Good morning. More than 100 child care centers, providers and parents are urging Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut leaders for $50 million in additional support.
In an open letter Thursday, the groups want the state to subsidize preschool and child care slots because cash-strapped families face an estimated $12,000 bill due to changes in kindergarten-age eligibility. Next year, a new law requires children who turn five years old before Sept. 1, to start kindergarten.
They said this funding will account for the added costs to affected parents and will allow early education programs to create additional seats.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing:
Fairfield Police have arrested one of the drivers in the crash near Sacred Heart University that critically injured himself, four female students and an Uber driver last month. Police said Tyler Delk, 19, was drunk and traveling 85 mph when he lost control of his Audi. He’s been charged with DUI, reckless driving and five counts of second-degree assault. Delk was arrested at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport and released on $250,000 bail. He will appear in court when he is medically cleared. He will undergo several months of rehab at a facility in New Jersey. The Uber driver and all four girls have been released from the hospital.
A former GOP lawyer for Connecticut Senate faces six months in prison. Michael J. Cronin is sentenced to seven years in prison, suspended after six months plus probation, after stealing $250,000 from a political action committee he ran. A Hartford Superior Court judge ordered Cronin to pay $150 monthly for the monitoring and complete 150 hours of community service.
119,000 Connecticut students are expected to drop out of college and become unemployed, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. The highest concentrations of at-risk students are in Hartford and Bridgeport. Andrew Ferguson, a senior executive with Dalio Education, said the state disburses roughly $400 million a year for incarceration, Medicaid and other expenses that could be saved, while the state’s economic output would gain $350 million a year if those youth were employed.
A U.S. Court of Appeals sided with an expelled Yale University student who sued his rape accuser. The court will allow Saifullah Khan to sue his accuser and Yale for defamation and equal protection violations. A lower court had dismissed the case, saying the accuser was entitled to immunity provided by Yale’s sexual misconduct committee. The Connecticut Supreme Court advised that Yale’s committee lacks safeguards and could not be honored. Khan was dismissed of rape.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito made a motion to expel Rep. George Santos, a day before Santos (R-NY) is due back in court for allegedly swindling political donors, taking unemployment benefits, and falsifying congressional financial disclosure forms. Santos has denied the charges and vowed to fight them in court.
Peter Schlussler, IT director of the Suffolk County clerk’s office, intends to sue County Executive Steve Bellone for defamation. Schlussler filed court papers pursuing permission to file a late notice of claim over statements after closing the 90-day window required by law for Schlussler to sue. A spokesperson for Bellone told Newsday that they eagerly await for Schlussler to appear for a deposition as his alternative set of facts will not hold up under oath. Bellone blames Schlussler for the vulnerability of government computers during a 2022 ransomware attack.
The family members of a 2015 fatal limo crash in Cutchogue have settled for just over $6 million. Four young women were killed after leaving a North Fork vineyard. The lawsuit targeted the driver, the vehicle manufacturer, the driver of the other vehicle and the Town of Southold. A Suffolk County Supreme Court will determine the amount each party or insurance company will pay.
