Ellington

More than three dozen horses were saved from a burning barn in Ellington on Friday morning. Firefighters responded to the scene around 9:20 a.m. and found heavy fire coming from part of the barn, according to Chief Jack Rich, of the Ellington Volunteer Fire Department. The barn was used to board horses and there were 39 horses inside the barn…

Troopers said they rescued a parachutist who was stuck in a tree in Ellington this afternoon. The incident happened at 5 Bridge St., according to troopers. No injuries were reported and the woman has been rescued from the tree. It is unclear at this time what caused the incident. No additional information was immediately available.

Troopers are investigating after a “hard landing” skydiving incident in Ellington Monday afternoon. The incident happened at approximately 2:30 p.m. in the area of Somers Road. Troopers said Life Star was called to the scene. Preliminary investigation showed the person was alert and conscious. The extent of injuries is unknown at this time, troopers said. No additional information was immediately…

An Ellington man and Manchester hotel owner who was accused of having a “sex dungeon” has been sentenced to nearly 29 years in federal prison for child exploitation offenses. Federal officials said Simon Hessler, 48, had been communicating with an undercover state police detective and told the detective that he had a sex dungeon on the top floor of his office…

A man was injured after he was trapped under an excavator he was operating in Ellington Thursday afternoon. The incident happened at approximately 3 p.m. at the back of a property on Longview Street. When crews responded to the scene, they saw an excavator tipped over on its side, trapping the operator inside the roll cage. Crews said they stabilized…

Ellington High School held a drive-in graduation at the Mansfield drive-in theater in a unique celebration for seniors

State police arrested a 53-year-old man following a home invasion in Ellington on Sunday. State troopers responded to an apartment on Jobs Hill Road around 4 p.m. after getting multiple 911 calls about a man who had forced his way into a woman’s apartment and held her against her will. The suspect, later identified as Shannon Irvin, of Windsor Locks,…

Like others across the state, Ellington High School seniors will mark the end of their high school careers much differently than they expected. But there will still be something special to celebrate. The Ellington School Board said they realized graduating students in the Class of 2020 wanted something as close to a traditional graduation as they could possibly have in…

Ellington is celebrating high school seniors who are graduating this year with a week of events, ending with a graduation ceremony at the Mansfield Drive In to keep families at a safe social distance from each other.   The celebrations are planned for the first week of June and will include a drive-up breakfast, a car parade through town, and…

Dairy farmers are struggling to stay in business as demand and prices drop amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Milk prices are plummeting and Connecticut farms are facing the fallout

Ellington has reported its first positive case of coronavirus on Sunday. City officials said the person with the confirmed case of coronavirus is 50 to 59 years old. The person has not been hospitalized and has not been in a long-term care facility, city officials added. “We have been watching the transmission of COVID-19 through the state and were expecting…

A stop for coffee was part of many of our morning routines before the coronavirus pandemic made its way into Connecticut. On Wednesday, an Ellington resident and business are footing the bill for those who don’t have the option to work from home right now: local first responders. Paul Hitchley, the owner of New England Lean Consulting, teamed up...

An Ellington man wanted to thank first responders, who are on the front lines all the time, so he is treating first responders to coffee and food to thank them for work during the coronavirus epidemic.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin for the trial of a Connecticut accused of killing his wife, whose Fitbit activity tracker is expected to be a key piece of evidence. Prosecutors and lawyers for Richard Dabate are set to start interviewing potential jurors Monday in Rockville Superior Court. Dabate, 43, is charged with murder and other crimes in the Dec….

A judge continued to hear arguments on Thursday as lawyers for Richard Dabate argued to keep statements Dabate made to police during a hospital interview after his wife’s killing from being heard by a jury.

Richard Dabate appeared in Rockville Superior Court Wednesday and Thursday as his lawyers argued to suppress key evidence in his upcoming murder trial. The evidence they’d like dismissed are statements Dabate made to detectives while he was being treated at Hartford Hospital in the immediate hours after his wife, Connie Debate’s death in 2015. State police found Connie’s body...

Lawyers for Richard Dabate, an Ellington man accused of killing his wife in 2015, asked a judge to throw out statements Dabate made to police just after the incident.

Lawyers for Richard Dabate, an Ellington man accused of killing his wife in 2015, asked a judge to throw out statements Dabate made to police just after the incident.

A man suspected of killing his wife four years ago is expected back in court on Tuesday for new motions alleging that he was searching for “home-made poisons” in the months leading up to her death. The state prosecutor is expected to discuss new motions in relation to Richard Dabate’s “uncharged misconduct” for his role in the death of...