles and cans. Some resembled Popsicles. Others had been shaped into toy guns. One might never have guessed they were alcoholic beverages.

His point: Keep your eyes open. And exactly how closed were the eyes of those who attended the recent meeting? 'I'm going to show you,' said Obedzinski, of ERASE East of the River Action for Substance Abuse Elimination. Read more

"Some of the discussions since the announcement was made could have been held before the announcement"

The Hartford, defusing anger over its demolition plans, said Friday it will save the oldest and grandest portion of the former MassMutual complex in Asylum Hill.

The insurer is exploring how the structure might fit into redevelopment plans for the site, including, perhaps, a mix of stores and apartments - an idea that The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has quietly floated in recent weeks.

The deal to save the original 1926 building and portico represents a victory for preservationists and neighborhood groups who recoiled at The Hartford's tentative plans, announced in December, to demolish the entire MassMutual building for parking and future company expansion. Read more

Cox Communications Inc. will raise its cable TV rates in May by a few dollars a month for most customers.

The increases, announced Wednesday, will affect all three Cox franchises in Connecticut , which cover the Meriden , Manchester and Enfield areas for a total of 19 towns and cities. The rate increase, which doesn't require state regulatory approval, begins May 15.

The Atlanta-based cable company attributed the price increases on some of the same higher costs that households face, including higher prices for gasoline and utilities. Cox has also seen the costs of its programming increase. Read more

Citigroup Inc. confirmed plans to close 10 Connecticut Citibank branches beginning in July, trimming the number of branches it has in the state by a third. via WFSB-TV Hartford

The community service project starts today at the Rockville Moose Lodge, 31 Kingsbury Ave., Tolland, at 3 p.m. At the event, the first shipment of 100 Tommy Moose stuffed animals will be presented to the state ... via Hartford Courant

"It was the first paid sick days bill to pass through a legislative body anywhere in the country"

For the second year in a row, a coalition of labor and community groups is urging legislators to pass a paid sick leave bill that would give full-time workers at companies employing 25 or more 6 1/2 days of paid sick leave a year.

'We're not asking for three months, for a year, for a month - we're asking for just six days out of the year,' said Urania Petit, co-chairwoman of the 1st Congressional District chapter of Connecticut Working Families, a coalition of community groups and labor unions. Read more

"Too often we see workers being dismissive and disrespectful to families"

Dawn and James Tallaksen thought Connecticut child welfare workers would be delighted when they offered to adopt their grandniece, M.J., who had been taken from her drug-addled parents at birth. via Connecticut's WB 20

"Neither the name of the school, nor the town of Tolland will appear in the film. A fictitious name will be attributed to both."

The director of iconic horror flicks is looking at Connecticut for the backdrop of his newest project. via WFSB-TV Hartford