In Brief Man burned trying to cut power line

NEW HAVEN - New Haven police say a man trying to cut an electrified power line was severely burned and caused an outage to about 3,000 utility customers.

Police spokesman David Hartman said officers found 24-year-old Sammy Gonzalez just after 4 p.m. Thursday after he called an ambulance to his home, saying he had been burned by electricity. Hartman said Gonzalez told police he was injured when he crossed nearby train tracks.

But Hartman said utility company surveillance tape from the former English power station on Grand Avenue showed Gonzalez trying to cut the line.

Gonzalez was transferred to Bridgeport Burn Center in critical but stable condition with third-degree burns. He faces charges including burglary, attempt to commit larceny and breach of the peace.

Hartman said United Illuminating restored the power by about 7:30 p.m.

State seeks $3.2 billion for infrastructure

HARTFORD - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he will seek $3.2 billion from the federal government to improve the state's infrastructure following damage from a series of hard-hitting storms.

The governor says Connecticut may not have been affected as severely as New York or New Jersey by Superstorm Sandy, but the state suffered significant damage from that storm as well as Hurricane Irene and the snow storm that hit in October of last year.

He says the three storms combined caused more than $1 billion in damage to the state.

The bulk of the money requested by the governor would go toward upgrading power transmission systems, moving power lines underground and other infrastructure improvements.

Malloy said he informed the state's congressional delegation Thursday of his plans to submit the requests.

WCSU: Info may have been exposed

DANBURY, Conn. - Western Connecticut State University is notifying students, their families and others that their personal information may have been exposed to unauthorized access by a computer system vulnerability that has since been corrected.

Officials at the Danbury school say they found no evidence records were inappropriately accessed.

The vulnerability existed from April 2009 to September 2012 and potentially exposed information, including Social Security numbers, of about 235,000 people whose records were collected by the university over 13 years.

The affected group includes students, their families, those who had other associations with the university and high school students whose SAT scores were purchased in lists.

The university says it implemented new layers of protection and is offering up to two years of free ID theft protection to those potentially affected.

Clubs slowly move to snuff out smoking

WATERBURY - Membersonly private clubs are experimenting with non-smoking areas, nine years after the Connecticut General Assembly exempted the organizations from a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.

The Republican American reports that beginning earlier this year, the Ancient Order of Hibernians Club designated nonsmoking during lunch on Saturdays.

The Torrington Elks club has designated a smoke-free Saturday once a month. The group tested a few nonsmoking nights over the past two years to gauge whether business would drop. It didn't and now smoking is prohibited regularly at night.

And beginning in May, Waterbury Elks began a nonsmoking time from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays.

Terry Ford, president of the Elks in Connecticut, said he's seen Elks clubs across the state adopt nonsmoking rules slowly.

State expanding vaccination program

HARTFORD - The Connecticut Department of Public Health is expanding its childhood vaccination program.

The agency is adding three immunizations, including one for influenza, to the list of vaccines required for all children in the state.

Under the new Connecticut Vaccine Program, the state will now cover 14 of the 16 vaccines currently recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Starting Jan. 1, a new state law will require all health care providers who administer vaccines to children under the age of 19 to obtain the vaccines through the Connecticut Vaccine Program.

With a combination of state and federal funds, the state is able to purchase vaccine at the lowest price off a federal contract and provide them to clinics, private doctors and other health care providers at no cost.

Bridgeport mayor backs marijuana farm

BRIDGEPORT - Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch says the city's zoning commission is moving too slowly to promote economic growth and cited its recent rejection of a plan to open a medical marijuana farm.

In an interview with the Connecticut Post, Finch said the Planning and Zoning Commission should be more pro-business.

The commission rejected on Monday a proposal to locate a marijuana farm in a warehouse.

Fairfield resident Rob Schulter wants to take advantage of Connecticut's recent legalization of medical marijuana and grow and sell pot wholesale.

The zoning board said there are too many unknowns and raised concerns about security and whether employees could steal the marijuana.

Finch said the pot farm is a legal use and that officials should make sure business plans will not stall.

The newspaper could not reach the zoning chairman for comment.

Man avoids jail time in fake investment plea

NEW LONDON - A 79year-old Massachusetts man has avoided jail time by refunding $35,000 that a Mohegan Sun Casino employee gave him in a bogus investment scheme. Harold Kravitz of Randolph, Mass., pleaded guilty to third-degree larceny on Wednesday in New London Superior Court. In addition to a suspended one-year sentence, he was banned from casinos.

State police say Kravitz persuaded the unidentified casino employee that he could double her money if she gave him cash for an investment in a burglary alarm system company.

Kravitz's lawyer says his client tried to repay the woman with gambling winnings.

Kravitz's wife and other family members helped raise the money to reimburse the woman.

Health care group eyes Bristol Hospital

WATERBURY - Vanguard Health Systems Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based health care group that has agreed to develop a joint venture with Waterbury Hospital, says it has agreed to acquire Bristol Hospital and Health Care Group Inc.

The Republican American reports that financial details were not disclosed.

Bristol Hospital is a 93year-old, nonprofit, hospital with about 134 licensed beds. Spokesman Chris Boyle says the hospital and its affiliated network employ about 1,500 workers.

Vanguard owns and operates 28 acute-care and specialty hospitals in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Texas.

Marie O'Brien, chairwoman of the hospital's board of directors, said the two prospective partners will work in the next 60 days to complete a purchase agreement.

Associated Press