Happy Friday! A federal court has upheld a ban on handguns in Connecticut state parks. David J. Nastri, a lawyer and financial planner, challenged the law, citing his Second Amendment Constitutional rights. U.S. District Judge Janel Bond Arterton said he lacked standing to sue because he was in no imminent danger of arrest, and it was unlikely that he would be; meaning the 100-year-old law was unlikely to be enforced.
Governor Ned Lamont and state Attorney General William Tong both said they are happy with the decision.
Here's a bite-sized look at what else we are hearing:
Four Long Island beaches are among the ten most fecally contaminated in the state. Data compiled by Colorado-based enviromentamerica.org shows the four Long Island beaches frequently tested positive for potentially harmful fecal contamination in 2022. Babylon’s Tanner Park in Suffolk had potentially unsafe levels on 48% of testing days, Benjamin’s Beach and Bayport Beach in Islip reached those levels on 45% and 28% of testing days and Hempstead’s Hewlett Point Beach in Nassau reached potentially unsafe levels on 28% of testing days.
Yale New Haven Hospital’s president will resign in August. Keith Churchwell has been the organization’s president for nearly three years. Churchwell will become the president of the American Heart Association in 2024. He will be temporarily replaced by Pamela Sutton-Wallace, the regional hospital system’s current chief operating officer.
Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford may close their labor and delivery unit soon. Hospital officials say they should close the unit due to lack of demand and a dwindling staff. If the state approves the closure, pregnant people in the northern part of Connecticut would be forced to travel further for care.
A Hauppauge petting zoo and store has been ordered to halt sales. Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Joseph Santorelli said Sloth Encounters, owned by Larry Wallach, has violated court orders by continuing their petting zoo operations. In March, Sloth Encounters was told to stop violating a town code that forbids harboring wild animals.
Twenty-one gas stations across Connecticut are for sale. Global Partners LP is auctioning off stations in 18 towns this month. The state has around 1,400 stations, but the sale of these 21 may increase the number of family-owned stations in Connecticut.
Northwell Health will soon use A.I. to address health disparities. Northwell and its Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research received a $10 million grant from Long Island real estate developer Scott Rechler and his wife, Debby, for the project. The project has already produced a survey, called the Northwell Health Vital Sign, which gauges patients' pain levels and other health indicators.
A New Britain man intentionally drove into two pedestrians on Tuesday. Bruce Cote, 59, was killed, and Vincent Maffucci, 36, was seriously injured by Jose Rios, who had been driving an unregistered car with a suspended license. Rios told police he had problems with Cote in the past and had never met Maffucci. He has been charged with murder, among other crimes.
Molloy University will partially reimburse students for online learning during COVID. Around 5,000 students will share a $1.5 million settlement from the school, which is located in Rockville Centre. A class action lawsuit was filed in December 2020. It's the first successful lawsuit of its kind on Long Island; four similar cases have been dismissed.
A former UConn and NBA player wants charges related to a knife incident in Stamford dropped. Police say Ben Gordon, 40, brandished a knife at a juice bar in April. Gordon’s lawyer said they are looking at a mental health program for first-time offenders that would dismiss the charges once completed.
Milford police are trying to identify 300 ATV and dirt bike riders. Police say they disrupted traffic on Route 1 last weekend.
Southold residents who rent their homes or pools may have stricter rules soon. Officials are considering legislation that would punish homeowners who rent their properties for less than two weeks and outright ban the rental of pools, backyards or private sport courts. Fines would be between $3,000 and $10,000.
Stamford’s Shakespeare in the Park began last night. Performances of The Tempest will be held nightly at 7:30 p.m. on July 13-16 and July 20-23 at Sterling Farms in Stamford. It’s theater company Curtain Call’s 20th anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park.
