CONNECTICUT: Gov. Dan Malloy To Ban State-Funded Travel To Indiana

Malloy's action follow similar orders from the mayors of San Francisco and Seattle. (Tipped by JMG reader Wayne)

CONNECTICUT: 11-Member Household Challenges Hartford's Definition Of Family

The city of Hartford, Connecticut has been socking an 11-member household in a wealthy neighborhood with zoning violations because most of the adults living there are unrelated. Yesterday the household fired back with a federal lawsuit challenging the city's definition of a family.

In a complaint filed in federal district court Wednesday, the eight adults who live in a Scarborough Street mansion said they are part of a functional, taxpaying household that includes three children, but that Hartford's zoning laws forbid them from living together. "This issue of the government deciding who is a legitimate family and who is illegitimate is unacceptable to us," said Joshua Blanchfield, a Hartford public school teacher who lives in the nine-bedroom home with his wife and two children.

The plaintiffs said the city's refusal to accept them as a family and efforts to evict some of the occupants violate their rights under the state and federal constitutions, including a right to privacy and personal autonomy under the Fourteenth Amendment. They are seeking damages for legal fees and "pain, suffering and emotional distress."

The city did not return a request for comment by Wednesday night. Peter Goselin, an attorney representing the Scarborough group, argued that the city's "antiquated" zoning code encroaches on his clients' freedom to live as a family and raise children together through a partnership among longtime friends. "This is an important right that is part of a long American tradition of extended families, part of a long American tradition of cooperative and collective living arrangements, something that goes all the way back to the Iroquois Nation, even before there was a United States," Goselin said.

More about the group from CBS News:

Just like like others, the home making headlines was purchased by a "family" who live in apparent domestic harmony -- except they're not. The group of 11 actually includes three couples, with three children and two single people. They're all longtime friends who decided years ago they wanted to live together. "I think there's a real extension of our values as people," English teacher Kevin Lamkins said. "The values I'm speaking of are sustainability, cooperation, living more, living well but within your means. Being connected to other people and not being in a silo, so to speak." The group of friends includes three teachers, a grants manager and a mental health therapist. "It's not a cult, there's no religion, there's no intermingling," Julia Rosenblatt said. "We're really living like most people are, you know, we are just doing it together." They purchased the nine-bedroom home and moved in last August. They have a legal partnership agreement and a shared bank account to pay expenses.

Although the zoning law restricts households to two unrelated adults, it permits an unlimited number of live-in servants. The household's neighbors are citing a 1974 Supreme Court ruling which upheld a similar zoning law in New York state. A law professor quoted in the above-linked story says that the federal government has never ruled that "unrelated people can be a family entitled to constitutional protection." (Tipped by JMG reader Arcane)

Cardinal Edward Egan Dies At Age 82

Cardinal Edward Egan, a longtime foe of LGBT rights and the former Archbishop of New York, has died at the age of 82.

Egan was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Medical Center at 2:20 p.m. after going into cardiac arrest, Archdiocese officials say. Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese, told NBC 4 New York Egan seemed fine when he was eating lunch earlier Thursday and showed no signs of illness. He died a short time later. Zwilling said the Archdiocese was in shock. Egan was born on April 2, 1932, in Oak Park, Illinois. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago on Dec. 15, 1957. Egan was consecrated a bishop in 1985. For the next three years, he served as Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar for Education of the Archdiocese of New York. In 1988, he was appointed the Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport by Pope John Paul II. He was appointed Archbishop of New York in 2000 and made a cardinal in 2001.

Egan is perhaps best remembered for his 2012 retraction of the apology he made in 2002 for sexual abuses that took place under his watch while he was the Bishop of Bridgeport. The New York Times reported on the retraction:

In a interview with Connecticut Magazine published on the magazine’s web site last week, a surprisingly frank Cardinal Egan said of the apology, “I never should have said that,” and added, “I don’t think we did anything wrong.” He said many more things in the interview, some of them seemingly at odds with the facts. He repeatedly denied that any sex abuse had occurred on his watch in Bridgeport. He said that even now, the church in Connecticut had no obligation to report sexual abuse accusations to the authorities. (A law on the books since the 1970s says otherwise.) And he described the Bridgeport diocese’s handling of sex-abuse cases as “incredibly good.” All of which has Cardinal Egan, now 79 and living in Manhattan, drawing fire from advocates who say he has reopened old wounds.

The Diocese of Bridgeport ended up paying an estimated $15M to the sexual abuse victims.

Professor Vs Creationists

Breitbart spins the incident:

A University of Connecticut professor went on a wild tirade on the Storrs campus Tuesday, claiming he came from an ape as he confronted a Christian gospel presentation that included discussion on evolution. Christian evangelist Don Karns of Hampton, Virginia, said Boster approached him as he was holding a sign about evolution, mocked him, and then became confrontational. “He asked me if I had accepted Darwin as my lord and savior,” Karns said. “He was very agitated, very demonstrative… it was very unbecoming of a professor.” Within minutes, Boster, who began teaching at UConn in 1997, also began to openly mock campus tour coordinator Scott Smith of Schoolmaster Ministries of Raleigh, North Carolina, as he preached. “As I was pointing to Christ—I was talking about the sin nature—I said, ‘There’s probably some people out there—maybe even professors—who think they descended from monkeys,’” Smith stated. “[Boster] jumped off the ground and came running over and basically started screaming, ‘I did not come from a monkey! I came from an ape!’”

CT Pastor Drops Dead During Adultery Confession To His Congregation

Via the Connecticut Post:

A congregation loudly confronted its longtime pastor about his alleged infidelity -- and in the midst of their yelling, the pastor dropped dead. That's what happened Sunday at the Miracle Faith World Outreach Church, according to members of the congregation and police sources. Bishop Bobby Davis, pastor of the Harriet Street church since its founding in 1967, was pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital. "After the service on Sunday the bishop's family asked us to remain in the church and the bishop confessed to us something that happened long ago," said Judy Stovall, an elder at the church. "He wanted to come clean with all of us. He wanted to ask our forgiveness."

A member of the congregation says they were actually shouting their support for the pastor.

UPDATE: It turns out there is MUCH more to the story according to the Christian Post.

One source, who asked not to be identified during an interview with The Christian Post on Thursday, said the confession wasn't that clean-cut based on what they were told, and feels the situation could have been handled better. He (Bishop Davis) had confessed it (infidelity) personally to his wife prior to the service, and she called a meeting after church with just the members and the members stayed. He wasn't there at the time, he was somewhere else apparently, neither of them were in the service that morning. They had one of their pastors do the service," explained the source. "From what I was told, she (pastor's wife) told the congregation what he had done. And so, when he comes through the door he had no idea what he was walking into. So it wasn't even. 'We're gonna make an announcement today' ... in a unified way as a couple," the source continued. "I'm told that when he walked through the door she basically told him, 'Tell them what you just told me,' which is what induced the heart attack, because it's not like he was walking into it knowing," the source explained.

Officials: Yale Prof Died Of Drug Overdose

In November, openly gay Yale professor Samuel See died in the custody of New Haven police after a being arrested following a scuffle with his estranged husband.  Yesterday the medical examiner's office ruled that See had died from a drug overdose.

See died of acute methamphetamine and amphetamine intoxication with recent myocardial infarction. His death was ruled an accident. See was found unresponsive in a detention cell at 6 a.m. on Nov. 24. Court marshals performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until medics arrived. See, who was alone in his cell, was pronounced dead at 6:15 a.m. See, an assistant professor of English and American studies, was on leave this semester. New Haven police are investigating the circumstances of See's death. New Haven police responded to a domestic dispute at See's home the evening of Nov. 23. Sunder Ganglani, 32, who identified himself as See's husband, was at the home in violation of a protective order, police said.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jeff)

CONNECTICUT: Paper Reveals Escorting Profiles Linked To Late Yale Professor

Last weekend Yale professor Samuel See died in the custody of New Haven, Connecticut police after a scuffle following a dispute with his estranged husband. Both men had orders of protection filed against each other. Today the New Haven Register revealed that profiles linked to See are on four male escorting sites.

The jail cell death last weekend of Yale University professor Samuel See, known as a brilliant writer and rising star in academia, has shaken up the tight-knit college community. Now adding to the mystery of his unexpected death are apparent connections between the online profiles of See and several escort service websites that include a cache of sexually explicit photos. At least four websites advertising male escort services included a phone number connected to See. The website Ryan Cochran Escort Services includes the same phone number listed on an order of protection filed against See in September. A profile photo on the Ryan Cochran Escort Service website matches the profile photograph on a LinkedIn account purporting to be See’s. The website lists Cochran’s home city as New Haven. A Facebook page with pictures resembling See and listed under the name Ryan Cochran includes See’s home address.

One of the escorting profiles (not work safe) contains this description: "I'm a professional, well-educated, sexually limitless escort working out of New Haven. I'm versatile, love cum, party, and prefer to fuck raw. I can get into all kinds of sexual and social situations, so just name your pleasure."  As yet there is no evidence that See himself created the profiles.

See was found dead in his cell on Sunday morning after being treated for a facial cut sustained during his struggle with the arresting officers. New Haven police have launched an internal inquiry. It should go without saying that whether or not See was doing sex work is irrelevant to the issue of his death while in the custody of the police.

Yale Professor Dies In Police Custody After Dispute With Estranged Husband

New Haven police have ordered an internal inquiry into the death of a Yale professor who died in their custody following his arrest after a dispute with his estranged husband.  NBC News reports:

Police said Samuel See, 34, of New Haven. was arrested on Saturday night. On Sunday, he was found unresponsive in his cell and later pronounced deceased. Police went to See's home after receiving a complaint of a domestic dispute at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. According to police, See's husband, Saunder Ganglani, 32, of New Haven, had gone to See's home to retrieve his belongings despite a protective order that was in place. Ganglani told officers that he’d spent about two and a half hours at the house on Saturday before police responded. Officers charged Ganglani with violating the protective order and spoke with See, who told police to remove Ganglani from the home, police said. As officers were speaking with See, they mentioned there is also a protective order filed for See to stay away from Ganglani and See “became enraged," police said. He yelled that it was his house, said he shouldn't be arrested and fought with the officers when they tried handcuffing him.

After the arrest See was transported to a local hospital for treatment for a cut over his eye that occurred during the scuffle with police. After his release from the hospital, New Haven detectives say See was "alert and communicating" during his detainment on Saturday night and that guards administered CPR when he was found unresponsive in his cell at 6am on Sunday. See was an English professor and was on leave from Yale this semester. The college has issued a statement of condolences to his friends, family and students. (Tipped by JMG reader West)

CT Gov Candidate To NYC: After One Year Of De Blasio You'll Be Moving Here

Photo Of The Day

USA Today has the caption:

A Navy sailor returning from a six-month deployment emerged from his submarine, dropped to one knee and proposed to his boyfriend during the homecoming celebration in Connecticut for USS New Mexico. About 200 people were gathered at the dock of the Naval Submarine Base New London where Machinist's Mate Jerrel Revels proposed to Dylan Kirchner. Kirchner said he had thought about getting married but the proposal Monday came as a surprise. "I didn't really care everybody was around. It felt just like the two of us," Kirchner told The Day of New London.

CONNECTICUT: Dozens Injured, Five Critically, In Commuter Train Collision

Last night two Metro-North commuter trains collided near Fairfield, Connecticut after a southbound train derailed at 60mph.  Dozens were injured, five critically.

The derailed train apparently clipped the front of the oncoming train then scraped along its side, officials said. About 700 people were thrown about the two trains when they collided, said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan. “It wasn’t a straight head-on collision, but the fronts of the two trains struck each other,” Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan said.  Malloy said 60 passengers were rushed to St. Vincent’s and Bridgeport hospitals. Five were in critical condition, and one was in very critical condition, Malloy said. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead an investigation with the FBI, the Connecticut Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Railroad Administration to determine the cause of the derailment, but Malloy doesn’t believe the rails were sabotaged.

Metro-North is the nation's busiest commuter rail service.

UPDATE: Commenters on Breitbart are blaming the president. And unions. And "Connecticut libtards."

CONNECTICUT: Gay Couple Charged With Molesting Two Adopted Boys, Demands Trial To Clear Their Names

In an effort to clear their names, a Connecticut gay couple has rejected a plea bargain offer and is demanding a trial on allegations that they sexually abused two of their adopted boys. Via WFSB-TV:

George Harasz and Douglas Wirth are accused of raping and locking children in cages as well as other crimes. However, once this went to court, the state had trouble proving some of the allegations actually occurred. Couple that with testimony from other children, who say none of this happened at all, and Harasz and Wirth were able to strike a plea deal. It was one that would've kept the couple out of jail, but Friday, in a surprising twist, the defense said that's not good enough. They withdrew their clients' plea deals and are requesting a trial in an attempt to clear their names completely. The state is also happy with the outcome because they want the opportunity to prosecute Harasz and Wirth.

More from the New York Daily News:

Police said two boys, ages 5 and 15, accused Harasz of sexually assaulting them. Harasz was initially facing first-degree sexual assault and other charges, while Wirth had been charged with third-degree sexual assault of the 15-year-old boy. Their arrest warrants claimed the couple not only sexually and physically abused the children, but also forced them to sleep in closets.

Other children in the home told authorities that they weren’t abused, and prosecutors had agreed to a plea deal because they said a lack of forensic evidence would make it difficult to prove all of the allegations. But now, three other children are claiming they were also abused, although no new criminal charges had been filed Friday, the Hartford Courant reported. One of the victims who spoke during the court hearing said sexual assault began when he was 6. “They took turns raping me over and over,” he said. “Anyone who would do this to a child is a sick, demented person.”

One of the adopted boys is defending his fathers, saying that the state "took the word of an angry, damaged, disturbed boy and destroyed a family.” The story has been posted on numerous anti-gay and right wing sites and was this morning joyously tweeted out by Bryan Fischer.

Obama Pitches Gun Control In Connecticut

Speaking before a Connecticut audience that included Newtown families, yesterday President Obama denounced the members of Congress who have said they won't even allow a vote on gun control.

"Meth Priest" To Serve 11 To 14 Years

Connecticut's infamous cross-dressing "meth priest," has agree to a plea bargain deal in which he will likely be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.

Kevin Wallin, of Waterbury, admitted to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was scheduled to be sentenced June 25. The agreed-upon sentence is 11 to 14 years. Prosecutors said the 61-year-old Wallin had meth mailed to him from co-conspirators in California and sold the drugs out of his Waterbury apartment last year. He sold nearly four pounds in all, prosecutors said. He also bought an adult video and sex toy shop in North Haven named Land of Oz & Dorothy's Place, apparently to launder the drug money, authorities said.

The Archdiocese of Bridgeport had suspended Wallin before his arrest.  He had pleaded not guilty during his January arraignment, at which time it was reported that he was still being paid by the Catholic Church. (Tipped by JMG reader Andrew)

CONNECTICUT: Gun Nuts Heckle Father Of Slain Sandy Hook Child

How low will teabaggers go? This low:

A false fire alarm, 45-minute waits to get into the Capitol complex, even the heckling of a bereaved parent of a Newtown shooting victim marked Monday's day-long legislative hearing on gun control. "The Second Amendment!" was shouted by several gun enthusiasts in the meeting room as Neil Heslin, holding a photo of his 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, asked why Bushmaster assault-style weapons are allowed to be sold in the state. "There are a lot of things that should be changed to prevent what happened," said Heslin, who grew up using guns and seemed undisturbed by the interruption of his testimony.

Beyond disgusting.

"Meth Priest" Pleads Not Guilty

Connecticut's now-infamous "meth priest" entered a not guilty plea yesterday before a federal court.

"My gosh, Father, for your first involvement in the criminal justice system, you picked a real doozy," Judge Smith told Wallin, who was not wearing his priestly garb, but sported an orange jump suit at least two sizes too big. "The drug involved is very deadly. It has the capacity of destroying a person's mind ... it is so much worse than heroin ... than cocaine."  The offenses carry a mandatory 10-year prison term with a maximum of life upon conviction, Caruso said. "On the scale of federal drug offenses this is about as serious as it gets," he said. "Our evidence is very, very strong. There were six controlled purchases by an undercover police officer ... a wiretap for 30 days in which the nature of the calls is very explicit and left little to the imagination in terms of quantity and dollar amounts."  Just as important, Caruso said, is the "bulk quantity of methamphetamine divided into prepackaged quantities" found during a search of Wallin's second-floor apartment at 22 Golden Hill St., Waterbury. The investigation also exposed Wallin's propensity for cross-dressing and engaging in sexual activity with men in his rectory room at St. Augustine's Cathedral in Bridgeport.

The above-linked article notes that Wallin is still being paid by the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.

Much More About The Meth Priest

Yesterday we learned that Father Kevin Wallin, formerly with the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, was arrested by federal drug agents in Connecticut for his alleged role in a national crystal meth ring. Today we learn much, much more about the story.

The Catholic priest busted for allegedly dealing crystal meth was suspended after church officials discovered he was a cross-dresser who was having sex in the rectory at Bridgeport's St. Augustine Cathedral.  Monsignor Kevin Wallin was relieved of his duties in May, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport had continued to pay him a stipend until his Jan. 3 arrest -- a day he was planning to fly to London on vacation. Now dubbed "Msgr. Meth" by some, Wallin seemed to live a life that easily could have been ripped from the script of "Breaking Bad," the popular AMC series about a high school chemistry teacher turned crystal methamphetamine producer.

At one point, Wallin was selling upwards of $9,000 of meth a week, according to his indictment. In his post-priesthood, Wallin, 61, bought an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits. Wallin's arrest sent shock waves through the Bridgeport and Danbury communities where he was known as a charismatic speaker who was involved in many charitable activities, and who enjoyed Broadway musicals and show tunes. He often attended musicals with his mentor, former N.Y. Cardinal Edward Egan and parishioners.

Bolding is mine. And there's still more.

While pastor of St. Augustine's, sources said he often disappeared for days at a time; and rectory personnel became concerned and notified diocese officials when Wallin, sometimes dressed as a woman, would entertain odd-looking men, some who were also dressed in women's clothing and engaging in sex acts. In addition, diocese officials found bizarre sex toys in Wallin's residence, the sources said. Diocese officials consulted lawyers about the situation and were assured none of Wallin's behavior appeared illegal.

Sandy Hook Kids Sing Over The Rainbow

With production help from Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club), the track is now available on iTunes and Amazon.

Funerals Begin For Sandy Hook

Editorial Of The Day

From the National Review:

The irreducible challenge the Second Amendment poses to gun restrictionists is that it does not bestow upon the people a right they previously lacked. It proscribes the government from infringing upon a right the people already have. It is not that the people are allowed to arm. It is that the government is disallowed to disarm them.

The practical consequence of living for nearly two and a half centuries under the almost universally benevolent protection of the Second Amendment is a society in which there are hundreds of millions of guns, in which 47 percent of families — and nearly as many Democrats as Republicans — own guns, and in which the dissent over the sacrosanctity of gun rights is heard largely because of the overrepresentation in the media of the coastal, urban Left.

Those upset with the order of things are welcome to try, and doomed to fail, to repeal the Second Amendment via the constitutional process. But the guns of America aren’t going anywhere any time soon, and generic calls to “do something” — even insofar as doing something is desirable — must reckon with this fact.

In other words: "Tough shit that all those kids got killed."