Man surrenders in kidnapping case

August 2, 2008

A 43-year-old man accused of kidnapping his 2-year-old daughter from a Chicopee day-care center turned himself in yesterday in Goldsboro, police said. Joel Brown, who resides at least part time with his mother in Goldsboro, brought the girl, Justice Rose Brown, unharmed to the Wayne County sheriff's office yesterday morning, Detective Sergeant Richard Farfour said. Brown allegedly took his daughter from the girl's mother's car at The Arbors Kids day-care center. Massachusetts and New York state police denied Chicopee authorities' request for an Amber Alert late Wednesday night. North Carolina, however, issued an Amber Alert for the toddler some time late Thursday night or early yesterday morning, Farfour said.

Workers at the New Bedford textile factory that was the target of a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid last year held a brief work stoppage yesterday to protest what they called unfair working conditions. The company was formerly known as Michael Bianco Inc. before it came under new ownership and was renamed Eagle Industries. Eagle was able to keep its multimillion-dollar contract with the Department of Defense to produce backpacks for the Army, and many of the same workers who were not arrested in the raid remain. The workers have been trying to unionize since the immigration raid last year. Police were called in after workers had arguments with management. There were no arrests.

The Coast Guard said three people were rescued early yesterday from a tug boat after it caught fire off the Massachusetts coast. The 129-foot Canal Deluge was one of two tugs escorting a barge about 1 a.m. when the crew reported a fire in the engine room. The Coast Guard said a rescue boat was sent to the scene about 4 miles south of Sconticut Neck. No injuries were reported. (AP)

State legislators will hold a hearing on Governor Don Carcieri's cost-cutting plan to overhaul the state's Medicaid program. Carcieri earlier this week proposed capping state and federal funding at $12.4 billion over five years. The House and Senate finance committees have scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to review Carcieri's proposal. (AP)

A Stamford judge will decide if prosecutors can subpoena an Associated Press reporter who conducted a jailhouse interview of the man police accuse of being the "dinnertime bandit." Prosecutors want Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. to allow them to question AP reporter John Christoffersen about his interview with Alan Golder in February. Prosecutors say Christoffersen's testimony and notes are critical to their case. Golder faces 10 charges including kidnapping, larceny, and burglary in connection with burglaries from 1996 and 1997. The AP is opposing the request. Lawyers for the news service say Christoffersen interviewed Golder about his previous convictions, not his pending charges. The case being heard Friday is one of the first challenges to Connecticut's shield law, approved by lawmakers in 2006. (AP)

Mohegan Sun officials say the casino's net income in the third quarter dropped 89 percent compared with the same period last year, and they're placing some of the blame on gamblers' extraordinary luck. The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority reported net income of $5 million Thursday for the three months ending June 30. Mitchell Etess, Mohegan Sun's president and chief executive officer, said the casino had an extremely long streak of bad luck. Gamblers played about $611 million at table games during the quarter, a 6.4 percent increase. The casino kept about 11.6 percent of that gambling money, nearly 5 percent less than it did during last year's quarter. Table game revenues dropped more than 25 percent, to $75.3 million, compared with a year ago.(AP)