Media Center

New London — Federal money is aiding the city fire department in taking preventative measures against cancer rates, as well as training for technical rescues in anticipation of upcoming work under the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney announced the department was awarded a $251,799 grant from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The city is contributing $25,179.

A Vietnam veteran who says he was left sterilised by Agent Orange has ridden more 10,000 miles across the US on a motorcycle to rally support to change compensation rules.

Gerry Wright, 70, is one of thousands of former soldiers who sprayed the herbicide during the Vietnam War to kill dense vegetation that provided cover for Viet Cong troops.

Agent Orange has since been acknowledged as causing Parkinson's disease, leukemia, diabetes, prostate cancer and other devastating illnesses.

Santiago "Santi" Rodriguez, a 14-year-old New London boy who loves soccer and basketball, is a healthy high school sophomore thanks to research and treatment by the National Institutes of Health.

But the NIH researchers' effort to learn from the young man and his mother through after his participation in an experimental treatment program is at risk. His father, an immigrant from Colombia, faces deportation, two members of Connecticut's congressional delegation said Tuesday.

New London — The Women's Business Development Council has held events and programs in a lot of Connecticut communities, but CEO Fran Pastore said she has never had the kind of reception she's had in New London.

Support was evident on Wednesday afternoon, when dozens of elected officials and business leaders — both local and from across the state — packed into the sweltering offices of the new Women's Business Center on the fourth floor of 300 State St.