WATERBURY – Children, Michael Rinaldi said, notice everything. Your wedding ring. The wart on your thumb. The flecks of black and gray in your eyebrows. Rinaldi, purveyor of Santa Claus suits for half a century, knows what it takes to…

WATERBURY – The Waterbury Knights Cheer program recently won first place in the American Youth Cheer National Championships in Florida. It was the second year in a row and the fourth time in nine years the squad came home with…

BETHLEHEM – Tradition continues this year as the small post office here off Main Street becomes a holiday card hub for people flocking for a “Christmas Town” stamp on their cards and parcels. Patrons come from around the corner and…

CHESHIRE – Town officials recently took a moment to recognize the generous yearly donations residents Donald and Jenifer Walsh made to programs and charities. The couple are the founders of Cheshire’s Lights of Hope, a nonprofit organization that raises money…

TORRINGTON – The city’s longtime assessor announced she will be retiring in March 2018, but she’s not done working yet. Donna Patchen’s last day will be March 5 to give the city enough time to find a replacement. She has…

THOMASTON – The Town Center Plan Committee has completed its plan to help revitalize the downtown area over the next five to 10 years. “This town center plan is an overall streetscape plan for the downtown district,” said Jeremy Leifert,…

LITCHFIELD – The Democratic Town Committee this week is expected to recommend to the Board of Selectmen a candidate for the selectman’s seat that was held by the late Diane Knox. Knox, a Democrat and selectman for eight years, died…

WATERBURY – There are no Christmas decorations, no tree and scant furniture in the small apartment Dorrel Bass shares with his disabled brother, Chad. Nonetheless, it will be a cheerful Christmas in a much truer home than they’ve enjoyed since…

SOUTHBURY – A campaign encouraging residents to support local businesses while doing their holiday shopping is a hit with both shoppers and store owners. The Southbury Economic Development Commission held a Small Business Saturday event in November that encouraged residents…

NAUGATUCK – An Oxford High School baseball star who has played professionally for the past two years is opening an indoor baseball training facility on Rubber Avenue. Gus Constantino played professional independent baseball in the Kentucky Thoroughbred League and the…

PLYMOUTH – Mayor David V. Merchant is looking to help the school district with the state’s latest $800,000 cut to its Education Cost Sharing funds even more than Superintendent Martin Semmel anticipated. Semmel said during the Board of Education meeting…

Municipal leaders in Litchfield and New Haven counties are blasting the state for attempting to implement a law that requires communities surrounding Torrington and Waterbury to recommend ways the cities can improve their respective financial plights. What exactly that means,…

CHESHIRE – Parents spoke, and the district listened. Backlash over a new online learning platform forced Superintendent Jeffrey Solan to suspend its use across the district. The program was suspended because of “a combination of content issues and lack of…

WATERBURY – The spirit of gift-giving throughout the area has continued to benefit future young campers via the Greater Waterbury Campership Fund this holiday season. Contributions totaling $2,925 were donated recently, boosting the total generated for the 2017 Campership campaign…

KENT – Their costumes made it look like participants had stepped into a galaxy far, far away for Saturday’s “Star Wars Jedi Training” session. Kent Memorial Library timed the free event to coincide with the release of the latest Star…

NEWS NUGGETS MIDDLEBURY New roofs will make winter easier to bear December’s snowy weather and bitter cold days have made Public Works Director Dan Norton grateful for a capital plan that included new roofs over Shepardson Community Center and Town…

TORRINGTON – A Unionville man led city police on a short foot chase before being arrested. On Friday afternoon, just as the sun was setting, an officer heard a man and a woman fighting at a Patco gas station. The…

  STATEWIDE – Holiday shoppers are out in force, and so are state police. Increased holiday weekend patrols started Friday and will be in force through Tuesday. So far, as of Saturday morning, police report 124 speeding violations, six seatbelt…

TORRINGTON – The last day of school before Christmas break at Torringford School typically involves singing Christmas carols and having books read aloud to the students, who get to wear their pajamas to school. The annual tradition offered a new…

TORRINGTON When he was a boy, growing up on Brightwood Avenue, Ray Roulin walked to his elementary school. It was a brick building on Main Street and East Elm Street, just a few minutes away from his parents’ home. The…