Connecticut Postings

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes said Tuesday evening that he would support a resolution asking House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel to step down from his post.

Rangel was admonished by the House ethics panel last week for taking several trips to the Caribbean that were paid by private corporations, a violation of the chamber’s gift rules.

It may all be moot, anyway, because Rangel reportedly may be prepared to step down from his leadership post.

Last week, when  Himes announced he was donating to charity all campaign money received from Rangel, the amount at issue was reported to be $2,000 by the Himes staff.

It turned out that $16,000 was the total — $2,000 from the current campaign and $14,000 from the previous election cycle — from Rangel’s PAC and his campaign committee.

Himes’ campaign Tuesday sent $4,000 checks to ABCD, Inc. of Bridgeport, NEON of Norwalk, the Housing Development Fund serving Southwest Connecticut, and CTE of Stamford.

Republican Laura Hoydick has won the special election for the 120th Assembly District seat recently vacated by Stratford Mayor John A. Harkins.

Hoydick received 1,949 votes to 1,390 for Democrat Janice Andersen. Hoydick won in all six voting districts with 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Andersen.

Raul Suner, also known as “Sonny,” 49, of Milford, pleaded guilty today before Senior United States District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to one count of racketeering conspiracy stemming from his involvement in an illegal gambling operation, Nora R. Dannehy, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced Tuesday.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Suner and Phillip John Bauco of Bridgeport operated an illegal sports betting operation that utilized the internet to access an offshore betting service in order to facilitate the bets and payoffs.
Suner used threats and violence in order to maintain control over the gambling enterprise, including injuring a bookmaker by repeatedly striking him with a baseball bat when the bookmaker could not satisfy a debt, according to information supplied by Dannehy.
On another occasion, Suner threatened the same bookmaker with a knife and wiped blood on the bookmaker’s jacket, according to Dannehy.
Law enforcement officers subsequently obtained a DNA match linking SUNER to the knife incident.
Suner and Bauco used Bauco’s business, Auto Town Sales in Stratford, to hold meetings related to the criminal enterprise, and to collect debts from other bookmakers and gamblers, according to Dannehy.
Judge Covello has scheduled sentencing for May 21, 2010, at which time Suner faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
In addition to the racketeering conspiracy charge, on Oct. 8, 2008, Suner pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. In pleading guilty, Suner admitted that, on March 4, 2008, he knowingly possessed a Browning 9mm semi-automatic pistol bearing an obliterated serial number.
Suner has been incarcerated since his arrest by federal officials on March 6, 2008.
On Jan. 28, Bauco pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy. He awaits sentencing.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police and the Milford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ray Miller.

HARTFORD – Workers at the Kleen Energy Plant in Middletown were taking big chances when they used pressurized natural gas to blow out debris from new pipes on the morning of Feb. 7, a federal investigator told lawmakers Tuesday morning.
Donald Holstrom, investigations supervisor for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), said during an informational forum on power plant construction and safety that even though the workers were venting the gas into the open, there were too many possible ignition sources.
“In the recent period, gas venting issues have become a major concern at the Chemical Safety Board,” said Holstrom. “The venting that we saw recently in Connecticut was to the outdoors, albeit in a congested area near a building. “ The difference between the Connecticut blast where six died and one last summer at a meat products factory in North Carolina where four were killed, was that the Kleen Energy plant used gas under high pressure, he said.

Cablevision subscribers this morning turned on their television sets to discover that they may lose their channel 7, or the ABC network.

Unlike Cablevision’s negotiations with the Food Network, the cable company has decided to be proactive, setting cable boxes to turn on to channel 1999, which shows a message – that plays over and over again – explaining to their customers what is going on in the negotiations – and bashing the ABC execs for asking for what they call an extra $40 million “TV Tax,” in addition to the $200 million Cablevision says they already pay the network.

They bash ABC for asking for the increase even though they have a free license from the government to broadcast their programs over the air and they already show their programs for free online. ABC channels include ESPN, ESPN 2, Disney Channel and ABC Family.

In their message, Cablevision says ABC is threatening to take channel 7 off the air if they don’t get the “$40 million raise.”

“We would never choose to take ABC off the air,” the Cablevision announcer says.

In the message, they say the fee increases could cost Americans up to $1 billion a year. Cablevision also claims ABC is probably asking for the “raise” because their theme parks are struggling, their advertising revenue is down and “need millions to pay executive salaries and bonuses,” among other things.

“Don’t be misled by a slick ABC advertising campaign. We apologize for their actions,” the announcer says.

At the end of the message, the announcer urges Cablevision subscribers to call or e-mail ABC to fight the “TV Tax.”

UPDATE: Here is a link to a story that may answer some of your questions about the issue.