10:19pm–#Bridgeport–Report of heavy smoke coming from a structure to the right of 127 Jones Street. UPDATE:Home behind this house has a wood burning stove and the smoke may have been drifting to the house in question.
2:35pm–#Bridgeport–Report of a motorcyclist struck by a car at Seaview and Adams Street, cyclist is have difficulty breathing. EMTs on the way.
12:03–#Bridgeport–AMR on the way to Bullard Haven HS for a player with a dislocated finger.
11:53am–#Bridgeport–Ugh, AMR sending an ambulance to Central High for a player with a spinal injury.
1:39am–#Fairfield–Fight outside Penny’s Diner on Black Rock Turnpike. Police on the way.
Over 20 people in line since 7am. The store opens at midnight.
Over 20 people gave up their Thanksgiving family gatherings to gather at Best Buy on Connecticut Avenue to be the first in line for Black Friday specials at the store. Most everyone we spoke to said they were waiting to get the 42″ TV on sale for $199. The online advertisement says there will be 10 per store. The people in the front of the line started gather at 7am Thanksgiving morning. The store will open at midnight.
Not even a week after a devastating fire at Saugatuck Congregational Church on Post Road East in Westport, the Thanksgiving was relocated and held down the street at Christ and Holy Trinity Church at 75 Church Lane. Over 250 people turned out for the feast in addition to another 100 or so shut ins the church will deliver later today.
After stuffing yourself with turkey and all the trimmings come join Treeman and DoingItLocal.com at 5pm Thanksgiving Day for the official light up of the 2011 Christmas display. The house is on Roseville Terrace right off Black Rock Turnpike (just down the road from Chips). I will be there recording everyone’s expressions for an upcoming special on this amazing home! I hope to see you there! The display at Roseville Terrace will be lit up every night until New Years Day.
Exact location: geo:lat=41.17513714203662 geo:lon=-73.2402840256691
“After five months of negotiations with various guilds, hundreds of presentations to potential financial and technology partners, and a hope that we could pioneer a new network for the future, it is with great disappointment that we are suspending our aspirations to revive One Life to Live and All My Children via online distribution,” said Prospect Park’s Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinez in a joint statement issued Wednesday. Read full story……
Written by Nancy Doniger Bridgeport News– Video Steve Krauchick DoingItLocal.com
A familiar voice that greeted a generation of Bridgeport area residents as they began each work day but suddenly went silent in 2007 is back on the airwaves.
John LaBarca’s big personality was, for all intents and purposes, the morning voice of WICC AM for 20 years, and its absence left a void. (Video produced by DoingItLocal.com)
John LaBarca
Now LaBarca, 64, of Stratford, has returned to State Street in downtown Bridgeport as morning show host at AM 1530 WDJZ, interactive leased time radio. The 5,000-watt station reaches 65% of Connecticut and streams live at WDJZradio.com.
LaBarca’s down-to-earth tone and exuberant style once again exudes a local presence and reassuring quality, almost as though he was never gone.
“It feels great,” LaBarca said during a weekend interview. “People want to hear a real person in the morning — a human being talking to another human being.”
His new show began with a soft opening Monday, Nov. 14, and will be broadcast each weekday from 7 to 10 a.m. He will host his original “Italian House Party” Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Some people grew up listening to me until corporate took over and lost sight of the relevancy of what AM radio is about,” he said. “Rather than relating to the audience they chose shows where people yell at each other or talk real fast. AM radio has been formatted to death.”
He wasn’t the only one let go; other veteran broadcasters also found themselves out of a job. LaBarca said his new show would do things differently and relate to people interactively with the full support of management.
Every 15 minutes listeners will hear top stories, weather, traffic reports and sports updates. His morning show, John LaBarca and Friends, also features fellow long-time broadcasters Matt Levine and Bill Buchner.
“The three of us have a great rapport in the studio doing the show,” he said. “We have conversations and will make an effort to really entertain the audience every day.”
After LaBarca’s job at WICC suddenly ended four years ago, he landed a job at 1400 WSTC/1350 WNLK in Norwalk. He worked there until recently, when the long-time local stations became NPR affiliates upon their sale to WSHU.
In the beginning, LaBarca thought he would do the Italian House Party at WNLK one day a week and sleep in and take off the rest of the week.
“I said never again,” he said about hosting another daily show.
But as time went by he began to miss it and wanted something more, leading to his becoming morning news host on WNLK.
But LaBarca’s new show will not be a carbon copy of his old show.
“You’re got to reinvent yourself every day,” he said. “I want to change and be more interactive and have people on the station who are experts in their field. They can have their own show.”
Mike Raub, a former colleague at WNLK, produces LaBarca’s show on WDJZ and said the station would be adding more live shows very soon.
“John’s back home again,” Raub said. “He was a huge personality in Bridgeport for two decades, and we’re bringing him back to the city.”
LaBarca is excited about being back in the city where he has many personal and collegial ties.
“I live five minutes from work,” he said. “I had to get up at 3 a.m. to do the show in Norwalk. It feels so good to be home.”
A day after a major fire swept through the Saugatuck Congregational Church in Westport church officials moved forward with relocating their annual Thanksgiving and rebuilding their church.
Shortly after 3pm Monday firefighters were called to a structure fire at 533 Gregory Street. Initial reports also said that pit bull puppies were on a second floor porch but the report turned up to be false. Fire officials suspect that copper thieves were trying to burn off the insulation off wires causing the blaze. The fire marshal was called to the scene to further investigate.
Shortly before 10pm Westport firefighters responded to a fire at the Saugatuck Congregational Church located at 245-265 Post Road East. Fire departments from Norwalk, Fairfield even came to assist in battling the blaze. The fire appears to have been confined to the rear of the church where the administrative offices and meeting rooms are located. Scanner transmissions indicate heavy water damage that were bowing ceilings.
Reverend Howie Toback senior minister said there is no chance for the turkey dinner at the church this week, but Communications Liason Mary Ann West said the dinner that served over 350 last year will be held somewhere to be determined later. The church had thirty turkeys that were defrosting that were destroyed in the fire. Saugatuck Congregational Church is also famous for their Field Of Flags each Memorial Weekend.
Mutual aid firefighters did not leave the scene until after 2:30a.m. The Connecticut State Police Fire Marshal arrived on scene to begin their investigation to the cause of the fire.
New Haven– 1 dead 3 injured as U-Haul truck strikes tailgaters at Lot D near 81 Central avenue at the Yale/Harvard Game. Police confirm a 30-year-old Massachusetts woman was killed in the accident. Read full story….. WARNING–VIDEO OF VICTIMS DOWN:
