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State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria Applauds Proposed Bill To Ban Female Genital Mutilation

by | Feb 6, 2025 10:10 am | Comments

State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria on the opening day of the 2025 legislative session.

HARTFORD – State Representative Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R‑105) applauded survivors, legislative colleagues, Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz, and national advocates from US Network, Sahiyo, and Equality Now who gathered for a Capitol press conference to call for an end to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/c) and to introduce legislation to ban the practice in Connecticut.

House Bill No. 6596, An act concerning the prevention of female genital mutilation,” was recently introduced by a bipartisan group of 25 representatives, including Rep. Klarides-Ditria and Rep. Mary Welander (D‑114).

Female genital mutilation is usually carried out on prepubescent girls and involves the cutting and sometimes partial removal of a girl’s genitals, including excising of the clitoris. The immediate complications can include bleeding, infection and even death. Potential long-term complications include complications in childbirth, UTIs, scarring, hepatitis, HIV, and depression. If the clitoris is excised, a woman’s ability to experience sexual pleasure can also be permanently diminished.

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DiMartino Says He'll Run For Second Term As Derby Mayor

by | Feb 6, 2025 6:29 am | Comments

Derby Mayor Joseph DiMartino

DERBY – Mayor Joseph DiMartino announced Feb. 5 that he will seek a second-term as the city’s top elected official.

An official announcement is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, March 1 at The Quail & Ale Neighborhood Pub, 328 Derby Ave.

We have only begun to turn this city around,” the mayor said in a prepared statement issued by his campaign on Wednesday.

DiMartino, a Democrat, was elected mayor in 2023 after beating Republican opponent Gino DiGiovanni Jr. and former Mayor Rich Dziekan in a three-way race. Dziekan, after losing a GOP primary, ran as an unaffiliated candidate.

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Seymour Snow Brigade To The Rescue!

by | Feb 5, 2025 3:13 pm | Comments

(Left to right) Thomas Halligan and Brayden Ferreira

SEYMOURWith Mother Nature poised to pack a wintry punch over the next few days, two Seymour Middle School students are prepared to help the town’s elderly and disabled residents weather any storm.

Thomas Halligan, 14, and Brayden Ferreira, 13, recently launched the Seymour Snow Brigade. The initiative is aimed at helping residents – namely seniors and those who are disabled – get their sidewalks and pathways to their front doors cleared of snow, free of charge. 

The boys, who are also both members of the Seymour Middle School National Junior Society, came up with the idea as a community service project. 

They didn’t have any start-up costs – they’re using their own shovels to do the job.

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Assumption Church Community Breakfast Is Saturday, Feb. 8

by | Feb 5, 2025 2:29 pm | Comments

ANSONIAAssumption Church (61 N. Cliff St.) will host its monthly community breakfast on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Breakfast is free and donations are appreciated. To-go meals are available for pickup from 9:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. One free raffle ticket will be provided per person.

Community breakfasts are held on the second Saturday of each month.

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This Week In History: 1989

by | Feb 5, 2025 7:23 am | Comments

AI Art Made With Canva.com

This week, we head back to 1989!

George H. W. Bush was president, the UK Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher and Pope St John Paul II was leading the Catholic Church.

Baseball legend Pete Rose meets with Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth to discuss his gambling (Rose was ultimately banned for life from MLB in 1989 over gambling on games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds).

These were the top five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart:

Two Hearts” — Phil Collins

When I’m With You” — Sheriff

Armageddon It” — Def Leppard

Don’t Rush Me” — Taylor Dayne

When The Children Cry” — White Lion

Here is what was happening in our Valley, as stolen from the microfilm edition of The Evening Sentinel!

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Derby Fire Marshal Resigns

by | Feb 5, 2025 5:30 am | Comments

Marcarelli

DERBY – The city’s fire marshal has resigned less than two months after being charged with driving under the influence.

David Marcarelli submitted a letter of resignation to Mayor Joseph DiMartino Jan. 30, with his resignation effective the same day.

Thank you for all of the support and opportunities you have provided me over the past two years. I have truly enjoyed my time working at the City of Derby and am grateful for having the role of Fire Marshal,” Marcarelli wrote.

He also noted that he would be willing to help transition to a new fire marshal.

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Seymour Man’s Death Ruled Suicide

by | Feb 5, 2025 5:29 am | Comments

SEYMOUR – The death of a man found inside a house the evening of Feb. 3 has been ruled a suicide, the medical examiner’s office said.

Christopher Drugonis was a former elected member of the Board of Assessment Appeals. He had also served on the Seymour Republican Town Committee.

He was also the former husband of First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis.

State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R‑Seymour) is a friend of the Drugonis family.

She issued a statement on their behalf, asking the media to approach this tragedy with sensitivity, avoiding sensationalism.”

The focus should be on compassion and understanding,” Klarides-Ditria said.

This is a heartbreaking situation, and the Drugonis family asks you to respect their privacy at this difficult time,” she said.

There is help available for people struggling.

Click here for information from the Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board.

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Ansonia Planning & Zoning Commission Talks Apartments, Smoke Shops

by | Feb 5, 2025 5:29 am | Comments

Jasmine Wright

Shaw Growth Ventures withdrew an application to turn 501 E. Main St. -- the former Farrel Processing Laboratory -- into apartments. They are expected to submit a new application.

ANSONIAA developer withdrew an application for 127 apartments on E. Main Street Jan. 27, and the Ansonia Planning & Zoning Commission talked about how to regulate smoke shops.

Bella Vista Apartments Application Withdrawn, Will Be Resubmitted

The site plan for the third phase of the Bella Vista apartments on 501 E. Main St. was withdrawn, due to outstanding concerns from the fire marshal, WPCA, and chief of police, planning & zoning chairman Jared Heon said.

The first two phases of Shaw Growth Ventures’ Bella Vista apartments were completed in July 2022 and September 2023. The first phase converted the long-vacant Palmer building at 153 Main St. into a four-story apartment building with 44 market-rate apartments. The second phase converted the formerly vacant Ansonia Technology Park, or ATP building, at 497 E. Main St. and 165 Main St. (the former Wells Fargo Bank drive-up) into 48 market-rate apartments.

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Federal Delegation Demands Trump Rescind Order

by | Feb 3, 2025 5:14 pm | Comments

White House Photo

President Donald Trump after taking the oath of office.

THE VALLEY — Connecticut’s federal delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump Feb. 3 demanding that he rescind an order officials said is holding up 8.6 million in local dollars.

We are deeply concerned about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) illegal efforts to withhold congressionally appropriated funding from our constituents, in response to the swath of Executive Orders you have issued since being sworn in,” the letter states. These executive orders to freeze funding, including Unleashing American Energy,” are clearly unconstitutional and should be rescinded immediately.”

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Seymour Police Blotter Jan. 27, 2025 – Feb. 2, 2025

by | Feb 3, 2025 4:08 pm | Comments

SEYMOUR Here are some highlights from the Seymour Police Department’s calls for service from Jan. 27, 2025 through Feb. 2, 2025.

It is a partial list of calls, curated by The Valley Indy. The goal is to give the public a head’s up on what’s happening in the community.

Note: generally, this publication does not post the names of people charged with misdemeanors; the names of victims; or numbered residential addresses. If we publish a suspect’s name, we track the case.

Seymour police received 187 calls for service and made five arrests between Jan. 27, 2025 and Feb. 2, 2025.

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Report: Bridgeport Police Shooting In Ansonia ‘Questionable’ Not Criminal

by | Feb 3, 2025 2:44 pm | Comments

An image from the inspector general's report.

ANSONIA – A fatal shooting involving Bridgeport police and an unarmed suspect who crashed in Ansonia was questionable – but there’s not enough evidence to file criminal charges against the officers.

The investigation has determined that the police tactics in several respects were flawed, and the justifiability of the shooting is questionable, but there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.”

That is according to a report released Monday (Feb. 3) by Robert J. Devlin, Jr., the Connecticut Inspector General.

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Seymour Students Suggest New Names For Broad Street Park

by | Feb 3, 2025 6:15 am | Comments

(Left to right) Selectman Fred Stanek, Mackenzie Blood and Aleksandra Czerwony.

SEYMOURTwo students received first and second place in an essay contest seeking a new name for Broad Street Park.

The essay contest was organized by the Seymour Board of Selectpersons’ awards committee – though the selectpersons are not bound to use the name suggested by the winner.

Seymour High School junior Aleksandra Czerwony won first place, and $100, with her essay advocating to change the name to Chuse Park. It’s an homage to the Pequot Chief Joseph Chuse” Mauwehu, who settled in an area by the Naugatuck River near the park’s waterfalls, known as the Great Falls, in 1738.

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