Monday, December 30, 2013

Connecticut MADD aims to close loophole in DUI laws

(Arnold Gold/ New Haven Register) A sign alerts motorists to a sobriety check point at the entrance to I-95 off of Willow St. in New Haven on 12/20/2013.


By Luther Turmelle
HARTFORD >> When lawmakers return to the State Capitol in February for the 2014 General Assembly session, the Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is determined to close what its leadership sees as a loophole in the state’s drunken driving laws.
Emboldened by a 2012 change in the laws that expanded the use of ignition interlock devices to prevent repeat drunken driving offenders from getting behind the wheel if they are inebriated, the organization wants to extend the use of the equipment further. MADD wants Connecticut lawmakers to require usage of the devices for anyone who is arrested for the first time on drunken driving charges.

Read the full story here.

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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Connecticut hospitals missing newborn screening deadlines

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
Most Connecticut hospitals aren’t consistently meeting the state required 48-hour deadline to get newborns’ blood samples to a laboratory for genetic testing, recently released data shows.
In 2012 in Connecticut, the average time was three days, with 7.6 percent of samples taking five days or longer to reach the lab.
State law requires that newborns delivered in Connecticut be screened for several disorders, with the goal of providing prompt medical treatment when problems are found.
William Gerrish, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, said Tuesday, “We agree that accurate and early testing is a critical part of the system to save babies’ lives, and feel that Connecticut hospitals’ overall reporting performance has room for improvement.”

Read more and follow links to national coverage of this topic by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here

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Sunday, December 1, 2013

With Yale student’s slaying still unsolved, cold case investigators reach out to public


By Randall Beach
Register Staff
New Haven >> Fifteen years after Suzanne Jovin was stabbed to death on East Rock Road, state cold case investigators still are trying to figure out how she got there, who killed her and the timetable of those events.
Jovin, a 21-year-old Yale University student, was found lying on the sidewalk, near the intersection of Edgehill Road, the night of Dec. 4, 1998. She had been stabbed 17 times.
“It’s a jigsaw puzzle in very small pieces,” said Chief State’s Attorney Kevin T. Kane as he sat in his Rocky Hill office last week.

Read the full story here.

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