Carrie Burr (left) accepting her award from Stratford Animal Control Officer Rachel Solveira (right).

Press release:

The Stratford Animal Rescue Society is pleased to present their “Volunteer of the Year.”

Nominated and voted on by her fellow volunteers, Carrie Burr, was selected for this honor and presented with a plaque at STARS Annual Banquet Dinner.

Carrie’s love for animals shines through with the countless hours she spends at the Stratford Animal Control Facility every week. Carrie tirelessly walks, trains and socializes the homeless animals everyday. She does not hesitate to step up to the plate to clean the facility, organize donations/supplies and work at all fund-raising activities.

Carrie makes a difference in the lives of Stratford’s abandoned and neglected animals and is treasure to the community.

For information on how to volunteer with STARS at the Stratford Animal Control Facility please visit www.stratfordanimalrescue.com.

The Town of Stratford, in partnership with the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, announced today that it has secured $839,086 in incentive funds for an energy savings performance contract.

The $10 million project bundles a complete set of energy efficiency measures across 33 buildings within the town including the Stratford Town Hall, schools, water treatment facilities, office buildings, firehouses and the police station.

Through the Energy Conscious Blueprint and Energy Opportunities programs, the project will include lighting retrofits, water treatment plant upgrades, building envelope improvements, boiler replacements, roof replacements, photovoltaic (PV) panels, wind turbine systems, sustainability management systems and more.

“Stratford has been taking advantage of our programs in a limited, one at a time fashion over the past ten years, but performance contracting gathers all energy efficiency measures together,” said Richard W. Steeves, First Vice Chairperson, Energy Efficiency Board.  “In the end, it is more cost-effective which allows Stratford to take on larger capital projects, and it’s our hope that other towns will make efforts to utilize this new integrated solution as we continue to improve Connecticut’s standing in energy efficiency leadership.”

With the performance-contracting model, energy-efficient facility improvements are paid for with the resulting utility savings.  Over the 15-year contract term, the Town of Stratford will save a projected $9.9 million in energy savings.

“Reducing the town’s energy usage, and at the same time upgrading our energy infrastructure within our buildings is a win-win,” said Stratford Mayor John Harkins. “Municipalities must think outside of the box and take advantage of programs such as these to move forward in this economic climate.”

The project is expected to begin in  February 2012.

Several towns in UI and CL&P service territories have expressed interest in performance contracting, but at this time, no other town has applied for incentive funds.

For more information, please call 1-877-WISE USE or visit www.CTEnergyInfo.com.

Stratford Continuing Education will offer driver education classes to high school students who are residents of Stratford and who are 16 or older by February 28, 2012.

Classes begin February 28 and run until April 26, from 3:45 – 5:45 pm and 5:45 – 7:45 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Stratford High School.

Students from Bunnell and Stratford High Schools are to register at their respective schools beginning on February 1.

The fee is $95.00 and non-refundable.

All other Stratford residents who attend private area high schools are to register by contacting the Stratford Continuing Education office.

You may call Stratford Continuing Education at 385-4270 for further information.

DJ Kingsley, top right, speaks to families gathered for Connecticut Against Violence's rally and community forum held at the Ralphola Taylor Community Health Center in Bridgeport, Conn. on Friday February 3, 2012.

Connecticut Against Violence, an anti-violence group founded last September by Bridgeport Lt. David Daniels and DJ Kingsley Osei, will host the second in a series of community forums from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 at the South End Community Center at 650 Park Avenue in Bridgeport. The topic of the forum is “The real truth about gun violence.”

Youth and parents are encouraged to attend. Food and live music will be provided.

CAV uses hip-hop music to inspire youths to make positive life choices. Learn more about the group here.

Click here to read about the group’s first community forum last Friday at the Ralphola Taylor Community Health Center.

There were no reported injuries.

Photo contributed by Stratford Fire Union

Stratford dentists Dr. Mark Samuels and Dr. Joseph Jarmon of Lighthouse Dental Care are helping the residents of Stratford and surrounding communities during these difficult economic times by giving free emergency dental treatment on Friday, February 10, 2012, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

The free dental treatments will be given at Lighthouse Dental Care, located at 88 Ryders Lane, Stratford, CT  06614.

The Emergency Dental Treatment Day is designed to treat anyone (adult or child) for free who cannot afford dentistry.

Both dentists were inspired to produce this community effort after reading a report in the New York Times about how an increasing number of Americans are having to forgo healthcare because they have no insurance and therefore unable to afford the cost of a visit to the doctor:

http://dentiststratfordct.com/index.php/community_events/stratford-dentists-offer-free-dentistry/

“Anyone with a dental emergency and cannot afford it will be provided with Emergency Dental Treatment at NO COST on a first-come first-served basis,” explains Dr. Jarmon, adding “We would like to do our part as dentists to help and hope other healthcare providers would join us and organize a similar effort in their community to help keep our fellow Americans healthy.”

Dr. Samuels adds, “We will be conducting similar community events in Stratford periodically throughout the year to help the less fortunate in our community.”

Details of Dr. Samuels and Dr. Jarmon’s other community events can be found online at;http://dentiststratfordct.com/index.php/category/community_events/

“In a troubled economy that affects many Americans, the spirit of giving to others is needed more than ever. We’re hoping the word gets out about our free dental day in February so people with dental emergencies can get help,” Dr. Samuels concludes.

For additional information, please contact:

Dr. Mark Samuels and Dr. Joseph Jarmon

Lighthouse Dental Care

88 Ryders Lane, Stratford, CT 06614

Tel.: (203)378-1566

Fax: (203)380-8390

Firefighters pulled back several strips of siding and wood paneling after putting out the fire, which filled several first-floor rooms with heavy smoke, according to first responders on the scene.

There were no reported injuries.

The dates for registration of kindergarten students for the 2012-2013 school year have been set by the Stratford Public Schools.  Centralized registration will take place by appointment at the Stratford Library from February 27th through March 30th. Children who will be five (5) years of age on or before January 1, 2013 are eligible to begin kindergarten this August.

The Stratford Public Schools offer a full-day kindergarten program in every elementary school with the exception of Stratford Academy, the district’s magnet school.  A half-day program is offered at Stratford Academy. Because there are a limited number of kindergarten classrooms in some schools, students may be assigned to a full-day kindergarten program outside their attendance zone (neighborhood) school. These children usually return to their designated attendance zone (neighborhood) school for first grade.

Details about the registration process and programs available are provided in the kindergarten registration packet.  Parents should call 386-3149 for the packet of materials needed for registration. Complete all required forms and bring them to the registration appointment.  Parents need to provide their child’s birth certificate, the health assessment record from the physician, and two (2) documents to prove legal residency. Only completed applications will be accepted.

Javier Colon signs autographs during a welcome home celebration at his alma mater, Bunnell High School, in July 2011.

Stratford’s Javier Colon, winner of NBC’s The Voice, will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday at Ridgefield Playhouse.

For information about the show or to purchase tickets, visit ridgefieldplayhouse.com.

The condominium complex borders a 500-acre pool of severely contaminated groundwater that is part of the Raymark Superfund site. The Environmental Protection Agency wants to test the water under the complex to make sure the contaminated water does not extend beyond boundaries originally assigned to it by regulators.

But the EPA needs permission from residents before it can move forward with plans to install two to four groundwater monitoring wells on the property and test the indoor air quality.

“The real objective here is to just be able to better delineate the outer edge of the plume,” Ron Jennings, a longtime EPA project manager, told the Connecticut Post earlier this month. “We think we’ve got it, but it would be nice to have a higher level of confidence.”

The contaminated groundwater here is not used for drinking. But it releases a toxic gas that permeates the soil and disperses into the air. The gas can enter homes through plumbing gaps and cracks in the foundation. When trapped within four walls, the toxins become concentrated and potentially hazardous to breathe.

If the EPA finds contaminated groundwater beneath the condominiums, the property would likely be adopted into the Superfund program, Jennings said.

But, he added, regulators do not think the groundwater under the condo property is contaminated.

If the project wins approval from homeowners, new wells would be installed over the course of about a week. Groundwater test results would be available about one or two months after installation, Jennings said.

Indoor air sampling would take place over a 24-hour period and results would be available in about a week, he said.

Read more about the groundwater testing project here.