Monthly Archives: December 2009

She calls almost every day, my “old friend from Oak Terrace.” I can tell by the tenor of her voice, as soon as she greets me, what kind of day she’s having: Sometimes it’s a joyful chirp, quoting scripture and gushing about choir rehearsal; others it’s a smoker’s croak, bitter and depressed and “just about ready to give up.” My friend’s name is Linda Jean Cray. She’s 45, heavyset—though she’s lost a considerable amount of weight recently—with stew-brown hair that flows just over her shoulders. Her smile reveals badly-worn, discolored teeth. A single, front tooth, apparently the survivor of the bunch, remains intact, recalling some cartoonish caricature of a baby.

BEACON FALLS — Year-round, Livia Keith keeps at least one Christmas tree decorated in her Maple Avenue home. In her living room Friday, Keith's tree...

NAUGATUCK— Concerned borough taxpayers will soon have a new forum for monitoring the embattled Board of Education’s administrative practices. Anne Ciacciarella, founder of the 1,300-member...

BEACON FALLS — So far, so good for the Woodland girls’ basketball squad. The Hawks won their third game in as many chances Tuesday...

NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck girls’ basketball team came in to Tuesday night’s game with a definitive plan and almost ran Watertown right out of...

PROSPECT — State police and the Prospect Volunteer Fire Department reported one death in a Wednesday-morning structure fire at a 62 Summit Road home. The victim’s identity has not yet been released, and the cause of the blaze is still pending investigation from the Connecticut State Police and Fire Marshal. Prospect Mayor and Assistant Fire Chief Bob Chatfield said the call came in at 7:11, and firefighters were on the scene at 7:12. When they arrived, he said, smoke was seeping from windows, doors, and through shingles on the roof; it wasn’t until a window gave and the flame was thus oxygenated that it really erupted. About fifty Prospect firefighters battled the inferno, many of them new members for whom this was their first major call. All told, Fire Chief Marty Lautenschlager said, it took them about 45 minutes to extinguish the fire, and no one was injured.