Town Times

Page 6

Volume 29, Number 22

SELFLESS STUDENTS

A 2018 study found that 1 in 3 Connecticut families struggle to afford diapers. With that in mind, Coginchaug High School students in Mrs. Mann’s Anatomy & Physiology classes held a drive which ended up pulling in 1,500 diapers for the Diaper Bank of Connecticut. A recent CRHS social media post states, “This idea stemmed from a year-long Pregnancy Project where they learned about fetal development, maternal wellbeing, and complications related to pregnancy and birth. Way to go!”

CRHS, Facebook

From the Capitol Cannabis regulation

In May, House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora voted for legislation that includes Republican initiatives to improve safety in the retail marijuana market.

The bill, H.B. 6699, An Act Concerning Cannabis Regulation, bolsters packaging, labeling and health warning requirements for cannabis products. Additionally, the legislation crucially bans the sale of synthetic THC products that are often found outside of state-licensed dispensaries.

“I didn’t support the original legislation that commercialized marijuana due to the risks it posed to public safety particularly the well-being of children,” Candelora said. “I highlighted these concerns again during a news conference at the start of the year, when my Republican colleagues and I offered priority proposals to add more regulation to the market. I’m glad that Democrats who previously endorsed retail sales have recognized problems and are willing to work with us to fix them.”

See Capitol, A4

WoW to hit the trail once again

Contributed

Join Women of the Woods, a program of Everyone Outside, for a 4-mile hike on a combination of the Mattabesett Trail and the Bear Hill Loop Trail in Middletown Wednesday, June 7 at 9 a.m. and Saturday, June 10 at 9:30 a.m. There are several rocky outcrops with nice views and lots of mountain laurel. Hopefully the laurel will be in bloom. This hike has several short steep ups and downs and some rocky

sections. For additional information and to register, visit EveryoneOutside.org or email Lucy@EveryoneOutside.org.

Women of the Woods (WoW) offers monthly hikes/programs. In addition to hiking/ walking, the group takes time to admire the beauty, learn a bit about the flora and fauna and do some exercises to connect with the natural world. WoW hikes are open to all who identify as female or gender nonbinary.

Friday, June2, 2023 www.towntimes.com

Adventures in gardening

There’s a houseguest at my Durham home. Well, “yardguest.” Her name is Esmerelda and she is most welcome.

Okay, let me backtrack a bit. When I first moved here, all those many years ago, I was so thrilled to be a homeowner, and in that vein I became the epitome of a master gardener, reveling in my first vegetable garden. I was good back then. I did the research. I “limed” when I was supposed to. I tucked all my plants in with compost. I tested for alkalinity of the soil. I weeded every day. I watered every evening. This garden was my baby, my pride and joy. It sprawled over a goodly portion of my fifth of an acre, and it provided sustenance throughout the summer. But alas, as the years rolled on, my garden took it upon itself to shrink. Well, I took it upon myself to shrink it. I realized that I am not a fan of weeding. And then my yard grew more and more foliage, so there was less and

No place to ride

Editor:

less room for a garden. One year, it well, let’s just call it my overgrowth ate my garden. I could not find it. So the past few years I have been gardenless.

But as I was sitting on my chaise lounge this past Mother’s Day, enjoying the lovely weather, I noticed a spot of yard just a spot, mind you that could be home to one tomato plant. Well, that certainly wouldn’t require much work! I’m in!

When I told my friend, who lives just down the road, about my exciting plan, she said to come over and she would give me one of her tomato plants.

So I came home with Esmerelda and I planted her in my tiny little patch of bare ground. (I figure if I name her she might be more inclined to grow those beautiful cherry tomatoes for my salad; you know, because we are on a first name basis.) I treated her to an ample amount of chicken manure, I watered her in the evening. I sat on my chaise lounge and looked lovingly over at her.

Letter to the Editor

When I was a teenager I had a dirt bike that I rode every day, but I was lucky, because I lived on a farm and there was plenty of space and fields to ride. The kids today have no place to ride.

Dirt bikes are fun, and they are dangerous; something I learned after taking a spill and

We were already bonded. And then a friend told me that animals might dig her up. She said her grandmother wrapped hair, which she snatched from her brush, around her plants, and that did the trick. Naw, I thought to myself. What animals eat tomatoes? To the best of my knowledge they don’t eat salads. I gave the warning no heed.

And what do you know? The next morning there was my girl, plucked out of her cubbyhole, lying on her side. Still intact, though, thank heavens. I put her back in her rightful place, surrounding her with logs and rocks so as to make the task of ripping her out of the ground more laborious for anything passing through.

And yes, I put a clump of my hair, scraped out of my brush, on one of her little stems. I tried to find a clump that was not gray. She didn’t need to look like an old lady who needed a trip to the salon. She looks a little bit like she’s wearing a wig.

So every morning I tiptoe out my back door, afraid I will find Esmerelda’s lifeless body. So far, so good. I am happy to report that my hair is scaring away all life forms.

You can contact Diana Carr at 860-349-9542 or princessdi7@sbcglobal.net.

GIANT TAG SALE!!!

Church of Epiphany

196 Main St. Durham

Saturday, June 3rd 2023

8:00am – 2:00pm (Sorry-NO early birds!)

Accepting donations: Thursday, June 1st and Friday, June 2nd 3:00pm to 9:00pm NO TVs, computers, clothing, or large appliances. NO items that are broken or damaged. Small WORKING appliances accepted.

For information, call Liz, 860.349.6533

HELP KEEP

cracking a few ribs. I’m not going to knock a teenager for wanting to have fun, and I wonder where the parents are when the kids are illegally riding the streets. No mom and dad? There must still be places where a kid can ride a dirt bike and be free, like I was when I was that age. If there isn’t, provide one for them, and let them ride there and get them off the roads.

Coming to your home or business

In order to continue delivery to your home or business, we need to have each resident or business let us know that, by filling out our on-line requester form at myrecordjournal. com/town-times-requester

Or, you can call us at 203-634-3933 and we can mail you a postage paid postcard to fill out and return. Without the necessary requester information, delivery of your Town Times to your home or business, will end.

HELP US HELP YOU, CONTINUE RECEIVING “YOUR” LOCAL WEEKLY.

TownTimes|towntimes.com A2 Friday,June2,2023
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Executive VP & Publisher — Liz White Notarangelo News Editor — Nick Carroll News reporter — Nicole Zappone Interim Editor — Eric Cotton Vice President of Advertising — Jim Mizener Vice President & Creative Director — Erik Allison ADVERTISING: Rebekah Larsen— Marketing Consultant 203-317-2302 | rlarsen@record-journal.com NEWS / SPORTS: (203) 317-2245 | news@towntimes.com www.towntimes.com 500 S. Broad St., Meriden, CT 06450 Town Times (USPS 021-924) is published weekly by Record-Journal, 500 S. Broad Street, Meriden, CT 06450. Periodicals postage paid at Meriden, CT and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to: Record-Journal 500 S. Broad Street, Meriden, CT 06450 Circulation Department — 203-634-3933

Faith Services

Rock of Refuge Church is located at 350 Main St., second floor, in Durham. Sunday services 11 a.m.; Tuesday Prayer Meetings

6:45 p.m.

United Churches is located at the corner of Route 68 and Main Street in Durham. Sunday services 10 a.m. (in person and live streamed).

Church of the Epiphany is located at 196 Main St. in Durham. Sunday services 9:30 a.m.

(Houses of worship are welcome to send items to news@towntimes.com).

GOOD NEIGHBORS

Durham Public Library

Youth:

The June Scavenger hunt is ready to be solved! Present completed hunts at the Circulation Desk for a small prize.

Adults:

Field trip. New Britain Museum of American Art, Saturday, June 3, 10 a.m. Meet at the museum and enjoy a free guided tour. Register at durhamlibrary.org.

Book club. Monday, June 5, 6:30 p.m. (in-person). “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter” by Hazel Gaynor. Register at durhamlibrary.org.

Drop-in Mahjong. Tuesdays, 2 to 4 p.m., at the Durham Community Center (former Korn School). For novices or pros. If you have a Mahjong set, please bring it.

RECYCLE

Please & Thank you.

Recently, Pack 33 of Middlefield-Durham showed its appreciation to three special people who supported the pack’s efforts this year. Ed Holden and Eva Cudmore of Middlefield Federated Church were recognized for their support of Pack 33 with their “religious knots,” and a generous man was lauded for his donations of food at numerousPack33events. Submitted photo

TownTimes|towntimes.comFriday,June2,2023 A3
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The retail cannabis market was approved by the General Assembly in June 2021 and was officially launched in early January of this year.

Press Release

Drinking & driving

In May, chairs of the Trans-

portation Committee, state Sen. Christine Cohen (DGuilford) and state Rep. Roland Lemar (D-New Haven), and other lawmakers, joined representatives from the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to share their support for lowering Connecticut’s BAC limit to .05 for drivers.

“The unfortunate reality is Connecticut has a drunk driving issue, ranking third nationally in fatalities due to impaired driving,” said Cohen. “I’m so pleased to be joined by so many fierce advocates for road safety in support of this proposal. It is important to note that we are not looking to prevent people from going out and enjoying our robust restaurant and entertainment industry. Instead, we are wanting to create a culture shift if you are going to be drinking, make a plan for how you will be getting home.”

Currently, the legal BAC limit for drivers is .08 and Con-

necticut ranks third nationally in fatalities due to impaired driving. Press Release

Financial literacy

Deputy Republican Leader Paul Cicarella (R-North Haven) applauded the House of Representatives’ recent adoption of S.B. 1165, which is a measure that promotes financial literacy for the state’s public high school students.

Cicarella and State Sen. Henri Martin (R-Bristol) introduced the original concept of the bill (Proposed S.B. 18) that requires high

school students to complete a one-half credit course in personal financial management and financial literacy for graduation.

Cicarella said, “After many meetings with stakeholders and colleagues over the past year, we’re seeing the positive results of collaboration and hard work. This cooperation led to this next step in advancing our workforce development agenda. This is an agenda to help our future generation to make educated decisions on the next steps in their life.”

The measure awaits Gov. Ned Lamont’s signature to become law. Press Release

TownTimes|towntimes.com A4 Friday,June2,2023
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Rabies clinics

Durham Animal Response Team D.A.R.T. is sponsoring its annual rabies clinics for cats and dogs June 4 and 25, 9 a.m. to noon, at Brenda’s Main Street Feed, 58 Main St. Proof of previous vaccination required for a three-year rabies vaccine. There’s a $20 fee, cash or check. Bring your animals in carriers or leashed. For more information, call 860-3490410.

Get your diploma

Ready for a second chance to earn your high school diploma? Middletown Adult Education will help. Register at any time.

Be Kind

Middlefield Lions’ “Be Kind” signs are $30. To place an order, e-mail Lions President Birdie Curtis at curtisbirdie@ hotmail.com. Include your address and phone number.

Payment can be made via Venmo (@Middlefield-Lions) or check (payable to Middlefield Lions Club). Send checks to: Middlefield Lions, P. O. Box 1, Middlefield CT, 06455. Include your address, e-mail and cell number.

Giving Garden

Help is welcomed and appreciated at the MiddlefieldDurham Giving Garden, located behind the Middlefield Community Center. For further information, contact Betsy St. John at 860-8075242 or Jen Huddleston at 860-716-0464.

Cat Tales

Join a wonderful and dedicated group of people a few hours a week to help care for homeless cats at Cat Tales’ main shelter. Must be age 15-plus or be accompanied by a parent/guardian. The volunteer application can be found at cattalesct.org. For more information, email: in-

fo@cattalesct.org.

Volunteer

The Middlefield Fire Department seeks volunteers age 18-plus. No experience is required; the department provides the necessary training. To learn more, visit middlefieldfirect.org, email info@ middlefieldfirect.org or stop by the firehouse Mondays before 7 p.m. The department also has an Explorer program for youth ages 14 to 18.

Tag sale

Durham Animal Response Team D.A.R.T. is sponsoring a Town-Wide Tag Sale to be held throughout Durham on July 22. For a donation of $20, your personal tag sale will appear on the Town-Wide Tag Sale map. Registration forms are available at Brenda’s Main Street Feed, 58 Main St. Or, call 860-349-0410. Registration ends July 1.

Gift of sight

The Durham Lions Club’s recently-refurbished drop box is ready for your eyeglass donations at the Durham Pharmacy. Lions have recognized the urgent need for corrective lenses and collect usable glasses in their communities to support the Lions Recycle For Sight Program.

Food bank

The Middlefield Food Bank is in need of the following: peanut butter, jelly, jam, sandwich/freezer bags, coffee, tea, crackers, snacks, laundry detergent, dish soap, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, tooth brushes, pasta, pasta sauce, tuna, and grocery store gift cards.

TownTimes|towntimes.comFriday,June2,2023 A5
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Obituaries

CT’s long, winding trip to fix a short stretch of Route 9

On the first day of summer in 2016, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and transportation officials greeted reporters on a sunny parking deck in Middletown, a spot affording views of a placid bend in the Connecticut River and a treacherous half-mile of state highway.

AUBURNDALE, FL

- Barbara Thompson, 60, of Auburndale, FL, passed away June 30, 2022, at Good Shepherd Hospice Auburndale, Florida. She was born on April 17, 1962, in Southington, Connecticut, to Joseph Picard and Jane (Riedinger) Picard.

Barbara loved almost all outdoor activities. She enjoyed gardening, having fun with her family and friends, swimming, going on cruises, and taking vacations just enjoying the goodness of being with her family and friends. Barbara’s favorite color was purple.

The color purple has been associated with royalty and peace, and that is what Barbara’s family and friends felt being around her. She was an outstanding person full of love and joy, her smile clearly says it all. Her presence will truly be missed, but her love, kindness, and bright smile will forever live on in the hearts of all that knew and loved her.

Barbara is survived by her loving husband, Thomas Thompson, Auburndale, FL, her mother, Jane Picard, Auburndale FL, two brothers, Bruce and Brian Picard and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, and uncles. She was preceded in death by her father, Joseph Picard.

They came to announce a solution to a puzzle: How to remove two sets of traffic lights on Route 9, a contributor to about 260 crashes in three years on what otherwise is a limited-access highway, without cutting off the city’s riverfront or its rebounding downtown.

Building two bridges to allow northbound traffic to exit into the downtown under raised southbound lanes was the “minimalist” answer, as described then by the state’s chief highway engineer. Malloy urged patience: A final design and construction would take years, completion unlikely before 2023.

Seven years later, Connecticut has a new governor, the state Department of Transportation has a new commissioner, and Middletown has a new mayor. But as another summer approaches, the signals remain on Route 9, snarling traffic on a highway connecting I-91 and I84 in Greater Hartford to Old Saybrook, I-95 and shoreline beaches.

It turns out the Rubik’s Cube nature of highway doovers how to fix one problem without creating two others is harder than it looks.

Responding to concerns about the concept Malloy presented and revisions that followed, the DOT is now working on Alternative 11, assessing suggestions by Middletown officials in November. Alternative 1,

the plan presented in 2016 and revised after public input, remains in contention.

DOT now aims to settle on a conceptual design by June 2024, produce construction drawings by November 2025, seek bids a few months later, then start construction in June 2026 exactly one decade after Malloy’s press conference.

The complexities of redesigning a relatively short stretch of highway to the satisfaction of myriad stakeholders around Middletown, a city of 47,000 at the center of the state, has been an instructive, if humbling, undertaking for a shortstaffed DOT with far greater ambitions and challenges.

Notably, the delay hasn’t drawn criticism from Middletown’s mayor, Ben Florsheim, or his predecessor, Dan Drew, who both attended the 2016 news conference. Or from Rep. Roland Lemar, a New Haven Democrat and close observer of the DOT as cochair of the Transportation Committee.

“It’s because DOT has been responsive and open to suggestions from the local community about how to ensure that that roadway serves the city of Middletown, not divides it,” Lemar said. “Taking a more deliberative and more community-focused approach has led to delay, but it’s a good one. ”

Highway designers have revised plans repeatedly at the request of Middletown, meeting monthly with city officials as they attempt to balance concerns about river views and access with potential impacts on downtown traffic, historic properties, railroad tracks and an isolated and long-neglected neighborhood, Miller-Bridge.

“It feels to me like we’ve been listened to,” said Florsheim, who succeeded Drew as mayor in 2019. Drew offered a similar assessment and added, “I think everybody knew it was a very complicated project that required a lot of public input.”

Still, others have stopped following the twists and turns of a slowly evolving reality show about a highway makeover. They just want to know how it all ends.

“I am horribly cynical at this point about the process, and I don’t think without reason,” said Dmitry D’Alessandro, the owner of a downtown framing shop and a Miller-Bridge resident. “I don’t care anymore. They’ve said that they’re going to finally do it. I will believe them when they finally do it.”

Don Shubert, the president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association, said the painfully slow process of birthing highway projects, often more tied to regulatory and permitting issues than public reaction, long has frustrated an industry with an insatiable appetite for work.

“Ten years from conception to construction all over the country is far too

See Route 9, A7

TownTimes|towntimes.com A6 Friday,June2,2023
Barbara Thompson Cars travel on Route 9 in Middletown. The state Department of Transportation has for decades been struggling with how to reconfigure the divided highway and surrounding areastoremovetwotrafficlights. Stephen Busemeyer, CT Mirror

long,” Shubert said. “We need a process where we’re not doing everything, then stepping back and doing it all over again.”

Shubert was speaking generally, not about the repeated reviews and revisions of the Route 9 project. He acknowledged that remaking highways in built-out areas is especially complicated.

“There’s no easy digging in Connecticut,” he said.

Connecticut, like much of the U.S., is deep in a reappraisal of how the construction of tens of thousands miles of highways in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s hollowed out American cities, carved up neighborhoods and walled off natural assets like the Connecticut River in Hartford and Middletown.

Much of that highway infrastructure, such as the I-84 viaduct that bisects and overshadows a long swath of Hartford, is nearing the end

of useful life. The need for rebuilding comes in a time when best practices call for transportation plans that are multi-modal tapestries, woven to connect communities.

Michael Calabrese, the chief of highway design, said the DOT has been paying increasing attention to “ context-sensitive design” for 25 of his 27 years at the agency.

“Basically, it’s go out and talk to the public,” he said.

“The more you talk to people, the more you can figure out the best solution for everybody. So for Connecticut, it’s not a recent mind shift. We’ve been doing this for a long time. So projects just take a while.”

Earlier generations of highway designers focused on the most efficient ways of moving cars from Point A to Point B, less so with the impacts on the communities through which they passed, destroying some neighborhoods and isolating others.

“There has been a cultural change,” said Garrett Eucalitto, the commissioner of DOT.

With a background in transportation planning and finance, both in Hartford and in Washington, Eucalitto embodies and reinforces that change. He was recruited by his predecessor, Joseph Giulietti, and groomed to take over when Giulietti retired in January at the start of Gov. Ned Lamont’s second term.

“We’ve seen the impact of the past decisions. You look at what happened to Hartford,” Eucalitto said, referring to the impact of highways built a half-century ago. “And it had lasting damage on the community that now we’re going to have to undo.”

Three years ago, the DOT halted work on how to replace the Hartford viaduct and accepted a challenge from a public-private partnership to think more

broadly and much, much bigger.

Designers shifted to working on a conceptual plan for reconstructing not just I-84 but its riverfront interchange with I-91, a section of I-91 that stands between the downtown and river and, possibly, the clover-leaf exchanges that consume acres of valuable land on the other

side of the river in East Hartford.

Costing billions and requiring 15 years to complete, it would be the mother of all highway makeovers.

“The goal is this summer to roll it out publicly: ‘Here are early-action projects. Here are the pieces. And here’s

See Route 9, A8

TownTimes|towntimes.comFriday,June2,2023 A7
From A6 Route 9
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Route 9

From A7

what the future of Hartford can look like if all this is completed,’” Eucalitto said.

Adelphia Café

476 Washington Avenue North Haven, CT 06473

203-535-0149

Family owned/operated. Former proprietors of the Neptune Diner in Wallingford. Extensive menu for all tastes. Breakfasts, luncheons and special dinners. All baking on premises.

Athena II Diner

320 Washington Ave, North Haven, CT 06473

203.239.0663 www.athena2diner.com Open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Serving breakfast, lunch, & dinner. Accept Q Cards. Serving North Haven for 30 years. Daily specials and full liquor available.

The Middletown project is a smaller-scale dress rehearsal for the more ambitious production in Hartford, which most likely would have to be designed, funded and built in stages, given its cost and size.

611 N Colony Road Wallingford, CT 06492 (203) 269-9507 colonydiner.com

Wallingford’s place to go for oldfashioned breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Proudly serving up delicious and hearty meals daily. Voted Best Diner 4 years running by Record Journal. Open seven days. Breakfast served all day.

With more than 500 vacancies, the DOT is hampered by staffing shortages. Eucalitto said staffing has not been an issue in Middletown but is a factor in the projects lining up behind it.

Over time, the redesign and reconstruction of Route 9 through Middletown has both grown in scope and split into smaller projects:

See Route 9, A9

Community Center

Food bank. Open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., by appointment only. Current needs: cleaning products, toilet paper, paper towels, pasta, sauce, peanut butter and jelly; gift cards to local grocery stores.

Genealogy program.

Wednesday, June 14, 21 and 28, 1 p.m. Join us for this three-part program taught by Jennifer Zinck to learn how to begin your own research. Join us for lunch before the program. RSVP to 860-349-7121.

Foot care clinic. Friday, June 16, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost is $35. Call 860-3497121 for an appointment.

Senior Book Club. Tuesday, June 13, 2 p.m. “The Woman in Cabin Ten.”

Thursday Evening Book Club. Thursday, June 15, 5 p.m. “A Walk in the Woods.”

Bus trips. Wednesday, June 7, Price Chopper and Aldi; Wednesday, June 14, Elizabeth Park, Hartford. Call Middletown Area Transit at 860-346-0212 (Press 2).

TownTimes|towntimes.com A8 Friday,June2,2023
to eat. Whether it’s a celebration, date night, or just grabbing a bite to eat, this list of local restaurants is sure to satisfy your taste buds.
Let us help you find the perfect place
Find great local eats - MenusCT.com
Colony Diner
ATTENTION: RESTAURANT OWNERS! To advertise your restaurant to 269,000 weekly readers Call us 203-317-2312 Emergency PumpOuts Are Available! Septic Pumping Family-owned and operated Specializing in a range of septic care services R260704 whitfieldsanitationllc@gmail.com | 6 Main St. Durham, CT 203.453.2576 Personable & Compassionate Live-in and Hourly Caregivers are needed for in-home non-medical care for elderly in the area. Call us at 860-349-7016 R258214 Our caregivers are as valuable as our customers Flexible schedules, supportive staff, one-on-one care. R239352v2 Durham/ Middlefield Beautiful Driveways that last! 211654 Quality Driveways Water Problems & Drainage Work Tree & Stump Removal (860) 349-0157 LICENSED & INSURED 40 yrs Experience CT REG. #580903 CV PAVING WHITEHOUSE CONSTRUCTION INC. SEPTIC ISSUES? You need someone you can trust to do the digging. Call Randy Whitehouse, 860-349-1904. Paving Gravel Driveway Restoration Top Soil Retaining Walls Drainage Septic Systems Excavator, Backhoe + Dozer Work Light & Heavy Hauling Residential + Commercial Durham, Connecticut | CT Lic. #554559 860-349-1904 | whitehouseconstructioninc.com 128992579167-01 R258571v2 Paving • Gravel Driveway Restoration • Top Soil • Retaining Walls Drainage • Stump Grinding • Septic Systems • Excavator, Backhoe + Dozer Work • Light & Heavy Hauling • Residential + Commercial 258018v2 Jeffrey M. Roblee Plumbing, LLC Specializing in Service & Repair (860) 349-0467 Cell: (860) 918-3765 Licensed & Insured | Lic# PL204680 P.O. Box 654 Durham, CT 06422 1283529 Lic# PL204680 SERVICE DIRECTORY

Route 9

two are complete, one recently broke ground, and another is cleared to go to the bid in the fall. Each possesses an “independent utility.”

In other words, they are worth doing on their own, even if the final piece of the puzzle how to eliminate two signal-controlled intersections while maintaining safe access on and off the highway still is being designed.

“So if we never get rid of the signals, all these projects still have a purpose and a need, and they’re beneficial to the environment,” said Steve Hall, the project manager.

Construction recently began on a $56 million project to remake an awkwardly angled ramp that connects Route 17 to Route 9. From a stop sign, drivers must look over their left shoulder for an opening to dash into northbound traffic with no acceleration lane.

It was the site of 319 crashes over a recent three-year period, even more than the 260 attributed to the nearby traffic signals.

Hall said the on-again, offagain conversation over the feasibility of removing the Route 9 lights gained traction in 2014, when the public reacted skeptically to DOT plans to fix the Route 17 ramp without touching the two nearby traffic signals.

“The design back then was pretty similar to what we’re actually building,” Hall said. “But we got comments back then saying, ‘You got to do something about these signals. How can you fix that, and we have two traffic signals on Route 9?’ So we kind of shifted focus.”

The ramp project, which requires a new bridge and other changes, was put on hold. Two years later, Malloy, and James P. Redeker, then the DOT commissioner, came back with a fast-track plan to not only fix the ramp but re-

move the traffic lights.

“Real simply, it was just a let’s-look-at-this-from-aminimalist-scope,” Thomas A. Harley, the chief engineer, said then. “When you look at it from that perspective, you come with ‘let’s just raise the southbound [lanes] so the turns can be made underneath it.’”

It was not entirely minimalist. Keeping traffic flowing as it comes off the highway at Washington Street also would require construction

of a rotary. Early reviews were not good.

The community complained that one flyover destroyed views of the river when looking down Washington Street from Main Street and that other aspects compromised historic properties, complicated riverfront access and appeared to overwhelm the downtown with traffic that no longer could easily access Route 9.

“Whatever we do on Route 9, there’s a perception that

means Main Street will bear the burden of what we’re doing,” Hall said. “There’sa perception DOT wants to fix the Route 9 problem by sending all the traffic to Main Street.”

Engineers experimented with revisions that would move a flyover north and use an open structure instead of retaining walls, opening river views. They also have considered closing off one of the two downtown exits to either north or south

traffic, simplifying the design.

Seven of the 11 alternatives were discarded after internal scrutiny. Three others have been subjected to detailed and sophisticated reviews designed to measure how traffic flows would be changed, using big data sold by cell phone providers to a Virginia company, Streetlight Data.

This story originally appeared at ctmirror.org.

TownTimes|towntimes.comFriday,June2,2023 A9
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Sale, Liquidation, Attic & Basement Cleanout Company is Always Buying and providing services all over Connecticut. These are just a FEW of the things we are looking for: Antiques, Collectibles, Old/ Vintage Toys, Musical Instruments (Saxophones, Trumpets, Violins, Flutes, Clarinets, Trombone & SO MUCH MORE) Advertising Items, Wristwatches (Broken or Not), Pocket Watches, Tools (Machinist, Woodworking, & MORE) Doorstops, Clocks, Oil Paintings, Old Signs, Old Photographs, Old Postcards, Brewery Items, Hunting & Fishing, PEZ Dispensers, Costume Jewelry, Broken Jewelry, Gold & Silver Jewelry, Gold & Silver Coins, Military Items, Swords & Bayonets, Helmets & Patches, Medals & Uniforms, Pocket Knives, Lighters & Pipes, Fountain Pens, Mechanical Pencils, Fraternal Order Items, Religious Items, Industrial Items, Win chester Items, Sikorsky Items, Pratt & Whitney Items, Colt Items, Na tive American Items, Vintage Electronics, Slot Cars, Toy Trucks, Matchbox & Hot wheels, Barbie’s, Folk Art, Statues, Bronzes, Trains, Cameras, Mid Century Modern Fur niture, Straight Razors, Shaving Items, Political Items, Comic Books, Sports Cards & Auto graphs…& THE LIST GOES ON! So please give us a call at your earliest convenience. Grassy Hill Auctions 203-868-1816 - Grassy HillAuctions.com

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PREMIER ESTATE JEW

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TownTimes|towntimes.com A10 Friday,June2,2023
ADORABLE YORKIE POM CHIHUAHUA MIX - 2 fems, Ready to go to their new home. $450 Ea. Call 603.630.2258.
I’ll
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old;
item
Individual firearms, collections & estates including military & related items.Federally licensed firearms dealer. Gunsmith, appraisals, Richard Pleines, (860) 663-2214. Covering Central Connecticut since 1867 Please & Thank you. Help Wanted Lawn and Garden Miscellaneous For Sale Wanted To Buy Pets For Sale Wanted To Buy Wood Fuel Heating Equipment Pets For Adoption Wanted To Buy Autos Wanted Reach over 310,000 readers. Call us today 203-238-1953 Legal Notices & Classifieds RJ MEDIA GROUP | Record-Journal | myrecordjournal.com | HOMEBASE Digital | Berlin Citizen | Cheshire Citizen | North Haven Citizen | Plainville Citizen | Southington Citizen | Town Times | The Post
come to you. Julie, 203.443.9602. TOP
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TownTimes|towntimes.comFriday,June2,2023 A11
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TownTimes|towntimes.com A12 Friday,June2,2023 Print & Digital Subscription SPECIAL SAVINGS 40% OFF 5-day USPS delivery for three months ($22.20/ month), full price in month four. USPS delivery is available in the towns of Berlin, Cheshire, Durham, Middletown, Middlefield, Meriden, Plantsville, Southington and Wallingford. Delivery is Tuesday-Saturday by USPS. PLUS All print subscribers who activate their free digital access will receive our daily Record-Journal Story Break emails with up to date stories, and have 24-hour access to our five-day online E-Edition available Tuesday-Saturday by 5AM. OR GO TO subscribe.myrecordjournal.com and SIGN UP TODAY! Scan the QR code Our Saturday Weekender edition has all the weekend inserts along with our new feature, EXTRA EXTRA, our 12-page entertainment/puzzles section. Enjoy the same digital access benefits as a print subscriber, including 24hour access to our fiveday online E-Edition available TuesdaySaturday by 5AM. |SOUTHINGTON y,December12,2021 TOWN LESIGLATIVE PRIORITIES INCLUDE BUSING, JUVENILE JUSTICE PAGE C1 Officials review requests for funds through Department requests. SCHOOL CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Independent short film uses town locations graduated Health district focuses on vaccinating c dren COVID-19 against CHESPRO HEALTH DISTRICT Sheehy, cinematographer AL Complete Affordable Family Dental Care! Dentures Relines wait. Extractions appointment! Styles starting $250* LOWER without 203.238.7968 NewEngland DentalCT.com ORANGE Senior Discount 25% OFF Digital subscription for six months ($2.76/week) of unlimited Digital Access. Full price in month seven. Or go to subscribe.myrecordjournal.com and SIGN UP TODAY! Scan the QR code MERIDEN WALLINGFORD SOUTHINGTON CHESHIRE R Tuesday, July 26, 2016 149th year, No. 208 $1.00 High 94 Low 67 Weather: Crews battle fires in Southington, North Haven. A2 BRUSH FIRES Democrats try to salvage chaotic day. A8 CONVENTION History is Spieth’s toughest opponent this year. A8 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP The family is back at Washington Park. B1 MERIDEN RAIDERS Wallingford YMCA surveys members on consolidating, expanding. A3 Frederick Mansell left a lasting impression on his students. A3 Editorial: Cigna and Anthem and Wade and Malloy. A4 Hedge fund earnings could wash ashore in Connecticut. B5 Abby, A7 Business, B5 Classified, B6 Comics, B8 Crossword, A7 History, B3 Lottery, Movies, B3 Nation & World, Obituaries, Opinion, A4 Public Notices, John Lyman III, executive vice president of Lyman Orchards, looks out over his family farm’s corn maze, being watered by large irrigation gun, on Monday. After multiple days with temperatures in the 90s, local officials and farmers are keeping an eye on the horizon, hoping for some rain. By Lauren Sievert Record-Journal staff By Pete Paguaga Record-Journal staff Local farmers, towns coping with heat, drought conditions After multiple days with temperatures in the 90s and no end in sight, local officials and farmers are keeping an eye on the horizon hoping for some rain. Gary Lessor, a meteorologist at Western Connecticut State University, said wave will continue through the weekend, with the heat index possibly hitting 100 degrees this week. Lessor said the high temperatures combined with humidity make feel even hotter. “The humidity makes feel oppressive,” Lessor said on Monday. “If your going to be outside for any duration stay hydrated.” So far this year, the area is inches below normal rainfall level, Lessor said. Some areas are experiencing passing showers or brief thunderstorms, but for the most part the drought conditions continue, Lessor The initial summer forecast called for hot and dry summer, and there no end in sight, Lessor said. The only thing that would alleviate the conditions would be tropical storm, and there are none on the radar, Lessor continued. The drought is normal for this time of year, however, Lessor said. Wallingford Public Utilities Director George Adair said the town’s reservoir levels are such that the drought plan has not been put into effect. Adair said in the 10 years he has been with the department he hasn’t seen the drought protocol activated yet. Adair said it would take to four weeks continued Long-lost ring back in family’s hands MERIDEN story over 10 years in the making has finally come full On Sunday afternoon, Angela Chionchio returned a wedding ring she found on the hiking trail to Castle Craig back in the early 2000s to the ring owner’s son Doug Dispersio. “I finally have closure,” Chionchio said after giving the ring to Dispersio. “I’m just excited to hand over him.” Sadly, the ring will not be returned to Lou Dispersio, who died in February. When Chionchio learned of his death, she was disappointed that she hadn’t found the ring sooner. While on one her hikes somewhere between 2001 and 2005, Chionchio recalled falling down a couple of times due to rain that was making the trail slippery. “I kind of had my head down focused on was walking because didn’t want to fall another time and just saw something shiny, just spot of it,” she said. “I had to dig it out of the ground and cleaned it and found there was an inscription on the inside that said ‘To Lou, with all my love Pat. 9-10-1957.’ She thought about placing newspaper classified ad, but after moving a few times in recent years, she misplaced the ring. A couple of weeks ago, while cleaning her house, she found Angela Chionchio gives Doug Dispersio his father’s ring, which she found at Castle Craig years ago. Pete Paguaga, Record­Journal between North Plains Highway and downtown Wallingford, incorporating Route 5 corridor and the Choate Rosemary Hall campus. Key recommendations include moving the current commercial, industrial
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EDUCATIONAL PLAYCARE The FuTure oF ChILDCAre AND PreSChooL IS here! Now celebrating 30 years! Childcare and Schools for Young Children ExtraExtra |myrecordjournal.com |Sa rd y,April8,2023 E1 INDEX AskTheDoctors, E2 Crosswords, E2 DearAbby, E11 Horoscope, E11 MondayComics, E9 Puzzles, E3 SaturdayComics, E4 SenseandSensitivity, E10 SundayComics, E5-E8 Television, E10 Brooke Shields, ‘Grease’ prequel and NF album Associated Press Here a collection curated by The Associated entertainment journalists of what arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week. Movies Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, a two-part documentary that debuted Monday on Hulu, reconsiders how Shields was sexualized throughout pop culture as a child model and as the 12-year-old star of Louis Malle controversial 1978 film Pretty Baby. Shields, now 57, intimately discusses how the early labeling of her sex symbol affected her personally and shaped her career. Director Lana Wilson film, which debuted in January at the Sundance Film Festival, revisits plenty of infamous episodes from ds life her friendship with Michael Jackson, her relationship with Andre Agassi, her odd run-in with Tom Cruise well as new revelations, including that she was sexually assaulted by someone she knew professionally. new series on Criterion Channel revisits sex and from a much different perspective. Beginning in April, the streaming service has gathered together some of the defining erotic thrillers of the and 90s, including Brian De Pa ma Dressed to Kill (1980), with Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine; Lawrence Kasdan ody Heat (1981), with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner; and the Wachowski ound (1996), with Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon. Instinct arrives in June.) The absence of carnality in today more sexless cinema world has been subject of ongoing debate. But if you want to step back into steamier time, the Criterion Channel has you (but not its stars) covered. AP Film Writer Jake Coyle Musi Michigan rapper NF has new album out Friday and some tough love his record could write record full of radio songs/ Do bunch of features that my label would love, he raps on Mo the first single. Sounds like nightmare if you ask me/Went from my bedroom to the big eagu s. The 13-track album Hop boasts features with singersongwriter Julia Michaels and rapper Cordae. It marks the rapper first full-length release since 2019 platinum-selling The Search. Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi ready for his spotlight in 2023. The artist who gave us the pop ballad Someone Loved will album — Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent out on May 19 and he has been announced Glastonbury 2023. On Wednesday, Netflix released Lewis Capaldi: m Feeling Now, documentary that follows the Grammy nominee returning to his Scottish roots and attempting to reconnect with his old life and the family and friends he left behind. The new music includes the love song Po nt ss, with lush strings and powerful percussion. Linkin Park can celebrate the s landmark ora album with a 20th anniversary edition that dropped on Friday. It got lost gem literally, a complete and mixed, yet forgotten, song from the era, appropriately entitled Says bandmember STREAMING SERVICES, MUSIC AND VIDEO GAMES This combination of photos show promotional art for, from left, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,”a documentary premiering April 4 on Hulu, “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,”a series premiering April on Paramount+, and “Tiny Beautiful Things,”a series that premiered Friday, April 7, on Hulu. Hulu/Paramount+/Hulu Press See Media, E11 ‘Life of Pi’ review: A boy and a tiger, burning brightly By Alexis Soloski The New Times YORK butterflies enter first, quivering gaily atop their sticks. Then giraffe pokes her head in. goat gambols. A hyena cackles. zebra runs on. Then another. An orangutan swings through while her baby reposes on branch nearby. Above, monkeys meerkats chitter. the first act of Life of Pi, a menagerie menacing, delightful ntre ch itself on the stage of Broadway Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. With dazzling imagination and sublime control, the show cast and crew conjure delirious, dynamic, highly pettable world. And oh, is it a wonder. Though the play is ostensibly about one boy fraught survival after disaster, that story is somewhat thin. ife of Pi instead succeeds as broader tribute to human ingenuity and animal grace. Directed by Max Webster and adapted by playwright Lolita Chakrabarti from Yann Martel Booker Prize-winning novel, ife of Pi begins more somberly, in Mexico, in 1978. A grayed-out hospital room houses a sole patient, Pi Patel (Hiran Abeysekera). A Japanese cargo ship en route to Canada has sunk. Among its passengers were Pi and his family, who had set out from Pondicherry, India. And among its freight were animals Pi zookeeper father tended. All aboard have drowned, except Pi, traumatized 17-yearold who washed up in this fishing village after 227 days lost at sea. Visiting him this morning are Mr. Okamoto (Daisuke Tsuji), representative from the Japanese Ministry of Transport, and Lulu Chen (Kirstin Louie), from the Canadian Embassy. These guests have been charged with learning what happened to Pi. For their benefit, he spins fantastic tale incredible in every sense about sharing lifeboat with animals, initially several then finally just one, Richard Parker, an enormous, sinuous, very hungry Bengal tiger. Between Richard Parker and Pi, adamant carnivore and lifelong vegetarian, there is a desperate struggle for dominance. Richard Parker needs to eat. Pi would preCRITIC S PICK Hiran Abeysekara and the Bengal tiger Richard Parker in “Life of Pi,”at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York. Directed by Max Webster and adapted by the playwright Lolita Chakrabarti from Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel, “Life of Pi”succeeds as a tribute to human ingenuity and animal grace. Masuike, The Times See ‘Life of Pi’, E12 Magnificent studios and one-bedroom suites. 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