Good morning — The Connecticut State Department of Education has released updated guidelines on its "Parents Bill of Rights" for English or multilingual learners. The guidelines include equal access to all grade-level school programming, translation services at essential meetings and a high-quality orientation session. Starting in July, each education program or service teaching English as a new language must provide parents and guardians with a copy of the bill of rights in their dominant language.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing:
A fatal negligence lawsuit is filed against Yale-New Haven Hospital. Mary Ramsey is suing the health system and Yale University for malpractice in treating her husband's brain injury. She argues the hospital’s negligence contributed to her husband’s death. The lawsuit alleges that the hospital's neurosurgery and anesthesiology teams failed to maintain his blood pressure above 160 during the MRI or other treatments. The lawsuit was filed in state Superior Court in Bridgeport.
Stamford lawmakers look to censure Carl Weinberg, a member of the city’s Board of Representatives, for comparing his colleagues to characters from the classic novel "Animal Farm." The board requested a special meeting to consider censuring Weinberg and requiring him to take sensitivity training. Weinberg has defended his actions, denying the allegations.
A Texas man was arrested for an attempted scam of George Santos. Hector Medina, who also is known as Michael Soto, has been charged with wire fraud after attempting to defraud the expelled Long Island congressman out of $900,000. Medina began sending messages to Santos in June 2023, claiming he could get all criminal charges dropped. Medina also tried to defraud disgraced actor Danny Masterson and a professional athlete with false promises to help them avoid legal trouble.
The New York attorney general wins big in “ghost gun” case. A federal judge in Manhattan orders Florida-based Indie Guns to pay $7.8 million to New York. The untraceable "ghost guns" are made from unfinished gun bodies without serial numbers. The judgment also bars Indie Guns from selling its products in the state. State Attorney General Letitia James argued the company’s product helps fuel gun violence.
A GOP-led bill that safeguards IVF procedures. A bill in New York would clarify that frozen embryos for in vitro fertilization procedures are not legally classified as people. It is in response to a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children with rights. State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury) said the legislation should have widespread support, especially from his Democratic counterparts. But experts say the legislation might be held up during an election year.
Nearly 3,000 New York farms closed in five years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2022 census reports a significant drop in dairy and meat production in New York. Farmers are concerned about the value of farms and their community impact, leading to consolidation, growth, merging, or retirement. This has forced farmers to become more organized in land and cattle usage.
A judge rejects the appeal of the New Haven rabbi. A panel of appellate court judges has denied Rabbi Daniel Greer's request for a new trial, affirming a lower court's ruling. Greer is serving a 20-year prison sentence for a 2019 case for attacking a former student at his yeshiva. The panel found that the new evidence presented by Greer lacked credibility and was unlikely to change a jury's verdict.
