New Haven Independent

Hometown Heroes | January 15, 2009

Award-Winning Teacher Makes Math Real

by Allan Appel | January 15, 2009 12:54 PM | Permalink

Maurice Smalls was having trouble understanding how to simplify a radical. Karen Climis made sure he wouldn't leave class until he figured it out.

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Hometown Heroes | January 15, 2009

Hoops Bring Teens Into "Da Fam"

by Thomas MacMillan | January 15, 2009 9:31 AM | Permalink

Kevin Winfrey used to be the one getting into fights. Now he's breaking them up.

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Hometown Heroes | December 1, 2008

This Round Was In Honor Of "Buddy"

by Melissa Bailey | December 1, 2008 12:21 PM | Permalink

"Wait a minute!" called out Leo Vigue, as decades of Rudy's regulars presented their favorite bartender with a "Big Daddy" birthday cake.

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Hometown Heroes | July 11, 2008

"Independent" Journalist Perseveres

by Paul Bass | July 11, 2008 2:02 PM | Permalink

He was jailed. Beaten. Marked for assassination. Seme Ndzana survived to keep exposing misdeeds in the African nation of Cameroon -- now, from a second-floor walk-up in New Haven.

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Hometown Heroes | May 13, 2008

Firefighter Of The Week

by Melissa Bailey | May 13, 2008 8:01 AM | Permalink

"When I handed down the cat, she went out like Superman," said firefighter Dino Ferraro (pictured). A six-foot-tall woman had leapt out of the burning building, head-first down a ladder, and grabbed onto his waist.

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Hometown Heroes | April 10, 2008

She Harnesses The Magic Of "Horse" Power

by Allan Appel | April 10, 2008 12:10 PM | Permalink

This woman's work bridges rich and poor, white and black and brown, old and young, the highly educated and the drop-out. It's the most wonderful job in New Haven, she said, and she feels blessed to be doing it.

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Hometown Heroes | February 18, 2008

Goodness Gracie

by Allan Appel | February 18, 2008 8:13 AM | Permalink

She knew how to listen -- and she made a difference. Upon her retirement, an original "community" cop heard stories about how she was a true pioneer.

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Hometown Heroes | February 13, 2008

Jerome & Uly

by Allan Appel | February 13, 2008 1:21 PM | Permalink

Jerome Lorde was dressed to look like someone accustomed to daily pick-up basketball games and prodigious amounts of Gatorade. He was on a larger mission, though, one harder to measure than the points in a hoops contest.

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Hometown Heroes | January 4, 2008

Landlord Arrives; Heat Comes On

by Paul Bass | January 4, 2008 9:20 AM | Permalink

In a deep freeze, Rafael Ramos comes to the rescue.

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Hometown Heroes | November 14, 2007

Surprise On The Third Floor

by Paul Bass | November 14, 2007 4:28 PM | Permalink

Principal Mary Suroweicki was in a meeting Wednesday talking about how well her students behave, when secretary Maria Moore broke in. Come quick, Moore said: There's a fight upstairs

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Hometown Heroes | November 14, 2007

Campion, Streeto Honored

by Kevin Halligan | November 14, 2007 8:26 AM | Permalink

Firefighter Lt. Andrew Campion and Police Lt. Joseph Streeto (pictured) received standing ovations as they accepted the awards for police officer and firefighter of the year.

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Hometown Heroes | July 19, 2007

He's Been There

by Paul Bass | July 19, 2007 2:04 PM | Permalink

Edward Booker, a former gang member who's turning his life around, looked at the 14-year-old boy he recruited to a new summer program in Fair Haven. He saw himself.

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Hometown Heroes | July 2, 2007

Cop Of The Week

by Paul Bass | July 2, 2007 1:51 PM | Permalink

Erstwhile Morris Cove bike cop Sgt. Racheal Inconiglios is pedaling the 62-mile round trip to and from Hammonasset these days -- to gear up for a 250-mile ride from Yankee Stadium to Fenway Park in memory of 9-11's victims in blue.

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Hometown Heroes | April 27, 2007

"Rocket Man" & The Librarian Head For The Skies

by Allan Appel | April 27, 2007 8:27 AM | Permalink

What does an energetic school librarian do to relax after a spring break spent helping to set up a high school library in South Africa? Why, take one, long, deep breath, and then fly off to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico with one of her star pupils (pictured) at the Bishop Woods School and help him launch his prize-winning science experiment into space.

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Hometown Heroes | March 6, 2007

He Gets His Hands Dirty -- Without Snitchin'

by Melissa Bailey | March 6, 2007 2:23 PM | Permalink

A man who single- handedly fends off a stream of loiterers and trash from his Beaver Hill street corner was honored as a model of civic engagement and neighborly pride.

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Hometown Heroes | January 18, 2007

Cop of the Week

by Melissa Bailey | January 18, 2007 12:55 PM | Permalink

How do you talk down a psychotic man off his meds, pacing in the house with a Rottweiler? It's kind of like acting in Body Double or Superman: The Movie. That is, if you're Lt. Ray Hassett.

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Hometown Heroes | December 21, 2006

Man Of The Year

by Paul Bass | December 21, 2006 12:31 PM | Permalink

In a year when shootings left New Haveners feeling despair about how to address youth violence, Dixwell beat cop Shafiq Abdussabur offered inspiration. How he got to be a cop -- and in a position to make a difference -- offers another inspiring tale, about how to build a true "community policing" force.

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Hometown Heroes | November 13, 2006

He's Kicking His Way To The Top

by Paul Bass | November 13, 2006 1:47 PM | Permalink

Miguel Roman returned to his job at Willoughby's a national Tae Kwan Do champ. Now he has his eye on Beijing.

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Hometown Heroes | November 8, 2006

Cops of the Week

by Melissa Bailey | November 8, 2006 9:38 AM | Permalink

"All you saw was the hands, shaking." The Rivera brothers realized there was a burning man inside the burning car.

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Hometown Heroes | October 19, 2006

She Saved Grandma's Life

by Paul Bass | October 19, 2006 1:56 PM | Permalink

Eight-year-old Shayla White found her grandmother unconscious. She kept her composure -- and kept grandma alive.

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