Rowland Resignation Tops State News Stories For Year

By Susan Haigh

Associated Press

HARTFORD — The political free fall and subsequent resignation of former Connecticut governor John G. Rowland — once one of the state’s most popular figures — crowns The Associated Press’s list of the top ten state stories of 2004.

Mr Rowland, a Republican, resigned July 1 during legislative hearings about his possible impeachment for accepting gifts from state contractors and friends, and a federal corruption investigation of his administration.

While two other stories related to Rowland’s resignation and his administration’s scandal made the AP’s list, the No. 2 spot was given to the national championships of the University of Connecticut’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

It was the first time in NCAA Division I history that one university won both the men’s and women’s basketball championships in the same season. The UConn men won their second national title, and the women collected their third straight championship.

The inauguration of Rowland’s former running mate and lieutenant governor, Republican M. Jodi Rell, ranked as the state’s third most important news story of the year. Ms Rell became Connecticut’s second female governor, after Democrat Ella Grasso, when she was sworn into office July 1.

Martha Stewart’s imprisonment came in at No. 4.

Next on the list was the federal indictments of a former top Rowland aide, the aide’s son and a major state construction contractor. The 15-count indictment accused Rowland’s former co-chief of staff, Peter N. Ellef, and contractor William Tomasso of conspiring to steer state contracts from 1997 to 2003. It also named Ellef’s son, Peter N. Ellef II. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Historians considered the significance of the three Rowland-related stories.

“If you lump those three together, it’s even a bigger story,” said Christopher Collier, a former state historian. “But clearly, the resignation of Rowland is one that has the greatest public impact that will have some real durability. The effects of it will be felt for some time.”

Walter Woodward, the current state historian, questioned where the Rowland scandal will rank in Connecticut’s history years from now. He said Connecticut has experienced significant events in its long history, including the Revolutionary and Indian wars.

“The state has weathered worse storms than this, I think,” Woodward said. “This is more of a wake-up call than a watershed and may be remembered that way. Hopefully it will be remembered that way.”

AP member newspapers, broadcasters, and photographers were asked to submit ballots ranking the top ten news stories for 2004. The stories were suggested by the AP and its members.

UConn’s sweep of the basketball titles was celebrated throughout the state, including a massive parade in downtown Hartford.

“I think in terms of sports, it’s a remarkable thing from a university from one of the smaller states,” Mr Woodward said.

“It’s going to be a long time before any other school in any other state can say that,” he said. “It’s a sign of the people of this state and the university’s real special relationship with the sport of basketball. We are hoopheads here.”

The fourth-ranked story of the year was one that garnered tremendous national attention — news that Ms Stewart, a homemaking maven and occasional Westport resident, would serve a prison sentence.

Ms Stewart and her former stockbroker were convicted in March of lying to investigators about why she sold ImClone Systems Inc stock in 2001. Ms Stewart, who is appealing her conviction, is serving a five-month sentence at a minimum-security federal prison for women in Alderson, W.Va. She will be released in March.

News that a Superior Court judge had finally set an execution date for serial killer Michael Ross was ranked as the sixth most important story in 2004. Mr Ross, who is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on January 26, would become the first person executed in New England since 1960.

Mr Ross admitted killing eight women in eastern Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s, and raping most of his victims. He has been in prison for 20 years — 17 on Connecticut’s death row — for four murders.

In October, Mr Ross told Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford that he had decided not to pursue any further appeals. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 28 for a competency hearing.

The spate of Connecticut deaths in both Iraq and Afghanistan ranked as the seventh most important story of the year. Since March 2002, 22 servicemen and civilians with Connecticut ties have died in the wars in both countries.

Thirteen of those deaths occurred in 2004.

The No. 8 story of the year was the fiery tanker truck crash that melted a bridge on Interstate 95 in Bridgeport in March and forced officials to close the highway. The fire started when a truck carrying thousands of gallons of home heating oil was struck by a car in the southbound lanes.

Northbound traffic was kept off the overpass for three days until steel supports were installed underneath. The southbound lanes could not be reopened for three more days until a temporary bridge was put in place.

US Senator Joe Lieberman’s failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination was the state’s ninth most significant news story of the year. Mr Lieberman ended his bid for the White House in February, announcing he will seek reelection to the Senate in 2006.

Federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe ranked No. 10. The Kent-based tribe received its federal status on January 29.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has appealed the recognition. He recently called on the secretary of the Department of Interior to overturn the decision after learning that the Bureau of Indian Affairs used erroneous marriage statistics in its research.

The tribe has said it is confident that its federal status will be affirmed.