TOWN NEWS BRIEFING
Woman's Condition
Critical After Crash
SUFFIELD -- A Suffield woman was in critical condition Tuesday at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with injuries suffered in a motor-vehicle accident.
Crystal Ann Chancellor was traveling east in a white Volvo 740 GLE on Mountain Road about 6:30 p.m. Monday when a collision occurred in the westbound lane between her car and a black GMC S1500 truck, police said. The Volvo then collided with a black Dodge Ram pickup truck, police said.
The operator of the GMC truck was identified as Carl G. Palmberg of East Windsor. Police said Palmberg had two children in the truck. Bryan Outlaw of Granby was the driver of the Dodge truck, and he also had two children with him, police said.
Chancellor was taken to Baystate Medical Center by helicopter. Palmberg, Outlaw and their passengers were taken to Hartford Hospital by ambulance, where they were all treated and released.
Police are investigating the accident.
Rehab Program Gets
Grant For Relocation
WILLIMANTIC -- A local substance abuse prevention program will receive a $105,000 state grant to help purchase a 9,400-square-foot building on North Street in Willimantic.
"The Perceptions program has a proven record of successfully assisting adults in the Willimantic area get their lives back together and become productive citizens once again," Gov. M. Jodi Rell said in a statement announcing the grant.
The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addictive Services, which oversees the program, will also use the space to house a program for adolescent substance-abusers, for its Latino outreach program, and for its shelter outreach initiative.
Perceptions now occupies two buildings on Main Street. It is estimated that the consolidation will save about $30,000 a year in rent and maintenance costs.
AREAWIDE
Bicycle Alliance
Enocurages Riding
The Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance is sponsoring three events this week to encourage people to try bicycling as an alternative to driving a vehicle.
Two of the events are the alliance's monthly "Bike to Work" programs, in which participants receive free breakfast, gifts and an entry into the year-end raffle of a new bicycle.
The events are:
Thursday: "Bike to the Concert," on the town green in East Hartford. The concert runs from 7 to around 9 p.m., and features the band Shaded Soul.
Friday: Two "Bike to Work" events, both from 7 to 9 a.m. One occurs at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, and the other takes place at the Old State House in downtown Hartford.
Bicycle commuters who cannot make it to an event can still enter the alliance's raffle for a new bicycle by reporting their bike commute on the Bike to Work raffle form. It is available for download at www.wecyclect.org, or by calling 860-522-2217.
Mushroom-Foraging
Hike Scheduled
HEBRON -- The Bolton Land Trust will hold a mushroom-foraging hike on Aug. 6 from 10 a.m. to noon in Gay City State Park, Route 85.
Henry Smith, a longtime mushroom foray guide for the Connecticut Audubon Society, will lead the walk. Participants should bring a basket to collect specimens and may bring mushrooms from their yards for Smith to identify.
From the park entrance on Route 85, go four-tenths of a mile into the park to a fork, bear left and enter a parking area. The rain date is Aug. 7. For more information or to register, call 860-649-8347.
City Man Charged
With Sexual Assault
A local man is due to appear Aug. 5 in Superior Court in Hartford on a charge of raping a female acquaintance.
Cornell Evans, 26, whose last known address was on Huyshope Avenue, was arrested Friday and charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault, according to court records. The charges stem from an incident in which he allegedly raped a woman in her Hartford apartment in February, according to an affidavit from the arrest warrant.
He was being held Tuesday, with bail set at $75,000.
Motorist Flees After
Crash, Police Say
MIDDLETOWN -- A Deep River motorist who took out 80 feet of guardrail on a ramp to Route 9 early Monday has been charged with evading responsibility and failure to drive in an established lane, state police said.
Joseph Bianco, 24, was driving onto the ramp to southbound Route 9 about 2:45 a.m. when the car went out of control, smashing into the guardrail. The impact damaged 80 feet of wire that forms the guardrail, police said.
After the crash, Bianco drove to a nearby shopping center and abandoned his car, a 1999 Honda Civic, police said. He was later located at home and charged.