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Thursday, 3 January 2013

Connecticut attorney general says Newtown legal claim misguided

(Reuters) - A $100 million claim filed against the state of Connecticut in the wake of a school shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead two weeks ago is misguided, Connecticut's attorney general said in a statement on Monday.

Last week, a New Haven-based attorney filed an intention to sue the state on behalf of a 6-year-old survivor of the December 14 attack - the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Under Connecticut law, any claim against the state must be approved by the state claims commissioner before it can move forward. The state attorney general serves as the state's defense attorney.

"Our hearts go out to this family, and to all the children and families affected by the Newtown shootings," Attorney General George Jepsen said in a statement. "They deserve a thoughtful and deliberate examination of the causes of this tragedy and of the appropriate public policy responses."

A public policy response by the U.S. Congress and the Connecticut state legislature would be "more appropriate" than legal action, said a spokeswoman for Jepsen.

"Although the investigation is still under way, we are aware of no facts or legal theory under which the State of Connecticut should be liable for causing the harms inflicted at Sandy Hook Elementary School," the statement added.

Connecticut attorney Irv Pinsky said he filed a claim on Thursday with state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr.

Vance said on Monday that he has not yet seen the claim and could not comment on a pending legal matter.

The unidentified client, referred to as Jill Doe, heard "cursing, screaming, and shooting" over the school intercom when the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to the claim.

Pinsky's claim said that the state Board of Education, state Department of Education and state education commissioner had failed to take appropriate steps to protect children from "foreseeable harm" and had failed to provide a "safe school setting."

"We all know it's going to happen again," Pinsky said last week. "Society has to take action."

Pinsky said he was approached by the child's parents within a week of the shooting. He did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on Monday.

The shooting, in which Lanza took his own life, has prompted extensive debate about gun control and the suggestion by the National Rifle Association that schools be patrolled by armed guards. Police have said the gunman killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their home in Newtown before going to the school about 5 miles away.

Earlier on Monday, a spokesman for Adam Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, said the family had claimed the gunman's body from the state medical examiner's office. Plans for Lanza's burial were not disclosed.

(Additional reporting by Chris Francescani; Editing by Dan Burns, Leslie Gevirtz and Maureen Bavdek)

(This story was corrected to fix the school name to Sandy Hook in the sixth and ninth paragraphs)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/100m-claim-against-connecticut-school-shooting-dropped-162711362.html

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Wednesday, 2 January 2013

Clashes in Syria shut down Aleppo airport

In this Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 photo, Free Syrian Army fighters fire at enemy positions during heavy clashes with government forces, in the Salaheddine district in Aleppo, Syria. Activists say Syrian rebels have captured an oil pumping station in the north central province of Raqqa about 160 km east of Aleppo after days of fighting. (AP Photo/Abdullah Al-Yasin)

In this Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 photo, Free Syrian Army fighters fire at enemy positions during heavy clashes with government forces, in the Salaheddine district of Aleppo, Syria. Activists say Syrian rebels have captured an oil pumping station in the north central province of Raqqa about 160 km east of Aleppo after days of fighting. (AP Photo/Abdullah Al-Yasin)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Clashes between government troops and rebels on Tuesday forced the international airport in Aleppo to stop all flights in and out of Syria's largest city, while fierce battles also raged in the suburbs of the capital Damascus.

The rebels have been making inroad in the civil war recently, capturing a string of military bases and posing a stiff challenge to the regime in Syria's two major cities ? Damascus and Aleppo.

The opposition trying to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar Assad has been fighting for control of Aleppo since the summer, and they have captured large swathes of territory in Aleppo province west and north of the city up to the Turkish border.

In the past few weeks, the rebels have stepped up their attacks on airports around Aleppo province, trying to chip away at the government's air power, which poses the biggest obstacle to their advances.

The air force has been bombing and strafing rebel positions and attacking towns under opposition control for months. But the rebels have no planes or effective anti-aircraft weapons to counter the attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-regime activist group, said the fighting around the base of Syrian army Brigade 80, part of a force protecting Aleppo International Airport, led to the closure of the airport late Monday.

"Heavy fighting is taking place around Brigade 80," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory. The Observatory relies on a network of activists around Syria.

"The airport has been closed since yesterday," he said.

The Syrian government had no comment on the closing of the airport. On Saturday, Syria's national airline canceled a flight to Aleppo because of fighting nearby.

Rebels have warned that they would target civilian as well as military planes using the Aleppo airport, saying the regime is using civilian planes to bring in supplies and weapons.

The rebels have been attacking three other airports in the Aleppo area, including a military helicopter base near the Turkish border. They have posted dozens of videos online that appear to show fighters shooting mortars, homemade rockets and sniper rifles at targets inside the bases.

There was also heavy fighting in the Damascus suburb of Daraya, southwest of the capital. Daraya is one of the closest suburbs to the capital and is on the edge of two important neighborhoods that are home to a strategic air base and government headquarters.

The fighting in Daraya was so fierce that the explosions echoed in some parts of the capital.

Although the regime still tightly controls much of Damascus, its seat of power, rebels have been posing a stiffer challenge in the suburbs. In the past few weeks, there has been fighting near the capital's international airport that interrupted some flights. The road to the airport, just south of the capital, was also closed during the fighting.

The Observatory and activist Mohammed Saeed, who is based near Damascus, said Syrian warplanes bombed Daraya on Tuesday.

State-run news agency SANA said troops killed "tens of terrorists" in Daraya and nearby areas. The regime refers to rebels as "terrorists."

Activists say more than 45,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began 22 months ago.

Daraya is few kilometers (miles) from the strategic military air base of Mazzeh in a western neighborhood of the capital. It is also on the edge of the Kfar Sousseh neighborhood that is home to the government headquarters, the General Security intelligence agency head office and the Interior Ministry. That ministry was targeted in a recent suicide attack that wounded Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar.

"The regime is doing all it can to regain Daraya," said Maath al-Shami, an activist based in the Syrian neighborhood of Mazzeh, via Skype. "The regime is dying to get back it back," he added.

"Daraya is the gate of Damascus for the rebels," said al-Shami.

Amateur videos showed smoke billowing from Daraya from what activists said were the air raids. Another video showed a street covered with debris as fire raged on the second floor of a five-story building.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.

In August, activists reported that between 300 and 600 people were killed in Daraya over several days in a killing spree by troops and pro-regime militiamen who stormed the town after heavy fighting and days of shelling.

The Observatory and al-Shami reported sporadic shelling and clashes in southern neighborhoods of Damascus and the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk on Tuesday. The Observatory said shelling and snipers fire killed two people in Yarmouk and two in another neighborhood.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-01-Syria/id-975df238c0c2404c81a64201af6a7a41

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LA photographer killed while shooting Bieber's car

FILE - Canadian singer Justin Bieber attends at the Premiere of his film 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never' in this Feb. 17, 2011 file photo taken in Paris. Police say a paparazzo was hit by a car and killed after taking photos of Justin Bieber's white Ferrari on a Los Angeles street Tuesday evening Jan. 1, 2013. Los Angeles police Officer James Stoughton says the photographer, who was not identified, died at a hospital shortly after the crash Tuesday evening. Stoughton says Bieber was not in the Ferrari at the time. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Police say a paparazzo was hit by a car and killed after taking photos of Justin Bieber's Ferrari sports car in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police Officer James Stoughton says the man died at a hospital Tuesday evening. Stoughton says Bieber was not in the car at the time.

Sgt. Rudy Lopez told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/ZTtuCt ) that the pop star's friend was driving the car when it was pulled over for a traffic stop. It was parked on a busy street when the photographer arrived.

Police say the man was struck by a car as he returned to his own car.

Stoughton says no charges are expected against the motorist who hit the man.

A call to a Bieber publicist was not immediately returned.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-02-Paparazzo%20Killed/id-3d3a9fa4ec7c42d891ffe557465a1424

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Tuesday, 1 January 2013

2013 Chili Bowl | Ellington-Somers Sports & Recreation Events on ...

Saturday, February 2, 2013, 6:00 pm

Deer Valley Townhomes, 155 Windermere Ave, Ellington, CT | Get?Directions??
$20.00

2013 Chili Bowl

Join the Friends of Ellington Tennis as we host our 2013 Chili Bowl, on Saturday, February 2^nd, 6-10 p.m. (the night before the big game), at the Deer Valley Clubhouse. Wear your favorite team?s colors, or make and enter your best chili for a chance to win our big prize (not a trip to Disney
World), or just come join your friends for a night out to break the winter doldrums.

Tickets are $20 each, and $5 per child, and include your
entry, some great chili and snacks, billiards, pool, and beer/wine. Tickets are available at Five Corners Wine & Spirits and Little House in the Country Childcare.
For more information write fofellingtontennis@snet.net
or call 860-462-3627. ?

41.878132

-72.485535

primary

2013 Chili Bowl

February 2, 2013, 6:00 pm?10:00 pm

Deer Valley Townhomes

155 Windermere Ave, Ellington, CT

/listings/deer-valley-townhomes

684629

/locations/8495614

Source: http://ellington-somers.patch.com/events/2013-chili-bowl

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Island real estate transactions ? 01-02-2013 ? Archive ? Anna Maria ...

212 52^nd St., Unit 6, Villas of Holmes Beach, Holmes Beach, a 2,656 sfla / 3,898 sfur 3bed/3bath/2car bayview condo with shared pool built in 2006 was sold 12/07/12, Odom to Schlossberg for $625,000; list $730,000.

310 66^th St., Holmes Beach, a 1,974 sfla / 2,517 sfur 3bed/3bath/1car? pool home built in 1961 on a 85?91 lot was sold 12/10/12, Handley to Barefoot Bliss LLC for $565,000; list $599,000.

522 72^nd St., Holmes Beach, a 1,949 sfla / 2,865 sfur 3bed/2bath/2car canalfront home built in 1961 on a 100?117 lot was sold 12/07/12, Willman to Upshaw for $550,000; list $559,000.

5802 De Palmas Ave., Holmes Beach, a 1,520 sfla 3bed/3bath home built in 1969 on a 50?101 lot was sold 12/14/12, Davis to Martins for $485,000; list $499,000.

5608 Holmes Blvd., Unit A, Barefoot Bungalows, Holmes Beach, a 1,040 sfla / 1,502 sfur 2bed/1bath condo with pool built in 1957 was sold 12/17/12, Florida Gulf Coast Vacation Homes LLC to Herrick for $450,000; list $489,000.

312 57^th St., Unit B, Turtle Towers, Holmes Beach, a 1,918 sfla / 2,315 sfur 3bed/2bath condo with pool built in 2010 was sold 12/12/12, Axiotis to Pokrovskaia for $425,000.

215 66^th St., Holmes Beach, a 1,114 sfla / 1,390 sfur 3bed/2bath/1car home built in 1977 on a 54?105 lot was sold 12/11/12, JH 2 LLC to 215 66^th LLC for $415,000; list $439,000.

113 North Bay Blvd., Anna Maria, a vacant canalfront 56?110 lot was sold 12/14/12, Hebebrand to Pearson for $370,000; list $399,000.

211 82^nd St., Holmes Beach, a 2,124 sfla / 2,204 sfur 4bed/2?bath duplex built in 1956 on a 90?90 lot was sold 12/14/12, Mele to Goerlitz for $325,000.

1000 Gulf Dr. N., Unit 2, Beach House Resort, Bradenton Beach, a 480 sfla 1bed/1bath Gulfview condo with shared pool built in 1983 was sold 12/14/12, Frady to Lopez for $290,000.

Jesse Brisson, broker/associate at Gulf-Bay Realty of Anna Maria, can be reached at 941-778-7244.

Source: http://www.islander.org/2012/12/island-real-estate-transactions-01-02-2013/

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