Issues. People. Events. Waterbury Connecticut's Independent Newspaper
“Why would you ever want to go to Africa?” Whenever I tell someone that I went to Kenya this summer, that’s the first thing that always comes out of the person’s mouth.
Atomic Nightmare
A Column by Marilyn Aligata
Well well, my hardnosed censors, Henry Grenier and Alan Stein are back. The August column with the headline that read, “Ned Lamont Where Are You?, provoked them to write letters to the editor. That column laid out why I think it would have been better if Ned Lamont was elected to the senate and not Joe Lieberman. I feel Lieberman has become a war-monger and that Ned Lamont would not be calling for military action in Iran. Henry and Alan were very critical of me and my “drivel“ as Henry called it, and Alan said I have my head in the sand because I fail to see that using military aggression to deal with the world is okay. If only they would read my words and stop making up what they want to see. Henry and Alan, like so many other Americans, see only what they want to see when reading the news. “It‘s not what they say. It is the context in which you misinterpret it“ - Wiley, Political Science 101.
From Russia To Waterbury
By John Murray
78-year-old Mark Losyev enjoyed a beautiful Spring afternoon on the Green in downtown Waterbury.
Mark Losyev spent the first 68 years of his life in the Soviet Union, most of it working as a geologist high in the mountains near the Pakistan border. His oldest son moved to Waterbury 11 years ago for work, and a year later Mark and his wife followed.
American Living In El Salvador
Column by Chris Romero
Blood-stained scars above and below the eyes. Deep scratches stretch the length of the face. A jagged cut marks the center of the forehead. This can’t be me, I thought. A shot of anger springs from confusion: God, give me myself back. This isn’t me. My blood ceases to boil, senses ease. Although I’m hesitant, I begin to touch my face. Some of the scars begin to shed their shells of dried blood. I don’t recognize myself.
Making An Impact On
Downtown Waterbury
Story By John Murray
Ede Reynolds and her husband, Dan Gaeta.
Big Dogs
Column By Chelsea Murray
My six year old eyes could hardly see what was going on 50 rows in front of me. I could see and hear some men running around in shorts, bouncing an orange ball up and down off the floor. The Hartford Civic Center was almost silent and a man caught my eye down on the court. The man was jumping up and down and I could hear his bellowing screams all the way from where I was sitting.
OUT OF THE ASHES
Jewish Couple Survived Holocaust, Built Home in Waterbury
Story By John Murray
The odor in the boxcar was piped in from hell. Vapors of death filled the men's nostrils as they crammed inside the train like sardines in a tin. Dead bodies of Jews were hurled from the train as it clattered down the tracks, leaving a trail of corpses along the German countryside.
David Singer lay down on matted straw to rest and ease the strain on his hideously swollen knee. He hadn't eaten in a week. After six years of relentless Nazi persecution Singer's ravaged body weighed 100 pounds.
Eleven years ago I started to write a youth oriented column within The Waterbury Observer. I was a young and eager kid, who was committed to creating a forum for young people to be heard. I wrote in my first published work in the Observer, "Those youth who are setting the pace may never be heard like I am. The probable leaders shouldn't be ignored by leaders of today ... I will also show the positive teens, urban and suburban, who do right for themselves and others..."
Family Man, City Leader
By Maryanne Moon Boyen
Photo: Tony Bergin and family
The elements seemed to know that Tony Bergin had died. Torrents of water had wept from the skies on the day of his wake when over a thousand people stood in two-hour lines to pay their respects to his wife and six children.
Sarah B. Murray and her 16-year-old granddaughter, Chelsea Murray
By John Murray
In the early morning of June 17th, 2005, the Waterbury Observer lost its staunchest supporter, a woman who invested $10,000 to help launch the Observer 12 years ago, a woman who floated needed capital into the business when we veered towards the rocks, a woman who championed the paper across all corners of America, and beyond.
The Observer lost its biggest booster that fateful day in June, but more significantly, I lost my Mom.
A Man for All Seasons
Article by Shelly Frome
At the grand old age of ninety-one, and some months after receiving a humanitarian award, Morris Stein recently took stock of his life and times. He did so as though still firmly at the helm of Waterbury's Torrington Supply Company: keeping track of inventory, everything in its place - a matrix of associations, linkages and connections that make up his world.
Photo: Freelance writer Dave Howard hiked 40 miles through the largest tract of rain forest left in Central America to reach the lost city of El Mirador, and interview Dr. Richard Hansen.
Hiking Eighty Miles Through A Guatemalan Jungle To The Lost City Of El Mirador
Story and Photographs By John Murray
Editor’s Note: The following story is an account of a 12 day adventure that transpired in July 2003 when Observer publisher, John Murray, travelled into the jungles of northeast Guatemala with his friend, Dave Howard, who was on assignment for Travel & Leisure Magazine. Murray was invited along to photograph the expedition and fired off 45 rolls of film. Murray damaged his Canon EOS camera during the journey and 60% of the images were unusable, and totally out of focus. After emerging from the jungle, the good film languished inside the photo department at Travel and Leisure for ten months, and was ultimately never used in Howard’s feature story. By the time the images were returned to Murray, and he had gathered notes, tapes and recollections from Dave Howard, nearly a year had elapsed. For the past 18 months the story lay buried beneath a jungle of details inside Murray’s head. Thankfully, and with great joy and relief, the story has been extracted from the thicket of Murray’s brain. We hope you enjoy the adventure.
No Nonsense Kay Wyrick
Story By Maryanne Moon Boyen
Kay Wyrick could have been a statistic, a mere victim of life’s circumstances. At a tender age, she had plenty of fodder for a future of victimhood; born in Hartford in 1923, by the age of nine she was placed in the custody of the State of Connecticut.
Gone
Story By John Murray
Billy is dead.
That's what his parents think.
After 18 months of tirelessly searching for their missing 32 year old son, Janice and William Smolinski now believe Billy is dead.
Exploring England
Story by Shelly Frome
Nine years ago, my wife Susan and I didn't know what crossing the pond meant, didn't realize it stood for flying over the Atlantic to the U.K. We also didn't realize that many Brits during that particular summer viewed us as a quaint species.
Born To Run
Story by John Torsiello
Talk about tough acts to follow.
Palace Gala.. A Sparkling Success
The Palace Theater opening night gala on November 12, 2004 was a party that Jay Gatsby might have hosted. F. Scott Fitzgeralds fictional character, the Great Gatsby, created in the 1920s around the same time that Sylvester Poli built his palace in Waterbury, was known for discreetly hosting lavish soirees with hundreds of well-dressed guests who partied and danced late into the Long Island night.
Column By David Howard
My grandfather was a broad-shouldered Irish man with reddish brown that turned a pristine white in his 50s. He was a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan. You can draw your own conclusions about how much these two facts are related.
To Catch A Monster
Excellent Work By The Waterbury Police Department Leads To Arrest In Controversial 1993 Rape Case
Story by John Murray
At the end of another long day at police headquarters, Neil O'Leary climbed into his car and headed home. For the past 15 months, O'Leary had served as the acting chief of the Waterbury Police Department. As he headed home on that September night two months ago, O'Leary, 46, had a lot on his mind. The city had begun testing 11 candidates for the permanent chief's job, and O'Leary was stressed about taking the oral and written exams.
Thank you for this wonderful honor of induction. Thanks to the Selection Committee and to the Silas Bronson Library. This honor brings on different feelings, excitement, joy, humility, why me. I particularly thank those who have taken time today to be here and to share this special day with me.