02/22/08 - News Reports From Greenwich Time

Painting program encourages children to use their imaginations

By Meredith Blake

Jessica Aselin, 7, placed her stuffed brown puppy May in front of her and carefully traced its features -- the long face and floppy ears -- onto the dog in her painting.

She was asked to create a story on paper, using tempera paint, during a children's program at the Bush-Holley Historic Site, and May was the main character.....
Former choir director sentenced to 5 1/2 years in child porn case

By Martin B. Cassidy

After owning up to 40 years of sexually abusing minors overseas and viewing hundreds more in illicit pictures, Robert F. Tate, the former Christ Church Greenwich music director caught with child pornography, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison yesterday.

"There are many people who, all my life, thought I was a good choir master and a good person and a good example for their kids," Tate, 66, said. "I want those people to know today that I was a terrible choir master, a terrible person and I harmed those kids."

As Christ Church parishioners and lawyers looked on, Tate told U.S. District Court Judge Alan Nevas that he never assaulted choir members under his instruction at the church, but did have sex with boys in Thailand, the Philippines and Costa Rica. He also said he knowingly hired two pedophiles to work in the Christ Church choir, standing by when they assaulted choir boys and then quietly firing them.....

Music director's love of music inspires him to travel the world
By Meredith Blake

Trekking alone across the Karakoram Range, Christopher Kabala learned about a new culture, largely unaffected by the world events unfolding just hours away.

"This is not the Pakistan that you read about in the papers," he said, "It is one of the most peaceful places in the world."

Kabala, 61, a pianist, and music director at the Round Hill Community Church, traveled to the country last August to go trekking....
Two teens hurt in crash

By Hoa Nguyen

Two Greenwich teenagers were in critical condition and two other people were hospitalized for minor injuries following a three-car accident yesterday on East Putnam Avenue in Cos Cob.

The accident involving a dark red Jeep sport utility vehicle, gray Volvo sedan and gray Subaru station wagon, occurred shortly before 6 p.m. by the Citgo gas station in Cos Cob, police said.

The SUV carrying the teenagers was traveling west when it struck the Volvo and then the Subaru, police said. The roof of the SUV was ripped open, and one of the teenagers was ejected, officials said