Also on today’s menu:
Stolen Fire Truck
Secret Service Retirement
Decoys Attract Russian Missiles
The Department of Administrative Services for the state now has four proposals for the redevelopment of the former Laconia State School complex, a 225-acre piece of property that most recently served as a state prison facility. CBRE, a commercial real estate broker, has been marketing the property on behalf of the state.
Originally established as part of the eugenics movement, that sought to improve the human race by promoting desirable genetic characteristics in the human population and eliminating undesirable ones, the Laconia State School was designed as place to house the “feeble-minded” — those who were mentally ill or had brain malfunctions such as epilepsy. Eugenics reached its peak when the Nazis embraced its doctrines in order to justify their treatment of Jews, disabled people, and other minority groups. Although eugenics was largely discredited after World War II, the Laconia State School remained open until 1991.
City officials and the Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission have sought to transform the property into a multi-use development with commercial and retail uses, along with affordable housing, but were left out of the process when the Executive Council awarded the contract to the multinational real estate services firm last October with the goal of fast-tracking the sale of the property. An ad-hoc group from Laconia is looking to get back into the conversation.
Stolen Fire Truck
Jaime Alexander Brayton, 33, of Hudson is facing charges of grand larceny, assault, and unlawful fleeing a police officer following a motor vehicle crash in New York in which he allegedly stole a fire department vehicle.
According to police, Brayton was westbound on the Long Island Expressway in Yaphank, New York, when the crash occurred, disabling the vehicle he was driving and several other vehicles. When emergency personnel responded to the crash, Brayton allegedly entered the driver’s side of a fire department emergency pickup truck and took off. Highway Patrol officers pursued him, stopped the vehicle, and took Brayton into custody.
Brayton was transported to Stony Brook Hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the crash, and he was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges once he was released from the hospital.
Secret Service Retirement
Tony Ornato, an assistant director at the Secret Service, has announced his departure from the government to take a position in the private sector.
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson had made Ornato a key figure in the hearings by the House Select Committee To Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol when she testified that Ornato had described an incident inside the armored vehicle carrying Trump in which Trump allegedly lunged at the driver and insisted that they go to the Capitol. Hutchinson’s account has been disputed by other people familiar with the matter.
Ornato said, “I retired from the U.S. Secret Service after more than 25 years of faithful service to my country, including serving the past five presidents. I long-planned to retire and have been planning this transition for more than a year.”
Decoys Attract Russian Missiles
Ukraine deployed a fleet of decoys resembling advanced U.S. rocket systems to trick Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range cruise missiles on dummy targets, senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials told the Washington Post.
The Ukrainian decoys are made out of wood but can be indistinguishable from an artillery battery through the lens of Russian drones, which transmit their locations to naval cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea, according to the officials. The destruction of Ukrainian replicas may partially account for Russia’s boastful battle damage assessments on Western artillery, particularly the U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. “They’ve claimed to have hit more HIMARS than we have even sent,” one U.S. diplomat observed.
Meanwhile, Russia Today reports that the Russian Defense Ministry has insisted that “Ukraine’s much-heralded “counter-offensive” in Kherson has “failed miserably.” Ukrainian forces had attempted to attack in three directions on orders of President Vladimir Zelensky but made no gains, according to Moscow. “Russian troops caused “great losses” to the Ukrainian attackers during the day’s battles, a statement read. Kiev saw 26 tanks, 23 armored fighting vehicles, nine more armored vehicles, and two SU-25 ground-attack jets destroyed, while more than 560 troops were lost, according to the summary.”
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