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Eugene Driscoll | Jan 24, 2025 5:29 am
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Photo Courtesy of Luke Camara
(Left to right) Quintin Simjouw, EJ Smith, Luke Camara, Johnathan Zuckerman, and Luca Tecci.
DERBY – Derby High School sophomore Luke Camara knows that some families in Derby struggle to put food on their tables. He saw it when he was a student at Irving School, the city’s westside elementary school.
“There were some students who were coming to school in the same clothes, things like that,” Luke said. “It made me mad and it made me sad. But there was really nothing an 8‑year-old kid could do.”
Fast forward about eight years – and Luke is doing something about it.
Luke, a scout with Troop 3, is trying to become an Eagle Scout. For his Eagle Scout project he wants to build self-serve food pantries outside Irving School, Bradley School, and on the high school-middle school campus on Chatfield Avenue.
“This is my attempt to help now, when I actually can,” Luke said.
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Press Release | Jan 23, 2025 1:09 pm
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Griffin Hospital is seeking certified therapy dog teams to join its pet therapy program.
DERBY – Griffin Hospital is seeking certified therapy dog teams to volunteer for its pet therapy program to help bring smiles and soothe the souls of patients, visitors and caregivers.
As part of its Planetree person-centered care philosophy, Griffin’s People and Animals Working in Spirit (P.A.W.S.) program is a complementary therapy offered to patients in need of the calming companionship that dogs can provide.
Handlers need to become a registered Griffin Hospital volunteer and provide proof of their dog’s certification.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jan 23, 2025 4:05 am
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Mayor Joseph DiMartino addresses the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 21, 2025.
DERBY – Members of the city’s planning and zoning commission Tuesday (Jan. 21) rejected a zone-text change that could have opened the door to high-density housing atop ‘Telescope Mountain.’
Several commissioners said they were not anti-development – but they said almost no one liked what was being presented, especially the public.
The vote to reject the zone-text change was 4 – 2. Commissioners Albert Misiewicz and Raul Sanchez voted against rejecting the proposed change.
Summit Hill LLC owns four undeveloped parcels off Mountain and Summit streets nicknamed “Telescope Mountain.” State business records list the principal of the company as Eric Brennan of the John J. Brennan Construction Co. in Shelton.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jan 22, 2025 11:00 am
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Gino DiGiovanni (file photo).
DERBY – Gino DiGiovanni Jr., the city official who was sentenced to 10 days in prison for his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, said he assumes he was pardoned by President Donald Trump this week – though he has yet to receive official word.
“I am grateful and hope our nation will heal and unite,” said DiGiovanni, who served his jail sentence.
DiGiovanni is the chairman of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission. He is the chairman of the Derby Republican Town Committee, and he is a former Aldeman.
Last year DiGiovanni pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. The charge came from DiGiovanni’s entering the Capitol grounds and building on Jan. 6, 2021, disrupting Joe Biden’s certification as U.S. president.
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Press Release | Jan 21, 2025 3:08 pm
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ANSONIA/DERBY — State Representative Kara Rochelle is seeking input from the people of her district as she continues to prepare for the 2025 Legislative Session. Residents can take the 2025 constituent survey, by visiting: https://www.housedems.ct.gov/Rochelle/2025survey. Residents will also be receiving a copy of the survey in the mail that can be completed and returned to her office.
“I hope residents will complete the survey and will continue to stay in touch with me and share what matters most to them,” Rochelle said in a prepared statement.
The survey will ask residents for their ideas and thoughts on issues that may come up this session, including tax relief for working- and middle-class families, the increasing costs of prescription drugs, addressing the state’s housing crisis, and dealing with the high cost of utilities.
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Eugene Driscoll | Jan 21, 2025 11:28 am
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Image made with Canva.com
DERBY– On the heels of a potential decrease in state funding, members of the school board may ask the city for more time to prepare a spending plan for the next school year.
The Process
The finance subcommittee of the Derby Board of Education was scheduled to send a recommended budget to the full school board on Jan. 15.
That budget was to be considered by the full board at a meeting scheduled for Jan. 23 — and then voted upon by the school board and sent to the city for review by Feb. 1, the deadline set in the Derby City Charter.
At that point the city’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation would begin a review and come up with a bottom-line school budget dollar amount by the spring in advance of the next school year.
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Sponsored Post | Jan 20, 2025 7:18 am
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Truckers said goodbye to one of their own with a special caravan in Seymour.
In a trend reflecting national funeral service changes, the Ansonia valley area is seeing increases in creative memorial services to honor the lives of those lost.
“As no two people are alike, no two memorial services are any longer,” states Jerry Macari Jr, President and Senior Director of Miller Macari Family Funeral Home in Seymour. “We take great pride in working with families to create memorial tributes as unique as the person whose life is being celebrated.”
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Jean Falbo-Sosnovich | Jan 20, 2025 6:46 am
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'Hi! People' owner David Salinas is a Connecticut resident.
DERBY – The city will officially welcome its first retail cannabis store on Pershing Drive this month.
A grand opening for Hi! People is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 25 at the store, located in the former Italian Pavilion building at 90 Pershing Drive.
Mayor Joseph DiMartino is scheduled to welcome the store to Derby with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The event will feature food trucks, a DJ, giveaways and more, according to CEO and owner David Salinas.
Salinas, 44, a Milford resident, recently gave The Valley Indy a tour of the newly remodeled, 3,000-square foot space that features 90 parking spaces. A very tall “Hi! People” sign outside can be seen far and wide from passers-by on Route 8.
State Rep. Kara Rochelle will hold her monthly in-person Community Coffee Events on Friday, Jan. 17, from 8 a.m. — 9 a.m. in the private room of the Valley Diner, 636 New Haven Ave, Derby and Monday, Jan. 20, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Copper City Bar & Grill, 82 – 84 Main St. Ansonia.
Residents from Derby and Ansonia are welcome to attend these events. They are encouraged to come share their thoughts, ask questions, and provide feedback on state policy issues.
