Volunteers Gerri Lovallo, and Lisa Kralik, check the dates on cans of food to make sure they are not expired at Neighbor to Neighbors.
(Helen Neafsey/Greenwich Time photo)
To feed a burgeoning number of clients, volunteers at the nonprofit Neighbor to Neighbor worked overtime last week to fill shelves with deliveries.
"It's a been incredibly busy here," said Jane Dewinter, spokesman for the organization, which provides food and clothing to the needy. "But we've really needed it."
The number of clients seeking food from the agency, at the Christ Church Annex at 248 E. Putnam Ave., is up more than 20 percent from last year, Dewinter said.
The organization, which caters to individuals referred by the town Department of Social Services, is providing food for more than 1,000 residents this season, she said.
"And we're expecting it to continue to go up as we head into the winter months," she said.
NEW YORK - The reality that the nation is indeed in recession and that the downturn may well be prolonged sent Wall Street plunging Monday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 700 points and wiping out more than half of last week's big gains.
Greenwich police join finance crime task force
Police will appoint a detective to a newly formed state task force that will investigate financial crimes, officials said.
The Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force is a joint partnership between the Secret Service and the Connecticut Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. It will comprise federal, state and local investigators, according to police.
Brian Murphy, the resident agent for the Secret Service in Connecticut, said the task force is just coming together and his agency is hoping to open an office in New Haven by year's end. The goal is to pool the resources of federal, state and local authorities to solve more crimes relating to identity theft, bank theft, or institutional fraud. .......
......Greenwich Police have not said which detective will be assigned to this post, however they did say it will be full-time. Police said its participation will give it access to a multitude of resources that will be useful in investigating financial crimes.
"We are thrilled to have Greenwich on board and we look forward to working with them," said Murphy.
The task force will be funded by the Secret Service.
CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama named former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of statae on Monday, and announced Robert Gates would remain as defense secretary, making President Bush's Pentagon chief his own in the drive to wind down the U.S. role in Iraq.
At a news conference, Obama also introduced retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser, former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security.
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further interest-rate cuts are "certainly feasible," but he warned there are limits to how much such action would revive an economy likely to stay weak well into next year.
As the economy lurches uncertainly into the holiday season, the United Way of Western Connecticut's incoming chief executive officer sees a unique opportunity.
STAMFORD - A sport utility vehicle carrying a family of four veered off the Merritt Parkway at about 8:45 a......
HARTFORD, Conn.—A steep drop in gas prices has created an estimated $100 million revenue shortfall in Connecticut's state budget for this fiscal year, which already has a projected deficit. Full Story
Over the past three years, 80-year-old Lucy Nevin's Medicare plan has gone from $9 a month to $39. And that doesn't even include the prescription medications she and her husband need each month that cost between $30 to $60......
Cities and towns statewide are facing higher costs for keeping roads safe this winter. The price of rock salt, used to melt ice on roads, has skyrocketed to 71.
The price of rock salt, used to melt ice on roads, has skyrocketed to 71.77 cents per ton, up from 54.24 cents per ton last year.
Stamford has spent nearly twice as much on rock salt as last year, according to city Director of Operations Benjamin Barnes.
This year, the city ordered $430,260 worth of salt from Morton International. In 2007, the order totaled $220,000, Barnes said.
The 2008 purchase nearly reached the $500,000 budgeted for salt this fiscal year, Barnes said.
"We pretty much blew our entire salt budget on that purchase," Barnes said. "We saved a little bit because we have to buy some other products."
Other municipalities are feeling the pinch as well. In Darien, town officials purchased 500 tons of salt from Morton at 71.77 cents per ton. Price increases for salt are common, but this year's spike was much higher than usual, Darien Assistant Director of Public Works Darren Oustafine said. From 2006 to 2007, the price rose only 1.49 cents per ton. In comparison, this year the town experienced a jump of 22.38 cents, a 32 percent increase.
Fortunately, Darien still has a salt reserve from last year, Oustafine said. The stockpile is likely to last through the winter, but Darien officials are willing to add to the salt budget if this winter brings more icy weather than expected, he said.
"If we need more money we get it because we can't leave ice on the roads," Oustafine said. "We have a budget that we work from every year, but we never know how much it's going to snow."
Gov. M. Jodi Rell has asked the state Department of Consumer Protection to investigate the price increase. Rich Harris, a spokesman for the governor's office, said the office does not suspect price fixing.
"Nobody is suggesting there's any kind of market manipulation here," Harris said.
In Stamford, city officials said they hope this year's stockpile will last through the winter. There is enough salt for about "six major storms," Barnes said. Last year, the city ran out of salt before the end of the season, and the price had risen from the previous fall, Barnes said.....
SOUTH GATE, Calif.—A 14-year-old boy is dead after a van jumped a curb and crashed into several students at a bus stop in Southern California.
Scheduled to be taken up by the Board of Selectmen in January, the ordinance would create child safety zones in many places where minors are present and would allow police to issue summons to registered sex offenders found loitering.
Each summons would carry a $100 fine per incident and give police authority to detain the person for questioning, which proponents of the ordinance said could help avert crimes against children.
"It's important to protect children, particularly in an area they should be free of any harm," First Selectman Peter Tesei said.
Convicted sex offenders must register with the state Department of Public Safety, which maintains a registry with their names on its Web site.
While there were only three convicted sex offenders listed as living in Greenwich on the registry, the ordinance's proponents said that there are nearly 5,000 statewide.
"We're hoping what it will do is prevent something really bad from happening in this town," said Keith Hirsch, a police neighborhood resource officer for the western part of town who helped craft the proposal with his former partner Robert McKiernan, a detective.
Hirsch said that the child safety zones, marked with signs, would likely be chosen by the selectmen with input from law enforcement and the school board.
STAMFORD - Almost three weeks after the light poles containing their basket-like nests came down, the monk parakeets at Cummings Park have shown no sign of moving to four nesting platforms constructed for them by the city.
Nelida Martinez, an immigrant from Argentina, spent three years learning English, studying American history and civics to pass her United States citizenship test this September.
NEW YORK - Plaxico Burress arrived at a police station early Monday morning, where he was expected to be charged after accidentally shooting himself in the right thigh.
Pet project
At this time of year, it is not uncommon for area animal shelters or organizations to hear from families looking to adopt a pet.
At this time of year, it is not uncommon for area animal shelters or organizations to hear from families looking to adopt a pet.
For some, a puppy or older dog represents the perfect holiday gift. But for those who work with animals, it is perhaps the worst time for a family to bring in a new pet, particularly if they haven't done their homework.
Dr. Steve Zeide, owner and veterinarian at Bull's Head Pet Hospital in Stamford, says
While you're standing in line at your local supermarket, waiting to crush your cans and bottles for money, it seems unimaginable that some consumers don't seek the return of their nickel deposits.
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