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Marcia Chambers | Jun 23, 2017 8:36 am
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Mary Johnson Photo
The second and third installments of Branford’s Trifecta continue this week with the annual fireworks display launching off Branford Point on Saturday evening and the kick off for the summer Jazz Festival on Thursday. Everyone may be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but you’ll also have a chance this weekend at the Connecticut Irish Festival at the North Haven Fairgrounds. And, girls, Nick Fradiani, will perform Saturday night. Read on for our other cool events.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 22, 2017 8:20 am
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Bill O’Brien Photo
Although the weather wasn’t perfect, thousands still flocked to the Town Green on Saturday and Sunday to be part of the 33rd Annual Branford Festival on the Town Green.
Bill O’Brien Photo
“We were all disappointed that we had to cancel the entertainment on Friday,” said chairperson Camille Linke (pictured.) “Residents were looking forward to seeing the Bon Jovi Tribute band and enjoying the great variety of food being offered by our vendors along the food court.”
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 21, 2017 8:00 am
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With Permission
The long-proposed Sterling Ridge residential project, in the heart of one of Branford’s historic districts, may be nearer to reality.
The Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission discussed the most recent plans Thursday and asked the town planner to draft a resolution in favor of the project. The commission may vote on the resolution at the July 6 meeting. The property owner is seeking a modification of a previous Planned Development District (PDD) and Master Plans. If approved, the next step would be filing specific site plans.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 20, 2017 1:34 pm
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The crowd at the announcement.
Dominic Rapini announcing his candidacy Monday night.
At 3 a.m. on Nov. 9, when it was clear Donald Trump had been elected president of the United States, Dominic Rapini, a Republican businessman like Trump, said to himself, “Maybe, just maybe, if he could do it, so can I.”
From that point on, Rapini, a Trump supporter, started thinking seriously about running for public office.
Like Trump, Rapini, 56, has never before run for elected office. And like Trump he aimed high; in this case, running for the U.S. Senate from the state of Connecticut.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 19, 2017 7:28 am
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Diana Stricker Photo
Two volunteers are being sought to fill vacancies on the 10-member Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC); and two current members have been re-appointed. The commission has been in flux in the past two years since six members, who wanted to continue serving, were replaced.
The Board of Selectmen (BOS) also made appointments to the Branford Housing Authority to replace people who resigned.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 16, 2017 9:46 am
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Attorney James R. Strub addresses RTM committee.
The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) agreed Wednesday to allow limited special resident parking on a public road at certain times and for certain months as part of a four-way legal agreement that is expected to enable the Legacy Theatre to finally open its doors.
Despite a last minute development that nearly derailed an agreement that took several years to work out, the RTM, in a 21 – 1 bi-partisan vote, overwhelmingly approved the agreement. The parties include the Legacy Theatre, the town of Branford, the Stony Creek Association (SCA), and a separate group of neighbors who live adjacent to the theater on Thimble Islands Road.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 16, 2017 8:16 am
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Bill O’Brien Photo
Autumn McHenry takes off away on a fast break.
Last Saturday the no. 4 ranked Branford Lady Hornets stopped a 23-year streak of missing a SCC school win a girls’ lacrosse championship when they defeated no. 1 Pomperaug 15 – 8 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Bill O’Brien Photo
Before a raucous crowd of supporters from both teams, the Lady Hornets dominated the game from the middle of the first half to the very end. The victory was sweet revenge from an earlier loss to the Panthers on the road, 13 – 12, in overtime in the rain last month. Here team members show their championship medals as the coach holds the title plaque.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 15, 2017 9:05 am
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Branford’s Trifecta
File Photo
We’re heading into the three biggest events of the summer – the Branford Festival, the annual fireworks display, and the beginning of the Jazz series on the Branford green. They all prove that you don’t have to roam far to have a great time.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 15, 2017 8:00 am
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Diana Stricker Photo
Architect Joe Sepot with hotel sketches.
Ed Crowley, owner of the popular Stony Creek Brewery, unveiled plans Wednesday to build a 34-room boutique hotel along the Branford River.
Diana Stricker Photo
Former Paul’s Wire site
The waterfront hotel would be built on the site of the former Paul’s Wire Rope & Sling company at 4 – 6 Indian Neck Avenue, which is across from the brewery. The Crowley family, who live in Branford, purchased the property for $600,000 in September 2016.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 14, 2017 7:16 am
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Bill O’Brien Photo
The decision to hold the high school graduation on the beautiful Branford Green last Friday was held off until late morning due to the threat of thunder showers. As luck would have it, the weather cooperated for the 250 graduates of Branford High School.
Bill O’Brien Photo
It turned out to be a perfect evening and a large crowd of families and friends filled the green to witness the event, the awarding of their diplomas to the class of 2017. Principal Lee Panagoulis (pictured) led the march in to the stage.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 13, 2017 5:30 pm
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RTM member Lynda Mollow and Board of Selectmen member Jack Ahern (pictured) will seek the town’s top Democratic positons in the local Branford election this November.
Active and engaged in local education and economic issues, Mollow,49, said she grew concerned that residents did not have a voice in local issues shaping the town of Branford. She decided to run for a position on the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) in 2015 and won a seat representing the 7th District on the 30-member legislative board. All members of the RTM are up for re-election in November.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 13, 2017 7:21 am
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Bill O’Brien Photo
Cathyann Roding sings “You Light The Way.”
In a tribute to a great and wise music director, a cast of more than 250 current and former high school students returned to their alma mater a weekend ago to pay tribute to Cathyann Roding, a loving teacher who is retiring after 38 years, the last 32 at Branford High.
Bill O’Brien Photo
Cast members from 2003 and 2015 sang a medley of songs from “Les Miserables.”
It was a very special afternoon as the high school auditorium filled up, about 500 in all, to give thanks and say farewell to Roding, who as music director has performed before audiences of thousands, here and in many countries in Europe, even a performance before Pope John Paul at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. She always handled these concerts professionally, showing little anxiety.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 12, 2017 9:20 am
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Sally E. Bahner Photo
Pat Cotton and Boots
Twenty years after its founding by Eunice Lasala, Friskie Wheeler, and Ann Marie Lorello, the Branford Compassion Club has grown from a group of dedicated volunteers feeding feral colonies to a full service brick and mortar adoption facility.
That facility, officially the Branford Compassion Club Feline Rescue and Adoption Center, now has a full-time shelter manager, Pat Cotton, who oversees the daily care and vetting of all the felines who set paws through the doors. Since opening more than six years ago, close to 1,500 felines have found their forever homes, and approximately 2,000 total since 2008. Cotton is backed up by a team of 50 to 60 volunteers who cover all shifts within the shelter. Another 30 or so help with non-shelter related work such as publicity and fundraising.
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 12, 2017 8:02 am
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Harry Droz Photo
Dan Klau in WNHH’s studio.
Is it time for the towns in Connecticut to regionalize? To return to a system in which public services are shared? Is it time for towns to give up local control?
Dan Klau, a leading Connecticut First Amendment and open-government lawyer, says “the answer is yes.”
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Marcia Chambers | Jun 9, 2017 2:18 pm
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File Photos
Vajinder Toor.
In a dramatic turn of events, Dr. Lishan Wang pleaded guilty in Superior Court on Church Street Friday morning to killing his former colleague Dr. Vajinder Toor outside his Branford condominium on the morning of April 26, 2010 as Dr. Toor left for work at Yale Medical School. Dr. Toor was 34 when he was gunned down.
Dr. Wang faces up to 32 years in prison, plus five years of special probation when he is sentenced on Sept. 22.
A combination of factors led to the plea, including the complexity of the case along with potential lengthy appeals, a potential insanity defense, witness availability given the length of the case and Dr. Wang’s slow return to mental stability under forced medication, a development that might not be permanent. Overall, the case has rattled the criminal justice system.
