Fire units responded to a detached garage fire at 3:00 am on Friday located at the 300 block of Wade Street. First unit on the scene reported a working fire that was declared under control in 30 minutes. No injuries were reported and the fire is under investigation with the Fire Marshal’s Office. Units responded to a structure fire at 8:30am on Saturday in the 400 block of Merritt Street. First unit on scene confirmed a working fire with reports from the occupants that everyone was out of the house. The fire was declared under control in 45 minutes. No injuries were reported, and the fire is under investigation with the Fire Marshal’s Office. Red Cross was not needed, and occupants were able to find shelter with family members.
[HARTFORD, CT] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation that would take on the affordable housing crisis and the existential threat of climate change. The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act invests up to $234 billion over ten years to transition the entire public housing stock in the United States into zero-carbon, highly energy-efficient homes – dramatically improving living conditions for nearly 2 million people in public housing across the country. The legislation also creates up to 280,000 good-paying, union jobs per year, while reducing annual carbon emissions by roughly 5.7 million metric tons – the equivalent of taking over 1.26 million cars off the road.
“We need to address both the climate and housing crisis through dramatic renovation, refitting, and construction of new housing for those who are without housing or are living in public housing that may be decades old,” said Blumenthal on Thursday at a press conference at the Wilmont Crossing in New Haven. “We must bring public housing into the 21st century through the Green New Deal for Public Housing, an investment of $234 billion a year over ten years. The effect on the climate crisis and housing crisis would be dramatic and historic if this is passed.”
Today, the U.S. faces a deepening climate and housing crisis, and public housing is burdened by government neglect, racial injustice, and chronic disrepair, including a $70 billion maintenance backlog. Residents of public housing often suffer worse health outcomes due to mold infestations, lead contamination, poor indoor air quality, and unsafe temperatures. Low-income households on average spend 8.6 percent of their total income on energy costs compared to 3 percent for other households – often forcing the choice between paying energy bills or other essential expenses like food, medicine, and child care.
Additionally, about 11.3 million American households are severely cost-burdened from paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. Alarmingly, there are currently no states in the country where a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.
With its focus on transforming over 900,000 units of public housing, the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act would take on the housing and climate crises in a number of ways including by:
Repealing the Faircloth Amendment, which limits the construction of new public housing developments, an important step toward providing affordable housing for all.
Ensuring all public housing is brought up to safe, sanitary, and sustainable conditions.
Providing funding to electrify all public housing, add solar panels, and secure renewable energy sources for all public housing energy needs.
Supporting families and sustainable communities by building new child care and senior centers, expanding access to clean transportation, and creating community gardens and other community investments.
Expanding federal programs to provide residents with meaningful work investing in their own communities and facilitate resident-owned and operated businesses.
Expanding resident councils so that public housing residents have a seat at the table for important decisions regarding their homes.
The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act is led by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the Senate and by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in the House of Representatives. The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Blumenthal, Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Peter Welch (D-VT), and 55 members in the House of Representatives.
The legislation is endorsed by more than 70 organizations including American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), National Housing Law Project, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Center for Popular Democracy Action, National Homelessness Law Center, Movement For Black Lives, Alliance for Housing Justice, People’s Action/Homes Guarantee Campaign, MoveOn, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Care in Action, United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9A, Green New Deal Network, Sunrise Movement, Public Citizen, NextGen America, Make The Road New York, and Care In Action.
On March 17, 2024 at 8:31 AM, Norwalk Combined Dispatch received information from NYPD stating they received a call that a woman was being held at gun point at a home in Norwalk. Norwalk Patrol Officers responded to the scene, established a perimeter, and began to contact the residents. Officers quickly determined the call to be a hoax.
The Detective Bureau assumed the investigation and determined the caller, Maurice Smith, an ex-boyfriend of the victim, initiated a swatting prank. As a result of their investigation, an arrest warrant was granted for Smith, who turned himself in to Norwalk Police Headquarters on April 25, 2024. Swatting is a dangerous act that involves someone making a false report to emergency services to initiate a serious law enforcement response.
In Fairfield, CT, on April 25, 2024, around 5:40 AM, the Fairfield Police Department responded to reports of car alarms in the Ann Street and Nichols Street area, where two males wearing face masks were spotted on bicycles. Earlier, at approximately 1:36 AM, similar reports emerged of two males attempting vehicle entries in the Penfield Road vicinity. Officers, upon expanding their search, sighted two individuals matching the description in the 500 block of Post Road, who then entered a McDonald’s. When approached by a uniformed officer, both fled, but one, identified as Nazareth Sinclair of Bridgeport, CT, was apprehended hiding under a vehicle in the Stop & Shop parking lot. Sinclair was found in possession of a firearm and items linking him to local larcenies, along with multiple arrest warrants, including those from Fairfield. Charged with various offenses, Sinclair was held on $95,000 bond and transported to Bridgeport Superior Court.
Sergeant Michael Stahl, Fairfield Police Department, can provide further information at (203) 254-4844 or via email at mstahl@fairfieldct.org. Residents with relevant information or surveillance footage are encouraged to contact the Fairfield Police Department at (203) 254-4840. Anonymous tips can be submitted through the Fairfield PD mobile app, by texting “FPDCT” plus the message to 847411 (Tip411), or online at fpdct.com/tips.
(Westport, CT) On Sunday, April 28th, the Westport Young Women’s League will be hosting their annual Minuteman Race from 7:00am to 11:00am. The road race begins at Compo Beach and uses many of the roads in the Compo Beach area. Organizers are expecting approximately 1300 participants. Roads in the area will be open to vehicular traffic, but motorists are advised to travel through the area safely as there will be a significant increase of pedestrians on the roads during this event.
(Hartford, CT) — Attorney General William Tong announced today that he has joined a bipartisan, multistate coalition of 22 attorneys general in sending a letter to UnitedHealth Group, Inc. urging the corporation to take more meaningful action to better protect providers, pharmacies, and patients harmed by the recent catastrophic outage of Change Healthcare. UnitedHealth Group is the nation’s largest health insurer and the parent company of Change Healthcare.
On February 21, 2024, Change Healthcare experienced a cyberattack by ALPHV/Blackcat, which crippled its platform. In the intervening weeks, providers, pharmacies, and facilities have reported catastrophic disruptions to care infrastructure, inability to verify coverage or obtain prior authorization, and inability to process claims or obtain reimbursements. Patients report delayed or denied access to prescription drugs, and scheduling appointments or procedures. The Change Healthcare outage profoundly disrupted patient care and has put some providers on the precipice of financial ruin.
Change Healthcare runs the nation’s biggest healthcare clearinghouse. Its technological infrastructure is used by tens of thousands of providers, pharmacies, and insurers to verify insurance, confirm pre-authorization of procedures or services, exchange insurance claims data, and perform other administrative tasks essential to the delivery of health care.
UnitedHealth Group acquired Change Healthcare in 2022.
“The consequences of the Change Healthcare cyberattack have been nothing short of catastrophic for healthcare providers in Connecticut and nationwide. The response from Change and UnitedHealth Group has been inadequate. I join attorneys general nationwide in calling on Change and UnitedHealth Group to take immediate, aggressive action to protect our critical healthcare infrastructure and aid impacted providers,” said Attorney General Tong.
In the letter, Attorney General Tong and the coalition call upon UnitedHealth Group to act quickly to limit the harm to the states’ care providers and patients. Specifically, they ask UnitedHealth Group to take the following steps:
Enhance and expand financial assistance, free of onerous terms, to all affected providers, facilities, and pharmacies.
Ensure that financial assistance programs are not providing more advantageous financial assistance to providers, practices, or facilities that are owned by UnitedHealth Group.
Shield the business information of providers and pharmacies from United’s other corporate lines of business.
Suspend requirements for prior authorizations, contemporaneous notifications of change of status, and other documentation requirements.
Provide a dedicated help line for providers, facilities, pharmacies, and state Attorneys General.
Proactively inform providers, facilities, pharmacies, and industry groups associated with each, of the steps they can take to preserve claims and receive prompt reimbursement.
Expeditiously resolve the claims backlog and ensure prompt reimbursement of claims.
Ensure providers, facilities, pharmacies, regulators, affected patients, and the public are informed of what data was compromised and what steps, if any, are needed for providers and patients to mitigate future identity theft or systems risks.
UnitedHealth Group reported $22 billion in profits in 2023. Even with the February cyberattack, in its first quarter UnitedHealth Group reported revenue of $99.8 billion, up $7.9 billion from the same period the previous year.
In contrast, many hospitals and clinics are operating under tremendous financial strain, relying upon critical infrastructure such as Change Healthcare or adjacent vendors to maintain the operations that support their patient care. The two months of near collapse of the nation’s biggest claims management system since the cyberattack on Change Healthcare has pushed many entities — particularly small independent medical providers and pharmacies — to make difficult choices, such as seeking financial assistance with disadvantageous terms or delaying payroll.
Joining Attorney General Tong in sending the letter to UnitedHealth Group are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
State police in Bridgeport released body camera footage showing a trooper injured during a traffic stop on I-95. The trooper, Robert Coyne, and the driver, Gamalier Mitchell-Millan, sustained non life-threatening injuries. Mitchell-Millan faces charges including failure to meet insurance requirements and failure to maintain a proper lane.
[Hartford, CT] —U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today called on President Biden to enforce stronger sanctions against Iran.
Citing Iran’s attacks on Israel on April 13, as well as the repeated attacks by Iran’s proxies on Israel and U.S. Navy ships, the senators detailed several ways the United States could enforce stronger sanctions against Iran and cripple their ability to fund aggression and terrorism.
“Since Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, our servicemen and women, our naval vessels, our other allies in the region, and international shipping have come under attack from Iranian funded, trained, coordinated, and assisted groups. And now, the Iranian attack against Israel demonstrably shows that our current approach to sanctions enforcement requires reassessment,” the Senators wrote. “We believe that the United States and our allies should increase pressure on Iran and limit to the greatest extent possible the revenues available for it to fund aggression and terrorism in the Middle East and beyond. This means, first and foremost, maximum enforcement of sanctions – especially in the oil and gas sector.”
Dear Mr. President:
We write to express our deep appreciation for the steadfast support and commitment shown by our allies and partners in Europe and the Middle East in defending Israel against the hostile attack perpetrated by Iran on April 13th. This defense of Israel was truly an exemplary performance. The swift and decisive response by the United States and our allies sends a clear message to Iran and its proxies that acts of aggression against Israel will not be tolerated.
The fact that 99% of the missiles and drones launched at Israel were defeated, however, should not be an excuse for complacency. We believe that the United States and our allies should increase pressure on Iran and limit to the greatest extent possible the revenues available for it to fund aggression and terrorism in the Middle East and beyond. This means, first and foremost, maximum enforcement of sanctions – especially in the oil and gas sector.
As you are aware, Iran manages to sell approximately $90 billion worth of sanctioned oil using that funding to support its network of proxies in the region, including Hamas, and build its own military capabilities – both of which directly undermine peace and stability in the region.
Increased pressure through sanctions enforcement could also encourage Iran to use its leverage with Hamas to release all 133 hostages who have now been held for more than 193 days and to acquiesce to an end of the conflict in Gaza.
Since Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, our servicemen and women, our naval vessels, our other allies in the region, and international shipping have come under attack from Iranian funded, trained, coordinated, and assisted groups. And now, the Iranian attack against Israel demonstrably shows that our current approach to sanctions enforcement requires reassessment.
We respectfully ask that you pursue the following:
· Fully sanction the “ghost fleet” of more than 300 oil tankers that permits Iran to evade sanctions.
· Sanction any third country ports accessed by ships transporting Iranian oil enroute to their final destinations.
· Sanction all entities headquartered in the PRC, including Hong Kong, that buy or finance the import of Iranian oil.
· Expand and enforce secondary sectoral sanctions on Iranian metals, petrochemicals, natural gas, natural gas condensates, and other smaller revenue sources, like Iran’s automotive sector.
· Expand secondary sanctions to the immediate family members of individuals sanctioned for terrorism and WMD-related activity.
· Raise the priority of shutting down Iranian revenue in relationships with all foreign governments, from security partners like the UAE to adversaries like China.
· Support S. 3197, the Iranian Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2023 that would create a funding mechanism for increased investigations, seizure, and sale of illicit Iranian oil.
Thank you for your consideration. We stand ready to work with you to stem the threat that the government of Iran poses to global peace, security, and freedom.
The Stratford Police Department’s Narcotics & Vice Unit announces the arrest of Stefan Bagley on April 24, 2024. Stefan Bagley, age 42, is a Convicted Felon. He was the target of a narcotics investigation that occurred during the month of April 2024. Stefan Bagley is charged with Operation of a Drug Factory, Possession with Intent to Sell a Narcotic Substance, Possession with Intent to Sell a Hallucinogen Substance and Violation of Conditions of his Release. Approximately 70 grams of crack cocaine was seized as a result of a search warrant which targeted Stefan Bagley’s person, vehicle and residence. Stefan Bagley was held in lieu of a $500,000.00 bond.
