Morning. The FBI are investigating bomb threats that shook LGBTQ+ pride events in Connecticut and New York over the weekend.
- An anonymous email was sent to police threatening to blow up New Haven’s Pride Center, which was slated to host a Pride Block Party last Saturday. The event was canceled due to inclement weather.
- The Brooklyn Public Library received a similar bomb threat right before local drag queens were to read books to kids as a part of the Drag Story Hour. The event was moved to the nearby Connecticut Muffin coffee shop.
Police investigated both threats but found no signs of any explosives.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we are hearing:
A 22-year-old inmate is suing Nassau County and six corrections officers for allegedly beating him while awaiting trial last year. Tyler Flach was convicted for the 2019 murder of Oceanside high schooler Khaseen Morris. Flach is seeking unspecified monetary damages. He is serving a 25 years to life sentence at the Auburn Correctional Facility and won’t be eligible for parole until 2044.
More than $1.3 billion will be used to lower Connecticut’s pension debt, according to Gov. Ned Lamont. The $1.3 billion is generated by volatile revenue sources, including portions of the personal income and business taxes, as well as the state’s budget reserve fund. Just over $1 billion will be deposited into the State Employees Retirement System, and nearly $273 million will be deposited into the Teachers’ Retirement System.
On Friday, Long Island industry groups will conduct a Minority Small Business Survey. The survey will be used to help identify economic challenges that minority-owned businesses face. Once the survey is complete by Friday, Oct. 13, the Association Business Group, as well as the African American and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, will compare the data with national small business trends. The data will help organizations develop programs to make struggling businesses thrive.
Electricity prices are expected to increase this winter season, amid increasing inflation costs. The electric company warned investment analysts that costs may increase beyond the current 14 cents per kilowatt hour price. He doesn’t expect costs to reach 24 cents, which was the price last winter. The hike may be a result of rising natural gas costs globally. Costs are expected to begin increasing starting in January.
More than $3.8 million was awarded to over 80 Connecticut school districts who applied to the state’s Dual Credit Expansion Grant Program. It is designed to allow more high school students to earn college credits through partnerships with universities. The state Department of Education found that dual credit courses have positive effects on students’ college access and enrollment, credit accumulation and college degree attainment. In the last school year, close to 19,000 high school students earned college credit statewide.
A World War II soldier from Waterbury, Conn., will finally be laid to rest at the Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island on Tuesday, Oct. 10. U.S. Army Sgt. Bernard J. Sweeney Jr. was killed in action in Germany but his remains were deemed unrecoverable in 1951. A set of unidentified remains recovered by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency was later identified as Sweeney in 2021. The decision to bury Sweeney in Suffolk County was done to honor him enlisting in New York during the war.
