Torrington made history by electing one of the youngest mayors (age 22) ever in Ryan Bingham four years ago.

(And two resounding re-election victories later, he's still one of the youngest.)

And it made waves again early this year by naming 33-year-old Chris Leone as school superintendent.

Now the two young leaders will meet, together, with the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce's Young Professionals group.

The get-together is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, at the Chamber's offices at 333 Kennedy Drive, Torrington.

"Manhattan Madam" Kristin Davis, who claims to have connected former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer with call girls, is herself expected to announce that she is running for governor of New York on Monday, March 1.
Not surprisingly, Davis stands on a platform of legalizing and taxing prostitution in order to help fill the state coffers. She has also said she supports gay marriage.
Davis plans to get on the ballot as an independent by garnering petitions.

Region 7 Board of Education members Janice Dorazio, Don Torrant, Mark Lanctot, Dan Jerram, Theresa Kenneson, Tara Yard, Rob Jerram and Molly Sexton Read received a proposed spending package of $17,910.412 on Wednesday. They will review the comprehensive draft and give input at a later meeting.

Lanctot lamented the prospect of losing teachers and other district employees.
“We can solve the problem by getting a printing machine,” Lanctot said. “That way, we can print our own money.”

Jerram agreed: “We’ll be like Washington D.C.”

TORRINGTON — Class will be in session as the Warner Theatre hosts "Late Night Catechism", with seven shows beginning on Mar. 3 and running through Mar. 7.
"Sister" Mary Zentmyer will play a grade school nun teach a class, which will be the audience in a play that is about 80% script, and 20% improvisation.
"When you come to the show, you will learn something, nothing is made up," Zentmyer said. "Sister is down to earth and no-nonsense."
Now in its 14th year, Late Nite Catechism has brought its nostalgic kick to every state in the U.S. as well as to Canada. Late Nite Catechism is a funny play that takes the audience back to their youth. Zentmyer has been touring with the play since 2000, and has been performing as "Sister" since 1996.

LITCHFIELD - The county's courthouse that hears the most severe cases isn't getting off easy today.

On today's docket are a slew of serious cases from across the region. James P. Crowley, the Torrington executive charged with embezzling and patronizing a prostitute, is due in this morning. Sidney Parker, the original owner of The Spot barber shop in Torrington, is also slated to appear on charges of assault and attempted rape.

Crowley has been out on a $250,000 bond. Parker reportedly posted a $350,000 bond and was seen inside the courthouse.

A New Milford family charged with stealing electricity and running a marijuana farm are all slated to appear today. Hung V. Pham, Hung V. Pham, Oanh Thi Pham and Tony Marh Pham are all on the docket.

Lastly, former Gunnery dean Robert Reinhardt - charged with inappropriate sexual contact with four Gunnery boys - is due to appear today. During his last appearance Reinhardt's attorney requested time to review some photographs taken as evidence from the scene.

Check back at http://www.registercitizen.com/ for updates and look for stories in tomorrow's edition of The Register Citizen.

March 3^rd will mark the second annual “Spread the Word to End the Word” day of awareness, a campaign created by youth, in an ongoing effort with Special Olympics and Best Buddies International, to engage schools, organizations and communities by raising the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encouraging everyone to stop using the R-word. Youth leaders are encouraging people to rally and pledge their support at www.soct.org with the goal of reaching 100,000 pledges.

The day will be devoted to educating and raising awareness of the positive impact individuals with intellectual disabilities have in our communities and why the use of the R-word is hurtful, even in casual conversation. Special Olympics and Best Buddies International hope that this day becomes an annually recognized day to raise awareness and ultimately encourage acceptance and respect for people with intellectual disabilities in everyday lives.

Special Olympics Connecticut encourages locals to take the pledge on March 3^rd, in order to “spread the word to end the word.” For more information about Special Olympics Connecticut and the “spread the word to end the word” campaign, please visit www.soct.org.

Spread the Word to End the Word was created by youth with and without intellectual disabilities who participated in the Special Olympics Global Youth Activation Summit last February, held in conjunction with the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Idaho. The motivation for the campaign was driven by a united passion to promote the positive contributions people with intellectual disabilities make to communities around the world combined with a simple call to action – a pledge to stop using a word – that also symbolizes positive attitude change and a commitment to make the world a more accepting place for all people.

Motivated by their commitment to action, actor John C. McGinley was inspired to join these youth and their dedication to stop the casual use of the R-Word.

“Most people don’t think of this word as the language of hate, but that’s exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends,” said McGinley. “I choose to believe that most of us are fundamentally good and that we’re just not aware that the word is offensive and that it hurts.”

New Hartford resident and avid skater Tom Goddu bought this skate sharpening system three years ago and has been sharpening skates for family and friends ever since. Goddu has a skating rink in his own back yard so his whole family, he says, is made up of skaters. At the Frozen Farmer's Market on the Pine Meadow Green Sunday, he was offering skate sharpening for $6 per set of skates. He planned to donate the money to charity.

Our story this morning about the launch of SeeClickFix on RegisterCitizen.Com has spurred dozens of reports of problems - from speeding motorists, to missing stop signs, to litter and graffiti - in neighborhoods throughout the Torrington and Winsted area.

CLICK HERE to see the SeeClickFix map yourself, join in the discussion about reported problems, or report your own!

The tragic loss of Watertown 15-year-old Brie Antonio this weekend in a Vermont snowmobile accident was followed by an instantaneous outpouring of grief and sharing of photos, memories and condolences on what has become the biggest gathering place for today's youth.

Facebook.
A Facebook page called "In Memory of Brie Antonio" was established Sunday afternoon and had 615 members by 7 p.m. By 8 p.m., there were more than 700 members, as classmates from Watertown High School used the forum to comfort each other and share memories of Antonio.

The Torrington Rotary Club will have some special visitors at its weekly meeting Tuesday.
Students from the Torringford School have been raising money to assist with relief efforts in Haiti.
They are donating the money to Rotary International, which operates a hospital in the country.

Congressman John Larson was in Winsted Wednesday to celebrate $350,000 in federal funding for the creation of a new nursing program at Northwestern Connecticut Community College.

Joining him was Connecticut Community College System Chancellor Dr. Marc Herzog, Northwestern President Barbara Douglass and Professor Barbara Berger.

Connecticut will have the second worst nursing shortage in the nation by 2015, according to Larson, with the biggest shortage occurring in Litchfield County.

His office estimated that Litchfield County's nursing vacancy rate is 14 percent, or double the statewide average.

"I am certain, this federal funding and this nursing program will help systemically transform the economic and health care landscape of Litchfield County for the better," Larson said.

Douglass said that the college hopes to welcome its first nursing program students in January 2011.

WINSTED — The members of Winsted’s Tang Soo Do martial arts class were none too pleased after finding out their class at Pearson Middle School would have to be postponed for the second straight week Wednesday night.
Last week’s class was rescheduled due to snow, but this week instructor Jeffrey Negron said the class was simply not allowed into the school for its 6 p.m. class.
He said he had received no word about the closing, either from school officials or the town's Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees the class.
Around 20 members, including children and their parents, hovered outside the school after getting the news.
Building officials had conducted a check of the school’s electrical systems earlier in the day after a teacher was shocked and burned by a failed light switch last week, but no specific explanation was offered for the closing.

WATERBURY – Ruth Veneziano the office manager at Alliance Medical Group, an affiliate of Waterbury Hospital, recently became a “fan” of Waterbury Hospital on its brand new Facebook page – then encouraged her daughter Emily, 17, a senior at Sacred Heart High School, to do the same. Her timing couldn’t have been more perfect, because as Emily clicked the “Become a Fan” of Waterbury Hospital icon while logged onto Facebook, she became the hospital’s 500^th fan.

CLICK HERE to become a fan.

Waterbury Hospital recently held a contest for its employees to register as “fans” on its Facebook page, offering a Valentine’s Day bagt stuffed with thematic goodies to the winner.

“We developed a hospital Facebook page as a way for both our employees and our guests, visitors, patients and the general public to keep abreast of what is going on at Waterbury Hospital,” said Heather Tindall, Waterbury Hospital’s Director of Public Relations, Media Relations and Marketing. “Not only did we reach 500 “fans” with our contest, but we’ve now actually exceeded 600 “fans.”” Tindall credits this response to the fact that hospital employees encouraged their friends and family to sign up. She concluded, “We are just ecstatic! The response to this initiative and the enthusiasm of our employees has been phenomenal.”

Tindall said that the hospital’s Facebook page contains information on a wide array of topics ranging from the dates and times of upcoming free educational presentations, to registration information for the hospital’s upcoming Pilates, Tai Chi and weight lifting classes. Additionally, she said the page contains current hospital-related medical and technological updates, information on medical staff and clinical offerings, photos of hospital events like the hospital’s gala as well as photos of employees recognized for awards or accomplishments, job postings and much more.

Litchfield Bancorp recently presented the United Way of Northwest Connecticut with a restricted gift of $2,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, according to William A. Egan, III, United Way Executive Director.

Egan said, “Under the terms of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston New England Partnerships program, Litchfield Bancorp has directed their grant and matching gift to the Northwest Connecticut YMCA’s Transitional Housing Program.

Litchfield Bancorp president Mark Macomber said, “We are pleased to partner with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston in funding this grant. The FHLB of Boston currently provides well over $35 billion in loans to its member banks throughout New England, including Litchfield Bancorp. These funds are then deployed in our communities, primarily to fund mortgage loans to our customers. Providing some relief for individuals and families in need of temporary shelter just seemed to align with the FHLB’s mission and our own. We greatly appreciate the roles the United Way and the Northwest Connecticut YMCA play in bettering the communities we serve.”

The Grants for New England Partnerships program (GNP) was established by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston to recognize the partnership between member institutions and community-based nonprofit organizations.

Litchfield Bancorp became eligible for participation in the program when it submitted and disbursed a Community Development Advance application for the first time in 2009 and actively participated in the struggle to promote foreclosure awareness while offering programs to families and organizations that are in the midst of foreclosure or are looking to return properties to the housing stock.

The GNP program was established by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston to recognize the importance of partnerships between member institutions and community-based nonprofit organizations in developing successful community investment initiatives. Litchfield Bancorp chose this award for the United Way of Northwest Connecticut on behalf of the Northwest Connecticut YMCA because of its important work in the community.

Greg Brisco, Northwestern Connecticut YMCA CEO, said, ““We couldn’t be more excited to receive this gift from Litchfield Bancorp and the Federal Home Loan Program. It couldn’t have come at a better time. The state budget challenges have resulted in reduced funding for our Winchester Emergency Homeless Shelter and, in these times, we have more demand for individuals and families needing a place to sleep at night than we have beds for.”

Pictured left to right are:

Thomas Villanova, Executive Vice President, Litchfield Bancorp

Greg Brisco, CEO, Northwestern Connecticut YMCA

Sabrina Smeltz, Associate Executive Director, Northwestern CT YMCA

Mark Macomber, President, Litchfield Bancorp

Theo Noell, Manager of Programs & Outreach, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston

Local resident and world traveler William Spear will discuss difficulties in getting aid to disaster victims in Haiti during an appearance Thursday [Feb. 18] at the Litchfield-Morris Rotary Club.

The club meets at noon at the Forman School in Litchfield. Members and their guests are welcome. For more information, contact Rotary Club President Cliff Cooper @ cliffordcooper@optonline.net or 860-567-9876.

Spear is president of the Fortunate Blessings Foundation in Litchfield. He recently wrote about his experiences delivering aid internationally at the Huffington Post.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-spear/trauma-in-haitian-assault_b_449481.html

As part of the core mission of the first community-operated baseball team in the United States, the Torrington Titans and Our Baseball Haven are proud to announce the first non-profit partnership for the 2010 season with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

The Titans and OBH will team with the JDRF for one game this summer in the team's inaugural season in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. All proceeds from game day walk-up tickets sales will go to the JDRF to support their mission of finding a cure for diabetes in this fund-raising effort at Fuessenich Park.

"We're thrilled to partner with the JDRF. They share the same vision as OBH and continue to raise awareness for a very important cause," said OBH Partner Brett Orzechowski. "We want their night to be more than just a fundraising event. We want the community to support their effort in every possible way."

The Titans and OBH are partnering with a Torrington or Litchfield County non-profit for every home game this season. Each non-profit will collect all walk-up gate receipts while creating a unique, charitable atmosphere around the ballpark. OBH asks that the community supports the effort of each non-profit and help raise awareness by taking in America's Pastime while giving to a worthy cause.

"All the children, men, women and their families affected by diabetes in Litchfield County are the winners in this unique partnership with the Torrington Titans and Our Baseball Haven," said Mark Famiglietti, co-chair of the annual JDRF Litchfield County Walk to Cure Diabetes and member of JDRF’s board of directors. “We look forward to JDRF Night with the Torrington Titans. It promises to be packed with fun and information, while also serving as the official kick-off event for our Walk to Cure Diabetes in September at White Memorial.”

The local leadership committee (The Northwest CT JDRF Round Table) was formed in 2004 as a community-based committee of the North Central Connecticut and Western Massachusetts Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In addition to the annual JDRF Walk, the foundation holds several charity events in Northwest Connecticut with the goal of raising awareness of diabetes and to raise funds to find a cure. The efforts include education, mentoring, outreach, advocacy and support of the children and adults with diabetes in Torrington and Litchfield County.

The Torrington Titans are the first community-operated baseball team in the United States. For more information, please contact the partners of Our Baseball Haven at info@ourbaseballhaven.com.

TORRINGTON — The National Champion Torrington Warrior cheerleaders will receive the key to the city at a City Council meeting Feb. 22 after winning a national championship.
The cheerleaders participated in the American Youth Cheer cheerleading championship in Orlando Fla., on December 12 of last year. At a practice before the cheerleaders left, Mayor Ryan Bingham stopped to to wish them well and was met with a question from one of the girls. If Torrington brought home the championship, would he give them the key to the city? He told them he would and the girls delivered.

Waterbury Hospital has donated two ultrasound machines and other hospital equipment valued at more than $200,000 to help bring medical relief to overburdened hospitals in developing countries such as Guatamala, the Dominican Republic and earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The equipment, some of which is more than 20 years old and has been replaced at Waterbury Hospital with more modern technology, will prove to be highly useful and beneficial to the hospitals which will be receiving it, said Jean Assobmo, a biomedical engineer for the American Medical Resources Foundation, the Massachusetts-based organization which accepted the donated equipment from Waterbury Hospital this week.

“We are very grateful to Waterbury Hospital for making this donation possible,” he said.

Assobmo said the equipment will be part of a shipment being sent to hospitals in the Dominican Republic and Guatamala next week. It’s also possible the equipment could be sent to Haiti, which is recovering from a devastating earthquake that has led to an intense demand for medical relief.

Frank Vensel, the Director of Clinical Engineering for Waterbury Hospital, said the two donated ultrasound machines are highly functional and efficient in treating a wide variety of health issues, including heart problems and troubled pregnancies.

“We could not be more pleased that these pieces of equipment will continue to be put to good use,” Vensel said.

Mary Prybylo, RN, the Chief Operating Officer at Waterbury Hospital, said the donations reflect the hospital’s mission to serve and treat people in medical distress, no matter where they are.

“This is a wonderful way to make a difference in people’s lives,” she said.

Even the organizers were surprised by the success of the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce's "Bear Affair" promotion a few years ago.

It worked so well that the chamber is planning to launch the program again this fall under the moniker, "Bear-lieve it or Not."

Partnering with Torrington-based LARC, the chamber will have local artists decorate large fiberglass-polyester bears, which are hosted by local businesses and auctioned off to benefit both organizations.

With the Bear Affair, they become a tourist attraction, as families from this region and all over the state did driving tours, posing for pictures with some of the bears.

For more information about the new effort, visit www.bearlieveitornot.com or email bears@nwctchamberofcommerce.com.

NEW HARTFORD - At 1:43 p.m. a call was dispatched to Ski Sundown for initial reports of an 11-year-old female suffering traumatic injury to the head.

Turns out, it wasn't so bad.

At 2:30 p.m. a dispatcher at Litchfield County Dispatch said the girl did not end up getting taken to a hospital at all. Emergency ambulance officials were called off and the girl did not sustain traumatic injuries.

Rather, it was an "average fall" that didn't warrant medical attention, the dispatcher said.

We made a few slight changes to RegisterCitizen.Com this morning.

We switched our "Most Commented" box ... which tracks stories on the site that receive the most comments from readers ... from a measure of seven days to a measure of 24 hours.

The problem was that each day's Sound Off forum gets so many comments that often "Most Commented" was simply the last seven Sound Off articles.

We also added a box to track "Most Shared" stories ... this will show you which stories fellow readers are emailing to friends, or posting to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.

For example, currently on the site, most shared stories are:

• Officer recalled as a ‘go-to’ guy: PJ Bialoglowy remembered by colleagues, friends (13)
• Adrianna Kate Cavanagh, 3, on Jan. 26, 2010. LaPorta-Cook Funeral Home (5)
• Tax-free living: Subsidized housing in Torrington and Winsted (3)
• Police won’t charge Henry’s fiancee in death (3)
• FISH’s Montero cites ‘differences of opinion’ (2)
• Country music hitmaker Carl Smith dies at 82 (2)
• WEB FIRST: Census could bring more than 1,000 jobs to area (2)

And the switch from seven days to 24 hours has a lot of stories other than Sound Off showing up in "Most Commented":

• Tax-free living: Subsidized housing in Torrington and Winsted (46)
• Sound Off for Feb. 14 (37)
• Sound Off for Feb. 15 (28)
• Heroin possession lands Winsted man in jail for years; age 20 with 2-year-old child and "nasty attitude" (20)
• Bow Wow University has new Litchfield location(14)
• CARL POPE: Want to save winter? Stop tar sands(14)
• Task force to address effects of recession on children: Public hearing to be held (14)

TORRINGTON — A Torrington man is facing a charge of driving under the influence after nearly hitting a parked police cruiser that was investigating another motor vehicle stop, police said.

Robert Colaciello, 59, 301 Patterson St., was driving down Main Street when he nearly struck the police cruiser. Sgt. Thomas Rouleau, of the Torrington Police Department, said the cruiser wasn't actually struck and no one was injured.

Despite this, the officers still got into their police cruiser and chased after Colaciello. He was stopped and after an investigation, was charged with driving under the influence and turns restricted, Rouleau said.

Colaciello was held on a $500 non-surety bond. No court date was given.

TORRINGTON — A fight at Torrington High School this afternoon caused police to respond.
Two Torrington police officers responded to a report of two students fighting. Interim Principal Marsha Olsen said the two students were at lunch when the fight broke out.
Police officers were meeting with the parents of the students as well as the students themselves on Thursday afternoon.
This is the second incident this week where police were called for fighting incidents at city high schools. On Tuesday night two students attending a basketball game between Oliver Wolcott Technical School and the Gilbert School of Winsted were arrested and charged with assault.Check back in for more details as they become available.

Gubernatorial candidate and businessman Oz Griebel came up with a campaign motto of sorts during a meet and greet forum Tuesday night at Canton High School.

Griebel noted he is older than his fellow Republican candidates Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Connecticut Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele and businessman Tom Foley. Toward this end, he quipped: "My slogan for tonight is vote for the old guy."

Word has it that Jim Amann, former Speaker of the House, will formally drop out of the race for Governor on Thursday

We're happy to announce a new feature on RegisterCitizen.Com.

SeeClickFix, produced in partnership with a New Haven-based company whose reach has now extended all across the country, is a map-based program that literally allows you to see a problem, click on the map at its location, and report it, in hopes that it will be fixed by public officials or others who might be responsible or have influence.

It's super-easy to use, and if you go there now, you'll find that a number of people have already reported local problems, from shoes hanging on a power line on Benham Street in Torrington, to chronic speeding on Winsted Road, to littering on Winthrop Street, to a missing stop sign at Clearview Avenue and Wilmot Street.

How does a big, local story play out in the age of Twitter?

In the case of the explosion at the Kleen Energy gas plant in Middletown yesterday, it meant wildly varying estimates of the damage, injuries and loss of life.

Reports on local TV, on TV and newspaper Web sites and on Twitter initially quoted public safety representatives as saying that the explosion was a "mass casualty" incident.

At one point, it was said that 300 people were working in the building, then 100, then 50.

Estimates of the number of people injured were pegged at 100 for a good part of the afternoon, then grew to 250, before being narrowed down to "less than 50."

The latest figures show that 5 people died in the explosion, and about a dozen were injured.

A very grave aspect of the lack of good information about the incident as it unfolded yesterday, which wasn't immediately clear to media outlets, was that public safety officials were searching for victims in the rubble of the building, didn't have a good estimate, apparently, on how many people were at the site at the time, and really didn't know what they were dealing with.

As late as this morning, the Middletown deputy fire marshal said that officials still can't guarantee that everyone is accounted for, and that they have been unable to search a portion of the building that is still too structurally unstable to risk rescue workers going into.

TORRINGTON - Residents in an apartment at 330 Highland Ave are able to remain in their unit after a kitchen fire interrupted their dinner preparation. Initial reports were of a structure fire at the same residence, however when The Torrington Fire Department arrived, they found a small kitchen fire.
Torrington police, fire and emergency services responded to apartment 6B at the apartment complex at about 5:15 p.m. Norma Feliciano started to prepare dinner, when a pan of cooking oil that was on the stove in her kitchen caught fire. The report of the fire was called in by her daughter, Marely.
Captain David Starr said Feliciano sustained minor burns to her hands from the fire, and was not transported for further care. Starr also said there was damage to the kitchen as a result of the fire.
"It was a cooking fire, and the stove and hood were damaged. There was also a little smoke damage in the unit," Starr said.
According to Fire Marshall Tim Tharau, the residents should be able to return to the unit tonight, and an electrician is scheduled to repair the damage to the stove’s hood.

LITCHFIELD - Fridays are relatively quiet days at Litchfield Superior Court. Well, not today.

Hon. Judge James P. Ginocchio will hear a slew of cases today on suspects charged with burglary, bank robbery and violating probation. Friday's docket includes Tiffany Sterling, the Torrington woman suspected for robbing a Northwest Community Bank, Matthew Gillece, a New Milford man charged with stealing handguns from his neighbor, and Donald J. Hunter, who is facing a slew of burglary and larceny charges.

The Litchfield court, which generally hears criminal cases on Tuesday and Friday, did not have a criminal docket this past Tuesday because Judge Ginocchio had another obligation and couldn't preside at court.

Check back online and in the print edition of The Register Citizen for news on Friday's court proceedings.

A former editor of The Register Citizen has been named corporate director of digital content for The Register Citizen's parent company.
Jonathan Cooper will oversee Yardley, Pa.-based Journal Register Co.'s plans for an aggressive push into delivering local news, sports and information on a 24/7 basis, across all types of digital platforms, from Web sites to social media such as Twitter and Facebook, to mobile phones and eBook and tablet computer-type devices.
Following his stint as Register Citizen editor, Cooper went on to serve as editor of the New Britain Herald, founded PLAY magazine in New Haven, and most recently was director of online sales and content for the New Haven Register.

Barkhamsted School Principal Joanne Sciola discussed the upcoming Connecticut Mastery Test schedule in detail at a meeting on Feb. 2.
Because many Board of Education members are new, she explained that all the students in grades three to six will take the test.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Linton quipped that "They followed the hand truck in here."

BANTAM - Someone apparently has an issue with Elmore "Rip" Torn.

Either that, or this random guy just wanted to make a scene.

Several reporters gathered outside Bantam Superior Court following Torn's arraignment Monday morning. At one point Attorney A. Thomas Waterfall, who is representing Torn on his case of allegedly breaking into a Lakeville bank, came out to speak to the press about the case.

During some questioning by reporters, a man in a sweatshirt with longer hair came out of the courthouse and began saying "F___ Rip Torn," walking right past the numerous television cameras that could pick up his harsh words.

The reporters did not flinch, rather choosing to pay attention to Waterfall regarding the case.