Latest Connecticut News, Sports, Business And Entertainment

UCONN CALHOUN

UConn's Calhoun taking indefinite medical leave

STORRS, Conn. (AP) University of Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun is taking an indefinite medical leave of absence.

The Hall of Fame coach, who turns 70 in May, has been suffering for several months from spinal stenosis, a lower back condition that causes him severe pain and hampers mobility, the school said Friday in a news release.

George Blaney, the team's associate head coach, will lead the team in Calhoun's absence, the school said.

Calhoun, who is in his 40th season as a head coach and 26th at UConn has a history of health problems that includes several bouts with cancer. He is No. 6 on the all-time wins list with 867.

The Huskies have lost four games in a row, and host Seton Hall on Saturday.

POLICE DISCRIMINATION

Police chief of embattled Conn. department retires

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut police chief is officially retiring as a scandal over alleged abuse and harassment of Latinos by East Haven officers rocks the department.

East Haven Police Chief Leonard Gallo's retirement takes effect Friday. He announced his retirement Monday, following last week's arrests of four officers by the FBI for allegedly violating the rights of Latinos through beatings, false arrests and unnecessary searches. The officers have pleaded not guilty.

A lawyer for the 64-year-old Gallo says his client is an unnamed co-conspirator in the indictments, accused of turning away efforts to investigate the officers' conduct and threatening potential witnesses. Gallo denies the allegations.

Deputy Chief John Mannion, a former state trooper, will become acting chief while town officials search for a permanent replacement for Gallo.

TRAUMATIZED CHILDREN

Conn. to kick off project to help traumatized kids

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut's Department of Children and Families is working with Yale University and a children's public policy organization to develop a new program to help children in state care who've experienced trauma in their lives.

The effort by DCF, Yale and the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut is being funded by a five-year, $3.2 million federal grant. They are scheduled to officially kick off the project during a news conference at the state Capitol on Friday.

Connecticut is one five states chosen to receive funding to expand its services for children who've been traumatized from events such as abuse and neglect, witnessing violence in their homes and communities, or being removed from their families.

A DCF spokesman said one of Commissioner Joette Katz's top priorities is focusing on how trauma affects children.

TECHNICAL SCHOOLS

Malloy proposes separate board to run tech schools

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is proposing a new oversight board to run the state's technical high schools, including members nominated by regional business groups.

Malloy said Friday that creating an 11-member appointed board separate from the state Board of Education would help ensure the vocational training at the 16 technical schools aligns with the needs of Connecticut's employers.

He also wants another $500,000 allocated to increase the schools' supplies and training equipment.

The proposals are among several that Malloy is announcing as lawmakers prepare to convene next Wednesday for their 2012 General Assembly session. Education reform is expected to be the primary focus.

The changes stem from recommendations of a task force that met for months last year to review the technical schools' strengths, weaknesses and potential changes.

HIGHWAY CRASH

Cops: woman in Conn. wreck was going up to 135 mph

(Information in the following story is from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com )

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) Police say a Connecticut woman accused of causing a wreck on Interstate 95 in Norwalk was driving up to 135 mph and had been on a crack cocaine binge.

Thirty-one-year-old Rachel Wood of Bridgeport was charged with reckless driving, possession of drug paraphernalia and other crimes after Wednesday's crash. Details of the allegations were reported by the Connecticut Post.

A tractor-trailer flipped on its side and caught fire in the chain-reaction accident. All three southbound lanes were closed for more than an hour and traffic backed up for miles.

The truck driver is hospitalized in stable condition.

Wood is detained on bail. She has other pending cases including charges of use of drug paraphernalia and larceny.

A court clerk says Wood doesn't have a lawyer in the accident case.

OIL COMPANY-FRAUD

Conn. oil company auditor pleads guilty to fraud

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut accountant has pleaded guilty to bank fraud and tax charges in a scheme by officials at a Waterbury heating oil company to defraud Citizens Bank of millions of dollars.

Fifty-seven-year-old Dale Ciccarelli of Southbury pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Hartford. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 1 and faces up to eight years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say Ciccarelli helped F&S Oil Company officials fraudulently obtain lines of credit from Citizens Bank to ease the company's cash flow problems. Prosecutors say Ciccarelli falsified financial statements including one used to obtain a $4.5 million line of credit in 2006.

F&S owner Richard Stevens and company president Christopher Carr also pleaded guilty. Stevens was sentenced to five months in prison last March, while Carr awaits sentencing.

MISSING CHILD

Missing mother, child found safe at Norwalk motel

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) Connecticut police have canceled an alert for a missing woman and her 7-month old daughter after finding them safe at a motel in Norwalk.

Police say they found Kelley Acevedo and her daughter, Emily, on Thursday night at a motel in the Westport Avenue area after receiving tip. The state Department of Children and Families took custody of the girl.

Authorities say Kelley Acevedo has been living in a drug rehabilitation center in New Haven and was issued a 24-hour pass to attend a court date Wednesday in Norwalk, where she was sentenced to probation on a larceny charge. Police say she was supposed to return to the treatment center with the girl after the court hearing, but went missing instead.

It's not clear if Acevedo will face any charges.

LYME DISEASE MAP

Map pinpoints Lyme disease risk areas

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Researchers who dragged sheets of fabric through the woods to snag ticks have created a detailed map pinpointing the highest-risk areas for Lyme disease.

The map shows a clear risk across much of the Northeast, from Maine to northern Virginia. Researchers at Yale University also identified a high-risk region across most of Wisconsin, northern Minnesota and a sliver of northern Illinois. Areas highlighted as "emerging risk" regions include the Illinois-Indiana border, the New York-Vermont border, southwestern Michigan and eastern North Dakota.

The map was published this week based on data from 2004-2007. Researchers say the picture might have changed since then in the emerging areas, but the map is still useful because it highlights areas where tick surveillance should be increased and can serve as a baseline for future research.