Connecticut
Connecticut home where Abe Lincoln hung out is for sale
World-renowned pianist Frederic Chiu and award-winning sculptor Jeanine Esposito are itemizing their Westport, Conn., property, which comes with an actual dose of historical past, for $2.59 million.
The Colonial Revival, at 52 Weston Highway, dates to 1806. At 9,700 sq. ft, it comes with seven bedrooms and sits on 2.63 acres.
From 1826 to 1889, the property was half of a bigger property owned by a banker named Morris Ketchum; it was then often called the Hockanum property. Correspondence between Ketchum and Abraham Lincoln provides a glimpse of the latter visiting its grounds — and it additionally seems doubtless that George Washington held a Revolutionary Conflict fundraising assembly there or close by. Native lore, undocumented, additionally has Rock Hudson and Buffalo Invoice passing via. What’s for sure: Frederick Legislation Olmsted, the co-creator of Central Park, additionally visited.
Past historical past, the grounds include mature specimen bushes, together with a number of that had been reportedly “extras” from Olmsted’s Central Park mission, together with a 400-year-old copper beech — one among solely 4 within the state. The property additionally contains tall cypress bushes and a Kentucky yellowwood which might be “very uncommon, particularly in Connecticut,” Esposito informed Gimme Shelter.
The principle home encompasses a rounded music room, a proper eating room, a chef’s kitchen — and a important bed room suite with curved partitions and a balcony overlooking the gardens. Authentic particulars embrace vintage large plank flooring — from an 18th-century farmhouse — and 4 fireplaces. There’s additionally a 2,000-square-foot carriage home, that includes one bed room, one rest room and beamed ceilings, which is zoned as a authorized rental.
There’s additionally a 350-square-foot studio constructing with a full tub that is sort of a “small lodge room suite,” Esposito stated. The grounds additionally embrace loads of room to construct a pool.
The homeowners purchased the property for $1.5 million in 2011. The residence has additionally been house, for the previous 12 years, to their community-based nonprofit Beechwood Arts and Innovation. It’s the place they’ve hosted greater than 100 “arts-immersion salons” to showcase artists and performers, together with Grammy Award-winning Joshua Bell, who is without doubt one of the artists to autograph the “singing wall” within the breakfast room.
Esposito tells Gimme that the couple is staying in Connecticut, close to Westport, and “persevering with to run Beechwood Arts and Innovation.”
“Frederic is beginning to journey rather a lot once more with concert events, judging competitions and educating full time at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and the Hartt Faculty in Hartford — and I’m a 35-year innovation advisor and likewise touring, so we’re having fewer occasions at Beechwood and wish extra versatile areas to dwell in to accommodate that,” she added. Beechwood, she added, “is a very magical place the place a lot has been shared artistically and neighborhood connection sensible — and it’s bittersweet to depart.”
The itemizing dealer is Cyd Hamer, of William Pitt Sotheby’s Worldwide Realty.
Connecticut
Connecticut man dies after being struck by SUV while crossing busy N.J. highway, police say
A 64-year-old Connecticut man died this week after he was struck by a car while crossing a busy Monmouth County roadway earlier this month, authorities said.
The man, identified Friday as Niantic resident Michael Losacano, was hit shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 9 on State Highway 35 in Wall Township near Wall Church Road, according to a statement from the Wall Township Police Department.
Losacano was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center by local EMS where he died on Monday, the department said.
Connecticut
Tractor-trailer carrying thousands of gallons of fuel catches fire on I-91 in Wethersfield
A tractor-trailer hauling thousands of gallons of fuel caught fire on Interstate 91 North in Wethersfield on Friday morning.
State police said state troopers responded to I-91 North near exit 24 around 7:42 a.m. and found the cab of a tractor- trailer carrying 7,500 gallons of fuel on fire.
The driver was able to get out of the truck and was not injured, according to state police.
The fire departments from Wethersfield and Rocky Hill responded to the scene to extinguish the fire and troopers shut down I-91 North and South as well as oncoming traffic from Route 3 to I-91 South.
Because the truck was hauling fuel, troopers worked to move drivers who were nearby, state police said.
I-91 South reopened shortly after the fire was out.
The left two lanes of I-91 North have been reopened and the state police Fire & Explosives Investigation Unit is also responding to assist with the investigation.
State police said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection later responded to the scene.
Connecticut
Connecticut couple charged in alleged Lululemon theft spree that netted up to $1 million
A Connecticut couple has been charged in connection with an elaborate two-month theft spree at Lululemon stores across the country that an investigator with the retailer estimates netted about $1 million worth of product.
Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested on Nov. 14 in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota suburb of Woodbury. The couple, from Danbury, Connecticut, were charged with organized retail theft after a Lululemon retail crime investigator contacted local authorities in Minnesota.
But Lululemon’s investigator said evidence shows their crimes go back to September and took place in states like Utah, Colorado, New York and Connecticut, according to the criminal complaint.
Attorneys representing Richards and Lawes-Richards did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment Thursday.
Richards claimed he was racially profiled, complaint says
Richards and Lawes-Richards were stopped after exiting the Lululemon store in Roseville, Minnesota, on Nov. 14 when the security alarm went off, according to the criminal complaint. Richards allegedly claimed store employees racially profiled him and the two were allowed to leave afterward.
The Lululemon investigator later alleged the two visited the store the day before on Nov. 13 with an unidentified man and stole 45 item valued at nearly $5,000. That same day, the pair had allegedly conducted four other thefts in Minneapolis, Edina and Minnetonka.
Officers arrested the couple at the Lululemon in Woodbury. The two denied any involvement in the theft, with Lawes-Richards allegedly claiming they were staying with her aunt and had only been in Minnesota for a day.
Officers found several credit and debit cards on the couple, as well as an access card to a Marriott hotel room. Using a search warrant, officers found 12 suitcases in their room, including three filled with Lululemon clothing with tags attached worth over $50,000, according to the complaint.
In all, the company investigator estimated the couple has taken up to $1 million in stolen product, according to the complaint, which does not detail how he arrived at the high figure.
Couple blocked cameras among other tactics: Investigator
The Lululemon investigator said one of the couple’s alleged tactics was for one of them to distract associates while another stuffed product in the clothes they were wearing, according to the complaint.
Another technique involved the two strategically exiting the store, with one of them holding a cheap item they had bought and the other carrying more expensive products that had sensors, according to the complaint. When the alarm would sound off, only the person with the cheap, purchased item would stay behind and show a receipt, while the other would keep walking with the stolen product, the complaint says.
The pair are accused in eight Colorado theft incidents between Oct. 29 and 30, and seven thefts in Utah on Nov. 6 and 7, according to the complaint.
The pair are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in Minnesota, court records show. Their next court appearance is set for Dec. 16.
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