The Day from New London, Connecticut • 13

THE DAY SATURDAY OCTOBER 15 2005 B5 DeLay PAC money draws protest Group demands Simmons return money linked to indicted congressman By TED MANN Day Staff Writer Norwich Protesters organized by MoveOnorg Political Action converged on the office of Rep Rob Simmons 2nd Dis trict on riday demanding that the com gressman return campaign contributions from the political action committee of for mer House Majority Leader Tom DeLay who was indicted on money laundering and finance charges The handful huddled in the rain in front of district headquarters after ar riving with a fake check meant to symbolize the $29500 the group says Simmons has re ceived from DeLay the Texas Republican and his PAC Americans for a Republican Majority are concerned about said Mary Hansen of Old Saybrook one of fewer than 10 participants in the brief protest want Representative Simmons to disassociate himself from that corrup tion If he stands behind his 2nd District constituents return the The event like a simultaneous demon stration in Madison was one of 18 organ ized by MoveOn around the country to pres sure Republican incumbents to sever their ties to the embattled majority leader and re turn what the organization calls At least two other Republican incum bents Reps Heather Wilson of New Mexi co and Jeb Bradley of New Hampshire have said they will return contributions from committee Protesters said they were referred to the campaign headquarters and the campaign later issued a statement charging his likely Democratic opponent Joseph Courtney with accepting illegal contributions in his 2002 race from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Calif is clearly said Eric Janney campaign chairman in an mail message Courtney is the only candidate in this race to have taken thousands of dollars from a PAC that was found guilty and fined by fed eral authorities for illegal fund raising When it comes to illegal fund raising only Joe Courtney stands That was a reference to violation of election law in which she contributed money from two PACs at once violating limits on the amount of money that can be contributed to a single candidate by a single contributor Courtney received a total of $15000 from two PACs in his race against Simmons in 2002 which he re turned Pelosi was later fined $21000 by the ed eral Election Commission It is a charge Courtney and the De mocrats have heard before from camp and he dismissed it as a dodge almost insulting because what hap pened was Pelosi sent us a check we got a call saying the committee was not properly set up and Leslie sent the check Courtney said referring to Leslie O'Brien who was then his campaign manager and now serves as executive director of the Con necticut Democrats The campaign returned the contribu tions without being asked to by his oppo nent or the EC Courtney said concurred: got rid of the funds before they were declared she said and before either political opponents or the EC ordered the campaign to do so Courtney also contrasted his response in that episode with that of cam paign which was recently instructed to send to the US Treasury $1000 contributed illegally in 2002 by executives of Westar En ergy Inc one of the companies charged with contributing to the Texas political ac tion committee that stands at the heart of the DeLay scandal In accordance with a settlement agree ment with the EC attorneys for Westar wrote to the Simmons campaign which was not accused of any wrongdoing on Sept 6 to say the company fa cilitated the of the contributions by its employees and instructed the cam paign to the amount to the US Treasury Westar executives to be indicted and convicted before Rob would pry his fin gers Courtney said The Sinmions campaign countered that the EC did nqt request the money be dis gorged until the fall of 2005 and that the campaign did so within two weeks tmannthedaycom Closing Loophole Reporting insurance lapses of trucking firms may require a whole new system By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press Writer Hartford Insurance officials warned lawmakers riday that there is no easy way fix to a legal loophole that apparently al lowed a Bloomfield trucking company in volved in a deadly July crash to operate without liability insurance Under state law insurers notify the De partment of Motor Vehicles when insur ance lapses on passenger vehicles But com mercial vehicles are part of a separate sys tem they said Insurers cover a particular truck under fleet policies but rather the commer cial entity said Susan Giacalone counsel for the Insurance Association of Connecticut That means a trucking company can pull the insurance for a particular vehicle with out canceling its liability coverage simply plug the commercial ve hicles into the existing said Kristi na Baldwin regional manager and counsel of the Property Insurers of America The Insurance and Real Es tate Committee held an informational hear ing riday to come up with ways to make sure DMV is notified about lapsed insur ance for trucks The General Assembly plans to come up with legislation diming a special session to be held sometime this month or next Last month survivors of the fiery 20 ve hicle crash in Avon that killed four people learned the owner of the dump truck in volved did not have liability insurance for that vehicle American Crushing and Recy cling suspended coverage in January and received a $40000 premium rebate The company has insisted through an at Insurance officials said riday that 14 states have notification rules but that none work properly torney that its policy was in force at the time of the crash Giacalone said many trucking compa nies operate under multiple names and the company names reported by insurers would not necessarily match those on file at DMV Insurance companies keep track of vehicle identification numbers for the trucks they insure she said Michael Riley president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut said while all his members carry liability insur ance it is not unusual for some trucking companies to drop their coverage for a while or example firms that fill swim ming pools typically drop the insurance on their trucks during the winter he said But he said his group would still support tougher rules feel it is reasonable and prudent for the state to require notice of insurance and notice of he said The insurance officials said riday that 14 states have notification rules but that none work properly DMV Commissioner Ralph Carpenter said he believes Connecticut can do better and needs the legislature to force insurers to notify the department of lapsed cover age JflE flMMflkj' JBflBflBflflflB3 "At BhEsk wSr'dHBBBE? fl ffivMn rt BK 4 fl 1 Av wk a fl bHHHH 1 flflflM I lfl i n3flHfl 1Hfl I Rell Makes It Official RED BECKHAM Associated Press Connecticut Gov AL Jodi Rell announces she will run for governor in 2006 during a rally in the Hall of lags at the State Capitol riday in Hartford In the background are her husband Lou Rell and her daughter Meredith 'Conner Governor touts record reform with emotional announcement in Hartford By SUSAN HAIGH AP Political Writer Hertford REPUBLICAN GOV JODI RELL launched her election campaign riday saying she has done her best to restore pride and confidence in the state and wants to continue the job Rell who suddenly became governor in July 2004 when then Gov John Rowland resigned during a corruption scandal told several hundred supporters in the state Hall of lags that she wants her own term as governor together we have done a good job a really good said Rell who was sin rounded by her family love the peo ple of Connecticut and I love being your Rell 59 ran through a litany of accom plishments from her first 15 months in of fice including leading a successful fight to keep the Groton submarine base off the military's closure list and passing legisla tion to support stem cell research She also touted her push for ethics state contracting and campaign finance reforms in the wake of resigna tion something that has helped make her popular with voters Her approval rat ings have hovered around 80 percent people of Connecticut have come to believe in me and I am honored and humbled by then Rell said as she tried to hold back tears State Sen William Nickerson Green wich said he was impressed the governor had a couple moments of emotion during her speech thought it was perfectly Jodi Rell: not he said Rell has promised to carry her reform agenda to her campaign Her spokesman said riday that the governor will not ac cept contributions from lobbyists and ad books in which candidates sell advertis ing as a way to raise money She also plans to limit contributions from state contractors said Adam Jeamel her campaign spokesman The pledge was already attracting attention from critics Hours before her speech Democrats criticized a mailer that campaign printed and sent out to supporters before the campaign committee was formed Nancy DiNardo the state Democratic chairwoman accused Rell of violating campaign finance laws and seeking mon ey from lobbyists is very very trou bling to me and to the citizens of our state Republican and Democrat alike and unacceptable from our chief executive in this DiNardo said campaign said it was told by the state Elections Enforcement Commission that it had 10 days to form a candidate committee after incurring expenses two Democratic opponents New Haven Mayor John DeStefano and Starn ford Mayor Dannel Malloy also threw some barbs at Rell on the day of her announcement Both criticized Rell for not doing enough on key issues including improving the state's job picture easing traffic gridlock and making sure residents have health care coverage that we know who's in and out my greatest hope is that everyone will focus less on politics and more on the seri ous issues facing Connecticut and its peo Malloy said Rivers streams monitored as rain continues System uses 50 rainfall gauges 20 river gauges Hartford (AP) A week of rain contin ued with some heavy downpours across Connecticut on riday with forecasters ex pecting moderate flooding of the Housaton ic River over the weekend and minor flood ing elsewhere across the state The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Housatonic in western Connecticut from New Milford to below the Stevenson Dam near the Oxford Monroe and Newtown lines until 4 am Saturday A flood watch was posted for most of tire state The Housatonic was expected to rise to nearly 4 feet above flood stage at the Steven son Dam Saturday afternoon and 1 foot above flood stage at alls Village before re ceding Saturday evening The Weather Service said no major flood ing of the Connecticut River was expected State officials were monitoring small streams riday but said no major flooding was anticipated far everything looks Doug Glowacki an analyst for the Department of Environmental Protection said riday evening expect some minor flooding in the small streams overnight especially in southern Connecticut where it has been raining most of the Glowacki is the administrator of the flood warning system which in cludes 50 rainfall gauges and 20 river gauges: He said tlie state has received 6 to 13 inches of rain over the past week Officials said Connecticut avoided major flooding because of a drought over the sum mer that led to rain deficits of 14 inches over the past several months No coastal flooding was expected but a small craft advisory was issued as waves grew to 5 to 9 feet in Long Island Sound On riday morning ground weakened from the rainfall caused trees to fall across railroad tracks in Naugatuck disrupting service on the Metro North Water i bury branch Metro North spokesman Dan i Brucker said The railroad provided shuttle buses to get commuters from Waterbury to Bridgeport until the tracks ere cleared Thousands of homes and businesses lost power Thursday including the University of Bridgeport which canceled classes News In Brief Kennedy says cancer makes research a personal issue Providence Days after Joan Kennedy un derwent surgery for breast cancer her son US Rep Patrick Kennedy RI thanked advocates for making him support legislation for research and treatment helped me make this a personal issue before it ever became a personal he said Joan Kennedy 68 the former wife of Sen Edward Kennedy Mass un derwent a lumpectomy Tuesday at Massachu setts General Hospital in good Patrick Kennedy said riday after being honored by the Rhode Is land Breast Cancer Coalition at its eighth an nual Pink Ribbon Tea His mother is at home with her other children Edward Kennedy Jr and Kara Kennedy Allen he said The breast I cancer coalition also honored US Sen i Lincoln Chafee a Republican for his voting record 0 US Rep Patrick Kennedy 1 Reputed mobster Riccitelli makes rare mafia admission in guilty plea New Haven Just days before his racketeering trial was to begin Victor Riccitelli abruptly decided to plead guilty ri day and admitted being a member of the Gambino crime family The plea headed off a trial scheduled to start Monday that would have released hours of secretly recorded con versations that prosecutors said outlined the hierarchy of the crime family When US Dis trict Judge Janet Bond Arterton refused his request Riccitelli 72 of Bridgeport leaned back in his chair and said it No Moments later the former used car salesman said he wanted to plead guilty Ric citelli faces up to 55 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan 3 He is already serving 14 years for related drug crimes Others in the case including reputed underboss Anthony Megale cut plea deals that did not require them to admit mafia member ship but Riccitelli pleaded to the entire indictment Though defense attorney Jonathan Einhorn asked prosecutors not to in that Riccitelli did not object when prosecutor Mike Gustafson mentioned mafia membership an unusual admission The code of honor called Omerta prohibits members from acknowledging the existence of the mafia Chafee trails his opponents in raising funds for Senate race Providence Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse now has the most money on hand for what is expected to be an expensive and hotly contested Senate race While US Sen Lincoln Chafee raised $287000 in the past three months each of the other candidates raised at least $100000 more Chafee faces competition in the Republican primary from Cranston Mayor Stephen Laf fey Whitehouse a former state attorney gen eral is opposed by Secretary of State Matt Brown for the Democratic nomination Whitehouse led the pack in fund raising col lecting more than $600000 from July 1 to Sept 30 That money includes a $360000 personal loan to his campaign Brown and Laffey both raised about $400000 during that time Chafee has raised about $17 million during the elec tion cycle and has $13 million on hand State investigates Johnston landfill for dumping out of state ash Providence State environmental regula tors are investigating whether the operator of a state landfill allowed an out of state inciner ator to dump 80000 tons of ash in an area closed to solid waste Kurt A Schatz chief criminal investigator for the state Department of Environmental Management said his office used a backhoe to search through the landfill run by the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp Dumping out of state waste in the landfill is a criminal offense Schatz said but no one has been charged Landfill officials said they needed the ash to complete the capping and contacted SEMASS a firm in Wareham Mass that burns garbage to produce power SEMASS agreed to provide the ash for free and deliver ies began in July 2004 State investigators al lege Resource Recovery never got permission to use the ash as fill Democrats say General Assembly unlikely to hold special session Providence Top Democrats in the General Assembly doubt they will call for a special session to consider Gov Don proposals for a tax free holiday and home heating aid Earlier this month the Republi can governor asked state legislators to create an annual tax free holiday the weekend after Thanksgiving to boost retail sales before the holidays Carcieri also proposed using up to $4 million in tax revenue to help eligible eld erly and disabled residents pay their heating bills House Speaker William Murphy West Warwick said a new legislative session is already scheduled for January this point we do not feel there is a compelling need to come he said Carcieri said he was very disappointed" by the reaction "I know who the speaker is talking Carcieri said the retailers I talk to are strongly supportive of.