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Attorney General William Tong will appeal a federal court ruling requiring the state to provide services to special education students until they are 22.

“In June, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Haight Jr. ruled that the Connecticut State Board of Education’s decision to limit services to special education students after their 21st birthdays violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” CTNewsJunkie reports. The decision was not accompanied by the lust for attention that has marked the Tahoe-driving environmentalist’s 18 months in office. No press conference on the courthouse steps for Tong to ballyhoo his assault on special education.

The Stamford Democrat announced earlier this month that he would challenge the Trump administration’s misbegotten decision to cancel visas of students attending colleges and universities that offer only online courses in the upcoming academic year. That decision was abandoned shortly after it was announced. Older special education students in Connecticut, however, are still without minimal services they sued to obtain.

Connecticut State Police on Saturday recovered an assault weapon stolen from an officer’s car a week ago in eastern Connecticut. The rifle was found in Hartford. At least one arrest has been made.

State police information officers have declined to provide details of the dangerous theft other than to disclose the car was not equipped with an alarm. They would not say if the car was locked when the crime occurred or if the rifle was secured in the vehicle.

There is dismay in the leadership and ranks of the Connecticut State Police over the weekend theft from a police vehicle of a high-powered rifle, ammunition and other items. The Connecticut State Police Union has offered a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the recovery of the lost items.

A press release from the union confirms that the vehicle from which the weapon was stolen was driven by a member of the State Police Command Staff, “and not a member of the State Police Union. we understand the importance of providing our assistance and support due to the dangerous circumstances.”

The release reveals that in addition to the assault rifle, other stolen “items include, but are not limited to, a plastic container containing 70 rounds of .45 nd .223 caliber ammunition, two sets of body armor (one with velcro ‘State Police’ patches on the front and back of the vest, a ‘State Police’ raid jacket, a black straight baton with black plastic holder, and a black gas mask.”

The union asks that anyone with information contact Detective Dan Bruell of Troop D in Danielson at 860-779-4900. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the union at 860-568-0500.

Connecticut State Police issued an alert Sunday in the aftermath of an AR-15 assault weapon and 100 rounds of ammunition were stolen from a police vehicle in eastern Connecticut. The perpetrators are thought to  be driving a silver 2014 Ford Escape stolen from a Woodstock home.

State Police investigators and the public will want to know more details on the theft of a lethal weapon from a police vehicle.

Matt Lieberman, son of former Connecticut U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, is falling out of contention in Georgia’s race to fill an open Senate seat, according to a Public Policy Polling survey of 734 registered voters. Former U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson left office late last year due to ill-health.

Lieberman had been competitive in early polling before the race took shape. No more. He trails in 4th place with 11% of the vote in the open special election. The top two contenders–from among all the candidates–will face each other in the final round.

The Liebermans are a far-flung political family. While representing Connecticut in the U.S. Senate, Joseph Lieberman moved to New Hampshire in a futile attempt to win that state’s 2004 presidential primary. He returned to Connecticut to run for re-election in 2006 and faced a strong challenge from wealthy self-funder Ned Lamont. In an epic contest, Lamont defeated Lieberman in that year’s Democratic primary. Lieberman trudged in as a petitioning candidate and trounced Lamont three months later.

Nantucket red will never be the same. Former Vineyard Vines executive Anne Dauer has sued the preppy Fairfield County clothing manufacturer and its founders for age and gender discrimination in a federal lawsuit. Dauer alleges the company favored young men over experienced female employees.

Dauer’s complaint, according to Daniela Altimari’s Hartford Courant story, claims co-founder Ian Murray often mewled that there were “too many middle-age women around the table” when executives met. Dauer also alleges that young men were paid better than more experienced women.

In 2014, Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s administration gave the company a low interest forgivable $6 million loan to build a new headquarters in Stamford. The company could also be eligible “for $8 million in state tax credits, as well as $500,000 in sales and use tax exemptions,” according to The Courant.

Malloy hailed the crony capitalism deal as a “great Connecticut story of two brothers who, fed up with corporate life and determined to make it on their own, began selling their own line of ties nearly 20 years ago.” Co-founder Shep Murray declared at the time, “Our new office space will put into practice the core values on which we founded Vineyard Vines, one of which is making Vineyard Vines a great place to work.” Dauer disagrees.

Connecticut added 25,800 jobs in May after losing more 269,000 jobs in April, according to the Department of Labor. The number portends a slow economic recovery for Connecticut, which was in a more than decade-long struggle to restore economic growth after the 2008-2009 recession.

Creating the conditions for jobs and opportunity to thrive in Connecticut has been the state’s policymaker’s challenge for more than 30 years. The global pandemic has added another high hurdle.

Second Congressional District Republicans nominated a candidate who has embraced QAnon conspiracy paranoia. Thomas Gilmer has used his Twitter account to promote The Storm–the QAnon fantasy about arresting and incarcerating members of their favorite favorite target, the Deep State.

Crazytown, as New York magazine calls Qanon, is home to a busy conspiracy theory factory. Gilmer responded to a tweet from Donald Trump disciple Candace Owens about the coronavirus, offering the thought that the global pandemic and reaction to it “is a deep state attempt to destroy america [sic] and our economy.” The tweet was accompanied by hashtags for StormIsUponUs, QAnon, MAGA and KAG.

They are the permanently aggrieved. In May, Gilmer tweeted the trope that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Even Donald Trump has abandoned that.

Gilmer was included in a Media Matters story revealing 54 Republican candidates who support QAnon. Media Matters was founded by David Brock, who first came to public attention with unflattering investigations of Anita Hill and Hillary Clinton.

Gilmer faces seven term Democratic incumbent U.S. Representative Joe Courtney in November. Gilmer’s nomination is more disturbing than the usual ones that the state’s Republican party is in an advance state of disintegration.

Seventy years ago this month, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine) broke the reign of silence and condemned the demagogue Joseph McCarthy on the floor of the United State Senate.

Four years later, Edward R. Murrow delivered a memorable summary of McCarthy’s wickedness. “Accusation is not proof….we will not walk in fear, one of another, we will not be driven into an age of unreason….”

The Hartford Courant provides a list of police reform proposals included in a report from a legislative task force on police accountability and transparency. There are 20 recommendations. The recommendation that seeks to eliminate “stops for low-level administrative and equipment offenses and consent searches of motor vehicles” is more consequential than it may sound.

Police often make stops when they see a light on a motor vehicle not functioning. From there, an officer, or more than one after a few minutes, may search the vehicle–sometimes claiming probable cause with the flimsiest excuse–and what started as a broken light stop escalates. The driver or a passenger may engage in a verbal exchange with the police officer and suddenly a malfunctioning signal light stop turns into a charge of interfering with a police officer.

The task force also recommends ensuring “each officer commits to 500 hours of community engagement activities within Connecticut’s major urban centers as prior to receiving initial officer certification.” A sign at a recent protest made a telling point. Some states-Connecticut is one of them-require more hours of training for a barber or hairdressing license than they do to become a police officer. In Connecticut, it’s 1,500 hours for hairdressing and barber licenses.

The Connecticut Police Academy trains about 90% of the state’s police recruits. Its program “is approximately 22 weeks long. Recruit officers reside at the Academy from 8 a.m. on Monday to 6 p.m. Friday each week. Recruits must successfully pass, with a grade of 70% or better, each of 17 different academic areas as well as successfully pass each of a series of different practical skill areas (currently 12). Additionally, recruits must complete a field and departmental training program consisting of a minimum of 400 additional hours.” That’s 1,280 hours, 220 fewer than needed to obtain a haircutting license. Another 500 hours for police officers seems like a sensible, overdue improvement.

The National Organization of Black Police Executives (NOBLE) participated in a 2017 report, National Consensus Policy and Discussion on the Use of Force. You can read it here. The first general provision: Use of physical force should be discontinued when resistance ceases or the incident is under control.

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