Persevering through COVID-19 — and cloudy skies
Cornwall Consolidated School Class of 2021 celebrated their new beginning.
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'Closer to the Sun'
Lakeville Journal
Apr 29, 2026
Provided
“Closer to the Sun,” a solo exhibition of nature-inspired paintings by Gabe Brown, opens May 2 with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. at Kenise Barnes Fine Art at 7 Fulling Lane, Kent.
Housy hosts season-opening track meet
Riley Klein
Apr 29, 2026
Ryan Segalla wins the 400-meter race in 50.5 seconds.
Riley Klein
FALLS VILLAGE – Berkshire League track and field began the regular season Tuesday, April 21, with a meet at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
HVRHS hosted athletes from Nonnewaug High School and Gilbert School for an afternoon of competition. In total, 18 events were held for both boys and girls.
Gusting winds and overcast skies made for chilly conditions, about 49 degrees, but that did not deter contenders.
Nonnewaug’s large team performed well and accumulated the most team points of the day.
HVRHS athletes succeeded individually in several events.
Ava Segalla won the 100-meter race in 13.2 seconds. Freshman Lainey Diorio finished right behind her with a personal-best time of 13.3 seconds.
Ava Segalla also won the girls high jump by clearing a height of 4-feet 10-inches.
Peter Austin tied for first in the boys high jump. He cleared 5-feet 0-inches, along with Nonnewaug’s Shemaiah Savage.
Ryan Segalla won the 200-meter race in 22.4 seconds, a new personal best for him. He was more than a second ahead of Nonnewaug’s Edward Longo with a time of 23.9 seconds.
Ryan Segalla dominated the 400-meter race in 50.5 seconds, nearly five seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Nonnewaug’s Chance Salisbury, who ran 55.1 seconds.
HVRHS’s 4x100-meter girls relay team of Ava Segalla, Lainey Diorio, McKenzie Lotz and Olivia Brooks won the event in 54.3 seconds. Nonnewaug’s team ran 56.3 seconds and Gilbert finished in 59.7 seconds.
Finian Malone won the 3200-meter run in 11:24.3 minutes. He was more than a minute ahead of second place, which went to Nonnewaug’s Corbin Fretz in 12:30 minutes.
Full results available at athletic.net.
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Boys tennis team takes down East Granby/Canton
Riley Klein
Apr 29, 2026
Jaxon Visockis takes the fourth singles match.
Riley Klein
FALLS VILLAGE – Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s boys tennis team won 6-1 over the co-op team from East Granby High School and Canton High School Tuesday, April 21.
HVRHS’s second win of the season came on a chilly, overcast afternoon. It was about 49 degrees when service began at 4 p.m.
Gustavo Portillo played first singles for HVRHS against Red Cassotto. Portillo didn’t drop a game, winning the match 6-0, 6-0.
HVRHS’s Jonas Johnson defeated Kavin Jayaganesh in the second singles match, which went 6-2, 3-6, 10-1.
Lorenzo Policella defeated HVRHS’s Adam Hock 6-3, 6-1 in the third singles match.
Jaxon Visockis took the fourth singles match against Liam Smith. Visockis won 6-1, 6-0.
HVRHS won all three doubles matches.
The first doubles team of Baxter Hayhurst and Peyton Bushnell defeated Sean O’Connor and Nehemiah Victor 6-3, 6-2.
Paul Losch and Angel Gonzalez beat Spencer Namnoun and Alan Joby 6-3, 6-0.
Carter Finney and Justin Sorrell defeated Marte Roth and Zach Smith 6-0, 6-1.
Adam Hock during his singles match.Riley Klein
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Details surrounding WWII plane crash remain mystery
Patrick L. Sullivan
Apr 29, 2026
Wreckage from the 1943 plane crash is kept at Great Mountain Forest.
Patrick L. Sullivan
NORFOLK – More than half a century after a 25-year-old WWII pilot fatally crashed his plane into a ridge on Great Mountain Forest in Norfolk, the circumstances remain a mystery – but artifacts preserve the soldier’s legacy.
On March 31, 1943, First Lieutenant Daniel Henry Thorson of the United States Army Air Force took off from Mitchell Field on Long Island at 3:34 p.m. His destination was what was then known as Bradley Field at Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Thorson was flying a P-40E-1 fighter plane with three and a half hours of fuel, and what should have been a routine, 30-minute flight somehow went disastrously wrong.
According to records, the plane crashed at 4:10 p.m. in a remote area on Great Mountain Forest (GMF), killing Thorson. The Connecticut Western News edition of April 29, 1943 reported the details weeks later.
“The mysterious and unsolved death three weeks ago of Aviation Lieut. Daniel H. Thorson, age 25, of South Worth, Pas., in the deep jungle recesses of Canaan Mountain while on a routine flight from Mitchell Field, New York to Bradley Field, Windsor Locks, is one that is puzzling the brains of our military forces,” the article noted.
It went on to share that Thorson’s body and his plane were found high up on the mountainside one Saturday morning by two students of the Yale School of Forestry, William Holmes and F.J. Turner. The duo was running a surveyors’ line through the 4,000 acre estate of S.W. Childs, a founder of GMF.
“Had these men not been surveying in the mountainous territory,” the article said, “there is no telling when the body of the intrepid flier might have been discovered.”
Present-day GMF property manager Russell M. Russ made artifacts of the crash available, including a large chunk of the aircraft itself and a .50 caliber machine gun round.
Russ said when the Army came to the crash site, the salvage team recovered everything they could find, including thousands of .50 caliber rounds.
Thorson was honored, and a marker installed near the scene of the accident on June 25, 2003.
The memorial service included a presentation of awards and decorations to Thorson’s relatives, a proclamation from Governor John Rowland, the reading of memorial letters from military officers – including Capt. Howard Tuman, Thorson’s squadron leader – and a flyover with A-Warthogs from the Connecticut Air National Guard.
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Salisbury budget vote set for May 13; mill rate likely to stay flat
Patrick L. Sullivan
Apr 29, 2026
Salisbury Town Hall
File photo
SALISBURY — Voters will consider Salisbury’s proposed 2026–27 municipal and education budgets at the annual town meeting May 13, with officials indicating the mill rate is likely to remain unchanged at 11.0, meaning no increase in property taxes if the budgets are approved.
The Board of Finance reached that preliminary conclusion following a public hearing April 27, after which it voted to send both budget proposals to the town meeting.
The Board of Selectmen’s budget totals $9,617,825, an increase of $412,723, or 4.40%.
The Board of Education’s proposed budget for Salisbury Central School (SCS) is $7,213,515, up $316,367, or 4.59%.
The town’s Region One assessment is $4,798,927, an increase of $17,834, or 0.37%. The Region One budget will go to referendum May 5.
Assuming the regional budget is approved, total education spending for 2026–27 would be $12,012,442, an increase of $334,201, or 2.86%.
If the municipal and SCS budgets are approved May 13, total town spending would reach $21,630,267, an increase of $746,924, or 3.58%.
The hearing was attended by members of the Board of Finance, Board of Education and Board of Selectmen, along with Town Hall and SCS staff and one reporter.
No questions were raised for SCS Principal Stephanie Magyar or First Selectman Curtis Rand following their presentations.
Board of Finance Chair Pari Forood said the preliminary scenario assumes the mill rate would remain unchanged.
Vote Details
May 13, 7:30 p.m.
Salisbury Town Hall
27 Main St.
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North Canaan sets May 13 town meeting amid rising regional costs
Christian Murray
Apr 29, 2026
North Canaan Town Hall
File photo
NORTH CANAAN — North Canaan will hold its town meeting on May 13 to act on its proposed municipal and education budgets for the 2026–27 fiscal year, contingent on approval of the Region One school budget on May 5.
Unlike the Region One budget, which is decided by referendum across six towns, residents must attend the town hall meeting in person to weigh in and vote on the local budgets.
While the proposed budgets do not list a mill rate, First Selectman Jesse Bunce said the property tax rate — currently 24.75 mills — is expected to remain roughly unchanged. For a homeowner, that means a property assessed at $350,000 would result in about $8,663 in annual property taxes. In Connecticut, property is typically assessed at 70% of market value.
The proposed budgets total about $14.6 million, including a $3,351,583 municipal budget and an $11,238,600 education budget, the latter reflecting a 7.92% increase over the current year.
Of the education total, about $5,098,488 is allocated to North Canaan Elementary School, a 6.73% increase, driven in large part by rising medical insurance premiums. Those same healthcare costs are also a factor on the municipal side of the budget.
Meanwhile, $6,140,112 represents the town’s share of the Region One budget, which covers high school tuition and shared services.
Regional costs are driving the bulk of the increase. North Canaan’s share of the Region One budget is projected to rise by about $503,679, or 8.94%. The jump marks a notable shift from last year, when North Canaan’s Region One assessment rose by just over 1%. The town is budgeting for 106 students to attend Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
The proposed municipal budget is up 3.45% from last year.
A public hearing on the budgets was held on April 20 and lasted only three minutes. It drew no questions on the education budget and a single question on municipal healthcare costs.
The Board of Finance is reviewing the budget proposal and will set the final tax rate before it goes to the town meeting.
Bunce said after the meeting he was surprised by the lack of public comment, attributing it to a stable mill rate and multiple prior budget discussions.
If approved, the budgets will take effect July 1.
Vote Details
Wed., May 13, 7:00 pm
North Canaan Town Hall
100 Pease St.
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