.collection of things not to forget

Guilty Plea Expected in Trautwein Murder

2012-11-16T00:04:00.001-05:00

STAMFORD -- A former New Haven mechanic whose conviction for murdering North Stamford resident Joanne Trautwein in 2005 was overturned by the state Supreme Court a little over a year ago is expected to plead guilty to the murder.

Harry Gonzalez, 45, who is now serving a 25-year sentence for killing his New Haven roommate, is to appear at state Superior Court in Stamford Friday morning. His attorney, Francis O'Reilly, said if the plea agreement goes forward as planned, Gonzalez will plead guilty to murder in the Trautwein case.

In 2007, Gonzalez was convicted of felony murder, robbery and kidnapping in the case involving the 75-year-old former Greenwich school teacher and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

While Gonzalez' girlfriend, Jennifer Kos, testified he killed Trautwein while she subdued the woman's roommate, the case was overturned in August 2011 on the grounds that police took statements from Gonzalez before he was read his Miranda rights and after he asked for an attorney.

The statements -- about him appearing at Trautwein's Rockrimmon Road home looking for work the day of the murder -- survived a hearing to have them suppressed at trial and were presented to the jury, which may have led to his conviction.

O'Reilly said he did not want to publicly discuss before Friday's hearing the specifics of what prosecutors are offering in return for a guilty plea.

"Ever since the case was overturned by the Supreme Court and ordered back for trial, we have been involved in lengthy negotiations between ourselves and the state and we have come to an agreement that is satisfactory to my client," he said.

O'Reilly said the sentence will be quite a bit shorter than the 80-year sentence given by Judge John Kavanewsky.

"While it is a very substantial period of incarceration, it is significantly lower than was initially imposed upon him by Judge Kavanewsky," he said.

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Maureen Ornowsky, who tried at the Stamford courthouse, would only say that Gonzalez is to come to court Friday to determine if the case can be resolved or go to trial again.

R.I.P. Andrew Roach

2012-11-15T23:47:00.002-05:00

AITE Edge article written by Hannah Cerasoli:

On Friday, the second of November, tragedy struck the small town of Darien when Andrew Roach, 19, took his life. Behind him, he left a family and a short-lived lifetime of youth and friendships. He graduated from AITE in June, unable to complete the last year of his life.

Andrew was born on August 6th, 1993. He was introduced to the concept of death at the age of 7, when his mother died, leaving him with his father and two sisters.

He grew up in Darien, and attended high school here at AITE. Andrew was a volunteer fireman at the Round Hill Fire Company in Greenwich, which he began working at on December 7th of last year. After graduating from AITE in June 2012, he also graduated from the Stamford Regional Fire School. His life seemed to be more or less on track.

Andrew was a boy with a life and with friends just like any other teen. A hobby of his was sailing, which he did at the Cedar Point Yacht Club, and at Camp Sloane. His inspiration for becoming a firefighter was the tragedy of 9/11, in which his father was involved. He looked up to his father ever since then, when he helped get victims of the attack out of the rubble via setting up an enormous tool stand. After that, he attended more than one memorial for the event, and was inspired to do good for people. The Daily Voice quoted him as being “optimistic about the future.”

Like other unlucky teenagers nationwide, Andrew Roach suffered from depression for years. His family noticed a lack of interest to do anything. It came with much grief and little surprise when they discovered his fate.

Andrew Roach was just another face in these hallways last year, and just another boy in the town of Darien. Yet to some people, he was a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, and a best friend. They choose to remember how he lived, not how he died.

Rest in peace, Andrew Roach.

Man Hit by Train in Greenwich, Dies

2012-10-18T21:33:00.001-04:00

Greenwich Time- Alexander Bertrand, 21, of Lawrence Court in North Woodmere, N.Y. has been identified as the man who died Wednesday night after he was struck by a train.

Metro North Railroad Police are handling the investigation, and Bertrand's identity was released by railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders.

Bertand died at Stamford Hospital Wednesday night after he was struck by a southbound Metro-North Railroad train in Greenwich around 6:45 p.m., officials said.

"We received an emergency call from MTA of a subject possibly hit by a train in the vicinity of the Greenwich train station," Greenwich Police Chief James Heavey said from the scene near the Davis Avenue overpass and Bruce Park Avenue Extension. "We located an individual who was in cardiac arrest who appeared to be hit by a train."

Bertand also suffered other traumatic injuries, said Heavey, who didn't know the extent of those injuries.

Metro-North spokesman Salvatore Arena said the man was hit by an eastbound train heading to New Haven. All four tracks had to be shut down, causing significant delays. At 8:45 p.m., Arena said two tracks had been reopened, but delays remained up to 45 minutes on the New Haven Line in both directions.

Police, fire and Greenwich Emergency Medical Service personnel flooded the area of the train station in search of the individual before finding him about 1,000 feet east of the Davis Avenue overpass on the Metro-North Railroad tracks, Heavey said.

The area where Bertrand was found is just under a half-mile east of the Greenwich train station. The man was between tracks 1 and 3, Heavey said.

"The train that apparently struck him was empty at the time," Heavey said.
MTA police are conducting the investigation of the incident, Heavey said. He didn't know if the incident was a suicide attempt.

"The conductor is being interviewed by MTA police," said Heavey, who was joined at the scene by First Selectman Peter Tesei.

Police closed the Davis Avenue intersection with Bruce Park Avenue to traffic as the investigation continued.

Metro-North service was restored shortly before 10 p.m.

Carrie Shelomis Remembered

2012-10-03T02:59:00.000-04:00

Carrie Ann Shelomis, age 34 of Hamden previously of Monroe passed away in Greenwich as a result of a automobile accident on September 26, 2012. Born in Bridgeport , she was a graduate of Masik High School class of 1996. Carrie was a Human Resource Coordinator for Abilis , Inc of Greenwich .

She enjoyed computer games, gardening, animals, shopping and shoes. She was a loving mother and will be sadly missed by all who knew her. She was predeceased by her father Elliott Shelomis. Survivors include her beloved family, her mother, Laurie Halko Buckley and her step father John Buckley of Monroe, her fiance' Phillip Balcastro of Hamden, a son, Kevin Shelomis of Monroe, two daughters, Gabriella and Gianna Balcastro of Hamden, two brothers, Gary Shelomis of Derby and Patrick Buckley of Shelton, five sisters, Patricia Shelomis of Shelton, Melissa (Richard) Cole of Georgia, Victoria Acuzzo of Monroe, Jennifer Sneider of Seymour, Melissa Buckley of Shelton and many aunts, uncles, cousins nieces and nephews.

Friends are invited to attend visiting hours on Sunday September 30, 2012 from 4 to 7:30 p.m. in the Dennis & D'Arcy - Abriola & Kelemen Funeral Home, 2611 Main St. Stratford . A funeral service will follow at 7:30 p.m. in the funeral home with Deacon Raymond Chervenak, officiating.

Connecticut Man Identified as Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Jumper

2012-10-03T02:53:00.000-04:00

NEWBURGH — Police have identified the man who jumped from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge last week as Frank D. Rende of Bridgeport, Conn. after remains were sighted floating in the Hudson River near the City of Newburgh waterfront area around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
According to state police, Rende, 34, leaped to his death after he broke away from a Troop F state trooper while threatening to jump from the bridge around 6:55 p.m.

Police said he jumped off the north side of the westbound span of the Newburgh-Beacon bridge.

Rende had recently been accused of committing a sex crime in the state of Connecticut, said state police Sergeant Joseph Lutz.

His body was recovered on Sunday morning from the Hudson River and turned over to the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Assisting with the recovery of Rende's body was the New York State Police Aviation Unit and Scuba Units along with the City of Newburgh Police and Fire Department, Middlehope Fire Department, West Point Fire Department, Dutchess County Sheriff’s Boat Patrol, Orange County Fire Command, Mobil Life and Town of Newburgh Emergency Medical Services.

Former Greenwich Man ID'd as Hudson River Jumper

2012-10-03T02:46:00.000-04:00

Stamford Advocate- The man who committed suicide last week by jumping off a Hudson River bridge was a 1996 graduate of Greenwich High School.

New York State Police say the body subsequently recovered from the river near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge last weekend was that of 34-year-old Frank D. Rende, most recently of Bridgeport.

Police say Rende jumped from the westbound side of the bridge around 7 p.m. on Sept. 20.

Troopers were called to the bridge for a report of an abandoned vehicle midway across the bridge in the westbound lanes. State police say a pedestrian on the bridge spotted the body floating in the middle of the river Sunday morning. Firefighters from Newburgh recovered Rende's body.

Murder Trial Jury Deliberations to Continue

2012-10-03T02:37:00.000-04:00

STAMFORD -- Jurors in the trial of a Greenwich man accused of shooting two gas station attendants in 2009, killing one of them, asked in state Superior Court in Stamford on Tuesday to review evidence and testimony.

During the trial of Alain LeConte, 24, jurors listened to testimony about three armed holdups he is accused of committing over a two-month period. He allegedly shot two convenience store clerks in the head, killing one in Norwalk and severely injuring another in Greenwich. LeConte is also charged with using a gun to rob a Stamford bodega.

He is facing more than 60 years in jail on the charges.

As they did earlier in the trial, jurors Tuesday heard a secretly taped jailhouse conversation involving LeConte, in which he admitted to many details of the crimes.

"I'm full throttle with this (expletive)," LeConte can be heard saying on the tape, referring to the time period immediately before the 2009 robbery of the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue in Old Greenwich.

LeConte recalled how he rushed away from the Greenwich crime scene with an accomplice, later identified as Teran Nelson, and they sped toward Bridgeport "like it was a movie."

Nelson, the getaway driver in the robbery, took the stand previously in the trial.

Jurors listened Tuesday to a recording of his testimony.

Nelson testified he acted as a lookout outside the gas station while LeConte entered and, soon after, he heard a popping noise.

"When I heard the pop noise, I panicked and started to run," Nelson said.

Nelson has signed a cooperative agreement in the case, exchanging his testimony to reduced exposure to jail time.

Jurors once again saw video surveillance footage from the Greenwich crime and the Oct. 10, 2009, robbery at the West Avenue Shell station in Norwalk, in which a hooded suspect shot and killed gas station attendant Jose Joaquin Morales.

In surveillance footage from both crimes an armed man dressed in black aims a gun at the attendant.

The attendant in the Greenwich video can be seen exiting the store clutching his head after the man leaves.

David Wash, of Bridgeport, faces robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery charges in connection with the Greenwich crime.

Mustafa Jacobs is facing felony murder, robbery and conspiracy charges for his alleged role in Morales' murder.

Mark Phillips, LeConte's attorney, and Senior Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi, the case prosecutor, both rested their cases last week.

Fire Kills 1, Badly Burns Another In Extreme Hoarding Intervention Gone Awry

2012-10-03T02:28:00.000-04:00

GREENWICH, Conn. (CBSNewYork) — An extreme hoarding situation ended in extreme sadness on Tuesday. It may have been a final act of defiance that killed a man and seriously injured his sick mother.

The run-down home has been an eyesore for years, attracting complaints from neighbors and the city of Greenwich. Now, the woman who owns it is badly burned and her 42-year-old son is dead, CBS 2’s Lou Young reported.

The fire started inside a home jammed with stacks of personal possessions — a hoarder’s den turned death trap.

“Smoke pouring out of the house and we said there’s someone still inside, and about five or six minutes later they took the second person out in an ambulance over there,” neighbor Richard Meehan said.

“The fire department has determined it was intentionally set,” Greenwich Police Lt. Craig Gray said.

An intervention was apparently already underway in connection with the clutter inside. A dumpster on site was supposed to be used to house the many belongings the occupants had amassed. The fire, apparently set by the son, broke out just hours before state social workers were supposed to arrive, police said.

“The lady used to work for the Board of Education in Greenwich and then she got sick and basically her son was taking care of her.

It was a slow decline,” neighbor John Pardo said.

The man of the house — a retired Greenwich cop — died in the 1980s. Things got especially bad in the past five years, neighbors said, but the occupants, Dean Verboven and his 69-year-old mother, Barbara, were well-liked.

“I know this boy since he was 8 years old and they are … they are sweet people, nice people,” Gladys Pardo said.

But he is now dead and she is in critical condition, getting treated at Bridgeport Medical Center for severe burns.

One neighbor said Barbara Verboven spent almost all her time in a single room of the house, eating and sleeping in a room with a television on 24 hours a day.

1 dead, 1 Injured in Greenwich Fire

2012-10-03T02:10:00.001-04:00

Greenwich Time- An intentionally set fire killed a 42-year-old man and critically injured a 69-year-old handicapped woman Tuesday morning in their Old Greenwich home, police said.

Neighbors identified the victims as Dean Verboven and his mother, Barbara Verboven. Barbara Verboven remains in critical condition in the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital, after being initially transported to Greenwich Hospital.

The fire broke out at about 7 a.m. at 46 Havemeyer Lane, police and fire officials said.

Speaking at a news conference at the police station in the afternoon, Police Lt. Kraig Gray said a preliminary investigation determined that the fire was set, but stopped short of using the term arson. He said the fire is being investigated by a joint team of police and firefighters.

Gladys Pardo, who lives next door to Verbovens with her husband, John, said she was sitting at her computer at about 7 a.m. when she saw smoke and flames coming from the window next door.

She screamed to her husband that there was a fire and got out of their house, which is only a few feet away from their neighbors.

When firefighters arrived, Gladys Pardo said she directed them to the ground-floor bedroom of Barbara Verboven, who she said has been wheelchair-bound for about five years. The Pardos and another neighbor, Robert Meehan, directed firefighters to look for a second occupant, at which point they found Dean Verboven and brought him out of the house about five minutes later, Meehan said.

After hearing the firefighters arriving on scene, Meehan said, "I came out and saw the house fully engulfed in smoke."

Meehan said that Dean Verboven was placed in an ambulance, which sat for about five minutes before driving away.

Gray said he did not know if the man had been declared dead on the scene.

Greenwich Fire Chief Peter Siecienski said heavy fire gutted part of the first floor of the house where the two had their bedrooms, and smoke caused heavy damage to the second floor.

Assistant Fire Chief Bob Kick said the state fire marshal's office brought a dog to the scene. The dogs are typically used to search for accelerants, Kick said.

The last fire-related fatality in Greenwich occurred in 2006, according to Kick, who commended firefighters on their work at the Havemeyer Lane scene.

"They did a good job," he said Tuesday night. "They got in there quickly."

A Greenwich police crime scene investigation truck arrived on scene shortly after 9 a.m., and a large section of Havemeyer Lane around MacArthur Drive was closed for several hours while numerous police and firefighters conducted their investigation.

Gray said that the house was "cluttered" and its condition had an effect on the ability of firefighters to get in and pull the residents outside. Both victims were brought out of the rear of the house, neighbors said.

Sixty firefighters from Sound Beach, Cos Cob, North Street and Glenville responded to the 7:10 a.m. call, Siecienski said.

The Pardos said they had been neighbors of the Verbovens for more than 30 years.

"They were a very nice family... This is heartbreaking," said Gladys Pardo.

"It is so hard for me to believe he is dead. He was 8 years old when we moved in," said John Pardo.

Gladys Pardo said that she saw Dean Verboven two days ago, but it has been two years since she saw Barbara Verboven.

Up until recent times, "They were a very outgoing family," Gladys said about the Verbovens.

Abilis Worker Killed in Merritt Crash Remembered

2012-09-27T21:57:00.000-04:00

Another article on Carrie...

Greenwich Time- Abilis Executive Director Laurel Ross began to worry when Carrie Shelomis, a member of the human resources department at the Greenwich nonprofit agency, hadn't reported to work Wednesday morning.

"We were nervous when she didn't call in," Ross said in a telephone interview with Greenwich Time on Thursday.

Ross, who described Shelomis as a kind and lovely young woman, said she began to think of the worst a short time later when Shelomis, a reliable employee, still hadn't shown up.
"Two minutes later, we got a phone call from a state trooper," Ross said.

Shelomis, a 34-year-old mother who lived on State Street in Hamden, was killed Wednesday morning after the Cadillac she was driving careened off the southbound Merritt Parkway in Greenwich and rolled down an embankment into a wooded area, State Police said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the state police report. The accident occurred around 7:35 a.m. near exit 27, according to Greenwich police.
"It's so tragic," Ross said.

Shelomis had attempted to negotiate a left curve in the two-lane road and struck the cement median, according to state police. Her 1997 Cadillac Catera then veered to the right, striking the wooden guardrail and flipping over it. The car struck a tree with the left, driver's-side door and then rolled down a steep embankment, coming to rest on its roof at the edge of the Byram River.
There were no passengers in the car and no other vehicles were involved.

Shelomis, a mother of two girls, ages 1 and 3, had been employed at Abilis, an agency that works with the disabled, for about four months, Ross said.

"In her short time here, she really impressed us with her kindness" and willingness to contribute, Ross said. "She became part of the family quickly ... This is something that's hard for all of us to comprehend."

A fund will likely be established to benefit Shelomis' daughters, Ross said.
"She talked about her babies all the time," she said.

Phil Balcastro, Shelomis' husband, provided a statement through Ross.

"She was a wonderful mom," he said. "The main focus right now is to take care of (our) daughters."
Balcastro said Shelomis was a great person who "lit up" when she talked about Abilis.
One lane was closed Wednesday morning and traffic backed up as Shelomis' vehicle was removed from the ravine. Firefighters used ropes to lower themselves and equipment to the vehicle. The driver's door was removed to extricate Shelomis, a deputy fire chief said.

The accident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call State Trooper Wayne Rogalski at the Troop G barracks in Bridgeport at 203-696-3000.

R.I.P. Carrie

2012-09-26T21:57:00.003-04:00

A co-worker, please keep her in your thoughts. ='[

A 34-year-old Hamden mother of two was killed this morning when her car crashed on the Merritt Parkway during her commute to work in Greenwich.

According to a Connecticut State Police report, the victim of the single-vehicle accident was Carrie A. Shelomis, of 1835 State St., Hamden.

Shelomis was driving her 1997 Cadillac Catera southbound on the parkway about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, when it careened onto a barrier, before crashing through a guardrail and rolling down an embankment before coming to rest into the shallow waters of the Byram River, police said.
"Vehicle 1 attempted to negotiate a curve in the road to the left and then struck the cement barrier in the median," according to the report written by State Police Officer Wayne Rogalski.

"Vehicle 1 then went to the right, struck and went over the wooden guardrail on the right, struck a tree with (its) left side driver's door area and rolled down a steep embankment. Vehicle 1 came to a final rest on (its) roof. Operator 1 was pronounced dead at the scene," according to the report.
And as the news spread, the staff and clients of a Greenwich-based agency for the disabled mourned the passing of a colleague.

Employees at Abilis, which is located just off the King Street exit of the Merritt Parkway near where the accident occurred, were worried that Shelomis had not contacted them.

Abilis spokeswoman Joy Haenlein said Shelomis would call the agency if traffic prevented her from reporting on time to her human resources assistant position she held for about three months, and co-workders worried when they heard there was an accident Wednesday morning.

"Carrie worked for us for about three months, but in the time she was with us, she was professional, kind, and always there to pitch in," Haenlein said. "She had two small children. Our hearts go out to her family ... we're all pretty stunned."

Haenlein added, "She was lovely ... she was very professional ... no one ever had a bad word about her... we were so happy to have her on our team ... everybody in the agency is very sad."
Haenlein said, "...we all have the same reaction, we are all very saddened....the reaction was very, very sad. As you know, our place is very lively ... and it wasn't today."

State police are seeking witnesses to the crash. If anyone has any information about the accident, they are asked to call Trooper Rogalski at Troop G at 203-696-2500.

Shameless Panhandling

2012-07-30T00:07:00.000-04:00

I posted this on craigslist and said to myself, 'Wtf, why not post on my blog?':

I tried taking inventory of my entire record collection, and I'm just about half way there. Eventually I will list my full collection, although most of the rest I have to list are ones I don't want to really part with. The same can be said of this following inventory, some are very rare and very special to me so I can't guarantee that all are available. If you are interested in any please feel free to e-mail me at KAOConnor1985@yahoo.com with what you'd like, I'll send pictures and describe the condition and we can work out a price.

Have a nice day!

PS Remember, these are records (vinyls lol)

A Flock of Seagulls- Listen
A Flock of Seagulls- The Story of a Young Heart
A Night At Studio 54 (Compilation)
Adam and the Ants- Dirk Wears White Sox
Adam and the Ants- Kings of the Wild Frontier
Adam and the Ants- Prince Charming
Adam Ant- Apollo 9 Splashdown Re-Mix
Adam Ant- Friend or Foe
Adam Ant- Strip
Adam Ant- Vive Le Rock
Air Supply- Lost in Love
Al Jarreau- Jarreau
Alice Cooper- Zipper Catches Skin
Alphaville- Dance With Me
Amazulu- Amazulu
America- View from the Ground
B.J. Thomas- The Best of B.J. Thomas
Barbara Streisand- Guilty
Barry Manilow- Barry Manilow I
Barry Manilow- Barry Manilow II
Barry Manilow- Even Now
Barry Manilow- Even Now
Barry Manilow- Greatest Hits
Barry Manilow- Greatest Hits
Barry Manilow- I
Barry Manilow- II
Barry Manilow- Trying to Get the Feeling
Bay City Rollers- Bay City Rollers
Bee Gees- Greatest
Billy Idol- Don't Stop
Billy Joel- 52nd Street
Billy Joel- An Innocent Man
Billy Joel- Glass Houses
Billy Joel- Piano Man
Billy Joel- Songs in the Attic
Billy Joel- The Bridge
Billy Joel- The Nylon Curtain
Billy Joel- The Stranger
Billy Squier- Emotions in Motion
Billy Squier- Enough is Enough
Billy Squier- Signs of Life
Billy Squier- Signs of Life
Billy Squier- The Tale of the Tape
Blondie- Heart of Glass (single)
Blue Oyster Cult- Club Ninja
Bobby Goldsboro- Bobby Goldsboro's 10th Anniversary Album
Bruce Springsteen- Born in the U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen- Tunnel of Love
Captain and Tennille- Song of Joy
Christopher Cross- Christopher Cross
Crosby, Stills & Nash- Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young- Déjà vu
Culture Club- Colour by Numbers
Culture Club- Kissing to be Clever
Culture Club- The War Song (Ultimate Dance Mix)
Dave Mason- The Best of Dave Mason
David Lee Roth- Eat 'Em and Smile
Depeche Mode- Blasphemous Rumours/ Somebody
Depeche Mode- Never Let Me Down Again
Depeche Mode- Personal Jesus
Depeche Mode- Policy Of Truth (Single)
Depeche Mode- Some Great Reward (German Release)
Depeche Mode- Strangelove (Maxi-single)
Dick Clark- 20 Years of Rock 'N Roll (Rare Booklet still included!)
Dio- We Rock
Donna Summer- (On the Radio) Greatest Hits Volumes 1&2
Donna Summer- Bad Girls
Donna Summer- On the Radio Greatest Hits Volumes I & II
Doobie Brothers- Best of the Doobies
Dr. Hook- Pleasure and Pain
Duran Duran- All She Wants Is (U.S. Master Mix and Eurohouse 12" mixes)
Duran Duran- Duran Duran-
Duran Duran- Hungry Like the Wolf (Night Version)/Careless Memories (Live Version)
Duran Duran- Seven and the Ragged Tiger
Duran Duran- Union of the Snake
Duran Duran-Rio
Elton John- Greatest Hits
Elton John- Jump Up!
Elvis Costello- My Aim is True
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer- The Old Castle
Evita (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Falco- Falco
Footloose (Soundtrack)
Frankie Valli and the Fabulous Four Seasons- The Greatest Hits (RARE)
General Public- All the Rage
General Public- Hand to Mouth
Genesis- Invisible Touch
George Carlin- A Place for My Stuff!
George Carlin- On The Road
George Harrison- All Things Must Pass
Gladys Knight and the Pips- 2nd Anniversary
Go Go's- Vacation
Godspell
Grateful Dead- Blues for Allah
Grateful Dead- Europe '72
Grateful Dead- From the Mars Hotel
Grateful Dead- Wake of the Flood
Hall and Oates- H2o
Heart- Heart (Self-Titled)
Hot Tuna- Hot Tuna
Howard Jones- Dream into Action
Howard Jones- Human Lib
Huey Lewis and the News- Fore!
Huey Lewis and the News- Picture This
Huey Lewis and the News- Sports
INXS- Shabooh Shoobah
James Lee Stanley- Live
James Lee Stanley- Live
Jarreau- Jarreau
Jefferson Airplane- The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Starship- Dragonfly
Jefferson Starship- Red Octopus
Jefferson Starship- Red Octopus
Jerry Garcia- Garcia
Jethro Tull- Crest of a Knave
Jethro Tull- Stand Up (Original Pop Up looks like new!)
Jimmy Buffet- Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes
Joe Jackson- Night and Day
John Cougar- American Fool
John Denver- John Denver's Greatest Hits
Joni Mitchell- Court and Spark
Joni Mitchell- Dog Eat Dog
Joy Divison- An Ideal for Living
Joy Divison- Closer
Joy Divison- Still
Judas Priest- British Steel
Judas Priest- Point of Entry
Keith Emerson- With the Nice
Kiss- Destroyer
K-Tel's High Energy (Compilation)
K-Tel's Radio Active (Compilation)
K-Tel's Right On (Compilation)
K-Tel's Today's Super Greats Part-2 (Compilation)
Led Zeppelin- Swan Song
Led Zeppelin- Swan Song
Live Aid- Do They Know It's Christmas?
Lynard Skynard- Gold and Platinum Band
Lynard Skynard- Legend
Lynyrd Skynyrd- Gold and Platinum
Maddona- Like A Virgin
Marc Almond- The Stars We Are
Men at Work- Business as Usual
Men At Work- Cargo
Metropolis (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Miami Vice ( Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Miami Vice II (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Ministry- Work for Love
Modern English- Ricochet Days
Modest Mouse- We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Neil Young- After the Gold Rush
New Order- Fact. 50 1982 Movement
New Order- Hurt fac 63
New Order- Power, Corruption & Lies (180 Gram Vinyl, Remastered 2009)
New Order- World in Motion
Night Ranger- Midnight Madness
Oingo Boingo- Best of Oingo Boingo Skeletons in the Closet
Oingo Boingo- Dead Man's Party
Oingo Boingo- Nothing to Fear
Oingo Boingo- Weird Science (12" Version)
Pat Benetar- Get Nervous
Peaches and Herb- 2 Hot!
Pet Shop Boys- Always on My Mind 12" Single
Peter Gabriel- Plays Live
Pink Floyd- A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon (Including the original two stickers and two posters!)
Police- Synchronicity
PolyGram's Rock Sizzlers (Compilation)
Prince and the Revolution- Purple Rain
Prince and the Revolution- Purple Rain (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Public Image Ltd- Live in Tokyo
Rick James- Loosey's Rap
Robert Palmer- Riptide
Robert Plant- Pictures at Eleven
Roger Daltry- Daltry
Roxy Music- For Your Pleasure
Rush- Exit Stage Left
Rush- Grace Under Going for
Rush- Hold Your Fire
Rush- Moving Pictures
Rush- Signals
Santana- Moonflower
Scorpions- Love at First Sting
Scorpions- World Wide Live
Sergio Mendes- Voo Doo
Shanana- The Golden Age of Rock 'N Roll
Shaun Cassidy- Born Late
Shaun Cassidy- Da Doo Ron Ron
Shaun Cassidy- Under Wraps
Simple Minds- Don't you Forget About Me (Single)
Simple Minds- Life in a Day
Simple Minds- Live in the City of Light
Simple Minds- New Gold Dream
Simple Minds- New Gold Dream RARE Gold Picture Disc
Simple Minds- Promised You a Miracle (Promotional Copy Single)
Simple Minds- Sanctify Yourself
Simple Minds- Sister Feelings Call
Simple Minds- Sons and Fascination
Simple Minds- Sparkle in the Rain
Simple Minds- The Amsterdam EP
Simple Minds- Themes for Great Cities Definite Collection 79-81
Simple Minds-Alive and Kicking
Simply Red- Picturebook
Sister Sledge- We Are Family
Squeeze- Singles
Stars on Long Play
Stars On- Stars on Long Play
Steely Dan- Countdown to Ecstasy
Steely Dan- The Royal Scam
Steve Martin- A Wild and Crazy Guy
Stevie Nicks- Long Way to Go (UK Version)
Stray Cats- Built for Speed
Styx- Cornerstone
Styx- Cornerstone
Styx- Pieces of Eight (WITH ORIGINAL POSTER!)
Styx- The Grand Illusion
Supertramp- Even in the Quietest Moments. . .
Supertramp- Paris
Survivor- Eye of the Tiger
Talk Talk- It's My Life
Talking Heads- Fear of Music
Talking Heads- More Songs about Buildings and Food
Talking Heads- Speaking in Tounges
Talking Heads- Stop Making Sense (Complete with Once in a Lifetime 45 and concert program)
Tears for Fears- Shout US & UK Remix Versions
Tears for Fears- Songs From the Big Chair
Tears for Fears- Songs From the Big Chair
Tears for Fears- The Hurting
Thank God It's Friday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Beatles- 1962-1966
The Beatles- Let It Be
The Beatles- Rubber Soul
The Beatles- Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles- Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (RARE orignial poster included)
The Beatles Songbook- The Hollyridge Strings
The Caprenters- Made in America
The Cars- Candy-O
The Cars- Heartbeat City
The Cars- The Cars
The Charlie Daniels Band - Full Moon
The Charlie Daniels Band- Full Moon
The Doobie Brothers- Best of the Doobies
The Doors- The Doors
The Hits Keep Comin' On Strong (PolyTel Compilation)
The Jacksons- Destiny
The Kinks- Everybody's in Show-Biz
The Kinks- State Of Confusion
The Monkees- Headquarters
The Monkees- More of the Monkees
The Monkees- The Monkees
The Moody Blues- A Question of Balance
The Moody Blues- In Search of the Lost Chord
The Moody Blues- Your Wildest Dreams
The Oak Ridge Boys- Room Service
The Police- Synchronicity
The Police- Zenyatta Mondatta
The Pretenders- Pretenders II
The Psychedelic Furs- Talk Talk Talk
The Smiths- The Queen is Dead
Soft Cell- Non- Stop Erotic Caberet
The Who- Live at Leeds (RARE)
Thomas Dolby- Wireless
Robert Plant- Pictures at Eleven
Thompson Twins- Sidekicks
Three Dog Night- Harmony
Three Dog Night- Suitable for Framing
Tom Tom Club- The Pleasure of Love
Tom Tom Club- Tom Tom Club
Traffic- John Barleycorn Must Die
Traffic- The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
U2- Live "Under a Blood Red Sky"
U2- Live Under A Blood Red Sky
Van Halen- 1984
Van Halen- Women and Children First
Van Morrison- Moondance
Yes- Big Generator
Yes- Going for the One

Medical Examiner Releases Ruling in Death of Keith Morris

2012-07-26T18:59:00.000-04:00

Stamford Patch- There was little information available from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Connecticut relating to the death of Keith Morris, the New Rochelle firefighter who died in a boating crash Sunday night as he drove four others home from a restaurant.

"We only give out two pieces of information to the public," said a representative at the office. "Ruling and cause."

What little was available only gave a glimpse into the night tragedy struck:

•Morris death was ruled accidental.

•Cause of death was drowning.

No toxicology reports or descriptions of physical injuries he may have suffered as a result of the crash that might have impeded his ability to swim following the flip were available.

Morris, 30, was driving four friends home to New Rochelle from the Crab Shell waterfront restaurant & bar on his boat at approximately 10:30 p.m. when he struck a breakwall and flipped the vessel in Long Island Sound, near the Stamford Lighthouse.

Two of the passengers were clinging to the boat, waiting for help to arrive while two of the passengers were inside the cabin when the boat flipped. They were trapped until rescue divers arrived, and eventually freed.

Divers searched for Morris throughout the evening, to no avail. His body would be recovered close to the scene of the crash the following afternoon in roughly 16 feet of water at low tide. He would've been covered by 24 feet of water and debris during high tide at the time of the crash.

New Rochelle firefighters are still struggling to cope with the loss. DiMeglio also said the firefighters in Morris' company has been dealing with things, a majority of the time, in their own way.

"We told them that we have resources available if they need them," DiMeglio said. "But, as of now, those resources aren't being utilized."

Funeral arrangements have been made with viewing hours for friends and family Thursday and Friday with a mass and interment on Saturday. Chief Louis DiMeglio said he would do everything in his power to help Morris' family.

"We just told the family that we'll do our best to comply with whatever their wishes are," said DiMeglio, who knew Morris well and worked with him closely.

The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to “Butterflies from Jodie," the Jodie Torigian Charitable Fund, 31 President Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801.

James Holmes, Alleged Aurora Shooter, Makes First Court Appearance

2012-07-26T18:55:00.001-04:00

Huffington Post- The man accused of killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 58 more in Aurora, Colo., last week made his first appearance in court Monday morning.

James Holmes, a 24-year-old former doctoral student at the University of Colorado, Denver, has been held on first-degree murder charges in the July 20 shooting spree at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."

The brief procedural hearing, known as an advisement, took place at the Arapahoe County Justice Center. Holmes, who was represented by a public defender, appeared in court with brightly dyed orange hair and wore a burgundy jail uniform. He seemed sleepy or dazed and often had his eyes shut.

Holmes will face formal charges from prosecutors on July 30, and District Attorney Carol Chambers said her office is considering the death penalty against him, according to the Associated Press. District Court Judge William Sylvester issued an order forbidding Holmes from having contact with victims or witnesses.

Earlier Monday, authorities said Holmes was not cooperating with the investigation because he refused to answer questions about the shooting.

Police arrested Holmes early Friday morning minutes after the shooting in the sold-out theater. Holmes, dressed in ballistic gear and armed with an assault rifle and three other guns, set off gas canisters before opening fire, police said.

A motive in the shooting is not yet known. Holmes will remain detained without bond at the county lockup in Centennial, Colo.

James Holmes Continues Streak of Odd Behavior

2012-07-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

Time.com- The accused Aurora gunman reportedly spat at jail officers so often that he was forced to wear a spit guard at one point.

Holmes’ bizarre habit is just one of several that he has displayed since his arrest for the shooting rampage during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 and wounded 58 last Friday.

In the hours after his arrest Friday for the massacre at the Aurora, Colo., movie theater, Holmes stared at the wall in the Arapahoe Police Headquarters with his eyebrows twitching.

Then, Holmes allegedly told police he was Batman’s villain the Joker. When cops put evidence bags over his hands to preserve traces of gunpowder residue, he pretended the bags were puppets, law enforcement sources told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver.

The public got its first glimpse into his behavior during his court appearance Monday, where he looked alternately dazed and bug-eyed while occasionally nodding with his eyes appearing to close. Holmes is unmissable, currently sporting a head of bright-orange dyed hair — which he reportedly told authorities he dyed to look like the Joker villain in Batman films, even though the Joker’s hair is typically green.

And now, Arapahoe County Jail officers told ABC News that Holmes spits at them so much that they have to use a spit guard on Holmes while moving him. These antics are just the latest in findings that contradict the initial profile of him as an unassuming former graduate student.

Marissa Randazzo, former chief research psychologist for the U.S. Secret Service and an expert in mass shootings, told Good Morning America today that there are several possible explanations for Holmes’ recent behaviors. “One is that he is in the middle of a psychotic episode which is quite possible. We see him distracted at multiple points, an almost sort of ‘coming to’ and trying to figure out where he is and process what’s going on,” she said.

“The other thing that we’re seeing — and we’ve seen some of this behavior in the past couple months — might suggest mania. Meaning hyperactivity, hyper energy, been possibly up and not sleeping for days. What we might be seeing here is the post effects.” Randazzo said a third possibility is that Holmes, a former neuroscience student, is faking mental symptoms he likely learned during his studies.

UPDATE: Looks like Holmes’ actions are just as mysterious as the man himself. ABC’s Denver affiliate now disputes the spitting reports and states that Holmes has maintained his low-key demeanor since incarceration.

“[C]ontrary to what some media organizations have reported, our sources say in the past 48-hours Holmes has been calm and docile in jail, just like he was in court,” CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia says. “There have been no outbursts at all as he is in isolation.”

Colorado Shooting: Was James Holmes's Notebook 'A Cry For Validation'?

2012-07-26T18:44:00.002-04:00

CS Monitor- News that James Holmes may have tried to communicate his intentions to a professor raises as many questions as it answers.

Details about the package sent to the professor (who is also a psychiatrist in the school where Mr. Holmes had been a doctoral candidate) are sketchy. And so far, there is no firm indication of his motivation in allegedly killing 12 people and wounding 58 others gathered to watch the midnight premiére of the latest Batman movie.

Yet it may have been a last-ditch effort for recognition by one whose isolation had led family members to express concern.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement authorities in Colorado refuse to talk about anything Holmes might have sent to the university campus, and after several days of press briefings, they have followed a judge’s order in refusing all comment – no doubt out of concern that either prosecution or defense interests could be harmed.

But according to several news sources, beginning with Fox News, the notebook that Holmes reportedly sent included stick drawings of some individuals shooting others. What legal advocates on both sides of the criminal case make of that remains to be seen.

"Is it a manifesto or an apology? If it includes drawings that are sufficiently deranged as to be from someone who appears mentally ill, it could assist defense in a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity defense,” legal analyst Scott Robinson told The Denver Post. “If it appears to be the work of someone who knew exactly what they are doing, and they knew it was wrong, that could help the prosecution."

In retrospect, experts and close associates of those who go on a shooting rampage often recall signs of confused thinking and aberrant behavior that might have provided clues to mass violence. In some cases, that involves a pattern of bullying in school, evidence of “going postal” at work, or unusual mood swings observed by family members or close friends.

According to Holmes family friends who spoke to The Washington Post, Holmes’s mother had confided deep concerns about her son’s isolation over the years and sought counseling for him.

But seldom in the history of such killings has the perpetrator explicitly communicated his or her intent to target a particular group.

“It may very well have been a last-ditch cry for help or recognition ... a cry for validation,” says Brian Levin, professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

“If the timeline [as reported] is correct,” Mr. Levin says, “he might have wanted to attract attention for merely contemplating an attack rather than doing it.”

In any case, cautions Levin, “What we know now is just a sliver compared with what we don’t know.”

Still, he speculates that the package sent to a professor is probably a sign of social and psychological isolation, depression, and some kind of personal setback – perhaps Holmes's failure to complete his doctoral program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

After his capture, Holmes is reported to have told authorities about the package he mailed, which led to the evacuation of a university building and a search involving bomb-sniffing dogs. As he was being apprehended after the shooting last Friday morning, Holmes also is reported to have told police about his booby-trapped apartment.

Why he apparently tipped off authorities in these instances also remains unclear, although it may reveal something about his overall motivation.

So far, there is no indication that Holmes’s communication prior to the attack included any kind of political or antisocial manifesto, as was the case with Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber” who killed three people and injured another 23 in a series of mail bombings over nearly 20 years. When The New York Times and The Washington Post published Mr. Kaczynski’s 35,000-word essay, “Industrial Society and Its Future,” his brother David Kaczynski recognized the ideas and writing style, which led to Ted Kaczynski’s capture.

More recently, between two separate attacks in which he shot and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech before killing himself in 2007, Seung-Hui Cho sent NBC News a package with a manifesto, photos, and videos of himself.

Initial reports said Holmes’s mailing to the university sat in the mailroom for some days before being found, but school officials denied that in a statement:

"Officials at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus can confirm that the suspicious package discovered at the Facilities Services building on Monday, July 23, 2012, was delivered to the campus by the United States Postal Service that same day, immediately investigated and turned over to authorities within hours of delivery.”

Holmes is due to hear the charges against him at a court hearing scheduled for next Monday.

R.I.P. Aurora Shooting Victims

2012-07-26T18:37:00.001-04:00

R.I.P. all the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting.

I know it's late in the game to be posting now about this but I have been away on vacation when it had happened... It seems every time I'm away something news worthy happens. I was on a work-related ski trip a few months back when Whitney Houston passed away, and last year at Lake George news broke about Amy Winehouse dying.

I will follow the court trial an hope that they put this douche bag out of his misery.

I just feel so heartbroken thinking of the six year old who died, and how her mother tried to shield her and now she's drifting in and out of consciousness asking for her... It kills me.

3 Children Are Dead After Yacht Capsizes Off Long Island

2012-07-06T21:10:00.000-04:00

WNYC.org- Three children were killed when a yacht capsized off Long Island on the Fourth of July, sending 24 others into the Long Island Sound, where many were rescued by fellow boaters, police said Thursday.

Two girls and a boy — ages 12, 11 and 8 — were in the cabin when the boat flipped.

The man operating the 34-foot Silverton motor yacht told News12 Long Island that the boat was hit by a wave, but authorities said they are investigating whether overcrowding may have caused the accident.

Similar Silverton yachts have a maximum capacity of 15. This vessel was carrying 27 passengers.

The boat was returning to Oyster Bay following a fireworks celebration.

Rescue units from the Coast Guard, Nassau County, New York City, Suffolk County, along with civilian boaters helped search for passengers.

The boat initially sank 20 feet underwater but has since drifted, and is now 60 feet below the surface.

Recovering the yacht will also help Nassau Police determine if the boat had enough life jackets on board.

"Everybody aboard the boat is required to have a life jacket," said Nassau Police spokesman James Imperiale. "If a child is under 12 and he is on deck he is required to have a life vest on. If he's in the cabin he's not required to have one on. Whether or not they were wearing life vests is still being looked at."

The first body was found shortly after the 911 call came in around 10 p.m. Wednesday, and the two others were found later inside the yacht, said Nassau County Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lack.

He said the operation took a long time because "at night in an area like this, it is very dangerous."

TomKat=Over

2012-06-30T20:52:00.000-04:00

The spell is broken! [Muahahaha]

10,000 Still Displaced in Raging Colorado Wildfire

2012-06-30T20:42:00.000-04:00

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – Making steady progress Saturday against the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, crews kept a wary eye on weather that was getting warmer and drier as National Guard troops were deployed to help local police get things back to normal.

"The weather is making progress in a bad direction. Hotter, drier, with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Winds will shift from one direction to another," said Incident Commander Rich Harvey.

The 26-square-mile Waldo Canyon fire was 45 percent contained by Saturday afternoon. It was one of many burning across the West, including eight in Utah and a fast-growing blaze in Montana that forced residents in several small communities to leave.

About 1,200 personnel and six helicopters were fighting the Waldo Canyon fire, and authorities said they were confident they'd built good fire lines in many areas to stop flames from spreading.

"Crews made progress all around the fire,'" said Harvey, who was cautiously optimistic. "The fire potential is still very, very high. It's extreme and explosive."

Two bodies were found in the ruins of one house, one of almost 350 destroyed in this city 60 miles south of Denver. The victims' names haven't been released. Police Chief Pete Carey said Saturday afternoon the approximately 10 people who had been unaccounted for had now been located.

Police did not expect to discover other victims in the rubble.

More than 150 National Guard soldiers and airmen helped Colorado Springs police staff roadblocks and patrol streets. Carey said Saturday the presence of military personnel will allow his department to resume normal police work in the rest of the city.

About 10,000 people remain evacuated, down from more than 30,000 at the fire's peak.

The mood was light as evacuees filtered back into an unscathed neighborhood of winding streets and split-level homes within an easy walk of the burned area.

High school counselor Pat Allen and her husband, Vic Miller, were all smiles less than five minutes after returning to their tri-level home on a quiet cul-de-sac.

"I'm just wanting to kiss the house, dance with the neighbors", Allen said.

Their house didn't smell of smoke. Their electricity was out for two or three days but the popsicles in their freezer didn't melt, she said.

Around the corner, retiree Nina Apsey wandered in search of eight small, solar-powered lights that somebody had taken from her yard during the evacuation.

"I'm assuming it was vandalism," she said.

Prized possessions still piled into the Hyundai sport-utility vehicle in her garage included caribou antlers and antelope and deer head mounts. As flames bore down, she'd also taken a small ceramic cowboy statue. Her late husband taught her how to hunt. He resembled the cowboy, she said.

She wasn't too perturbed about her missing lights because nothing else was touched.

"If that's the worst that happened to me, I'm blessed," she said.

On Sunday people whose homes were burned will be allowed to tour the affected areas. Authorities said some residences would be cordoned off with police tape, and people would not be allowed beyond that point.

The home of Janine Herbertson and her 15-year-old daughter, Tessa Konik, remained unburned amid 150 others that were destroyed, said Herbertson as they ate lunch outside a Red Cross shelter.

Even so, "I'm afraid to go on the tour tomorrow and see our neighborhood in ruins," she said.

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire that broke out on June 23, and which so far has cost $8.8 million to battle. Dangerous conditions had kept them from beginning their inquiry.

Among the fires elsewhere in the West:

• Utah: Residents were sifting through the ashes of more than 50 houses destroyed by a central Utah wildfire. Homeowners were allowed to return Saturday to Indianola along Utah's scenic Route 89. In all, eight wildfires are burning across Utah.

• Montana: Authorities in eastern Montana ordered the evacuation of several communities Saturday as the Ash Creek Complex fires, which has burned more than 70 homes this week, consumed another 72 square miles. The blaze grew to 244 square miles overnight.

• Wyoming: A wind-driven wildfire in a sparsely populated area of southeastern Wyoming exploded from eight square miles to nearly 58 square miles in a single day, and an unknown number of structures have burned. About 200 structures were considered threatened.

• Idaho: A fast-moving 1,000-acre wildfire in eastern Idaho that destroyed 66 homes and 29 outbuildings was expected to be contained Saturday. Some 1,000 residents were evacuated; it was unclear when they would be allowed back.

• Colorado: The last evacuees from the High Park Fire in northern Colorado have been allowed to return home as crews get closer to full containment. The 136-square-mile fire killed one resident and destroyed 259 houses, a state record until the fire near Colorado Springs destroyed 346 homes. In western Colorado, the 18-square-mile Pine Ridge Fire was 10 percent contained.

Eastern US Storms Kill 13, Cut Power to Millions

2012-06-30T20:28:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a heat wave.

Power officials said the outages wouldn't be repaired for several days to a week, likening the damage to a serious hurricane. Emergencies were declared in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, the District of Columbia and Virginia, where Gov. Bob McDonnell said the state had its largest non-hurricane outage in history, as more storms threatened. "This is a very dangerous situation," the governor said.

In West Virginia, 232 Amtrak passengers spent Friday night on a train that was blocked on both sides by trees that fell on the tracks, and they were waiting for buses to pick them up Saturday. And in Illinois, storm damage forced the transfer of dozens of maximum-security, mentally ill prisoners from one prison to another.

In some Virginia suburbs of Washington, emergency 911 call centers were out of service; residents were told to call local police and fire departments. Huge trees fell across streets in Washington, leaving cars crunched up next to them, and onto the fairway at the AT&T National golf tournament in Maryland. Cell phone and Internet service was spotty, gas stations shut down and residents were urged to conserve water until sewage plants returned to power.

The outages were especially dangerous because they left the region without air conditioning in an oppressive heat. Temperatures soared to highs in the mid-90s in Baltimore and Washington, where it had hit 104 on Friday.

"I've called everybody except for the state police to try to get power going," said Karen Fryer, resident services director at two assisted living facilities in Washington. The facilities had generator power, but needed to go out for portable air conditioning units, and Fryer worried about a few of her 100 residents who needed backup power for portable oxygen.

On Saturday night, the train passengers stranded near rural Prince, W.Va., were waiting for buses to pick them up after they got stuck at 11 p.m. the previous evening, said Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm. Kulm said the train bound from New York to Chicago has power, so lights and air conditioning are working. He says that since it's a long-distance train, it was stocked with food and crew members were able to get to town to buy more.

Kulm says passengers should be on the buses sometime Saturday evening.

About 170 miles to the northeast in Morgantown, W.Va., Jeff and Alice Haney loaded their cart at Lowe's with cases of water, extra flashlights and batteries, and wiring for the generator they hoped would be enough to kick-start their air conditioner. Even if they had to live without cool air, the family had a backup plan.

"We have a pool," Jeff Haney said, "so we'll be OK."

The storm did damage from Indiana to New Jersey, although the bulk of it was in West Virginia, Washington and suburban Virginia and Maryland. At least six of the dead were killed in Virginia, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home. Two young cousins in New Jersey were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping. Two were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio, one in Kentucky and one in Washington.

Illinois corrections officials transferred 78 inmates from a prison in Dixon to the Pontiac Correctional Center after storms Friday night caused significant damage, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.

No one was injured, Solano said. Generators are providing power to the prison, which is locked down, confining remaining inmates to their cells.

Utility officials said it could take at least several days to restore power to all customers because of the sheer magnitude of the outages and the destruction. Winds and toppled trees brought down entire power lines, and debris has to be cleared from power stations and other structures. All of that takes time and can't be accomplished with the flip of a switch.

"This is very unfortunate timing," said Myra Oppel, a spokeswoman for Pepco, which reported over 400,000 outages in Washington and its suburbs. "We do understand the hardship that this brings, especially with the heat as intense at is. We will be working around the clock until we get the last customer on."

Especially at risk were children, the sick and the elderly. In Charleston, W.Va., firefighters helped several people using walkers and wheelchairs get to emergency shelters. One of them, David Gunnoe, uses a wheelchair and had to spend the night in the community room of his apartment complex because the power — and his elevator — went out. Rescuers went up five floors to retrieve his medication.

Gunnoe said he was grateful for the air conditioning, but hoped power would be restored so he could go home.

"It doesn't matter if it's under a rock some place. When you get used to a place, it's home," he said.

More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree. Most were bused to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.

Others sought refuge in shopping malls, movie theaters and other places where the air conditioning would be turned to "high."

In Richmond, Va., Tracey Phalen relaxed with her teenage son under the shade of a coffee-house umbrella rather than suffer through the stifling heat of her house, which lost power.

"We'll probably go to a movie theater at the top of the day," she said.

Phalen said Hurricane Irene left her home dark for six days last summer, "and this is reminiscent of that," she said.

Others scheduled impromptu "staycations" or took shelter with friends and relatives.

Robert Clements, 28, said he showered by flashlight on Friday night after power went out at his home in Fairfax, Va. The apartment complex where he lives told his fiancee that power wouldn't be back on for at least two days, and she booked a hotel on Saturday.

Clements' fiancee, 27-year-old Ann Marie Tropiano, said she tried to go to the pool, but it was closed because there was no electricity so the pumps weren't working. She figured the electricity would eventually come back on, but she awoke to find her thermostat reading 81 degrees and slowly climbing. Closing the blinds and curtains didn't help.

"It feels like an oven," she said.

At the AT&T National in Bethesda, Md., trees cracked at their trunks crashed onto the 14th hole and onto ropes that had lined the fairways. The third round of play was suspended for several hours Saturday and was closed to volunteers and spectators. Mark Russell, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competition, couldn't remember another time that a tour event was closed to fans.

"It's too dangerous out here," Russell said. "There's a lot of huge limbs. There's a lot of debris. It's like a tornado came through here. It's just not safe."

The outages disrupted service for many subscribers to Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest when the storm cut power to some of Amazon Inc.'s operations. The video and photo sharing services took to Twitter and Facebook to update subscribers on the outages. Netflix and Pinterest had restored service by Saturday afternoon.

The storm that whipped through the region Friday night was called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh) , a straight line wind storm that sweeps over a large area at high speed. It can produce tornado-like damage. The storm, which can pack wind gusts of up to 90 mph, began in the Midwest, passed over the Appalachian Mountains and then drew new strength from a high pressure system as it hit the southeastern U.S., said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"It's one of those storms," Jackson said. "It just plows through."

A Little Pomerance Park History...

2012-06-30T13:57:00.000-04:00

From a 2007 article that I somehow missed:

An Estate, and a Family, Are Split

BARBARA W. TUCHMAN used to hike up to a tiny wooden cabin, no larger than 100 square feet, on her Cos Cob estate, to sift through notecards of research and type the history books that would make her famous. She could look across the valley from there and watch the deer gathering on the opposite hill at dusk.

Ms. Tuchman twice won the Pulitzer Prize and is one of the best known historians of the 20th century. Her greatest legacy will always be those books, which have sat on the nightstands of presidents. But this land in Cos Cob, she felt, was another kind of legacy. Near the end of her life, she feared that her three daughters would sell it and she wrote them impassioned letters imploring them to keep it in the family.

It was not to be.

A few years after Ms. Tuchman's husband died, two of her daughters sued the third, attempting to divide the land and sell their portions. The dispute has lasted four years.

Earlier this month, a judge divided the 43.4 acres that remain of the estate. Cos Cob is part of Greenwich and the town plans to buy about two-thirds of the property, while Alma, 56, Ms. Tuchman's youngest daughter, will continue to own and live on the 12.52 acres left. She will likely appeal the ruling.

Barbara Tuchman's father, Maurice Wertheim, a wealthy banker, bought the approximately 120-acre estate in 1912, the same year she was born. She was raised in New York, but spent weekends and summers in Cos Cob riding horses, swimming in the pond and enjoying the natural beauty of the land. Greenwich residents sometimes got to enjoy the property, too. John B. Margenot Jr., a longtime Greenwich resident and former first selectman, said he remembers skating at the Tuchmans' pond with other children.

''They were good about things like that,'' he said.

Ms. Tuchman graduated from Radcliffe College in 1933 and married Dr. Lester Reginald Tuchman, a New York internist, in 1939. Around the end of World War II, the couple moved into a building that held a chicken coop and potting house on the Cos Cob property. The Tuchmans still lived in New York, but went to the house on weekends and during the summer. Their three children rode horses in a ring next to the house and rowed a canoe to an island in the middle of the seven-acre pond for picnics.

Meanwhile, Barbara Tuchman became famous. Her book ''Guns of August,'' about the beginning of World War I, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962. She ''treated herself'' to the writer's cabin with its stone fireplace using the proceeds from one of her books, said Alma Tuchman. When she was deep into a book, she would climb the hill to the cabin at 7 a.m. and stay there for the next 12 hours, save for a trip back to the house for a sandwich, which she would carry back on a tray, Alma Tuchman recalled.

The telegram informing Ms. Tuchman that she had won her first Pulitzer Prize still hangs in her study in the house, next to a picture of former President Jimmy Carter with a note attached assuring Ms. Tuchman that the president was reading her book.

Though the world was lining up at the door, the family became less apt to open the property to members of the community as time went on: ''It wasn't any longer a small-town community,'' Alma Tuchman said.

Late in life, Lester and Barbara Tuchman moved to Cos Cob for good and Ms. Tuchman continued working on her books. She still had a book on the best-seller list when she died in 1989.

While she was still alive, Ms. Tuchman had deeded the property to her daughters to share evenly.

Alma Tuchman retired from her job as a journalist and moved to the property in the late 1980's, but her sisters lived in other parts of the country. Lucy Eisenberg, a retired lawyer, lives in Los Angeles. Another sister, Jessica Mathews, is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. Ms. Eisenberg said she did not want to comment about the property. Ms. Mathews did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Barbara Tuchman insisted nothing be done with the property for 10 years after her death, Alma Tuchman said. She wanted the land to remain in the family's hands because it had given her ''a basic happiness and comfort ever since our establishment here as a family,'' Barbara wrote in a ''letter to my family'' in 1988. In the letter, she specifically warned against selling it to the town to use ''as a park or so-called 'open space.'''

But after the 10 years passed, the dispute began, pitting the sisters against each other. Alma Tuchman wanted to remain living on the land and preserve the entire parcel for the family, but her sisters wanted to claim their own portions, eventually deciding to sell them to the town.

With the sisters unable to resolve differences, Ms. Eisenberg and Ms. Mathews sued Alma Tuchman in October 2000. The case dragged on: The file has five parts and is about six inches thick, its own epic history.

Ms. Eisenberg and her husband, David, have created a trust to control their piece of property. In June 2001, the town of Greenwich entered into an agreement with Ms. Mathews and the Eisenbergs to purchase their share of the property for $8.67 million. In May 2002, the town intervened in the lawsuit to protect its interest.

The decision came back Aug. 4. The judge, David R. Tobin, split the land into two pieces, giving about two-thirds to Ms. Eisenberg and her sister and one-third to Alma Tuchman. Her 12.52-acre portion, which will be maintained as a private estate, is worth $9,525,000, according to Judge Tobin's ruling.

The land given to the two other sisters is 30.74 acres and is worth $18,050,000, the judge said. All of this is subject to appeal. The Eisenbergs and Ms. Mathews have agreed to make a charitable donation to the town to make up the difference between the value of the land and the price they have already negotiated.

Alma Tuchman said she no longer speaks to her two sisters. Barbara Tuchman, she said, would be ''appalled and sickened'' by what happened.

The town has not yet decided what it will do with the land, though it has expressed interest in allowing it to remain undeveloped as open space. The town has already purchased the adjacent Pomerance property, part of Mr. Wertheim's original estate and deeded to another one of his daughters. The town allows the public to use it. The parcel owned by Ms. Mathews and the Eisenberg trust could be added to the Pomerance parcel to create one larger piece of open space.

Jim Lash, the first selectman of Greenwich, said the town planned to review the ruling once it is final and decide what to do. He said he foresees three options for the land: open space, playing fields, or low-income housing.

''There are a number of possibilities there,'' he said last week.

Alma Tuchman, a conservationist who talks about the threatened species on the property and the various kinds of weeds clinging to the trees, is concerned that even if the town decided to keep the land as open space, it won't spend money on maintenance. The Pomerance property has already been overtaken in spots by weeds, and last week garbage and a discarded beer can floated in the pond.

''Over all it's very admirable in concept for the town to spend so much money acquiring open space, but I think it's also irresponsible to acquire land that you cannot take care of, and I think it's clear that the town can't take care of what it already has acquired,'' she said. ''Open space becomes nobody's land and nobody's responsibility.''

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Wyndygoul's "manor" house, located at the top of a one-quarter mile uphill drive, was designed by Seton in a style that reflected his unique personal architectural ideals, later carried out in three other houses as well. It combined the styles of American western stucco and stone with British Tudor and was a three-story construction, with low, beamed ceilings, thick walls and wood cornices, a large bay window, and generally simple, somewhat boxy lines.

Circa 1908. "Wyndygoul, home of E.T. Seton." The writer-naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton, one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, at his Cos Cob, Connecticut, estate.

Greenwich Murderer's Release Troubles Family

2012-06-30T12:30:00.000-04:00

Greenwich Time- A man who murdered a former friend's father because he believed the father and son were conspiring against him is back in prison after recently spending 10 days in a halfway house in Bridgeport.

In one of the most shocking killings in town history, former backcountry resident Andrew D. Wilson, now 51, gunned down John Peters on Aug. 5, 1993, while Peters was swimming laps in the pool behind his Ridgeview Avenue home. The 62-year-old Peters was the president of one of the world's largest advertising firms.

Wilson's release to a halfway house in Bridgeport on June 12 alarmed Peters' relatives, who said they were not aware of Wilson's release until after it occurred.
"We were shocked, we were shocked and concerned," a family spokesman said. "We were really relieved that they put him back in prison."
The family member spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for the family's safety.

It is unclear what events led Wilson, who is scheduled to be released from prison in 2014, to be sent to a halfway house, a facility intended to allow convicts to begin the process of reintegrating into society.

In an emailed family statement, relatives expressed their fear of what Wilson, who pleaded guilty to the crime in 1999, might do.

"We are very concerned that Wilson may continue to pose a threat to us and possibly others," the email read. "Before and during the trial, we heard Wilson openly state his intent to kill other members of our family. Wilson was diagnosed as suffering from delusional paranoid schizophrenia, an illness that doesn't just simply go away. We want to know who is going to make the judgment that he is no longer a threat to us or others."

The spokesman said the family was told by experts before the murder that Wilson would not act on his beliefs. They want to ensure another mistake isn't made, the statement said.

Andrius Banevicius, a state Department of Correction spokesman, said Wilson was released to the halfway house on June 12, but was returned to the Bridgeport Correctional Center on June 22. Four days later, he was returned to the Enfield Correctional Institution, where he is serving a 30-year sentence.

"He was returned without prejudice, so he didn't do anything wrong," Banevicius said. "Apparently there had been additional paperwork that had not been properly routed that needed to be reviewed."

Banevicius said he could not identify the paperwork in question.

Attempts to reach the Wilson family were unsuccessful.

After fatal shooting John Peters in 1993, Wilson immediately drove to Greenwich police headquarters and confessed to the killing, of which police were not yet aware.

Wilson, a former friend of Peters' son, Dirk, who served as an usher at the son's wedding, claimed Dirk had brainwashed him and blamed the family for his problems.

His mental condition so alarmed his sister, Julia, that she faxed a 14-page letter to the police departments in Madison, where Wilson was living at the time, and Greenwich on July 19, 1993.

In the letter, Julia Wilson wrote that her brother was dangerous to himself and others and that he had made specific, violent threats against Dirk and John Peters.

In 1995, two years after the killing, Wilson was convicted of murder and sentenced to 60 years in prison. A jury rejected his defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Two years later, the state's Supreme Court reversed Wilson's conviction and ordered a retrial because a judge improperly instructed jurors on the definition of insanity.
In October 1999, shortly before he was to go to trial a second time, Wilson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Even though he has a 30-year sentence, Wilson will be released no later than March 2014.

Banevicius said under guidelines in place in 1993, prisoners were credited for good behavior.

Wilson could possibly be released even earlier, he said.

On March 16, 2004, the Town of Greenwich agreed to pay $4.5 million to Peters' widow Katrina Peters to settle her claim against the town for negligence in her husband's death.

The agreement came just hours before jurors were to begin deliberating in her lawsuit, which had gone to trial the month before.

Cult Murder of Baby Still Unsolved

2012-06-30T12:18:00.001-04:00

NBC- Twenty-six years after a mysterious murder of an unnamed child, Fairfield police may be closed to finding the killer

A baby bundled in bloody white blankets, just hours old, was found by the banks of Lake Mohegan in Fairfield March 14, 1986. The boy was strangled and abandoned, and left for passerby to find. Surrounding Baby Doe were signs of a sinister motive.

Fruit and coins littered the crime scene. Police believed those clues pointed to the Occult. Specifically, a little-known religion called Palo Mayombe, known to ritually use human remains. Researchers involved with the case say Palo Mayombe is a dark offshoot of the Santeria religion. Santeria is a mix of Afro-Caribbean and Catholic faiths.

“The weather was just like this. Cold, rainy,” said Fairfield Police Det. Kerry Dalling. .

The questions remain unanswered: Who killed Baby Doe? And how come no one has ever claimed him?

“It was a baby. It was an innocent child and what was done to him was horrific,” said Dalling.

The killers inflicted terrible wounds on the infant, including facial mutilation and breaking the baby's jaw. Police believe they wanted the child to be found.

"Were they trying to send a message? Yes,” said forensic expert Richard Walter. Walter is a founding member of the Vidocq Society, a group of cold case experts sought after by law enforcement around the country to help crack unsolved cases.
DNA evidence uncovered in the last two years has breathed new life into the case.

"The murder is not over when the body dies. The murder is over when the perp stops deriving satisfaction from the killing, Walter said. "As a consequence the people unwittingly continue to give evidence, and that's a huge advantage to the investigation if they know how to read them. That’s one of my skills,” he said.

New forensic evidence has narrowed the pool of suspects. Detectives have a DNA profile of the baby. With help from the Vidocq Society, old information has led to fresh leads. While they are careful of what they reveal, investigators are confident they have the killers in their sights.

"We're coming. And we have every intention of solving this case,” said Dalling.

They have a message for the murderers.

"Somebody is going to be knocking on your door,” warned Walter.

Police believe someone in the community knows something about the murder.

“Somebody's got to be the voice for that child,” she said.

(The former bank processing center that once stood where Sym's is now. Police think that a baby found dead at Lake Mohegan in 1986 may have been born in a bathroom stall there.)

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Fairfield Police at 203-254-4840.

Meryl Streep's Haunted Connecticut Estate

2012-06-29T19:39:00.000-04:00

I had no idea Meryl even had a house in Connecticut! I love Meryl Streep!

I did a bit of research and learned that her house is in Salisbury.

According to the Times of India:

“Everybody was down at the pool… and I was gathering all the stuff. We were doing some work on the house and we were living in the guesthouse and I was downstairs sitting at a desk and I heard what sounded like a grand piano fall… in the room above my head,” the Daily Express quoted Streep as saying.

“My first thought was that it was one of the kids… I screamed upstairs and halfway up the stairs the hairs stood up… and I realised no one was home. I searched (the rooms)… and there was nothing out of place, there was nothing in the attic, there was nothing on the roof,” she said.

She had a similar experience again after a few years, when her sculptor husband invited some clients from Japan to stay in the guesthouse.

“They had taken the 22-hour flight and had dinner and fallen asleep… They were so tired… We put them all in the house and the next morning (husband) Don went up to collect them… and there they all were in the living room, dressed, wide awake… They said, ‘Spirit, spirit!” she said.

.collection of things *not to forget*