Time to register for summer camp at Boys & Girls Club Seymour Unit

Recuperation journey: Spring morning

Immanuel-St. James Episcopal Church on Minerva Street seen today from the historic Derby Green.

The stately Sterling Opera House on Elizabeth Street on the other side of the Green.

Music Mends Minds in Ansonia seeks musicians, volunteers

Ansonia Library to host finance workshop for high school students

See a movie, learn about edible flowers, more at Derby Neck Library

DERBY - The Derby Neck Library offers Dinner and a Movie for ages 18 and older at 5:30 p.m. June 6. 
This month’s featured film is the classic horror thriller “Alien.”  

Free movie refreshments will be served, including a pizza dinner at intermission. 

Local history lecture
The Library presents Patricia Sweeney, Ph.D. with a new powerpoint lecture on “The Valley in the 1950s” at 6:30 p.m. June 10.
With original research, this talk focuses on the flood of 1955, the building of the Nike Sites and the new Route 8, the start-up of local TV, children’s toys, Charlton Comics, and much more.  

Women's Forum

At 12:30 p.m. June 17 the Library hosts Women’s Forum, a discussion group focusing on short stories. The selections for this month are three pieces by Virginia Woolf.  
Copies of the stories are available at the library. Feel free to bring a light lunch; we serve coffee and tea. 

Evening Book Club

The Library hosts the Evening Book Club moderated by Patricia Sweeney, Ph.D. at 6:30 p.m. June 24.
This month’s selection is “Where Angels Fear to Tread” by E.M. Forster.  Copies of the book are available at the library.  

Edible flowers

At 6:30 p.m. June 26 the Library presents Edible Flower Power with Mary Newman, co-author of the fascinating book -“Edible Flowers: a Global History.” Learn the background and uses of a number of tasty floral plants, including which flowers attract butterflies.  
Free samples of foods prepared by the author will be available; her books will also be presented for sale and signing. 

For information call 203-734-1492.

This is a press release from Patricia Sweeney, reference librarian, Derby Neck Library.

Klarides, Klarides-Ditria hail bill to increase fentanyl penalties

HARTFORD - State Representatives Themis Klarides, R-Derby, and Nicole Klarides-Ditria, R-Seymour, last week praised passage of legislation to increase penalties for the dealing and manufacturing of fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives. 

House Republican Leader Themis Klarides submitted the bill in an effort to legislatively address the opioid crisis and curtail the growing use and distribution of fentanyl and fentanyl laced drugs throughout Connecticut. 
Last August Connecticut made national news when in less than 24 hours 95 individuals overdosed in New Haven, almost all on the historic New Haven Green Park. 

 “We need to protect our communities, opioids are destroying the lives of our state and fentanyl has taken this to a new level.  When our own police officers and forensic teams have to take extra safety measures when handling fentanyl at a crime scene and have medical responders nearby in case they themselves come in contact with the lethal substance, how can Senate and House leadership not call this bill for a vote? Not that long ago, that truck carrying enough fentanyl to kill everyone in this state rolled right through our backyard. I implore our state Senators to call this bill to the floor and vote in favor of protecting all of our citizens from fentanyl,” Klarides said.  

"Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that is linked to killing thousands of individuals suffering from drug addiction," Klarides-Ditria said, a co-sponsor of the bill. "Making the penalties for selling fentanyl harsh will hopefully deter individuals from selling or manufacturing this dangerous drug."

The bill would change the definition of narcotic substance to include fentanyl the same category as heroin. As the law is currently written, fentanyl is listed as a synthetic drug, which is a lesser penalty.  
Three years ago, state police pulled over a truck in Derby carrying 55 pounds of fentanyl—a narcotic substance that federal drug monitors say is as much as 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine, the U.S. Center for Disease Control recently declared fentanyl the deadliest drug in America. 
They seized 55 pounds of fentanyl equaled almost 15 million lethal doses; the population of Connecticut is 3.57 million individuals, the driver of the tractor trailer received a sentencing of 30 months in prison. New York (about an hour drive from Derby) has become a national distribution hub for fentanyl, with 35 pounds seized in 2016, to a total of 491 pounds of fentanyl seized in 2017.

Over the past several years Connecticut has seen an incline of overdose deaths involving fentanyl. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, states there were 1,033 overdose deaths in Connecticut in 2017, 677 of which were fentanyl related deaths, compared to188 in 2015.

The bill now awaits action in the Senate.

This is a press release from the House Republicans' office.