Connecticut, Stamford | featured news

STAMFORD - A 31-year-old Stamford woman was killed on the Merritt Parkway Sunday morning after losing control of her car and striking trees off the highway.

The accident happened shortly after 9 a.m.

STAMFORD — Jason Martin, principal at Rippowam Middle School, is stepping down. A letter from Martin was posted on the Rippowam website Friday evening. “As many of you may or may not know, I live in NY City with my wife and three young children,” he stated. “Frequently, my wife and I contemplate decisions that we feel will benefit our family and place us in better circumstances. This is one of those decisions and one that does not come easily.” Martin will be a high school principal in Floral Park, N.Y.

HARTFORD - The fallout from House and Senate passage of a $40 billion Republican state budget - and stunning defeat for the General Assembly’s Democratic majority - poured in Saturday as both sides of the isle surveyed the landscape.

State Rep. Kim Rose, D-Milford, one of four House Democrats who voted for the Republican spending plan, said she supported the GOP plan because she wanted both sides to negotiate a better budget.

“I didn’t feel either budget was a good budget,” Rose said. “The Republican budget was a little kinder to Milford. But we need to move forward.

The decision Friday by three Democratic senators to vote for a Republican budget sent shockwaves through the state’s political system and left the next two-year spending plan in limbo.

State Sens. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, Paul Doyle, D-Wethersfield, and Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, declined to vote for a $41.4 billion Democrat-backed budget and instead allowed a Republican version to clear the state Senate by a 21-15 vote.

The House began debate over both the Republican and Democratic budgets at about 9 p.m.

STAMFORD-A Redding contractor was charged Friday with stealing nearly $40,000 from a Glenbrook man shortly before he died last year.

John Gallo, 37, was charged with first-degree larceny and was released after posting a $25,000 court appearance bond.

Gallo’s Stamford criminal defense attorney Mark Sherman said Gallo did not commit a crime and he expects the charges against his client will be resolved quickly.

“The evidence in this case will reveal that all of the dealings between these parties were at arm’s length and pursuant to valid contractual agreements. Mr.

STAMFORD-Police say a city man was grazed by a bullet fired Thursday afternoon inside Carwin Park, but investigators have not been unable to find any witnesses to the crime.

Police say that the 25-year-old man, who showed up at the Stamford Hospital emergency room and was treated and released, is not cooperating with investigators.

Sgt. Chris Broems said a Narcotics and Organized Crime squad member received information just after midafternoon Thursday that someone had been wounded by a bullet in the West Side park.

Police were sent to the park immediately, but found it deserted.

HARTFORD — The new state budget before the House and Senate provides a pathway to electronic tolls on state highways.

The spending plan creates the Connecticut Transportation Finance Authority, which includes an appointed board of directors and an executive director.

HARTFORD — Connecticut residents will pay a new surcharge on their cell phone, an extra fee to take an Uber ride and lose half of their state personal property tax credit if a budget before the General Assembly is adopted.

The Legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee on Thursday — by a narrow 26-25 vote — adopted $3.7 billion in revenue estimates for the emerging 2018 and 2019 fiscal year state budget.

Included in that revenue projection is a 49 cent monthly surcharge on the state’s estimated 3 million personal and commercial cell phones, a 25 percent fee for every rid

STAMFORD-A city man was charged Wednesday with an August roadside assault and beat-down that left a Stamford man with a badly broken jaw.

Richard Jeter, 22, of Strawberry Hill Avenue, Stamford, was charged with second-degree assault.

Sgt. Paul Guzda said a 24-year-old man was walking on North Street near Cloonan Middle School late in the afternoon on August 5 when a while vehicle pulled over.

A man got out and ran at the pedestrian and began punching him.

STAMFORD-A call about an abandoned car on Stamford’s East Side led police to two loaded guns early Tuesday evening.

Capt. Richard Conklin said police got a call on Tuesday evening about an abandoned motor vehicle parked in front of 138 Custer Street.

Officer Christopher Felman-Merced responded but was unable to find out any information about the vehicle by calling in its license plate.

Looking through the unlocked car for a registration, the officer found two pistols in the center console.