New Milford News

Joey Chestnut chomped down a record 68 hot dogs, capturing his third straight July Fourth hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island , an annual showcase for flamboyant hot dogging contestants eager to show they really are what they eat.

Mary Burnham is feeling a bit "weird'' these days. The longtime executive director at the Children's Center is glad she will soon have more time to play grandmother to 21-month-old Taylor.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - - Alexis Arguello, who fought in one of boxing's most classic brawls and reigned supreme at 130 pounds, was found dead at his home early Wednesday.

The chips will fly Wednesday in front of Bank Street Theater as sculptor Bill Covitz carves a giant squirrel from a half-ton block of ice.

A Connecticut jury has acquitted a New Milford man of child molestation charges.

Winter is a slow time in the paving business, at least in New England. So Tim Day was a little surprised when he arrived for work on a Monday morning last January and couldn't find the big red dump truck he usually drove for Circle Asphalt Paving on Aldrich Road.

After New Milford resident Karin Smith saw how much personal satisfaction her husband Paul got from being a business owner for more than a decade, she decided she wanted to become one.

Developer Victor Nelson is trying to convince the Zoning Commission to pass a workforce housing zone regulation that would allow town workers and emergency volunteers priority on new, moderately priced homes.

A chorus of Candlewood Mountain Road residents sang the same refrain before the Town Council on Monday night: Fix our road.

Cindy Watson, self-appointed warrior against a disease now lying dormant in her body, is beyond excited about the local American Cancer Society Relay for Life on Saturday.

Seventh-grader Alison Profeta looks at the shiny red, white and blue pinwheels spinning in Schaghticoke Middle School's new Patriot Garden and thinks of her grandfather and the sacrifice he and other soldiers made in World War II.

The New Milford High School Hall of Fame was established to recognize graduates who have gone on to do outstanding things in their lifetime or who have made significant contributions to the community.

Comedienne Joan Rivers has her estate in New Milford, Conn. on the market for $6,500,000. Our friends over at the Real Estalker today beat us to the punch in writing about this listing , which is part of The Great Joan Rivers Property Sell-Off that hit its zenith recently with her $25,000,000 listing of her duplex condominium unit in Manhattan.

Outside the afternoon was wet and damp. A storm threatened to break. But in the O'Neill Center auditorium in Danbury, hopes were shinning through Saturday as New Milford High School's Class of 2009 -- 342 strong -- culminated 12 years of academic studies and personal growth at their graduation ceremony.

Mayor Patricia Murphy is irked a majority of the school system's 12-person central office staff will get 2.6 percent pay hikes in the coming year, increases school board members defend as modest and warranted to stay competitive.

Thirteen years ago, Christina Vrba left her job as a teacher in a Catholic school in Groton and went to work for an online publisher, convinced the new medium would provide an opportunity to develop as a writer.

Among the treasures retiring Hill and Plain School first-grade teacher Christine Sacchetti will take with her when school closes Friday are the "little moments'' of discovery she has shared with students over the past 20 years.

Forty years in education and John Lee is not done yet. After 35 years in this district, Lee will retire as assistant principal at New Milford High School at the end of the month.

Superintendent JeanAnn Paddyfote's annual evaluation is primarily one of praise for her educational leadership and ability to shepherd the district through difficult economic times.

A Dartmouth Road woman who was unloading groceries apparently forgot to set the brake on her 1995 Dodge Caravan, and it careened down the driveway and hit the side of a neighbor's house across the street, police said.