A small Connecticut town is slated to get some new technology to curb heavy feet. Washington is the first municipality in the state to receive approval for speed enforcement cameras.

Residents were pleased to hear the technology will be online soon.

“If people could just slow down and enjoy the town instead of speeding through it,” said Cynthia Quinn, who lives in town.

She is in favor of the technology rolling out, describing for us her method of stepping completely off the roadway when walking – because of speeders.

“People walk on these roads, they ride their bikes, they have their kids and people are going really really fast,” Quinn said.

Washington received approval from the Connecticut DOT for rollout of speed cameras on three local roads. One Is slated to be operating at the start of 2025.

“The number one volume of calls I get in my office every day is about speeding on our roads,” said First Selectman James Brinton.

The technology in town he said was a no-brainer. They went through the process of approving a town ordinance, and after some initial questions from townsfolk, and hearing the concerns from his residents, the technology was nearly unanimously approved. The main reason was safety.

“This was never about revenue, this is about getting our roads safer,” said Brinton.

The cameras are designed to run license plates of speeding cars. Violations recorded have to be approved by the town’s police officer, and when approved, a citation is sent in the mail. Fines are capped at $75 dollars and the money generated – per Connecticut law – must go back to the town for other roadway safety initiatives.

“Probably the number one complaint we get here in Washington, is speeding,” reiterated Officer Rich Innaimo with the Washington Police Department.

Full time, it’s himself, and a resident State Trooper in Washington.

The technology he said will work in tandem with radar they already run, and plan to continue. It’s an aid, not a replacement, according to Innaimo.

“Our ultimate goal is to get people to slow down,” he said.

Placement of the cameras has to be data driven.

“It’s meant to be in the most dangerous areas based on data, based on community feedback,” said Josh Morgan, a spokesperson with the CT DOT.  

Concerns have been raised by groups like the ACLU of CT since the beginning of discussions around speed safety technology, and red-light camera technology.

The ACLU of Connecticut was involved in discussions around the law allowing the speed cameras from the jump. They don’t believe speed enforcement or red light camera technology is the right way to go. But based on how the law is written, they believe Connecticut has the potential to get the rollout of the tech right. They plan to monitor the data and rollout of the cameras around Connecticut closely.

“We anticipate lots of ups and downs but ultimately we will be looking at the data as it rolls in to ensure its being rolled out in a fair and equitable way that comparts with the constitution,” said Executive Director of the ACLU of CT David McQuire.

When asked about the technology, people from different towns expressed mixed feelings about the technology becoming reality and expanding to different areas.

“Again, I’m not crazy about it, I’d rather know that I had been speeding and why I was stopped,” said Mari Frohne.

She noted receiving the citation in the mail doesn’t please her. She would prefer the interaction with an officer about any violations she found herself in.

Others though were intrigued by the potential safety benefits.

“I live on a street that has a 25-m.p.h. speed limit on an S curve and people are doing 50 m.p.h. on that thing, so if it’s going to save some lives, I’m for it,” said Carl Cruz.

He noted similar tech has been around in other areas, and he believes if it changes reckless driver behavior, it should be used.

But with residents in town concerned with speeding, it came down to safety. People like Quinn hope starting with three cameras, proves moving the needle in the right direction is possible.

“You just see an increase in pedestrians being hit I don’t think there is any downside to people just being slower,” said Quinn.

Major cities like Stamford and New Haven remain in the approval process phase of getting the OK for the rollout of the technology.

Since the cameras aren’t ‘set and forget,’ the law states approval is good for three-year terms. So in three years’ time, the cameras will need re-approval to remain, or new approval to expand or move.  

Although several players are ranked ahead of him on 247Sports’ transfer portal tracker, it’s hard to find a safety in the transfer portal with better numbers than Northern Arizona transfer Alex McLaughlin. On Monday, the 2023 FCS Freshman All-American picked up a crystal ball prediction from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz to commit to the Washington Huskies.

Over two seasons with the Lumberjacks, McLaughlin put together some eye-popping totals. He tallied 167 tackles, 12 for loss, 7 sacks, 6 interceptions, 16 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles while playing all over the field.

Northern Arizona took full advantage of his versatility, utilizing him as a free safety over the top, nickel defender, box safety, and in virtually every role a defensive back can play. He was named to the All-Big Sky Second Team in 2023, and was upgraded to the first team in 2024.

McLaughlin reported offers from all over the country, including Arizona, California, Colorado, and Kentucky among the other teams that are interested in his services, but reportedly took an official visit to Washington over the weekend.

The Huskies are losing veteran safeties Cameron Broussard and Kamren Fabiculanan to graduation and the 6-foot-2, 195-pound McLaughlin would provide some of the experience position coach Vinnie Sunseri is looking for on the backend of the defense.

Washington’s remarkable road run died on Monday night in Dallas in a 3-1 loss to the Stars, a setback that halted the Caps’ road winning streak at 10 and ended their point streak at nine straight games (8-0-1). The Caps went more than six weeks without tasting defeat on the road, but the Stars and American Airlines Arena proved to be too much to overcome on his night.

Roope Hintz continued his Caps-killing ways, scoring the first and third Dallas goals of the game. But Lian Bichsel’s point shot that clanked off Rasmus Sandin’s right glove and went into the Washington net late in the second period stands up as the game-winner.

Washington scored the game’s first goal, but it was unable to build upon that lead, despite having the game’s first three power plays, two of which came after Dylan Strome staked his team to a 1-0 lead late in the first.

The Caps nursed that lead past the midpoint of the game, but Dallas struck for a pair of goals in the back half of the second period; Hintz tied it on the Stars’ first power play of the night and Bichsel’s shot found twine just over four minutes later.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger entered Monday’s game with four wins in as many career starts against Washington, along with a .950 save pct. and a 1.60 GAA. He improved on those qualitative numbers while running his record to 5-0-0 against the Capitals.

“I thought Oettinger was the big [difference], probably 1A,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “Special teams is probably 1B, and then probably 1C is they get a couple of lucky breaks, but then they capitalize. Like the power-play [goal]; a couple of their top players make a good play and shoot it in the net, and the same thing on the third goal. They turn us over, and obviously have to execute there and shoot it past our goalie.”

For the third straight game, the Caps hooked up in a taut, tight-checking goaltender’s duel. Each team had its share of looks at the opposing net, but both goaltenders were at the top of their respective games.

At even strength, the Caps generated offensive zone time and they had some decent looks and chances. Late in the first, the Nic Dowd line turned in a strong offensive zone shift, setting the table for Strome’s line, which hopped over the boards while the Stars were unable to make a change. Taylor Raddysh slid the puck to Jakob Chychrun at the left point, and Strome was able to deflect Chychrun’s shot past Oettinger for a 1-0 Washington lead at 15:39 of the opening period.

All five Dallas skaters had been on the ice for at least 98 seconds when the red light came on.

The Caps started the second period with a full power play, and they had another just before the midpoint of the middle period, but were unable to build on their lead, going 0-for-3 with three shots on the three extra-man chances to that point of the game.

When Dallas got its first extra-man chance, it needed only 22 seconds and just one shot with which to square the score at 1-1. Hintz finished a tic-tac-toe passing play from the bumper, knotting the game at 13:28.

For much of the game’s first 40 minutes, the Capitals were just a play away from a Grade A scoring chance. They’d get the puck to someone in a good spot in the offensive zone, and that player would see an even better play, but the Caps were rarely ever to make the last play needed to activate that superior scoring chance.

With the game even at 1-1 late in the second, and with Washington’s Brendan Duhaime and Dallas’ Brendan Smith being boxed after a fight just over a minute earlier, the Caps overpassed their way out of a good look at the Dallas net, and a subsequent errant pass came all the way back to the Washington end of the ice.

The Stars got in on the forecheck and won the puck in the left corner, pushing it out to Bichsel at the left point. Bichsel floated a wrist shot toward the net, and it caught Sandin’s right glove and went in at 17:35, giving Dallas its first lead of the night.

In the third, Washington had another power play opportunity with which to pull even, but again, no sale. The Caps were held without a shot on that last extra-man opportunity, and Dallas – which now boasts the League’s best home penalty kill (90.5%) – ended up with more shots on net (four) than the Caps (three) on Washington’s four chances with the extra man.

“Yeah, you can definitely look to the power play tonight,” laments Strome. “We’ve been good for a while, but just not our sharpest night. It hurt us for sure, even in the third, down 2-1 and we get a power play and don’t even get into the zone.”

Late in the third, a turnover behind the Washington net resulted in a quick Jason Robertson pass to the slot and a one-timer from Hintz for the third Dallas goal, at 14:58.

Washington was seeking to be the first Eastern Conference team to win in the Dallas building in over nine months.

“Credit to their top guys for capitalizing in those spots,” says Carbery. “But I liked a lot of the things that we did tonight, especially at 5-on-5.”

On a night when the Caps played without winger Andrew Mangiapane and the Stars skated without top pairing defender Thomas Harley, Dallas coach Pete DeBoer concurred on Carbery’s assessment of the Stars’ “top guys.”

Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell was on the ice for more than half of the game (30:37) and for virtually all (7:58) of Washington’s eight minutes with the extra man.

“We need that – the power play with a goal,” says DeBoer. “You’re down a man, you’re down some guys, you’re shorthanded, you’re playing the best team in the league and the hottest team in the league, so your best players have to be your best players tonight, and I thought ours were. Roope, [Robertson], Otter, Miro [Heiskanen], Lindy – those were, and we needed that tonight.”