BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A Norwalk man known as ``Smash'' has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a ring that distributed cocaine in southwestern Connecticut.

Marvin Wooten was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District court in Bridgeport. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

Wooten is among two dozen defendants charged as the result of an investigation named ``Operation There It Is,'' in which the Drug Enforcement Administration and Stamford police used wiretaps to break up a drug ring operating in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford.

Wooten has a criminal record including a manslaughter conviction for his involvement in the 1993 slaying of a 7-year old girl who was caught in the crossfire in a Stamford drug turf war.

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) A Toronto woman has pleaded guilty to trespassing near last week's celebrity polo match and fundraiser held by Britain's Prince Harry in Greenwich.

Police say 36-year-old Wen Qi was a list of potential trespassers provided a security agency.

The Stamford Advocate reports Qi told authorities she was a freelance journalist after being caught on private property near the Greenwich Polo Club.

Shewas originally charged with third-degree criminal trespass, but pleaded guilty in state Superior Court in Stamford to a lesser charge of simple trespass last Thursday and paid a $50 fine.

The May 15 charity match was attended by a crowd of about 400 people including many high-profile fashion industry figures. It wrapped up a weeklong visit to the United States for Prince Harry.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Connecticut center Enosch Wolf has been reinstated to the team following a decision last month by prosecutors to drop charges in a domestic violence case.

UConn says the 7-foot-1 center can return for the 2013-14 season, but as a non-scholarship player.

Wolf averaged 3.4 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Huskies last season before being suspended after his Feb. 11 arrest. Police say Wolf got into a physical confrontation with a woman at her campus apartment and refused to leave.

Prosecutors dropped the case in April, saying they were satisfied with the personal counseling Wolf had been receiving.

The school says Wolf has returned to his home in Germany and is expected to decide within a few weeks whether he will return for his senior year.

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut foster parent faces 100 days in jail after acknowledging she spanked a 4-year-old girl with a wooden spoon.

Jami Littlefield pleaded guilty Monday in Superior Court in Norwich to third-degree assault.

The Day of New London reports Littlefield told authorities she paddled the girl on the buttocks because she was acting out.

Littlefield was arrested in January after the girl's biological mother noticed bruises on her daughter's bottom when the child bent over to pick up a toy during a supervised visit.

Police say Littlefield initially denied hitting the child, but later said she spanked the girl only after the child struck her granddaughter, spat at her and used a racial slur.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17.

BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) Authorities say two children who were forcibly taken by their father from a foster home in Massachusetts have been found safe in Connecticut and their father has been arrested.

Massachusetts State Police say 8-year-old Patrick Nguyen and his 10-year-old sister, Sarah Nguyen, were found unharmed at a convenience store Monday night in South Windsor, Connecticut.

They say the children's father, 54-year-old Jon Lockwood, had forcibly taken them from a foster home in Braintree, Massachusetts around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

An Amber Alert was issued. Authorities say Connecticut State Police then received a call from a truck driver who saw spotted Lockwood's car.

Troopers found the car at a 7-Eleven in South Windsor. They say the children and their father were inside. Lockwood was taken into custody without incident.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) Connecticut transportation officials say the morning commute went about as well as they could have hoped following Friday's train collision outside Bridgeport that disrupted rail service into New York.

Transportation Department spokesman Judd Everhart says commuters appeared to head warnings Monday about finding other ways to work, giving themselves extra time or staying home.

He said the drive into the city was bad on both Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway, but ``not a nightmare.''

Metro-North reported delays of about 10 minutes on trains from Stamford to New York. The railroad used 120 busses to get commuters from the Bridgeport station to Stamford.

An estimated 30,000 rail commuters were affected by the accident. Governor Malloy says commuters should plan on disrupted service through the end of the week.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) Two commuter trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided in an accident that sent 60 people to Connecticut hospitals, severely damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the congested Northeast Corridor.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said five people were critically injured and one was very critically hurt in Friday evening's crash on the Metro-North Railroad. 

About 700 people were on board the trains when one heading east from Grand Central Station to New Haven derailed just after 6 o'clock last night at the Fairfield-Bridgeport border.  The train was hit by one heading west from New Haven on an adjacent track.  Metro North spokesman Aaron Donovan says some cars on the second train also derailed as a result of the collision.

Passengers described a chaotic, terrifying scene of crunching metal and flying bodies when the two trains collided shortly after 6 p.m.

Amtrak, which uses the same rails, suspended service indefinitely between New York and Boston.

Malloy said there was no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate.

The area where the accident happened was already down to two tracks because of infrastructure work on the electric lines above the tracks, the power source for the trains.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A New Haven woman has been charged with making bomb threats against Connecticut courthouses.

Thirty-year-old Jennifer Chirico was arrested and appeared before a judge Friday to face a federal criminal complaint alleging that she placed seven anonymous phone calls to courthouses, law enforcement agencies and media outlets on March 8. She allegedly threatened that bombs were going to be detonated that morning at courthouses in Waterbury, Hartford and New Haven.

Chirico was released Friday on a $10,000 bond. She did not enter a plea. A public defender representing her did not respond to a call Friday from The Associated Press.

Chirico is charged with one count of telephonic bomb threats, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) A mother and daughter have been charged with setting a fire that heavily damaged the mom's home in Stratford.

Police tell the Connecticut Post they became suspicious after finding valuables and all the food from the mother's refrigerator in her daughter's car.

Sixty-year-old Luz Davila-Nieves and 41-year-old Madeline Griffin were charged yesterday with arson, conspiracy, larceny and insurance fraud. Each is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond.

Police determined the May 2011 fire on Light Street was fueled by gasoline poured throughout the house.

The women told authorities they were at the daughter's home in Brookfield when the fire broke out.

But police say they found frozen food, two television sets, a digital camera, jewelry and four cellphones from the house inside the daughter's car.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A Bridgeport woman who says she was sexually assaulted by a city police officer is suing the city.

The Connecticut Post reports reports that the 27-year-old woman has filed a notice of her intent to sue in Superior Court.

In her court filing, the woman asserts that Officer Domenic Tartaglia came to her home last November and found her in extreme emotional distress. She says he took her to his patrol car, eventually drove her to a secluded area and forced her to perform a sex act.

Tartaglia has been on administrative duty since the woman filed a complaint two days later. Bridgeport police say an internal affairs investigation in the hands of the Board of Police Commissioners.

Tartaglia has denied the allegations.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Authorities are investigating a police involved shooting that left an alleged stabbing suspect dead.

Hartford police say they responded to a report of an assault at about 10 p.m. last night.

When officers arrived they found one person stabbed.

Police say a confrontation ensued and an officer shot a person believed to be a suspect in the stabbing.

The alleged suspect was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead.

The stabbing victim and the officer were also taken to a hospital for their injuries.

The names of those involved haven't been released.

WFSB-TV reports Connecticut State Police have taken over the investigation.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) State and local officials are welcoming the Connecticut Mission of Mercy back to the state for the 6th annual free dental clinic.

Event organizers are scheduled to announce this year's event at a news conference today at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Senate President Donald Williams Jr., House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and other officials are expected to attend.

Connecticut Mission of Mercy plans to provide a full range of dental services on a first-come first-served basis to more than 2,000 underserved and uninsured people at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport on June 7 and 8.

The two-day event is organized by the Connecticut Foundation for Dental Outreach, the Connecticut State Dental Association and the American Dentists Care Foundation, which is based in Kansas.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) A Massachusetts man has been charged with damaging a glass sculpture at the Mohegan Sun casino.

Twenty-five-year-old Dennis Griggs of Abington, Mass. is charged with first-degree criminal mischief.

Police tell The Norwich Bulletin that Griggs was hanging over a railing and trying to touch a glass sculpture on Sunday when he fell into the artwork.

Officials put the cost of the damage at about $1,500.

Griggs is scheduled to appear in Norwich Superior Court on May 23.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) The FBI says there was apparently nothing nefarious in the flight or crash of a camera-equipped model airplane at a Bridgeport power plant.

The Connecticut Post reports the plane was being flown by a Chinese national on Sunday when it crashed on the grounds of the PSEG plant on Bridgeport harbor.

Police were called, and they in turn notified the FBI.

Special agent Dan Curtin says the incident is still being investigated but that ``it seems nothing nefarious was involved.''

City police spokesman William Kaempffer says the man is in the U.S. on a student visa and was not charged with a crime.

Curtain says video footage from the model showed aerial views of Seaside Park and about two minutes of footage from around the power plant.

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) Connecticut's Gold Coast is preparing for this week's royal visit.

Great Britain's Prince Harry wraps up his U.S. Tour with a celebrity polo match on Wednesday at the Greenwich Polo Club.

The Greenwich Time reports the guest list will include many of the top names in the fashion industry, many of whom are connected to Stephanie Seymour, the former model who is married to the club's billionaire founder, Peter Brant.

Brant will join the prince in playing in the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup, a charity event. The Sentebale charity was set up by Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in memory of their mothers, to aid needy children in that Africa country.

There are only 400 tickets to the invitation-only event.

MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) As the first anniversary approaches of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's signing legislation allowing Sunday liquor sales, it seems the success of that initiative depends on where you are.

``We're just doing six days' worth of business over seven days,'' says Walter Silkowski, owner of Brown's Package Store in Manchester.

``It's been a huge success,'' says Dominic Alaimo, owner of Freshwater Package Store in Enfield. ``I'm extremely busy on Sundays.''

The measure, which was signed on May 20, 2012, ended the last of the state's ``blue laws,'' giving liquor stores the option to open on Sundays and on other holidays throughout the year Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, as well as the Mondays after Sunday holidays.

The extra day of business has left some storeowners with a bad taste in their mouths, however.

``I'd like to go home and have dinner with my family,'' Silkowski says. ``Actually, I liked it better when everything was closed on Sundays.''

Mike Andreo, owner of Putnam Plaza Superior Liquors in East Hartford, says his store was closed for only three days this past year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. ``That's a long year,'' he observes.

The measure doesn't require package stores to stay open on Sundays; it just gives their owners the option. But many owners say they feel pressure to remain open, whether they're busy or not.

``You can't be the only guy who's closed,'' Andreo says.

``We have to be open,'' Silkowki says. ``People will just go somewhere else.''

Alaimo, who for years had pushed for legislation that would allow Sunday sales, says the measure simply puts liquor stores' owners on the same schedule as their counterparts in any other retail field.

``Pizza shops are open all weekend, so they pick a different day to be closed,'' he says, adding that liquor stores' owners have the same choice now. ``No one else in any other industry has the luxury to demand that everyone closes on one day. It's about the right to be open.''

Compounding a potentially slow Sunday sales day for storeowners is the overhead cost to keep their stores open an extra day.

Carroll J. Hughes, executive director and chief lobbyist for the Connecticut Package Store Association, says that package stores ``spent a total of $6.5 million in labor and utilities to keep their stores open for an additional 55 days a year.''

Hughes says he arrived at that number through a survey of the 1,100 liquor stores in the state.

``We called those who didn't respond, then averaged (their Sunday expenditures) on the low side,'' he says.

In general, Hughes echoes Silkowski, saying that liquor stores are doing the same amount of business, just stretched over more days.

``My stores are telling me that they broke even, or are a little behind what they made last year,'' Hughes says.

Including both the group's dues-paying members and those who contribute in other ways, such as to fundraisers, Hughes estimates that the Connecticut Package Store Association has between 500 and 600 members. That's about half of the 1,100 liquor stores in Connecticut.

He adds: ``We spent $6.5 million on a noble experiment. It is what it is.''

For grocery stores, however, which already were open on Sundays, the measure has been nothing but good for business.

Eric Nilsson, store manager at Geissler's Supermarket in Somers, says the extra day of selling beer has increased weekly sales significantly.

``We're up by 8 to 10 percent per week,'' Nilsson says. ``It's a convenience thing for people.''

Joe Panero, the store manager at Highland Park Market in Manchester, says that Sundays are now the second busiest day for beer sales at the store. Saturdays are still the first, he says.

``We only saw a slight drop in beer sales on Saturdays,'' since the legislation went into effect, Panero says. ``But we more than make up for it on Sundays.''

Both Nilsson and Panero say they have found that people are taking advantage of the opportunity to buy everything they'll need for a party in one place.

As far as what customers are buying with their beer, Nilsson says, ``In general, it's people buying beer along with their regular groceries,'' rather than people stopping in to buy solely beer.

``It's just more convenient for the customers, Panero says. ``It didn't make sense to cover up (the beer) on Sundays; it's already there.''

The added convenience means that Geissler's at least has been able to recoup sales it had been losing to Massachusetts liquor stores, Nilsson says.

This was an issue that many storeowners in north-central Connecticut had faced: losing customers to Massachusetts liquor stores that have been open on Sundays since 2004.

``If you drove up to Massachusetts on a Sunday, you used to see lines of cars outside package stores,'' Alaimo says. ``Now, it's maybe four cars in the parking lots.''

Those customers who used to hop over the border to get their liquor seem to be staying in state now that they have the option to buy on Sundays.

Data analysis from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which lobbied on behalf of distillers and wholesalers in favor of the Sunday sales legislation, shows that Connecticut has substantially outperformed its northern neighbor in volume growth in recent months.

The council used data provided by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue for the months between May and December the seven months after the legislation passed, and the most recent for which there's available data.

In that period, spirits, wine, and beer sales in Connecticut have increased by 4.6 percent, 4.7 percent, and 2.5 percent respectively, compared with the same period in 2011.

The same comparison in Massachusetts shows that sales for spirits, wine, and beer rose by 0.1 percent, 2.9 percent, and 0 percent, respectively.

Because Connecticut taxes liquor at a higher rate, these figures indicate that it's the convenience of Sunday sales, rather than better prices that are driving the growth in this state, according to a report provided by Ben Jenkins, vice president of the Distilled Spirits Council.

``For years, Connecticut residents had to go to neighboring states where merchants selling alcoholic beverages were wide open for business,'' Kevin B. Sullivan, commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services, said in a release. ``Connecticut lost business, lost sales, and lost taxes.''

According to information reported to the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services though January, the increased sales volume of alcohol resulted in an additional $1.3 million in excise taxes for the state.

However, adding liquor sales on Sundays and some holidays was supposed to bring in an additional $4.3 million yearly in excise and sale taxes, according to legislative budget analysts.

Liquor storeowners like Andreo and Silkowski who aren't so close to the state line haven't seen a jump in their own sales.

``Our ring totals are way down,'' Andreo says, meaning that people are buying less each time they come in, as compared with last year.

``If anything, people actually used to over-buy on Saturday,'' Silkowski says, ``because they knew they wouldn't be able to come on Sunday. We're just not seeing that anymore.''

Both Andreo and Silkowski say they saw diluted sales over the normally busy Memorial Day weekend last year as well.

``It took three days Saturday, Sunday, and Monday over the holiday weekend to (sell) what we did on just Saturday the year before,'' Andreo recalls.

For Alaimo in Enfield, however, that holiday weekend was significantly more fruitful.

``I doubled what I did'' before the Sunday sales legislation went into effect, he says.

For their part, neither Andreo nor Silkowski plans to cut back hours in the future.

``The toothpaste is out of the tube,'' Andreo says.

STERLING, Conn. (AP) State police say one person was injured in an apparent industrial accident at the Sterling plant of a company that manufactures industrial explosives.

Police said the injured person was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of a burn injury. No other injuries were reported in the incident at the Austin Powder plant in eastern Connecticut.

State and federal emergency crews responded to a report of an explosion Friday morning along with local fire officials.

Police said a trailer adjacent to the building was badly damaged from acid, and emergency personnel were waiting for a chemical reaction to finish before completing the cleanup and investigation.

Cleveland, Ohio-based Austin Powder manufactures industrial explosives and accessories.

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) A strange rock found in the front yard of a Waterbury home appears to be a meteorite.

It's the second time in a month that a meteorite has been found in Connecticut, and there may be a connection.

The mineralogy collections manager at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Stefan Nicolescu, says it's ``highly likely'' the meteorite found in Waterbury yesterday is connected to the meteorite that landed on a house in Wolcott less than a mile away last month.

The Waterbury meteorite is about 4 inches long and weighs 1.6 pounds. It has the same type of dark crust, magnetism, and interior color as the Wolcott meteorite.

Nicolescu says the museum hopes to confirm whether or not the meteorites are related with further testing.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A Bridgeport police sergeant has pleaded not guilty to charges that he interfered with the custody of his grandson.

The Connecticut Post reports 63-year-old Johnny Devone was arraigned yesterday in Bridgeport Superior Court -- minutes after his son pleaded not guilty to similar charges.

Devone is charged with interfering with an officer and custodial interference.

He was placed on paid leave March 21, a day after he publicly charged state police ``kidnapped'' his 3-year-old grandson. Devone is accused of blocking state police efforts to return his grandson to the boy's mother, who had court orders to return the boy to Georgia.

Josephine Miller, the younger Devone's lawyer, says her client should not have been charged.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A 39-year-old Cromwell man has been shot to death in Hartford.

Police say they found Felix DeJesus in his car on Allendale Road at about 8 p.m. last night, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

DeJesus was pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital early this morning.

No arrests have been made.

Police say there is no indication that DeJesus was involved in any criminal activity when he was shot.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A lawyer for Phillip Giordano has asked a federal judge for another chance to overturn the former Waterbury mayor's federal conviction on child sex charges.

The Connecticut Post reports legal papers were filed Friday arguing that Giordano received ineffective assistance during his 2003 trial.

Giordano, a Republican who lost the 2000 election for U.S. Senate to Sen. Joe Lieberman, is serving a 37 years sentence on federal charges including violating the civil rights of two girls ages 8 and 10 by sexually abusing them while he was mayor.

A hearing on legal arguments, including one that Giordano should have challenged the federal wiretaps that uncovered the abuse, is scheduled in U.S. District Court Monday.

U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill must then decide whether to order an evidentiary hearing.

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (AP) Authorities say two Connecticut residents stopped by police on a major New York thoroughfare are accused of possessing 500 bags of heroin.

Eric ONeil and Sicora Johnson, both of Waterbury, Conn., are charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. They were arrested Sunday night on the Cross County Parkway in Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Police tell The Journal News that they stopped the vehicle because its license plate was partially obstructed and its windows were excessively tinted. Police say they then searched the car and found the heroin.

The defendants were awaiting court appearances on Monday in Mount Vernon.

Information on their attorneys was not immediately available.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A 76-year-old reputed mobster faces sentencing in a weapons and prescription drugs case that revealed the FBI's belief he has information about the largest art heist in history.

Robert Gentile of Manchester is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in federal court in Hartford. He pleaded guilty in November to illegally possessing and selling prescription drugs and illegally possessing guns, silencers and ammunition as a convicted felon.

A prosecutor said last year the FBI believed Gentile had some involvement with stolen property related to the 1990 theft of a half-billion dollars' worth of art from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Gentile's lawyer, A. Ryan McGuigan, has said Gentile cooperated with authorities but knows nothing about the theft and denies the mob allegation.

No one has been charged in the heist.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Governor Dannel P. Malloy says more than $367 million in federal assistance has been approved to help Connecticut with disaster expenses related to Superstorm Sandy.

Malloy's announcement Friday came as other officials toured the shoreline to view storm damage and highlight ongoing recovery needs for homeowners, businesses and municipalities.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says he wants to make sure the costs of the storm are not forgotten and that the state is prepared for catastrophic storms.

Laurel Blatchford, executive director of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force Task Force, assured officials the state has not been forgotten and the federal government will continue to provide support.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro cited numerous needs, including repairing sea walls, addressing beach erosion and dredging harbors. Officials also noted some residents are still displaced from their homes.

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) A father of an 8-year-old boy who fell six stories to his death from a window at a Stamford housing complex has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city's housing authority.

The Stamford Advocate reports Zhongxin Jason of New Providence, N.J. is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit, which was filed in Superior Court in February.

The lawsuit argues safety measures should have been installed on the windows in the hallway outside the Rippowam Manor apartment where the boy's mother lived.

The 8-year-old, Alexander Wu, died after pushing through a screen on an open window in June 2012 and falling to a patio six stories below.

City attorneys did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut state board is deciding whether to release a man found not guilty by reason of insanity of beating his pregnant wife to death in front of their 5-year-old son in 1998.

Psychiatrists say David Messenger is ready to move from a maximum-security mental hospital into a community treatment program, but the victim's family disputes that assessment and says Messenger is still a danger.

The meeting before the Psychiatric Security Review Board is set for Friday in Middletown.

The Chaplin man's killing of his 42-year-old wife, Heather Messenger, was caught on audio tape during her 911 call.

He was acquitted of manslaughter by reason of insanity in 2001 and ordered confined for 20 years to a state psychiatric hospital.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A 2-year-old child has been critically injured in a hit-and-run accident in Bridgeport.

Police say the child's mother had just taken the 2-year-old from a car on Capitol Avenue and was standing next to the child when the toddler was struck by a passing car at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Police spokesman William Kaempffer says the mother was helping another child from the car at the time. Police say the 2-year-old suffered serious head trauma. Neither the mother nor the second child was injured.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) A fire inside a Bridgeport home has turned into a homicide investigation.

Police say they found a body inside the home on the corner of Park Avenue and Worth Street early Thursday morning.

Police Capt. James Viadero tells the Connecticut Post they don't know the cause of death, but have not ruled out foul play.

The fire, which broke out late Wednesday night, heavily damaged the third floor of the house.

The state police major crime squad was assisting in the investigation.

The body has been taken to the medical examiner's office in Farmington for an autopsy.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A new report shows projected revenues for the state of Connecticut will be higher than expected for the current fiscal year. But they're expected to drop by more than $488 million over the next two years.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget director, Ben Barnes, said the projected decline presents ``some real challenges in finalizing a budget.''

The consensus revenue forecast, released Tuesday, was reached by Barnes' Office of Policy and Management and the General Assembly's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis.

OPM now projects the current fiscal year will end June 30 with a $150.1 million surplus, after applying accounting standards.

Barnes said the additional personal income tax revenue is one-time in nature and won't recur. It's mostly from individuals taking capital gains or transferring assets before federal tax laws change.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) A Fairfield man has been charged with threatening a group of neighborhood teens and destroying some mailboxes and a car mirror with a machete.

The Connecticut Post reports that 45-year-old Richard Morawski is scheduled to appear in court May 8 on charges of risk of injury to a minor, second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree breach of peace and second-degree threatening.

Morawski told police he was upset at the teens Friday night, because they were making noise outside his home as he was trying to sleep.

Court records show Morawski was convicted of similar charges in 2010 after police say he fired a rifle at two young men. Police say he had complained the men were disturbing the neighborhood in their cars with loud mufflers and blaring rap music.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A New Haven man has died, hours after a shooting outside a New Haven market.

Police say 31-year-old Qusaan McKoy was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds outside the Haven Market on Chapel Street at about 9 p.m. Monday.

McKoy was sent to Yale-New Haven Hospital where police say he died just before 4 a.m. on Tuesday.

No arrests have been made.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) An East Hartford woman has been shot to death inside a car in Hartford.

Police say the 21-year-old was shot at the corner of Mather and Magnolia streets at about 1 a.m. on Monday.

She was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police have not released the victim's name, but say they have been told she was four-months pregnant.

No arrests had been made. Police say there was a man in the car at the time of the shooting, who was not injured.

They say the incident may have been drug related.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy says it is unlikely the General Assembly will take up his proposal to slash local taxes on vehicles during this year's legislative session.

The Democrat told reporters on Friday that he's ``accepted the reality that it's probably not going to be addressed this year.''

Malloy had called for exempting the first $20,000 of a vehicle's assessed value from the local property tax. That would mean someone who owns a car with a market value of under $28,571 would pay no property tax.

But many municipal leaders opposed the idea, predicting it would lead to higher taxes on homeowners and businesses because cities and towns would have to make up the lost revenue.

A legislative commission is currently reviewing car taxes and other municipal fiscal issues.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) A Superior Court jury has awarded $15.7 million to survivors and family members of three people killed in a 2007 crash on Interstate 95 in East Lyme.

The Day of New London reports the jury found that Northeast Carriers, the owner of a tanker truck that jumped the median near the I-395 interchange, were negligent and reckless.

The tanker, which was carrying nearly 7,000 gallons of heating fuel, went out of control and crashed head-on into southbound traffic on Nov. 2, 2007. Witnesses said the driver, who was killed in the accident, appeared to be racing with another truck driver.

Attorneys for Northeast Carriers argued the second driver deserved some blame for the crash.

The jury deliberated just a few hours before reaching a decision on Friday afternoon.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Two employees at the University of Connecticut's West Hartford campus have been charged with using school contractors to renovate their homes. A contractor also was arrested.

UConn police arrested 56-year-old Mark O'Neill of Suffield and 58-year-old Jose Cruz of Manchester last week on larceny charges. O'Neill is the facilities manager at the West Hartford campus and Cruz is the campus' building superintendent. Both were placed on leave.

Authorities say O'Neill and Cruz conspired to authorize nearly $5,700 in payments from school accounts to contractors who were working on campus to perform renovations at their homes. A contractor, 26-year-old Lukasz Sudyka of Newington, was charged with larceny.

The three defendants couldn't be reached toay. It's not clear if O'Neill and Cruz have lawyers. Sudyka's lawyer hasn't returned a message.

ENFIELD, Conn. (AP) A former state police dispatcher who killed a motorcycle rider while driving and texting on Interstate 291 has been sentenced to six months in jail.

WFSB-TV reports that 35-year-old Angel Rodriguez of Manchester was sentenced yesterday in Enfield Superior Court for the accident that killed Tanya Cheverier of Windsor. He pleaded guilty to felony misconduct with a motor vehicle in February.

State police say the father of three was driving on the Interstate 291 bridge over the Connecticut River near the Windsor-South Windsor line when he struck Cheverier's motorycle. Troopers say Rodriguez was reading a text message at the time.

The single mother of an 11-year-old boy died at the scene.

Cheverier's relatives say they hope the case sends a serious message about the dangers of driving and texting.

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) Stamford police say they arrested a 14-year-old boy who allegedly pulled out a fake shotgun from his gym bag at a crowded restaurant and scared the patrons.

Police told The Advocate of Stamford that the teen brandished a plastic replica of a sawed-off shotgun outside Remo's Brick Oven Pizza Co. on Bedford Street Wednesday afternoon as customers were eating at outdoor tables and a number of other people were on the sidewalk.

Authorities say the incident caused a panic but the restaurant owner was able to take a picture of the teen holding the gun.

The teen was charged with breach of peace and released to his parents. His name wasn't released because of his age.

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (AP) Longtime Eastern Connecticut State University baseball coach Bill Holowaty has been suspended with pay for the rest of the season on complaints that he cursed, threw a helmet into the bleachers during a game and failed to follow university officials' directives.

Holowaty has been Eastern's coach for the past 45 years and has logged more than 1,400 victories. He's led the Warriors to four Division III national titles and was named national Coach of the Year four times.

School officials suspended Holowaty until May 13 pending an investigation. Assistant coach Michael Grant will lead the team as acting head coach the rest of the season.

Holowaty has declined to comment on the suspension.