Forget sniffing pot around New York’s cathedrals. Nearby, in uppity Connecticut, exists a Methodist church where it’s shove the donations and stuff the Hail Marys. Forget a buck in the basket. Its religious rev was allegedly hustling junk.
Earlier this month, this pastor got arrested. Age 63. The Rev. Herbert Irving Miller. Prayed there since July. Forget Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Cleric Herbie was allegedly selling drugs. Crystal meth. Clientele called it speed or ice or dunk or no doze or white cross. I mean, talk of a happy Last Supper.
United Methodist Church hierarchy called it a shock to the community. Yeah, no kidding.
Woodbury United Methodist Church Rev. Herbert Miller, 66, was arrested for allegedly selling crystal meth. Connecticut State Police
Undercover guys pulled him over on South Main Street. Per the report, they collared His Worship hustling the stuff from a car a pew away. Inside, drugs. Methamphetamine in rock and liquid form. Hypodermic needle.
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The car? No registration. No insurance. Besides charged with possession and intent to sell drugs he illegally operated a motor vehicle. He’s been jailed. Released on $10,000 bond. This padre listed his address as the rectory. His court appearance is Friday. Herbie is no longer an elder in the United Methodist Church.
My friends live in Woodbury. I know this church. I know the town. Its main drag’s famous. A mile of well-known antique stores. Both sides of the street. Flea markets, open Saturdays, curbside sales, free parking, personal delivery, rent-a-space for $30.
In and out 24/7 it’s New York decorators, buyers, artists, designers, fashionistas, home-owners, collectors, specialists, strangers.
And until a few weeks ago, a minister allegedly hustling junk.
Wine, roses and O’Hara
MANHATTAN’s shining light is award winning Kelli O’Hara who, along with Brian d’Arcy James, is staging Studio 54’s “Days of Wine and Roses” musical.
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Kelli: “I’m from where the Irish settled. Elk City. Western Oklahoma. We farmed cotton, wheat, cattle. Voice teacher Florence Birdwell changed my life. I had my dream. Two suitcases, no clue or job. After college I moved to New York.”
After roles in “The Pajama Game,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific,” etc., she ever screw up?
“Please. Nightmares. Times you can’t remember your name. You scramble. One show I shortened by cutting out a whole scene. Metropolitan Opera, center stage, I went blank and had to walk off into the wings until the line got whispered to me.
“Look, I try to rest. Drink water. Don’t smoke. Exercise. Don’t drink lots of alcohol. Stretch my body. I have two children — 10 and 14. If they’re sick I can’t not talk to them because I can’t not be their mom since my need is to have a perfect show. I cannot worry about that. Sometimes I wear a mask but I don’t want to get neurotic.”
Kelly and I share Dan Lipton. Her accompanist. My friend.
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On the town
VIPs all around the town. Is a 17th congressional run left in the tank for Carolyn Maloney? She just celebrated a burger birthday at UES’s Beach Cafe . . . HUMA Abedin shopping alone. Buying pasta and beans. No weiners (she divorced that live one) in her cart.
NEW Yorkers really don’t like to miss anything. After the Bible Society listed 143 officially recognized sins, nearby parishioners have been pouring in — all of them asking for a copy of the complete list.
Not only in the Northeast, kids, not only in the Northeast.
National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.
New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.
While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.
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The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”
Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.
The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.
Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
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And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
However, across the board, white residents are more likely to trust local and state government than are residents of color. Black residents had higher levels of trust in government than Latino and Puerto Rican residents, but less than white residents.
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.
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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.
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.”
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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.
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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.
Read More:
Here are the forecast details for northern Connecticut via the National Weather Service:
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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.
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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.
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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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