BERLIN — Sgt. Chris Tralli can see the view from high atop Ragged Mountain or rove the rolling hills of Pistol Creek thanks to a new way officers have of patrolling the town’s open space and more rugged areas. Tralli and three officers now make routine patrols on two all-terrain vehicles to make sure the
[continue reading...]

Staring for hours at a clump of flowers heavy with nectar, with her Phantom high speed camera, her computer and a technician at the ready, Ann Prum has put together a documentary on the smallest warm-blooded creatures on the planet — hummingbirds — and in the process shares the newest science on these avian jewels.
[continue reading...]

CLINTON — The town is scheduled to receive a state reimbursement of $308,000 for funds spent since 1998 in planning and engineering studies for a municipal wastewater treatment system. via Clinton to be reimbursed for wastewater spending -  The New Haven Register. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on
[continue reading...]

MILFORD — It’s going to take more than two years, but drivers who use the Old Gate Lane railroad underpass when it’s raining will no longer fear getting stuck in a flood. via Project will alleviate underpass flooding – The New Haven Register. Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share
[continue reading...]

HARTFORD — Money from Washington is giving a boost to many dairy farmers who have been hurt by low prices. Ned Ellis of Mapleleaf Farm in Hebron, who says his bills have been piling up, received about $8,500 recently. He says it has paid for day-to-day bills for feed, equipment and other necessities. An agriculture
[continue reading...]

SOUTHINGTON — The town will pay about $3.8 million to help clean up the old Southington Landfill site and monitor the groundwater in the area. Two settlements were recently entered into federal court that will provide the funding to perform ongoing work at the old landfill, which is a Superfund Site, to protect the public
[continue reading...]

Westporters will soon be able to use a new 38-acre park, to be named Newman/Poses Nature Preserve, adjacent to the property of the late famed actor and beloved resident Paul Newman, located on Coleytown Road near the Weston border. The Preserve is approved for passive recreational use, which includes such pastimes as walking, jogging, hiking,
[continue reading...]

The kinds of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide taking place today could have a significantly larger effect on global temperatures than previously thought, according to a new study led by Yale University geologists. Their findings appear December 20 in the advanced online edition of Nature Geoscience. The team demonstrated that only a relatively small rise
[continue reading...]

SIMSBURY — Two residents who want Simsbury to become the first official Bicycle Friendly Community in Connecticut have pushed their pedals to town hall to plead their case to the Board of Selectmen. At the board’s Dec. 14 meeting, a presentation was made by active cyclists Paul Mikkelson and auto dealership owner Steve Mitchell, who
[continue reading...]

When Toronto planner Ken Greenberg and his team of top professionals came to Hartford in 1998, they found downtown uninviting for pedestrians and confusing for drivers. One of the problems was the one-way streets. In the first of two “Greenberg plans,” the group recommended that the city eliminate all of the downtown one-ways. This caused
[continue reading...]

The Dec. 27 Opinion article by Toni Gold was outstanding ["Getting Main Street On Track"]! Ms. Gold clearly and concisely makes the multifaceted case for a trolley in Hartford that would rejoin the north and south sides with the center of the city. This is exciting and, as Ms. Gold points out, very achievable locally.
[continue reading...]

Hartford can take pride in its nationally recognized public park system. The capital city boasts the nation's first municipal park ( Bushnell Park, 1854) and the first municipal rose garden (Elizabeth Park, 1904). By the 1940s, Hartford reputedly had the most public park space per capita in America. But that sterling legacy is threatened by
[continue reading...]

Plans to make the proposed Cheshire dog park a reality could receive a big, and ultimately final, boost next month when the project goes before the Town Council. For more than a year, local residents interested in setting up a permanent space dedicated to “man’s best friend,” along with Cheshire Parks and Recreation Director Robert
[continue reading...]

NEW CANAAN — Groundwater and soil test results at the Mobil station on the northbound Merritt Parkway show higher-than-legal levels of the gasoline additive MTBE, as well as other potentially harmful compounds — another chapter in the long-running state-monitored cleanup of pollution that originated from leaking underground storage tanks and spills at the state-owned property.
[continue reading...]

The state will spend $6 million to study the future installment of a $70 million Positive Train Control system along the Metro-North New Haven Line, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Tuesday. “This is another sign of our significant commitment for enhancing rail travel in Connecticut,” Rell said in a statement. via State to spend $6
[continue reading...]

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen to negotiate international strategy to lower global greenhouse emissions, I’d like to share a vision for part of the solution. Greenways and other improvements in bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure can make make a huge impact lowering emissions in the coming decade. via Greenways Can Achieve Most of 2020 US
[continue reading...]

ROXBURY – A second meeting on a proposal by AT&T to build a communications tower facility on private property at 126 Transylvania Rd. took place Tuesday, December 15, in conjunction with the Inland Wetland Commission’s monthly meeting. The meeting focused on wetlands-related issues. The Inland Wetland Commission added both the AT&T discussion and an appearance
[continue reading...]

MERIDEN, Conn. — Officials in Meriden say they have a plan to overhaul aging parks and it won't put too much pressure on taxpayers. Tax dollars are tight everywhere across Connecticut, so officials in Meriden plan to tap into a trust fund to come up with funding to help some of their parks. via Meriden
[continue reading...]

The task force that studied smart, or responsible, growth under a 2007 law made a number of recommendations to Gov. M. Jodi Rell in early 2008, including: “Be fair. Promote equitable sharing of the benefits and burdens of development and diminish the competition for revenue that biases land-use decisions.” There has as yet been no
[continue reading...]

The Town is prepared to act as a liaison of information for the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, after being identified as an energy conservation leader in the state. Cheshire was one of 14 towns offered a chance to participate in the program that will focus on dispersing information on ways to conserve energy. The Town
[continue reading...]