Mayor Eddie A. Perez pleaded not guilty to bribery charges in Superior Court in Hartford this morning and asked that his case go immediately to trial. Instead, his case was continued to March 3.
Also this morning, former city employee Edward Lazu pleaded not guilty to bribery and second-degree forgery charges.
Perez's mother, his wife Maria and his lawyer, Hubert J. Santos, accompanied him to court this morning. The mayor was arrested last Tuesday and charged with bribery, fabricating evidence and conspiracy to fabricate evidence in connection with allegedly deeply discounted work done at his home by city contractor Carlos Costa, owner of USA Contractors.
The case against Perez is connected to roughly $20,000 he paid Costa for a new kitchen counter and a renovated bathroom. Costa was arrested last Monday and charged with bribery, fabricating evidence and conspiracy to fabricate evidence. As Costa worked on the $7.3 million Park Street project, he also worked on the mayor's Bloomfield Avenue house beginning in 2005. He did so without proper permits, and some of the work was done by an unlicensed contractor. The work was completed in 2006, and Perez has said he did not pay Costa for the work — estimated to be worth $40,000 — until July 2007.
Echoing what he said after investigators executed a search warrant on his home in August 2007, Perez called his decision to hire Costa a "lapse in judgment."
"There is no excuse for it. I apologize for putting my family and my city under this situation," Perez said. But he added, "At the end of the day, a lapse in judgment is not a crime."
Lazu was also arrested last Tuesday and charged with one count of receiving a bribe and two counts of second-degree forgery. As a city contract compliance supervisor, Lazu was in charge of overseeing the employee who monitored Costa's work on Park Street. But state investigators also have asked questions about a driveway that Costa partially built for Lazu in 2004. Lazu paid Costa $1,100 to begin work on the driveway at Lazu's Broadview Terrace house, Brown has said. Costa did some work until a neighbor complained, and the work was never completed.
State criminal investigators have been looking into allegations of political corruption in the mayor's administration since early 2007, seeking documents and secret testimony and forming an investigatory grand jury in October 2007.
Now, here's the same story, written by WNPR's Anna Sale today:
Hartford mayor Eddie Perez pled not guilty to charges of bribery and fabricating evidence on Tuesday, and his attorney made clear he wants to move swiftly onto a trial.
Perez did not speak during his 5-minute arraignment in Superior Court, but his lawyer Hubert Santos told Judge Julia Dewey that the mayor wants to get right to fighting the charges against him.
"We would ask for an immediate trial, your honor. We're prepared to go to trial today."
But state prosecutor Christopher Alexy told the judge that the state has amassed a dozen bankers boxes of evidence that he thinks the defense may want to review before trial.
Judge Dewey agreed, and asked both sides to work with a court scheduler to set a "realistic date" for trial. She scheduled a pretrial conference for March 3.
Mayor Eddie Perez was arrested last week after a more than a year-long grand jury investigation. State prosecutors allege that Perez took a bribe when he had a city contractor renovate his home in 2005.
Perez did not pay for the work until two years later, after investigators questioned him about it. Prosecutors say that $20,000 payment only covered about half of the value of the kitchen and bathroom upgrades.
Perez has apologized for hiring the city contractor for work on his home, but denies that he broke any law. He says he has no plans to resign.
So, what's different about these two stories? One's shorter, of course, one has more detail. But what is it about the writing that's different? If you've read far enough in the book, and listened to some broadcast news, you have a pretty good idea. I have for you a few very simple re-writing excercises to do for next week. I'm going to give you some links to print versions of stories, that I'd like for you to re-write in a more radio-friendly way. That means:
1. Shorter sentences.
2. Paraphrase the quotes (or soundbites) into your own words.
3. Write the way you speak.
These stories should flow, and make sense as read. Make sure that when you read these stories, they're no more than one minute long each. If you have questions about how to do this, you'll find most of them in that marvelous chapter 3...and some of the "Basic Rules" we talked about last week. Please post them to the comments section of this blog post. I'll give you until tomorrow evening, since we're getting a late start. Then, we'll go over next week. Here are the selections...and have fun:
Daschle Withdraws
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/us/politics/04obama.html?_r=1&hp
Hospital Merger
http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-webuconn0204feb04,0,1851156.story
State to help Sub Base
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=40c9f0a7-f5ed-4c5d-8727-a8b272c67dd0
18 comments:
Nicole's here.
Hello...anyone else there? I'll be posting some copy and thoughts in a moment. We won't be doing too much here tonight...bad weather and a slow DSL are hampering my plans.
I'm here.
I'm here as well.
courtneys here too.
Okay...the final post is there...with some writing assignments. I"m sorry this is so slow...something's wrong with computer...hope to fix soon. read the post for further instructions, and we'll see you next week. happy writing...
myra here at all? Never heard from her...
Is this due tonight or next week in class?
sorry that was me, havent quite figured this out yet
Please do it in the next day. I'd like to have these by tomorrow night to look over. It's just an exercise...don't sweat about it too much. it's just to get us ready for next week...jd
where is the assignment posted?
Tu Do's here. I'm sorry for late. Your email was in my spam, so I haven't recognised I had reveiced it till now.
I will follow your instructions. Thanks.
Daschle:
Tom Daschle followed Nancy Killefer’s lead today.
Daschle withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Although the media and certain members of congress have scrutinized Daschle’s income tax issues, as recently as yesterday, it looked as though his nomination was going to pass.
Yesterday Mr. Daschle discussed his remorse over failure to pay approximately $140,000 in taxes on time, but he assured the public he would continue to move forward with his nomination.
Mr. Daschle and President Obama jointly announced Daschle’s withdraw today.
The move came just a day following a push for Daschle’s appointment from Massachusetts senator, Edward M. Kennedy, and Montana senator, Max Baucus, who happens to run the Senate Finance Committee.
President Obama also voiced support for Mr. Daschle yesterday and today said he accepted the withdrawal “with sadness and regret.”
President Obama says it is now time to move forward.
He appeared on ABC’s Nightly News to say he “screwed up.”
Daschle’s withdrawal came only hours after chief White House performance officer nominee, Nancy Killefer, removed her name from the running.
Like Daschel, Killefer had tax issues of her own surface after failure to pay unemployment taxes.
White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said today, the White House did not influence either of their decisions to withdraw.
Hospital Merger:
A proposal shows that state funding may be required in the merger between the University of Connecticut Health Center and Hartford Hospital.
According to the report, the merger could help UCONN’s Health Center become a larger, more successful academic hospital.
Last year the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering recommended that UCONN merge with another facility to help with its financial problems.
The potential merger would reportedly result in a number of changes.
A University Hospital with two campuses would be created.
The John Dempsey Hospital would be replaced with a new 250 bed facility.
And although union workers at UCONN’s Health Center would keep their state employee status, the state would now be forced to pay millions to cover fringe benefit costs.
The merger faces numerous challenges.
The building of a new facility to replace John Dempsey Hospital would cost an estimated $425 million.
This comes at a time when funding from the state just might not be possible.
After all Connecticut is looking at potential deficits in the billions.
Another potential problem: the UCONN employees are union workers, while The Hartford Hospital is a nonunion facility.
And lawmakers voiced concern over differing missions of the two hospitals.
The full proposal will be presented to legislators later today.
Naval base:
The state of Connecticut just offered a naval base $7.65 million to stay afloat in Groton.
The state’s making the unique offer for construction opportunities at the base.
A Navy spokewoman says she has never seen such an offer.
In 2007, legislature approved $40 million to go to improving the base.
Governor Rell wants to use some of the money now to make a statement.
She wants to show the Navy that Connecticut is committed to the base.
Providing the money now also helps to solidify defense jobs.
Governor Rell fears the base, which faced being shut down in 2005, could again be on the chopping block.
She feels the current proposal will help to quiet any future discussions of shutting the base down.
Rell says, “The submarine base has an annual economic impact that can be measured in billions of dollars…”
Laura Stegherr, a Navy spokeswoman, says an offer like this shows the state is committed to its support of the navy.
Justin Bernier of the state’s Office of Military Affairs, says the deal is just taking some time to file through the proper channels.
The state continues to work on the agreement that will specify exactly how the money must be used.
Bernier plans on the deal being solidified in the coming weeks.
Cabinet Nominee Withdrawal
With great surprise, President Obama’s nominee to lead the Health and Human Services Department, Tom Daschle, withdrew his name. Despite, President Obama publicly announcing just a day earlier, that he would stand behind Daschle regardless of his income tax problems. Interestingly enough this decision came only hours after another White House candidate withdrawal.
President Obama later went on television taking blame for the situation and explaining that it is more important to own up for your mistakes and prevent future ones than to never make any. He also went to announce his regret that Daschle would not be able to bring his passion and expertise to the White House.
Much like Daschle, Nancy Killefer, President Obama’s choice for White House Performance Officer also withdrew due to cited tax arrears. Both Ms. Killefer and Mr. Daschle thought their presence would be a distraction and take away from the urgent issues facing the administration.
The withdrawal decisions have left mixed feelings among other political parties. Senator Edward Kennedy, Senator Harry Reid and Senator John Kerry all expressed regret over Daschle’s decision to withdraw. However, Senator John Ensign disagreed with President Obama and previously mentioned senators saying that Daschle’s decision saved the President future embarrassment.
Health Center Merger
In an attempt to financially stabilize the University of Connecticut Health Center, a partnership has been proposed with Hartford Hospital. Within this proposal plan UConn Health Center will transform from one of the smallest academic hospitals to a major academic medical center.
Within the proposal it states that a new, 250 bed hospital be built to replace the existing John Dempsey Hospital at UConn. The project has been previously estimated at $475 million. Another big goal of the partnership is to maintain employees status as state employees while having the state pay the difference between fringe benefits costs and those of other hospital employees.
One of the main hurdles this proposal faces is the unification of the unionized Health Center with the nonunion Hartford Hospital. Lawmakers say merging these two institutions may be difficult due to differing missions.
$7.65 Million Offer to Navy
The state of Connecticut is making the navy an offer of $7.65 million to be used for construction projects. It seems to be a win-win situation as the navy wants to improve its shore infrastructure and the state wants the Naval Submarine Base to remain afloat.
A navy spokeswoman commented on the uniqueness of this grant. She said that other states have offered money to the navy for various projects, but none for construction purposes. Of the $7.65 million offered, $4.65 million are to be used to upgrade the bases facility while the remainder would go towards replacing the boilers.
Previously in 2007, legislature authorized $40million for improvements to the base. Gov. M. Jodi Reed to spend a portion on improving the base, preserving defense jobs, and showing the states commitment to the base.
The state has not yet approached Navy officials with the $7.65 million offer, but there is a positive outlook so far.
Obama loses another nominee to unpaid taxes:
President Barack Obama has lost another cabinet nominee to unpaid taxes. Tom Daschle withdrew his name from nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services Tuesday after news of $140,000 in unpaid income taxes surfaced.
Obama initially said he would stand behind Daschle, but admitted he made a mistake in an interview with NBC’s “Nightly News.” He said it is not his mistakes that matter it is admitting them and not repeating them that counts.
Hours before Daschle gave up his nomination Nancy Killefer who was up for chief White House performance officer pulled out on the grounds of unpaid taxes as well.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner was also found to have $34,000 in unpaid taxes. All of the nominees have since paid off their tax debt.
Geithner has already been confirmed, but a White House spokesperson said the administration has begun the process of replacing Daschle and Killefer.
Naval Base to get state aide:
The Naval Submarine Base in Groton may get a face lift. The state of Connecticut has approved $7.65 million in grants for construction at the base.
The grants are part of $40 million the state legislature approved for base improvements in 2007. Governor M. Jodi Rell decided to expend part of those funds for diving facility upgrades and to replace boilers at the base power plant.
In 2005 the Pentagon considered closing the base but was overruled by an independent commission. Rell hopes investing the base will help keep it open saying it has an annual impact on the state upwards of a billion dollars.
The Navy decides on a case-by-case basis whether to accept money from a state. Currently Connecticut’s offer is still being considered by the Navy.
Justin Bernier of the State Office of Military Affairs said the state is finalizing a deal with the Navy that stipulates how the money can be spent. Bernier said that now it is “just a matter of paperwork” that he expects will be complete in a few weeks.
Proposed merger for local hospitals:
The University of Connecticut Health Center hopes to regain its financial pulse by merging with Hartford Hospital.
UConn Health Center has previously required state funds to cover deficits. The partnership is designed to relive the financial burden to the state. However, the Health Center would still require state funding for labor costs and bonding.
The proposed merger would unite the two medical institutions under what is to be called University Hospital with campuses at UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital and Hartford Hospital. The proposal includes constructing a new 250-bed hospital to replace the present John Dempsey Hospital. The new building carries a price tag estimated at $475 million to be paid for by the state.
In addition to stabilizing the Heath Center’s finances the plan would transform the UConn Heath Center from a small academic hospital to a prominent academic medical center.
Lawmakers say the potential merger comes with challenges which include merging the Health Center’s unionized work force with nonunion Hartford Hospital.
Details of the proposal will be revealed in a presentation later today.
Krystin's Assignment:
Krystin Barnett
Writing for the Ear
Exercise One
1. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services Tuesday, after four days of scrutiny over unpaid taxes.
Two hours before Daschle withdrew, President Obama's nominee for Chief White House Performance Officer, Nancy Killefer, pulled her name as well, due to unpaid payroll taxes for a household employee.
The nominees' tax problems gave Republicans a new argument against President Obama in the economic debate. In interviews Obama has said he takes responsibility.
[Quote:] "I'm frustrated with myself, with our team,' he told NBC, 'but my job is to get this thing back on track, because the need to focus on the deteriorating economy."
The two withdrawals represent the highest-level political casualties of this administration, and raised questions about the vetting procedures.
2. A proposed partnership between the University of Connecticut Health Center and Hartford Hospital could end the Health Center's practice of seeking state money to cover deficits.
The Center would, however, still require ongoing state funding for bonding and labor costs. This proposed partnership would include a new "University Hospital" with two campuses, a new 250 bed hospital to replace John Dempsey Hospital, and a plan to maintain Health Center employee's status as state employees.
However, now the state would pay the difference between the employee's fringe benefits costs and those of other hospital employees. Challenges facing this partnership include reuniting the unionized Health Center and nonunion Hartford Hospital, and dealing with the dire financial situation of the state, with the projected budget deficit in the billions.
When asked about these issues, Representative Roberta Willis of the Higher Education Committee, took a deep breath and said,
[Quote:] "Did you hear my deep breath?"
3. The state of Connecticut today offered the Naval Submarine Base $7.65 million for construction projects.
[Quote:] "This is really unique," Lt. Laura Stegherr said Monday. "We need to reinvest and recapitalize our shore infrastructure, and a grant such as this could provide a mutual benefit to the state and the installation."
Of that $7.65 million, $4.65 million would be used to upgrade the base's facility for its divers and the remainder would go toward replacing the aging boilers at the base power plant.
The $7.65 million is “still under consideration by the Navy,” Stegherr said, because the state has not yet approached Navy officials with the offer. The Navy decides on a case-by-case basis whether to accept money from a state.
[Quote:] "The submarine base has an annual economic impact that can be measured in billions of dollars, and we want to do all we can to keep it off of future closure lists," Governor Rell said in a statement.
Daschle Ends Bid for Post; Obama Concedes Mistake
Mr. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as secretary of health and human services on Tuesday afternoon. He announced his decision in a brief statement that he would not have been able to lead an overhaul of the nation’s health care system “with the full faith of the Congress and the American people”. He also told the president by phone in the morning and added that he believed he had become a distraction and too wounded to be effective.
Before that, Mr. Tom Daschle had gone to Capital Hill on Monday to keep his confirmation on track. He said his failure to pay $128,000 in taxes for the use of a friend’s chauffer and car service was “completely inadvertent”. But it was not enough convincement for the Finance Committee of Congress.
Among the people mentioned as possible candidates for the job of health secretary are Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, a former state insurance commissioner; former Gov. John A. Kitzhaber of Oregon; and Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan. All are Democrats.
Two hours before Mr. Daschle’s case, Nancy Killefer also withdrew her nominee as the chief White House performance officer. The administration officials said she had failed to pay more than a year’s worth of unemployment taxes on household help. Mrs. Nancy Killefer is head of the Washington office of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
The White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced on Tuesday that both Mr. Daschle and Ms. Killefer pulled out on their own accord, after their tax returns were scrutinized by the Senate Finance Committee. And he said Mr. Daschle didn’t get any signal from the White House to step aside to quell the controversy.
In the Senate, while Republicans were intensifying their criticism of his tax failings, Democrats were surprised about Mr. Daschle’s decision. Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said Mr. Daschle had done “the honorable thing to spare his family, the president and his colleagues in the Senate from a tough political battle that would lie ahead”. Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts said he believed Mr. Daschle should not have withdrawn his name.
The withdrawals raised fresh questions about the vetting procedures for officials already selected and scores of positions that remain open. They also gave Republicans a new argument against Mr. Obama and his party, for instance, Democrats are cavalier about taxing other people because they do not abide by the tax laws themselves.
In evening interviews on broadcast and cable television networks, President Obama said he took responsibility for the errors and pulled out his appointments. “I’ve got to own up to my mistake, which is that ultimately it’s important for this administration to send a message that there aren’t two sets of rules. You know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes”. He said on NBC and added: “And so I’m frustrated with myself, with our team. but ultimately my job is to get this thing back on track because what we need to focus on is a deteriorating economy and getting people back to work”.
UConn Health Center Hartford Hospital Merger May Require State Funding
The University of Connecticut Health Center could end to seek state money for covering its deficits by merging with Hartford Hospital.
According to a report by the independent Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering issued this morning, the details of the proposed partnership includes:
• Creating a "University Hospital" with two campuses, UConn's John Dempsey Hospital and Hartford Hospital.
• Building a new, 250-bed hospital to replace John Dempsey Hospital. The state would pay the bonding costs for the project and the cost of any new equipment. In the past, the cost has been estimated at $475 million.
• Maintaining Health Center employees' status as state employees. However, the state will pay the difference between their fringe benefits costs and those of other hospital employees which amounts to millions of dollars a year.
• Collaborating with other area hospitals to increase their involvement with UConn's medical and dental schools, with access to students, interns and residents and research.
With the proposed partnership, the UConn Health Center would have financially stabilize, not have to rely on cash infusions from the state legislature to stay afloat in recent years. It could significantly change the healthcare landscape in the region and be transformed into part of a major academic medical center. It would also replace the existing Dempsey Hospital without significantly adding to the number of hospital beds, and create a two-campus University Hospital.
At present, the UConn Health Center is one of the nation's smallest academic hospitals, including the state's medical and dental schools, research laboratories and the 224-bed John Dempsey Hospital. Its hospital is very small and outdated, but has many commercial advantages due to located in the prosperous Farmington valley.
Representative of both UConn and Hartford Hospital's parent company would lead this corporation. This is a result of many discussions of the state lawmakers about challenges of the potential partnership for last 2 years.
State To Offer Navy $7.65M In Effort To Protect Sub Base
Groton – The state of Connecticut is going to make the Navy an offer $7.65 million for construction projects at the base. The reason is, the state wants the Naval Submarine Base to remain afloat, meanwhile, the Navy wants to improve its shore infrastructure.
On this Friday, the state Bond Commission approved $7.65 million in grants to the Navy. Of that, $4.65 million would be used to upgrade the base's facility. The remainder would go toward replacing the aging boilers at the base power plant.
The money is part of $ 40 million authorized by the legislature for improvements to the base in 2007. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has decided to spend some of the money now to improve the base, preserve defense jobs and demonstrate the state's commitment to the base. However, the $7.65 million is “still under consideration by the Navy” at this point because the state has not approached Navy officials with the offer.
This is a special case because there have been no states providing money for construction purposes of the Navy before. The reason is the Pentagon proposed closing the base during the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment process. Groton scored low on its “military value” to the Department of Defense, but an independent commission overruled the Pentagon.
”The submarine base has an annual economic impact that can be measured in billions of dollars, and we want to do all we can to keep it off of future closure lists,” Rell said in a statement. “We feel that we have come up with a creative way to accomplish that goal.”
Lt. j.g. Laura Stegherr said she could not comment on the BRAC issue, but she did say that “any grant program like this highlights the commitment of the state to support the Navy and our continuing efforts to create the right mix of shore capabilities to support our fleet.”
The Navy decides on a case-by-case basis whether to accept money from a state. It is allowed to do so under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which outlines the role of the armed forces, Stegherr added.
Justin Bernier, executive director of the state's Office of Military Affairs, said the state is finalizing an agreement for Navy and state officials to sign, stipulating that the money will be used for the specific base improvements.
Daschle
Two nominees for President Obama's new team have withdrawn from the race today. Tom Daschle, running for secretary of health and human services, and Nancy Killefer for chief White House performance officer, resigned their positions after failing to pay their taxes.
Daschle claimed he was too wounded to be effective after word of his $128,000 in taxes for use of a friends car serivce got out. While Killefer pulled out after much scrutiny over her unpaid payroll taxes of a household employee. Both felt their failure to pay their taxes was a distraction to the goals and critical agenda the president put foward.
President Obama took responsibility for these errors, saying that he was frustrated with himself and his team, when interviewed for an evening broadcast.
But the show must go on. The adminstration is already lookingn for new candidates for the job of health secretary. Possible candidates include Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, former Gov. John A Kitzhaber of Oregon, and Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan. All are Democrats.
Hospital Merge
A partnership between financially troubled University of Connecticut Health Center and Hartford Hospital may answer prayers of seeking state money and covering deficits.
The proposed partnership will be presented to legislators today by the independent Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.
The proposal includes creating a University Hospital with two campuses. A new 250 bed hospital would be built to replace John Dempsey Hospital, which is too small and outdated to stand on its own. Connecticut will be paying for all the construction, along with the difference between benefit costs for hospital employees.
Although, this partnership is not all peaches and cream as the Health Center's employees are unionized while Harfort Hospital's employees are not. Reconciling these two opposite workforces may create a problem.
All involved in this project are hopeful it will work out smoothly, but only time will tell.
Naval Sub Base
Everyone wins if the Navy accepts Connecticut's offer of $7.65 million for construction projects in Groton. If they say yes, the Navy can fufil their hopes of improving their shore infrastructure while Connecticut helps to keep them afloat.
According to a Navy spokeswoman, Connecticut is the first state to provide the Navy with money for construction purposes. And if the Navy accepts, $4.65 million would be used to upgrade the base's facility for its divers. The remainder would go toward replacing the aging boilers at the base power plant.
In 2005, the Pentagon tried closing the base, but an independent comission overruled this possibility. But now, Gov. Jodi Rell is doing all she can to help the submarine base stay afloat stating that it has an annual economic impact that can be measured in billions of dollars.
Now it is up to the Navy to decide whether to accept the money for the state or not. But Justin Bernier, an executive director of the state's Office of Miliary Affairs, assures us that its just a matter of moving some paperwork back and forth. "These things just take time," he said. Hopefully we will see some improvements in the near future.
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