dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:39am  Local Sports   

By MIKE SYPHER
Chronicle Sports Editor
HARTFORD — The stat sheets detailing just how they managed to slip past Villanova by an 81-76 margin at the Hartford Civic Center on Wednesday night were still warm when the University of Connecticut men’s basketball players began to talk about today’s Big East Conference match-up against St. John’s.
When the No. 23 nationally-ranked Huskies (13-5 overall, 5-3 Big East) host St. John’s (8-10, 2-6) at noon (Channel 61, WILI 1400-AM, WTIC 1080-AM) today at Gampel Pavilion, UConn will need to play with the same grit and determination it relied upon down the stretch in Wednesday’s big win over ‘Nova.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:33am  Opinion/Editorial   

Why is it that Madison Avenue can turn commercials into must-see TV on Super Bowl Sunday but falls so short of the creative goal line most other days? Nearly 150 million guacamole-dipping viewers will plant themselves in front of television sets for Super Bowl XXXIX.
Absent a wardrobe malfunction, the game’s TiVo moment could very well be a commercial rather than a touchdown. A polling firm says Americans will take their bathroom breaks during the game to avoid missing commercials, and after the game the NFL will provide an instant replay of the commercials on its cable channel.
Advertisers are paying an estimated $80,000 per second for Super Bowl spots, knowing Americans will sit still for commercials that are expected to entertain, captivate and make them laugh. Think of horses kicking field goals, a woman tossing a sledgehammer and a not-so-Mean Joe Greene. Many of these ads will offer more flash than substance, more likely to win Clios than customers for the companies shelling out all that cash. But the power of advertising to attract attention, even become part of the national culture, is never so clear as it will be this Sunday.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:24am  Opinion/Editorial   

By Gail Ellen Daly
An e-mail to all my family and friends:
As a chronically healthy individual, I never dreamed I would wind up hospitalized for five days last month. But we can all get sick at some point, and at those times, a hospital is the best place to recover.
However, lying in a hospital bed gives one lots of time to dwell on life’s fragility and all that sappy stuff.
And for some reason, when I came home and looked around my house, I almost screamed over 18 years of collected clutter.
So, as a favor to me — no more photos framed in anything. Pictures are great in an album, with maybe a few wedding and special occasion photos on a table. And nothing larger than 4x6 please, a perfectly logical size.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:20am  Local News   

SCOTLAND — A building committee has been named to explore possible renovations or new construction at Scotland Elementary School.
The school currently serves kindergarten through sixth grades.
Seventh through twelfth grade students from Scotland attend the regional Parish Hill High School at present, although the town is exploring withdrawing from the district, and if the town does eventually withdraw, that could have an impact on a building project for the elementary school.
A five-member committee was appointed to review current capacity and enrollment projections, and will consider the possibility of constructing an addition at the facility, among other proposals.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:17am  Local News   

WINDHAM — Bowlathon, Eastern Connecticut State University’s popular scholarship fund-raiser, is scheduled for March 12 at Willi Bowl in North Windham.
The Bowlathon has become an annual tradition involving the Eastern community and local businesses. While Eastern employees and local residents battle it out for pledges and pins, the real winners of the event are the Eastern students from area high schools who receive scholarships from the event’s proceeds. More than $12,000 was raised last year.
Proceeds from the Bowlathon help fund the ECSU Foundation Community Youth Scholarship which supports first-year Eastern students from 14 area high schools: Coventry, E.O. Smith, Killingly, Glastonbury, Lyman Memorial, Manchester, Middletown, Norwich Free Academy, Parish Hill, Putnam, RHAM, Tourtellotte, Windham and Woodstock Academy. Ten students received awards last September.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:10am  Local News   

By SEAN O’LEARY
Chronicle Staff Writer
COVENTRY — A local photography studio is doing its part to ease the loneliness of our nation’s troops serving overseas.
On Feb. 12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Still Moon Photography will be photographing families of deployed soldiers — free of charge — that can be e-mailed to the soldiers.
The event will take place at Still Moon Photography’s studio located in the Sanctuary Building at 1141 Main St. and families from across the area are invited.
The idea was conceived by Still Moon owner Kiev Federowicz after a “young wife” came to his studio prior to Christmas.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 11:09am  Local News   

By SEAN O’LEARY
Chronicle Staff Writer
COVENTRY — The Coventry public works department is preparing for a reconstruction project on a portion of South Street to make the road safer for motorists.
The town is seeking to repair South Street from the Hop River to the intersection of Swamp Road and level the road, repave it and improve the drainage.
Public works director Tim Webb explained that the road, especially in the winter, can become hazardous for drivers.
“If you go up there right now or over the past few weeks, there’s been a buildup of ice,” said Webb. “The water bleeds from the drainage system and in the winter it freezes.”

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 10:59am  Local News   

By TRACI DUTCHER
Chronicle Correspondent
CHAPLIN — The Regional School District 11 school board is disputing the reasons the New England Association of Schools and Colleges gave for its recommendation to terminate Parish Hill Junior/Senior High School’s accreditation.
NEASC’s Commission on Secondary Public Schools sent a letter to Parish Hill High School, dated Jan. 28, announcing the school’s accreditation — which was on probation — now faces termination because of a lack of progress the district had made since the mid-1990’s in addressing its antiquated facility and curriculum impact.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 10:54am  Local News   

Charged with killing infant daughter
By MATTHEW L. BROWN
Chronicle Staff Writer
DANIELSON — The Willimantic woman accused of killing her infant daughter entered a not-guilty plea in Danielson Superior Court Friday.
Erika Martinez, 20, was charged last month with first-degree manslaughter.
In court Friday, her attorney, Anthony Pagano, entered the pro-forma not guilty plea and did not object to the appointment of a guardian ad litem for Martinez’s older daughter.
A guardian ad litem is someone, usually a lawyer, appointed by the court to represent the best interests of a child.

dlyon  Feb 5 2005 - 10:49am  Local News   

By SEAN O’LEARY
Chronicle Staff Writer
ASHFORD — As Ashford School sixth-grader Elizabeth Sandgree watched the news about the horrific tsunami disaster and the ever-growing number of deaths, she felt helpless.
But instead of dwelling on her sadness, Sandgree spearheaded a school-wide effort to raise money — an effort that nearly quintupled the school’s goal.
The school raised $2,315 in three weeks, well over the initial goal of $500.
“I learned pretty much that America can do good,” said Sandgree, when asked what she learned from the experience. “We can help anybody we want if we try.”