Volume 18, Number 51
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
www.berlincitizen.com
Thursday, Februar y 19, 2015
Interfaith support for Muslims grieving Chapel Hill shooting By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
A Muslim woman and a Catholic woman wept together and embraced Feb. 13 at the Berlin Mosque, the home of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. Among those who came together to mourn that day were members of Catholic, Jewish, Sikh, Protestant, and humanist communities. The gathering honored the memory of 23-year-old Deah Barakat, his wife of one month, Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, victims of the Chapel Hill shooting in
North Carolina. “From their activism and community service, it is clear that the Muslim community in North America has lost three bright stars,” said Dr. Reza Mansoor, president of the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. “I feel your pain, my brother,” said Ripi Singh, a member of the Connecticut Council for Inter-religious Understanding (CCIU) and part of the Sikh community in Southington. “All of us in the Old Lyme community are standing with Dr. Reza Mansoor (center) speaks to members of other faith communities who came to the Berlin Mosque Feb. 13 to offer support and condolences to the Muslim community See Shooting / Page 4 after the murder of three young Muslims in North Carolina. | Charles Kreutzkamp / The Berlin Citizen
Fullmetal Falcons ready robot By Charles Kreutzkamp
Every year, the FIRST robotics challenge is different. This year’s game, Recycle Rush, involves building a robot that can The Xavier High School Fullmetal Fal- collect bins or totes and stack them onto cons are hard at work on their robot as scoring platforms while avoiding being dethey prepare for their first Recycle Rush railed by “litter” in the form of pool noocompetition, a FIRST robotics event. The dles thrown by the opposing team. The Fullmetal Falcons held tryouts Feb. team includes some 30 students from Berlin, Durham, North Haven, Southington, 13 with students vying for roles as Coach, North Branford, Cromwell, and other area towns. See Robot / Page 5 The Berlin Citizen
The meeting on agricultural regulations drew a crowd of interested citizens. | Charles Kreutzkamp / The Berlin Citizen
Residents speak out on farm regulations By Charles Kreutzkamp
Head of Development Services Hellyn Riggins and consultant Glenn Chalder, of B erlin is considering Planimetrics, who will prechanges to the agricultural pare information for the Planregulations, which some res- ning and Zoning Commission idents feel are overly restric- to make decisions on updattive and out of date. A second ing the current regulations. Riggins said that the town informal meeting was held Feb. 11 at the Berlin-Peck Me- will listen to input from resmorial Library for residents to express their opinions to See Regulations / Page 7 The Berlin Citizen
Berlin residents Alec Guzauckas and Jonathan Galati, students at Xavier High School in Middletown, prepare a robot for competition as part of FIRST Robotics.