News

Morning 5: A Tay-Tay Christmas

Hey, Swifties, are you a fan of Christmas movies? “Christmas in the Spotlight,” a “Tay-Tay” inspired holiday movie, debuts tonight on Lifetime. Here Here are five songs from “The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection” to get you in the movie mood: 1) “Last Christmas” — Wham! did it well, and so does Taylor. It also inspired […]

Todd F. Farley

WINSTED – Todd F. Farley died Nov. 18, 2024. A Mass will be Monday, Nov. 25, at St. Joseph Church, 186 Main St., Winsted, at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Winsted. Visit an online guest book at montano-shea.com.

Henry W. Bosse

WOLCOTT – Mr. Henry W. Bosse, 93, passed away peacefully Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, at home in Wolcott. For more than 68 years he was the beloved husband of the late Gloria (Derouin) Bosse, who died in 2022. Born in Waterbury on Sept. 4, 1931, Henry was the son of the late Henry J. and […]

Barbara Rae Del Buono

WATERTOWN – Barbara Rae (Ellingsworth) Del Buono, 96, of Watertown, was reunited with her husband in Heaven on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in the comfort of her home in Watertown. She was the wife of the late John Angelo Del Buono, Esq., for 73 years, who predeceased her on Dec. 6, 2023. Barbara Rae was […]

Gene Allen Trotman Sr.

WATERBURY – Gene Allen Trotman Sr., 71, passed away Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the VA Connecticut Health Care in West Haven. Funeral service 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 2, at Chase Parkway Memorial/The Albini Family Funeral Home, 430 Chase Parkway, Waterbury. Burial with full military honors will follow at Connecticut State Veterans Cemetery, Middletown. Calling […]

Buchsbaum, headed to state House, resigns as Southbury selectman

SOUTHBURY — Jason Buchsbaum has announced he will be stepping down from the town’s Board of Selectmen as he gets set to become the next State Representative for the 69th House District. Buchsbaum, 44, a Republican, was elected to his new post earlier this month and is scheduled to be sworn in at the start […]

Torrington school board appoints interim finance director

TORRINGTON – After acquiring more than $100 million in grants while serving as grants manager for the Board of Education for 12 years, Donna Labbe is stepping into a new role. On Wednesday, the Board of Education appointed Labbe as interim director of finance. She has been helping fill the gap since Scott Petruzzelli left […]

Norfolk residents protest sidewalk shoveling in ‘Connecticut’s Icebox’

NORFOLK – One thing is clear: residents of “Connecticut’s Icebox” do not want to shovel snow. The upstairs meeting room at Town Hall was filled beyond capacity Wednesday night and townspeople stood on the stairs to protest a proposed regulation that would have required them to clear their walkways of snow and ice within 24 […]

Salisbury residents granted intervener status on Wake Robin Inn project

SALISBURY – During the latest round of a Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on the Wake Robin Inn redevelopment project, commissioners approved intervener status for residents Angela and William Cruger. Aradev, the developer, is proposing to upgrade the resort that opened in 1913 off Route 41 near the center of Lakeville, which in recent years […]

Jury finds Torrington man guilty in the near fatal 2022 stabbing; faces 20 years in prison

TORRINGTON – A jury of six Friday found a city man guilty of first-degree assault in the near fatal stabbing of Aaron Vella-Whelan on Sept. 15, 2022. Jonathan Todd, 20, faces five to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced by Torrington Superior Court Judge Walter Menjivar in February 2025. Todd showed no emotion […]

Swim community mourns passing of coaching legend

The countless messages on a Facebook page says all you need to know about the life of Jim McKee, the former legendary Naugatuck High boys and girls swimming coach. McKee, 76, died Monday at River Glen Health Care Center in Southbury after a brief illness. Among the most profound notes about McKee came from Dan […]

Coverage of Israel- Gaza war is biased

I have found the Republican-American to be a fine newspaper with a reasonable, often wise, editorial history – that is unless they publish biased, anti-Israeli articles from The Associated Press which gets its information from Palestinian Hamas reporters. Unfortunately, Nov. 15 witnessed such lapses. In “Protests erupt in Paris…” the AP article claims that Israel’s […]

Mom’s letter lays out American dream

My mom passed away recently. How we miss her. In closing up her home, I came across an letter to the editor she had written many years ago. In it she shared a dream: “Dear editor: I am living the American dream! My freedom to worship. My freedom to vote. My freedom to speak. My […]

Mr. Tong’s stance: Connecticut vs. U.S. sovereignty

Aserious question for the incoming Trump administration: What should be the consequences for states that openly and proudly violate American sovereignty? At a Nov. 18 pro-illegal-immigration rally outside the state Capitol, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong “told rally-goers he is prepared to defend Connecticut law and all immigrants regardless of legal status again during the […]

NBA memo to players urges increased vigilance regarding home security following break-ins

MIAMI – The NBA is urging its players to take additional precautions to secure their homes following reports of recent high-profile burglaries of dwellings owned by Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. and Kansas City Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. In a memo the NBA sent to its […]

Supreme Court allows multibillion-dollar class action to proceed against Meta

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. The justices heard arguments in November in Meta’s bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take […]

Emperor penguin released at sea 20 days after waddling onto Australian beach

MELBOURNE, Australia – The only emperor penguin known to have swum from Antarctica to Australia was released at sea 20 days after he waddled ashore on a popular tourist beach, officials said Friday. The adult male was found on Nov. 1 on Ocean Beach sand dunes in the town of Denmark in temperate southwest Australia […]

Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing in order to decide where case should go now

NEW YORK – A judge confirmed Friday that President-elect Donald Trump won’t be sentenced this month in his hush money case, instead setting a schedule for prosecutors and his lawyers to expand on their ideas about what to do next. Amid a flurry of filings in the case since Trump’s election win this month, it […]

Basketball skills program set in Litchfield

Morris Community Activities is collaborating with Litchfield Park and Recreation, Goshen Recreation and Warren Recreation to offer a six-week, Saturday morning basketball skills program for boys and girls in kindergarten through fifth grade. Starting Jan. 11, 2025, the program will be at the Lakeview High School and Plumb Hill Middle School gyms. Sessions for students […]

Bar crawl will aid United Way in Naugatuck, Beacon Falls

NAUGATUCK — The seventh annual Gobble Til You Wobble Bar Crawl will take place Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Family and friends can walk downtown to various bars for drink specials, apps, prizes and more. The event will benefit the nonprofit United Way of Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.

Sharon wetlands hearing closed on Low Road project

SHARON — The Inland Wetlands Commission closed a hearing on a proposed project on three parcels on Low Road that would remove two existing buildings, construct two new ones, install parking areas and a pedestrian walkway, and landscape the area. The applicant is Low Road-Sharon. Wetlands approval is needed because the property is within 200 […]

Waterbury man charged after fleeing from stolen vehicle

WATERBURY — A city man faces charges after police caught him fleeing from a stolen vehicle Tuesday. Nygel Carr, 21, will be arraigned Wednesday on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle, first-degree criminal trover, interfering with a police officer and operating a vehicle without a license. Officers from the city’s Auto Theft Task Force […]

Waterbury woman, 30, charged with operating drug factory

WATERBURY — A city woman faces drug charges after local and state police executed a search warrant at 22 Melrose Ave. Carmen Verouschka Morales, 30, was charged with operation of a drug factory, possession of more than a half ounce of cocaine, possession of more than an ounce of heroin/fentanyl and risk of injury to […]

Today’s Edition

Trump has promised again to release the last JFK files. But experts say don’t expect big revelations

DALLAS (AP) — More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, conspiracy theories still swirl and any new glimpse into the fateful day of Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas continues to fascinate. President-elect Donald Trump promised during his reelection campaign that he would declassify all of the remaining government records surrounding the […]

Jussie Smollett’s conviction in 2019 attack on himself is overturned

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying to Chicago police, saying he should not have been charged a second time after reaching a deal with prosecutors. The ruling, which did not address […]

Trump chooses loyalist Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department, turning to a longtime ally after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations. Bondi has been an outspoken defender of Trump. She was one […]

$344 for a coffee? Scottish farm is selling UK’s most expensive cup

LONDON (AP) — It’s an enormous price to pay for a little cup of coffee, but the man behind the pitch promises it won’t leave a bitter taste behind because it comes with a sweetener: a share of a dairy farm. A Scottish dairy is offering what it bills as the U.K.’s most expensive cup […]

NOTEWORTHY IN NORTH COUNTY: Colebrook school marks 75 years

COLEBROOK Colebrook Consolidated School celebrated its 75th anniversary last week with an assembly that featured music and readings from students, and reminiscences from members of former students and staff. The children sang such tunes as “This Land is Your Land” and “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old,” a children’s song about friendship that originated […]

Teen pleads guilty to lesser charges in death of Wilby student

WATERBURY – The last teenager charged in connection with the death of a former Wilby High School student in 2022 pleaded guilty to reduced charges Thursday in Waterbury Superior Court. Kylle Brewer, 18, pleaded guilty to third-degree larceny and carrying a pistol without a permit. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, suspended after […]