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Report Says Instructor, Student Fought for Controls Before East Hartford Plane Crash A plane crash in East Hartford was the result of a flight student refusing to give up controls to his instructor, while apparently doing everything "backwards", a police report revealed. East Hartford police Lt. Josh Litwin said in October that investigators had concluded the crash was "an intentional act," but noted that they hadn't been able to determine a motive. New documents from witness accounts reveal that Arian Prevella, a flight instructor and the owner of American Flight Academy in Hartford, struggled with flying student, Feras Freitekh. On...

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams, this time with a side of dissent. About three dozen demonstrators descended on the mansions of Connecticut’s 0.01% over the weekend to protest Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy’s new budget, which includes jobs cuts and changes in pension funding. As part of the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless” tour, protesters—many of whom work in the area—left mock tax bills at the ritzy homes of hedge fund bosses like Ray Dalio and Steven Cohen, asking them to pony up over $1.2 billion between both of them. “Income inequality is out of control in this country, and...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)– Governor Dannel Malloy will announce help for families worried about President Trump‘s deportation policies. He is calling this a toolkit for families concerned about immigration enforcement. We know Governor Malloy has had his differences with President Trump on the issue of immigration. Now, the Governor plans to outfit concerned families with what he’s calling a toolkit. It sounds like it’s going to be mostly information for families worried about Trump administration immigration enforcement policies. Especially if the worry is that parents or guardians are going to be detained or deported by the federal government. The worry is...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — All day Friday, the Connecticut State Appropriations Committee will be hearing testimony on bills that could have a significant impact on state workers salaries, benefits, and pensions. One of two news conferences Friday morning called these bills an attack on nurses, teachers and firefighters. There’s a lot of rhetoric on both sides. Workers talking about cuts to benefits and pensions as an attack on the hard working middle class. Those in favor of cuts pointing out exorbitant numbers, like a police sergeant making hundreds of thousands of dollars, or a retired state worker still pulling in...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The ‘Bag Tax’ is back, and a key legislative committee says it should start this October. It would require a nickel tax on non-reusable bags at the supermarket and other retailers, and the bill has passed the Environment Committee with both Democrat and Republican votes. One estimate says that Connecticut residents use nearly one billion plastic bags a year. This proposal is aimed at cutting down the litter and raising money. The legislature’s Environment Committee has approved a bill that would make State Park Beaches no smoking zones. Smoking would still be permitted in the parks,...

EW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)– Many more people applied for gun permits last year than the year before. According to the Norwich Bulletin, there was a 73 percent jump during that period. Some believe it’s partly because of last year’s presidential election. The paper reports the increase was for pistol permit applications from 2015 to 2016. The reason is fear…but not fear of violence and crime. The best guess is that all those people suddenly wanted guns because they were afraid of Democrats. At least what Democrats might do to their second amendment rights. That fear made for a big increase....

Connecticut State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. (D-Branford) — son of former U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) — wants to give state government control over what happens to citizens’ organs after they die. Kennedy recently introduced SB 750, which would automatically enroll Connecticut’s citizens in the organ donation program.

Democratic lawmakers introduced a proposal to place a fee on opioid prescriptions with the revenue going to combat rampant painkiller and heroin addiction across the U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Sen. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut, a state hit hard by increases in drug overdoses, are calling for a one-cent per-milligram tax to be added to prescriptions for opiate-based painkillers.

Job applicants for a Connecticut-based marketing company have a unique “snowflake” test to pass before being hired. The Silent Partner Marketing firm is taking on liberal “snowflakes” in an effort to weed out the hundreds of applications they have received. The company has developed a survey to vet potential employees by asking key questions about themselves.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Senator Richard Blumenthal will be introducing a new bill in an effort to combat hate crimes. Senator Richard Blumenthal will unveil new legislation on Monday, in an effort to strengthen federal laws against hate crimes and threats. The nation has seen a surge in hate speech, threats, and attacks following the 2016 presidential election. Blumenthal will be joined by advocates from the Anti-Defamation League, CAIR-CT, and the LGBT community at the State Capitol, to discuss his new ‘No Hate’ Bill. The meeting will start on Monday, March 13th at 10:00 a.m.

(WTNH) — Senator Chris Murphy is leading the charge against President Trump‘s newly revised travel ban. Murphy has introduced a bill that would block President Trump’s executive order that bans immigration from six mostly Muslim countries. The President’s revised travel ban blocks citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from obtaining visas for at least 90 days. Murphy says a 1965 act banning discrimination based of the basis of national origin makes the order illegal. Democrats predict this will run into similar legal challenges as the original ban.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) – On Tuesday afternoon, a group of undocumented youths from the area will speak up with community leaders to proclaim that they are “Undocumented, Unafraid, Unapologetic.” The group will be made up of CT Students for a Dream and ACLU members and their message is that they are #HereToStay. The press conference will consist of the youths sharing their stories in support of the undocumented community in light of the recent Trump Administration announcements and actions. According to the group, the press conference is a dramatic response to the stepped up immigration enforcement of the Trump Administration....

Government finance is now the greatest source of controversy in Connecticut, owing to billion-dollar deficits and an epic debt load that ensures high taxes for many years to come. In national politics, Connecticut is deep blue: Its entire congressional delegation is Democratic, and it hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 28 years. But the GOP has recently notched strong gains in the state legislature. Though it’s far from clear which party will prevail, the fight for control of state government will depend on who can better respond to broad public recognition that Connecticut needs a new fiscal model....

Households in New England paid electricity prices last month that were 47 percent higher than the national average.. Consumer energy information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for its Boston region showed the area's households paid an average of 19.5 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, compared to the national average of 13.3 cents. The region includes Hampden and Worcester counties as well as Greater Boston and parts of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine. The figures came out one day after energy utility Eversource proposed a 10 percent increase in its electricity distribution rates beginning early next year. The...

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), residential electricity prices have risen by 3.2 percent during the first 6 months of this year compared to the first 6 months of last year—the highest year-over-year growth in 5 years. But, the real story is that New England’s residential electricity prices have risen 11.8 percent over that period—the highest increase anywhere in the nation. That is because New England is shuttering low-cost coal and nuclear plants and replacing them with new natural gas plants and mandated renewable energy sources. Worse, New England has done this against a backdrop of in-sufficient pipeline capacity...

When Don Sage of Concord, N.H., learned his electric bill could rise by as much as $40 a month he got flustered. He and his wife make do on a bit less than $30,000 a year in Social Security payments, and they pay close attention to their electric bills. "When the invoice comes in the mail to get paid, I have a target amount that we can fluctuate up or down, based on our fixed budget," Sage says. "They don't need my permission to hike up their rates, but the fact is we're the ones that are paying these increases."...

CANTON, Conn. (AP) — Students at a suburban Connecticut high school are being criticized by their principal for using hate speech after chanting President Trump‘s name during a varsity basketball game against a school from Hartford.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) – The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities has released a protocol when it comes to U.S. immigration and customs enforcement on CSCU campuses. According to CSCU the protocol is to serve as a guide to its 17 colleges and universities with the intent to comply with legally mandated disclosure, order, and judicial subpoenas. However beyond the legal mandates there will be no enforcement of federal immigration laws. CSCU also is deliberately not using the term “sanctuary” because of its broad meaning and says it does not have the power or ability to declare any “sanctuary” that is...

On Wednesday Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy issued a memo to his state’s authorities, telling them to ignore federal law regarding illegal immigrants. Malloy declared Connecticut a sanctuary state. On Friday a previously deported illegal alien murdered his girlfriend and kidnapped her six year-old daughter. Oscar Obedio Hernandez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was arrested on Friday night.

(CNN) - An undocumented immigrant previously deported for felony convictions was arrested Friday as a suspect in a double stabbing and kidnapping, authorities said. Oscar Hernandez took off with his 6-year-old daughter, Aylin, around 3 a.m. Friday after fatally stabbing Aylin's mother and wounding another female victim, according to police in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A citizen of El Salvador, Hernandez was deported in November 2013 with felony convictions for assault and threatening and several misdemeanor convictions, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Shawn Neudauer. Early Friday, a fight broke out after Aylin's mother, Nidia Gonzalez, 26, and the other...