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Police File Charges After Accidental Discharge Of Weapon

Posted: Jan 22, 2025 6:52 pm

ANSONIA — Police said a 27-year-old Ansonia resident faces three criminal charges after accidentally shooting his girlfriend in her leg.

Casey Barker is charged with second-degree assault, a felony, first-degree reckless endangerment, and illegal discharge of a firearm. The latter charges are misdemeanors.

According to a press release from police, Griffin Hospital staff called Ansonia police Jan. 18 and said they were treating a 27-year-old woman who had been shot in the leg. The woman said she had been shot accidentally while her boyfriend, Barker, was cleaning a gun. She was treated and released.

Police located Barker and pressed charges. They noted several other people were in the house at the time of the incident.

Barker is out on a $10,000 bond pending a March 12 court date.

Learn About Groundhogs At The Ansonia Nature Center

Posted: Jan 22, 2025 11:44 am

ANSONIA – The Ansonia Nature Center will host an all-ages educational program to celebrate Groundhog Day on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. There is a $3 materials fee and you can register at this link.

The Ansonia Nature Center is located on 10 Deerfield Ln. The event description is as follows:

Groundhog Day has been celebrated on February 2nd for nearly two hundred years! Find out more about this quirky folk holiday, as well as what real groundhogs are like in their natural habitat. Watch a live shadow-puppet show, then make your puppet to take home. This program is appropriate for all ages. $3 materials fee.

Ansonia Police Blotter, Jan. 13 To Jan. 19

Posted: Jan 22, 2025 11:09 am

Canva/Ansonia Police Department Facebook

ANSONIA – Here are some highlights from the Ansonia Police Department’s calls for service. It’s a partial list of calls, pulled by The Valley Indy.

Ansonia police received 350 calls for service and made 17 arrests between Jan. 13 and Jan. 19.

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.

The goal is to give the public a head’s up on calls for police services happening in the community, outside of just arrests.

reports.

Derby’s Gino DiGiovanni Assumes He’s Pardoned For Jan. 6 Involvement

Posted: Jan 22, 2025 11:00 am

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.

reports.

State Rep. Kara Rochelle Asks For Voter Input In 2025 Survey

Posted: Jan 21, 2025 3:08 pm

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.

reports.

Seymour Police Blotter

Posted: Jan 21, 2025 1:14 pm

SEYMOUR – Here are some highlights from the Seymour Police Department’s calls for service from Jan. 14, 2025 through Jan. 21, 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 148 calls for service and made seven arrests between Jan. 14, 2025 and Jan. 21, 2025.

reports.

Ansonia Library To Host Black History Presentation Feb. 19

Posted: Jan 20, 2025 9:28 am

Ansonia Public Library

ANSONIA – The Ansonia Public Library will host a presentation on Black history on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 5:30 p.m. From their website:

In this program, we’ll take you on a tour of items from our collection representing a spectrum of the Black experience in CT. You’ll learn about a Harlem Renaissance writer, Ann Petry, who carefully preserved artifacts chronicling the black community of Saybrook. Examine daguerreotypes by Augustus Washington, who abandoned a successful Hartford photography business to build a new nation in Africa. Browse through the photo album of a Hollywood actress who became a champion of labor rights for black entertainers. Marvel at the gorgeous costumes created by CT’s West Indian community for their annual MAS celebration, and see artifacts documenting the Civil Rights movement in our state.

reports.

Valley Community Celebrating Lives Well-Lived

Posted: Jan 20, 2025 7:18 am

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.”

reports.