Good morning. The Biden administration has authorized an emergency declaration to allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist crews in responding to a partial breach of the privately owned Fitchville Pond Dam in New London County.
A series of winter storms that blew through the region over the past week caused an evacuation to protect vulnerable communities from flooding. The FEMA efforts will be directed toward Norwich and Bozrah, as well as the Mohegan and the Mashantucket Pequot tribes.
On Long Island, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to declare an emergency to bolster beaches on Fire Island and in downtown Montauk. Millions of dollars worth of sand the Corp has already used to replenish beaches in recent years were blown away by recent storms.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing:
Suspected Long Island serial killer is in court Tuesday. Rex Heuerman has pleaded not guilty to the murders of three women whose bodies were found more than a decade ago along Ocean Parkway. Since 2010, authorities have discovered 10 sets of remains in the Gilgo Beach area. A special grand jury has been considering new charges related to a fourth set of remains identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, of Norwich, Connecticut. She was last seen in Manhattan in 2007.
A high-salaried Bridgeport police lieutenant was put on paid leave pending an internal investigation. The police union has not shared any additional details about John Gale, who commands the late shift and is among the city’s top earners. In 2022, Gale won a $22,500 settlement from the city over a federal discrimination lawsuit that he was wrongly removed from his position as an instructor at the police academy because he is white. In 2021, Gale was the third-highest paid city employee, making more than $255,000.
Comcast and Charter Communications want to quicken the roll-out of their new Xumo Steam Box. The device allows customers to access 250 streaming video apps alongside their cable TV packages. The providers hope the streaming services will help hold on to customers who are cutting the cord. Charter notified Connecticut regulators in December that it will raise Spectrum rates by $5. Altice USA, which owns Optimum, and Cox Communications also plan to increase prices due to new "carriage" deals with major networks.
Two former Fairfield officials have trial dates for an illegal dumping scandal. After lengthy delays, a Superior Court judge set Feb. 27 as the trial date for former human resources director Emmet Hibson, former public works and town conservation director Brian Carey and Robert Grabarek, the owner of an environmental cleanup company. Hibson will have a hearing on Thursday regarding his application for accelerated rehabilitation, a pre-trial probation program. Three former town officials have already pleaded guilty involving the illegal dumping of asbestos and PCBs.
ESPN is giving back its Emmys. The Bristol-based cable TV sports channel returned nearly 40 Emmy awards that were submitted using fake names in categories where they were not eligible to win. For more than a decade, the company has accepted the accolades and reengraved the awards to give to on-air personalities, ESPN said in a statement. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which administers Awards, discovered the fraud.
