Branford Eagle

Branford Compassion Club Marks Its Sweet 16

by Sally E. Bahner | May 9, 2013 9:09 pm

Full crinoline-stuffed skirts, saddle shoes, sweater sets, rolled up jeans, and hoola hoops were all on display as the Branford Compassion Club (BCC) celebrated 16 years of caring for the town’s cast-off kitties.

The Sweet Sixteen Anniversary took place late last month at the Blackstone Library, which reflected the 1950s theme of the party. One would have never expected the dignified rotunda of the library to serve as a venue for a dance contest complete with colorful strobe lights.

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Wang Hangs Out A Shingle

by marcia chambers | May 8, 2013 11:16 am

Dr. Lishan Wang, accused of shooting his former colleague Dr. Vanjinder Toor (pictured with son) to death on April 26, 2010, has filed two new federal lawsuits while at the same time preparing to represent himself in his murder case.

He is charged with gunning down Dr. Toor, then 34, who was a post-doctoral fellow at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

In the last two months Wang, 47, has filed two lawsuits in federal court, one in New Haven against the Branford police department and the state police and one in Hartford against the state Department of Corrections.

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Mattress Recycle Bill Passes

by marcia chambers | May 7, 2013 6:18 am

A mattress recycling bill that is expected to become the model for laws across the nation was overwhelmingly approved by the state House of Representatives late Thursday, nearly a year after it was shelved because it wound up on the other side of midnight on the last day of a legislative session.

As fate would have it, Rep. Pat Widlitz (pictured), D-Guilford and Branford, the major sponsor of the bill, said waiting a year may well have been a blessing because the additional year gave legislators and industry officials time to formulate a plan that others states are likely to adopt. 

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Branford School Chief: CAPTs May Be On Way Out

by marcia chambers | May 6, 2013 8:23 am | Comments (2)

School Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez (pictured) last week outlined a variety of challenges facing the Branford School district: a declining student population, increasing special education needs and the absence of an official talented and gifted program in the elementary, intermediate and high schools.

He also repeated what he told the Board of Education (BOE) at the April 24 meeting, that the state is contemplating eliminating the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT). Teachers have complained for years that they were required to teach to the test.

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Open-Space Acquisition OK’d

by Diana Stricker | May 2, 2013 12:00 pm

Branford is a step closer to preserving 22 acres of meadows, marshlands and trees after the Board of Selectmen (BOS) unanimously approved the open space acquisition Wednesday.

“It’s a dramatic property… very beautiful,” said Ainsley Highman, chair of the Parks and Open Space Authority.

Highman said keeping the land in its natural state will enable the salt marsh to serve as a buffer against flooding. “Salt marsh areas are kind of disappearing ... they’re precious. A lot of them have been destroyed or developed.”

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Poison Ivy Out, Art Ed In

by Diana Stricker | May 1, 2013 8:11 am

Poison ivy is not conducive to learning.

So the principal at Tisko Elementary School on Damascus Road is leading a mission to turn the school’s weed-filled, poison ivied courtyard into a learning center.

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New Site On Tap For Public Works Facility

by marcia chambers | Apr 30, 2013 6:14 am

Will the town’s Department of Public Works Building be built at Tabor? 

For years First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos and a public works buildings committee said yes in part because the town owns the 77-acre Tabor site.  Now a site off Route 1 and near the center of town has become available and DaRos is taking the initial steps to possibly acquire it.

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Mayors, Immigrants Rally For Driver’s Licenses

by Melissa Bailey | Apr 30, 2013 2:20 am

Jose Sanchez and other undocumented immigrants showed up at the Capitol to pose a late-session question: While the state awaits federal action on immigration reform, what to do now about all the immigrants driving without licenses?

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Boxes, Kids Reign

by Diana Stricker | Apr 29, 2013 7:01 am

Kids used cardboard boxes, paint and imagination to transform the Branford Green into a whimsical world Saturday afternoon.

Inspired by the book “Not a Box,” youngsters turned cardboard boxes into town buildings, a rabbit, a museum, a robot and everything their young minds and hands could create.

They even fit themselves into a box.

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The Eagle Turns 7

by marcia chambers | Apr 26, 2013 9:33 am | Comments (2)

Seven years ago today the Branford Eagle was born. We started as a column in the Eagle, which is part of the New Haven Independent, a not-for-profit organization published by the Online Journalism Project.  Later we grew our staff and evolved into an online newspaper. 

We have had quite a run.

In 2012, The Branford Eagle and its reporters and photographer won 13 awards, including first place in the online general reporting series for its coverage of “Tropical Storm Irene’s Aftermath.” The awards were announced at the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) annual excellence awards contest.

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