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Road closures expected in Wallingford this month for rail work
WALLINGFORD — As part of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail project, crews will be working at several crossings in town this month, requiring road closures.
The work is scheduled for weekdays between July 10 and July 25. Work will begin on Ward Street, then continue on Pent Highway, Toelles Road, Quinnipiac Street, Hall Avenue, North Plains Highway and Parker Street, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Roads will be closed to traffic and pedestrians for track construction and paving. State purchases West Main Street eatery in Meriden as part of bridge replacement project
MERIDEN — The state recently purchased the building that housed the Bradley Eatery to make way for a new bridge over Sodom Brook.
Mark Hartman, of North Carolina, sold the 70-year-old building at 376 W. Main St. to the state for $103,000. The state needs the property to rebuild the Bradley Avenue bridge.
The popular restaurant, which closed two months ago, was run by Allison Romano since 2008. Hartman bought the building for $70,000 from former owner John Wambolt in 2004 and put in $10,000 worth of renovations. Romano bought the business, changed the name from Bradley Diner to Bradley Eatery and expanded the menu. She could not be reached for comment.The property was one of several the state needs to acquire to address “structural deficiencies in the 80-year-old bridge and a hole in one of the abutments,” according to the state Department of Transportation. The entire 40-foot bridge will be replaced.The bridge “is structurally deficient due to the poor condition of the superstructure and substructure, and is also scour critical in part due to a scour hole created by a storm drain outfall through the east abutment,” the DOT previously said in a statement. “Scour is damage caused by swiftly moving water and can create holes in bridges.”
Work is expected to begin next spring and impact about 150 feet of West Main Street. A temporary bridge with a sidewalk will be built just to the north of the existing structure to allow traffic flow while work is underway. A separate permanent bridge will be built to the north of the new one that will support the “numerous utilities” currently sitting on the existing bridge, according to DOT.
The agency estimates 14,500 vehicles pass over the bridge daily. Work is expected to last 18 to 24 months. It will be paid for with $3 million to $4 million in state and federal funds.
Local officials have said they hope the Bradley Eatery could be relocated downtown. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The ceremonial fire will be kept burning until Monday morning in the first of four planned cleansing and healing ceremonies at the property, one for each season, Tribal Elder and ceremonial Lodge Keeper Charlie Strickland said. The ongoing ceremony is open to the public, but no photographs are allowed. Tribal members built a wigwam and erected a modern pop-up pavilion for guests in anticipation of Friday's heavy rain.
"The fire will stay lit no matter how hard it rains," Strickland vowed.
The rain, he said, also cleanses the bodies of those who tend to the fire.
"It's about healing," Strickland said Thursday morning before the fire was lit, "releasing the spirits of all who came through here, those who worked here and lived here and are buried here."
Strickland and tribal member Eric “Kokchisin” Maynard, whose tribal name means “Little Big Man,” arrived early Thursday and created the fire circle. Spectators from Rhode Island and Stonington joined them almost from the start as they placed a layer of white sand at the base so as not to burn Mother Earth, Strickland explained. Dried white sage was placed with kindling in the center of the firewood.
Basketball-sized stones were placed at intervals around the fire to represent the four seasons. Outside the openings in the circle of stone, they arranged four pairs of two chairs each in a larger circle to represent tribal "grandmothers" and ancestors. Two single chairs also in that circle represented the Creator and Mother Earth.
The stones were brought from areas throughout the region that are important to tribal history, including the Uncas Leap area of Norwich, a spot in Lebanon where the school attended by Samson Occum once stood, from the Norwich Hospital grounds and from Fort Shantok across the Thames River.
The water in gallon jugs placed beside the rocks came from four sacred water sources: the Thames River, a spot at Fort Shantok, the Yantic River at Uncas Leap and from the secret Uncas Spring. Strickland would not say where the spring is located, only that it is “in Connecticut.”
By midmorning, visitors had moved the chairs to sit and converse, which was fine, Strickland said, and part of the reflective spirit of the event.
"Creator," she translated, "we thank you for this beautiful day and days to follow. We ask you for peace." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Hartford area jobless rate dipped in May
Hartford and the surrounding region's unemployment rate dropped in May, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the online report, the city of Hartford's May jobless rate of 8.5 percent was eight-tenths of a percent lower than it was in the year-ago period. Likewise, East Hartford, New Britain and West Hartford jobless rates dropped by less than a percent each to 5.7 percent, 6.5 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.
Overall, the Hartford area unemployment rate averaged 4.8 percent this May, down from 5 percent a year earlier but still higher than the national average of 4 percent, data show.
Mining, logging and construction employment increased by 6 percent, the most of any sector, followed by professional and business services (5 percent) and education and health services (4.7 percent).