HARTFORD - The Victims’ Rights Enforcement Advisory Commission, established by Governor Dannel Malloy, has released a survey soliciting input from victims of crime in Connecticut.
“As part of our charge, VREAC is evaluating the current state of crime victims’ rights and services in Connecticut, and we believe it is of the utmost importance to hear from those with firsthand experience”, said Hakima Bey-Coon, acting chair of the commission.

The Commission asks that all surveys be returned to the Office of the Victim Advocate no later than November 28, 2014.
Copies of the survey can be found in both English and Spanish on the OVA’s website: http://www.ct.gov/ova 

By Evan Lips
Register Staff

BRANFORD >> Federal prosecutors in the arson murder case of a local mother slain nearly a decade ago have proposed a court schedule, with a potential jury trial date set for June 2015.
A telephone conference between prosecutors, attorneys representing John Vailette and Steven Martone, and U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Chatigny is scheduled for Oct. 2.  Vailette and Martone were in March, more than eight years after allegedly setting the fire that killed Short Beach resident Kathy Hardy.

Read more here. 

By Patricia Villers
Register Staff

As Connecticut’s population ages, a disturbing statistic is emerging in the state: Abuse of the elderly is on the rise and nationwide, millions of seniors are at risk every year.
Many seniors are not reporting the abuse because the vast majority of abusers are family members, most often adult children, spouses, partners and others, according to to the National Center on Elder Abuse.
Connecticut’s population is the seventh oldest in the nation, with 14 percent of state residents over 65, and 27 percent turning 65 during the next 15 years. And as Connecticut goes gray, an increase in the rate of abuse and neglect of elderly and disabled state residents is following, social services and health care professionals say.

Read the full story here.