WLIU: Connecticut State News (2009-11-24)

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Latest Connecticut news, sports, business and entertainment:

INVESTMENT FRAUD-ARREST
Conn. man accused of $20M investment fraud

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Authorities say a Wethersfield man is
charged with running a 12-year scheme that defrauded investors of
more than $20 million.
Thirty-eight-year-old Michael Goldberg was arrested Monday and
appeared in U.S. District Court in Hartford, where he was released
on $1 million bond.
Prosecutors say he falsely claimed his company, Acquisitions
Unlimited Group, was liquidating assets held by JP Morgan Chase and
that clients could get hefty returns by investing.
Authorities say he defrauded investors in Connecticut and five
other states. He is charged with using interstate wires to promote
a fraudulent scheme and faces up to 20 years in prison if
convicted.
A message was left Monday for Goldberg's attorney, Richard
Brown.

SCHOOLS-CHILD ABUSE
Blumenthal investigating schools' abuse reporting

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal says his office is investigating whether schools in the
state have broken laws requiring the reporting of child abuse and
neglect to authorities.
Blumenthal says the investigation is an expansion of one that
began three years ago into whether Southington school officials
delayed reporting abuse allegations against a girls' middle school
basketball coach for more than a year.
The attorney general declined to identify the other schools now
under investigation. He says he expects the probe to end in a few
months with recommendations on how to improve schools' reporting of
abuse and neglect.
The Southington coach, James McCoy, was sentenced to 60 days in
prison in 2005 for misdemeanor sexual assault.

POLICE CRASH INJURIES
3 New Haven police officers injured in crashes

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - New Haven police say they caught a
shooting suspect after he crashed his car into a police cruiser and
caused two other cruisers to collide.
Police said Monday they tried to pull over Paul Colon on Sunday
night in connection with a Nov. 14 shooting at a city strip club.
Officers say Colon drove his car into Officer Jason Jackson's
cruiser and sped off.
Two other cruisers, driven by Sgt. Jason Koenig and Officer
Maneet Bhagtana (bahg-TAH'-nah) crashed into each other during the
chase.
Police say Colon was later caught and charged with several
crimes related to the chase. He was also to be charged with the
earlier shooting. The victim survived.
Koenig and Jackson were treated for minor injuries. Bhagtana
remains hospitalized with mouth and neck injuries.
It wasn't clear if Colon has a lawyer.

FATAL TAXI CRASH
Judge declines to jail Colorado taxi crash suspect

DENVER (AP) - A Denver judge has ruled there is not enough
evidence to revoke the bond of a woman accused of driving drunk and
killing two Connecticut librarians on their way to the airport.
Sandra Jacobson was arrested and sent to jail last week after
she was allegedly spotted driving away from a college class she was
attending. Prosecutors say that violated conditions of her bond.
But a motion to revoke her bond was rejected during a court
hearing Monday.
Jacobson is accused of causing a February accident that killed
71-year-old Kate McClelland and 54-year-old Kathy Krasniewicz.
Police say Jacobson was driving with a suspended license at the
time.
Jacobson told investigators she took cold medicine before and
after the crash. Her attorney argues that may have affected the
sobriety tests.

PEDICAB DEATH
Conn. family sues over fatal Wash. pedicab crash

SEATTLE (AP) - A Connecticut family is suing a Washington
pedicab company, saying faulty brakes were to blame for their
father's death in a Seattle crash last year.
Peter Dzioba, a 60-year-old father of four from New Britain,
Conn., was killed when the pedicab he and his wife were riding in
could not stop at a red light in August 2008. The three-wheeled
vehicle was coming down a hill in the Belltown neighborhood when it
collided with a scooter and veered into the path of a minivan.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court on Monday,
names Bellingham-based Cascadia Cabs as well as Ningbo Nanyang
Corp., the Chinese company that manufactured the cab.
Cascadia Cabs did not immediately return a message seeking
comment. Last year, its owner said the brakes were working properly
and the driver should never have taken the pedicab down a steep
hill.

HORSE AUCTION
Conn. nets more than $10K in horse auction

STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut officials say they've raised
more than $10,000 from Saturday's auction of rescued and
rehabilitated horses.
The funds will benefit the state's Animal Abuse Cost Recovery
Account.
Up for bid were 14 miniature horses, six quarter horses, one
Arabian mare and one Morgan-Arab mare. Six horses owned by the
University of Connecticut and four goats also were sold. The
auction was held at UConn's Horse Barn Arena in Storrs.
Two quarter horses and one thoroughbred-cross were adopted.
The animals had been seized by authorities investigating animal
cruelty and neglect cases. They've been cared for by prison staff
and inmates at a large animal rescue barn at the Gates Correctional
Facility in Niantic.

WINFREY-VICKI KENNEDY
Winfrey to interview widow of Ted Kennedy

NEW YORK (AP) - Another interview coup for Oprah Winfrey: Vicki
Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
In her first interview since her husband's death, Vicki Kennedy
will appear on Winfrey's television talk show Wednesday, along with
her stepson, Connecticut attorney Ted Kennedy Jr., and her two
children from a previous marriage, Caroline and Curran.
Sen. Kennedy died in August at age 77, just weeks before the
release of his memoir, "True Compass."
Winfrey, who announced last Friday she would end her program in
2011, recently had the first interview with Sarah Palin as the
former Alaska governor promoted her memoir, "Going Rogue."

ESPN-ANDREWS VIDEO
Man pleads not guilty in ESPN reporter videos case

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An Illinois insurance executive accused of
secretly making nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews has
pleaded not guilty to interstate stalking.
Michael Barrett entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court
in Los Angeles. The 48-year-old Barrett remains free after posting
a $100,000 bond on Friday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Turchin set the amount after
Andrews' attorney called Barrett's alleged behavior calculated,
cunning and secretive and said he posed a threat to the public.
Prosecutors say Barrett found three hotels where Andrews was
staying, rented an adjacent room, altered the peephole and shot
videos.
Barrett's attorney has said his client has no criminal record
and has deep regret for the circumstances that prompted the
charges.

SUPERINTENDENT HONORED
Bloomfield superintendent honored

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Bloomfield Superintendent of Schools
David Title is being honored as Connecticut's Superintendent of the
Year for 2010.
In an announcement Monday, the Connecticut Asssociation of
Public School Superintendents credited Title for providing high
quality learning experiences for students from diverse backgrounds,
advocating for modern and efficient school facilities in Bloomfield
and leading efforts to improve learning in Bloomfield.
Title has overseen Bloomfield schools for more than eight years.
He previously worked for 12 years as assistant superindendent for
the Waterford Public Schools.
Title has now been nominated for the American Association of
School Administrators' National Superintendent of Schools Award.

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

AP-NY-11-24-09 0100EST