Meet In CommonNews

Local news in and around Watertown, CT

Prime Publishers, Inc. · Watertown, CT

Watertown High School to Present Coraline as Fall Play Beginning November 12

WATERTOWN – Watertown High School will present Coraline for their fall play. Show times are November 12, 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. and November 14 at 2 p.m. in the WHS auditorium. Senior Charlotte Gowell adapted the movie to a stage play and also directs. Mia Melendez is choreographer. Avani Hellmann and Chad Feliciano are the music directors. Emily Cronan and Tris Brown are stage managers. Approximately 73 Watertown High school students are involved with Caroline. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door and online at https://gofan.co/app/school/CT17501_1 × Post a comment as anonymous × Report × Stop watching this discussion. (0) comments Welcome to the discussion. Log In Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice.

Highlands Current · Terryville, CT

Nearby: Terryville, CT

Patricia Anne Byron (1946-2026)

It is with profound sadness that the family of Patricia Anne Byron of Cold Spring, New York, announces her passing on Nov. 1, 2026, at the age of 80. Pat was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on Sept. 8, 1946, to Emmett Byron and Eleanor “Nell” Byron. She grew up in Terryville, Connecticut, and Providence. Patricia was a beloved mother and grandmother whose intense intellect, sharp wit and compassion touched the lives of so many, near and far. She was, simply put, brilliant, having learned to read the newspaper at the age of 3, sitting on her grandfather’s lap. Pat was a voracious reader throughout her life, generally consuming a book every day or two. She also was an editor for authors and nonprofits throughout her life. In Cold Spring, she loved visiting Butterfield Library, and when the walk became too far for her in later years, she appreciated their weekly deliveries of new material for her to enjoy.

Lakeville Journal · Litchfield, CT

Nearby: Litchfield, CT

Jennifer Terzian’s sanctuary for contemporary art

The gallery is really meant to create a very intimate relationship with the artist and the story behind their work. —Jennifer TerzianOn a recent crisp, fall afternoon in Litchfield, Jennifer Terzian welcomed a steady stream of collectors, artists, and art-world insiders into her jewel box of an art space on South Street, just off the town’s manicured historic Green. The occasion was an opening for Jenny Kemp, an artist noted for balancing fluidity and structure in her abstractions through repetition, variation, and gradual shifts in hue. Hers is exactly the kind of tactile, process-driven work Terzian champions at a subterranean space that feels less like a commercial art gallery and more like stumbling into an impeccably edited sanctuary of contemporary thought. “I don’t really consider myself a traditional gallerist,” explained Terzian, a Southern California native who moved to Connecticut in 2008.

The Oxford Eagle · Oxford, CT

Nearby: Oxford, CT

Ole Miss game at Oklahoma moved to Sunday

OKLAHOMA CITY — While the rest of the Southeastern Conference and college football will be playing on Saturday, No. 19 Ole Miss and Oklahoma will be waiting a day. A nationwide ground flight ground stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday that lasted over four hours upended travel plans for people across the country and the trickle down effect hit college football. Ole Miss was unable to make their regularly scheduled 90-minute flight from Tupelo to Oklahoma City and sat in Oxford for hours waiting for the ground stop to end. It did end a little after 7 p.m. CT but the Rebels remained in Oxford Friday night, causing the Southeastern Conference to make the decision to push Saturday’s game – scheduled for a 3:15 p.m. CT kickoff – to Sunday at Noon CT. This was a decision that was strongly objected to by Oklahoma and its athletic director, Roger Denny.

Lakeville Journal · Torrington, CT

Nearby: Torrington, CT

Police Blotter: Troop B

The following information was provided by the Connecticut State Police at Troop B. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. North Canaan DUI A 21-year-old driver was charged with driving under the influence after a single-vehicle crash on Casey Hill Road early Nov. 3, state police said. Troopers responding to an automatic crash notification found that Samuel Green had been driving north near the intersection with Route 44 when his Ford F-150 struck a Frontier utility pole, left the road and came to rest atop a dirt mound, police said. Green, the vehicle’s sole occupant, had no reported injuries. He is scheduled to appear Nov. 13 in Torrington Superior Court. North Canaan possession of a controlled substance Police arrested a Torrington man in North Canaan on Nov. 8 for alleged possession of a controlled substance after a routine traffic stop investigating an equipment violation.

Lakeville Journal · Kent, CT

Nearby: Kent, CT

Original art, attainable prices

There’s a corner of YouTube populated by real-time footage of high-dollar art sales from prestigious New York and London auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips. Hundreds of thousands of viewers routinely watch with rapt attention, popcorn and cocktails in hand, as recognizable pieces from art history make their way to the upper echelons of grossly unattainable hammer prices. Pieces can often start with opening bids of tens of thousands of dollars and work their way up to multiple millions. Bidding increments alone can grow to sums unattainable for the average American family in several lifetimes. Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent, Connecticut, wants to help make fine art more accessible. The 2026 version of the gallery’s annual “Cool and Collected” exhibition is subtitled “The Gift Edit” and features dozens of works by fine artists at prices that are much more in reach than an art-world outsider might expect. More than 30 artists contributed pieces to the show.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

As Vote Nears, Alders Divided Over Short-Term Rental Rules

A proposal to ban most Airbnb-style short-term rentals in New Haven is in limbo as the Board of Alders weighs several possible amendments changing the scope of the ordinance. A final vote on the proposed ordinance is currently scheduled for Monday night, although facing a rare magnitude of dissent, aldermanic leadership may decide to delay the matter. The proposed ordinance would prohibit landlords from operating “short-term rentals” — units leased for 30 or fewer days “for exclusive transient use” — outside of the housing unit in which they personally reside. In other words, a homeowner or long-term tenant would still be able to apply for a license to rent out rooms in their own apartment to temporary tenants, or list their home on sites like Vrbo or Airbnb while they are out of town. But owner-occupants of multi-family houses would not be able to legally operate a short-term rental in an apartment upstairs or downstairs from their home.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Opinion: New Haven’s Short-Term Rental Rules Get The Design Right

I didn’t set out to write about New Haven. Recently, New Haven Is Not For Sale, a coalition of local organizations led by New Haven Rising, asked my project, Inside Airbnb, for its data on short-term rentals in the city, as hundreds of researchers, journalists and community groups do every year. The data showed years of growth with almost no regulation. Once I had read the proposed ordinance, we agreed it would help New Haven residents to hear what the numbers show and what the ordinance would do, from someone who has studied short-term rentals and how cities around the world regulate them. Since 2015 I have tracked listings and interviewed the policymakers who write the rules and the enforcement teams who make them work. New Haven’s alders will soon vote on OR-2026-0039. It would end short-term rentals of 30 days or less in homes that no one lives in, and keep home-sharing legal for residents who rent rooms in the homes they live in.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Opinion: New Haven Needs Housing Solutions, Not Housing Restrictions That Only Help Hotels

New Haven is near and dear to my heart. It will always be home. It’s where I was living when Covid-19 struck and where I did my graduate studies, eventually earning my MBA. I arrived in 2016, first renting in Prospect Hill with too many roommates, before moving to Dixwell and then off of State Street in East Rock. The first place was Pike-owned, so unsurprisingly I had to navigate housing court just to get my deposit returned. I realized then how crucial it is that renters have rights and the right to sublet, whether short-term or long-term, is one New Haven renters should have. Subletting is a primary method for renters to offset costs and that must be recognized. On Oct. 6, Alders Leland Moore, Frank Douglass, and Mandy Martinelli proposed a ban on short-term rentals in New Haven, as written this ban also limits renters. Let’s Look At The Data I understand the frustration driving this. The cost of living is simply out of control, with housing costs a chief driver.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Broken Windows Thuggery

(Opinion) They came to smash windows, brutalize members of groups they scapegoat for the nation’s woes, haul them away to cruel detention camps, set the stage for mass round-ups. That’s what mobs did in Germany in 1938 in the violent Kristallnacht window-smashing pogrom that set the stage for the Holocaust. We hold events every year so we won’t forget what happened and repeat the past. We held one such event last Sunday to mark the anniversary. Meanwhile, a new mob of masked lawless scapegoating xenophobes continued smashing windows in New Haven this week to remind us … that we need to be reminded. In hopes that we can prevent history from not just echoing but repeating itself.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Alders Back Bid For Local Power To Ban Nips

A Board of Alders committee unanimously backed a resolution Thursday night asking state lawmakers to let New Haven and other Connecticut cities and towns ban the sale of nips — the tiny liquor bottles that litter city streets, parks, and storm drains. The City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) Committee voted 6–0 to send the resolution to the full Board of Alders. If the board approves it, the request goes to the state legislature and the governor. “It’s a request for enabling legislation,” said Kathy Fay, who presented the resolution at City Hall with fellow environmental advocate Laura Cahn. “It’s not asking that the alders immediately move to banning in New Haven. It’s giving the alders that option, which they don’t have.” The resolution would not ban nips in New Haven. Under state law, cities and towns can’t prohibit nip sales on their own. The resolution asks the Connecticut General Assembly to pass a law giving each municipality the option.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Students To School Board: “We Demand Accountability”

The following letter was submitted to the Board of Education on Monday by Dani McTiernan Huge, a student representative on the city’s school board and a junior at Wilbur Cross High School. The letter addresses the district’s response to Hillhouse Assistant Principal Daniel Bonet’s alleged sexual assault of a student during school hours. Dear New Haven Public Schools Board of Education Members, It has been almost five months since Jane Doe, a student at Hillhouse High School, was reportedly sexually assaulted by Hillhouse Assistant Principal Daniel Bonet in his office during school hours. She was brave enough to report this to Hillhouse staff who are mandatory reporters. They then honored their obligation by reporting this up, where it reached Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Hillhouse principal, and New Haven police. You would think that after this report, the Hillhouse assistant principal would not be allowed access to Hillhouse’s building or its students.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Opinion: What Is A Neighborhood Without Neighbors?

Rent rises are unprecedented. Regulating short-term rentals can help slow the climb and keep our neighbors in their homes. (Opinion) I grew up in a small town where community meant showing up on a neighbor’s porch with a warm meal when life got hard. When I moved to New Haven, a city of neighborhoods, I was relieved to find that exact same spirit in a bigger city. When I was in need, my neighbors dropped everything to make sure I was not alone. Having neighbors who were deeply rooted on our street is what truly made me feel at home — and protecting those rooted communities is why I serve as alder for Ward 8. This is my chosen home. Since the pandemic, there has been a fundamental switch in how we value our living spaces. Since 2020, rents in New Haven have risen 53 percent, from roughly $1,290 to nearly $2,000 a month, according to Zillow’s Observed Rent Index. We no longer just sleep in our homes; our work, our lives, and our entertainment happen inside them.

New Haven Independent · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Police Commission Updates Decade-Old Firearms Policy

The New Haven Police Department (NHPD) is transitioning to exclusively using pistols equipped with red-dot optics, under a general order approved by the Board of Police Commissioners at their monthly meeting on Tuesday. The new general order — which replaces the last firearms general order passed in 2016 — comes several months after the department purchased and began issuing new Glock 45 pistols to officers. Once the newly approved general order is signed by Police Chief David Zannelli, it will officially make the new firearm — equipped with a pistol-mounted optics — standard for all full-time personnel. “The policy is reflecting the new equipment and some small changes, but the substance of it is the same,” NHPD spokesperson Officer Christian Bruckhart wrote in an email, comparing the 2026 and 2016 policies. “It’s analogous to the department switching from Dodge Chargers to Durangos.

Amherst Bulletin · New Haven, CT

Nearby: New Haven, CT

Atkinson Family Practice founder abruptly departs after 21 years; Northampton office closes

AMHERST/NORTHAMPTON — Dr. Katherine Atkinson has left the Amherst and Northampton family practice she ran for more than two decades, a year and a half after selling it to keep it out of bankruptcy. “I would never leave my patients on short notice if I had any option,” Atkinson said in a phone interview with the Gazette. “I didn’t have options, and I’m devastated. I miss my patients and my practice.” Atkinson announced her departure in an Oct. 15 Facebook post. She declined to say why she left, noting that paperwork she signed when she sold the business bars her from discussing it in detail. She said retirement was not the reason. “If I was retiring, I would have done it with plenty of notice and tried to make sure that patients had everything they needed to,” Atkinson said. Public business records list Dr. Piyush Gupta as owner of Atkinson Family Practice, as well as CEO of healthcare company Sevi Health based in New Haven, Connecticut.