Updated October 2024 CT Proton groundbreakiing1Rendering of proposed proton center in WallingfordA collaboration between two of the state's largest healthcare providers will bring an advanced form of cancer radiation therapy to patients at the Connecticut Proton Center in December 2026 24 groundbreaking Hartford HealthCare President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey A Flaks called the Proton Center project "an historic moment" for cancer care in Connecticut Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) and Hartford HealthCare (HHC) announced in April 2022 that final state approval had been granted to introduce proton beam therapy The Wallingford facility will join only a handful of others in the Northeast “Yale New Haven Health is proud and excited to bring this highly innovative technology to patients in Connecticut and beyond,” Christopher O’Connor CEO of Yale New Haven Health said when the state granted its approval of the plan “Our unprecedented collaboration with HHC will allow us to care for patients with cancer in a new and effective way by bringing a life-changing therapy to our state We are grateful that the state recognized the value of this technology to residents of Connecticut and the importance of this unique collaboration.” The new Connecticut Proton Therapy Center will use highly targeted radiological proton therapy rather than X-rays to treat cancer and will be the only available facility in Connecticut when it opens in two years This 25,000-square-foot Wallingford center will be one of a handful of such facilities in New England There are about 45 proton centers in the US Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses a high energy beam of protons to irradiate cancer The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of radiotherapy is that the dose is more finely controlled and scattered radiation so that physicians can safely deliver higher doses of radiation to tumors with fewer side effects Proton therapy is appropriate for many solid cancer tumors including tumors of the brain and central nervous system It is particularly beneficial for children as they are more vulnerable to damage to healthy tissue from radiation “We look forward to bringing proton beam therapy to patients diagnosed with cancer in Connecticut who may benefit from this advanced form of treatment will be transformational for many patients,” Peter M Hunter Professor and Chair of Therapeutic Radiology Hartford Health Care and Yale New Haven Health are joined in their collaboration by Proton International financing and construction and it will continue as project manager and then operator of the facility “Proton International is dedicated to creating access for patients to this important technology,” Chris Chandler “Our ability to work with Yale New Haven Health and Hartford HealthCare assures the citizens of Connecticut will have access to a very high-quality cancer treatment program closer to home.” The center is expected to include the latest technology and equipment; treatment room; control room; exam rooms and clinical space Employees will include physicians and clinical staff from YNHHS and HHC Cross explores what Taco Time means to Seattleites after the closing of the Wallingford restaurant There are still 67 “Taco Time Northwest” locations in Western Washington including those pictured here in Shoreline The now-closed Wallingford location is center Editor’s Note: Charles R. Cross wrote this story shortly before he died last week. We are publishing it after consulting with a few of his close friends because we believe that is what he would have wanted. Read our tribute to Cross Lots of news happened in July — assassination attempts wars — but if you happened to look at my social media pages last month at least among my Seattle friends: the closing of the Wallingford Taco Time!  I suspect I was fed this stream of news and outraged comments because I am a fan of Taco Time And Facebook likely knows that I feel nostalgia whenever a business closes and with more cranes than any other city in the United States sometimes it feels like everything we once loved about Seattle is about to be demolished But one of the strangest aspects of the sturm und drang over the Wallingford Taco Time is that Taco Time Even with this location gone — it shut the doors in mid-July — there are still 67 other “Taco Time Northwest” franchises in Western Washington Add stores that operate under the slightly different corporate umbrella of “Taco Time International” and expand to the broader region and you’ll find several hundred Taco Times in the Northwest If you have a hankering for Mexi-Fries — Taco Time’s version of tater tots — you can find them within five miles of the Wallingford restaurant Yet it was the story of the one Wallingford Taco Time closing that filled my feeds which made the building look like something out of a science fiction film Were the Mexi-Fries particularly awesome at this location Was it that this Taco Time was closest to the state’s largest university and therefore generated a lot of “Husky burrito” nostalgia Or was it simply that in Seattle we really enjoy complaining anytime a business closes?  I spoke with a number of Taco Time superfans as well as journalists who covered the story The Wallingford Taco Time location was famous for its unique glass-cube architecture style Most of Seattle’s TV and radio stations covered the news of this restaurant closing — during a time of multiple shootings and other local headlines A 400-word story in The Seattle Times garnered nearly 300 reader comments Readers lamented the loss of a longtime favorite (“a lot of 50-year nostalgia for me”) Others blamed political decisions for the store’s demise (“the city’s soda tax didn’t help,” or the state-mandated 2020 COVID-19 closures were “the death knell”) In addition to the firestorm on the Times website and social media people called into radio talk shows like the one hosted by Spike O’Neil on KIRO-FM but it is still a revered Seattle institution,” O’Neil said “I think part of the reason people in Seattle cared is because Taco Time is something that is ours.” For those who missed it above: Several hundred Taco Times are still feeding people across the Pacific Northwest Taco Time itself is not closing; just one store That word “ours” came up a lot with the people I talked to Kim Warnick of the band the Fastbacks is such a fan of Taco Time that almost all our text streams over the years have included the word “Mexi-Fries” at some point For six years Warnick lived on the East Coast but she’d start every trip back home with a Taco Time meal which she often immortalized on social media When I asked Warnick how she would describe what Taco Time means she said “I don’t even know how to start.” Then she told me that once she was in a touring band with musicians who weren’t from the Northwest and an argument ensued about whether to eat at Taco Time or Taco Bell.  “this is not something you have a debate about I just decided that if I had to explain it to them it wasn’t worth trying to come up with the words A dietician in Parade magazine last year called out Taco Bell for its “grilled steak cheese burrito,” which has 730 calories and 38 grams of fat includes healthy options (maybe not the Mexi-Fries) who had eaten at the Wallingford Taco Time often she was already worried about another Taco Time she’d heard is due to be plowed under in West Seattle “I finally move to an apartment that is a block away from a Taco Time — I practically live on top of it which is great — and now with the light-rail expansion may make that go away There is no justice.” (Light rail is slated to open in West Seattle in 2032 but construction could affect Taco Time and other businesses well before then.) A sticker with a message decorates the ‘e’ in “Taco Time” at the now-defunct Wallingford location Melissa Duane of Edmonds commented online that the Wallingford Taco Time was a perfect place for her to stop while driving home from Downtown you always know it’s going to be done right,” she said when I tracked her down and it’s always good.” She said that when relatives come from out of town Not every online commentator spoke kindly of the Wallingford Taco Time with more than a few throwing out comments along the lines of “Nobody who enjoys Mexican cuisine is shedding a tear.” I thought for sure my friend Winston Saunders would defend the Wallingford location we ate many meals together at the Pullman Taco Time Saunders has turned into a bit of a foodie in the decades since but he surprisingly had no nostalgia for the crispy bean burritos of our youth “I’ll take the sweet potato tacos down the street [at TNT Taqueria],” he said Saunders also was quick to criticize the odd design of the Wallingford Taco Time “It’s an architectural non sequitur,” he said “I’m not sure I could ever find the door.” The distinct architecture of the Wallingford Taco Time was a big part of the online debate in July and one of the reasons it was revered by many (if not by my old high school friend) The location has been a Taco Time since 1978 but in 1990 was rebuilt into the glass cube Meg van Huygen wrote a piece about the building headlined “Taco Time-travel back to ’90s at the weird glass Taco Time in Wallingford.” She called it an “equally beloved and maligned Seattle landmark” and described it as “glass-cube vaporware” out of the video game “Out Run.” the Wallingford Taco Time has been covered in graffiti famous for its unique glass-cube architecture style though there has been a Taco Time on this location since 1978 Her story also mentioned that the odd design was not climate-friendly and she even got a Taco Time representative to admit as much (no representative of Taco Time would return my calls or e-mails this past month) franchise affairs and sustainability manager at Taco Time told van Huygen that the building was expensive to heat and cool: “The consensus is if they could do it over again When the Wallingford Taco Time was constructed in 1990 franchisee Jon Hanna liked the design so much he built an identical location in Auburn (which still stands if you desire your Mexi-Fries to be served from a glass futuristic cube) the nonprofit that works to preserve landmarks sent out an April Fool’s press release saying that an advocacy group titled SOFFI (Save Our Fast-Food Icons) was seeking to nominate the Wallingford cube for such status and the fake press release noted that one person thought it was a dental clinic but seeing it served tacos “wondered if it would be a place to get tacos and dental work done.” These preservationists have such humor and that is part of the reason journalist Feliks Banel wrote a piece for Mynorthwest.com calling the location the “Beacon of Tacos,” and he wasn’t joking He said some online commentators had nicknamed it the “Bauhaus Taco Time,” while others suggested it was the “Flash Cube Building.” Banel himself dubbed it the “Taco Pavilion” in a 1990 April Fool’s joke when he said it had been “a leftover” from an earlier World’s Fair He said he didn’t anticipate “the outpouring of love for this one location of a chain that remains in business.” His personal interest was both the architecture and the food “I’ve been a fan of this building since it was under construction nearly 35 years ago and I’ve been a fan of Taco Time for longer than that (as long as I can remember),” he said “So I felt a little stunned it would simply be shut down Banel, who regularly reports on history and landmark demolition, said he’d seen a similar phenomenon with Bartell Drugs locations closing but that nothing compares to the Wallingford Taco Time “My post on X with a photo of the Taco Time and word of its imminent closure is my most widely shared post ever.” The reason was because Taco Time is such a beloved local chain and the location “served a broad and diverse range of communities,” from Fremont to Northgate and especially the U District you have most certainly heard him: He’s the iconic voice on Macklemore’s monster 2012 hit “Thrift Shop,” which earned the singer a Grammy Award When Wanz heard about the Wallingford Taco Time closing he organized a “Last Taco” event on the store’s final day and advertised it online Wansley ordered the taco salad with Thousand Island dressing — his favorite — and talked about why the chain is important to Seattleites “I think it hits us because we are losing so many parts of Seattle,” he said but it’s also Seattle comfort food and so that hits us all a little emotionally even at the idea that one location might fade away We’ve lost so many landmarks in this city.” and actually had never eaten at the Wallingford location before his “Last Taco” event attended and said part of the attraction for her “Taco Time is such an iconic Pacific Northwest brand,” she said you just would imagine they’d open more stores rather than close any.” Seattle music artist Michael “Wanz” Wansley eats his go-to Taco Time lunch order — a beef taco salad with Thousand Island dressing and a side of Mexi-Fries — at the Shoreline location on Monday The sign of the Shoreline Taco Time is reflected in Wansley’s sunglasses He calls Taco Time “Seattle comfort food.” (Genna Martin/Cascade PBS) noted one thing unique about the Wallingford Taco Time: “They always had the Taco Burger on the menu at the Wallingford location,” he said One of the odder aspects of how much brouhaha the closing of the Wallingford Taco Time stirred up was that the unusual architecture does not appear to be going away And people will likely still be eating tacos there because it looks like the franchisee is selling to a competitor the Wallingford Taco Time will soon become the Wallingford Chipotle but the international chain has 3,500 locations And generally Taco Time fans are not Chipotle fans as I found out at Wanz’s “Last Taco” event “Chipotle?” said Dina Phinney with disgust when I told her of the future tenant You don’t close a Taco Time to make it a Chipotle.” “Chipotle is just not the same,” echoed Melissa Duane Chipotle is just not what Seattle is about Wansley pours a healthy dose of hot sauce over his taco salad with many longtime residents bashing Chipotle as “not local.” Perhaps that’s part of what connects Seattleites to the local icons of fast food Dick’s or Ivar’s or Taco Time might not exactly be gourmet but we feel ownership and local pride in them as if they were actual civic landmarks They are all places connected to our own personal history When they get plowed under or taken over by a Chipotle some of the narrative of our lives feels lost but instead the places where our own history played out and what we imagined Seattle was always going to be.  The Wallingford Taco Time was packed on its last day I’d spent many hours in this restaurant over the decades It was the kind of place that never was going to kick out a writer working on their laptop even if all I ordered was one taco and a drink It was a place without the distractions of home Chipotle will have some work to do though to get the place open again taggers covered the outside of the glass walls with graffiti It now looks like a mirrored abandoned New York City subway car I suspect that like many Seattleites who complain about changes in the city I’ll probably eventually eat at the Wallingford Chipotle (even with wi-fi) But I won’t stop eating at Taco Time’s other locations Presently I’ve been getting a lot of work done at the Taco Time on Elliott Way in Queen Anne which seems so empty I’m worried about its future.  as anyone who knows and loves Taco Time can attest that my last taco at the Wallingford Taco Time was as delicious as my first Cross at July’s “Last Taco” event at the Wallingford Taco Time We rely on donations from readers like you to sustain Cascade PBS's in-depth reporting on issues crticial to the PNW “Ballard Opera Man” sings his swan song in Tosca at Seattle’s McCaw Hall Rachel Belle visits the vibrant Vietnamese shop Hello Em and tries an Ethiopian coffee ceremony at Lands of Origin The Lucky Chow host says soy sauce makes everything taste better Cross is the author of nine books including The New York Times bestselling biography of Kurt Cobain, Heavier Than Heaven As Republican legislators opt for ballot harvesting Democrats lean into town halls in predominantly red districts to engage new or reluctant voters Charter Development LLC seeks to develop area to northwest of Wallingford A data center project has been proposed in Wallingford Local real estate firm Charter Development LLC has applied to rezone land at 1181 Barnes Road, currently known as the Watershed Interchange District, for a data center development as reported by the Milford Mirror The zone currently protects the water supply of the Muddy River while also accommodating tech-based development principal with Charter Development argues that a data center is an ideal example of low-intensity tech-based development and notes that Connecticut currently lacks digital infrastructure “At this time Connecticut has only a small number of older relatively smaller data centers and needs to have the physical infrastructure to compete in the information age Connecticut will benefit by attracting to our state the major players of the information age - Google Gershman estimates that the project could bring up to $1 million to Wallingford in taxable revenue Details about the campus are not yet shared as the project is in its preliminary stage then the contracts will return with building plans Residents attended the meeting and raised concerns about noise from generators and cooling systems as well as the environmental impact on Muddy River and the area surrounding it The board will make a decision next month regarding the zoning change As noted by Charter Development, few major data center developments have been made in Connecticut despite a tax exemption bill that was passed in 2021 Gotspace Data Partners has previously sought to develop in Wallingford, as well as Groton and Bozrah but failed to follow through due to the company suffering "internal issues" which made the towns uneasy about pursuing the projects Former Gotspace CEO Thomas Quinn then started NE Edge which has gone on to propose several data centers in Connecticut. NE Edge's Groton proposal fell through, but in August 2023 NE Edge successfully acquired land in Killingly Neither Gotspace nor NE Edge have yet to develop a data center in the state In 2022, O&G Industries received approval for a 32MW data center in Beacon Falls Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia 2024 at 10:35 am ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}The Memorial Day Parade will be held Monday CT — Wallingford police have announced several road closures that will be in effect during the Memorial Day Parade on Monday A ceremony will be held before the parade at Dutton Park on North Main Street starting at 9 a.m with the parade stepping off immediately at the conclusion of the ceremony there will be parking restrictions along the parade route,” police wrote in a news release “These restrictions will be clearly posted in advance of the parade and vehicles parking in violation will be issued a parking ticket by police and be subject to tow.” Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. the Home of the Good Shepherd in Wallingford was an Italianate palace commissioned by the Catholic Church as a “school for wayward girls” operated by nuns known as the order of the Good Shepherd the property is a peaceful edifice behind high hedges looking both dignified and perhaps romantically haunted the Home of the Good Shepherd was indeed a school but also a curious institution sometimes known as a “Magdalene Laundry.” The Order of the Good Shepherd was one of five monastic female orders that ran such schools which in later years have come under fire (often to the point of lawsuits) in Ireland; France; the Netherlands; and What was considered “wayward” in the 1900s could have been anything from being a tomboy to being “promiscuous,” or inconveniently pregnant or born illegitimately or even the victim of abuse Any could lead to being shut up behind opaque walls and barred windows and denied contact with the outside (even their personal letters were screened) while they were They were called “Magadalene Laundries” because the orders also operated commercial laundries on-site (the site of the laundry at the Good Shepherd Center is now a storage building) where the occupants worked as unpaid labor in order to “learn useful skills” or theoretically offset their tuition There were additional vocational courses and activities — there was even a pool built in the 1950s — but it is impossible to know how much of what went on was in some way useful and stabilizing mostly because they were silenced until they were often unceremoniously shunted back into the world upon reaching adulthood Among the objections former “students” level against these schools was that they actually were taught little of how to do anything except … laundry the changes of the early 20th century reached even the halls of the Home of the Good Shepherd; rules were loosened at the school; feminism changed the nature of what was considered “wayward”; and the laundry fell out of favor the school was shuttered (the laundry closed in 1970) the sisters sold the building to the city of Seattle which converted it into a community center which presents “adventurous and experimental” musical events in the space The order of the day these days at the Good Shepherd Center (as it is now called) appears to be growing things The old orchard still sprawls all over the property swirling white piping around the tops of the old apple trees That looks like modern art or a roller coaster for mice but is actually an entirely utilitarian framework meant to keep the birds off the branches during fruiting season One side of the building is dominated by an impressive P-patch operated by Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods That is located next to one of Seattle’s first community learning gardens a longtime tenant of the Good Shepherd Center A city-owned playground behind the building features a child-size wonderland of slides and climbing structures and all around the perimeter wall are whimsical statues — a dragon a raven — that reference classic literature to feed the naturally florid childhood imagination of students like those of the Meridian grammar school The Order’s original statue of Jesus — complete with lamb — still looks down over the entrance The expression on the statue’s face seems far less mournful there now with the gleeful shrieks of playing children bouncing around the stone walls than it might have when the building was commissioned Any building this old is credited with ghosts and naturally tales of phantasmic nuns or invisible schoolgirls attach themselves to the place light shines in through the stained glass and clears the shadows out of the corners The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser Details: cache-fra-eddf8230045-FRA 1746513949 3562581833 The Record-Journal reports La Piazza is expected to open in the refurbished space at 179 Center Street in late October to early November J. Carvers closed in June at the space, which was also the former home of Jake’s after the owners said the decision was “due to circumstances way beyond our control.” La Piazza owner Kristjan Lulaj, who also owns Antonio’s on Route 5 in North Haven told the Record-Journal the new restaurant will offer items such as steak and said “everything will be fresh and made to order.” Read more at the Record-Journal here Gotspace Data Partners plans multiple facilities across state A new data center company is proposing building a number of data centers across Connecticut is looking to develop data centers across the state in Wallingford The company this week gave a presentation to Wallingford’s Economic Development Commission about its plans It is assessing two potential sites in the area; a 57-acre plot near Interstate 91 and Route 68 for a two-story 157,000 sq ft (14,500 sqm) data center on a 672,344 sq ft (62,400 sqm) campus; or a same-size data center on a 313,672 sq ft (29,100 sqm) campus on a much larger 205-acre plot bordering Meriden “Economically, it's a pretty good deal for Wallingford,” said Len Fasano, an attorney representing Gotspace during a town meeting this week GotSpace was founded in January of 2021 in Boston Real estate developer Thomas Quinn and Nicholas Fiorillo are listed as partners of the company “We have a good opportunity here in Connecticut to bring forward what would be considered a new corridor for data in the region,” Quinn said during the meeting Connecticut state governor Ned Lamont recently signed a new data center tax exemption bill which provides sales and use tax as well as property exemptions on qualifying data centers as well as an exemption for financial transactions taxes that the state may impose in the future depending on the size and location of the data center investment Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia Details: cache-fra-eddf8230045-FRA 1746513962 3562752635 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Learn more Learn more Being overweight doesn’t just make daily life more challenging — it can also put added strain on your heart what can you do to protect your health and reduce your risk of a heart attack We asked Darren Tishler, MD, chief of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Hartford HealthCare, for his expert advice Here’s what you need to know — and how to get started today That’s because being overweight has a close link to major adverse cardiac events (MACE) “These are among the leading causes of death at a young age.” carrying extra weight puts added strain on your heart “The heart has to work and pump harder,” says Dr this extra effort can thicken the heart walls (hypertrophy) increasing the risk of heart problems down the line.” Being overweight also makes it harder to stay active And when reduced mobility combines with the extra strain on your heart the risk of a heart attack goes up even more > Related: Bariatric Surgery Can Help With These 5 Conditions “Obesity is an inflammatory disease,” says Dr a big factor in developing metabolic disease It also keeps your body stuck in fight-or-flight mode Weight loss surgery helps reduce inflammation and calm this response which lowers the risk of heart attacks and protects your heart.” many patients need fewer medications to manage high cholesterol “Studies also show that weight loss surgery significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks “The reduction isn’t small — it’s substantial.” Think you need to wait months to feel better after bariatric surgery “It happens much sooner than most people expect — often before they even need new clothes,” says Dr patients tell us they breathe easier climbing stairs sweat less and no longer feel their heart racing during activity.” These changes aren’t just noticeable — they’re life-changing “This increased activity directly boosts cardiovascular health and reduces the risk of a heart attack.” > Want more health news? Text StartHere to 85209 to sign up for text alerts Your journey to better health starts with a conversation — especially if you have a family history or are at high risk and there are very few cases where we can’t reduce cardiovascular risk in some way Even patients with heart disease — or those who’ve had a heart attack — may still be candidates for bariatric surgery or other obesity treatments.” A team approach is the heart of weight loss psychologists and cardiologists collaborate to find the right treatment for you improving your health now and setting you up for long-term success “Bariatric surgery is so much more than weight loss — it’s about improving your quality of life and helping you live longer,” says Dr “What matters most is that you feel better — and it all starts with that first step today.” 100 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT 06103  •  Contact Us Donations to Hartford HealthCare are managed by the Hartford Hospital Department of Philanthropy, a Connecticut tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code (E.I.N. 06-0646668). For more information, click here   Interpretive Services 2025 at 10:34 am ETThe crash happened on Center Street in Wallingford on Feb (Courtesy of the Wallingford Police Department)WALLINGFORD CT — A pedestrian was hospitalized with serious injuries after she was struck by a driver operating under the influence of alcohol last Friday in Wallingford Officers with the Wallingford Police Traffic Division were working a State of Connecticut DUI grant on Feb 7 when a 52-year-old female pedestrian was struck by a gray Chevrolet Silverado Police responded to the area of 76 Center St and identified the driver as 64-year-old Carlton J Torres said Brechlin exhibited signs of intoxication officers found that he consumed alcohol at a local restaurant just east of where the crash occurred Officers conducted a field sobriety test on Brechlin that indicated he was impaired Officers smelled the strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and Brechlin was subsequently arrested,” Torres wrote in a news release The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation of injuries Torres said it was later reported that she had three cracked vertebrate Brechlin was charged operating under the influence of alcohol and illegal harm to vulnerable person on public highway Details: cache-fra-eddf8230045-FRA 1746513980 3562973433 Details: cache-fra-eddf8230045-FRA 1746513983 3563007613 Details: cache-fra-eddf8230045-FRA 1746513984 3563024721 Stay in the loop about the best things to do in Seattle every week Use the calendar to select the date(s) you'd like to be reminded about or choose All Event Dates to be reminded every time this event happens The Record-Journal reports plans call for the former Quinnipiac Valley Center at 55 Kondracki Lane to be converted to 71 market-rate apartment units The Quinnipiac Valley Center, a 180-bed skilled nursing facility, was ordered closed by the state in March 2022 and nearly 100 residents were transferred due to the facility’s “repeated and ongoing failure to correct serious and widespread health and safety issues,” state health officials said at the time The application for the new apartments had been delayed by an Inland Wetlands issue Read more at the Record-Journal here 2023 at 11:15 am ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}A convicted felon fell asleep while at a McDonald's drive-thru Police said they found a loaded gun on his car's center console (Shutterstock / Jaromir Chalabala)WALLINGFORD CT — A man previously convicted of felonies is facing charges that he possessed a gun in violation of the law Police responded to a report made at 1:49 a.m Colony Road regarding a man driving a sedan who fell asleep while in the drive-thru lane An officer approached the car and found a silver and black pistol "in plain view in the center console of the vehicle," according to police Police seized the gun which was loaded with one bullet chambered and eight rounds in the magazine Sierra is a convicted felon not permitted to possess guns legally Sierra was charged with criminal possession of a pistol and illegal possession of weapons in a motor vehicle He was released from police headquarters after posting $100,000 surety bond