Connecticut
Crews continue battling Hawthorne Fire, other fires amid dry weather conditions
As the Hawthorne Fire continues to burn into its twelfth day, crews remain on scene in Berlin using new equipment to help them battle the flames.
This comes as the state sees more fires spark up due to the current dry weather.
As crews from all over the state and the country continue to fight the Hawthorne Fire in Berlin, officials say they’re holding steady with limited fire growth.
The fire is now burning at 127 acres. Firefighters are focusing on tackling hot spots in the southeast part of Lamentation Mountain. They’re using drones with infrared cameras to help.
“If we do it in the morning and in the evening before sunrise and after sunset, we get a better interpretation of what the actual fire or the spot fires are on the area,” Bill Perkins with the Connecticut Incident Management Team said.
They say this technology has already helped crews on the ground.
“Those red dots that we see on that camera become less and less and for us, that’s a good thing,” Perkins said.
The dry weather across the state has sparked other brush fires, including one in Roxbury which caused roads to be shut down in the area.
In Bristol, smoke could be seen in town as firefighters battled a fire that sparked up again in the area of Mountain Road.
Those are some of the fires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) said it’s monitoring.
“That’s a thing for our firefighters to be aware for rapid spread rates of fire and extreme fire behavior,” Rich Schenk, fire control officer for DEEP, said.
With a red flag warning in effect Friday, state officials say conditions were ripe for fires to start.
“Fire growth and the probability of something igniting is at an extreme level so that’s why we are super concerned,” Josh Cingranelli with the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said.
They’re urging people across the state to take precautions such as clearing out leaf piles.
“Use a leaf blower. Get those leaves away from your house in case something does ignite. Then it’s not right up against your house,” Cingranelli said.
Fire officials are urging people to follow the burn bans to keep other fires from potentially happening.
If a bear is encountered, officials urge people to remain calm and avoid running.
Instead, speak in a calm voice, slowly back away while keeping the animal in sight, and make yourself appear larger by raising your arms or moving to higher ground.
If a bear continues to approach, DEEP recommends becoming more assertive by shouting, making loud noises, and throwing objects such as rocks or sticks.
While black bear attacks are rare, officials stress that people should never play dead during an attack.
“If attacked by a black bear, fight back vigorously,” DEEP advises. People should use any available object and focus defensive actions on the bear’s face and muzzle.
A man has been arrested for murder in connection with the death of a Duxbury, Massachusetts woman, months after her body was found in a Connecticut home under suspicious circumstances.
This week, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death for Janina Brooke Murphy to be blunt force injury of head and the manner, homicide.
On Tuesday, Connecticut State Police arrested 28-year-old Cole Werhan of Burlington, Connecticut and charged him with murder.
Brooke Murphy, as she is referred to by her mother, was found at the bottom of a staircase in March inside the Burlington, Connecticut home where she was living. At the time, Connecticut State Police called the 26-year-old’s death suspicious.
“Another detective got on the phone. He said, ‘I want you to know something. Your daughter didn’t just fall down the stairs. She had wounds all over her,’” Brooke’s mother, Beth Murphy, told WBZ.
Murphy said her daughter and Werhan were dating, and she is determined to seek justice. “It’s confirmed, it wasn’t an accident. So that part, really, that’s tough,” Murphy said.
Murphy described her daughter as kind and artistic.
“So many people said she was my best friend. Like, pretty much everybody said Brooke was my best friend. She had a heart of gold,” Murphy said.
Brooke Murphy’s 27th birthday fell on June 17. Connecticut State Police said they are continuing to actively investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
Werhan was held on a $5,000,000 cash bond and is scheduled to appear in Torrington Superior Court in Connecticut on Wednesday morning.
Merrill Lynch has hired a veteran Morgan Stanley manager to help oversee branches in Connecticut, western Massachusetts and portions of New York.
Jairzinho “Jazz” Skair joined Merrill as a market manager overseeing offices in Hartford, New Haven, Springfield, Glastonbury, West Hartford, Farmington, Mystic, Guilford, Southbury and Ridgefield, a Merrill spokesperson confirmed. He reports to Central Shoreline Connecticut Market Executive William Cholawa, who returned to the thundering herd in 2024 after around a decade at UBS.
Skair had most recently been a branch manager for Morgan Stanley in Hartford, according to his LinkedIn. He had started his career in the legal department at UBS Wealth Management USA in 1998 and served in a number of finance, sales and management roles, including branch manager in Westport, before joining Morgan Stanley in 2023.
“I had the opportunity to work closely with Jazz during my time at UBS and saw firsthand his passion for coaching, developing people, and driving results,” Cholawa said in a LinkedIn post announcing the hire. “He is a servant leader who believes in being Authentic, Present, and Useful, and those principles are reflected in the way he leads and supports others.”
A Morgan Stanley spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Merrill and its wirehouse peers have been shuffling and poaching field leaders as they seek to bolster recruiting in an increasingly competitive market.
To that end, Merrill said it had hired two father-son teams with a combined $560 million in client assets. Both joined on June 17.
Roy Savarick and his son, Evan, joined Merrill from Wells Fargo Advisors where they managed around $280 million in assets, according to the Merrill spokesperson. They generated around $2.3 million in annual revenue.
The elder Savarick, a 44-year industry veteran, is based in the firm’s Florida Tropics market led by Jason Edelmann. Evan, who has 12 years of experience, works in New York City from Merrill’s Park Avenue office led by Joe Doonan. They had joined Wells in 2022 from Morgan Stanley, according to BrokerCheck records.
Separately, Brandon K. Pribyl and his sons, Tobey and Bailey, joined Merrill from Baird Private Wealth Management. They had around $280 million in assets and are based in Davenport, Iowa, according to the spokesperson.
The team, which generated around $1.9 million in annual revenue, is part of the Mid Land Market led by Will Cohen. The senior Pribyl had spent the first decade of his career at Merrill. He was not registered between 2009 and 2016 when he joined with Baird, according to BrokerCheck.
(Updated with clarification on the market manager role.)
-
Lifestyle8 minutes agoA judge says the Kennedy Center must update him on its plans — and address that tarp
-
Technology18 minutes agoA new paper argues Microsoft exaggerated its quantum claims a year ago
-
World23 minutes agoColombia’s ‘El Tigre’ secures presidency as leftist rival finally concedes defeat
-
Politics30 minutes agoComer probes alleged Biden collusion with gun control activists in Glock lawsuit
-
Sports38 minutes ago2026 World Cup Third-Place Standings: Who’s In, Who’s On The Bubble
-
Technology45 minutes agoFCC phone ID plan could end burner phones
-
Business48 minutes agoSony Pictures invests $100 million in virtual reality venue Cosm
-
Entertainment53 minutes agoCulture Clash knows the end is near. It wants to go out with a bang
