Portland News

The 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee has crowned a champion - 14-year-old Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California.

A Weather: Partly sunny in the morning then turning cloudy and breezy during the afternoon.

Pride in Manchester Week kicks off Saturday and rolls through the week with live music, art exhibits, food, the "staging" of several vacant Main Street storefronts and tours of historic sites.

When you walk through an ancient tunnel that takes a stream beneath abandoned railroad tracks, there are basically two scenarios.

Earlier this week, scores of kids, teachers, parents and others braved the 80-degree-plus heat under a blistering sun to run half-mile laps around the Woodside Intermediate School's athletic fields.

Free hikes will be offered in Middletown June 2 and 3 to celebrate the Connecticut Forest and Park Association Connecticut Trails Day 2012.

The Rockfall Foundation will hold an open house on Thursday, June 7, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the deKoven House Community Center.

Weather: Mostly sunny and warm, a dry northwesterly breeze. High of 82, according to wfsb.com . Mostly clear and cool during the overnight.

The inaugural Middletown Gospel Fest will be held Saturday, June 2, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Union Park on Main Street.

Brownstone Intermediate School Principal Laurie Boske thought it was a prank when she first got a phone call saying her school had been nominated for the U.S. Department of Education 's National Blue Ribbon School award of excellence.

Firefighters battled a blaze at the Bevin Bell Factory in East Hampton. Photo: Karen Graham/Report It.

Portland school board Chairman Christopher Phelps will challenge incumbent Christie Carpino, R-Cromwell, for the 32nd General Assembly District in the Nov.

City officials are considering moving the outbuildings on the Eckersley Hall property to Veterans Park as a permanent location for the Greater Middletown Military Museum.

A One after another, they come in, greeted by a friendly "Hello" or "How's it going." Not bad for a Thursday afternoon at Brownstone Bottle Shop in Portland, but it could have easily been another time on a different day.

The state Department of Social Services said Thursday that its computerized "eligibility management system" is back in operation, after a two-day crash that made it impossible on Tuesday and Wednesday for the agency to process new applications for public assistance.

The board of finance has slashed an additional $325,000 from the proposed 2012-13 budget after residents rejected a proposed $38.7 million spending plan at a budget referendum May 8. A second referendum on the revised $38,345,762 budget is scheduled for June 5. Voting takes place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the high school.

"My first year in this school makes me grateful. Every day I'm learning something, my mind is open, and I understand more and more each day.

A Portland Board of Education Chairman Christopher Phelps was unanimously nominated by Cromwell and Portland Democrats as their candidate for State Representative at the 32 nd District Convention held at Cromwell Town Hall on Tuesday.

Top 10 lists are standard fodder for media: the 10 best dressed, the 10 best-looking, the 10 most wanted, etc.

U.S. Attorney David B. Fein said Wednesday that the owners of the Aqua Turf Club, a well-known banquet facility in Southington , have agreed to make modifications to its rest rooms in order to bring them into compliance with federal rules governing access by people with mobility disabilities.