wtf????? 10 years and 3 years respectively for a couple who raped and kept an 11 year old girl as a slave?

if you had an ounce of pot on you you'd probably get more time than these two. shit, how can this happen? Enfield couple convicted of torturing 11-year-old girl
January 20, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. --An Enfield couple have been convicted of torturing an 11-year-old girl who prosecutors say was raped, beaten and treated like a slave.
James Skinner, 33, and his former roommate, 46-year-old Debra Kay Stewart, agreed to plea bargains Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, the Journal Inquirer of Manchester reported.
Prosecutor Herbert Carlson Jr. said Skinner sexually abused the girl in the summer of 2002 and January 2003 and forced her to watch pornographic movies. He said Stewart beat the girl and punished her by shaving her head and scrubbing her body raw in a shower.
Skinner was convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of impairing the morals of a child. He faces five to 10 years in prison followed by up to 13 years of special parole when he is sentenced on March 15.
Stewart was convicted of risk of injury to a minor and is to be sentenced to three years in prison on Monday.
Skinner and Stewart pleaded to the charges under the Alford Doctrine, which allows defendants to not admit guilt but concede that the state has enough evidence to win a conviction.
Under his plea agreement, Skinner will be required to either accept responsibility for raping the girl or pass a polygraph exam clearing him before he could be released on parole

buzzflash brings us this from the hartford advocate

i happened NOT to have read this weeks advocate R.I.P. AmericaThe body still breathes but the spirit´s waning by Alan Bisbort - January 19, 2006

All it took was 18 guys with box cutters and America was no more. Not
"defeated," of course, because we are still the most powerful nation on the
planet -- if one measures "power" on such things as size of nuclear arsenal,
numbers of conventional killing machines, consumption of goods, corporate
wealth, stock holdings, private educational opportunities, etc. But the horror
of Sept. 11, 2001 -- events that, we've since learned, might have been prevented
if the President had fulfilled the responsibilities of his office or might have
been used to bring people together to fight terrorism rather than turn us into
the most reviled nation on earth -- sent America into a tailspin, one that we've
yet to pull out of. Rather than becoming a stronger, more confident and ennobled
nation, we've become exactly what our forefathers warned us against: a tyranny.
With almost comical irony, the new tyrant, like the old one, is called George.
Let's start with something on which we, so-called righties, lefties and
moderates, should be able to agree: In the name of fighting terror we have
ourselves become terrorized by our government. The recent reports of the
President's warrant-less spying on American citizens seem lifted from Josef
Stalin's daily to-do list. Russell Tice, a former National Security Agency
operative forced out of his job for whistleblowing last year, recently told
reporters that the spying was not, as Bush insists (and when do people simply
stop believing anything said by this pathological liar?), limited in scope.
Indeed, Tice says the number of Americans illegally probed "could be in the
millions."
Further, the FBI has been given carte blanche by attorney
generals Ashcroft and Gonzalez to monitor "groups with suspected ties to foreign
terrorists." And who might some of these terrorist groups be? They include
environmentalists, animal rights activists and poverty relief proponents. In
other words, there's a good chance that if you've ever said anything against the
president, expressed antiwar sentiments on the phone, joined an environmental
group, gone to a rally for the poor or protested the treatment of research lab
animals, you have been tapped, probed and otherwise breached -- and you will
never know what they have in their little files. While it would be, in a
bragging-rights sort of way, an honor to be on Bush's enemies list, it can and
will ruin your life somewhere down the line. As Philip K. Dick put it, "Once
they notice you, they never completely close the file."
............................

i read an entry in one of the blogs listed in ctweblogs last night that was so VILE i am still upset

there are a lot of great blogs listed under ctweblogs.com. great writing, thoughful commentary from ALL sides. i disagree with some, agree with others, laugh with some and tear up with a few as well. i enjoy reading all points of view (yes even from someone like gary at ex-donkey blog ). however, what i read last night was so ugly so full of hate (on a blog i will not even mention) i shall never read that blog again. i am going to light a candle for the author. may your heart open up and you gain understanding and acceptance

the tragedy worsens; the family of elizabeth morel is in my thoughts and prayers as is the family of enrique perez

Tragic Leniency? Murder Suspect Had Been Given Legal Break
By ELIZABETH HAMILTON, MATT BURGARD And TINA A. BROWN Courant Staff Writers January 20 2006
Shortly before Steven Debow's scheduled deployment to Afghanistan, the young man stood in a Hartford courtroom, flanked by two superiors from the National Guard, and answered to a criminal charge of carrying a gun without a permit.The prosecutor, Jeffrey Lee, was known for taking a hard line on cases involving guns. But Lee told the judge he was willing to set the charge aside to give the 20-year-old soldier the opportunity to serve his country."I distinguish between people who don't want to do anything for their country and their city, and people that do," Lee told Judge Wendy Susco during the Dec. 1 court hearing. "While I could have ... put him in prison for a period of time, I chose not to."A month later, on Jan. 4, a formal decision not to pursue the charge was recorded in Superior Court in Hartford after the judge was told Debow was shipping out for training at Fort Bragg, N.C., and then on to Afghanistan, in three days."We'll keep our fingers crossed," Susco said.It was a leap of faith that landed almost immediately with a sickening thud.The next evening, authorities say, Debow went into a Hartford bodega and shot dead the young store owner, Elizabeth Morel, and an employee, Enrique Perez, after Morel refused to give him money. Morel's 15-month-old daughter, who was behind the counter at the time of the shooting, was unharmed.A short time earlier, Debow had attempted to hold up a store about a block away from Morel's bodega, but the store owner did not have any money, police sources said. Debow walked away, police said, but left his fingerprint behind on a Snapple bottle.Police believe Debow then walked a little farther down Garden Street and into the Elizabeth Grocery, on the corner of Garden and Nelson streets, and attempted to rob Morel, but didn't get any money there either."He got frustrated and shot the gun," a police source said Thursday.............

as far as i'm concerned you CANNOT be too tough on sexual predators

Lawmakers want to toughen state sex offender laws
By Susan Haigh, AP Political Writer January 19, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. --Permanent commitment for the most violent sex offenders and a more detailed sex offender web site are among proposals House Democrats unveiled Thursday to strengthen the state's version of Megan's Law.
The lawmakers are proposing an assessment board to assign offenders risk levels, determine if they meet standards for commitment and possibly impose curfews.
Additional funding and manpower for the state's sex offender registry unit is also part of a package of bills Democrats said they plan to introduce in the new legislative session that starts Feb. 8.
"This has been long overdue for the state of Connecticut," said House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, who led efforts to pass the state's version of Megan's Law. It requires released sex offenders to register with police when they move into a community and for residents to be notified. Names, addresses and pictures of convicted offenders first appeared on an Internet registry in 1999.
About 4,000 people currently appear on Connecticut's registry..........

senator christopher dodd's statement on osama's latest tape

January 19, 2006 "Osama bin Laden is a ruthless murderer and the U.S. must not rest until he is either captured or killed. This tape doesn't change that. It merely proves, yet again, that the Bush administration's preoccupation with Iraq has diverted our attention from what it claims is our primary focus, namely to combat terrorist threats to the US."

please also note: TODAY IS FILIBUSTER FRIDAY

oped news

January 20, 2006
Urgent Phone Action: IT'S FILIBUSTER FRIDAY To Stop Alito
Instantly lookup your senators' local district phone and fax numbers
By thepen
CALL ALL YOUR SENATORS LOCAL DISTRICT OFFICES NOW TO OPPOSE ALITO INSTANTLY LOOKUP ALL THEIR LOCAL PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS AT THIS SITE: http://www.nocrony.com We have gotten many emails from our participants, asking "what more can we do?" Some have reported senators arbitrarily turning off their answering machines at night, or long waits on hold. Are they trying to hide from the thousands and thousands of their constituents who are raising their voices to demand that they filibuster the evasive Alito? Even if you have already sent your personal message by email or made some phone calls, we have added a FABULOUS extra function to the main action page where you can instantly lookup all your senators local district offices phone and fax numbers with just one click. http://www.nocrony.com SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT FILIBUSTER FRIDAY........
(please note according to sen dodd's website, his connecticut office is without power and phones so use the washington number)

Senator Christopher J Dodd [CT]Washington, 202-224-2823 (phone), 202-224-1083 (fax)Wethersfield, 800-334-5341 (phone), 860-258-6958 (fax)
Senator Joseph I Lieberman [CT]Washington, 202-224-4041 (phone), 202-224-9750 (fax)Hartford, 860-549-8463 (phone), 860-549-8478 (fax)
Representative John B Larson [CT01]Washington, 202-225-2265 (phone), 202-225-1031 (fax)Hartford, 860-278-8888 (phone), 860-278-2111 (fax)

mr lamont, please don't give a flying yoo hoo if mayor perez supports you or not

WE do!

Lieberman Rival Gets Cold Mayoral Advice Perez Drops In To Urge Lamont Not To Run
By MARK PAZNIOKAS Courant Staff Writer January 18 2006
Ned Lamont, the Greenwich businessman poised to challenge Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman for the Democratic nomination as an anti-war candidate, had a surprise visitor Tuesday night at what he called his "coming out party," a low-key social hour at a Hartford coffeehouse.Mayor Eddie A. Perez, one of the first to drop by what was intended as an open house for progressive activists interested in meeting Lamont, offered a succinct establishment view: Don't do it.Then the mayor made a quick exit, leaving Lamont to mingle with friendlier faces.Lamont smiled and said, "I don't think the mayor will be supporting me."Others were there either to applaud his interest in running or to take the measure of a wealthy entrepreneur who has emerged as the political left's new champion, a newcomer willing to speak against Lieberman's support of the war in Iraq.House Majority Leader Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, stopped by, saying he was in the neighborhood. The audience also included Nicholas Carbone, who was one of Hartford's most powerful politicians in the 1970s, and former House Majority Leader David Pudlin of New Britain.Tom Swan, a liberal activist and the executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, had e-mailed invitations to a circle of fellow activists, offering to introduce Lamont at La Paloma Sabanera, a coffeehouse two blocks from the Legislative Office Building. The session got wider exposure when someone posted the meeting on a political blog." ...

my left nutmeg GREAT postings about mr lamont among other topics
and
connecticutblog with MORE GREAT postings!

it was warm yesterday, but man oh man those winds!

a huge tree came down in my neighborhood. luckily it came down on someone's driveway between two houses, and no cars were there. looks like both houses are ok as well. i didn't take too close of a look - there were fire department people about. loads of debris and large branches on the roads yesterday and this morning. be careful out there!

Wind, Rain Leave State Reeling 100,000 Customers Lose Power In Storm
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY Courant Staff Writer January 19 2006
A violent storm accompanied by record rainfall and wind gusts reaching 69 mph toppled trees and utility poles across Connecticut Wednesday, putting much of the state in the dark.Across the state, students were sent home early from darkened classrooms, and fallen trees, branches and poles blocked local roads. High winds buffeted cars and even nudged 18-wheelers out of the driving lanes.Storm-related power outages affected more than 100,000 homes, businesses and schools. It could take several days for power to be fully restored, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said. "There are outages in every community throughout the state, all 169 towns," Rell said during a press conference Wednesday evening at the emergency operations center in the State Armory. Utility officials called it the most extensive power loss since August 2003, when problems with a power grid in Ohio caused a huge blackout in the Northeast that affected about 275,000 Connecticut customers.By late Wednesday fewer than 60,000 customers of Connecticut Light & Power, which serves most of Connecticut, and United Illuminating Co., which serves customers around Bridgeport and New Haven, were still without electrical power.One storm-related injury was reported Wednesday. In Greenwich, a woman was taken to Stamford Hospital after a tree fell on her car, police spokesman Lt. Daniel Allen said.In Hartford, windows were blown out of at least two office buildings - ING on Farmington Avenue and a vacant building on Myrtle Street. The wind also damaged the roof of an elementary school and flipped newspaper boxes and planters.........

no child left behind? yeah right. (go get 'em attorney general blumenthal!!!)

you know he is one BUSY man!

Blumenthal set for 'No Child' fight
Connecticut Post
109 school boards endorse suit By LINDA CONNER LAMBECK
lclambeck@ctpost.com
HARTFORD — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal may not have any other states at his side when he appears in federal court next week to do battle over the No Child Left Behind law — but two-thirds of school districts in Connecticut have his back.
In all, 109 of the state's 166 school boards have voted to endorse the lawsuit, Blumenthal said Tuesday. Those supporting the lawsuit include Ansonia, Bridgeport, Derby, Easton, Seymour, Shelton, Trumbull, Woodbridge and regions 5 and 9.
Many of them voted months ago to endorse the challenge on the grounds that the federal law amounts to an unfunded mandate.
"We agree with [Blumenthal] 100 percent on this," said Anthony Smeraglino, vice chairman of the Shelton Board of Education. "We're not complaining about the concept at all. It's just that it's being jammed down on us and we're getting no money whatsoever to support that."
Oral arguments on the federal government's motion to dismiss the state's lawsuit are scheduled for 1 p.m. next Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Haven.
Blumenthal will deliver the oral arguments on behalf of the state, charging that the federal government is illegally requiring states and local school districts to spend their own funds to meet U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' "defective view" of what the No Child act requires........

it IS the grrrl next door, it is YOU and it is ME

the woman says when she was raped in college those many years ago, the university discouraged her from contacting the police. they wanted campus security to handle it. handle it they did NOT.

Bizarre apology letter leads to arrest in alleged rape

By Hoa Nguyen
Staff Writer January 18, 2006
There are only four times that Liz Seccuro remembers having come into contact with a man who allegedly raped her more than 21 years ago. The first was on the night of the attack, five weeks after arriving on campus in the fall of 1984 to attend her first year at the University of Virginia. The second time was from a note he attached to her door telling her to contact him.The third time was two years later, when her sorority house ordered a pizza and she opened the door to discover that he was the delivery man. The fourth time came last September, when a letter bearing his name and return address arrived at her Greenwich home. "I was so stunned, so shocked," Seccuro, 39, said yesterday. And yet, she could guess the contents of the letter. "A part of me knew exactly what this was," she said. "This is my rapist apologizing to me.".........

alaskan wolves helped by connecticut humans (friends of animals)

(remember wolves and ravens are my totems!)

Judge finds game board failed to follow rules on wolf control
By Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Writer January 17, 2006
ANCHORAGE, Alaska --Alaska's lethal wolf control program under which hundreds of wolves have been killed is illegal, a judge ruled Tuesday in a victory for a Connecticut-based animal rights group.
In a case going back to November 2003, Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that the state failed to follow its own regulation when authorizing the aerial wolf control program, where pilot and gunner teams were allowed to shoot the wolves from the air.
Given the judge's ruling, the program has been suspended, Matt Robus, director of the state Division of Wildlife Conservation, said soon after the judge issued her ruling. People with permits to kill wolves in the five areas of the state where the program is under way were being notified, he said.
"Meanwhile, our attorney is still analyzing what the judge had to say. Based on what we hear from him we will decide if there are technical things that can be addressed or whether it is bigger than that," Robus said.
Gleason, who went over more than 2,000 pages of documents offered by the state, found that the Alaska Board of Game did not follow some or all of the state regulations when authorizing the program in the five areas.
The court found "that the Board of Game failed to adhere to its own regulation regarding the control of predation by wolves when it adopted these aerial control plans," Gleason said in her 32-page ruling.
More precisely, the state failed to provide required justification for the program, including previous measures that failed to work, Gleason said. The game board also failed to explain why alternative means for reducing the number of wolves would not work, the judge said.
The board also gave no explanation for how it set the wolf reduction levels in the different areas, ranging from 40 percent to over 90 percent, she said.
"The Board is bound by its regulations," Gleason said. "A review of the enabling regulations for aerial wolf control programs ... indicates that the Board failed to adequately address some or all of these regulatory requirements in each of the applicable GMU (game management units) in which it has authorized wolf control."
The ruling was a long-awaited victory for Friends of Animals, a Darien, Conn.-based animal rights group that led the fight against the wolf-killing program and previously had failed to get the judge to issue an emergency injunction to stop it..................

friends of animals

tiny nests and acorn tops

tiny nest in a bush


acorn tops in the snow

women artists for peace - chapter in connecticut too!

sounds pretty darn cool to me!

Women artists unite to give peace a chance
MEG BARONE Correspondent
Since the dawn of time peace has eluded this small planet. Wars, military conflicts and civil uprisings are currently being waged in dozens of countries, including America's war in Iraq, and many other nations are on the brink ofConnecticut Post
And yet, no one seems discouraged by those staggering statistics. Advocates worldwide continue their efforts to bring peace to this violent place.
Type the words "peace initiatives" into Internet search engine Google and no fewer than 16.8 million items appear providing details on neighborhood grassroots efforts to the global enterprises of famous peace activists and organizations like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Betty Williams, United Nations Peace Messenger Jane Goodall and Seeds of Peace, a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that brings together children from war-torn nations to teach them conflict resolution.
Add to that list of advocates hundreds of women artists, writers and composers — all members of the National League of American Pen Women — who have worked since February 2005 to create a Tapestry for Peace, among them a group of Connecticut women. "We certainly can't argue that peace is an issue, a goal. Surely we can accomplish this. It has to be within our reach in our lifetime," said Michele Pace Hofbauer, of Trumbull, president of the Fairfield County Branch of NLAPW..............

avon mountain traffic plans

governor rell (and others) has (have) a few ideas that just MIGHT slow people down. video cameras and DOUBLE traffic fines are two of them. as i have mentioned, i drove over that mountain daily for MANY years. most of the time, i was scared s**tless. once people get behind the wheel, some of them become total id-jits. whatever happens changes MUST occur.

Rell Offers Avon Mountain Plan
By DAVID OWENS Courant Staff Writer January 17 2006
The governor said Monday she'll propose legislation to double traffic fines on Avon Mountain as a means of slowing drivers and punishing those who break motor vehicle laws.Doubling fines, however, may only be the first step in an effort to crack down on drivers who speed and break motor vehicle laws as they traverse the mountain. Also under consideration is a proposal to install video cameras that would captures images of cars and their license plates, enabling tickets to be issued even when a police officer is not around, officials said Monday.Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced several initiatives in response to the crash at the foot of the mountain July 29 that killed four people and injured 19.Rell said the actions would improve safety on Avon Mountain, which is bisected by Route 44, a main thoroughfare to Hartford for those traveling from the Farmington Valley and the state's northwest corner."Since the tragic crash on Avon Mountain on July 29, state and local leaders have taken action to improve safety on this roadway - but we can and must do more," Rell said in a prepared statement............

more on that horrible organization that conducts 'suspicious' activities; the QUAKERS

they make more than oats.............and of course their activities are NOT suspicious. they are all above board and out in the open. several organizations in connecticut are pondering getting together and filing freedom on information paperwork to see if they too are under surveillance. why is being a pacifist equated to being a terrorist by some?

quaker meetings in the southern new england area

The Pacifist `Threat' Disclosure Of Recent Government Surveillance Of Quaker Activities Doesn't Surprise Members
By FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR
Courant Staff Writer January 16 2006

A group of Quakers who were protesting military recruitment efforts at a Florida high school recently learned their meeting was included on a secret Pentagon database of "suspicious incidents." When that news broke last month, it had a familiar ring for many American Quakers."With the restriction of civil liberties goes surveillance," says Don Weinholtz, a Quaker who lives in Windsor. "It just seems to be a very unfortunate natural course of events."The Religious Society of Friends is one of the largest groups of Quakers in the United States, with about 600,000 members worldwide. They embrace beliefs, called testimonies, that include peace, equality and rejection of war in all its forms.Quaker groups and members have come under government surveillance and infiltration at various times in history, from the McCarthy era to Vietnam. The pacifist church was in the forefront of protest in the run-up to the Iraq war and since then has worked to counter military recruitment efforts in high schools. "There are points in time where it is just a bedrock matter of faith that Quakers feel they must step forward," says Weinholtz, a member of the Hartford Quaker Meeting. Last month, NBC News broke the story that the meeting of Quakers in Lake Worth, Fla., was one of about 1,500 allegedly suspicious incidents included in the Defense Department's secret TALON (Threat and Local Observation Notice) reporting system. Recent reports have said Quaker activities in Ohio and Vermont also may have been scrutinized under the program.The database obtained by NBC showed that the Pentagon also had labeled as "threats" counter-military recruiting protests and other planned demonstrations around the country, including one at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.A Defense Department spokesman said last week that the TALON program is intended to deal with suspicious activity and threats to national security before an attack occurs. "Unfiltered" information in the database can come from law enforcement, counter-intelligence or even concerned citizens, he said. The information then becomes a "dot" that could later be connected to other "dots" to identify a possible terrorist attack plot in its early stages. The information is shared with law enforcement, intelligence and other government security agencies and analyzed. The spokesman, who declined to be identified by name, said information that does not belong in the database is not deleted but is instead placed in an oversight file after a period of time. Peter Goselin, an attorney for the Connecticut chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, said Thursday that a number of peace organizations are considering joining together to file mass Freedom of Information requests of the state and federal government to determine if lawful political protest is under surveillance here. "Over the last couple of months, there have been a number of disclosures concerning improper and illegal surveillance actions by everything from the [National Security Agency] and the [Defense Department] to the New York Police Department," Goselin said. "These activities would be a violation of political or religious freedom."..........

................John Humphries, a Hartford resident and Quaker activist who traveled to Iraq before the war in defiance of U.S. sanctions, says that as citizens and people of faith, Quakers are called on to follow a higher law and to take personal responsibility when their government violates international law, which he believes has occurred with the Iraq war..................

wonderful - wesleyan to build an art museum!

it sounds lovely and would give us ALL a better chance to see these works of art. it's a shame they can only be displayed now on a rotating basis.


wesleyan university

Building A Museum To Exhibit Treasures
By DANIELA ALTIMARI
Courant Staff Writer
January 15 2006
MIDDLETOWN -- Wesleyan University has more than 20,000 prints and drawings by artists such as Rembrandt, Goya and Jasper Johns.It has stone, terracotta and glass from ancient Greece and Rome; a renowned collection of 17th-century American pewter; and musical instruments from around the world.What the university doesn't have is the space to properly display its treasures.But that will change. Wesleyan has embarked on a drive to build a $26 million museum to house the thousands of items that it has accumulated. The museum will be at the heart of the campus in an elegant brick building that once housed squash courts.The effort, still in the planning phase, recently received its first major gift: a $500,000 donation from Monica and Richard Segal, a New York couple with strong ties to the university."We are very excited to be a part of this wonderful and long-desired project, and know that the new museum will add immeasurably to the cultural community of Wesleyan and its surrounding area," Monica Segal said in an e-mail.The museum would be both a teaching tool for Wesleyan students and a resource for the community, said John Paoletti, a professor of art history and director of the nascent museum. "We've got some wonderful, wonderful things, but we don't have adequate places to show them and store them," he said................

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

yesterday was wicked warm (for january). it would have been perfect except for the rain. i just went out on my back porch to see what was going on weather wise. it's snowing and SO cold. the wind is making it raw out there. i'm guessing the roads are going to be dangerous for a while as well. SO BE CAREFUL out there

i don't know where these people are looking

but i personally am seeing MORE AND MORE people chatting on their cell phones in their cars WITHOUT pulling over and WITHOUT head sets. damn cell phones, there are people who even bring them into the women's rest room at work.

Keeping Hands Off The Phone Police Find Drivers Learning About Ban
By MARYELLEN FILLO
Courant Staff Writer January 15 2006
Hospice nurse Nancy Munnelly was driving to work in early October when a call came in on her cellphone, advising her to go to the home of a patient who had died.Before she realized what she had done, she was pulled over and issued a $100 ticket for breaking a newly enacted law that prohibits use of hand-held cellphones while driving."I wasn't thinking about the cellphone law, I was just doing my job," she said. "The law was brand new."As a result, the Weston resident became one of the first of more than 2,400 drivers across the state who have been ticketed since Oct. 1 for an activity that had been almost as common as drinking coffee.Police officials say the data are still being compiled, but anecdotal accounts and simple observations indicate the law is making a difference when it comes to safer driving."I'm seeing more headsets and more people pulling over to talk on their cellphones," said West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci. "I think people are still getting used to the new law, and there is a learning curve here. But we've only issued 51 tickets in West Hartford since the law went into effect, and that's less than one a day."...........

it is too late for nixzmary, don't let it be too late for anyone else

the little six year old in hartford lived, but she lost one of her arms to abuse. mom lied about who did it. mom is NOT blameless. mom should at the very least do some hard time. mom should NEVER be allowed to have another child in her home again. NEVER, NO exceptions. whatever happened to that young girl, we perhaps shall never know. we DO know mom didn't take her to the hospital for a few days. how many kids have to live in pain and terror? we, as citizens of the planet earth are responsible for watching out for those who cannot watch out for themselves. if you suspect abuse, CALL the authorities. if they don't do anything KEEP CALLING.

Police: Mom's New Story Hampers Investigation

By MATT BURGARD And TINA A. BROWNCourant Staff WritersJanuary 14 2006Hartford police officials said Friday that their investigation into the recent injuries suffered by a 6-year-old girl with disabilities has become unusually daunting because the girl's mother is now implicating her current boyfriend after originally trying to pin blame on her ex-boyfriend."She has made everything at least three times harder for us," said Lt. James Bernier, head of the police department's juvenile investigation division. "By changing her story, we need to base an arrest on more than just her statement, much more. "But we are confident that we will be able to build a strong case."The mother, 24-year-old Yajaira Rodriguez, originally told police that ex-boyfriend Jaime Hoy was responsible for breaking into her home in late December, holding her family hostage at gunpoint and beating the girl so severely that her left arm eventually had to be amputated.But when it came to light that Hoy apparently had been deported from Canada to Colombia in early 2005, Rodriguez changed her story, saying her current boyfriend, identified as 23-year-old Jose Graciani, had been watching the girl when she fell from a bed and was injured, police said.Although Graciani has been questioned extensively over the last two days, he has not confessed to injuring the girl and he has not been charged in the case, Bernier said. On Thursday, police charged him with violating probation in connection with a pair of previous, unrelated crimes, and he was held with bail set at $250,000 after an appearance Friday in Superior Court in Hartford. ...................

and from the new york times

A Tough Road for Siblings Who Survived Cases of Abuse

By NINA BERNSTEIN
In death, they have become indelible symbols of the city's failures to protect the weak from the cruel: Five-year-old Adam Mann, killed by parents for eating a piece of cake in 1990. Six-year-old Elisa Izquierdo, battered and burned by her mother in 1995. And now, 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, who the authorities say was tortured over time and finally beaten to death by her stepfather for taking a container of yogurt.
In life, the dead children's surviving siblings are often forgotten. Yet in many ways, their hard journey toward adulthood may show more about the day-to-day problems and progress of the city's child welfare system than the fatalities that capture so much public outrage. Will the survivors find safe, permanent homes, or be bounced from one foster care placement to the next? Will they be kept together, or scattered far apart?
Sometimes, children taken from the most notoriously abusive homes have, years later, come full circle: In the Mann case, the oldest surviving sibling returned by choice to live with his mother, who had served prison time in the death of his abused brother.
For Nixzmary's two surviving half sisters and three half brothers, aged 9 months to 9 years, the journey began Wednesday after their sister's battered body was discovered in their mother's apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. For now, said Sharman Stein, a spokeswoman for the Administration for Children's Services, all five of Nixzmary's siblings are in a home in Brooklyn with Spanish-speaking foster parents specially trained to deal with psychologically fragile children.
That they are together reflects an achievement. A decade ago, siblings were as likely as not to be separated. In 2004, sibling groups entering foster care were placed together almost 90 percent of the time..............