News
Former Gov. Rell has died
HARTFORD – The family of former Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Thursday announced her death Thursday morning following a brief illness at a Florida hospital on Wednesday. She was 78 years old. Rell was the second woman to have held the governor’s office since Democrat Ella T. Grasso served from 1975 to 1980. She had […]
Today’s Edition
The Goat: Geno sets career wins record as UConn family celebrates
STORRS – In one respect, UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma now stands alone as the winningest coach in the history of college basketball after he won the 1,217th game of his unprecedented Hall of Fame career Wednesday night. The Huskies’ 85-41 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in front of a sellout crowd of 10,299 at Gampel […]
Netflix’s ‘Joy’ is a loud cheer for fertility, for never giving up – and science
Toward the end of Netflix’s “Joy,” the muffled cry of a newborn baby prompts a man and woman in a hospital to embrace out of pure bliss. They aren’t the parents, but they had as much to do with the birth as the mom and dad. This charming and winning movie charts the decade-long true […]
What to stream: Good choices from the animated to the dramatic
The animated movie “Spellbound” with a heroine voiced by Rachel Zegler and Denzel Washington’s son Malcolm directing August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” for Netflix are some of this week’s new streaming entertainment releases. NEW MOVIES TO STREAM Steve McQueen’s “Blitz,” streaming Friday on Apple TV+, is a wartime odyssey about a 9-year-old biracial boy (Elliott […]
History, November 21
Today in History: November 21, Las Vegas hotel fire claims 85 lives By The Associated Press undefined Today is Thursday, Nov. 21, the 326th day of 2024. There are 40 days left in the year. Today in history: On Nov. 21, 1980, 85 people died, most because of smoke inhalation, after a fire broke out […]
HAPPENINGS IN THE HILLS: ‘Melted Majesty’ coming to Litchfield
LITCHFIELD — A likeness of a new historic marker that will be erected on South Street in 2025 by Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was unveiled Sunday during the organization’s 125th anniversary celebration at the Litchfield Inn. The brass marker will stand in front of the Oliver Wolcott Sr. […]
Razing begins at Torrington’s Hotchkiss Brothers site: 155 housing units, commercial space envisioned at property
TORRINGTON – As local officials, dignitaries and developers of the former Hotchkiss Brothers Co. site performed a symbolic groundbreaking Wednesday to announce the official beginning of the demolition of the former factory, a crane was chipping chunks off the back of the historic building that curves around Water and Church streets. William R. Deickler and […]
Goshen, other towns hatch plan to slash trash costs
GOSHEN – Local elected officials interested in reducing the cost of municipal solid waste disposal are in the preliminary stage of considering the acquisition of the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority transfer station in Torrington. As the owners of the facility, municipalities acting as a regional trash and recycling authority could control the amount of […]
Watertown renews town manager’s contract at $160,000
WATERTOWN – The Town Council this week unanimously approved the renewal of Town Manager Mark Raimo’s employment contract for another year. Raimo will be paid $160,000, with 25 vacation days and a $500-per-month motor vehicle allowance. His starting salary in 2020 was $127,500 and he has since received annual raises. His salary in 2023 was […]
6% rate decrease in workers’ compensation insurance approved
HARTFORD — State insurance regulators have approved a 6% rate decrease in workers’ compensation insurance for 2025. The governor’s office and state Department of Insurance on Wednesday announced the approval of an annual workers’ compensation rate filing for 2025 with a decrease of 6.1% to the voluntary market loss costs and a decrease of 6.2% […]
Winsted selectmen to sell off town-owned properties
WINSTED — The Board of Selectmen is attempting to raise tax revenue by selling off some town-owned properties. Board members Monday night unanimously voted to bring eight town-owned properties they want to sell to the Planning and Zoning Commission to review and provide input. Each property is less than an acre and half are vacant. […]
Waterbury fifth-grader is Connecticut’s kid governor: Chase Elementary’s Keudy Martinez was top vote-getter
WATERBURY – The city remains abuzz following Wednesday’s announcement that one of its native sons has been elected to serve as Connecticut’s next Kid Governor. One fifth-grader each year is chosen to help keep things running up in Hartford from a kid’s point of view. Chase Elementary School student Keudy Martinez, 11, is Waterbury’s first […]
Naugatuck burgess accused of impersonating cop could have charges dismissed
DANBURY – A judge Wednesday granted a special diversionary program that could lead to a dismissal of the charges against a Naugatuck burgess accused of pretending to be a police officer. W. Francis Dambowsky, 75, who also serves as the town’s emergency management and Homeland Security director, will have the charges of impersonating a police […]
Group: Waterbury schools, police need to update guidelines for use of force, restraint
WATERBURY – A progressive policy group is recommending Waterbury public schools and police update guidelines on use of physical force and restraints by school resource officers. A Connecticut Voices for Children analysis of 49 agreements between school districts and police departments on the roles and responsibilities of school resource officers stated that the memorandum of […]
Jury awards Terryville man $2 million for Eversource workplace accident
WATERBURY – A six-member jury Wednesday awarded a Terryville man $2 million after finding Eversource Energy at fault for a 2019 workplace accident in Naugatuck that left him with lifelong injuries. Keven M. Shepard, 56, was working in a trench on a massive water main replacement project on Morning Dove Road when an excavator struck […]
Morning Five: TV cliffhangers
On this date in 1980, 350 million people around the world tuned in to TV’s popular primetime drama “Dallas” to find out who shot J.R. Ewing, who had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous March, which now stands as one of television’s most famous cliffhangers Here are five other TV cliffhangers: 1) In […]
Can Democrats ever admit true cause of their defeat?
When in 1974, having persuaded Ohio’s state legislature to impose an income tax, Gov. John Gilligan, a Democrat, was narrowly defeated for re-election by his Republican predecessor, he was remarkably honest about it. He took full responsibility. The vote, Gilligan said, was simply a rejection of him. Gilligan fairly could have made excuses. He had […]
The beauty of loss and what it can teach us
The person who follows the crowd gets no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone finds himself in places no one has ever been before. Creativity in living is not without its attendant difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. When living creatively, a person’s words and actions can be described as peculiar. Depending on […]
64th House District candidate thanks her supporters
Having run for my first time for state representative, I would like to thank everyone for their support. It was an invaluable opportunity to meet and listen to such great people and their experiences. We share interest in our communities and the knowledge to work together to make things better. All of our voices matter […]
Questioning articles of climate faith
Columnists and editorial writers whose work appears on this page are not in the habit of speaking well of Greta Thunberg, the sanctimonious 21-year-old who preaches endlessly about global warming. But there’s a first time for everything: Ms. Thunberg was absolutely right in her criticism of the climate summit organizers’ decision to host this year’s […]
Waterbury Police Blotter
WATERBURY Waterbury police recently filed the following charges: GRACE DINGEE, 18, of 1730 Thomaston Ave., second-degree failure to appear. CARMEN MORALES, 30, of 22 Melrose Ave., risk of injury to child, operation of drug factory, possession of more than or equal to 1 ounce of heroin/meth with intent, possession of more than or equal to […]
Dr. Cathy Reinhardt
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Catherine Marie Reinhardt (Perham), age 77, formerly of Litchfield, and beloved mother, psychologist and educator, died on Nov. 7, 2024, in Buffalo, N.Y., surrounded by her family. Her death was caused by acute respiratory failure after a routine surgery. She was predeceased by her life partner, David Lange, and is survived by […]
‘Bomb cyclone’ kills 2 and knocks out power to over half a million homes across the northwest US
ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — A major storm swept across the northwestern U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain, causing widespread power outages, closing schools and downing trees that killed at least two people. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect as the strongest […]
Matt Gaetz meets privately with senators to shore up support as House Ethics decision looms
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, has launched an effort to personally secure his embattled nomination, meeting behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have heard questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him. As Gaetz and senators holed up near the Senate, members of the […]
US to give antipersonnel mines to Ukraine to help slow the Russian advance
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will give Ukraine antipersonnel mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield advances, marking the second major shift on U.S. military support for Kyiv in days. After allowing Ukraine to use longer-range American missiles to launch strikes deeper into Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin […]
Immigrant who killed Laken Riley sentenced to life in prison without parole
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The Venezuelan man convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration. Jose Ibarra was charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February death, and Wednesday’s […]
Movie review: ‘Wicked.’ Highly awaited adaptation takes its time before it soars
Wicked” doesn’t need a movie adaptation to be relevant – it’s already a cultural phenomenon, even before the behemoth two-part film adaptation hits theaters. The beloved Tony-winning Broadway musical is adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” a revisionist history of Frank L. Baum’s […]
CT Music: Rod Stewart continues to ride for ‘One Last Time’
It’s the “One Last Time” tour for Rod Stewart. The performer is taking the stage at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on July 25 for an evening of iconic hits. Tickets are on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.com; and if any tickets will remain, they will also be available at the Mohegan Sun […]
In the Wings: WAMS takes on ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’
The students at Waterbury Arts Magnet School are ready to present their fall musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The WAMS Theater Department production will take to the stage of Waterbury’s Palace Theater this weekend. The 1998 Canadian musical “The Drowsy Chaperone” has music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, and a book by Bob […]