Connecticut
Beloved CT restaurant closes abruptly, a ‘very difficult decision’ leaving them ‘heartbroken’

One Fifty Central restaurant and bar in Bristol is the latest victim of Connecticut staff shortages and soaring costs, announcing their permanent closure through Facebook.
In the parting Facebook post, the restaurant’s owners thank loyal customers and employees who became “like a big extension of our Santorso family,” and they wished there was time to stay open to say proper goodbyes.
The owners could not be reached for comment.
The post says summer is the hardest season for the restaurant business and “it’s normal for finances to be tight, but it usually all works out in the fall and winter.
But the post also says there are persistent staff shortages in the kitchen
“Knowing that the kitchen would be unable to function without a full staff, and having been unable to find any competent employees through this nationwide employee shortage, we knew that we would be unable to open for the foreseeable future without jeopardizing the quality and service our customers deserve,” the social media post states.
That is combined with the overall difficulty in their restaurant business post-COVID, such as food, utility and payroll costs, contributed the closure, the Facebook post states.
“All these things combined have led us to this very difficult decision,” the post states, adding they are “heartbroken” that this is how it ended.
Employers are running into hiring troubles across many industries in Connecticut, with nearly 100,000 openings going unfilled as of last month. Other restaurants in Connecticut have opened this year amid the hiring issues.
5 new CT restaurants to try this summer. Think taste, location, ambiance.
The One Fifty Central restaurant restaurant, described on its website as an American bistro, has been in business for about 10 years.
Customers reacted on Facebook with sadness and fond memories.
One woman wrote in the comments section, “We love your family and will miss seeing everyone tremendously. Thank you for being such a huge part of our family’s celebrations and making us feel so welcome and loved for so many years.”
Another customer wrote, with a sad face emoji,: “It has been so many great years…”
Another customer who thanked the owners for a “wonderful dining experience,” wrote: “You always treated your customers like family. You have a lot to be proud of. Wishing you all the best. You will definitely be missed.”
Another commenter acknowledged the tough times for business, writing, “This makes us so sad. It is so difficult to keep a business moving these days and you all did everything you could to keep it going.”
Connecticut’s COVID-19 emergency ended in May, according to Gov. Ned Lamont. He said at the time that the economy bounced back and economic conditions are improving, though rebounding from the personal impact of the pandemic may take a little longer.

Connecticut
Connecticut plane crash survivors OK after aircraft sinks in sound

The pilot of a small plane that was about to crash managed to land it safely in the cool, choppy waters of Long Island Sound off Connecticut and called 911 to provide his precise coordinates before the aircraft sank, authorities said Monday.
The Coast Guard pulled two people wearing lifejackets from the water shortly before 11 a.m. on Sunday, about a half-hour after the plane went down a few miles off the coast of Branford, Connecticut, officials said. The survivors were treated for minor injuries and hypothermia symptoms, and brought to a hospital, the Branford Fire Department said.
“We arrived shortly after the Coast Guard,” Branford Fire Chief Thomas Mahoney said. “The Coast Guard did a great job in responding to the area, retrieving the people out of the water before things got worse. And the pilot obviously did a really good job of landing the plane in choppy seas. Those outcomes don’t always come out as well as this did.”
The water temperature at the time was about 60 degrees F, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Mahoney said the seas were a choppy 3 to 6 feet.
The single-engine Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee Six took off from Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Connecticut, shortly before 10:14 a.m. and was in the air for about 12 minutes when it went down, according to the flight-tracking company FlightAware.
About 10 minutes into the flight, the pilot declared an emergency and contacted air traffic controllers in New York, who directed them to try to land about 8 miles away at Tweed-New Haven Airport, according to Andrew King, a spokesperson for Avports, which manages Tweed-New Haven.
Tweed-New Haven officials prepared a runway for a possible emergency landing. But air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, King said.
Mahoney said after the plane went into the water, the pilot used a cellphone to call 911 and report his plane crashed into Long Island Sound and was taking on water. The aircraft was completely submerged when rescuers arrived.
State and federal records indicate the plane is owned by a limited-liability company based in Newtown, Connecticut, and the company’s principal is James Edwards. Edwards declined to comment Monday.
The crash occurred near Outer Island, an archipelago of about two dozen islands off the Connecticut coast.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was waiting for the recovery of the aircraft to determine the level of damage before deciding whether an NTSB investigation is warranted.
Connecticut
Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty Earn Historic Blowout Over Sun

BROOKLYN—It was anything but a lazy Sunday for the New York Liberty when they closed the weekend against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center.
New York put up a blowout of epic proportions against the Connecticut Sun in Brooklyn, earning a 100-52 victory to open Commissioner’s Cup pool play on a sterling note.
Sabrina Ionescu led the way with 18 points while her four fellow starters all posted plus/minuses of at least 40 while scroing 13 points each. Natasha Cloud and Breanna Stewart were at plus-44 each to share a new Liberty record while Jonquel Jones had 13 points and 10 rebounds, improving the Liberty’s record to 27-0 when she posts a double-double.
Becoming the first team in WNBA history to have a game with four players posting at least a plus-40 (and one of three teams overall to have more than in a single game) was but one bit of history that the Liberty (7-0) established on Sunday afternoon.
New York became the first WNBA team to have 10 different women sink at least at least one three-pointer in a regular season game (matching the overall record they set last postseason in the second-round) and it tied its own record with 19 three-pointers in a single game, previously posting that tally on May 22 in Chicago. The 59.3 percent success rate from is third-best in a single game with a minimum of 30 attempts.
The 48-point margin of victory was also the Liberty’s largest and second-best in WNBA history.
Furthermore, the Liberty have won each of their first seven games on the ledger for the first time since their inaugural season back in 1997. Perhaps the one record that wasn’t set was the Liberty’s all-time leader in successful three-pointers, thought Ionescu moved to within two triples of breaking Crystal Robinson’s long-standing record.
Elsewhere in individual accomplishments, Jones passed Teresa Weatherspoon for the eighth-most rebounds on the franchise ledgers. Marine Johannes posted her second game with a plus/minus of at least 22 this season, becoming just the seventh New Yorker to earn multiple such games off the bench.
The Liberty wasted no time establishing its dominance in the early going, rendering an early Connecticut challenge long-forgotten with a 10-0 run to close the first period. Leonie Fiebich scored half of the first 16 points and the Liberty registered assists on each of their first 19 sinks from the field. The advantage was up to 60-28 by halftime, satisfying an already jovial weekend crowd celebrating the birthday of the team’s elephant mascot Ellie.
Any bit of drama left appeared in the third period, when Ionescu was charged with a foul on Marina Mabrey in the third quarter. An animated Ionescu insisted that she was not responsible, using her shifted ponytail to make a case for head coach Sandy Brondello to challenge. When the replay monitor vindicated her, Ionescu joyfully interrupted an Ellie performance and high-fived anyone she could on the Liberty bench before taking her leave for the rest of the afternoon.
Jacy Sheldon and former Liberty star Tina Charles, still the team’s all-time scoring leader, had 10 points each for the rebuilding Sun (1-6), who returned to the loss column after earning an upset win over Caitlin Clark-less Indiana. It was a brutal day for Liberty nemesis Mabrey, who was 2-of-11 from the field and a WNBA all-time worst minus-55 in 28 minutes. Prior to tip-off, the Liberty honored Sun associate head coach Roneeka Hodges, who was presented with her championship ring earned as an assistant coach in New York last season.
New York and Connecticut will do battle again in a back-to-back in Uncasville at the start of August. In the meantime, the Liberty are back in action on Thursday night when they face the Washington Mystics on the road (7:30 p.m. ET, WNYW).
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Connecticut
Man accused of pleasuring himself at Colchester dog park

A man is accused of pleasuring himself on a bench at a dog park in Colchester earlier this week and has been arrested.
Officers were called to the Colchester Dog Park on Thursday around 1:30 p.m. for a report of a person pleasuring themselves out in the open.
According to police, a landscaping crew reported seeing a man on a park bench pleasuring himself while watching pornography on his phone.
The man reportedly left before police arrived, however, a witness reported the license plate of the man’s vehicle.
The man, a 66-year-old from Colchester, was arrested and is facing charges including breach of peace and public indecency.
He posted bond and is due in court on June 19.
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