Thursday, January 31, 2019
www.berlincitizen.com
Volume 22, Number 50
High demand for Super Bowl wings By Ashley Kus Record-Journal staff
The countdown to Super Bowl LIII is on at local bars and restaurants like J.Timothy’s Taverne, Archie Moore’s and Slider’s Bar and Grill, where orders for chicken wings are already being booked
By Devin Leith-Yessian The Citizen
Berlin Police Commissioner Bob Peters resigned Tuesday, Jan. 22 amid backlash in response to published reports that he was recorded making racist remarks to other residents.
Customers have been preordering at J.Timothy’s Taverne in Plainville since Monday. The restaurant is home to the famous “Dirt Wings,” featured on The Food Network, Travel Channel and other national platforms. “This time of year here for us is chaos, but it’s organized chaos” said general manager Greg Gardner. Between 35 and 40 wings come in buckets, and are made with extra buffalo sauce and fried twice.
Waitress Melissa Crespan, of Southington, carries plates of wings to customers at J.Timothy’s Taverne in Plainville on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Customers of local restaurants like J.Timothy’s Taverne, Archie Moores and Slider’s are pre-ordering wings before Super Bowl Sunday. See more photos online at myrecordjournal.com. Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
See Wings, A12
48 priests ‘credibly accused’ of abuse By Mary Ellen Godin Record-Journal staff
The Archdiocese of Hartford released the names of 48 priests “credibly accused” of abuse Tuesday, Jan. 22, 13 of whom had worked in local churches throughout their careers. The 48 priests were the subjects of 146 lawsuits ultimately costing the diocese more than $56 million. One of the most wellknown cases involved the Rev. Stephen Bzdyra
Commission member resigns amid backlash
who was an assistant pastor at St. Stanislaus Church in Meriden from November 1979 through September 1985 and later served for four years at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Wallingford before being reassigned in 1999. Bzdyra also served as a chaplain at Cheshire Correctional Institute and at churches in Naugatuck, Waterbury, New Haven, Guilford, Suffield, Hamden, Milford and Seymour. Bzdyra has had at least three lawsuits filed
When reached by The Citizen, Peters had no comment. But Mayor Mark Kaczynski said Peters denied a New Britain Herald report that he was recorded telling other residents that Berlin’s police officers are taught to use deadly force toward African Americans. According to the Herald’s report, Peters also used inflammatory language while talking about homosexuals and immigrants.
against him by men claiming he sexually molested them as children. According to one 2010 federal lawsuit, a man identified as PK met Bzdyra at St. Stanislaus Church where his family attended Mass in the early 1980s, before moving to California.
The Herald, which obtained a recording from an anonymous source, reported that the New Britain state’s attorney is investigating.
According to the lawsuit, Bzdyra traveled to California to meet him between 1980 and 1983. Bzdyra allegedly abused Most Holy Trinity Church in PK and provided “reWallingford.
See Priests, A13
The backlash included a statement from the Berlin police union calling the remarks attributed to Peters “ugly and reprehensible” and that they are “patently absurd and in no way reflect the attitudes and values of the women and men of our organization.”
Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Kaczynski said the language would be out of character for Peters. “It’s an audio — nobody knows where it came from,” the mayor said. “Nobody knows its authenticity or any-
thing … I just don’t like conSee Peters, A11