Free Republic

HARTFORD — A woman who sued her 12-year-old nephew for $127,000 over injuries she received when he exuberantly greeted her at his birthday party four years ago was forced to go to court over her medical bills, her lawyers said Wednesday amid a backlash against her on social media sites. A jury on Tuesday rejected Jennifer Connell's lawsuit, finding that the boy was not liable for her injuries. She had said she broke her wrist when the Westport boy jumped into her arms at his 8th-birthday party, causing her to fall.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — An employee at a West Hartford Dunkin Donuts is in hot water after she told a police officer “We don’t serve cops here.” The officer walked into the busy store at 1234 Farmington Avenue to wait in line to order. As he waited, an employee looked over at the officer and shouted “He didn’t get the message, we don’t serve cops here.” The officer then left the store followed quickly by the employee herself and the store manager. Both offered apologies to the officer with the employee who shouted the statement saying that she was...

The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released,News Channel 10 reports. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk....

U.S. Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): Engaging Civil Society in Rehabilitation and Reintegration Estimated Number of Awards: One Deadline for Submissions: September 18, 2015 SUMMARY The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) announces a Notice of Funding Opportunity for organizations interested in strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremist offenders and the reintegration of returning foreign terrorist fighters. CT invites organizations to submit proposal applications outlining a project concept and capacity to develop and manage such a program across three or more geographic...

Those of you who were deep in the weeds during the Zimmerman research and discoveries might be interested in this little loose end. During the “discovery phase”, and intense pre-trial preparation, Trayvon Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump refused explain or reconcile his public claims about witness #8 (he called “Dee Dee”). Crump refused to discuss his relationship with witness #8 or anything about her despite his public, yet secretive, introductions of her to the media in March of the previous year (2012).

Last week Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., introduced a bill in Congress asking states to ban sexual orientation conversion therapy, often abbreviated as CT, for minors. California is one of two states that have prohibited licensed professionals from offering the practice, which includes efforts to change not only sexual orientation but also gender identity. While the congressional bill is only a resolution—it encourages states to bar the practice rather than proposing the heavier lift of a federal ban—the idea that CT is dangerous and should be banned is gaining momentum ... What do we actually know about the practice of CT...

 Representative Rosa DeLauro Democrats in the House of representatives are expected to reintroduce legislation that would grant a federal $2,000 tax credit for turning in a gun to a local, state, or federal government authority.   The guns listed normally sell for far less than $2,000.  There are many millions of them legally possessed by individuals.  Admittedly, even if the bill were passed, it is unlikely that more than a few million people would take advantage of it, so the drain on the Treasury wold be less than 20 billion dollars.  That is hardly noticeable in our runaway, trillion...

A Hartford judge has decided to extend voting hours to 8:30 p.m. at two city polls hampered by delays and missing registration lists early Tuesday morning.

Two days before the polls open, unaffiliated candidate for governor Joe Visconti has suspended his campaign and endorsed Republican candidate Tom Foley in a ceremonious display of party unity. NBC Connecticut cameras were the only ones rolling when Visconti appeared alongside Foley in Brookfield on Sunday, surprising a crowded room of Foley campaign volunteers. "I called Tom yesterday. I took a look at the polls," Visconti explained. "I was very concerned that Tom is in the fight for his life. Connecticut is in the fight of its life." Visconti, a conservative who failed to secure the Republican nomination, previously said...

... group from Ohio contributed $1.17 million to Grow Connecticut, the super PAC behind a $6.7 million advertising campaign to defeat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The money came from A Public Voice, Inc., which is based at the West Chester, Ohio office of David R. Langdon, a lawyer who has represented a network of conservative non-profit groups in a legal fight with the IRS over their tax-exempt status and is active opposing gay marriage, among other causes. Grow Connecticut, which is allied with the Republican Governors Association, immediately used the contribution to purchase nearly $1 million of television advertising attacking...

Home-schoolers represent the only authentically radical social movement in the United States (Occupy Wall Street was a fashion statement) and so they must be suppressed, as a malevolent committee of leftist academics and union bosses under the direction of Governor Dannel Malloy is preparing to do in Connecticut, using the Sandy Hook massacre as a pretext. The ghouls invariably rush to the podium after every school massacre, issuing their insipid press releases before the bodies have even cooled, and normally they’re after your guns. But the Malloy gang is after your children. Malloy’s committee on the Newtown shootings is recommending...

Just got the word, there is an enterorus type hand and foot and mouth disease in my neice's daughter's daycare the Baby is 10 months old, she has the rashes, so she has been sick for over a week not sure how contagious this is not on the news yet

Public Policy Polling's first Connecticut poll of 2014 finds Dan Malloy with an 8 point lead for reelection over Republican foe Tom Foley, 43/35. Independent Joe Visconti is polling at 9%. Visconti is largely drawing voters away from Foley- his supporters say their second choice would be Foley by a 46/27 spread. In a head to head, Malloy's advantage over Foley is 6 points at 45/39. Malloy's had low approval numbers throughout most of his term and that hasn't changed- only 40% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 50% who disapprove. But Foley's numbers are even worse...

Justina Pelletier is back in the hospital, according to a family spokesman. Pelletier, 16, spent 16 months at the center of a widely publicized custody battle between her family and the state of Massachusetts. She returned to her West Hartford home on June 18.

I was in my local Stop & Shop today and noticed a employee putting a sign up on the door. When I left I looked and noticed they posted the stores. I checked their FB page and they have confirmed it is a BAN all all forms of carry.

The Latin means "He who transplants, sustains" In a controversial move, the leadership of the Connecticut Bar Association lobbied to pass the highly restrictive gun law pushed by Governor Malloy.   The move sparked opposition within the body.   From the courant.com, a paper that also pushed hard for the controversial gun laws: "Why is our bar association taking a position on a matter that has nothing to do with the practice of law?" Hartford lawyer and former Democratic state Chairman John Droney asked in an email typical of hundreds of others inspired by a debate that has continued now for...

BRIDGEPORT -- Tom Foley, the Greenwich millionaire who is reprising his 2010 bid for governor, thinks the state spends too much on mass transit. He's critical of the 2013 firearms reforms following the Newtown school massacre. Red tape and regulations, he says, are stifling the business community; and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's "corporate welfare" is rewarding successful companies that don't need the help. But the Republican frontrunner, who faces a primary Tuesday against state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney for the gubernatorial nomination, offered few details in a meeting Wednesday with the editorial boards of Hearst Connecticut Media, including the...

Gun v. knife defenses are fairly common, but usually the person with the knife realizes that they are outclassed by someone with a gun, and runs away.   To have three such cases where the person with the knife is shot,  in one day, is uncommon.  It may mean that more self defense cases are being covered; it may simply be a statistical fluke. The most dangerous situation for a defender facing someone with a knife, is to not know that their opponent is armed until they are under assault.  The first case involves alleged defense of another in Phoenix,...

More than 320 of the thousands of immigrant children who have streamed across the U.S. border from Central American countries have been placed with relatives living in Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. Some activists in New Haven have pressed the administration to make the former Gateway Community College property available to house the children. In a statement released Tuesday night, Malloy said officials are exploring the possibility of using the property, which is owned and controlled by the Board of Regents.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSE DE LA CRUZ AJQUI, 27, a citizen of Guatemala last residing in Willimantic, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 12 months of imprisonment for illegally reentering the U.S. after he was deported. According to court documents and statements made in court, DE LA CRUZ AJQUI entered the U.S. illegally in 2005 and settled in Willimantic. In September 2007, he was charged and subsequently convicted in Connecticut state court of sexual assault of a minor in the second degree. DE...