Boys' Deaths Add Urgency To Gun Debate

Connecticut state police say investigators of an apparent murder-suicide in which two young boys died is looking into how their grandmother gained access to a revolver. Sgt. Donna Tadiello says investigators are also looking into the mental health history of 47-year-old Debra Denison. She was found dead Tuesday along with the children. Police say Denison left a suicide note and took a gun from her house before picking up 2-year-old Alton Perry and 6-month-old Ashton Perry on Tuesday. A great-grandmother of the slain boys says the gun apparently belongs to Denison's husband. The shooting has added urgency to a legislative review of access to guns already under way in Connecticut. A troubled 20-year-old man gunned down 20 first-graders and six educators in December on the other side of the state.

Cops: Witness IDs Giant Owner's Nephew In Assault

Police in Connecticut say a witness identified the 22-year-old nephew of New York Giants owner John Mara as the person who hit a man in the head with a bottle during a New Year's Eve party. The nephew, also named John Mara, was arrested by Fairfield police last week and posted $150,000 bail. The Mount Kisco, N.Y., resident is scheduled to be arraigned on first-degree assault and breach of peace charges on March 8 in Bridgeport Superior Court. An arrest affidavit says the victim, Philip Blackman, suffered life-threatening injuries that required immediate surgery. It says a witness identified Mara as the person who hit Blackman. Mara's lawyer, William Dow III, said Mara will plead not guilty and he's confident a jury will find him not guilty.

Newtown Gun Panel To Hold Final Meeting

Members of a legislative working group reviewing gun laws following the Newtown school shooting are planning a final meeting to discuss which recommendations they plan to make to legislative leaders. Even though the General Assembly's Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children's Safety had originally hoped lawmakers could vote on a package of changes at the end of February, House Speaker Brendan Sharkey said Thursday he's optimistic a vote will happen in mid-March. Lawmakers were delayed by the recent blizzard and the volume of work.

Three working groups of the task force are reviewing gun violence, mental health and school security issues. The school security working group has already forwarded its ideas to legislative leaders. The gun panel has scheduled its final meeting for Tuesday to compile recommendations.

New London Lawmaker Loses Title Over Remark

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Five-term New London Rep. Ernest Hewett is losing his leadership title for a comment he made to a 17-year-old girl during a budget hearing. The Connecticut Post reported Thursday that House Speaker Brendan Sharkey this week stripped Hewett of his deputy speaker title after hearing an audiotape of the comment, perceived as sexually harassing. Hewett, a Democrat, will lose $6,446 in additional leadership pay. The Post reported that Hewett had an exchange with the intern from the Connecticut Science Center, who said working at the center helped her overcome a fear of snakes. Hewitt allegedly made reference to a "snake" he had at his desk. Hewett told the Post he wanted to apologize to his colleagues for the statement and understood how it could be misconstrued as sexual.

Special Newtown Mental Health Fund Up For Vote

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey says the General Assembly will soon vote on creating a new charitable fund to help compensate first responders, teachers and others in Newtown with mental health needs after they've exhausted their existing benefits. Sharkey said Thursday he expects a vote will be taken on March 6 on the bipartisan plan crafted by legislative leaders. The account, requested by responders to the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, would be funded with charitable contributions and managed by the state's Judicial Branch. Meanwhile, the legislature's Labor and Public Employees Committee forwarded a bill requiring Connecticut's worker's compensation system to cover the treatment costs for mental illnesses stemming from certain workplace traumas. That bill, however, would only apply to future cases and not the Newtown shooting.

Connecticut Minimum Wage Increase Clears First Hurdle

A proposal to increase Connecticut's current $8.25 an hour minimum wage has cleared a key step in the legislative process. The General Assembly's Labor and Public Employees Committee voted 7-4, along party lines, on Thursday to forward the bill to the Senate. The proposed legislation increases the rate by 75 cents on Jan. 1, 2014, and by another 75 cents on Jan. 1, 2015. As of Jan. 1, 2016, and every year after, the state's minimum wage would be tied to changes in the Consumer Price Index. The CPI measures the average change in prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services. Some Republican committee members voiced concerns about increased cost to employers, especially business owners. They predicted it could discourage increased hiring, given the slow economy.

Connecticut Work Injuries Reported 11 Percent Up In '11

The U.S. Department of Labor says the number of workplace injuries in Connecticut jumped 11 percent in 2011 over the previous year and that the rate of injury is among the highest in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that 50,600 injury and illness cases in the private industry were reported. More than half were classified as "more severe nature" that required days away from work, job transfer or a work restriction. The Labor Department says Connecticut's incidence rate of 4.5 cases per 100 full-time workers placed it among 19 states with a rate significantly higher than the U.S. rate of 3.5. Labor officials did not explain the rise in injuries rose, but said injuries and illnesses can be influenced by the economy, working conditions and work practices, training and hours worked.

Nominee Faces Vote; Testified In "Gifting" Case

A Branford attorney who recently testified in federal court about what she told former clients involved in a pyramid scheme faces a confirmation hearing on her nomination to the Superior Court. Shelley Marcus is one of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's 16 judicial nominees up for consideration by the legislature's Judiciary Committee on Friday. Marcus testified last month at the trial of two Guilford women that she never told members of the scheme their so-called gifting tables club was legal. Marcus' statements contradicted those made by others witnesses who said she and her father told the members their activities were legal. The women, Donna Bello and Jill Platt, were found guilty of running a pyramid scheme and convicted on Feb. 20 of charges including wire fraud and filing false tax returns.

Big East Break-up Picks Up Speed

The breakup of the Big East's football and basketball schools appears to be on the fast track. The major college football members will meet in Atlanta on Friday to discuss the departure of the seven basketball schools that are planning to leave the conference and create a new league. According to media reports, the basketball schools plan to have their new conference up and running for the 2013-14 school year and will pay the football schools to keep the Big East name and play its conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco says no deal has been completed between the two groups but "some of this stuff is clearly coming down to the wire."