Ansonia mayor visits Foley's HQ Tuesday

Ansonia Mayor David S. Cassetti, right, congratulates Republican gubernatorial primary winner Tom Foley Tuesday night at GOP headquarters in Waterbury. Foley will oppose Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the November election. / Photo submitted by John P. Marini, Ansonia Corporation Counsel.

Conroy hails restoration of early-morning train service

HARTFORD - State Rep. Theresa Conroy, D-Seymour, announced Metro North Waterbury Branch Line early-morning service to Stamford will be restored starting Monday.

 

“The restoration of this train is just a first step,” Conroy said. “We need to make sure DOT and Metro North invest in the Waterbury Branch Line to make sure our commuters can get to work on time.”

Conroy worked with Valley legislators, the Valley Council of Governments, the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy to restore the service which had been cut by the rail line.

“I want to thank Sen. Blumenthal, Sen. Murphy and our local team who shined a bright spotlight on Metro North until they restored this service,” Conroy said.

The restoration of the 5:28 a.m. train from Waterbury will allow commuters to reach their connecting trains in Stamford without undue delay.

“A thriving Waterbury Branch Line will yield economic growth in the Valley,” Conroy said. “Metro North should be working to expand the Waterbury Line instead of making shortsighted cuts.”

This is a press release from Conroy's office.

 

Shelton native seeks votes in singing contest

Courtney Peterman of Waterbury in the Bristol McDonald's where she works. Peterman is a semi-finalist in a company-wide singing competition and needs votes on her video at  http://www.voiceofmcdonalds.com.   Mara Lavitt/Register


Best of luck to Shelton native Courtney Peterman of Waterbury as she seeks votes in McDonald's singing competition!

Derby, Shelton veterans among DAV honorees

Top photo, left side of vehicle: Vic Carrol, Burke Ross, Lauren Cust (twice), Senna Punancy, Joe Wargo; bottom photo, right side: Ed Michaud, Maj. Betsy Walsh, Buffert Brooks, Ashley Kenyon, Frank Dlugokinski, Steve Frank, and Josh Phillips. Inset, rear of van: Capt. Dean White. / Contributed photo

Ten area veterans were honored for their dedication in assisting other veterans by being selected to have their service picture displayed on a new Disabled American Veterans Local Veterans Assistance Program van. 

 

The honorees were Capt. Dean White, Derby; Vic Carroll, Stamford; Burke Ross, Shelton; Lauren Cust, Shelton; Senna Punancy, Bridgeport; Joe Wargo, Trumbull; Ed Michaud, Stratford; Maj. Betsy Walsh, Milford; Buffert Brooks, Stamford; Ashley Kenyon, Waterbury; Frank Dlugokinski, Torrington; Steve Frank, Naugatuck; and Josh Phillips, Derby. 

 

They were selected from the list of hundreds of dedicated Connecticut veterans being considered for the honor.

The DAV and the AMVETS have partnered in the effort to purchase vans for the DAV created LVAP, which provides day trips to veterans in homeless shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and veterans who are “shut-ins.”

The LVAP vans also have been used for Operation Gift Cards. Operation Gift Cards has presented over $719,000 in post exchange (military department store) gift cards and other donated items to the wounded troops at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Hospital in Bethesda, Md. during its 99 visits over the last eight years. 

Sixty-eight groups have co-sponsored the program.

 

CT Heroes on Wheels is another major program which benefits by the use of the LVAP vans. CT Heroes on Wheels provides free electric wheelchairs, electric scooters and other medical equipment to needy veterans and their families.

 

The DAV and AMVETS are collecting donations for the purchase of at least one additional LVAP van. 

Anyone interested in making a donation for the LVAP van may contact Al Church (DAV State Treasurer) (860) 529-1759 or church_al@yahoo.com. 

For information about the DAV or AMVETS programs contact Al Meadows (203) 929-3357 or al.meadows@snet.net.

 

 

This is a press release from Al Meadows of Shelton. 

Derby Middle School runners defeat Waterbury team

Skylar Curcio

Jayce Curcio and Steven Stanley

Tristan Pruzinsky

Photos by April Pruzinsky

The Derby Middle School Boys and Girls Cross Country teams Monday defeated North End Middle School, Waterbury, to open the season.

Finishing in the top 10 males were Steven Stanley, Jayce Curcio, Chase Bolton, Chris Oliwa, Tristan Pruzinsky, Brandon Kling, and Nicholas Mammano.

The female top 10 included Rachel Fleischer, Nicole Rizzo, Sara Gerckens, Sydnie Drezek, Skylar Curcio, Dayna Kneissel, Lily Wald, Samantha Inthapanhya, and Claire Douglas.

The team is coached by Derby teachers Mike Gozzo, Shelley Sheridan, and Jenny Ames.


This is a press release from Bradley School kindergarten teacher Jenny Ames, one of the Cross Country team coaches.

Crisco, Hartley hail approval of firefighters' 'boot drive' bill

HARTFORD – State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. , D-Woodbridge and state Sen. Joan V. Hartley, D-Waterbury, Senate chair of the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee, today urged Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to sign a bill to allow special event permits for fundraising ‘boot drives’ held by firefighters statewide.

 

The bill received unanimous Senate approval last week after it cleared the House May 15.

 

Hartley and Crisco said these charitable ‘fill-the-boot’ events had been held regularly for many years by volunteer fire departments to raise much-needed, supplemental funds until recently, when local law enforcement agencies and the state Department of Transportation raised concerns about them.

 

“Firefighters across Connecticut had come to rely upon these boot drives to raise money for special equipment they need or to provide direct monetary assistance to fire victims,” Crisco said. “Provisions of this bill require state officials to issue the necessary, one-day, special event permit to lawfully hold these fundraisers when requested by appropriate local authorities.”

 

Crisco and Hartley said specifics of the bill limit the allowable locations for these boot drives to intersections where there’s a stop sign or traffic light, and to where the speed limit is 30 miles per hour or less.

 

“The best part of this bill is that it restores to local fire departments the ability to hold these ‘fill-the-boot’ events while adding a layer of public safety protocol and common sense,” Hartley said. “Going forward, now everyone understands these fundraisers must be conducted where traffic controls are already in place and where no firefighter is at unreasonable risk.”

 

Hartley and Crisco said after final legislative action on the measure last week, the bill was advanced to the governor’s office earlier today and they hope for his favorable consideration.

 

 

This information is taken from a press release from Crisco's office.

 

Valley and Hamden drug raids yield nine arrests

Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale, left, meets with reporters Friday outside the Ansonia Armory to announce arrests stemming from drug raids in the Valley and Hamden. With him are Lt. Andrew Cota and Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe. Patricia Villers/Register

By Patricia Villers
Register Staff
pvillers@nhregister.com

ANSONIA - Police from several municipalities today arrested nine people during raids in 11 locations in Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Hamden, and Waterbury, Police Chief Kevin Hale announced in a press conference.

A quantity of crack cocaine, cash, two stolen handguns and three stun guns were seized.

The raids were a culmination of a six-month investigation by the Ansonia Police Department’s Anti-Crime Unit, along with the Ansonia Detective Bureau and the Ansonia patrol force, Hale said in a written statement distributed at the press conference outside the Ansonia Armory.

The individuals arrested were involved in a drug distribution ring, the statement said.
Check back later for additional information.

Ex-Shelton police officer pleads not guilty to drug charges

By Register Staff

Milford — Fired Shelton police Officer Loren Casertano today entered a not guilty plea to several drug counts in Superior Court.
Casertano, represented by attorney Rob Serafinowicz of Waterbury, will face a jury trial.
He is to continue with drug testing and appear in court June 4.

Drug case against ex-Shelton cop transferred to Milford

Attorney Rob Serafinowicz, Loren and Kim Casertano stand outside Derby Superior Court Friday. Phyllis Swebilius/Register

By Phyllis Swebilius
Register Staff
DERBY - The drug case against fired Shelton police Officer Loren J. Casertano this morning was transferred to Superior Court in Milford.
He will next appear April 23.
His attorney, Rob Serafinowicz of Waterbury, said after his client's brief appearance before Judge Burtpn Kaplan, "He's going to get his job back."

Benefit concert Saturday for Ansonia man with esophageal cancer

By Patricia Villers
Register Staff
Ansonia resident Keith Solsbury, 49, has been suffering for more than six years from the effects of esophageal cancer.
He has survived surgeries, intense chemotherapy treatments and dramatic weight loss.
His wife, Maggie Nolan-Solsbury, said he has chronic pain “from his salivary glands down to his hips.”
A concert, “Stomp Out the Fire,” will be held Saturday at the Freight Street Gallery in Waterbury to benefit the Solsbury family as well as to promote the fact that April is Esophogeal Cancer Awareness Month.
Maggie Solsbury said she credits her cousin, Mark Nolan of Naugatuck, and his friends for making her dream of holding the concert come true.
She booked the event in October, but had her own health issues and could not do as much to plan the event as she had hoped, she said.
Nolan and Carl Taggett, who own Nolan Brothers Music in Waterbury, have planned the concert along with Mike Byrne and Dustin Byrne, owners of the Freight Street Gallery, 170 Freight St., Waterbury.

Read the full story here.

Shelton woman convinced she saw Billy Smolinski's truck being driven in the woods around time of disappearance

 

Jan and Bill Smolinski stand in a wooded area behind the home at 69 Wigwam Drive in Shelton, where the homeowner remembers seeing a car and truck driving behind her home in August of 2004. Their son, Billy Smolinski Jr. disappeared from Waterbury in 2004, and his parents are pushing police to investigate the area for more answers. Peter Casolino/Register

By Andy Thibault
Contributing Editor
and Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
SHELTON — On a summer evening about eight years ago, cardiac nurse Jean Petrucelli — still dressed in scrubs after work — relaxed as she grilled dinner off her back deck overlooking the woods.
The woods are a refuge for Petrucelli, a place where she gains peace just breathing air and listening to the singing birds. Occasionally the sounds of all-terrain vehicles wreck the calm throughout the natural setting of about 150 relatively unspoiled acres off Wigwam Road.
A bizarre sight jarred her.
Rays of summer sun beat down to her left and shone on a white truck and a red car being driven into the woods. Petrucelli had never seen conventional motor vehicles there. Nor has she since.
The car spun its tires, scraping rocks, trees or brush as it struggled up a hill in the challenging terrain.
“I thought, ‘What are these crazy kids doing?’” Petrucelli said. “I couldn’t figure out why anyone would take a car and a truck into the woods.”
Years later, in early 2010, Petrucelli saw an episode of the show “Disappeared” on the Investigation Discovery channel. She saw Billy Smolinski’s white truck.
The photo of Smolinski’s truck on the Discovery Channel was identical to the one she saw in the woods behind her house.
“I have no doubt in my mind,” Petrucelli said. “When I saw the Investigation Discovery Channel it clicked. I couldn’t remain silent. What I saw in those woods was so out of the ordinary. I felt obligated to tell what I saw. I couldn’t sit on it. I would do anything to help the Smolinski family. They don’t deserve to have this hanging over them.”

Read the full story here.

Waterbury, Connecticut law enforcement make new promises, efforts in Billy Smolinski case

By Andy Thibault
Contributing Editor
WATERBURY — The hunt for Billy Smolinski’s body and his killer or killers has taken a new turn in recent days, with top law enforcement officials in several agencies promising to coordinate resources and follow up missed leads.
One department is starting from scratch, just to get it right this time.
Len Boyle, the deputy chief state’s attorney — and former state police commissioner and federal prosecutor — told the Register today his office is working the case with Waterbury police, the state police Western District Major Crime Squad, the FBI and other municipal departments. That’s all Boyle would say on the record.
However, Boyle told a concerned citizen on Tuesday that Supervisory Inspector Michael Sullivan of his office is coordinating the probe and that Waterbury Police Chief Michael Gugliotti has assigned two detectives to the case.

Read the full story here.

3 teens accused in break-in at Ansonia Library

ANSONIA — Three juveniles were arrested Friday and charged in a break-in at Ansonia Library.
At approximately 5:20 p.m. Friday police responded to an alarm at the library, police spokesman Lt. Andrew Cota said.
When officers arrived they determined that the building had been entered, he said.
The suspects damaged computer screens and tore books off the shelves throughout the library, Cota said. Police don’t think that anything was stolen from the building, he said.
A backpack left at the scene led police to identify suspects, Cota said.
Three male juveniles, two 13-year-olds and a 15-year old, were taken into custody and charged with third-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief.
Cota said they were referred to juvenile court in Waterbury.
Police have no other suspects, he said. Entry was gained through a window on the second floor.

Jury finds Hartford archdiocese negligent, recommends $1 million in damages to ex-altar boy sexually abused in Derby

By The Associated Press
WATERBURY — A jury has ruled that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford should pay $1 million in damages to a former altar boy who was sexually abused by a priest decades ago.
The Hartford Courant reports the Superior Court jury in Waterbury delivered the verdict Friday after about three and a half hours of deliberations.
The jury found the archdiocese was reckless and negligent in its handling of the priest, Ivan Ferguson, formerly stationed in Derby.

Read the full story here.

Harvard psychiatrist disputes allegation against Derby priest

By The Associated Press

WATERBURY — A psychiatrist hired by the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford has testified he disputes that the mental health problems of an alleged clergy sex abuse victim were caused by the alleged abuse, and that the victim had a generally “positive” relationship with the priest.
Dr. J. Alexander Bodkin testified Tuesday in Waterbury Superior Court. The alleged victim, known only as Jacob Doe, is suing the archdiocese for negligence, claiming he was repeatedly abused by Father Ivan Ferguson as a teenager in the early 1980s when Ferguson was principal of his grammar school in Derby.
The Hartford Courant reports that Bodkin testified that he believed Doe’s depression was the result of his going public with his allegations and not the alleged abuse. Bodkin is affiliated with Harvard University.
Ferguson died in 2002.

Ex-Derby Middle School administrator eligible for AR program

By Phyllis Swebilius
Register Staff
DERBY — William M. LaRovera, the former Derby Middle School administrator who was arrested in September after police alleged he brought narcotics to school, on Friday was found eligible for admittance to the accelerated rehabilitation program.
LaRovera, 35, appeared with his attorney, Rob Serafinowicz of Waterbury, before Judge Burton A. Kaplan in Superior Court.

Read the full story here.

Escaped informant in Billy Smolinski case found, re-arrested

By Jim Shelton
Register Staff
Police have re-arrested Chad Hanson, the informant who led authorities on an unsuccessful search for a missing local man and subsequently escaped from a Waterbury halfway house.
Hanson, 32, had been serving out the remainder of a jail sentence when he fled Bishop House in Waterbury nearly a week ago. In 2008, he gave police information that prompted a massive search for the remains of William “Billy” Smolinski Jr. in Seymour. Smolinski has been missing since Aug. 24, 2004.

Read the full story here.

Informant in Billy Smolinski case on the run after escaping from Waterbury halfway house

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
A man who gave police information that led to a massive, unsuccessful search for the body of missing man William “Billy” Smolinski Jr. in Seymour has fled from a halfway house where he was serving the remainder of his sentence, an official said Friday.
Department of Correction spokesman Andrius Banevicius said Chad Hanson, 32, escaped from a community release program Dec. 19. Hanson had been in a program at Bishop House in Waterbury.
“It was an escape from a halfway house, a work-release program where they have jobs, and go to the halfway house at the end of the day to eat and sleep,” Banevicius said. “He was supposed to come back and didn’t.”

Read the full story here.

Ex-Derby school administrator seeks special probation in narcotics case

By Phyllis Swebilius
Register Staff
DERBY — William M. LaRovera, the former Derby Middle School administrator who was arrested in September after police alleged he brought narcotics to school, was in Superior Court Tuesday seeking admittance to the accelerated rehabilitation program.
LaRovera, 35, appeared with his attorney, Rob Serafinowicz of Waterbury, before Judge Burton A. Kaplan.
A decision on the request is expected Feb. 3. Under state guidelines, if LaRovera is allowed into the AR program, and he completes a period of probation, the charges against him could be dismissed.

Read the full story here.

Family members of missing Waterbury man claim they never harassed anyone

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo
Investigations Editor
NEW HAVEN — Family members of missing Waterbury man William “Billy” Smolinski Jr. denied claims they harassed or threatened anyone, and said they put up posters about Smolinski solely to try to find him, during testimony Monday.
Madeleine Gleason of Woodbridge, who dated Smolinski until they broke up just prior to his disappearance, sued his mother, Janice Smolinski of Cheshire, and his sister, Paula Bell, in 2006.
The lawsuit claims the defendants falsely accused Gleason of involvement in Billy’s disappearance and have defamed her, and she is seeking monetary damages.


Read the full story here.