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High End Carmakers Developing SUVs

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The 2017 Bentley Bentayga will be the most expensive SUV in the U.S. with a base price of $229,000, NBC News reported. 

It's being billed as "the fastest, most powerful, most luxurious, most exclusive SUV in the world." Add the long list of accessories and some buyers are likely to double that figure. An optional Breitling clock alone is listed at $160,000.

Within the next few years, the world's most exclusive automotive manufacturers will be launching SUVs of their own, including the likes of Lamborghini, Aston Martin and even Rolls-Royce. Even as U.S. auto sales surge to record levels, the market share of so-called light trucks, including pickups, minivans and SUVs, has also climbed to an all-time high. The shift is happening at every price level, from entry level to the market's most rarefied segments.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

House Will Not Vote on Wednesday for Budget Deal

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Top lawmakers in the Connecticut General Assembly said Wednesday night that they would not consider a revised budget for the 2017 fiscal year until after its adjournment deadline.

"We’re going to come back and make sure everybody has had a chance to read it and review it," said Bob Duff, the Majority Leader of the State Senate Wednesday night.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney told reporters that there wasn't enough time for the budget bill to be printed, distributed to members and debated in an fast or adequate fashion to justify passage before the statutory midnight deadline.

Instead, lawmakers will return to the state capitol early next week when debate, discussion, and passage are expected on the more than $18 billion spending package.

Republicans criticized Democrats early Wednesday afternoon, complaining that the budget had been crafted in secret, but they later stood shoulder to shoulder with top Democrats pleased by the delay.

“There’s a lot of numbers, a lot of commas, a lot of info, a lot of periods" said Sen. Len Fasano, the Minority Leader. "You’ve got to get them right and you know taking a step back and saying this is a big document, let’s hold off, let’s let it sit out there. Let’s let people read it, take a glance at it makes a lot of sense.”

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey said Wednesday of the spending plan, “In my 16 years in the legislature this is the most fully vetted public transparent that I’ve ever voted for.”

"One hundred percent, we would pass the budget," he declared, before later announcing they would delay to a special session.

Governor Dannel Malloy said in a statement late Wednesday that the move to pass the budget during a Special Session is not an excuse to change the agreed upon budget by him and legislative leadership.

He said, “If this delay begins a discussion about re-opening the agreement in order to find a way to avoid difficult decisions, that’s unacceptable."



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Lead Found in Boston Schools' Water

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Two Boston Public Schools facilities employees have been placed on administrative leave after lead was found in the drinking water of several schools in the city.

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang said in a statement that the two facilities department workers will remain on leave pending the results of an internal investigation.

School officials said water fountains installed at six schools were prematurely activated before testing had been completed.

According to the district, fountains were turned on erroneously at Trotter Elementary School, Curely K-8 School, Lee Elementary School, Mather Elementary School, Boston Green Academy and Another Course to College.

  • From Nov. 23 through Dec. 14, fountains at Mather were prematurely in use. Testing in November showed seven of the school's nine fountains had high levels of lead. The same figures were found through eight more rounds of testing through March. All fountains were turned off after the issue was discovered in December, and parents were notified of the situation in February.
  • Fountains at Lee were left on for about five days in January. Five rounds of testing were performed between December and March, and one of the seven affected fountains had high levels of lead.
  • At Another Course to College, six fountains were on for 12 to 24 hours. One of those fountains was found to have elevated lead levels.
  • The fountains at Curley were turned off within 24 to 48 hours. Of the 12 fountains that were prematurely activated, eight were found to have levels of lead beyond the state's standard acceptable limit.
  • Trotter's fountains had been covered with garbage bags and were turned off very quickly. School officials do not believe anyone drank from these fountains, but tests in February and March showed that five of the seven fountains had high levels of lead.
  • Fountains at Boston Green Academy were turned on for 12 to 48 hours, but subsequent testing showed the lead content was within the acceptable limits - lead was not even detectable in some cases.

At these six schools, and in the majority of other public schools in the city, bottled water is being used, according to the district.

In April, 38 schools with functioning water fountains were inventoried. Fountains at 36 of those schools were sampled, and four of those schools had fountains with levels of lead that eclipsed the standard limit.

At Kenny Elementary School, three fountains sampled were found to have too much lead. At Hernandez School, one of the six fountains tested contained high levels. One of the 10 fountains sampled at Murphy School had high levels of lead. At Boston Latin Academy, three of the five fountains sampled had high detections.

Lead is an extremely toxic substance. The Boston Public Health Commission notes that it can damage the brain, kidneys, nervous system and red blood cells - particularly in children and pregnant women.

Mayor Marty Walsh said the city and school department are working to address the problem, and added "they're on top" of the situation. He called the mistake due to miscommunication between the school department and a third party contractor "unacceptable."

Chang said he is confident that all active water fountains meet state standards and are fine for students and faculty to use. 

"All active water fountains were tested in April, and the results were triple verified by Boston Public Schools, Boston Water & Sewer Commission and a third-party contractor," he said. "There is nothing more important than the health and well-beign of our students and staff."

Deer's Head in the Light Globe

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It gives new meaning to "deer in the headlights."

A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officer rescued a deer after the critter got its head stuck in a light globe on Long Island.

Conservation Officer Jeff Hull went to check on the deer after he received a call Tuesday morning.

Hull found the deer with its head stuck inside of a light globe that had been lying in the woods of Centereach since the previous night.

The deer was about 20 yards from a road when Hull found it. Hull tried to grab the globe, but it slipped out of his hands and the deer took off.

The deer, blinded by the light globe, ran into a tree and fell to the ground.

Hull tried to remove the bulb again, this time flinging his coat over it and bear-hugging it as the deer kicked and struggled to break free, according to a post on the agency's Facebook page.

The deer finally slipped out and ran off into the woods.

Hull suffered a few bruises in the rescue.

Last fall, a deer got its head stuck in a pumpkin, sparking a social media storm.



Photo Credit: Courtesy of NYS DEC

Cali. Doctor Center of Prince Death

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A Mill Valley, California doctor’s office became Ground Zero for all-things Prince on Wednesday, a day after a newspaper reported that the late pop artist had been trying to get drug recovery help from him the day before he died.

But Dr. Howard Kornfeld, who runs “Recovery Without Walls,” did not answer the door or phone at his practice, which became a media stakeout in the affluent Marin County city. News outlets from NBC News to Extra! were there, all trying to get an interview with the man who reportedly was trying to help Prince overcome his problems.

While Kornfeld didn't want to speak, Prince's attorney in Minneapolis did speak with reporters.

"Dr. Kornfeld felt his mission was a life-saving mission," the doctor's attorney William Mauzy said. "He felt it to be urgent."

At Kornfeld's home nearby, a “Do Not Disturb” sign hung on the door. When a reporter went to the door of the doctor’s home, a man came out to say “no comment.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune first reported that Mauzy said Prince had been trying to seek Kornfeld’s help on April 20. But Kornfeld was busy, the newspaper reported. So the doctor sent his son, Andrew Kornfeld, from San Francisco International Airport to Paisley Park in Minneapolis to help.

"Andrew's purpose for being there was to describe the Recovery Without Walls Program to familiarize Prince with that," Mauzy later told a bank of reporters on Thursday. "Prince could go there for pain management and any addiction issue."

It was Andrew Kornfeld, a consultant at the practice, who made the 911 call when he found the 57-year-old unresponsive. Prince died on April 21.

"He arrives to see him dead in the elevator," Mauzy said, deeming it "certainly a difficult time."

Complicating matters, however, is that Andrew Kornfeld, who is not a doctor, brought pills with him to help Prince and carried them over state lines. Mauzy said that Andrew Kornfeld intended to deliver the pills to a Minnesota doctor, who would administer them to Prince. Andrew Kornfeld never gave Prince any drugs, Mauzy said.

The Kornfelds hoped that Prince would agree to go to California for long-term care, Mauzy said.

The artist had performed in San Francisco and Oakland, less than a month before he died.

On his website, Kornfeld described his practice as a “personalized outpatient clinic, specializing in innovative, evidence-based medical treatment for chronic pain and drug and alcohol addiction.”

Kornfeld described himself as a “nationally recognized leader in the utilization of the opioid pain medication,” specifically buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone or Subutex. In 2013, he was profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle in an article called "Controlling Chronic Pain Without Dangerous Drugs."

Kornfeld is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Medicine and teaches at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine’s Pain Medical Fellowship Program. According to his biography, Kornfeld is the founding medical director at the Alameda County Medical Center, Pain Management and Functional Restoration Clinic.

His son, Andrew Kornfeld, is a University of California at Santa Cruz graduate, where he studied neuroscience and psychology. He has worked on several papers with his father, his biography states, and occasionally, he's acted as a peer mentor to younger patients.

#RapedAtSpelman Tweets Spark Gang-Rape Probe

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An anonymous Twitter account claiming to detail a gang rape has prompted an investigation at two elite Atlanta Universities, NBC News reported.

The owner of the @RapedAtSpelman account posted the first tweet on May 2, alleging to be a freshman at Spelman who was gang-raped by a group of Morehouse College students at a party.

Subsequent tweets allege reporting the attack to campus security and speaking with school officials, who took a month to get back to her.

The president of Atlanta's Spelman University urged the voice behind the @RapedAtSpelman account to come forward "so that I may offer you my full support and assistance."

The president of Morehouse said the school's Office of Campus Safety has been "activated" to fully investigate the claims, noting the information shared on Twitter was "our very first indication of this incident."

Atlanta police tell NBC Affiliate 11Alive there is no police report or investigation into the alleged Spelman rape because no one has come forward to report a crime.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Texas Murder-Suicide IDs Released

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Officials have identified the man who shot and killed a former co-worker before turning the gun on himself two weeks after he was fired from a transportation center in Harris County, Texas.

Marion Guy Williams, 65, returned to Knight Transportation's Katy Service Center on Wednesday morning, where he shot and killed 35-year-old employee Mike Dawid, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Officials said the shooter was armed with two guns — and shotgun and a pistol — and burst through the door shouting that his life had been ruined. He fired a "warning shot" and moved through the building as if looking for someone, authorities said.

Police have not released the employees' job titles or described their relationship, but in a press conference after the shooting, Sheriff Ron Hickman surmised the victim may have been a supervisor.

A spokesperson for Knight Transprotation confirmed an employee was killed in the shooting, saying: "Our deepest sympathies are with the family during this difficult time."

At least one other employee injured by shrapnel was treated at the scene. An officer fell to his knee while entering the building and was taken to the hospital.

The Phoenix-based company, which provides nationwide truckload transportation services, said all work would be suspended at the facility while police investigate.



Photo Credit: NBC 5 News

Crews Respond to Rollover on Route 2 in Glastonbury

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EMS has responded to a rollover on Route 2 in Glastonbury, according to state police. 

The crash happened at 7:57 a.m. 

It’s not clear if anyone went to the hospital or if any lanes are blocked.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Lawmakers Pass Bill to Allow Armed Police on College Campuses

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State lawmakers have given final approval to legislation that would allow armed police forces on Connecticut's 12 community college campuses and the bill is on the way to Gov. Dannel Malloy's desk. 

The bill was crafted with students, faculty and staff of community college campuses in mind, but even if it is signed into law, the question remains - will it make people here feel any safer? 

“It's happened before. It could possibly happen again. Why not be ready?," Nikki Libretti, a business management student at Gateway Community College in New Haven said. “With all the unfortunate tragedies that happened in the past, it's something we need to focus on." 

Libretti and others said they are ready for an armed layer of protection. 

“Having an armed guard here, I assume would put a lot of people at ease," Val Gonda, a nutrition and dietetics student at Gateway said. 

“The legislature is thinking about the students and just trying to have a safer community,” Francisco Caraballo, a manufacturing engineering student, said. 

Under the proposal, those armed patrols would first have to be approved by the Board of Regents for Higher Education. 

“This allows community colleges to establish special police forces that will be comprised of post-certified, trained police officers that will have the tools to do their job and right now they don't," Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System, said. He said it all comes down to making it feel safer on community college campuses. 

“I think it will help," Liz Valentin, a Gateway nursing student, said. "But it depends on the situation.” 

Even if Malloy and the Board of Regents sign off on the measure, it will ultimately be up to each college to decide whether it wants armed police on its campus. 



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

$50,000 Reward Issued in Missing Woman Case

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Lisa Ann Calvo has been missing since 2005 and a $50,000 reward is being offered for leads in the case.

Her family last saw her on the morning of Oct. 6 in New Haven.

She was homeless at the time and had, at times, lived on the streets, police said, but that was supposed to change.

On the day Calvo disappeared, she was supposed to move to her parent’s home and enter a drug-treatment program.

Calvo was known to frequent areas in the city’s Fair Haven District and police said the circumstances surrounding Calvo’s disappearance are unclear and her case remains unsolved.

Police will be holding a news conference on Thursday afternoon about the case and the reward.



Photo Credit: New Haven Police

Apple Says Service Back After App Store Problem

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Apple said Thursday morning that "all users" were affected by a problem on its App Store that lasted from about 5 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., CNBC reported.

The service had not been "working as expected," Apple had said on its system status page. It appeared that the store's search function was not working as it should.

For example, the first seven results of a search for "Google" did not show apps from the tech giant, CNBC reported.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

No, Cinco de Mayo Is Not Mexico's Independence Day

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Thursday marks the 154th anniversary of Cinco de Mayo, a holiday synonymous with margaritas and cervezas (beer) that many would be surprised to learn is a bigger deal in the U.S. than in Mexico.

The holiday commemorates Mexico’s victory against the French during the Battle of Puebla in 1862, not Mexico's Independence Day, which is marked on Sept. 16. In fact, it isn’t a Mexican holiday at all but rather an American one created by Latinos in California during the Civil War, according to UCLA professor David Hayes-Bautista.

"Recent Mexican immigrants are often surprised at what a huge thing Cinco de Mayo has become here," Professor Margarita Sánchez of Wagner College told NBC News. "They do celebrate the holiday in Mexico, but it is only a big deal in Puebla."

General Ignacio Zaragosa, the hero of the Battle of Peubla, was born near what is now Goliad, Texas. The fact that a Tejano (or "Tex-Mex") has a link to Cinco de Mayo reflects the reality that Mexican history is part of American history, says Raul Ramos of the University of Houston.



Photo Credit: Denver Post via Getty Images

Clinton Defends Against Sanders & Trump

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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will now be defending her campaign from two flanks as Bernie Sanders' campaign continues and the sudden departure of Donald Trump's rivals have made him the presumptive GOP nominee, NBC News reported.

"I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that any Republican, let alone Donald Trump, was able to solidify the nomination before she was," said Patrick Murray, the polling director at Monmouth University. "This makes it really tough for her. There's no feasible way for Bernie Sanders to win the nomination, yet his decision to fight on in anything more than just a token way means she's got to continue to expend resources in places that she wouldn't bother."

Clinton and her campaign have adopted a posture of benign indifference to Sanders, largely ignoring him and declining to engage his attacks. Meanwhile, they've pulled resources away from the primary to devote to the general election, and have already been engaging consistently with Trump.



Photo Credit: AP

Student Overcomes Critical Injury

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While it may have been a preview of her ultimate goal, Wednesday marked a significant moment for Temple University student Rachel Hall.

The 23-year-old lacrosse player walked across the stage during her school’s athletics ceremony over a year after she was critically injured in a hit-and-run crash. Hall, who once had a 20 percent chance of survival, is now set to walk during her graduation ceremony Friday.

"It feels great to finally be with my friends for graduation and go through all the ceremony and all the excitement that I missed," Hall told NBC10. "So I’m really happy to be back."

Few people gave Hall a chance to ever walk again — let alone survive — in the days after the hit-and-run last year. The star lacrosse goalie was riding her bicycle near Temple’s campus on April 29, 2015 when she was struck by a 2012 Mitsubishi Gallant.

The driver, later identified as 19-year-old Rashan Roberts, fled the scene. He was arrested and sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to the hit-and-run. Police said he only had his learner’s permit at the time of the crash.

Hall suffered severe head trauma and a badly broken leg. Determined to overcome her injuries, she endured grueling rehab and therapy. She still attends therapy sessions five days a week, according to her mother.

"It’s a miracle that she’s where she is now," said Kathy Hall. "I never expected it. All of this is from her. It’s her work."

Rachel Hall, who dreams of becoming a police officer, said she always knew she’d achieve her goal of overcoming life-threatening injuries and walking again.

"I always had a very positive personality even before this," she said. "I knew there was no reason to be negative about it because it won’t help me at all."



Photo Credit: Rachel Hall Temple Strong/Facebook

Woman Accused of Hanging Dogs Sentenced to Prison

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A Bristol woman accused of killing her two pit bulls after hallucinating that they told her to hang them was sentenced to prison on Thursday.

A judge sentenced Veronica Reyes to 5 years in prison, suspended after six months.  She will also be credited with time served.

A group of protesters lined the sidewalk outside the courthouse in Bristol.

Police began investigating Reyes after responding to an Allentown Road home on Nov. 21, 2015 to investigate a missing person report and were alerted that the missing woman might have killed her dogs, police said.

The landlord went to investigate after a neighbor reported seeing Reyes hang one of her dogs from a tree and found a freshly filled in hole and the backyard.

Reyes and the dogs were missing, according to police, and Reyes turned herself in to police on Dec. 5.

She told police that she had been out in Waterbury with friends in November and smoked laced marijuana while she was on prescription pain killers and antibiotics after having her wisdom teeth out, the affidavit states.

When she later returned home, she started hallucinating and thought the walls and her two dogs were speaking with her, the affidavit says.

It was then that Reyes noticed a hanger on the floor by the cage the dogs were in and asked them, “You want me to hang you?,” police said.

The dogs became hyper and Reyes thought they were telling her to hang them, so she grabbed a leash and chain and hung one dog, according to police.

When the dog was dead, she put it in a garbage bag and buried it, according to court paperwork. Then she killed the second dog in the same manner.

After killing the dogs, Reyes went back to Waterbury, she told police.

She went on to tell police that she killed the dogs because she was feeling a lot of stress in her life and was depressed after a recent break-up, the affidavit says.

Reyes was charged with two counts of cruelty to animals.



Photo Credit: Bristol Police

Statues Stolen from Headstones in Southington

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Someone is stealing statues from headstones at a cemetery in Southington and police are investigating. 

The most recent case happened sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Police said marble statues were stolen from two headstones at Saint Thomas Cemetery on Meriden Avenue. 

Since January 2016, there have been six other reports of statutes being taken from gravestones in the cemetery. 

Police officers are in the area to thwart these types of thefts and officials from the department are asking for the public’s help to find whoever is responsible for these thefts. 

Anyone who sees a suspicious person in or around the cemetery should call police at 621-0101 and report the activity.



Photo Credit: Submitted

US Companies Vow to Hire 110K Vets by 2021

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On Thursday, 40 companies, including Amazon, Boeing, BAE Systems, AT&T and Tesla, pledged to hire more than 110,000 veterans and military spouses over the next five years in support of the Joining Forces initiative, the White House announced.

Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden launched Joining Forces in 2011. The nationwide initiative calls all Americans to rally around service members, veterans, and their families by supporting them through education and employment opportunities.

At the time, the unemployment rate for veterans of the 9/11 generation was more than 12 percent, according to the White House Office of the First Lady.

Obama and Dr. Biden challenged the private sector in August of 2011 to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses. Since then, more than 1.2 million veterans and spouses have been hired or trained by the private sector and the unemployment rate among veterans is now lower than the national average, the White House said.

In addition to creating employment opportunities, 15 companies and organizations have committed to lead training programs, sponsor scholarships, and support certification courses for nearly 60,000 veterans and their spouses.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Thursday, Obama and Dr. Biden said the U.S. military has been "largely overlooked," by American companies looking to hire top technology talent.

"Whether they were establishing wireless networks in Baghdad, repairing communications equipment in the mountains of Afghanistan, or maintaining data-storage units on 100,000-ton aircraft carriers in the South China Sea, these military personnel have often done their jobs in conditions that most people can’t even begin to imagine," the op-ed said.

Obama and Biden noted these experiences demonstrate America's men and women in uniform "can handle whatever comes their way in an office building in Silicon Valley."

"Despite that remarkable achievement, there is plenty left to be done: 200,000 service members are returning to civilian life every year, and as far as we’re concerned, one unemployed veteran is one too many," Obama and Dr. Biden wrote.



Photo Credit: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

3-Car Crash Closes Lanes of Route 2 West in Glastonbury

Sailor Rescued After 2 Months Adrift Ate Seagulls to Survive

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The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a Colombian sailor who spent two months adrift in the Pacific Ocean and survived by eating seagulls, NBC News reported.

During his time at sea, the sailor witnessed the death of three fellow shipmates. He was picked up some 3,500 miles from home, far out in a desolate stretch of the Pacific Ocean, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The sailor — a 29-year-old Colombian — told the Coast Guard his group of four set out more than two months ago and found themselves adrift after the engine of the group's 23-foot skiff failed.

Officials did not name the sailor but said he was taken ashore on Honolulu.



Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard District 14
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Lawmakers Fail to Pass Budget

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Connecticut lawmakers failed to pass a budget on Wednesday night and will go into special session next week.

Top lawmakers said Wednesday night that they would not consider a revised budget for the 2017 fiscal year until after the adjournment deadline.

"We’re going to come back and make sure everybody has had a chance to read it and review it," Bob Duff, the majority leader of the State Senate said.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney told reporters that there wasn't enough time for the budget bill to be printed, distributed to members and debated in an fast or adequate fashion to justify passage before the statutory midnight deadline.

When lawmakers return to the State Capitol early next week, they will debate the more than $18 billion spending package, which includes $800 million in cuts and 2,000 state employee layoffs. Nearly 700 state employees have already been laid off. 

Republicans criticized Democrats early Wednesday afternoon, complaining that the budget had been crafted in secret, but they later stood shoulder to shoulder with top Democrats pleased by the delay.

“There’s a lot of numbers, a lot of commas, a lot of info, a lot of periods," Sen. Len Fasano, the minority leader, said. "You’ve got to get them right and you know taking a step back and saying this is a big document, let’s hold off, let’s let it sit out there. Let’s let people read it, take a glance at it makes a lot of sense.”

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey said Wednesday of the spending plan, “In my 16 years in the legislature this is the most fully vetted public transparent that I’ve ever voted for.”

"One hundred percent, we would pass the budget," he declared, before later announcing they would delay to a special session.

Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement late Wednesday that the move to pass the budget during a special session is not an excuse to change the agreed upon budget by him and legislative leadership.

“If this delay begins a discussion about re-opening the agreement in order to find a way to avoid difficult decisions, that’s unacceptable," he said.

Lawmakers failed to pass several other bills as well, including one would have allowed a third casino in Connecticut to compete with the MGM planned for Springfield, Massachusetts , one that  would have allowed Tesla to sell electric cars directly to consumers instead of through a dealership and another that would have taxed fantasy sports to help close the budget gap.

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