http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/ Columbia, CT News http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/d38c44d1ca66552b09a4b2215e225921.html Fortyfive years ago Leatha Perkins joined about 100 other people from Danbury on a train bound for Washington DCBut this was so much more than a whistlestop visitPerkins and her friends many of them the backbone of the Greater Danbury NAACP were going to hear civil rights leader Dr http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/904992e5efec2ca86205d08ce388daa7.html NORWALKBy FRANK MacEACHERNHour Staff WriterCity officials want residents to be ready for emergency situations by remembering Plan 9It's the name of a campaign announced Thursday at a press conference held at the Charles A Volk Central Fire Station to have residents set aside nine essential items they will need for the first 72 hours in case of an emergency that may force them from their homesA Columbia University study in 2007 shows that 43 percent of respondents said they had not done any planning in case they had to flee their home due to floods fires or other natural or manmade disasters It's a number that City Deputy Director of Emergency Planning Michele DeLuca said the campaign is trying to reducePeople get scared about facing the reality that they may be forced from their homes due to an emergency said DeLuca It's a topic that most people don't want to talk about The campaign will continue into September which is Emergency Preparedness MonthIt's a serious subject residents are going to have to face said Mayor Richard A Moccia who said planning for the worst has to be doneWe all get lulled into a sense of complacency during peaceful times he saidThat's when we should start doing the planning to make sure people are preparedThe program encourages people to set aside nine items that they will need during the first 72 hours of an emergency These include food water clothes medicine a flashlight a manual can opener radio hygiene items and first aid materialThese are items the city can't provide said Moccia adding that in emergencies the city has to cope with larger issues such as ensuring security for the community He said residents have to be prepared to provide basic materials for themselves during those first three days whether they remain at home stay with friends or relatives or are forced into a shelter http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/8cfaea6f55ecd9e71afa7fb86cc918d1.html Connecticut was one of only five states where the number of people without health insurance dropped significantly in the past two years but the number of poor people in the state has remained largely unchanged according to Census Bureau reports released Tuesday http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/543d174fead878d3ab9583404acd3a5d.html The first day of school for more than 4000 town students went smoothly officials said Tuesday also was the first day for principals in three town schools including Windsor High School http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/04c4bfeaab5305cb218eb7139cb7f085.html Mrs Rubb ushered her 16 pupils to the rug helped them practice saying good morning to one another then pulled out a book: The Night Before Kindergarten http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/fb499b2a76991f5293bc95d25d5c4441.html As an actor in films like 8220;Hustle amp; Flow8221; 8220;Crash8221; and 8220;Iron Man8221; Terrence Howard has played characters whose calm demeanor conceals a suppressed rage http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/e939a20c4f19088f0996cb1b285cb63d.html WILTONBY JOHN NASHHour Staff WriterCraig Brown grew up a devout Detroit Tigers fan though he does admit there was a fouryear stretch where his allegiances also lay with the Wilton Warriors baseball teamToday however he has thrown his heart into overDrive as in the Greenville Drive the South Carolinabased Single A minor league baseball affiliate of the Boston Red SoxBrown a 23year resident of Wilton is president and one of three owners of the Drive He commutes from his home to South Carolina countless times over the summer months I've always loved baseball I guess I'm sort of a baseball nut Brown said When my son went to college I guess I needed more kids to take care ofIt was around the same time of his son Jeff's 2002 graduation from Wilton High School that Brown made his own career adjustment leaving behind a lucrative gig with a New York Citybased advertising agency to delve into the life of minor league baseballPaul Rather of Greenwich and Roy Bostock of Rye NY joined forces with Brown to purchase the Columbia SCbased Capital City Bombers soon thereafterI went to a Portland Sea Dogs game and just fell in love with the notion of having the whole community involved Brown said It's familyfriendly entertainment and being able to do that in baseball was something that really interested meAs a dad of three he's married to Vicki Brown and together they had two daughters Christina and Jennifer as well as Jeff the family aspect of minor league ball was important to BrownAfter failing to get a new stadium built in Columbia the team moved to Greenville in 2005 and was renamed the Drive became part of the Boston Red Sox Nation and in 2006 moved into a brand new ballpark in the city's West EndIt didn't just change the life of Craig Brown but also the life of an entire cityIt's definitely been one of those urban renewal things said Eric Krupa the first year president of the South Atlantic League who had spent the previous 10 years working for the National Association of Minor Leagues I was there for opening day this year and I was talking to several lifetime residents of Greenville and you'd hear them tell stories of how nobody wanted to go to the West End It was just a rundown part of town The owners deciding to build that stadium there really got their downtown revitalizedThe privately funded 5700seat stadium is a near replica of Boston's Fenway Park complete with a 30foot high version of the Green Monster and a Pesky Pole was named Ballpark of the Year by baseballparkscomThe trio of owners changed the area so much with their major overhaul of the West End area pumping in 15 million according to the Greenville Journal that one local magazine named Brown the city's Most Influential Person in 2007His ownership group also built condos above the left field wall one of which Brown himself owns so he has a place to live when he's in Greenville overseeing the team's daily operationsBrown who grew up in Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University also knows a good business deal when he sees itThat's why despite being an avid Tigers fan while growing up and owning a team in the geographical South where Yankees from the North are often frowned upon in more than just a baseball sense hooking up with the Red Sox was a nobrainer for Brown and his fellow ownersThey're one of the preeminent franchises in sports and they were looking for a Class A affiliate said Brown When you have that opportunity you try to take advantage of itThe Red Sox have also been extremely grateful to what Brown and his owners have brought to the organization and have asked the Drive's ownership group to make an investment in the organization's Salem affiliate as wellI think they are probably the most forwardthinking ambitious and impacttype of owners we could have in the organization said Mike Hazen Boston's director of player development Craig is outstanding at what he does He's got a tremendous team he's put together down thereOn the field Brown's team has also benefited from the Red Sox focus on its minor league development which has been a bonus for the teams throughout the organizationClay Buchholz and Jon Lester both of whom already have big league nohitters to their credit have spent time in Greenville pitching for the Drive while en route to the Major LeaguesAnd Gabe Kapler a fan favorite at Fenway Park when he played for the Red Sox managed in Greenville last season before unretiring and making it back to the Major Leagues with the Milwaukee BrewersAll told though being in baseball has been one of the great professional decisions of Brown's careerI guess I'd say going into it that we had hopes and expectations but it has all been beyond my wildest expectations Brown said And it's been a lot of funEarlier this week the 1 millionth fan in the team's history walked through the gate and was lauded with prizes including an allexpenses paid trip to Boston to see the parent clubThat person might have been the millionth fan but one thing seems certain the team's No 1 fan president and owner Craig Brown is a Wilton resident who still loves his baseball so much that he bought the team http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/connecticut/columbia/content/1ad557d515ce75a8348c13411aace61c.html Twelve states New York City and the District of Columbia are suing the Environmental Protection Agency claiming the Bush administration has failed to rein in emissions from oil refineries