Toys considered dangerous, according to U.S. PIRG’s 28th annual Trouble in Toyland report, are displayed during a news conference in Washington Tuesday. /  Manuel Balce Ceneta — The Associated Press

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
 With the holiday shopping season here, parents need to know there are still seemingly benign, but hazardous toys for sale on store shelves, according to the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group.
ConnPIRG unveiled the 28th annual Trouble in Toyland report Tuesday at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford.
“We need to protect our littlest consumers from unsafe toys,” said Sean Doyle, an associate with ConnPIRG. “When our researchers went out, they found dangerous toys at retailers from dollar stores to national chains.”
The nonprofit organization sent toys for laboratory testing, according to Doyle. Testing was done for chemicals such as lead, cadmium and phthalates, which can negatively impact child development.

Read more here. 

By Ed Stannard
Register Staff
 NEW HAVEN >> Several of the families of the Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook victims and others from Newtown are ready to take a stand against the bittnerness and partisanship that has stained the gun-control debate in the last year.
It’s time, they say, to come together and talk, from every point of view, and find a sensible way through to ending gun violence.
Members of Sandy Hook Promise met with the New Haven Register’s editorial board Friday to talk about their new initiative, Parent Together.
While they are not opposed to people owning guns and they respect the Second Amendment, Promise members would like the conversation to shift, almost radically, to one of understanding and genuine communication.

Read more here. 

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

Daniel Bagley, who owns the Village Marina in Milford, said his business sustained significant damage during Superstorm Sandy, with several docks broken and ruined.
This was on top of damage from Tropical Storm Irene. Bagley estimates the damages at about $200,000. He originally had 87 docks, but is now down to 60.
“I lost 27 docks, which means lost revenue,” Bagley said.
Bagley put in an insurance claim, but he said this covered a small percentage of the damage.
“At the end of the day, you don’t get paid for what you thought would be covered,” he said.

Read the full story here.

 

Dan Bagley, owner of Village Marina in Milford, stands in front of an empty space where docks used to be before being destroyed in Superstorm Sandy. Peter Hvizdak — New Haven Register