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Salem Decriminalizes 'Magic Mushrooms,' Police Chief On Board
Salem is now among the growing number of communities to recognize studied benefits of psychedelic mushrooms.
Salem City Council passed a bill to deprioritize enforcement of laws prohibiting Psilocybin-containing fungi, also known as magic mushrooms, on Thursday, May 11.
The resolution, called An Act Relative to Plant Medicine, positions using, growing, transporting, and possessing Psilocybin-containing mushrooms as the "lowest law enforcement priority for the city of Salem."
Lucas Miller, the Salem Police Chief, took part in meetings discussi…
Double Murder, Kidnapping Case: Mansfield Man Gets 55-Year Sentence
A 26-year-old former UConn student has been sentenced to prison for the horrific killings of two men and the kidnapping of a woman.
Fairfield County native Peter Manfredonia, age 26, who grew up in Newtown, who currently has an address in Tolland County in Mansfield, was sentenced on Wednesday, April 19 to 55 years in prison in a 2020 murder and kidnapping case under a plea agreement, according to NBC Connecticut.
Manfredonia admitted to killing 62-year-old Ted DeMers, in Willington on Friday, May 22, 2020, officials said in an arrest warrant.
DeMers, according to the warrant, was fo…
Man Sentenced In Case Of Missing Newburgh Woman
A Hudson Valley man has been sentenced to prison for the death of an area woman and then dumping her body, which was never found, in a landfill.
Orange County resident Matthew Mercado, age 40, of Newburgh, was sentenced to a total of 16 to 19 years in prison for the incident which took place on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, at the Windsor Hotel in the town of New Windsor, said Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler.
In August 2022, Mercado pled guilty to manslaughter burglary, and tampering with physical evidence, in connection with the death of 36-year-old Jessica Lopez, of Newburgh.
At th…
Police In Putnam County Help Catch Suspects Of Nationwide 'Felony Lane Gang' Fraud Scheme
Two suspects who admitted to being part of a nationwide fraud scheme were caught with the help of police in the Hudson Valley.
The two men, Joshua Mallory, age 37, and Gary Grier, age 36, both of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Dec. 20 to being part of the multi-state "Felony Lane Gang," a fraud scheme involving suspects breaking into cars and stealing debit cards and checkbooks, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.
Between 2015 and 2020, Mallory, Grier, and several co-conspirators traveled across the country breaking …
North Salem Judge In Trouble For Trying To Use Status To Get Gun Permit Approved
A judge in Northern Westchester has been disciplined for attempting to use his status to influence the approval of a pistol license for his neighbors.
In May 2020, John M. Aronian, a Justice of the North Salem Town Court since January 2016, submitted character reference letters on behalf of his neighbors, Susan and Daniel Koch, to help their pistol permit applications get approved, according to the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct.
After Susan Koch's permit was denied on Sept. 2, 2020, Aronian then wrote another letter dated Oct. 2, 2020, that argued in favor of…
