Latest news with #Gilman
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
State leaders give Connecticut schools easier access to grants for HVAC improvements
BRISTOL, Conn. (WTNH) — A pandemic-era program intended to help schools address concerns about indoor air quality will live on as a permanent feature of the state's wide-ranging school construction funding system. Efforts to improve indoor air quality in schools has been a longstanding priority for local leaders, with many noting the negative effects of aging ventilation systems servicing school buildings constructed in the mid or late 20th century. Can AI help solve Hartford's pothole problem? A lack of sufficient air conditioning means schools are often forced to close due to extreme heat. Worn-down ventilation systems can be ineffective when it comes to removing dust particles that carry disease and agitate the lungs of asthmatic students. The pandemic put those shortcomings centerstage, and state leaders rushed to act. Starting in 2022, the state government doled out $178 million in grants to help schools upgrade or replace their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, with 163 schools receiving funds. Though the height of the pandemic is now in the rearview window, leaders still hoped to address the longer-term issue of air quality and climate control that still poses challenges for schools across the state. The response to those calls for improvements came in the form of a policy change that state leaders framed as a more permanent, consistent fix. Rather than distributing funds through ad hoc grant programs, cash for school HVAC upgrades will now be included as part of the state's school construction funding system. The HVAC grants under the school construction program will be easy to apply for, Commissioner Michelle Gilman, the official who oversees the program, said. 'It's a monthly application,' Gilman explained. 'It's not a competitive grant program. So, again we have made this very easy for our school districts to demonstrate the need and apply for that.' Gilman and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (D) visited a school in Bristol which received money as part of the earlier grants to tout the new funding arrangement. 'We've eliminated having to cancel school because of extremely hot days,' Peter Fusco, Bristol Public Schools Director of Facilities, said of the system that has been installed in South Side School. Bysiewicz applauded the work done in Bristol and the coming funds for other districts. She noted the dual utility of the new systems — taming the effects of extreme temperatures while not losing focus of one of the original forces that drove the state spending. 'The public health benefits are really strong as well,' Bysiewicz said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Star
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Russian court adds extra year to sentence of US citizen jailed for attacking law enforcement, RIA says
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, who serves a sentence for attacking a police officer and is accused of assaulting a prison official, attends a court hearing in Voronezh, Russia October 7, 2024. REUTERS/Vladimir Lavrov/File Photo MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Thursday added an extra year to the sentence of Robert Gilman, a U.S. citizen and ex-Marine imprisoned in Russia for repeatedly assaulting law enforcement officers and a prison official, state news agency RIA reported. RIA cited the press service of the court in Voronezh, the southern Russian city where Gilman is incarcerated, as saying that an extra year had been added to his sentence, which it said is now eight years and one month. RIA did not give a reason for the extra year being added. Neither Gilman nor his legal team could be reached for comment. In October 2024, Gilman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official and a state investigator while imprisoned for a 2022 drunken assault on a police officer, for which he received a 3.5 year sentence. During his second trial, RIA cited Gilman as telling the court that he had been forced to use violence after the prison inspector had caused pain to his genitalia and after the investigator had insulted his father. Russian media have previously cited Gilman's lawyers as saying that he originally came to Russia to study and obtain citizenship. Gilman is one of around 10 U.S. nationals behind bars in Russia. A prisoner swap earlier this month freed Kseniya Karelina, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen and Los Angeles spa worker, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for treason for donating just over $50 to a New York-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine. (Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Reuters
24-04-2025
- Reuters
Russian court adds extra year to sentence of US citizen jailed for attacking law enforcement, RIA says
MOSCOW, April 24 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Thursday added an extra year to the sentence of Robert Gilman, a U.S. citizen and ex-Marine imprisoned in Russia for repeatedly assaulting law enforcement officers and a prison official, state news agency RIA reported. RIA cited the press service of the court in Voronezh, the southern Russian city where Gilman is incarcerated, as saying that an extra year had been added to his sentence, which it said is now eight years and one month. RIA did not give a reason for the extra year being added. Neither Gilman nor his legal team could be reached for comment. In October 2024, Gilman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official and a state investigator while imprisoned for a 2022 drunken assault on a police officer, for which he received a 3.5 year sentence. During his second trial, RIA cited Gilman as telling the court that he had been forced to use violence after the prison inspector had caused pain to his genitalia and after the investigator had insulted his father. Russian media have previously cited Gilman's lawyers as saying that he originally came to Russia to study and obtain citizenship. Gilman is one of around 10 U.S. nationals behind bars in Russia. A prisoner swap earlier this month freed Kseniya Karelina, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen and Los Angeles spa worker, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for treason for donating just over $50 to a New York-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine.
Straits Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russian court adds extra year to sentence of US citizen jailed for attacking law enforcement, RIA says
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, who serves a sentence for attacking a police officer and is accused of assaulting a prison official, attends a court hearing in Voronezh, Russia October 7, 2024. REUTERS/Vladimir Lavrov/File Photo Russian court adds extra year to sentence of US citizen jailed for attacking law enforcement, RIA says MOSCOW - A Russian court on Thursday added an extra year to the sentence of Robert Gilman, a U.S. citizen and ex-Marine imprisoned in Russia for repeatedly assaulting law enforcement officers and a prison official, state news agency RIA reported. RIA cited the press service of the court in Voronezh, the southern Russian city where Gilman is incarcerated, as saying that an extra year had been added to his sentence, which it said is now eight years and one month. RIA did not give a reason for the extra year being added. Neither Gilman nor his legal team could be reached for comment. In October 2024, Gilman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official and a state investigator while imprisoned for a 2022 drunken assault on a police officer, for which he received a 3.5 year sentence. During his second trial, RIA cited Gilman as telling the court that he had been forced to use violence after the prison inspector had caused pain to his genitalia and after the investigator had insulted his father. Russian media have previously cited Gilman's lawyers as saying that he originally came to Russia to study and obtain citizenship. Gilman is one of around 10 U.S. nationals behind bars in Russia. A prisoner swap earlier this month freed Kseniya Karelina, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen and Los Angeles spa worker, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for treason for donating just over $50 to a New York-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
Mangione attorneys: Restrain AG Bondi from speaking about him, death penalty
Luigi Mangione's attorneys want a federal judge to restrain Attorney General Pamela Bondi from making statements that could prejudice a jury against the Towson native charged with murdering a health insurance executive, a crime she has said deserves the death penalty. 'We seek the Court's intervention only to prevent seating a grand jury whose members have been infected with the Attorney General's improper comments,' Mangione's lawyers wrote Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos. Bondi has issued a press release, posted on Instagram and spoken on Fox News about the case and her intent to seek the death penalty against the 26-year-old for the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. Lawyers for Mangione, the 2016 Gilman valedictorian and member of a prominent Baltimore-area family, have accused Bondi of politicizing the case, noting her announcement that she was seeking the death penalty to 'carry out President Trump's agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.' Bondi also spoke about Mangione on Fox News on April 6, saying, 'I tried death penalty cases throughout my career. If there was ever a death case, this is one. This guy is charged with hunting down a CEO, a father of two, a married man. Hunting him down and executing him.' The defense team said such statements refer to Mangione as if he's already been tried and convicted, when he hasn't even been indicted federally yet. He is currently facing state charges, but New York does not have the death penalty as a possible punishment. The case has drawn widespread attention, with some considering Mangione an outlaw hero who shares their anger over the health insurance industry. A crowdsourced defense fund is approaching its $1 million goal. 'The Attorney General, in all of her statements, never mentioned the small matter of the presumption of innocence or even that Luigi Mangione has yet to be indicted on federal charges,' his lawyers wrote this week. 'These statements would be damaging in any case. However, in a death penalty case, it is critical that the Court exercise its inherent authority to ensure Mr. Mangione's rights are protected because, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized, the death penalty is categorically distinct from other situations and requires heightened protections.' Mangione's lawyers asked that potential grand jurors be questioned on whether they have heard Bondi's statements. They are also seeking any documents Bondi may have been provided as part of her consideration of the evidence in the case, as well and any communications between 'a government official and anyone advocating for the death sentence, or any particular sentence, in this case by or on behalf of any business, corporate interest, lobbyist or other party, directly or indirectly.' After Bondi announced April 1 that she had directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the case, Mangione's lawyers filed a motion to preclude its use. On Monday, federal prosecutors wrote Ramos that it was premature to take it off the table, noting the defense's objections could be made later. A defendant who wishes to challenge the legal propriety of the death penalty may do so at the appropriate time (after indictment) and in the appropriate forum (before the assigned District Judge who will preside over the case),' wrote Matthew Podolsky, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Have a news tip? Contact Jean Marbella at jmarbella@ 410-332-6060, or @
