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A secretly drafted bill to block release of photos, tapes of 911 calls and death certificates related to the Dec. 14 Newtown elementary school massacre could be acted on in the General Assembly as early as the end of the week, officials said Wednesday. Family members of victims would have discretion over release of some of the records. A draft of the bill was released Wednesday afternoon by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office, which has been working behind the scenes in recent weeks on drafting the language with legislative leaders and the office of the state's top prosecutor, Chief State's...

HARTFORD— A coalition of gun owners, gun dealers and firearms rights organizations have sued the governor and members of the state's attorney's office, contending that the gun law passed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings violates the Constitution. State officials have been expecting a challenge to the legislation, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law April 4. The law, opposed by many gun owners and others who say it is an infringement of Second Amendment rights, drew support from Republicans and Democrats. "The act was rushed through the legislature without thorough debate or meaningful public...

Bridgeport, CT – Today, a widely-anticipated lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, challenging the constitutionality of the new firearms law that was passed hastily by the Connecticut legislature in response to the tragic shooting in Newtown by a disturbed individual. The lawsuit seeks immediate injunctive relief and a ruling declaring the new law unconstitutional under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It alleges that Connecticut’s new firearms law is not only unconstitutional but dangerous, since it makes both citizens and law enforcement less safe by depriving citizens of firearms that are in common use throughout the...

WASHINGTON - A Senate panel voted Tuesday to provide weapons to rebels battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the first time lawmakers have endorsed the aggressive U.S. military step of arming the opposition. ... "The greatest humanitarian crisis in the world is unfolding in and around Syria," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), the committee chief. ". . . The United States must play a role in tipping the scales toward opposition groups and working to build a free and democratic Syria." Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the panel's top Republican, implicitly criticized the Obama administration as he...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, which voted overwhelmingly to arm elements of the Syrian opposition in a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). "This is an important moment," Paul said, addressing his Senate colleagues. "You will be funding, today, the allies of al Qaeda. It's an irony you cannot overcome." The legislation, which would authorize the shipment of arms and military training to rebels "that have gone through a thorough vetting process," passed in a bipartisan 15-3 vote. Paul offered an amendment that would strike the...

A sharp spike in the number of people seeking gun permits following recent changes in gun legislation has police departments inundated with applications. In some cases people have been waiting months for their permits to come through, and there are many questions about whether the process is bogged down by unnecessary steps. ... "I was told I needed to learn to be patient," said Dayna Going. Going said she has been waiting nearly five months for her permit to be approved. "You know, it was my right," she said. "I believe I was entitled to some sort of explanation." The...

Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt Connecticut powerhouse! Are you outside of Connecticut? Start your day off listening to Jim...

Yale University has been fined $165,000 for failing to report serious sex crimes on its prestigious campus. After a seven-year investigation into the Ivy League university’s violations, it was discovered that Yale had failed to report four sex attacks and compiled “incomplete and unreliable” crime reports, lulling students into a false sense of security. Yale reported only five sex offenses between 2000 and 2002, while Harvard reported 80 from that same period and Princeton reported 29. … The world-class university was also found to have ill-defined the boundaries of its campus, leaving crimes committed at the Yale-New Haven Hospital out,...

A program in Palm Beach County intended to encourage residents to report suspicious behavior is attracting resistance from around the state. Under the proposed "Violence Prevention Program," anyone who sees a potentially dangerous situation — a schizophrenic person with weapons, a war veteran making threats to passersby — could call a 24-hour hotline. Legitimate-sounding calls would trigger a visit by specially trained deputies in plain clothes or by mental health professionals. The Palm Beach County Sheriff says violence prevention unit could thwart would-be killers like the recent mass shooters in Connecticut and Colorado. The program will cost $3.2 million in...

Fox is reporting a train has derailed in Connecticut. 20 to 25 injured. Two trains collided.

According to promotional material, a United States Naval Academy professor is teaching on behalf of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a part of the US Muslim Brotherhood and where global Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi reportedly serves as a trustee. IIIT recently announced its Summer Students Program for 2013 to be held from May 26 – July 3. According to the IIIT announcement, one of the instructors for the program will be Professor Ermin Sinanovic, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland who will be teaching the following...

Toxicology tests show that Adam Lanza had no alcohol or drugs in his system when he shot and killed 20 first graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14. The toxicology tests were conducted as part of the autopsy by state Chief Medical Examiner Dr. H. Wayne Carver II. Sources said his final report has been turned over to state prosecutors and investigators.

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Da ily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000...

CT Carry of Connecticut, a gun rights group, finds that one of the Obama administration's photo-op parents of children who died at the Sandy Hook School is somewhat more familiar with portrait photos that include a set of numbers directly below his full facial and side profile images. Sitting next to Gabby Giffords and the president at a White House photo event was Neil Heslin, the father of a boy shot at Newtown, Connecticut. Heslin was clearly advocating for much stricter gun control laws, yet Richard Burgess, President of CT Carry, has a possible explanation in a press release: A...

CBS Anchor: 'We Are Getting Big Stories Wrong, Over and Over Again' "Our house is on fire." Daniel Halper May 11, 2013 12:09 PM CBS anchor Scott Pelley said at a speech at Quinnipiac University that journalists "are getting big stories wrong, over and over again." "Our house is on fire," said Pelley. The video of Pelley's speech is courtesy of nowthisnews.com. "These have been a bad few months for journalism," he added. "We're getting the big stories wrong, over and over again." The CBS newsreader was quick to take at least partial blame. "Let me take the first arrow:...

Five weeks after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a gun control law outlawing any retail sales for the entire product line of Stag Arms, the maker of military-style rifles unveiled a new design Thursday that its owner said will not be subject to the Connecticut ban. From the outside, the new firearm looks identical to other Stag rifles, complete with matte black finish, pistol grip and adjustable stock. Stag owner Mark Malkowski showed a prototype of the new rifle in the shipping room of his New Britain plant, explaining why he feels certain that it's legal. It's not a radical...

Connecticut’s historic gun law signed by Governor Dannel Malloy went into effect last month, signed April 4, but the state is giving gun manufacturers and gun shops until June 1 to understand and apply the laws to their businesses. Gun shop owners like Mark Malkowski, owner of Stag Arms, have said they should have been given more time to interpret it before it went to law. Stag Arms, producer of the AR-15 in Connecticut, said it was considering moving out of Connecticut when the new law passed because the gun cannot be sold here, only out of state. The owner...

NEWTOWN — People who seek change in gun laws following the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings shouldn’t get frustrated at the pace of progress because one way or another, change will come, speakers said Tuesday night in a gun violence panel discussion at Newtown High School. “I have no doubt that change is coming,” said Dave Ackert, founder and chairman of the Newtown Action Alliance, which organized the “What’s Next in Gun Legislation?” panel discussion. Within three days of the U.S. Senate failing to pass an expanded background checks compromise bill, the alliance began a “Shame on Congress”...

Before Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 more at Virginia Tech in 2007, he was able to purchase firearms because his mental health history had not been reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Now, using federal grant money made available in response to that school massacre, Connecticut is creating a database of individuals who are disqualified from owning a gun for mental health reasons, part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the federal background check system by improving state reporting. The new system captures both Probate and Superior Court records to include people who have...

Vice President Joe Biden has a commandment for pastors, rabbis and nuns: He wants them to tell their flocks that enacting gun control is the moral thing to do. But another vote may have to wait until Congress wraps up work on an immigration overhaul. Biden met for two-and-a-half hours Monday with more than a dozen leaders from various faith communities – Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh, to name a few. Both Biden and the faith leaders encouraged each other not to give up on what has been an arduous and thus far fruitless effort by Biden and President Barack...

Hearings on how to divide $7.7 million among 40 families affected by the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown have been postponed after questions were raised about whether more money should go those families. The hearings were scheduled for this week. A three-person committee headed by former federal judge Alan Nevas was formed to distribute the money, which comes from an approximately $11.3 million fund under the control of the Sandy Hook-Newtown Community Foundation Inc. The group had determined that the money would be distributed among the families of the 20 first-graders and six women killed in the...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry might not have been able to name three federal agencies he'd close, but he has his sights on attracting at least that many Connecticut gun manufacturers and he used the NRA convention in Houston over the last four days to make his best pitch.

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Da ily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000...

Texas Governor Rick Perry might not have been able to name three federal agencies he’d close, but he has his sights attracting on at least that many Connecticut gun manufacturers and he used the NRA convention in Houston over the last four days to make his best pitch. Along with his famous charm, Perry had 70,000 gun enthusiasts on hand to help make the case for firearms companies feeling unloved back home. One firm, PTR Industries of Bristol, already said it will exit Connecticut and it’s starting to look like others will head South or West. The Republican governor and...

On the same day that the 2013 NRA Convention began in Houston, TX Barack Obama was in Mexico telling an audience that “most of the guns used to commit violent crimes here in Mexico, come from the United States.” What he didn’t tell that audience was that his administration is responsible for Operation Fast and Furious, a program in which the ATF told reluctant gun store owners to sell high-powered guns to bad guys who would then ‘walk’ those guns to drug cartels in Mexico. Yet, Republicans and gun rights activists have avoided bludgeoning those in the administration and on...

Jose Maria Islas of New Haven caught a break this week, at least for a while, in his desire to keep from being deported to his native Mexico by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His lawyer, Danielle Briand, thinks that since ICE is considering their request for a stay of removal, Islas ultimately will be given the stay and allowed to remain in the United States. If Islas is not deported, it will mean he can work at a job that is low-paying for most Americans but allows him to earn the money he needs to support his wife and...

Would you be opposed to a shooting range in a state forest?

Somers High School went into "soft lockdown" after a bullet was found on the campus Tuesday. Students were allowed to walk through the hallways and go to their classrooms during the soft lockdown. However, no one was allowed to enter or leave the building, school officials said. Police searched the building and nothing was discovered. School officials said the building was in lockdown for a brief time and students were able to return to their normal, daily routine after it. Students will be dismissed at their normally scheduled time.

Should Connecticut Grant Driver’s Licenses To Undocumented Immigrants?

So much has happened since April 4 that it seems like more than four weeks since Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed the strict gun control bill into law. We had the showdown on background checks in the U.S. Senate, and of course, the Boston Marathon bombings. One thing that hasn’t happened — and won’t happen until June 1 — is the state clearing up all the sales rules on military-style weapons and magazines larger than 10 rounds, for retailers and manufacturers. That’s a long time for an up-or-down answer on whether a merchant can sell his or her wares under...

The state NAACP branch's takeover of Bridgeport's long embattled local chapter surprised few people last week. For months the local branch of the civil rights organization, whose membership has dwindled over the years, had been bitterly divided over questions of financial impropriety, membership issues and election woes. But it's not alone. Last month, the same types of issues led the national leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to call for the reorganization of the Waterbury branch as well. And earlier this year, questions of election impropriety cast a shadow over the installment of a new...

The FBI has revealed that they now know the identity of the American known as Misha who helped radicalize the Boston bombing suspects. Family members of dead bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev have described Misha as the guiding influence in the elder bomber developing radicalized views. Speculation as to who Misha is has varied wildly in the past week, with some suggesting he is the mastermind behind the marathon bombings while others believe he could be a Russian spy - sent to identify and keep tabs on young men like Tamerlan who are at risk of turning to militant Islam. To date...

The new logo for the University of Connecticut’s sports teams is a terrifying husky dog that calls to mind images of sexual assault, says one student. The new logo was unveiled last week, receiving mixed-to-negative reviews from UConn fans who preferred the older, cuter husky dog. But one student went much further, criticizing the new, meaner logo for being a pro-rape symbol. In an open letter to UC President Susan Herbst, self-described feminist student Carolyn Luby wrote that the redesigned team logo will intimidate women and empower rape culture. UConn basketball coach Geno Auriemma said the logo “is looking right...

The new logo for the University of Connecticut’s sports teams is a terrifying husky dog that calls to mind images of sexual assault, says one student. The new logo was unveiled last week, receiving mixed-to-negative reviews from UConn fans who preferred the older, cuter husky dog. But one student went much further, criticizing the new, meaner logo for being a pro-rape symbol. Ads by GoogleIn an open letter to UC President Susan Herbst, self-described feminist student Carolyn Luby wrote that the redesigned team logo will intimidate women and empower rape culture. UConn basketball coach Geno Auriemma said the logo “is...

Residents have rejected a budget that included money for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings, with town leaders suggesting the spending and required tax increases were a hard sell.

Schiff discusses Reid's latest comments suggesting government is "inherently good" and quotes Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine and points out they limited government with the Constitution: "What is this man doing in the Senate? What is this man doing as leader of the Democrat Party?" Click excerpt link for audio ->

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stopped talking once he was prematurely read his Miranda rights. That helps the authorities establish the lone wolf narrative. Whatever else we might have learned from him is probably lost. ... District Court Judge Marianne Bowler arrived at the hospital where he is being treated to preside over his initial hearing Monday, when she read him his Miranda rights. ... Judge Bowler has some interesting international connections. She is a member of the Member of the International Judicial Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Apparently in that capacity, she visited and spoke on legal...

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, while testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today, actually conceded that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, the Saudi national who moved from ‘suspect’ to ‘person of interest’ to ‘witness’ to ‘victim’ all in less than 24 hours after the Boston bombings, was indeed placed on a terrorist watchlist. This is in stark contrast to what she told the Rep. Jeff Duncan at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing last week. Providing further intrigue is that one day before Napolitano conceded Al-Harbi’s watchlist status, talk show host Glenn Beck explained how difficult it was for someone...

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Newtown residents have rejected a budget that included money for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings. Voters turned down the $72 million school budget by 482 votes and rejected the $39 million town government budget by 62 votes Tuesday. Nearly 4,500 residents voted on the plans, which would have increased spending by 4.7 percent next fiscal year. Officials put an extra $1 million in the school and town budgets to hire extra police officers and unarmed security guards to put in each of Newtown's seven schools. The plan was spurred by...

A bankruptcy trustee has sued Jon S. Corzine and other former MF Global executives, claiming they were “grossly negligent” in the lead up to the brokerage firm’s collapse.

After years of pretending to be a Navy SEAL and a member of law enforcement, a Rhode Island felon is facing multiple years in California and Rhode Island prisons after finally slipping up because of expired vehicle tags. William Burley pleaded not guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and in possession of ammunition on Wednesday in Morongo Superior Court. Just the previous week in the same court, Burley, a Yucaipa resident, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, a prohibited person in possession of ammunition and receiving stolen property. Due...

That is a far cry from the money that will likely be needed to pay medical and mental health treatment costs for as many as 300 state and local employees who are considered first responders. So far there has been no need for the fund to pay any mental health counseling bills for first responders suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after working at the horrific scene of the Dec. 14 slayings in which 26 people were killed, including 20 first graders gunned down in their classrooms by Adam Lanza. First responders are supposed to apply to the state Office...

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Da ily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000...

April 20, 2013 Obama Buries Boston Massacre Saudi Connection Kris Zane One Boston Massacre terrorist is dead, under suspicious circumstances. We saw the second terrorist—Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—literally shut down an entire metropolitan area for over twenty-four hours. And now he’s under lock and key, whisked away from the public eye. America saw what martial law looked like as light-armored tanks roamed the streets and hundreds of special forces conducted a house-to-house search, looking for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, apparently a punk kid.Except martial law was never declared. Except America wondered: if one nineteen-year-old kid could shut down an entire metropolitan area, what could...

Do you support universal background checks on gun buyers? This was a poll from Friday that showed an overwhelming NO! They're leaving it up in hopes that it was change.

President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned speech Thursday at the memorial service for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. But that was to be expected. We all know Obama can give a stem-winder. What wasn’t expected was that this would be by far the toughest week of the Obama presidency—the first time I can remember the president being dealt an unequivocal policy defeat. Only the “shellacking” of the 2010 midterm comes close, and even there a case can be made that achieving the decades-old progressive dream of universal health care was worth losing the House of Representatives and a filibuster-proof...

Most locals concede that getting anything of substance accomplished in Boston is a Herculean task. Residents have all but embraced the principle of civic inaction with a perverse kind of local pride. In the end, who you know is probably more important than what you are trying to do. And there is no doubt that little is accomplished without the approval and support of the mayor, Thomas M. Menino. So it is with the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC) near the intersection of Tremont Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Better known as the Roxbury mosque, the ISBCC...

Martha Moxley Murder Update: Victim's friend says she told Michael Skakel's lawyer about possible other suspectsA friend of murder victim Martha Moxley testified Friday she told Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's attorney before his trial that she had heard two other men were responsible for the killing, but he told her that account didn't appear credible. Marjorie Walker Hauer said she told lawyer Michael Sherman about Gitano "Tony" Bryant's claim that two other men had killed the 15-year-old Moxley in 1975. Skakel's current attorneys have accused Sherman of ignoring the claim as they appeal Skakel's conviction, saying he was deprived of...

Do you support universal background checks on gun buyers?

Three Democratic governors who successfully pushed their state legislatures to toughen gun laws are asking Congress to do the same. “We need the federal government to take the lead and enact reasonable laws to reduce gun violence by, at a minimum, ensuring that more gun purchasers pass a federal background check,” Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Dan Malloy of Connecticut wrote in a letter to Senators on Wednesday. “The American people are clear on this issue – more than 90% support background checks prior to gun purchases. They understand that if you can’t pass...