Fairfield County | featured news

Some residents in Southwestern Connecticut woke up to a white Christmas, while for others it was just wet.

The wintery mix forecast for Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex and New London overnight Christmas Eve, was largely rain, turning over to flurries by daybreak followed by clear skies.

As of 6 a.m. Christmas morning, there was a coating along the shoreline from Greenwich to New Haven, with freezing rain in Meriden, and rain turning over to snow in Oxford.

Oxford was left with about an inch of snow on the ground.

In Danbury, meanwhile, close to two inches of snow had fallen.

The following headlines and articles appeared in the Stamford Advocate decades ago on Dec. 25.

10 years ago

Shoppers enjoy the last-minute rush at newly expanded mall

The last official shopping day of the gift-giving season brought shoppers to Stamford Town Center yesterday, but nary a crowd nor cranky buyer was visible during an early afternoon visit.

Bonnie Akiri, 35, who was browsing a table of Christmas books in the new Barnes & Noble, said her lunchtime jaunt was not at all stressful.

“This is time to relax,” Akiri said.

REDDING - Some residents have recently questioned the size of the town’s police department and whether it’s needed in a mostly rural community like Redding. The 17-officer department costs the town about $2.4 million a year, money that some residents think could be better spent on other needs. At one recent meeting of the Board of Selectmen, resident Wolf Boehme proposed a return to the resident state trooper program, which the town used until about 15 years ago.

A Redding administrator has been named the 2018 Middle School Assistant Principal of the Year by the Connecticut Association of Schools. Darlene Wallin, this year’s winner, is the assistant principal at John Read Middle School. She was nominated for the award by Diane Martin, the school’s principal. Wallin has also served as the school climate coordinator since 2011 and is the newly appointed School climate specialist for the five schools that make up the Easton, Redding and Region 9 districts.

STAMFORD-After 16 months in jail, a former Manhattan attorney was given time served for robbing a Greenwich bank and was extradited to New York for the trying to rob another bank in Manhattan.

On Friday, Meighan McSherry, 48, made guilty pleas to felony charges of second-degree robbery and second-degree larceny before Judge Gary White at the Stamford courthouse Friday morning. In return for the pleas, she was given a six-year suspended sentence and four-years probation.

STAMFORD — City police seized eight pounds of marijuana worth about $20,000, two handguns and nearly $2,000 in cash during a bust this week in Newfield.

Capt. Richard Conklin said officers in the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad became aware of a man recently selling large amounts of marijuana in the Newfield neigborhood. They heard the man was using a house across the street to store between 10 and 15 pounds of pot.

The officers began watching a home on Pepper Ridge Road Wednesday night and saw a man walk to a home across the street, Conklin said.

STAMFORD — Police are searching for a shoplifter who pulled what appears to be a pellet gun on a man giving chase in Glenbrook just before noon Thursday.

A K-9 search of the area turned up some clothing the shoplifter was wearing along with a pellet gun.

Stamford police said the owner of Glenbrook News & Variety at 332 Hope Street reported a shoplifting incident involving three young males at about 11:45 a.m.

The owner of the store Shahil Kastura said a young black male appeared at his counter saying that he wanted to purchase four packages of vaporizer products for $80.

DANBURY — Danbury police located man lost in the woods off Sugar Hollow Road late Wednesday, but are still searching for a state police canine that was lost in the search.

The 42-year-old man with autism ran into the woods near the Wooster Mountain State Park at around 1 p.m. Wednesday after getting into a fight with his mother. But shortly after state police entered the woods around 5 p.m.

STAMFORD — A former general manager of a Springdale ice skating facility has pleaded guilty in federal court to bilking nearly a half million dollars from the business.

Mark Zito, of Shelton, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty this week in New Haven federal court to one count of wire fraud.

Stamford police financial crimes investigator Heather Bozenkto said Zito had been stealing the money from the owners of Stamford Twin Rinks for 15 years.

The scheme involved Zito collecting commissions for the advertising dollars that he generated for the rink, Bozenkto said.

STAMFORD-A Westport man in jail since his arrest on a home invasion charge for breaking into his girlfriend’s home in 2016, was sentenced at the Stamford courthouse Wednesday to 30 months in jail.