Police release bank photos of suspects

MILFORD — Two men robbed a Merwin Avenue bank at gunpoint this morning, making off with cash after forcing the manager to open the vault, police said.
No one was injured during the 10:32 a.m. robbery at Webster Bank, 314 Merwin Ave., but the two robbers also forced employees into a corner of the building before they both fled out a back door, police said. Investigators are still determining how much money was taken.
Police are looking for a large black SUV that had been parked on Dunbar Road, near the bank. Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call the Milford Police Department Detective Division at (203) 877-1465.
Read more about this story in Thursday’s edition of the New Haven Register and here at www.nhregister.com.

NEW HAVEN — Food and international wines will be served at a benefit for the 2009 Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Jan. 30 at Anthony’s Ocean View, 450 Lighthouse Road. The event is sponsored by Anthony’s and Grand Vin Wine & Spirits. Host will be Sonia Baghdady, WTNH news anchor. Tickets are $45 and are available by contacting Bernadette Smyth Lafrance at 843-7062 and lafranceb@comcast.net or Briana Conway at Briway101@aol.com. To purchase tickets online, or for ongoing information about parade events, visit http://www.stpatricksdayparade.org/

In photo: 2009 parade Grand Marshal, Brian Enright, stand with News Channel 8 anchor Sonia Baghdady, and 2008 St. Patrick’s Day Parade Queen, Briana Conway.

MILFORD - City resident Priscilla Lynn, happiness facilitator of The Happiness Club of Greater Milford, announces the launch of the club's social networking site, at http://www.happinessclubmilford.ning.com/.

"Internet social networking sites are just so the 'in thing', and wonderfully effective for developing interactive communications. After being asked by so many - so often - what social Web sites I was on, I decided to launch my own! On the
ning.com Web presence you can launch a social networking site for free," Lynn said in a statement.

Lynn launched the Milford chapter in September 2008, saying she was inspired by the positive and long-lasting effect upon those who attend these events and the "happiness is contagious" philosophy.

The Milford chapter meets from 6 to 8 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at The Golden Hill Health Care Center.

The Happiness Club was founded by Lionel Ketchian of Fairfield (see http://www.happinessclub.com/) in 2000, and now has some 45 clubs, including international chapters. For more information on the Happiness Club of Greater Milford chapter, call Lynn at (203) 767-3582, email plynn_135@hotmail.com, or visit http://www.happinessclubmilford.ning.com/.

The Connecticut Humane Society hopes to garner votes in a nationwide contest that, if it were to win, would bring in $10,000 towards the expansion of its Waterford shelter.
The America’s favorite animal shelter contest is sponsored by Care2.com.
The project includes a complete renovation of the Waterford shelter and infrastructure, additional sanctuary cottages for the Companion Animal Sanctuary, establishment of a second Fox Memorial Clinic, a quarantine facility, pet cemetery, and a nature trail, society officials said in a release.
The Connecticut Humane Society "continues to be dedicated to a mission that has remained unchanged since it’s founding; to promote the kindness and humanity toward people, animals and the environment" the statement said. The progressive improvements its makes to the organization as well as the creation of vanguard programs such as the Companion Animal Sanctuary and the Fox Memorial Clinic, are all designed to serve the neediest members of the population, pets that have no other place to go, the statement said.
Go to www.cthumane.org/vote to vote for CT Humane’s Waterford shelter. The contest deadline is Jan. 31.

MILFORD - The Happiness Club of Greater Milford will feature Stacey Krone Battat, a co-founder and president of KIWI Publishing, as the speaker at its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 at Golden Hill Health Care Center, 2028 Bridgeport Ave.

Battat is the inspiration behind the Thin Threads® story collection, for which KIWI Publishing has received thousands of stories since 2005, and is about to publish the first in the Thin Threads® book series – The Classic Edition.

Thin Threads® - Stories of Life Changing Moments – is about the moments that change the course of lives for the better and open new possibilities.

Battat for the past 10 years has created family education programs at non-profit organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, for students in grades 8 through 11, and their parents. Her topics range from social action and community involvement to Internet safety and self esteem.

Through her background in counseling and journalism Battat worked for cable and satellite television programming in New York and Israel, as a reporter and field producer. Through public speaking at seminars on balancing family life, Battat has helped hundreds of parents improve family communication skills while working with their spouses. Her mission has and continues to be about helping people tell their stories. She hopes to be a catalyst for helping others find new pathways to a better life.

“We are all surrounded by the simple yet miraculous stories that shape our lives. “Thin Thread Stories” will inspire readers to capture these moments, enabling us, as readers, to realize our own opportunities when we live in the moment… and become more aware of shaping our own destiny," she said.

The Happiness Club of Greater Milford is the local chapter of the international Happiness Club organization founded by Fairfield resident Lionel Ketchian. Monthly community socials for the Milford Chapter will be held the second Thursday of each month throughout 2009. In February, parking is available behind the Golden Hill Health Care Center and in the upper parking lot at the far rear lot behind Milford Hospital.

All ages are invited, and admission is free. Visitors should bring a food item to share, such as appetizer, munchie, or dessert. Coffee, water, and ice are provided, and BYOB is OK.

Attendees receive a free drawing ticket for door prizes, and various exhibitors will offer interesting displays.

For more information on the Happiness Club of Greater Milford, contact Priscilla Lynn at (203) 767-3582, email to plynn_135@hotmail.com, and also visit
www.happinessclubmilford.ning.com or http://www.happinessclub.com/. The next March Happiness Club social will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. March 12.

For more information on Kiwi Publishing, contact Battat at stacey@kiwipublishing.com, (203) 915-5208, or visit http://www.kiwipublishing.com/.

MILFORD - Family Chiropractor Victoria Rothenhausen will offer a free Trigger Point Massage and Natural Pain Relief Workshop at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18, at her office, #67 Turnpike Square. Space is limited and reservations are recommended. For more information call (203) 877-4655.

Rothenhausen has been providing family chiropractic care for 22 years and is active in many organizations, an event organizer said.

She was chosen to be honored as one of the “Twenty Noteworthy Women” of Greater New Haven County in 2008, and is a founding member of the Milford Chamber’s Health & Wellness Council. “I offer these free workshops as a service to the community. Past attendees have discovered a simple – yet amazing - process to relieve stress and pain naturally through Trigger Point Therapy," Rothenhausen said in a statement.

Author Elliott Storm will be doing a book signing on Jan. 24 and 25 at the the State American Legion Mid Winter Conference at the Marriott Hotel, 100 Capital Boulevard in Rocky Hill.

Storm, a Milford resident, U.S. Marine veteran of Vietnam and author of the book "These Scars are Sacred," has toured the country to share the story of healing it contains.

For more information, visit:

here

The "Ann Chernow - Picasso Project" that opens at Housatonic Communuity College Feb. 19 shows Chernow's works and the Picasso prints they relate to.

NEW EXHIBIT AT HOUSATONIC MUSEUM OF ART

BRIDGEPORT – “Ann Chernow- Picasso Project,” an exhibit of prints by Westport artist Ann Chernow that explores the printing techniques of Pablo Picasso, will be on display at the Housatonic Museum of Art Feb. 12-March 22.
The exhibit represents the creative collaboration of artist Chernow and master printer James Reed. Together, they explored the techniques used by Picasso, discovering new ways to replace toxic media used during Picasso's time, and incorporating them into Chernow's original works of art.
“Chernow and Reed have extended Picasso’s original methods,” said author Herbert Lust. “Going beyond Picasso’s images as a point of departure, they now have a compatibility with the drama of his printmaking.”
“Not having detailed information about the methods and materials used by Picasso and his printers, and given today’s constraints due to the banning of many formerly used toxic printmaking materials, Chernow and Reed have created an astonishingly varied body of work which is both a homage to Picasso and an original and provocative oeuvre.”
In printmaking, the artist works on the equivalent of a plate, be it stone, metal, linoleum, wood, or another substance. Then, the “plate” is inked, and the finished work of art printed. The finished work reflects both the artist’s creation on the plate and the master printer’s skills in printing the work.
“It is important to understand that copying Picasso was not the intent of this project,” Chernow says. “All images are experiments that were attempts to render the ‘look’ of certain surfaces and attain the dramas of certain Picasso prints.”
The project began in 2002, when Chernow and Reed were admiring an original Picasso lithograph entitled “White Bust on Black.”
“This dramatic black and white lithograph had an extraordinary visual energy,” Chernow says. “I wanted to produce a similar print using my own subject matter. It looked deceptively easy to do.”
Reed, however, told her it was much more complicated than it looked. The pair then began to experiment to determine how Picasso arrived at the print. Their first three attempts were less than pleasing: they did not result in the ‘look’ of the Picasso work.
They then turned to the book Picasso Lithographs by Fernand Mourlot, which noted basic information for the technique used for each image. “I decided to delve further into producing a series of prints that would emulate the ‘look’ of a varied group of lithographs and linoleum cuts.
One problem they discovered was that some of Mourlot’s information was so basic that it did not show how to proceed with a chosen image. “Jim (Reed) discovered through trial and error how to achieve the effect of an emulation of Picasso’s surfaces,” Chernow recalls.
The end result of their research and experiments is the series from which the images on display at Housatonic have been drawn. Accompanying each of Chernow’s works will be a copy of the Picasso work to which it relates, an explanation of why Chernow chose that particular image, and comments about the printing methods Reed used in making the print.
The exhibit will be on display at the Burt Chernow Galleries, named for Chernow’s late husband who was founder of the Housatonic Museum of Art, at HCC Feb. 19-March 22.
Chernow will discuss the project on Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in the Galleries, located in HCC’s Lafayette Hall, The event is free and open to the public.
The Housatonic Museum of Art is on the campus of Housatonic Community College at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in downtown Bridgeport, less than 150 yards off I-95 and Rte 8 in downtown Bridgeport, one block from the Arena at Harbor Yard.

Editor's note: This is a press release by Housatonic Community College

straight from the newsrooms!

Former journalist Avril M. Westmoreland knows the scoop about what goes on in newsrooms, and dishes it all in her new book, "Newspaper People: You Have to Love Them."

The book, by this third generation journalist and life-long state resident, draws on stories provided to her by unnamed "sources," e.g., reporters, editors, news wire operators, headline writers, photographers, composing room crews, drivers and correspondents.

It's a must read for journalists and an insider's look for others. For some it will be a walk down memory lane, for some an introduction to foreign phrases such as "copy boy."

The book's cover and design are by Andy Glad Graphic Design of Stratford. http://www.andyglad.com/ The book is available at www.Amazon.com and www.createspace.com

Says public outpouring has been amazing in search for Finnley

By Bridget Albert
MILFORD — When resident Kellie Roper brought her pet greyhound to Companion Animal Hospital of Milford on Dec. 29, she never expected she would be going home alone.
Roper adopted Finnley Nov. 1 from ReGap CT, a rescue group, and brought the dog to the animal hospital for dental work.
"When I first called to make an appointment for Finnley I asked if they knew how to handle a greyhound. They said ‘yes’ they did," Roper said. "Apparently they don’t."
She has not seen Finnley since that day.
Despite some sightings of Finnley in the Walnut Beach area, a widespread search and newspaper advertisements the animal hospital placed, the animal has not turned up.
"People I have never met have come from 1½ hours away, scrambling through brush and forest helping me look for my dog," Roper said.
"People in Milford have amazed me calling with wishes and prayers. It’s nice to know there is still such generosity left in the world," she said.
Roper said Finnley is black, with a gray muzzle, weighs 54 pounds and wears a pink/purple collar with yellow bones on it and might be dragging a leash. Roper also said the greyhound has a REGAP of CT tag, and that the dog is shy but extremely friendly and loves the sound of children.
Roper said she was told by hospital owner Dr. Kenneth Preli that veterinarian Dr. Dave Champaigne took Finnley outside after the Dec. 29 dental work.
"He said she became tangled in her leash and when (Champaigne) went to untangle her he dropped the leash and she bolted," Roper said.
Hospital administrator Rona Preli said when Champaigne went to pick up the leash Finnley "was probably disoriented."
"I was told he chased her into the K-Mart lot and jumped in a stranger’s car to try and follow her. He borrowed a cell phone and called the office and they evacuated the office and went looking for her," Roper said.
Rona Preli said eight of the office staff of 10 people immediately left to look for the greyhound and searched until 8 p.m. that night and for the next four days. Since then, she said, staff have continued to canvass the area, putting up fliers and talking to people.
Roper said the greyhound community, as well as the Milford community, have been extremely helpful, finding time to help her repeatedly canvass the beach area and put up fliers everywhere.
Rona Preli said the hospital contacted area police and fire departments and animal control officials.
Roper said Milford Animal Control, which has increased patrols in the vicinity Finnley has been seen, has been "truly amazing."
Roper said before the dog was lost, Finnley had changed her life.
"She has made me take a step back from work stress and Ironman training. She has made me relax. She has been a wonderful stress reliever," Roper said.
Anyone with information on Finnley can reach Roper at (203) 506-4790.