DCF officials announced Thursday that an investigation called by the agency’s commissioner found the department was in the process of taking legal steps to remove the children from their garbage- and illegal drug-filled apartment before their mother and her boyfriend were arrested last month.

Officials also said the review found that the agency will need to improve its hotline, which left police responding to the Torrington case on hold for a half hour.

They say changes include boosting the number of the call center staff and assigning more social workers to requests for assistance.

Another direct mail pamphlet from the McMahon campaign has gone out to thousands of Connecticut voters and is again targeting Blumenthal’s “mis-statements” about Vietnam.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Claiming no victory, President Barack Obama formally ended the U.S. combat role in Iraq after seven long years of bloodshed, declaring firmly Tuesday night: “It is time to turn the page.” Now, he said, the nation’s most urgent priority must be fixing its own sickly economy.

Rell’s spokeswoman says the governor held conference calls with state emergency and city officials Tuesday about the state’s readiness to deal with the impact of the storm. She said they will continue to observe the storm’s movements before taking significant action.