Connecticut

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country music singer Chris Cagle has been arrested on domestic assault charges after Nashville police said he and his girlfriend got in a drunken fight. Corrections officials said Cagle and his girlfriend Jennifer Tant both were jailed early Wednesday morning on misdemeanor domestic assault charges.A local Nashville television station first reported the incident after police responded to a home the couple shared around 4 a.m. According to a police affidavit, both were intoxicated and an argument turned physical. Cagle stated that she hit him in the head with an umbrella and Tant told police he hit her with her own purse. (Read the full post about ‘Country Star Arrested On Assault Charges’…)

LOS ANGELES — The man who composed and whistled the theme to “The Andy Griffith Show” has died. His wife said that Earle Hagen died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 88. Hagen composed themes and music for about 3,000 hours of television in his career that lasted 60 years.His other famous themes include “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Mod Squad” “Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.” and “I Spy.” Hagen won an Emmy for some of the music he wrote for “I Spy.” (Read the full post about ‘‘Andy Griffith Show’ Whistler Dies’…)

LOS ANGELES — The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said that it has agreed to a tentative deal with Hollywood studios on a new three-year contract. The union said early Wednesday that the deal establishes fees for content streamed and downloaded over the Internet and preserves actors’ rights of consent on the use of their voices and images in online clips.Meanwhile, the larger of the two acting unions, the Screen Actors Guild, is about to return to the bargaining table.A source said that SAG talks will go on Wednesday as planned. That suggested AFTRA would likely push to strike a deal before then, rather than give up its chance to set a precedent on behalf of actors.The three-year contracts of both unions expire on June 30. (Read the full post about ‘AFTRA Union, Studios Agree On Contract’…)

WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages jumped this week to the highest level since mid-March as investors began to worry about what the Federal Reserve will do to combat growing inflation pressures.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.08 percent this week. That was up from 5.98 percent last week.

It was the highest level for 30-year mortgages in 11 weeks, since they averaged 6.13 percent the week of March 16.

Analysts attributed the increase to rising concerns in financial markets about what the Fed might do to battle increased inflation pressures. Financial markets this week pushed the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds above 4 percent for the first time in five months. (Read the full post about ‘Mortgage Rates Hit 11-Week High’…)

RABBIT HASH, Ky. — The dog mayor of Rabbit Hash has passed away.

The Rabbit Hash General Store confirmed Thursday that Junior Cochran died two days before his 13th birthday, Cincinnati television station WLWT reported.

Junior Cochran was elected mayor with more than 3,000 votes in November 2004. A documentary aired on Animal Planet about the black Labrador in 2006.

The store could not say what would happen next, but said that word on the street indicated that previous contenders Marty the mule and Charlie the chicken would have a runoff.

The city has a Web site about it’s unusual official.

WASHINGTON — While cities are hot spots for global warming, people living in them turn out to be greener than their country cousins. Each resident of the largest 100 largest metropolitans areas is responsible on average for 2.47 tons of carbon dioxide in energy consumption each year, 14 percent below the 2.87 ton U.S. average, researchers at the Brookings Institution say in a report being released Thursday. Those 100 cities still account for 56 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide pollution.But their greater use of mass transit and population density reduce the per person average. “It was a surprise the extent to which emissions per capita are lower,” Marilyn Brown, a professor of energy policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-author of the report, said in an interview. (Read the full post about ‘Urbanites Greener Than Country Counterparts’…)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Federal officials were trying to determine what caused a medical helicopter to crash on the roof of a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday.Fire officials confirmed that the chopper went down around 11 a.m. at the Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in the heart of downtown. The fire chief said the chopper landed on its side as it was practicing approaches, and the two people on board got out before it caught on fire.They were both listed in stable condition at the hospital where the crash took place. All surgeries at the hospital were temporarily canceled but were expected to resume later Thursday. (Read the full post about ‘2 Hurt When Copter Crashes At Hospital’…)

WASHINGTON — The Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington begins in earnest Thursday with a record 288 spellers competing in the oral preliminary round. Two of the favorites are Tia Thomas, of Coarsegold, Calif., and Matthew Evans, of Albuquerque, N.M. This is the fifth and final year for both 13-year-olds. The bee concludes Friday night with a prime-time finish on ABC. Should either win, the other will deserve a big thank you. Matthew and Tia have been comparing notes via instant messaging every Friday night in the months leading up to the bee. (Read the full post about ‘National Bee Spellers Vie To Rule Hive’…)

CT News Junkie reports on the endorsement of Jim Amann’s run for governor by the New Haven County Marshals Association. Judicial marshals in New Haven? How could that backfire?

Amann was previously endorsed by a local iron workers union.

Meanwhile, Barbara Lambert, a Milford alderwoman, was nominated by Milford Democrats to run for Amann’s soon-to-be-vacant seat. Republicans nominated Nanci Seltzer, who sits on Milford’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Rocco Frank, an independent candidate, is also running.

The New London DAY ran a very interestling take on regional solutions to “taxing” problems in today’s, May 27, 2008, OP ED section.  The author’s conclusion

Because regional-government proponents fail to understand the essential nature of the public sector- i.e., it puts the interests of elected officials and bureaucrats ahead of the taxpayers it claims to “serve” - they fail to see the pitfalls inherent when additional levels of government are created.

(Read the full post about ‘Do Regional Solutions Provide More Efficient Public Services?’…)