WATERBURY – Mayor Neil M. O’Leary is promising a vastly stepped up campaign against blight and litter in the new year, touching off this effort with a new study and a police captain charged with enacting recommendations. The city recently…

MIDDLEBURY – Jaymee Hick, an exchange student at Westover School from Perth, Australia, was one of four winners of News-Decoder’s third essay/reporting contest for her essay on gender equality, school officials said. News-Decoder, a not-for-profit global network based in Paris,…

WATERBURY – There are a number of food trucks in Waterbury offering hot dogs, pizza and tacos, but the city’s newest food truck will also offer education and community service. The Elisha Leavenworth Foundation granted the city’s Police Activities League…

HARWINTON – Two people, including a Torrington man, were seriously injured in a Christmas Day crash involving three vehicles on Route 8 north in Harwinton. Police said Carlos Velez, 28, of 426 Boston Ave. in Bridgeport, drove off the left…

WATERBURY – Waterbury Teachers Association President Kevin M. Egan faces charges including driving under the influence following a traffic stop on Interstate 84 earlier this month. Egan, 49, of Waterbury, was driving his 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe 30 mph in the…

TORRINGTON – An argument over how much to spend on Christmas presents turned violent a day later when a New Milford man choked his girlfriend, the mother of his 1-year-old son, until she couldn’t breathe, police allege. Omar Bordoy, 42,…

SOUTHBURY – Robert W. Harrison Jr.’s 30-year-career in law enforcement culminated in a rise to administrative lieutenant of the Naugatuck Police Department before he retired five years ago. Now the Southbury native serves as his hometown’s animal control officer. Since…

TORRINGTON – A Goshen man who told police he only had water to drink at a city bar has been charged with drunken driving. A police officer saw a white SUV stop well ahead of the white line near the…

TORRINGTON – A man from Brooklyn, N.Y., involved in a two-car crash on Christmas Day in front of First Assembly of God Church in New Milford was wanted by police in New Jersey for failing to appear on robbery charges….

TORRINGTON – Superintendent Denise L. Clemons’ first year in the city has been a tumultuous one for its public schools. The Board of Education has made controversial changes, such as the decision to close East School at least temporarily, and…

HARTFORD – As forecasts predict below-zero lows for this week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday activated the state’s “Severe Cold Weather Protocol” for the first time this winter season. The protocol directs several state agencies to coordinate with the…

CANAAN/SHARON Students at North Canaan Elementary and Sharon Center schools were tested on their knowledge of places around the world during last week’s National Geographic Bee. At North Canaan, fifth-grader Aiden Veilleus emerged as a finalist after a playoff with…

PLYMOUTH – Mayor David V. Merchant said the top goal for his third term is redeveloping the former Mayfair Garage site, preferably with a franchise business. The town got a boost on Nov. 20 when it received a $750,000 grant…

WATERBURY – Waterbury Teachers Association President Kevin M. Egan faces charges including driving under the influence following a traffic stop on Interstate 84 earlier this month. Egan, 49, of Waterbury, was driving his 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe 30 mph in the…

WATERBURY – A pick-up truck crashed into a stone wall at the corner of Cooke and Homer streets shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday. The driver was unresponsive when emergency personnel arrived, but they administered Narcan, which brought him back to…

NAUGATUCK – A 17-year-old girl who was missing for five weeks has been found and is safe. Police said Tuesday morning that Cassidy Leonetti was located and had not been harmed. She was reported missing on Nov. 16. At the…

NAUGATUCK – Police are asking for the public’s help identifying a person suspected of burglarizing The Station Restaurant on Water Street over the weekend. Early Sunday, a person carrying a hammer broke into the newly opened restaurant and stole cash…

HARWINTON – State police said two people were taken to area hospitals with serious injuries following a three-car crash on Route 8 north in Harwinton Monday evening. The crash was reported shortly after 6 p.m. Monday near the on-ramp to…

SOUTHBURY — The Zoning Commission will continue its hearing next month on an amendment to the zoning regulations, which would allow piggeries. The commission’s action was sparked by a citizen complaint over odor from a neighbor’s pigs and Zoning Enforcement…

NAUGATUCK – Police are investigating a burglary at the Station Restaurant, which opened in August in the former Naugatuck Historical Society building at 195 Water St. A burglar broke into the bar area and stole cash from the bar wall,…