REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2012

Local News
DAILY DIGEST
WOODBURY

SECTION

Streets to be closed to traffic for calling hours for principal

In anticipation of the calling hours for Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Hochsprung, Green Circle and School Street between Main Street South and Washington Avenue will be closed to traffic from 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. today. Anyone wishing to attend the services at the Munson-Lovetere Funeral Home on School Street are encouraged to park at the Mitchell Elementary School or the Woodbury Middle School. Handicapped parking will be a St. Teresas Church. Access to those parking areas will be from Washington Avenue via Judson Avenue, Church Street, or Route 47. Officials urge people against parking in No Parking areas. Vehicles will be subject to towing at the owners expense. WAT E R B U R Y

College begins in pre-K

Mayor extends helping program to citys youngest students
BY MICHAEL PUFFER
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERBURY Mayor Neil M. OLeary counts the recently launched $11.2 million effort to shepherd this years sixth and seventh graders into college as among the most important undertakings of his administration. So OLeary was not pleased to learn in late November that the GEAR UP program was being offered only to students in

the districts three large middle schools, and not to its three recently opened pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade schools. OLeary met with officials from city schools and their partner in the endeavor, Naugatuck Valley Community College, to remedy that problem. Last Thursday, OLeary and Paul Sequeira, special adviser to School Superintendent Kathleen Ouellette, announced at a Board of Education meeting

that the new schools will receive a home grown version of the federally funded program. We are going to fund this program for the pre-K through eights because I dont believe its fair that these children should be left out, OLeary said. The problem is that the grant application submitted to the state Department of Education did not mention the citys new schools, so the money cant be spent at

those schools, officials say. City officials tried to convince state and federal education officials to offer a little flexibility this summer, but learned it was not possible, OLeary said. The alternative version created for the new schools cant even be labeled GEAR UP, or use any staff hired with GEAR UP money. That doesnt mean local leaders have given up. OLeary said hell continue to petition the

See GEAR, Page 6B

Missing Waterbury man dies after being found by daughter

The daughter of a Waterbury man who went missing Friday found her father in critical condition in Southington Monday. Wayne Roaix, 48, was taken to the Hospital of Central Connecticut Bradley Memorial Campus where he died, according to his daughter Victoria Roiax. I appreciate the support and the help from the community and everything It means a lot to me and my family, it really does, Victoria Roiax said. Wayne Roaixs family and CONTRIBUTED police had been searching for Wayne Roaix him since he left Waterbury around 11 p.m. Friday without his wallet or identification. Wayne Roaix had made suicidal threats to overdose on medication before disappearing in his 1996 green Jeep Cherokee. Victoria Roiax said the family has met with a funeral director and is making arrangements for his funeral. N A U G AT U C K

This community, our country, our state and our world lost somebody who made a difference.
RON ALICIENE, DAWN LAFFERTY HOCHSPRUNGS FORMER TRACK COACH

TEARS AND RAINDROPS

Police arrest borough man who made alleged knife threat

Police arrested a borough man Sunday who they said held a butcher knife to his roommates neck. Carlos Stuart, 38, got into an argument at about 9:30 p.m. with a 34-year-old man who lives with him at 59-6 Ridge Road in the Lantern Park condominium complex, according to police. The girlfriends of both men also live in the condo, police said. Stuart told the other man to get out of the house, but the other man wouldnt leave, police said. Stuart told police he thought he saw his roommate reach for a knife he carried in his back pocket, so he went into the kitchen to get what one of the girlfriends described as a butcher knife. Stuarts roommate went outside to smoke a cigarette, and when he came back inside, Stuart put the knife to his throat and told him again to leave, police said. Stuarts roommate raised his hand to shield his throat and sustained a small cut to his finger, police said. His neck was not injured, police said. The roommate walked out and called police, who arrived to charge Stuart with second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, threatening and disorderly conduct. He was held on a $25,000 bond to appear Monday in Waterbury Superior Court.

CHRISTOPHER MASSA REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Hundreds of people packed the Naugatuck Green during a vigil honoring the late Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, a Naugatuck native who was killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Hochsprung was principal of the school.

MORE NEWS INSIDE

Heroic principal honored

BY ALIA MALIK
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Security getting new look

CHRISTOPHER MASSA REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Wolcott police play Santa

Police in Wolcott have collected 3,000 toys to be given to needy children as Christmas gifts. PAGE 2B

Court: No Dunkin in Woodbury

The state Appellate Court has upheld a Woodbury zoning decision that blocks the opening of a Dunkin' Donuts store at the former site of Corey's hot dogs. PAGE 3B

Region 14 OKs teachers raise

The Region 14 Board of Education has approved a contract that will give teachers an 8.8 percent raise over the next three years. PAGE 2B

NAUGATUCK Rain mingled with tears Tuesday night as hundreds of people filled the Green with pinpricks of light to remember one of their own. A drizzle turned into a shower as the family and friends of Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung walked onto the Green to light the first candles in honor of the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School, a borough native who officials say died Friday trying to keep shooter Adam Lanza from harming anyone else in the Newtown building. On her final day with us, she did what shed always done, Mayor Robert A. Mezzo said. She put the well-being and the safety of her students above her own. She was the first line of defense at Sandy Hook Elementary School and she protected her students fiercely. While we See DAWN, Page 7B

The Rev. Al Sharpton addresses a large audience inside the Zion Baptist Church Tuesday night in Waterbury. Sharpton was speaking about gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Watertown reacts after tragedy

BY LARAINE WESCHLER
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Al Sharpton blames society for shooting

BY ANDREW LARSON
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERBURY The Rev. Al Sharpton, the former candidate for U.S. president and current talk radio host and civil rights activist, said society is to blame for the mass murder in Newtown last Friday that took the lives of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As long as we allow weapons of war to be used See SHARPTON, Page 7B

WATERTOWN After the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, Watertown resident Lara Chamberlain decided to home-school her two children because she didnt trust the safety of Watertown schools. A stay-at-home mom, Chamberlain said she watched in horror as children ran out of Columbine. She said she pleaded with the schools to take protective measures, but officials didnt listen. Following the tragic shooting in Newtown last Friday, Chamberlains requests are gaining traction in Watertown.

See SCHOOLS, Page 6B

INSIDE

>>> DEATHS ON PAGE 2B >>> COMMUNITY NEWS ON PAGE 10B

>> Educators in the area are dealing with school security in the aftermath of Fridays deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Page 6A.

>> People in Greater Waterbury and Litchfield County continue to mourn the victims. See a list of vigils and how you can help with donations, Page 7B.