Bridgeport Banner

Wotton goal gives Sound Tigers win

By RICK COHEN

Mark Wotton scored the game-winning goal with two seconds left in overtime and Micheal Haley added a goal and an assist as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers defeated the Portland Pirates 5-4 in overtime Sunday afternoon at the Arena at Harbor Yard. The Sound Tigers took five of a possible six points in their three games this weekend.

As the Sound Tigers pressured in the final minute of overtime, Wotton lost control of the puck at the offensive blue-line. However, he recovered in time to skate in and put the puck through the legs of Jhonas Enroth as he was falling to the ice to win it for the Sound Tigers. The goal capped off a three point day for Wotton, who also tallied two assists.

 

Police promotion ceremony slated for tonight

On Monday evening, Nov. 16, Mayor Bill Finch and Acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. will preside over the promotion ceremonies for 17 police officers.

At the ceremony, Capt. Lynn Kerwin will be sworn in as the Assistant Chief, only the third officer to be appointed to the position in the history of the department.

The following three officers will be promoted to Captain: Lt. Robert Evans, Lt. Armando Perez and Lt. Joseph Savino Jr.

The following three officers will be promoted to Lieutenant: Sgt. William Bailey, Sgt. John Cueto and Sgt. Brett Hyman.

The following 10 officers will be promoted to detective: Joseph Badolato, Mark Belinkie, James Borrico, John Burke, Jorge Cintron, David Garcia, Mark T. Graham, Martin M. Heanue, Todd Hoben and William Reilly.

The ceremonies will be held in City Council Chambers at 6:15 p.m.

At MS Dinner of Champions

 
Stamford resident Sara Bromley, left, who lives with multiple sclerosis, takes a moment to pose with ESPN baseball analyst Bobby Valentine at the 31st Annual MS Dinner of Champions Thursday at the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich. Valentine, a Stamford native and former manager of the New York Mets, served as emcee. The event, featuring live and silent auctions, raised more than $260,000 for the National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter.
 

P.T. fire victims are identified

Bridgeport Fire Department Chief Brian Rooney has confirmed the identities of the four people – a mother and her three young children – who died in the early-morning fire at Apt. 205, Building 12 of P.T. Barnum Apartments.

The dead are identified as: Tiana Black, 22; her children, 4-year-old twin girls Niaoia Williams and Tiashia Williams, and Myshawn Williams, 5.

The Big Read is wrapping up in a Big Way

The Barnum Museum and its community partners (see the list at the end of this release) have been hosting many educational and fun events since early October for The Big Read celebrating Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.” This popular reading program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. 

 

Bridgeport and Shelton’s Big Read for the fall of 2009 will conclude on Thursday, November 19 with a fabulous Live Radio Show Adaptation of “The Maltese Falcon” at 7:30 p.m. in the downstairs theater at The Watermark, 3030 Park Avenue in Bridgeport.  The program will be presented by Dandelion Productions/Connecticut Free Shakespeare and the show will be broadcast live on WPKN-FM 89.5 radio. The audience, both at the theater and those listening on the University of Bridgeport’s WPKN station will hear a story that employs Hammett’s knack for engaging dialogue and his understanding of the depths of the human soul. The radio performance directed by Connecticut Free Shakespeare’s Ellen Lieberman, replete with period music and real sound effects, will bring back old-time radio for a half hour. The talented cast includes actors from New York and Connecticut. Whether you attend the live broadcast at The Watermark in Bridgeport or tune in to WPKN at home, as the falcon circles in your imaginations, you might-well wonder why radio drama is no longer as popular as it once was. The experience will truly be “a theater of the mind” one!

 

Child safety program at Black Rock Library Tuesday

Black Rock Branch Library
A Gathering Place for the Entire Community


New York Life Insurance Company will be sponsoring a free

"Child Safety & Protection Festival" at the Black Rock Branch Library

Tuesday November 17th
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
FREE ADMISSION

Activities Include: 
* Fingerprinting & Photos for Child
  Identification Cards
* Children must be accompanied by parent or legal guardian to have an ID made.

For more information contact New York Life: Call (203) 385-5159 or (203) 521-0217

John Wort Hannam bringing Canadian roots to Ridgefield

In just seven years John Wort Hannam has won more Canadian songwriting contests than most people win in a lifetime. Compared with Gordon Lightfoot and John Prine by a number of critics,  Hannam is the grandson of a farmer and son of a master carpenter.  He taught high school on the Kainai Nation Reserve, home of the Blackfoot Nation in Canada, until 2002.  That year, after studying guitar for only four years, Hannam quit teaching to pursue his dream of being a working musician.  The awards came quickly.  In 2004 he was the Grand Prize winner of the Calgary Festival’s songwriting competition, and he won that award again in 2007 and in 2009.  In 2007 he won the prestigious Kerrville Texas New Folk Songwriting contest.  The list goes on and on.  The Acoustic Celebration is very pleased to have him performing in Ridgefield on Sunday, Nov. 22^nd at 4:00 P.M.  Tickets are available on line at www.acousticcelebration.org or at Ridgefield Music, 19 Governor St.

Bysiewicz selects voting districts to be audited; Black Rock School is among them

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz joined Connecticut voting rights advocates to randomly select the voting precincts that will have election results audited following the Municipal Elections that took place November 3, 2009. Secretary Bysiewicz also reported today that a recount in Avon has resulted in a tie vote for Town Council between Democrat David Pena and Republican William R. Hopper II. The tie vote will be resolved by an adjourned election to take place in Avon on Tuesday November 24, 2009.  Only candidates Pena and Hopper will be on the ballot for the tie-breaking vote.

As required by Public Act 07-194, An Act Concerning the Integrity and Security of the Voting Process, ten percent of the polling precincts used in the election are subject to an audit. All told, 597 polling precincts were used on Election Day November 3^rd meaning that 60 precincts will have their election results audited.  There were also 8 alternate precincts selected for the post-election audit.

 

Citywide leaf pickup to begin Nov. 16th

The City of Bridgeport’s Public Facilities Department will begin picking up leaves throughout the entire City beginning Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, weather permitting.  New this year: residents are asked to rake leaves into the grassy area between the sidewalk and curb for pick up.

Leaf collection will continue through December 11, 2009. After that time, the City will continue to pick up leaves in brown recyclable bags, placed at the curb on the regular recycling day. Bundled branches, no more than four feet in length, also can be placed at the curb for pick up on recycling day.

The City does not accept plastic bags during leaf pickup. Plastic bags and other containers of leaves may be taken to the Asylum Street Transfer Station during normal operating hours. The Transfer Station is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 12 noon.

For more information, call 576-7124 or 576-7751.

Noble Station Post Office Closing Plans Subject of Public Hearing

WHAT:  A public hearing with Postal Officials to discuss the planned closing of the Noble Station Post Office at 934 E. Main St.

WHO: Mayor Bill Finch, City Council representatives, Postal Officials; public invited

WHERE: City Council Chambers, 45 Lyon Terrace

WHEN: Thursday, November 12, 6  p.m.

ABOUT:

The Noble Station Post Office at 934 E. Main St. is on the list of more than 100 post offices nationwide that the United States Postal Service has targeted for closing as part of a cost-cutting effort. Mayor Bill Finch and City Council President Tom McCarthy, and U. S. Congressman Jim Himes, D-CT,  all have petitioned the Postmaster General to keep this post office open. Earlier this year, the Mayor, Tom McCarthy and Congressman Himes were successful in their efforts to urge the Postmaster General to keep the Barnum Station at 2253 Fairfield Avenue open. 

The public is invited to attend the hearing.

Remington Woods presentation at next BCHS meeting

Peter McKnight will give a visual presentation

 

about Remington Woods at the monthly meeting of

 

the Bridgeport Community Historical Society on

 

Tuesday, November 24 at 6:30 pm at the North

 

Branch Library, 3455 Madison Avenue. The meeting

 

is free and open to the public. For more

 

information, call Audrey at 371-6397.

Remarks of President Obama at Fort Hood Memorial Service

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

 

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

 

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

 

Festival of Lights returns to Mystic

An array of decorated trees, carolers, live music and a visit with Santa, all against a backdrop of fascinating marine animals…it can only be the holidays at Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration! Get some decoration inspiration during the annual Holiday Sea of Trees, then enjoy holiday festivities to benefit area food banks and educational programs for at-risk youth during the Festival of Lights annual fundraising evening open house.

 

Holiday Sea of Trees
‘Tis the season to deck the halls with boughs of holly – and more than 20 Christmas trees! Everything is illuminated during the annual Holiday Sea of Trees, featuring a variety of uniquely themed trees decorated by local organizations. The magic takes place from November 27 to January 4 on the main exhibit floor, where the trees’ lights reflecting off the exhibits’ glass create a bright and festive atmosphere.

 

WHEN: November 27 to January 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last aquarium admission at
4 p.m.)

 

WHERE:   Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, 55 Coogan Blvd. , Mystic , CT 06355

 

COST:   Free with aquarium admission: Adults $26, seniors $23, children (ages 3 to 17) $19, free for children 2 and under.

 

Festival of Lights

Discover the true spirit of the season during the Festival of Lights on December 11 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Hosted by the Friends of Mystic Aquarium (FOMA), this festive event benefits area food banks, as well as Sea Research Foundation’s Immersion Learning division, which provides education programs for at-risk youth across the nation.

 

The enchanted evening includes carolers, holiday music, photos with the Eastern Connecticut Ballet’s Sugar Plum Fairy, face painters and a visit from Santa on the main exhibit floor and throughout the outdoor animal exhibits.

Veterans Employment Initiative is issued

Today, the White House announced the launch of an initiative that is designed to transform the federal government into the model employer of America’s veterans.  Monday night, President Obama was joined by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry to sign an Executive Order on the Employment of Veterans in the federal government, which establishes the Veterans Employment Initiative for the Executive Branch. The Initiative underscores to federal agencies the importance of recruiting and training veterans, aims to increase the employment of veterans within the Executive Branch, and helps recently hired veterans adjust to service in a civilian capacity.

“Honoring our sacred trust with America’s veterans means doing all we can to help them find work when they come home so they never feel as if the American Dream they fought to defend is out of reach for them and their families,” said President Obama. “But this initiative is about more than repaying our debt for their courageous service and selfless sacrifice.  It’s also about continuing to fill the ranks of federal employees with men and women who possess the skills, dedication, and sense of duty that Americans deserve from their public servants.  And few embody those qualities like our nation’s veterans.”

Grizzlies' Kinasewich On Record Goal Pace

By Adrian Denny

Ryan Kinasewich of the Utah Grizzlies has scored two goals in each of his last two games and he leads the ECHL with 13 goals, four game-winning goals and 20 points in eight games.

He was named Reebok Hockey ECHL Player of the Month after leading the league in October with nine goals and three game-winning goals while tying for the lead with 14 points in five games.

He has had five two-goal games and one three-goal game while registering multiple points in seven games. He has a six-game point streak (10g-6a) during which he has had two four-point games, two three-point games and three two-point games.

Teen Open House at the Zoo

Teens interested in zoos and zoo careers (plus their parents) are invited to Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo's Teen Volunteer Open House on Wednesday, Nov. 11 or Thursday, Nov. 12 from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Zoo's Hanson Exploration Station.
 
Teens ages 14 to 18 will learn about the Zoo's Explorer Post and the Conservation Discovery Corps (CDC). Teens and their parents interested in learning more about our career exploration program, or helping the Zoo expand its education and conservation missions, should plan on attending one of these fun, informative evenings.
 
For more information on the Explorer Post or CDC program, go to beardsleyzoo.org. Please call 203-394-6563 for more information on, or to register for, the open house.

About Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo:    Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo features 300 animals representing primarily North and South American species.  Visitors won't want to miss our Amur (Siberian) tigers, Andean condor, ocelots, red & maned wolves, Andean (spectacled) bears, and golden lion tamarins.  Other highlights include our South American rainforest with free-flight aviary, the prairie dog exhibit with "pop-up" viewing areas, the New England Farmyard with goats, cows, pigs, sheep and other barnyard critters, plus the hoofstock trail featuring bison, pronghorn, deer and more.  Visitors can grab a bite at the Peacock Café, eat in the Picnic Grove, and enjoy a ride on our colorful carousel. For more information, visit http://www.beardsleyzoo.org

Daily Commentary: Library yes! Finch no!

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and lackey City Councilman Bob Walsh were roundly repudiated in yesterday's library referendum. Finch, who surreptiously attempted to scuttle the referendum question, was rejected by a nearly 2-to-1 margin by Bridgeport voters. The vote not only signifies a victory for Bridgeport's readers, but also signals an SOS from Finch's flagging re-electoral campaign attempt.

The vote indicates that voters rejected the mayor's inflammatory rhetoric and voted their conscience. Congratulations to Bridgeport voters for putting the yoke of the DTC aside.

White House authorizes Westport fire equipment

The Westport Fire Department will receive $265,000 in federal funding for a much-needed emergency generator under the Homeland Security Appropriations Act signed this week by the President. In addition to funding local projects like the generator, the spending bill supports programs that secure U.S. borders, ports, and airports and that help train local first responders and emergency personnel.

“My most important obligation is to protect the safety and security of the people I represent,” said Congressman Himes. “This bill ensures our first responders have the training and equipment they need to protect us in an emergency and that families and business travelers can move about the country without fear.”

The Westport Fire Headquarters houses Westport’s Emergency Operations Center as well as units from the Fairfield County Hazardous Materials Response Team and the Regional Communications and Command Response Unit. The funding finalized today will allow the purchase of a new generator to supply emergency standby power for the entire headquarters complex. Without the new generator, the ability to operate and maintain communications with other agencies during an emergency could be significantly compromised.

The Homeland Security Appropriations Act increases security along U.S. borders and improves aviation security, port security and transit security. Among the many important programs, these funds will be used to purchase and install the latest explosive detection systems at airports nationwide and develop and deploy systems to screen cargo containers for weapons and nuclear materials.

Holiday Express Train Show at Fairfield Museum

By LAURA ROBERTS

On Saturday, November 14 from 10am – 2pm come build and paint a wooden model train building which will be displayed in Christmas Town as part of the Fairfield Museum’s Holiday Express Train Show.  Recommended for children ages 8 and up, participants will create a one-of-a-kind model train building and be able to show it off as part of the museum’s annual train show. Cost is $15 per child, with a $3 discount for members of the Fairfield Museum. Adult supervision is required. This event is co-sponsored with HobbyTown USA and takes place at their location at 847 Post Road in Fairfield. Call 259-1598 today to make your reservation.

About the Holiday Express Train Show:

Opening Night: Friday, December 4    7pm – 9pm 

Open Weekends December 5 – January 3 from 12pm – 4pm and open during school vacation week: December 28 – 31 from 10am – 4pm

Following Fairfield’s annual tree lighting ceremony, come warm up at the museum and enjoy the start of the Holiday Express Train Show. Come be amazed by miniature worlds in holiday scenes created by local train hobbyists. The show provides a unique, interactive family experience for all ages with opportunities to purchase great holiday gifts for train enthusiasts in the Fairfield Museum Shop. Special Opening Night Admission: $3 per person suggested donation, kids ages 5 and under are free of charge. Weekends and vacation week: $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors, Free for kids ages 5 and under and members of the Fairfield Museum. 

The museum, located at 370 Beach Road in Fairfield, CT, is open seven days a week. For current program and exhibition information, visit www.fairfieldhs.org and for group tour reservations and information, please call 203-259-1598.

The Magic of Christmas

The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme promises triple the “magic” during this year’s celebration. First, a group of talented designers and artists lavishly decorate Fantasy Trees inspired by the exhibition Call of the Coast. Then, new painted palettes added this year to Miss Florence’s Artist Tree, brings the number to over 100 pieces of artwork donated by artists from all over the country. And finally, the main floor of the house evokes the homespun preparations for a festive 1910 Christmas in a boardinghouse for artists.  It’s no wonder the celebration has become a favorite for locals and travelers alike.