Ethan Fry’s Top 10 Stories Of 2014

This year in the Valley was marked by all too many tragedies, but also some inspiring examples of ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances with grace and consistency.

A recap of 10 of the most significant stories from the lower Valley in 2014 is below. 

FILE

10. At Long Last, Seymour Gets A Fish Bypass

After many, many, many years in the making, the $6.3 million fish bypass channel around the Tingue Dam in the Naugatuck River in downtown Seymour was completed.

Officials marked the occasion with a ceremony in October near the bypass in a park named in honor of Paul Pawlak, a former state lawmaker and First Selectman who played a key role in passing the state’s Clean Water Act.

9. Shelton Gets Full-Day Kindergarten

The City of Shelton joined every other municipality in Fairfield County this fall when it implemented full-day kindergarten for schoolchildren.

It was the result of a year-long push by parents and educators to make the change.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Shelton if city and school officials didn’t disagree initially about whether the city had enough money to fund the program — even after Aldermen passed a budget saying they were funding the program. But they eventually reached an understanding that satisfied all parties and gave kindergartners entering school this fall classroom time comparable to the vast majority of their peers statewide.

FILE8. Action Jackson In Action

Ansonia Police Officer Joseph Jackson’s nickname is Action,” and not just because of the obvious reference to the Carl Weathers character.

In February Jackson — credited with saving the lives of two babies and Alderwoman Joan Radin over the course of his career — shot a man who stands accused of trying to run him over on the Maple Street bridge.

About six months later, another man allegedly pulled a gun on Jackson in a Maple Street parking lot fracas.

Cases against both suspects are pending.

Even when on an out-of-town private duty job directing traffic for a work crew, as he was one September afternoon in Seymour, action found Jackson when a woman living nearby had trouble breathing after an allergic reaction. True to form, Jackson rushed to respond, helping the woman’s husband perform CPR until paramedics arrived with epinephrine to restore her breathing.

FILE7. Derby Schools Unexplained Personnel Moves

In November there was a bomb threat at Derby Middle School.

No one was hurt and a student was charged in the crime. But many parents were upset they weren’t notified of the incident for hours as their children sat in lock-in” at the school.

A week later, the school’s principal and dean of students were put on administrative leave.

They eventually resigned.

Why?

That’s a good question. Here’s the response offered by the people who run the school district:




6. Movement In Downtown Ansonia Redevelopment

For years acres upon acres of former industrial buildings in downtown Ansonia have sat vacant and unused, hindering redevelopment.

Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti took office late last year and began putting pressure on the owners of such properties to clean them up or face big blight fines.

The strategy resulted in a taxes-for-demoition deal with Ansonia Copper & Brass, as well as a promise from the owner of the former Farell Corp. properties downtown to clean up 501 E. Main St., the company’s former process lab. 

Downtown Ansonia is still years away from a rebirth, but there has been some movement in the right direction.

5. Downtown Shelton Fire

In the early morning hours of Jan. 6, a fire ripped through 446 Howe Ave., a three-story building that housed apartments and businesses.

Several residents of the building were hospitalized, but thankfully none with serious injuries.

In the days and weeks following, the community rallied to find new homes for those displaced, as well as provide them with furniture and clothing.

Neighbors helping neighbors.

The owners of the property have shown initial plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission to rebuild, but no formal application has yet been filed.

Click here to read more.

POOL PHOTO/NH REGISTER4. A Year Of Trials

The vast majority of the judicial system’s criminal cases are resolved through plea bargains.

But in a handful of notable local matters — a Derby homicide, a Seymour bank robbery, and a Seymour lawyer accused of laundering drug money — defendants took their cases to juries with the hope of exoneration.

They all lost.

Oh, and a New York City mob enforcer accused of a heinous Derby rape also took his case to trial, but pleaded guilty an hour into it after listening to his victim’s graphic testimony.

3. Oxford Murder Prompts Calls For Changes To Law

The town of Oxford woke to tragedy May 7 with the news that a local man had allegedly shot his ex-wife to death and also critically injured his mother-in-law as his twin sons slept a floor above.

A statewide manhunt found the suspect trying to poison himself to death with his car’s exhaust fumes in the parking lot of a defunct Winsted chicken restaurant. State troopers intervened and arrested him, and the case in pending at Superior Court in Milford.

The victim, Lori Jackson, had been granted a temporary restraining order against her husband, but a hearing on whether to make the order permanent — and take the husband’s guns away — was scheduled for the day after the shooting.

Domestic violence is disgracefully prevalent in a society as advanced as ours, as depressing annual tabulations by groups like BHcare’s Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services attest. In the 19-municipality area covered by the Umbrella Center, the group provides support services to more than 7,00 women and children.

Lawmakers have cited Lori Jackson’s case in calling for changes in how government treats allegations of domestic violence when gun-owners are involved.

2. Unsolved Killing Of Shelton Teen

Kristjan Ndoj was, by all accounts, exactly the type of 15-year-old boy any parent would want a 15-year-old be to be.

A native of Albania, he helped out other families new to the country learn English and adapt. He was intelligent, inquisitive, and respectful, lighting up every room he entered.

Which is why the story of Kristjan’s March 2014 death — still unsolved — is such a frustrating mystery.

Ndoj was shot March 15 while talking with a friend on Agawam Trail. 

Despite many pleas for information, there have been no arrests in his killing. State police are now in charge of the case.

1. The Unfathomable Grace Of Nina Poeta And Her Family

Seymour High School student Nina Poeta was diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor in late 2013.

The community rallied around Nina, raising thousands of dollars to support her and her family.

But Nina’s condition worsened. She died Nov. 1 surrounded by loved ones.

I never met Nina, nor anyone in her family. Writing these sentences makes me feel like a ghoul, a feeling reporters get all too often, since tragedy is stock-in-trade in the news business.

But that’s what made Nina’s story so exceptional — the unfailing grace displayed by Nina and those who loved her, and their dauntless mission to Keep Calm And Nina Strong” through her entire ordeal.

Nina, at 17, showed a wisdom and poise that elude most of us over the course of lifetimes spanning many more years.

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