WLIU: Connecticut State News (2009-11-06)

AP-CT--Right Now,1280

Latest Connecticut news, sports, business and entertainment:

CONNECTICUT BUDGET
Conn. governor orders $34 million in budget cuts

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has ordered
about $34 million in state budget cuts in an effort to reduce the
state's deficit.
The order issued on Thursday came days after Comptroller Nancy
Wyman predicted the two-year, $37.6 billion budget is already $624
million in deficit.
But the governor's and General Assembly's budget offices predict
the deficit is nearly $400 million.
Rell used her executive powers to trim various expenses,
including $2.4 million in spending by the agency that runs the
state Capitol complex and oversees the needs of the General
Assembly as well as a $112,000 cut to the Connecticut Humanities
Council.
Rell says she will make additional cuts in the coming weeks. She
is also preparing a larger deficit mitigation plan that she will
present to lawmakers before December.

CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR
Conn. anti-war candidate considers run at governor

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - While Ned Lamont's entry into
Connecticut's governor's race has created a stir, some question
whether the businessman can generate the same enthusiasm that he
did in 2006 when he challenged Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Gary Rose, chairman of the Department of Government and Politics
at Sacred Heart University, says Lamont was seen by many voters as
a single-issue candidate who opposed the war in Iraq. Lieberman has
been a supporter of the war.
Rose says Lamont needs to broaden his message if he expects to
win the Democratic Party's nomination next year.
Lamont is already doing that.
On Thursday, he told college students in New Britain that
Connecticut needs to reinvent itself and retain jobs. Lamont, who
started his own cable company, says he knows how to do that.

OFFICER ARRESTED
Judge denies probation for police officer

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - A state judge has rejected a Wolcott
police officer's request for probation for an alleged assault at
the police department.
Waterbury Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani said Wednesday
that he watched a department video of last January's incident and
decided he would not grant accelerated rehabilitation to Officer
Bryan Spiotti.
Spiotti is charged with two counts of third-degree assault for
allegedly hitting 27-year-old Glenn Pelletier while Pelletier was
being booked on a drunken driving charge, and kicking him in a
holding cell.
Spiotti's lawyer says he's ready to head to trial, and he called
the judge's decision unfair. Prosecutors and the victim did not
object to the probation request.
---
Information from: Republican-American, http://www.rep-am.com

PARACHUTIST-TRANSMISSION TOWER
Parachutist jumps from large transmission tower

FARMINGTON, Conn. (AP) - Farmington police say they haven't been
able to figure out who parachuted off a 1,340-foot-tall
transmission tower on Rattlesnake Mountain, and the tower's owner
is calling the stunt "insane."
Police say someone climbed the tower, jumped off and deployed a
red, white and blue parachute early yesterday morning (Wednesday).
Communications Site Management owns the communications tower,
which is used by police departments, radio and television stations
and others.
Company owner Arnold Chase says the jump was foolish because
getting too close to the radiating tower could have health
consequences.
Police found a car near the property but say there was no
evidence linking the owner to the stunt, although he admitted
having parachuted in Canada before.
---
Information from: The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com

NURSES-STRIKE VOTE
Lawrence & Memorial nurses vote to strike

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) - Nurses and technicians at Lawrence &
Memorial Hospital in New London have voted to go on strike unless
management backs off a plan to cut their sick time and resolves
other contract issues.
Leaders of two unions that represent about 700 workers say
Wednesday's vote was overwhelmingly in favor of going on strike
November 16.
Members of the two locals of the American Federation of Teachers
say management wants to cut paid sick days from 12 to five a year,
and eliminate carry over of unused sick time into following years.
They say the swine flu outbreak makes ample sick time more
important than ever.
Hospital spokesman Kelly Anthony says management is hopeful for
a compromise and a new contract, but needs to cut costs and is
prepared to hire replacement nurses if needed.
---
Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com

IMS HEALTH-ACQUISITION
IMS Health to be bought for $4 billion

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) - Health care data company IMS Health says
it agreed to be purchased by investment funds TPG Capital and CPP
Investment Board for $4 billion.
IMS shareholders are getting $22 per share under the deal,
marking a 31 percent premium to the stock's closing price of $16.81
on Wednesday.
The company, based in Norwalk, Conn., said the deal is valued at
$5.2 billion including the assumption of debt.

EARNS-MANAGED CARE
Health insurers weather storms heading into 2010

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Rising unemployment, swine flu and the
threat of health care reform all ganged up on managed care
companies in the third quarter and could hurt their performance
heading into 2010.
But most of the large publicly traded health insurers reported
better-than-expected profit growth for the latest period, and
analysts still see strong core businesses beneath the challenges
facing the industry.
On Thursday, Cigna reported a third-quarter profit that soared
92 percent, as improving equity markets helped turn around the
performance of a discontinued business the insurer maintains but no
longer markets.
Cigna joined UnitedHealth Group, Humana, and Hartford,
Conn.-based Aetna in recording earnings growth that stretched into
the double digits compared with the third quarter of 2008.
All the major health insurers aside from Aetna reported declines
in enrollment driven by employers cutting jobs.
Even Aetna said it expects to lose as many as 650,000 members
this year due to group health insurance cuts.

EPA ADMINISTRATOR
Ex-Save the Bay head tapped for regional EPA post

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The former executive director of a Rhode
Island environmental group has been chosen to lead the regional
office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
President Barack Obama selected Curt Spalding, former leader of
Save the Bay, to be New England's top environmental official.
Spalding will oversee federal environmental programs in the six New
England states.
Rhode Island's congressional delegation on Thursday praised the
appointment, calling Spalding a community leader and strong
environmental advocate for more than two decades.
Spalding was executive director at Save the Bay, Rhode Island's
largest environmental organization, for 18 years before stepping
down in 2008.
The EPA has 10 regional offices.

DECADENT RESORT
Luxury resort opening in depressed Rhode Island

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) - A new resort on Rhode Island's shore
promises to be among New England's most luxurious when it opens in
June.
The original Ocean House was a post-Civil War resort destination
for the rich. But the 135-year old hotel was in need of extensive
repairs and closed in 2003, then was demolished.
Now a group of sentimentally attached investors - led by mutual
fund magnate Charles Royce - is building an upscale replica of the
hotel in the seaside enclave of Watch Hill. They want the new Ocean
House to compete with rival destinations in places such as Newport,
Nantucket and the Hamptons.
Royce says he was dismayed by the prospect of losing the hotel,
where guests, socialites and local residents met for drinks and
parties.
The investors say they're unfazed by Rhode Island's sputtering
economy, and expect the hotel's amenities and proximity to New York
and Boston to be prime selling points.

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

AP-NY-11-06-09 0100EST