The first time Jeanne Maillet’s family called the police on her mentally ill relative, they thought he would finally get to a doctor, get treatment and get better. “We were so naĂŻve,” she said. Instead, it was only one step in what Maillet calls five years of hell, trying to get him help in Connecticut’s […]
10 Years of Sandy Hook Coverage
At the Newtown Bee: Reporting, while grieving
Hours before Newtown changed forever, subscribers to the Newtown Bee received their weekly paper. The front page of the Friday, Dec. 14, edition was a typical one. Its main headline: “Vandalism Leaves Old Headstones Cracked and Damaged.” Three other stories talk about the school system’s financial woes, its above-average performance and a merger of the […]
Connecticut’s complex relationship with guns
One was a Korean War veteran suffering flashbacks. Another was an old man who kicked his neighbors’ trash cans into the street and ranted at passing traffic. Some had spoken of violence against themselves or others in the face of foreclosure, divorce or illness. All had one thing in common. Their firearms were among 2,093 […]
Public tears as governor describes ending parents’ wait
He came close Sunday on CNN. It finally happened Monday afternoon at the State Capitol: Gov. Dannel P. Malloy publicly wept for the first time since the mass murders Friday of 26 students and staff at an elementary school in Newtown. In a press conference, Malloy was asked how it fell to him Friday to […]
Gunman kills 26 students and adults at Newtown school
Officials shared no theories Friday night on what prompted a 20-year-old gunman to kill 26 students and adults at a Newtown elementary school, a national tragedy that left President Obama choked up and wiping away tears as he addressed the deaths from the White House. “I know there is not a parent in America who […]