One resident of Danbury has hit it big in a Connecticut Lottery scratch off game. On Wednesday, Dharm Saini of Danbury bought a scratch off lottery ticket from Bethel Shell in Bethel. Turns out, his ticket was a winner… to the tune of $10,000.

This morning, Governor Ned Lamont is holding a ceremony in Ridgefield, where he will sign an executive order requiring the formation of a blue-ribbon panel that will be charged with developing a strategic plan of recommendations on how Connecticut can improve its child care system with a particular emphasis on making it more accessible, equitable, and affordable. Governor Lamont wants to encourage more businesses in Connecticut to offer child care services for their employees. He proposed legislation this session that will provide businesses with a corporate tax credit of 25% of the cost of any child care subsidies they provide to their workers.

Police in Newtown continue to investigate a case in which a car was stolen while left running at a gas station on Church Hill Road last week. Police say the white Kia Optima EX was taken while it was sitting at the gas pumps at the Citgo station there, sometime around 6:30am last Thursday, March 9th. The car was running at the time. The driver had gone inside the store. Now, Newtown Police are asking anyone who may have seen anything or anyone suspicious… or a suspicious vehicle in the around that time that morning, to call them.

A Main Street improvement project in downtown Ridgefield was originally planned to be wrapped up by the end of last year after kicking off in 2021. But the plan.. aimed at improving the traffic flow on Main Street… is still not done. The reason for the delay is being placed on supply chain issues. Now, crews say they hope to have it finished by the end of April or the beginning of May. It’s been in the works now since 2019.

A former teacher at Henry Abbott Technical High School, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a student, is now attempting to work out details of a plea deal with prosecutors that would mean some time behind bars. On Wednesday, 42 year old Salvatore Maimone pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault and second-degree stalking in state Superior Court in Danbury… charges stemming from an investigation into what police say was “a possible inappropriate sexual relationship” between Maimone and a student. He was arrested last May on additional charges, but so far has not entered pleas on those other charges. No other details of the proposed plea deal have been released, and so far, nothing is final.

Last year, a bear that was roaming on his property, was shot killed by an off-duty Ridgefield police sergeant. Since then, the killing of that bear, which led to the orphaning of her two cubs, has brought renewed national attention. Mitch Bolinsky is the state lawmaker who took much of the public anger. Since then, Bolinsky was one of about 700 people to testify against a bill that would allow a proposed bear hunting season in Connecticut. Bolinsky’s testimony against the bill however, comes after an annual “State of the Bears” report released last week by Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection… showing a dramatic increase in the number of confrontations between bears and people.

If voters in Brookfield give the thumbs up for funding, a contaminated site at 20 Station Road in Brookfield would be redeveloped into housing and retail space. Brookfield residents vote today on funding approval for the abatement, demolition and remediation of the blighted 2.3 acre property where a dry cleaning business operated in the 60’s and 70’s. It’s been vacant for decades after sampling revealed a dry cleaning solvent in the soil and groundwater. Successful remediation would pave the way for a 58,500 square foot building with 54 apartments, retail space, and parking.

A man who was paroled from New York State prisons about four years ago… in 2019… is now a suspect in numerous armed robberies… more than twenty of them in fact… in both New York State and in Connecticut. 28 year old Jose Nieves was taken into custody in New York, and is now being held in the Putnam County Correctional Facility on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond. He was arrested by Westchester County Police following a pursuit in Harrison, New York. Police say additional charges are pending from other jurisdictions.

In Danbury, a native of Colombia has been nominated by the Democratic Party to fill an open position on the City Council. Diana Merchan is a Spanish teacher at an independent school in Greenwich, who city leaders say has a ‘passion for education.’ Merchan is the Democrats’ choice to replace Farley Santos who resigned last week to take on a new position in Hartford after he was elected last November to represent Danbury’s 109th District in the state house. Diana Merchan has lived in Danbury for 34 years. Never before has she served in any elected office, but she says that she has been active in the Democratic Party and has worked on previous campaigns during election season.

A push is on in New Milford for the town council to create a safe environment for people to buy cannabis. It comes about as the New Milford Town Council questions whether or not to even pursue recreational cannabis sales there, and if so, how to do it safely, so buyers know where it is coming from. Recreational cannabis sales have been banned from New Milford since January, when the Town Council imposed a one year moratorium on the issue until they could better understand the state’s legislation on recreational cannabis sales and learn what other states and towns are doing.