DoingItLocal

Just in time for the dinner rush around 5pm Sunday a car crashed into the front window of the newly opened 5 Guys Hamburgers in the Whole Foods Plaza at 340 Grasmere Ave. No one was injured. The picture window frame was bent but the structure remained intact and the restaurant remained opened.

Around midnight Saturday morning Stratford Firefighters were called to battle a two family house fire at 393/395 Columbus Avenue. When firefighters arrived the entire front portion of the left side of the duplex was fully involved and was extending into the right side of the duplex. Homeowner Anthony Scraders told us he was getting ready to go to bed when he was alerted to flames coming from his neighbors front door. Assistant Fire Chief Lance Edwards said firefighters did an phenomenal job extinguishing the fire and making sure everyone got out. Two families, about 10 people will need to find new housing after the fire forced officials to condemn the homes after the blaze. There were no injuries to firefighters, one woman in her sixties was transported to the hospital with difficulty breathing. She was not in the building when the fire broke out. The fire marshal was on scene and is beginning his investigation into the cause of the fire.

Around 11:15pm Bridgeport Firefighters responded to a fire at 896 Nobel Avenue Friday night.  Upon arrival the heavy smoke in the area challenged the firefighters in locating the correct apartment with the fire.   The located the fire in a bathroom on the second floor of 896 Nobel Avenue.   Firefighters hear there might be children trapped in the building but primary and secondary searches resulted negative in locating any one trapped in the apartments including pets.  Assistant Fire Chief Manuel Firpi told us that firefighters quickly contained the fire from spreading to then adjoining apartments.

45 million people in 2011 received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a 70% increase from 2007. It said the number of people receiving the benefits, commonly known as food stamps, would continue growing until 2014. Spending for the program, not including administrative costs, rose to $72 billion in 2011, up from $30 billion four years earlier. The CBO projected that one in seven U.S. residents received food stamps last year. Read Full Story…….

 

Shortly after 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon a moped was struck by a car at the intersection of Poplar and Dewey Street in Bridgeport. Witnesses tell me that the moped swerved wide to avoid being hit by another car that left the scene and he ran into the silver car in the process. The witness also said the man was under the car for a period of time which is why police were adamant about him being check by paramedics. Police are investigating.

Three adults were rescued by Bridgeport Fire Department’s water rescue team just after 12 noon Wednesday.  They reported to the Coast Guard that their boat were taking on water, all three were wearing their life jackets.   The Coast Guard reported an estimated 40 minute response time but Bridgeport quickly responded, brought the three to shore and had the boat towed as well.

Fairfield–Around 6:30pm Tuesday firefighters arrived to find a fire in the exterior rear of 673 Old Stratfield Road. The fire had traveled up approximately 15′ and a neighbor was attempting to extinguish it with buckets of water. Engine 2 attacked the fire with an 1 3/4″ hand line. Ladder 2 entered the structure and opened up a first floor wall to check for extension. There was minimal extension inside the wall bay and a portable extinguisher was used inside the house. The fire was extinguished it had burned a small portion of the deck, approximately 50 sq. ft. of siding and some shrubbery.
The fire appeared to originate in a planter sitting on the railing. The fire burned up the side of the house in a V pattern. There was some drop down into a landscaped area with mulch and shrubs. The occupant stated she was cleaning the house for her brother (the owner who was on vacation) had been smoking and placed a discarded cigarette into the planter. The planter contained a moss type material versus a pure dirt. She became alerted to the fire when saw smoke on the back deck area and went to investigate. Based on the witness statement, the physical evidence and burn pattern it was concluded that the discarded cigarette ignited the material in the planter and it spread to the vinyl siding and extended up the house. It was also determined to be accidental. There was approximately $6000 damage. There were no injuries to occupants or firefighters.

Protesters from many organized groups ascended on General Electric’s headquarters on Easton Turnpike in Faifield, CT around 4:30pm Tuesday.  About 70 protesters shouted slogans, played a game of tax dodge ball.  The protesters claim that General Electric has not paid taxes in the last decade and that it is time they paid their fair share.  The New York Times reported that in 2010 GE earned over $5 Billion but paid no federal taxes.

With temperatures reaching into the 80s on the shore and even warmer inland the local beaches were the place to be. Even late in the afternoon, 5pm when this photo was taken,  hundreds gathered to enjoy Fairfield’s Jennings Beach.   Don’t get  use to these temperatures just yet, it is foretasted the temps will gradually decrease over the week and lead up to some badly needed rain by the end of the week.

Veteran reporter Tony Spinelli has self-published a new non-fiction book on Scribd.com, his 7th on the popular self-publishing web site.
The book is “Pressing On: Building Muscle Past 50,” a guide to weight training, nutrition, exercise and nutritional supplements for mature
adults. Spinelli is a former state/regional-level drug-free bodybuilder and power-lifter who was sidelined by injuries. He returned to the sport
for exercise after recuperating from spinal surgery, and in his new book shares the training information that allows mature adults to
build muscle without injuring themselves, particularly in the lower back, which is the sensitive spot for most mature adults.
In the book, he also describes methods of exercise from the Asian martial arts to compliment the weight training. He is a Second Degree
Black Belt in Korean Hapkido, and is a Master/Teacher of Japanese Usui Reiki. He has also studied Yoga and meditation with instructors
including the late Sri Chinmoy.

Spinelli is a longtime journalist whose credits include the Valley Independent Sentinel, Connecticut Post, the AOL Patch online news
network, Associated Press, Hersam Acorn Publishing, Livestrong.com, Ask.com, national Real Estate Magazine, Fairfield County magazine,
Paranormal worldwide magazine, Alternative Global Energy industry journal, and the Smoking Gun Research Agency quarterly journal. He
studied electronic journalism and media studies at the University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has also worked directing local television commercials and a corporate film.
His six previous non-fiction works on Scribd include a free guide to self-publishing music on the Internet, and four volumes of his
collected blogs, detailing his experiences as a Christian outreach minister on the Web, now out of print.
Spinelli’s other interests include being an indie music artist. His latest indie album, “The Last Remake of Beau Geste,” his fifth in five
years, has spawned one No. 1 and two No. 2 hits on leading worldwide indie music station hardcoremix.com.