The Towns Around Us

"The Towns Around Us" takes a look at what is making headlines in neighboring towns.

EAST HAVEN – Visitors to the children’s section of the town’s library can now enjoy a new circulation desk thanks to the generosity of library donors and the hard work of convicts.

The $14,000, custom-built desk was designed and constructed by inmates at the maximum security McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield. The town reaped serious savings from the deal, as a private contractor would have charged upwards of $100,000, according to Library Director Karen Jensen.

The bulk of the cost covered materials; inmates were paid $1 an hour.

But David Brown, director of Correctional Enterprises, a state-run program at McDougall-Walker, stressed that the work is about much more than money.

The project employs inmates to do carpentry, metal sewing and printing for towns and non-profit organizations to prepare them for a life outside of prison.

“They get self-gratification,” Brown said.

Check out photos of the inmates’ work and read more about how the library is benefiting from the new desk by clicking here.

MILFORD – Sure, most people are sick of hearing about Charlie Sheen by now. And you wouldn’t expect to read about his antics in your local news … unless two residents created a video parody of him that has become somewhat of a YouTube sensation.

In the three days since its posting, the Charles Island Productions clip has racked up nearly 23,000 hits on YouTube. Co-producers Michael Majlak and Matt Giorgio are psyched about the parody’s popularity.

“It’s cool,” Giorgio said. "It was just like it was ripe for parody."

You can watch the video by clicking here.

WOODBRIDGE –After evading authorities for 14 years, police have captured the suspect they believe to be the East Coast Rapist.

And how did they do it? A cigarette butt. Yes, a cigarette.

When police were tipped off recently that Aaron Thomas, of New Haven, might be their man, they set up round-the-clock surveillance on him. It was while Thomas was outside the New Haven courthouse, on charges stemming from a Woodbridge larceny, that police obtained the critical piece of evidence linking him to more than a dozen rape cases in several East Coast states, including one in New Haven. They snagged his discarded cigarette butt and the DNA on it matched that of DNA evidence in the rapes, according to police.

Here’s the full story.

BRANFORD – A dedicated group of volunteers have made it their mission to make sure no one in the community goes hungry. Working from the Community Dining Room, volunteers of all ages cook and assemble meals for residents who may otherwise go without food. You can watch it all unfold by clicking here.

Want to know what’s making headlines in other Patch towns? Here are links to a few near you:

Cheshire
North Branford
North Haven
Orange
Stratford