Connecticut
Race for Connecticut's U.S. House 2nd District is a rematch in 2024
U.S. Rep Joe Courtney (D-2nd District) is looking for a 10th term in office this November, but he’ll have to win a rematch to accomplish that.
That’s because former state lawmaker Mike France, who ran in 2022, is once again looking to regain the seat for Republicans.
Courtney beat France by 18 percentage points two years ago and he’s hopeful he can get the same level of support from voters this time.
“I think I have a record that I can present to the voters that they can trust me,” said Courtney, who won his first election in 2006 by beating incumbent Republican Rob Simmons.
That includes continuing to support Electric Boat, as the submarine manufacturer based in New London is a major employer for the region.
Courtney has earned the nickname “Two Sub Joe” because of his continued push for Congress to fund the construction of two submarines.
Courtney also touted federal funding for programs teaching people how to work at EB, which hired more than 5,000 more employees last year.
“It does show this is a long game, you know, this is going to be going on for a while,” he said.
But France, an engineer with a defense contractor after serving 20 years in the Navy, believes he can do a better job ensuring the funding continues.
In recent years, some in Congress have looked to scale back submarine construction to use that money elsewhere in the military budget.
“I understand the challenges their facing and know how to figure out how to help EB be successful,” France said.
France, who spent four terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives, said his biggest issue, in his view that the Democrats, including Courtney, have pushed policies that hurt the U.S. economy.
He wants to reduce government spending. He also wants to increase energy production, saying those costs are a big driver of inflation.
“The biggest challenge people are feeling is the cost of inflation,” he said, adding he thinks that reducing inflation would bring down interest rates for things like mortgages.
Courtney said the federal government can find other ways to help families with the cost of living, including programs that bring down the cost to care for children and for seniors.
He also wants tax credits and incentives to encourage the construction of more affordable housing.
“We need more supply, I mean that’s the bottom line,” Courtney said.
The two candidates also disagree on foreign policy, notably their stance on Israel.
Courtney said the U.S. needs to remain a strong ally to Israel, but he also thinks Israel should agree to a ceasefire that avoids a “forever war.”
France said he wants peace, but the U.S. needs to stand by its ally because “Hamas doesn’t want that and that’s the challenge we’ve had.”
The two candidates also have different views on reproductive healthcare.
Courtney supports a federal law that codifies the abortion access provided under Roe V. Wade, but France said the issue should be decided by each state.
LYME — A body was recovered from the Connecticut River on Saturday, according to officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
At about 1 p.m., a vessel on the river reported seeing a body in the area of the Chester-Lyme Ferry, DEEP said.
The Environmental Conservation Police, along with the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit and Lyme and Cheshire fire departments, responded to the area and recovered the body, DEEP said. The body has been sent to the state chief medical examiner, DEEP said.
Bill Flood, a media relations manager for DEEP, said the body was identified as a male and appeared to have been in the water for an extended period of time.
The medical examiner will determine the manner of death and EnCon is investigating, Flood said, noting there is no believed threat to the public.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
Connecticut
Suspect in preppy booze-fueled Connecticut party stabbing death asks court to drop charges: ‘Double jeopardy’
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The attorney for a Connecticut man who was recently acquitted of first-degree murder charges stemming from a booze-fueled brawl between prep school students is making another move to ensure his client’s freedom.
Last July, a jury found Raul Valle, now 19, not guilty of murder and intentional manslaughter in the May 14, 2022 stabbing death of James “Jimmy” McGrath. Valle was 16 at the time of the incident, and McGrath was 17.
The jury was deadlocked on lesser charges of reckless manslaughter in that trial, leading to a partial mistrial.
Valle attended St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, near Fairfield Prep, where McGrath was a junior and star lacrosse player. Prior to the stabbing that evening, both had been at a house party that involved underage drinking and a fight.
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Split image of Jimmy McGrath showing him in a collared shirt and tie and in his Fairfield College Preparatory School lacrosse uniform. (The McGrath Family)
After heading to another location to continue partying, tempers flared again and about 25 people engaged in another brawl on the front lawn of the second home, whose owners were present at the time, witnesses told police. It was during that fight that the stabbing death occurred.
Valle admitted to the stabbing, but said it was committed in self-defense and in defense of a friend.
The day after Valle’s July 9, 2025, acquittal on the most serious charges, the state filed new reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges.
Raul Valle speaks during his second day of testimony at his murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 1, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
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Now, Valle’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, has filed a motion claiming that the reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges constitute double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional, according to The Connecticut Post.
Crosland’s motion says the only explanation for the initial jury’s decision to acquit on the first-degree murder charge was that his client acted in self-defense.
“No other theory explains the acquittals,” he wrote in the motion.
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Defense attorney Kevin Smith delivers his closing arguments to the jury during Raul Valle’s murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 3, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
“The jury has spoken,” he continued. “The law is clear. The court must dismiss these charges with prejudice — immediately.”
The Connecticut Post reported that in an interview after Valle’s acquittal, the jury foreperson said self-defense was not discussed.
In their own filing, prosecutors disagreed with Crosland’s reasoning, according to the report.
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They described self-defense as a “justification defense,” not one that is central to the elements of the charges Valle still faces, and thus, cannot be used as an argument to have the current charges dismissed.
Kevin McGrath, father of slain prep school lacrosse player Jimmy McGrath, speaks to reporters outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, following Raul Valle’s acquittal on July 9, 2025. He is accompanied by family attorney Michael Rosnick. (Fox News)
“The fact that the jury acquitted the defendant of murder, intentional manslaughter and intentional assaults, but could not reach a unanimous verdict as to the reckless charges, demonstrates only that the jury must have reached the conclusion that the defendant lacked the specific intent to either kill or to cause serious physical injury,” the filing reportedly said.
McGrath’s family was shocked by the results of the 2025 trial.
“I’m astonished at the results, but, you know, it’s due process,” a stoic Kevin McGrath said outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, later describing his son as a “wonderful person.”
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“He’s entitled to it,” said McGrath. “And at the end of the day, the jury made their verdict. I’m not sure if, you know, they were in the same courtroom as we all were together, but that’s the verdict. And we’ll live with it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Crosland for comment.
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