Month: September 2021

2021-09-29@3:40pm–#Fairfield CT– Report of a crash involving a school bus, updated reports say the bus hit a road sign.

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HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont announced that as the Connecticut General Assembly has given final legislative approval to renew the COVID-19 civil preparedness and public health emergency declarations through February 15, 2022, he has signed an executive order – Executive Order No. 14 – authorizing nine previously issued executive orders to remain in effect through the duration of the renewed declarations, and revising and narrowing two previously issued executive orders.

The governor explained that this new executive order is necessary so that certain previously issued orders can continue beyond September 30, 2021, which is the date that the declarations had previously been scheduled to expire. He informed legislative leaders of his intent to issue this order in a letter delivered to them last week.

“I believe Connecticut has been smart in our response and we’ve been taking the right steps to help mitigate the spread of this virus to the best of our abilities,” Governor Lamont said. “That’s why we’ve gotten to a place where we currently have among the best results in the nation, and I’m just asking people to be cautious just a little bit longer until we can get this behind us.”

Executive Order No. 14 takes the following actions:

1. Extends the duration of nine previously issued executive orders through February 15, 2022. These include:
   • Executive Order No. 7P, Section 1, which concerns the authority to provide non-congregate housing to at-risk populations when housing them in group shelters or other communal settings would put them at greater risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. It is important to note that despite claims by some commenters to the contrary, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has explicitly told Connecticut that reimbursement of about $2 million per quarter will not continue without such an order remaining in effect.
   • Executive Order No. 9, Section 1, and Executive Order No. 13A, which provide the authority to require masks in schools, childcare facilities, and certain higher-risk settings, as well as providing municipal authority to require universal masking in certain settings.
   • Executive Order No. 9Q, Section 3, and Executive Order No. 13C, which support the state’s comprehensive and nation-leading vaccination campaign by ensuring coordinating funding and reimbursement for vaccinations and allowing the Department of Public Health to share vaccination information with healthcare providers and local health districts.
   • Executive Order No. 12D, which continues the requirement that before initiating the summary process for eviction, landlords file an application with UniteCT, the state’s nation-leading program to provide fiscal assistance to landlords and renters to prevent evictions that could lead to homelessness and the resulting increased risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19.
   • Executive Order No. 13E, which implements a streamlined training program for temporary nurse aides.
   • Executive Order No. 13F and Executive Order No. 13G, which require long-term care facility workers, state hospital workers, state employees, preK through 12 school workers, and the staff of childcare facilities to get vaccinated, with test-out options for those not working in long-term care facilities and hospitals.

2. Extends agency or municipal orders that were issued pursuant to any unexpired COVID-19 order.

3. Repeals Executive Order No. 11D, Sections 2 and 3, which concern the emergency procurement of essential goods and services, and renews them with a revised version that restores nearly all statutory contracting procedures and requirements except that, to provide for flexible process for goods and services essential to the COVID-19 response, keeps in place emergency authority for agency heads to use expedited non-competitive procurement processes. The revised order continues to require the department head or agency head to certify in writing that such expedited procurement is necessary to respond to the pandemic.

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2021-09-28@7:00PMish– Firefighters were called to a kitchen fire in the 90 block of Pixlee Place. One handline was used and quickly extinguished the fire. Firefighters ventilated the home. No one was injured.

2021-09-28@5:18pm– #Fairfield CT– #cttraffic– Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Fairfield Fire and a private contractor is on I-95 southbound between exit 24 and 25 where there is a diesel spill from a saddle tank from a truck. The diesel also went down the sewer drain.

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2021-09-28@9:58pm–#Bridgeport CT– A worker closing up for the evening was robbed by at gunpoint near East Main and Pulaski Street. The victim was hit on the head with the firearm and robbed of a gold chain. The masked suspect fled towards Burroughs Street.

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[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, will convene a hearing on Tuesday, September 28, 2021 at 2:30 PM titled “Toxic Conservatorships: The Need for Reform.”

“This hearing will examine harmful, restrictive conservatorships that far too often deny people due process and strip them of their rights to make legal, financial, and even personal decisions,” Blumenthal said. “The brave decision by Britney Spears to speak out and fight back has shown the world how harmful these legal arrangements can be. Sadly, her case is far from an isolated incident. I look forward to hearing from experts and a former subject of a conservatorship to explore how we can bring transparency, accountability, and overall reform to a system that is rife with abuse.”

“Conservatorship abuse has come to the forefront of a political, pop culture, and civil rights conversation like never before in America,” said Cruz. “Britney Spears’ conservatorship has shown fundamental liberties can be taken away with little opportunity for legal recourse. The threshold for a conservatorship should be incredibly high to protect the civil liberties of Americans while still ensuring the safety and security of individuals who cannot care for themselves. I look forward to shining a light on this issue tomorrow with a bipartisan conversation in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing along with my colleague Sen. Blumenthal.”

Conservatorships, also referred to as guardianships in many states, are legal arrangements that occur when a person is determined to have a diminished capacity to make decisions about personal affairs or property management. The arrangements allow a court to transfer the individual’s right to make decisions to a conservator or guardian, with some of the most commonly affected groups including the elder, disability, and youth communities.

Under the current conservatorship system, these legal arrangements often leave individuals deprived of some or all of their legal rights and can lead to social issues such as helplessness and stigmatization. The broad agreements also bring up troubling due process concerns, as ending or amending conservatorship arrangements remain very rare.   

Recently, conservatorship concerns have been brought to the forefront with documentaries and reporting focusing on Britney Spears, who was forced into a conservatorship in 2008. Under her conservatorship, there have been reports Spears has been isolated from her family and friends, financially exploited, spied upon, medicated against her will, and even denied access to her own children. 

Spears was originally forced into the conservatorship while still in the hospital after being involuntarily hospitalized the day before. Since 2008, there have not been consistent check-ins to reevaluate the conservatorship, the psychiatrist who originally provided the declaration for her lack of mental fitness has said he, “did not know why she still has a conservatorship,” and it is clear her father Jamie and other members of her team have a financial incentive to keep Spears in the arrangement.  

The hearing will include testimony from:

·       Zoe Brennan-Krohn, Staff Attorney at the ACLU Disability Rights Project;

·       Morgan Whitlatch, Legal Director at Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities;

·       Dr. Clarissa Kripke, Professor of Family Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine;

·       David Slayton, Vice President of Court Consulting Services at the National Center for State Courts; and

·       Nick Clouse, former subject of a conservatorship following a traumatic brain injury.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid a rise in unsolicited text messages and ongoing robocalls, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take aggressive action to curb these scams plaguing consumers. Blumenthal called on the agency to strengthen anti-robocall laws, require phone carriers to block illegal marketing, and bring enforcement action against those behind the schemes. 

“I encourage the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take action to strengthen our anti-robocall laws, require carriers to block illegal marketing, and bring enforcement actions against the culprits and enablers of these schemes,” Blumenthal wrote to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel.

Blumenthal praised initial actions taken by the agency, but called for a swift implementation of the STIR/SHAKEN protocol to require all telephone carriers to put an end to spoofed calls, emphasizing that “Years spent waiting is billions of dollars lost to fraud.”

Blumenthal urged the FCC to take urgent action on the rise in unsolicited text messages flooding consumers’ phones with fraudulent and malicious content, writing: “I urge the FCC to use all of its authorities, including investigations, rulemaking, and enforcement, to address unwanted text messages, send a deterrent message to marketers, and identify technical solutions.” This rise in text message scams has led to a reported $88 million in consumer losses.

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2021-09-27@3:03pm–#Bridgeport CT– First responders on scene of an assault at Madison at Beers Street. There are no further details because, well, you know…Ganim.

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(Westport, CT) At approximately 11:14am on the morning of September 12, 2021, the Westport
Police Department’s emergency dispatch center was contacted by a couple who were the
victims of an alleged robbery attempt that occurred on the Ruth Cohen Steinkraus Post Road
Bridge. At nearly the same time the caller’s husband flagged down a patrol officer who was
driving by.

It was reported that a male party had approached the couple quickly from behind. The
suspect then began walking in step with the male victim at which time he told the couple to
bring him to their car. He repeated the demand as he allegedly brandished a knife and
threatening the female. The female then darted across the Post Road evading cars in order to
escape. Her husband followed at which time the suspect then fled the area walking eastbound
towards Jesup Road. Fortunately, neither of the victims were injured.

The victims were able to provide a detailed description of the suspect which was relayed to
all of the responding officers. Patrol units began to saturate the area from all directions in an
effort to locate the suspect. While officers were searching the area a member of the Westport
Fire Department advised that he had seen a suspect fitting the descriptors in the area of 302 Post
Road East. Officers were on scene within moments and located an individual who fit the
description provided by the victims. The suspect was then identified as James S Cummings, age
41, of Bridgeport, CT. Cummings matched all of the physical descriptors provided and was then
detained by officers where a knife was then located on his person. The victims purportedly
identified Cummings as the individual who accosted them on the bridge.

Cummings was placed under arrest and charged with Attempt to Commit Robbery in the 1 st
Degree, Attempt at Larceny in the 3 rd Degree, Carrying a Dangerous Weapon, and Threatening
in the 2 nd Degree. He is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.
In response to the events that unfolded today Police Chief Foti Koskinas stated “I am
extremely proud of all the officers who assisted with this incident. The high level of skill and
teamwork they exhibited led to the quick apprehension of the suspect. Additionally, I would
like to extend my gratitude to the Westport Fire Department for their assistance.”

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