“To say that Mark made an impact wherever he went or on whoever, it’s for real.”

Michael Brotz spent some time Friday sharing how his brother-in-law, Mark Anthony Palumbo Jr., made that impact. One way was meeting people through his business, Madison Avenue Salon in Madison, where he was a part owner and a stylist. He was also a firefighter and owner of MAP Auto Detailing.

“He kind of had his hand in a few things but everything he did, he did it with passion,” Brotz said. The two were firefighters together and were close friends. Brotz eventually married Palumbo’s sister, something Brotz joked didn’t come easy at first, but their family bond grew stronger.

News of his death Wednesday spread beyond the family and made its way through town.

“I’m sure he’s going to – the family will – get a lot of support because his father is a businessman here so they all know the family,” said Earl Carta, a longtime resident of Madison.

Palumbo died Wednesday evening on I-95 in Westbrook. He was driving his prized 2014 red Ford Mustang when he was hit by a wrong-way driver. Troy Bree, of Groton, is charged with OUI and reckless driving.

“The biggest thing is that driving under the influence of alcohol or substances is intolerable,” Brotz said. “People really need to think about the damage that they can cause and the lives that they can change in the blink of an eye. And that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night.”

“I just want to see him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added. “I don’t have a lot of forgiveness in my heart right now.”

The Palumbo family is working through levels of grief over Mark’s death. There’s a numbness for some, and others say laughter is helping the tight family support each other.

“I just loved Mark and I loved spending time with him, and I loved the person he was and how he cared for people.”

His brother-in-law says Palumbo’s love grew, and he softened a bit, when he and his wife Amanda welcomed their two girls Carina and Mia.

“Those girls just brought him so much joy and happiness it changed his life in a way that I don’t even think he expected that it could,” Brotz said.

And those are thoughts they hold onto as they try to imagine life without him. There is an outpouring of support for the family on social media. Brotz says it’s not something they expected, but they’re finding comfort in all the messages they’re reading.

“He was a gift to the world. I can’t really say more than that.”

Two Celtics stars were in attendance when the Connecticut Sun hosted the Los Angeles Sparks in TD Garden’s first WNBA game at the end of August — Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.

In a recent interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg, Holiday recounted the experience, saying, “The Connecticut Sun, in my opinion, need to be the Boston Sun.”

“The way that they sold to this crowd was awesome. The way that the city showed up for them was awesome,” Holiday said. “It was similar to how they showed up for us. So, going and watching this game was really cool.”

Despite falling short of making the WNBA Finals, the team proved they have a strong fanbase that is only growing after their 69-61 win over the Sparks in August. A sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 fans attended that game at TD Garden. The Sun usually play home games in front of a significantly smaller crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena, which has a capacity of around 10,000 seats.

Holiday’s comments came after talks of whether Boston could be a viable market for an expansion team considering its large sports scene. The WNBA is adding three new teams, with teams in Portland, Toronto, and Golden State set to join the league in the next two years.

Ray Pineault, the president and CEO of Mohegan (who owns the Sun), said he doesn’t want the WNBA to expand to Boston, though.

“I don’t want another WNBA franchise in Boston,” Pineault told Bookies.com. “As the league grows, we’re going to continue to see growth. We get Massachusetts and Rhode Island fans who come to our games now. I wouldn’t be a big fan of having a Boston team.”

The Celtics guard also discussed how special it was to bring his daughter to the game to see WNBA athletes in action.

“She usually watches us,” said Holiday, “but watching girls that look like her is, in my opinion, kind of cool.”

Late last month, Connecticut’s Gov. Ned Lamont announced that the minimum wage will increase 66 cents next year, sparking questions on the efficacy of an increase on the state’s cost of living crisis.

Tyson Odermann & Nicolas Ciminiello

11:55 pm, Oct 10, 2024

Staff Reporter & Contributing Reporter

Christina Lee, Photography Editor

Come next year, the minimum wage in Connecticut is set to increase by 66 cents — or from an hourly wage of $15.69 to $16.25.

The planned increase comes from a 2019 state bill. The law requires the minimum wage to be adjusted each year based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s employment cost index calculation. The state’s minimum wage has increased every year since 2019.

“This is a fair, modest adjustment for workers who will invest their earnings right back into our economy and support local businesses in their communities,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a press release.

For the approximately 170,000 minimum wage laborers in Connecticut, the 4.2 percent increase would result in an extra $26.40 a week— summing about $1,400 annually — for laborers working 40 hours a week. 

A city official and Yale student worker who spoke with the News celebrated the increase. But a local business owner expressed skepticism about the positive effects of the increase.  

Michael Piscitelli, the economic development administrator of New Haven, said he was optimistic about the minimum wage increase in an email to the News.

“The increase to the State’s minimum wage rate is an important step forward, supporting our residents who have bolstered the City’s economic growth over many years,” Piscitelli wrote.

George Koutroumanis, owner of Yorkside Pizza, a family-owned restaurant located on Yale’s campus, shared concerns about price increases, however. 

Regardless, Koutroumanis emphasized that the rise in minimum wage would not affect his hiring process. 

“People will make more money, that’s good. Maybe they’ll spend more money, that’s good,” Koutroumanis said. “But on the other hand, everything that they buy will cost more money.”

Despite the increase, Connecticut remains one of the costliest states to live in according to the Cost of Living Index, which ranks it 13th most expensive. It remains unclear if the rise in minimum wage will help laborers adjust to a high cost of living. 

Piscitelli noted that Connecticut still has “a long way to go” to reach a living wage relative to the cost of living. 

“You know the way the economy is today, there is no livable wage,” Koutroumanis added. “You’re making more money, but losing value.”

Meanwhile, student worker Nik Alderson ’27 expressed excitement about the increase. 

“I’m very happy. I think this will increase my disposable income by quite a lot. It’ll definitely improve my standard of living,” Alderson said.

The Koutroumanis family has owned Yorkside Pizza and Restaurant since 1969.