WLIU: Connecticut State News (2009-11-20)

AP-CT--Right Now,1444

Latest Connecticut news, sports, business and entertainment:

CONNECTICUT UNEMPLOYMENT
Conn. unemployment rate jumps to 8.8 percent

WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (AP) - The Connecticut Labor Department says
the state's unemployment rate increased slightly to 8.8 percent,
even though employers added 1,000 jobs in October.
The gain announced Thursday is statistically small and doesn't
erase the 6,600 lost jobs in September. However, Labor Statistics
Supervisor Salvatore DiPillo says it is welcome news.
DiPillo also says initial claims for October, at 5,900, are at
their lowest level since last December.
The news comes a day after health insurer Aetna Inc. announced
it will eliminate 160 Connecticut jobs. More layoffs are expected
by March.
Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association says in a report
released Thursday that the number of foreclosures and seriously
delinquent loans in Connecticut rose from 6 percent to 7 percent
during the third quarter of this year to stand at 37,022.

CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR
O'Connor says he's not running for Conn. governor

ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) - Former U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor
says he won't be a candidate for governor in 2010.
Appearing at a taping Thursday of WFSB's political program
"Face the State," the Republican cited family considerations for
not seeking the GOP nomination. O'Connor has four young children.
He currently works as an attorney with the Bracewell & Giuliani law
firm.
O'Connor did not rule out a future bid for political office.
He ran unsuccessfully for the 1st congressional district seat in
1998, losing to Democratic U.S. Rep. John Larson.
O'Connor's name has been mentioned since Gov. M. Jodi Rell
announced she would not seek re-election.
Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele says he's interested in running. Other
Republicans mentioned include House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero
Jr. and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney.
"Face the State" airs Sunday.

HIGHWAY PLAZAS
Conn. reaches deal to upgrade travel plazas

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut officials have reached a
35-year agreement to transform the state's 23 service plazas along
the major highways, adding more types of restaurants and upgrading
facilities.
The plazas are located along I-95, the Merritt and Wilbur Cross
Parkways and I-395.
For two decades, McDonald's has been the major food provider
along I-95. ExxonMobil has been the fuel vendor since 1982. Under
the new deal, all 23 service plazas will include a Subway sandwich
shop, a Dunkin' Donuts and a convenience store.
McDonald's will be one of the food providers at eight locations.
Alliance Energy, a New England petroleum-marketing distributor,
will provide fuel and operate the convenience stores.
Stamford State Sen. Andrew McDonald has called for a financial
analysis of the contract.

PEQUOT OFFICIAL-FRAUD
Ex-Conn. tribal official convicted of fraud

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A former official with the Connecticut
tribe that runs Foxwoods Resort Casino has been convicted of
defrauding investors.
Prosecutors said a federal jury in Hartford on Thursday found
50-year-old Christopher Pearson of Ledyard guilty of eight counts
of wire fraud.
Pearson is the former deputy chief operating officer of
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Prosecutors say he defrauded
investors out of $280,000 that he promised to use to buy land on
the Island of Roatan, Honduras. Pearson said the land would be used
for a resort and casino the tribe was sponsoring.
Pearson used the money instead for his own use, including boats,
cars, vacations and improvements to his waterfront home on Roatan.
Pearson faces up to 20 years in prison on each count when he is
sentenced Feb. 5.

BRIDGEPORT FIRE
Conn. mourns Bridgeport fire victims

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Hundreds of people turned out to mourn
a Bridgeport mother and her three children killed last week in a
fire at a public housing complex.
Funeral services were held Thursday at the Mount Airy Baptist
Church for 22-year-old Tiana Black and her children - twin
four-year-old daughters Nyasija and Tyasija Williams and
five-year-old son Nyshon Williams.
The fire occurred at the P.T. Barnum complex early Friday.
Firefighters pulled the family from their apartment, breaking a
window to get in as smoke poured out from under the locked door.
But efforts to revive them were unsuccessful.
Mayor William Finch has called a meeting on Friday with
representatives of the school board, fire department, housing
authority, American Red Cross and elected officials to discuss
promoting fire safety in the city, particularly at the housing
complex.

LAWMAKER-CELL PHONE BAN
Lawmaker stopped again for using cell phone in car

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut lawmaker says he's paid more
than $390 in fines and his driver's license has been reinstated
after he was pulled over by police a second time for illegally
using a cell phone while driving.
Newtown police say they stopped Bethel state Rep. Jason Bartlett
on Tuesday for using a hand-held cell phone and discovered his
license was suspended last year because he didn't pay a ticket
issued by Hartford police for the same infraction.
Connecticut allows motorists to use cell phones, but only with
hands-free devices.
Bartlett says he didn't know his license was suspended, but
admitted breaking the cell phone law.
Bartlett says he paid the Hartford ticket and got his license
reinstated Tuesday, then bought a hands-free device. The Newtown
case is pending.
---
Information from: The News-Times, http://www.newstimes.com

HARTFORD COURANT-PLAGIARISM CHARGE
Competitor sues Courant for alleged plagiarism

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The Hartford Courant is being sued by a
smaller, family owned newspaper that is seeking financial damages
for what it calls the Courant's repeated plagiarism of its stories.
The Journal Inquirer of Manchester filed the lawsuit Thursday in
Hartford Superior Court, accusing the Tribune Co.-owned Courant of
taking at least 11 stories in August and September and wrongly
attributing them as its own work.
The Journal Inquirer is seeking undisclosed damages totaling
more than $15,000 for alleged violations of federal copyright law
and the state's unfair trade practices act.
Messages were left Thursday for the Courant's publisher, Richard
Graziano, and Editor Naedine Hazell.
The Courant has cut its newsroom by half because of the
recession and sagging advertising revenue.

FATAL TAXI CRASH
Woman accused of drunk driving deaths back in jail

AURORA, Colo. (AP) - A woman accused of driving drunk and
killing two librarians from Connecticut on their way to the Denver
airport earlier this year is back in jail.
Sandra Lee Jacobson was arrested and sent to jail in Arapahoe
County Wednesday after a fourth motion from Colorado prosecutors
alleging she was breaking the terms of her bond. Prosecutors say
Jacobson was driving illegally.
The motion says that a probation officer saw Jacobson driving a
BMW to a leadership and ethics conference in Denver last month.
Jacobson is accused of causing a February accident that killed
two librarians from Connecticut, 71-year-old Kate McClelland and
54-year-old Kathy Krasniewicz. She is accused of two counts of
vehicular homicide.
A hearing to reconsider Jacobson's bond has not been set.

WORKER DEATHS
Feds report fewer workplace deaths in New England

BOSTON (AP) - A federal agency says 136 people died in New
England from work-related injuries last year, 27 fewer than in the
previous year and the lowest number since it began compiling the
statistics in 1992.
The 2008 preliminary figures were released Thursday by the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The two New England states with the largest workforces -
Massachusetts and Connecticut - accounted for two-thirds of the
region's occupational deaths in 2008.
Sixty-one workers died in Massachusetts, 14 fewer than in 2007.
Transportation accidents accounted for 30 percent of fatalities,
while falls were the second-leading cause of death at 25 percent.
Connecticut recorded 28 worker deaths, down from 38 in the
previous year.
There were 24 deaths in Maine, 10 in Vermont, seven in New
Hampshire and six in Rhode Island.

TV-SIMPSONS-CONTEST WINNER
'Simpsons' character contest winner is the Bomba

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A ladies' man is bringing his charms to "The
Simpsons."
The long-running animated Fox series held a contest to give fans
the chance to dream up a new character, and Ricardo Bomba was the
winning entry. He's the creation of Peggy Black of Orange,
Connecticut.
Black said she decided that "The Simpsons" was lacking a
Casanova and came up with the character nicknamed "La Bomba."
He'll make his small-screen debut in the January 31 episode of
"The Simpsons."
More than 25,000 entries were received in the contest for the
show, which is marking its 20th year on TV.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-11-20-09 0100EST