Issues. People. Events. Waterbury Connecticut's Independent Newspaper
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Girls Varsity Softball Team won the Parochial City Tournament Championship for the fourth year in a row by defeating Blessed Sacrament 8-2. The team had a perfect season (17 and 0) and has won the City Championship for three years in a row.
(Editor's note - the following column was written by Don Coppock, an American ex-pat now living in Thailand. Living 8000 miles away from the United States provided Coppock time and space to reflect about the dramatic changes in American life that has evolved during the past sixty years)
Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura is a five-term incumbent, and after switching to the Republican Party in June, Jarjura is seeking a record sixth consecutive term in office. Last night while accepting the GOP nomination Jarjura was animated, engaged and fired up. For much of the past ten years his public speeches amounted to singling out local and state dignitaries in the crowd for acknowledgement. Last night, Mayor Jarjura uncorked a blistering speech that he wrote late Monday night after the Board of Aldermen meeting.
Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura was enthusiastically welcomed by local and state Republican leaders after announcing he had joined the GOP. Jarjura will be nominated tonight to head the Republican ticket for the November municipal elections.
The Waterbury Republican Convention is being staged tonight, July 26th, at the Marriott in downtown Waterbury. The event is open to the public and begins at 6:30. The following candidates are going to be presented to the Republican Town Committee for approval at the convention.
Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura was all smiles as he announced his switch to the Republican Party.
Story and Photographs By John Murray
Life-long Democrat Mike Jarjura will have his official Republican coming out party tomorrow night at the GOP convention in downtown Waterbury, but he's not going to have the unbeatable fusion ticket he imagined seven weeks ago.
If you litter in Waterbury, you can expect your wallet to be lightened by $219. That’s the message from Waterbury Police Chief Michael Gugliotti, who announced a summer long police initiative to crack down on litterbugs in the Brass City. “Through this initiative," Gugliotti said, "we intend to educate the public of the litter problem here in Waterbury while also taking enforcement action against litter violators."
Story and photographs by John Murray
Neil O'Leary has the Irish gift of gab, but unlike many of his ancestors, this Irishman isn't afraid to express his emotions. In the course of twenty minutes O'Leary laughed at his own jokes, emotionally bear-hugged his family, choked-up when talking about his deceased parents, raised his voice and bellowed about the lost opportunity of the past five years under Mayor Jarjura, forcefully jabbed his finger in the air while making a point about leadership, and appeared humbled and slightly awkward when the wrap-up theme song lasted too long.
Former Waterbury Police Chief, Neil O'Leary, pictured above, has a headlock on the Democrat nomination for mayor this year, and will emerge from tomorrow night's convention as the party's standard bearer for a November showdown with five-term incumbent, Michael Jarjura. While O'Leary will steamroll to the nomination, the candidates for the under-ticket will provide the drama for the evening. O'Leary has spent much of the past two months cobbling together a ticket that represents ethnic diversity, and candidates from the various factions in the highly raucous Democratic Party in Waterbury.
Waterbury's Town Plot neighborhood was bustling with food and celebration from July 14th to July 18th during the 73rd Annual Mt. Carmel Feast and Procession, which honored the patron saint of Mt. Carmel Church. Tremendous Italian food, singing and dancing were the story of the evenings, but on Sunday, July 18th, a special mass was followed by a long procession through the neighborhoods of Town Plot, a strong Italian enclave in Waterbury.
18-month-old Sean Rice shrieks in delight after running through a water fountain in Chase Park, in the Town Plot neighborhood of Waterbury. Photo by John Murray
Congressman Chris Murphy was in Waterbury in early July to accept the unanimous endorsement of the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut, which represents 4000 firefighters, in his race for the U.S. Senate in 2012. “Connecticut Fire Fighters are on the front lines protecting our families every day”, Murphy said. “To have their endorsement so early in this campaign is a huge honor and will provide critical support in our fight for the future of middle class working families throughout Connecticut.” Photographs by John Murray
After three years of ongoing vocal medical issues, Bob Sagendorf retired from the broadcast business in May for vocal rest, also to continue treatment, and work in a related career. WATR management has scheduled a casual gathering to thank Bob for his many years of service to the sports and news broadcast community on Thursday July 28th at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall, 91 Golden Hill Street in Waterbury.
House Chair of the Commerce Committee Jeff Berger (D-Waterbury) attended a ceremony with Governor Malloy and legislative colleagues where the governor signed into law legislation creating the “First Five” jobs initiative that will provide incentives to the first five businesses that each bring a minimum of 200 new full-time jobs to Connecticut within the next 24 months.
Front row (from left): Coach Linda Brown, Jessica Lovejoy, Gianna Polzella, Shimera Estes, Marykate Bunce, Coach Kerry Doty. Back row: Coach Michelle Rinaldi, Denize Torres, Alia Te, Jaydeh Rivers, Mia Giordano, Mattea Polzella.
The Girls Inc. of Southwestern Connecticut gymnastics team was victorious at the American Athletic Union’s 2011 Northeast Region Gymnastics Competition at Paramount Gymnastics in Swansea, MA. Competing against 180 girls from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the Girls Inc. of SWCT’s Prep Gymnast team won First place, with the Girls Inc. Novice Gymnast team placing Second in that category. Coached by Linda Brown, Kerry Doty and Michelle Rinaldi, the Girls Inc. gymnasts placed near the top of their divisions in the individual events and all-around.
State Representative Tony D’Amelio (R-71) said today he was disappointed after Governor Malloy vetoed a bill designed to boost the local economy and promote economic development near Oxford Airport.
Spend a little time sampling the tasty barbeque that the Waterbury Firefighters Union will be serving up at the 2nd Annual Waterbury Firefighters Unions Summertime Brews Beer Festival, and you are sure to be impressed by their grilling prowess and award winning chili.
It's time to unload all the poison, paint, batteries and insecticides laying around your house, but in a safe and environmentally friendly way.
Hazardous waste collection for residents of Beacon Falls, Bethlehem, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford, Southbury, Thomaston, Waterbury, Watertown and Woodbury will be at Kennedy High School on July 15th from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Bataan Death March in 1942
Dr. Albert Brown was a 32-year-old practicing dentist with a wife, three children, a pilot’s license and a small air transport business when he was called up for military service in the Philippines in 1937 as the United States geared up for war four years before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The godchild of Buffalo Bill Cody, he is now, at 105 years-of-age, the oldest living American World War II veteran despite the fact that army doctors didn’t expect him to live beyond 50 as a result of his wartime injuries and illnesses. A robust athlete whose basketball team had defeated the famous Harlem Globetrotters, “Doc” Brown, was reduced to less than 90 pounds at war’s end. He spent two years in veterans’ hospitals and did not see to his family again for ten years.
The Waterbury Police Academy held its graduation ceremony Friday night, July 8th, at 6:00 pm at the Palace Theater in downtown Waterbury. The graduating class marched in a parade to the 6:00 pm ceremony at the Palace Theater.
Column by Don Coppock (July 2011)
When I made the decision to retire in Thailand , that decision was based on the information I had at the time. The dollar had hovered around 40 baht for as long as I’d been coming here, and I foresaw no cataclysmic change in the stock market.