Coventry News

Cynthia L. Gilligan, 46, told state police that she was westbound on Plains Road and stopped at the crossing.

Cynthia L. Gilligan, 46, told state police that she was westbound on Plains Road and stopped at the crossing.

Cynthia L. Gilligan, 46, told state police that she was westbound on Plains Road and stopped at the crossing.

Cynthia L. Gilligan, 46, told state police that she was westbound on Plains Road and stopped at the crossing.

Connecticut prison officials said a state inmate who committed suicide in his jail cell was a Coventry man charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend in April.

Police have charged a former employee of a Coventry group home for people with mental disabilities with sexually assaulting a female resident.

Connecticut prison officials say a state inmate who committed suicide in his jail cell was a Coventry man charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend in April.

- In the moments after Alfredo 'Junior' Ferrer allegedly shot and mortally wounded his girlfriend Amanda Realie, the three Coventry police officers working that afternoon were quickly overwhelmed.

Ferrer, 43, was moving around behind the Bidwell Tavern at 1260 Main St., carrying his 2-year-old son and a .38-caliber revolver. The situation was bad and on its way to getting worse, with a toxic combination of alcohol, a gun, a child hostage and a convicted felon apparently bent on suicide. Two off-duty officers quickly arrived to help, said Coventry Police Chief Mark Palmer.

Rocky Hill, Conn., July 14, 2008 Today it was announced that the town of Coventry, Connecticut, has joined a growing list of municipalities in the state to become "Connecticut Clean Energy Communities." As a ...

Eight years ago, almost 100 footstones from the colonial South Street Cemetery were discovered lining the entrance to a small cemetery on Silver Street, and this Tuesday, the recovery and placement process will begin. The footstones were found face down, used as steppingstones, by Ruth Shapleigh-Brown, the founder and director of the Connecticut Gravestone Network. On Tuesday, Sherry Chapman, the Coventry Cemetery Commission chairwoman, will lead a small group in the tagging and organizing of the 97 footstones, according to the arrangement of the headstones in the cemetery. On July 19, volunteers are needed to help place the footstones. Footstones are small stones placed at the foot of a grave in conjunction with headstones. There is mystery surrounding the removal of the footstones from the South Street Cemetery, said Chapman.

Firefighters from eight departments battled a house fire for more than two hours this morning.

On Saturday, June 14, CT Landmarks, formerly known as the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, celebrated Nathan Hale's 253rd birthday at the Nathan Hale Homestead on South Street in Coventry.

More than 1,500 volunteer hours were put in by employees of Lawrence F. Fiano Builders and Developers and Northeast Foundation Coating LLC to create an accessible home for injured Iraqi war veteran, Marine Sgt.

The revolutionary origins of July 4 are easy to forget amid the relaxed barbecues and programmed fireworks of modern Independence Day celebrations. But Revolutionary War re-enactors - who dress in period clothing to re-enact battles, perform with historically accurate instruments and do period crafts - remember the holiday's roots. Linda Pagliuco is a docent at the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry. She is a former re-enactor and fife player with the Nathan Hale Ancient Fifes and Drums, with whom she had to portray a man because there were no female fife players in the actual unit. She shares her views of July 4, re-enacting and history education.

This weekend will be one for gardeners in Coventry.

Today, town staff and volunteers will install a rain garden near the Town Hall Annex on Main Street as a model of storm water management, particularly in proximity to lakes.

Rain gardens, planted in depressions using plants that can sustain wet and dry periods, encourage water to seep into the ground rather than flow too quickly or flood. Plants filter nutrients and pollutants from the water and can also enhance wildlife habitat in the area.

The University of Connecticut, or UConn as it is commonly referred to, is located in the scenic and rural town of Storrs, Connecticut.

- The man accused of shooting his live-in girlfriend in the face April 14 in their Coventry apartment can face a charge of murder, a Superior Court Judge in Rockville ruled Thursday.

Judge Robert Vacchelli's decision came after a nearly daylong hearing during which Alfredo 'Junior' Ferrer lashed out at the family of the woman he is accused of killing, Amanda Realie. Also, a state police detective and state Department of Children and Families social worker each described confessions Ferrer made about the killing.

Coventry Health Care Inc., the Maryland-based provider of managed care, reduced its projected earnings for the second time on higher costs, pulling down shares of insurers Aetna Inc., WellPoint Inc.

The winding, tree-lined road that leads to a suburban business park in Avon resembles a country lane. Picnic tables and patio umbrellas dot the parking lots.

The air seems fresher. Like other out-of-the-way manufacturing enclaves around the state, there are fewer traffic jams, and the pay scale is comparable to what many urban firms offer.

It's a pleasant drive. But for a growing number of workers, it's a costly commute.

For hundreds of suburban and rural companies that hire workers at $10 to $20 an hour, where their employees live has never been a concern. These small manufacturers and service companies hired, and workers commuted.

New to Connecticut? Then it's time for a visit from the Word Guy's Welcome Wagon! We come to your home to furnish lists of local libraries, guides to area bookstores and advice on which word columnist to read - ...