GE exit, schools ruling among top stories in ‘16

A rescue at sea led to new questions about an unsolved homicide, a pilot crashed a small plane into East Hartford’s center and a boat repairman living a quiet life in Sherman was revealed to be a fugitive on the lam for 48 years.

Connecticut had its share of criminal intrigue in 2016 along with a heavy dose of politics, the departure of General Electric, and a court ruling that excoriated the way public schools are run across the state.

A look at some of the state’s top stories of the year:

MISSING BOATERS

He was rescued from a life raft in September, but his mother, who accompanied him on the ill-fated fishing trip, was missing and presumed dead. Nathan Carman had barely returned to land when it emerged that he had been a suspect in the still-unsolved 2013 slaying of his wealthy grandfather. Carman has not been charged with anything and he has denied having anything to do with the shooting of his grandfather.

GENERAL ELECTRIC UNPLUGS

After a very public search for a new headquarters, the company, which had expressed displeasure with Connecticut’s tax policies, announced in January it was leaving its 42-year-old campus in Fairfield for Boston. The company said that as a research hub, Boston was a better fit for its aspirations in the digital age. The move dealt a blow to the pride and tax rolls of Fairfield, where the company employed 800 people. Sacred Heart University has said it will buy the old Fairfield headquarters.

SCHOOL FUNDING RULING

In the culmination of an 11-year-old lawsuit against the state, a judge in September ordered an overhaul of Connecticut’s public education system, citing huge gaps in test scores between rich towns and poor towns. Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher in Hartford blasted parts of the system as irrational and unconstitutional and ordered state officials to come up with reforms. Connecticut’s attorney general has appealed the ruling.

TRAINING FLIGHT CRASH

On a Tuesday afternoon in October, the twin-engine Piper PA-34 Seneca crashed on a street in East Hartford, killing the Jordanian student pilot and injuring his instructor. The National Transportation Safety Board said a preliminary investigation showed the crash was intentional, and an official familiar with the investigation said there had been an altercation inside the cockpit in what appeared to be a suicide attempt by the student pilot. The FBI has taken over the investigation and has not provided further details.

DEMOCRATS SWEEP CONGRESSIONAL RACES

In a year of GOP gains elsewhere, Connecticut stayed reliably blue, once again sending a delegation to Congress composed entirely of Democrats. U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, Joe Courtney, Jim Himes and Elizabeth Esty all won re-election in November, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal. The last Republican to serve in the state’s delegation was U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays in 2009.

NEW SANDY HOOK SCHOOL OPENS

In the fall, students returned to school at Sandy Hook for the first time since the schoolhouse massacre of 26 people in December 2012. Elementary school students from the district attended classes for nearly four years in neighboring Monroe before the opening of a new Sandy Hook Elementary School, a $50 million replacement built on the same property but not in the old footprint. Previous Balance:

$25,519.74

Chris and Toddie Getman:

$50

Harvey and Susan Feinberg: Harry and Helen SacklerRosenberg:

$600 $36

Total:

$26,405.74

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