Free Republic

A former university student accused of lying about being raped by two university football players is seeking to have the charges against her dismissed. The Connecticut Post reports former Sacred Heart University student Nikki Yovino filed an application in court Friday saying she's suffering from a psychiatric disability. The 19-year-old South Setauket, New York, native will undergo a psychological evaluation. A judge will decide whether she qualifies for a pretrial diversionary program. If she qualifies and completes that program she could have the charges dismissed. Prosecutors say they'll contest Yovino's request. They previously offered her a plea deal with a...

Hartford has hired a lawyer as city officials begin navigating the complex system of bankruptcy. The city is facing a $65 million shortfall this year and it remains unclear whether it will receive any additional state aid. Standard & Poor's downgraded Hartford debt to junk bond status late Tuesday, less than a week after the financially troubled capital city hired a New York law firm with expertise in restructuring municipal finances. The Wall Street ratings agency downgraded most city of Hartford outstanding debt to BB, a level that's classified as speculative, also known as non-investment-grade, or junk, from BBB-. That...

Since we started reporting on it last year, Trump Derangement Syndrome has, if anything, surpassed epidemic proportions, starting in the Faculty Lounge. Speaking of which, in our faculty lounge blog roll, we have shown reports from Campus Reform that in the past two months: • Subini Annamma, a professor at the University of Kansas, tweeted that Trump supporters are "deeply invested in white supremacy;" • After a Bernie Sanders supporter shot U. S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., Central Connecticut State University professor Jerold Duquette argued that "mentally unstable people drawn to political extremism" would be motivated to do "horrible things"...

Civil forfeiture remains a controversial issue in America since it's "a process by which the government can take and sell your property without ever convicting, or even charging, you with a crime." The procedures are civil, which means defendants do not receive the same protections given to criminal defendants.Connecticut has put an end to this procedure when the legislature passed a law that bans civil forfeiture without a criminal conviction.Video - "Policing for Profit Visualized: How Big Is Civil Forfeiture?"The Law Democrat Governor Dannel Malloy signed HB 7146 into law on Monday after it "passed both the House and Senate...

A political line has been drawn in the sand this summer, with the governors of Connecticut and New Jersey taking opposite sides on whether to keep state beaches open during a budget impasse — and throwing shade at each other. Connecticut still has no budget agreement, but Democrat Dannel P. Malloy signed an executive order last week to avert a government shutdown and keep state beaches and parks open for now. Contrast that with Republican Chris Christie, who basked in the sunshine with his family at a New Jersey state beach over the weekend that was closed to the public...

The West Hartford man who police said wrote profane and threatening anti-Trump graffiti at Morley Elementary School on June 15 has been ordered to stay off the property. Hartford Community Court judge Tammy Geathers said Wednesday that Steven Marks, 32, is to stay off the Bretton Road school property and continued his case to Aug. 2. […] West Hartford Police on June 19 released a 28-second surveillance video clip showing a bald, white man wearing a dark blue Boston Red Sox t-shirt with khaki shorts riding a bicycle onto the Morley playground accompanied by a white and brown dog, identifying...

Students studying “multicultural competence” at one college are taught that white people can pretty much live wherever they want — and afford it, too — according to screenshots of a quiz question obtained by The College Fix. Students enrolled in an online “Wellness Coaching & Communication Skills” class through the American College of Healthcare Sciences, which offers online schooling as well as a campus in Portland, Ore., were recently quizzed on privilege.

In Illinois, people are moving out as political leaders are locked in an impasse over the state budget. (Sound familiar?) The bond rating for the Land of Lincoln is close to junk status because of the standoff. There is an ugly lesson here for Connecticut's General Assembly: Don't be like basket-case Illinois. Connecticut is headed there, however, if the legislature doesn't end its budget deadlock and address the problems that are putting the state deep in the hole - a $5 billion budget hole over two years. Aetna drove that point home Thursday morning with the message that it's moving...

Illinois isn't the only state dealing with financial headaches these days. Connecticut, too, is facing big budget problems as major corporations flee the state's high taxes and its fiscal future gets murkier by the day. While Illinois is facing the possibility its credit rating hitting "junk" status, Connecticut has the distinction of the third-worst ratings in the country -- behind Illinois and New Jersey. S&P Global Ratings, Moody's and Fitch all downgraded the state last month -- which threatens to increase the cost of borrowing -- in what officials described as a "call to action" for state leaders. “We’ve been...

Trinity College Professor Johnny Eric Williams Thursday issued a public apology and said he was in hiding far from Connecticut as the campus reopened amid a furor over his recent controversial Facebook posts.Williams said his posts were not a call for violence against white people, as some claimed when the posts spread across social media. Some of his colleagues spoke out in support of Williams, who fled Hartford after receiving death threats.The controversial pair of Facebook posts included an inflammatory and profane hashtag — "Let Them [expletive] Die" — that was widely shared on social and conservative media, leading to...

June Chu, who came under fire earlier in 2017 for using disparaging terms like “white trash” in Yelp reviews, has left Yale University. “Dean Chu has left her position at Pierson College and wishes the best to the students,” Pierson College administrative head Stephen Davis wrote in an email to students. “As a result, I am initiating the process of the search for a new dean, who will be in place before the start of the fall term.”

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Two Connecticut lawmakers are calling for the dismissal of a Trinity College professor following comments he made in the aftermath of the shootings that took place Alexandria, Virginia last week.

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is continuing to hammer President Trump. At a news conference on Tuesday, with a copy of the Constitution in hand, Blumenthal reiterated that Mr. Trump is blatantly breaking the law by refusing to give up ownership of his organization. “The bottome line is, we have no clue who most of the investors and partners of Donald Trump around the world. We have no accurate or complete knowledge of all those payments and benefits because he has made no disclosure,” said Blumenthal.

BELOIT — Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday signaled he’s open to charging tolls on Wisconsin’s Interstates, but with a key condition: linking it to a reduction in the state’s 30.9-cent-per-gallon gas tax. Walker also said an impasse over the state’s next transportation budget risks costly delays to billion-dollar highway projects now under construction. That includes a $1.2 billion expansion of Interstate 39-90 from the Madison area to the Illinois state line. The Interstate formed the backdrop for Walker’s remarks in a press conference at a Beloit rest stop. Republicans who control the state Assembly have proposed seeking federal approval to...

HARTFORD. Conn. (WTNH)– A top Connecticut lawmaker wants to hear from Attorney General Jeff Sessions under oath on the Russia investigation. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal made his case for that Friday. On Thursday, we had that bombshell testimony from former FBI Director Jim Comey. Friday, we have Senator Richard Blumenthal calling for the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General to come testify in front of his committee. Blumenthal was there in the audience Thursday as Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Blumenthal is not on that committee, so he could not ask questions. He did say that Comey painted...

(ABC News) — Chelsea Manning has been called a hero by some, a traitor by others, but when asked how she sees herself, she said, “I’m just me.” “It’s as simple as that,” Manning told “Nightline” co-anchor Juju Chang in an exclusive interview that will air in an upcoming special edition of “Nightline.”

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A transgender high school athlete beat girls in the Connecticut track state championship Tuesday, but his time would have placed him last in the boys’ race.Andraya Yearwood, a freshman at Cromwell High School, placed first in the girls’ 100-meter and 200-meter dash finals against girls from other schools in the region, according to Turtleboy Sports. But his time would have earned him last place in both boys’ competitions.Yearwood finished the girls’ 100-meter dash with a time of 12.66 seconds and the girls’ 200-meter dash in 26.08 seconds.The last-place finishers for the boys’ 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, Shayne Beckloff and Terrance...

According to the fiscal analyst, income-tax collections declined this year for the first time since the recession due to lower earnings at the top. Many wealthy residents decamped for lower-tax states after Mr. Malloy and his Republican predecessor Jodi Rell raised the top individual rate on more than $500,000 of income to 6.99% from 5%. In the past five years 27,400 Connecticut residents, including Ms. Rell, have moved to no-income-tax Florida, and seven of the state’s eight counties have lost population since 2010. Population flight has depressed economic growth—Connecticut’s real GDP has shrunk by 0.1% since 2010—as well as home...

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - Connecticut lawmakers were working at the State Capitol on Friday in the final days of the session. Democrats said they were finding it harder to get bills passed, now that Republicans have more seats and carry more weight. "They said they wanted to lead. They told the voters in the state of Connecticut give us more seats and we will be at the table,” House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said. “And you know what we have heard, we will offer no votes."