Month: January 2012

Another multifamily house fire in Bridgeport this morning.  A good video report by Kent Pierce of WTNH.  Firefighters faced some cold weather challenges.  No injuries and a life was actually added because of the fire!

With politicians stuck on a partisan tug of war over Bridgeport and New Britain, the redrawing of Connecticut’s congressional districts — constitutionally mandated to follow each federal census — has fallen to the Connecticut Supreme Court to resolve.

On Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, the court appointed Professor Nathaniel Persily as the “special master” who will assist the court in resolving the redistricting issue. He is the Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law and Political Science at Columbia University Law School.

Read full article…..

FAIRFIELD — After eight months on the job as the state’s executive director of special revenue and gaming, former First Selectman Kenneth Flatto has resigned to take a position with the Jewish Home for the Elderly.   Read full story…

Two families at 33 Orange Street in Bridgeport are left out in the cold as a fire swept through the two family home around 10pm Tuesday night.  Occupants told me they thought a tenant on the 2nd floor put a cigarette into the trash that may not have been fully extinguished.  Assistant Fire Chief Dominick Carfi could not verify this being so early in the investigation but said there was a trash can in the back and that it was in fact fully involved.  Fire fighters did rescue a dog and reunited him with his owner.  It was not determined how many were left homeless from the fire.  No firefighters were injured.  Icing conditions were a concern, I noticed it was 17 degrees when I returned to my car.

Although this is not a local to Connecticut story this commercial  has been playing almost non stop on Connecticut air waves during the holidays….it  was bugging me…..I’ve seen this pretty face before. I sometimes meet hundreds of people a week so I had to investigate. Turns out I was right I’ve seen her on the the video that went viral this year called the People of Walmart.  The video pokes fun of photos taken of customers of Walmart in all sorts of interesting outfits. There is an actual website called the People of Walmart. If you haven’t been here before you will be stunned at how people will leave their home to go shopping!  You will probably spend a lot of time with wide eyes!

Her name is Jessica Frech and she has had over 12 million views on her YouTube account last year.  All though she has that “girl next door” look, put a little makeup and a wig and she looks totally different.  Look closely at the Walmart video and Hyundai commercial.    Jessica is currently a college student trying to gather enough funds to produce an album of her songs.  See here website here.  The Hyundai commercial was her first professional video, all the other video she produced herself with the help of her family.    Her Youtube channel is worth a look at her talent.  She parodies not only Walmart but airport security, Harry Potter even  to a deep desire to use the restroom on the freeway! As a professional video producer I find her creativity well above average.

Magazine/Website Adweek was not so kind in their opinion with the ad: “It’s basically an old-school FreeCreditReport.com-style jingle, but without the addictive hook. You can’t really blame the agency, Innocean, because Frech says she was in charge creatively from beginning to end. ”  I’m sure the bottom line will be how many people went to a Hyundai dealership as a result of the commercial.  I’m certain this won’t be the last time we see Jessica online or on TV.

As we were first to report right after the shooting around 4am New Years morning.    We had the first cameras on scene shortly after 4am and WTNH used our footage in this report.

 

 

An early morning  fire Monday destroyed the Somers Congregational United Church of Christ.  The church burned to the ground.    The fire department was originally called for smoke coming from the basement, there was no one inside the church.  There were no injuries battling the blaze.  The historic church dates to 1842 and the congregation dates to 1727.   Sunday night,  congregants jammed into the town hall auditorium across the street Monday afternoon to pray, sing and discuss the future of the church.  <object width=”420″ height=”315″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/SVsRpzaH_io?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/SVsRpzaH_io?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”420″ height=”315″ allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true”></embed></object>

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1:20pm–#Fairfield–Report of a 16 year old son attacking his mother with scissors at 238 Mill Hill Road. Police were at this address last night for a verbal argument. There has been previous domestic calls here as well. Parties are separated and son is now in the backyard.  One in custody.

12:28–#Fairfield–A man has just been assaulted at Bill’s Crossroads Cafe- 12 Tunxis Hill Rd. He was unconscious but has come to. He was assaulted by a white male who fled in a white pickup truck which fled on Brookfield Avenue the wrong way. The truck may have the word “rat” on it. Police canvassing the area.

3:28pm–#Westport–Fire officials were called to Bank Of America on Post Road East for a natural gas leak in the basement. The bank was evacuated while fire officials investigated.

2:25pm–#Norwalk #ctfire–Power is out on Main Avenue due to a transformer explosion. Central Kitchen(352 Main Ave.) is now filling with smoke an upgrading to structure fire. No fire or smoke was found.

2:21pm–#Stratford–Call to fire department of two men on the ice on on the river on River Road just south of Sikorsky. Fire department is conducting an ice rescue on Peck’s Mill Pond and believes this is what the caller called in. Fire department double checking the river, there is no ice formed yet.

We will be producing a category and videos for houses of worship for at no charge. It is intended to give people in the community a chance to see what your service is like and what is offered (i.e. kids program, bible study). If you think your church would like to be featured please have a church leader contact us at doingitlocal.com@gmail.com or call 203-769-6961….Steve

1:12pm–#Bridgeport–Report of heavy smoke at 60 Hawthorne Street. UPDATE–Turns out to be a wood burning stove at the rear of the structure, no fire no hazard.

12:46pm–#Bridgeport–Report of a car crashing into a tree Atlantic St. and Iranistan Ave.

10:55am–#Fairfield–Police are investigating counterfeit bills passed at Sweet Rexie’s candy store located at 1552 Post Road over the weekend.

1:10am–Report of a car crashing into the woods on Melville Avenue across from Tunxis Hill Park. The driver has fled the scene.  Update–The car is apparently a rental.  Police are working with the rental company to determine who was driving the vehicle.   Usually a crashed car without a driver is a stolen vehicle.  Special thanks to Jessica Reyes Becker for providing the photo.

5:15pm–#Fairfield–Fire department has been at 68 South Street for over an hour due to an activated carbon monoxide detector. Additional ladder truck was sent. Gas company has arrived and EMTs requested at normal travel to the location.–UPDATE–6:22pm–Fire department still on scene with a second gas company representative. EMTs checked the children out and they are fine.

4:14pm–#Bridgeport–A silver Mercedes struck a boy on his bike at Hazelwood Avenue and Wood Avenue. Witnesses say the boy seemed badly hurt. The driver put the child and his bicycle in his car and sped off. It is unknown if he took the child to a hospital. Police are investigating.

4:02pm–#Bridgeport #ctfire–Fire department responded to an activated fire alarm at the Peacock Cafe at Beardsley Zoo. Officials not sure of fowl play as there was no smoke or fire…..yes, it’s a slow news day.

Two youths were injured when they drove their dirt bike shortly after 8:15pm Sunday night. The accident occurred on the Capitol Avenue, the block between Park Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard. The injuries do not appear to be serious as the second ambulance arrived with no lights or sirens. It is unknown at this time if the dirt bike had lights or if it were registered to operate on a public street, police are investigating.

As we reported live as breaking news:

Fairfield Fire Department responded to I-95 Northbound approximately 1 mile before Exit 19 to the report of a motor vehicle accident. Fairfield Fire Department work in conjunction with Westport Fire Department at that single vehicle accident. The vehicle left the roadway and went over the guardrail continuing down a steep embankment through thick overgrowth and trees for approximately 100 feet before coming to rest on its roof. The driver of the vehicle was sitting on the guardrail and immediately treated by Westport EMS and AMR Ambulance and transported to the hospital.
Fairfield and Westport Fire departments stabilized the vehicle and assessed the 3 victims remaining in the vehicle. 2 victims were pronounced dead on the scene by fire personnel and confirmed by AMR paramedics. Both Fire Departments used extrication tools to access both sides of the vehicle gaining access to the one patient. Contact was established and treatment began.
Once the doors were removed the patient was removed onto a backboard and into a stokes basket. A Mechanical advantage rope rigging system was put into place that was used to haul the patient up the embankment. The patient was loaded into the ambulance and transported by AMR to the hospital. The two remaining bodies were then extricated and removed up the embankment to the roadway and secured to await the arrival of the State Medical Examiner.
The incident was then turned over to Connecticut State Police for investigation.