Hartford Courant: Connecticut News

The landfill that towers over Hartford's North Meadows closes today, and the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, which began leasing the dump from the city in 1982, will take in its last truckloads of trash.

A New London lawyer has brought what is believed to be the first racketeering case against the Catholic Church in Connecticut, alleging that the Norwich Diocese engaged in a conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse of children by priests.

Before the winter break, Laurel Thurman was a full-time violin instructor at Wish and M.D. Fox elementary schools. But when the Hartford schools reopen on Jan. 7, Thurman says she has no idea where she will be stationed or in what capacity.

A Branford company that dumped polluted water into the Branford River, killing hundreds of blue crabs, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Hartford to breaking environmental laws.

Afternoon drive-time talk show host Colin McEnroe and Diane Smith, co-host of Mornings with Ray and Diane, have been laid off by WTIC-AM, the station confirmed Tuesday.

A Muslim inmate at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center has filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that prison officials ignored his requests for meals that conform to his religious standards.

The town council and board of finance are holding meetings next week and will discuss a couple of town projects that will go to referendum in February.

The city promoted two veteran firefighters and welcomed two new recruits Tuesday.

Most revelers probably aren't dreaming of a white New Year's Eve, but that's what is heading toward the state.

About 65,000 workers in Connecticut will see their paychecks increase slightly with a boost in the minimum wage.

Peter Sorant was 13 when he started playing the organ at church in his hometown of Bloomfield. Over the next 50 years, as he moved around the country, he developed a deep emotional connection to the music and the instrument.

The state Department of Social Services is mailing notices to approximately 60,000 households enrolled in the HUSKY health insurance program telling them that they must switch to a new managed care network by Feb. 1. The change is staunchly opposed by advocates who say the new networks don't have enough doctors.

Congressman-elect Jim Himes has chosen a chief of staff to run his new office on Capitol Hill and a district director to supervise the work in his southwestern Connecticut district.

A multimillionaire friend of former Gov. John G. Rowland has agreed to pay a $2,000 fine to settle an ethics enforcement case concerning his attempt in 2000 to use his friendship with Rowland to help close a business deal, the Office of State Ethics announced Monday.

The center of the state hasn't seen a major ice storm since 1973. The last time a hurricane set its sights on the state was Gloria in 1985.

A group of state legislators met again Monday to discuss ways to save the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald newspapers and said afterward that nine companies had contacted state officials about the papers.

The Goodwin Hotel in downtown Hartford shut down Monday as efforts to reach an agreement with a new operator failed before a year-end deadline for closing.

A Hartford man accused of stabbing a 15-year-old girl and a woman during an attempt to sexually assault the teenager was in custody, with bail at $1 million, after his arraignment Monday.

A shopping development that was to have Home Goods as the anchor tenant on Route 44 has been postponed, town officials said, because the developer hasn't been able to find a co-tenant for the shopping complex.

The developer of the Buckland Hills and Evergreen Walk shopping areas is proposing a $25 million upscale condominium complex on New State Road.