Connecticut

Phoenix Mercury, minus Diana Taurasi and Becca Allen, lose to Connecticut Sun

Published

1 year ago

July 2, 2024

Phoenix Mercury, minus Diana Taurasi and Becca Allen, lose to Connecticut Sun

Three games in four days took a toll on the Phoenix Mercury as injuries limited the depth in Monday’s 83-72 loss to the Connecticut Sun at Footprint Center.

Against a dynamic team like the Sun, with the second-best record in the WNBA, the Mercury were a step slow and were decimated by the Sun’s depth. Four of the five starters were in double figures with Brionna Jones leading with 18 points. The Sun also played eight players, but outscored the Mercury’s bench, 20-2.

The Mercury (9-10) had a short bench against the Connecticut Sun (15-4) with starters Diana Taurasi and Becca Allen out for Monday’s contest. Guard Sophie Cunningham and forward Natasha Mack started in their place.

Taurasi dealt with back soreness, while Allen had a lower back issue. The two played the day before in the loss against the Indiana Fever. Taurasi played 32 minutes and logged 19 points and three assists. Allen recorded nine points on 25 minutes.

“When we were kids, we would play three games in one day and we’d be exhausted. I feel the same way right now,” guard Natasha Cloud said. “Moving forward, we need a decision to extend a few weeks of the season, especially with the Olympic year. It just protects players, mentally, emotionally, physically, all those things. We had a game yesterday at noon and we had a little bit of rest and are back at it again today. The toll it takes on your body from playing 30-plus minutes is a lot. You’re not going to hear any complaints from us, we showed up today.”

Brittney Griner and Kahleah Copper led all scorers with 21 points each. Griner sparked a big run in the fourth quarter with a much-needed 3-pointer. Griner, however, couldn’t make an impact on the boards, grabbing just two rebounds.

Copper had trouble seeing shots fall and went 1-for-4 in the first quarter. She managed seven field goals on 16 attempts, including one 3-pointer.

Rebounding was the difference in the game as the Sun dominated the boards with 37 rebounds to the Mercury’s 18. The Mercury were outscored 11-2 in second-chance points.

The Mercury, who average 27.8 3-point attempts, couldn’t find an answer from beyond the arc and shot 3-for-17 (17.6%).

Phoenix cut a 10-point deficit to three during the fourth quarter when Cloud assisted on Mack’s layup to start a 7-0 run. Cloud helped make it a close game with the Sun, getting her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 assists.

But the Sun edged the Mercury with 10 points on 11 free throw attempts and pulled ahead.

“It was our third game in four nights and we were playing eight people. I was proud of the way we competed, I don’t think you saw the best version of ourselves tonight. Everything was a little bit of a step slow,” head coach Nate Tibbetts said.

Guard Charisma Osborne was out with a left lower leg injury, which made Sug Sutton, Liz Dixon, and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan the only available options off the bench.

The Mercury travel to play the Dallas Wings on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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Connecticut

Was Connecticut State Police short 300 troopers in 2025?

Published

11 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Was Connecticut State Police short 300 troopers in 2025?

Yes.

As of early 2025, the Connecticut State Police was facing a staffing shortage of roughly 300 troopers compared to the more than 1,200 troopers the department had in its ranks over a decade ago. This is due largely to retirements, resignations and a shrinking applicant pool.

Recent academy classes are helping slowly rebuild staffing, but Gov. Ned Lamont and police leadership say Connecticut still needs substantially more troopers to meet public safety demands. More recently, news outlets reported the department had 938 troopers.

This spring, troopers negotiated a 4.5% wage hike with state officials. Troopers’ base pay is on average about $116,000 per year, but that rises to $175,000 per year once overtime is included.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

CT Mirror partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

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Reginald David is the Community Engagement Reporter for CT Mirror. He builds relationships across Connecticut to elevate community voices and deepen public dialogue around local issues. Previously, he was a producer at KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR station, where he created community-centered programming, led live event coverage for major events like the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, and Royals Opening Day, and launched KC Soundcheck, a music series spotlighting local and national artists. Reginald has also hosted special segments, including an in-depth interview with civil rights leader Alvin Brooks and live community coverage on issues like racial segregation and neighborhood development. He began his public media career as an ‘Integrity in News’ intern at WNPR in Hartford.

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Connecticut

CT Weather: Initial Snow Accumulation Estimates Released: Here’s When, How Much To Expect

Published

23 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

CT Weather: Initial Snow Accumulation Estimates Released: Here’s When, How Much To Expect

Meteorologists are predicting the next storm system in Connecticut could bring a couple inches of snow this weekend.

WTNH reports snow will start late Saturday night and continue into Sunday morning.

“There is pretty good agreement with light snow amounts statewide with up to around 2″ expected,” WTNH says.

Find out what’s happening in Across Connecticutfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

WFSB reports long-range models have been “all over the place with the development of a coastal storm.”

According to WFSB, some show the system moving to the south of Connecticut, which would make the impact on weekend plans “minimal.” Another model, however, shows a greater impact on Connecticut, which could mean a “coating to an inch” of snow, WFSB reports.

Find out what’s happening in Across Connecticutfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

WFSB as of Thursday also predicts the timing would be late Saturday night through Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service as of Thursday has increased the odds of snow in this weekend timeframe to 50 percent, up from 30 percent.

In the short term, it is going to be very windy today.

The National Weather Service has advisories for northern and southern parts of Connecticut due to high winds, with possible gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.

Today, Friday and daytime Saturday will be clear and dry, according to the National Weather Service, with high temperatures starting in the low to mid-30s and gradually warming.

“Saturday is the pick of the weekend, as it will be dry and relatively milder,” WFSB reports. “While we could start bright, cloud cover will be on the increase with temps that peak between 35 and 40. Sunday will be colder as temps only reach the upper 20s and lower 30s.”

The National Weather Service indicates the chance for snow begins around midnight Saturday.

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Here are the forecast details for northern Connecticut via the National Weather Service:

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 31. Breezy, with a west wind 18 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 20. West wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 32. West wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 16. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light southwest in the evening.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 36. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 8 mph in the morning.

Saturday Night: A chance of snow, mainly after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Sunday: A chance of snow before 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 29. Northwest wind 5 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Here are the forecast details for southern Connecticut via the National Weather Service:

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 34. Wind chill values between 20 and 25. West wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 22. Wind chill values between 10 and 15. West wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 34. Wind chill values between 10 and 20. West wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 22. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Light west wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Saturday Night: Snow likely after 1 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 26. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Sunday: A 50 percent chance of snow before 1 p.m. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 33.

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Connecticut

Connecticut doctor back home after running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Connecticut doctor back home after running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) — An emergency room doctor at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain just returned to Connecticut after running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents — including Antarctica.

Dr. Lisa Bienia Kenton just finished running 183.4 miles in seven days to raise money for her niece and nephew who have a chromosomal disorder. Covering that much ground in just a week doesn’t allow for much time to sleep.

“We average about three hours a night,” Dr. Bienia Kenton said. “So, 21 hours we slept total for the seven days.”

It’s called the Great World Race. 60 runners started in Antarctica, then South Africa, then Australia, then the United Arab Emirates, then Portugal, then Colombia and finished in Miami.

“In Antarctica, it was -30°C with a 30 mile an hour wind chill,” Dr. Bienia Kenton said. “So that was by far the most grueling and kind of gnarly things we experienced. Like, sometimes you don’t even know if you’re moving forward.”

Dr. Bienia Kenton is part of an elite group of female runners — only 166 have run a marathon on every continent and only a fraction of them have done it in seven days.

“I met a lot of great, strong women,” Dr. Bienia Kenton said. “A lot of moms, same demographic as me, and we kind of just powered each other through.”

She had support from her husband and sons, who encouraged her to do the race. She trained by running to her son’s baseball games and around the field before returning home. She said her husband got her time off work to run the race after talking to her boss, who met her in Miami and ran the last marathon with her.

She said the experience of running the Great World Race left her body bruised, but it changed her life.

“I left there with this life, inner self or inner feeling of confidence, like I can tackle the world,” she said. “And maybe that’s going to wear off over time, but right now I’m riding that high.”

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