NFPA offers this tip – give your space heater some space

In 2010 alone, home heating equipment was involved in an estimated 57,100 reported home structure fires and 490 civilian deaths. Poster source: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

With temperatures making a dramatic drop this week, here are some good safety tips from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Especially as energy costs rise, families are turning to space heaters as a less expensive alternative (or as supplemental heat) for keeping their houses warm this season… so it is important to be aware of how to use them safely.

In 2010 alone, home heating equipment was involved in an estimated 57,100 reported home structure fires and 490 civilian deaths.

Stationary and portable space heaters accounted for 32 percent of these reported home-heating fires and 80 percent of the home-heating fire deaths.

So, if you decide to use a space heater this season, keep these safety tips in mind:

All heaters need space. Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment – this includes the furnace, fireplace, wood stove or portable space heater … Continue Reading

State invites applications for Recreational Trail Grants

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is now accepting proposals for Connecticut’s National Recreational Trails Program Grants. The Naugatuck River Greenway in Waterbury, CT is a past recipient of one of these grants. Image source: Waterbury City Website

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is now accepting proposals for Connecticut’s National Recreational Trails Program Grants.

Applications will be accepted through March 29, 2013.

Grants may be made to any private nonprofit organizations, municipalities, state departments and tribal governments. Grant amounts vary.

The National Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is an assistance program of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. RTP is administered through the DEEP. Recreational Trails Program funds may be used for: … Continue Reading

UConn scholarship for Sandy Hook victims tops $800,000

The Orange Bowl Committee’s gift brings the Sandy Hook scholarship fund to about $800,000.

The University of Connecticut’s Sandy Hook School Memorial Scholarship Fund, which honors those who died in the tragic shooting in Newtown, has received a gift of $80,120 from the host of the 2013 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game.

The donation from the Orange Bowl Committee represents $1 for every fan in attendance at the Jan. 7, 2013 BCS National Championship Game, where UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel received the check on UConn’s behalf at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The surprise donation was presented by Orange Bowl President O. Ford Gibson and Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco. … Continue Reading

DMV cancels morning driving tests Jan 16

The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles has canceled all road skill tests scheduled before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 16, due to the impending winter storm.

The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles has canceled all road skill tests scheduled before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 16, due to the impending winter storm.

Testing should resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Anyone with a scheduled road test can call DMV to choose a new date.

The numbers to call are 860-263-5700 if someone is within the Hartford area and toll-free 800-842-8222 for those outside the Hartford area. … Continue Reading

State offers new Youth Fishing Passport

CT Fish and Wildlife has developed fishing activities and is building a list of fishing vendors who will support passport holders with a special benefit. CT Fish and Wildlife photo.

Connecticut Fish and Wildlife has announced a new free Youth Fishing Passport.

The Youth Fishing Passport is a program designed to encourage those under 16 to become avid anglers.

CT Fish and Wildlife has developed fishing activities and is building a list of fishing vendors who will support passport holders with a special benefit. … Continue Reading

Local group offers college scholarships for women

The GFWC Northeastern CT Woman’s Club is accepting applications for both the Dorothy E. Schoelzel Scholarship and the Phipps Memorial Scholarship.

The GFWC Northeastern CT Woman’s Club is accepting applications for both the Dorothy E. Schoelzel Scholarship and the Phipps Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarships are available to enable Connecticut women to pursue advanced courses in accredited institutions.

Phipps Scholarship candidates must have completed two or more years of undergraduate work towards a Bachelor’s degree or a post graduate degree and must have a 3.0 or higher grade point average.

Candidates for the Schoelzel Scholarship must have completed three or more years of undergraduate work in the field of education and have a grade point average of 3.0 or better. … Continue Reading

Secretary of the State announces changes to voter registration in 2013

Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today (Dec. 19) released the official calendars for the May and November 2013 municipal elections in Connecticut.

And one significant change is that eligible voters will be able to register up to and including Election Day starting in November of 2013.

Legislation enacting Election Day Registration was approved by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this year.

“Next year (2013) will be an historic election year in Connecticut as we implement Election Day Registration for the first time in our state,” said Secretary Merrill, Connecticut’s Chief Elections Official. … Continue Reading

UConn establishes scholarship to honor victims of Newtown shootings

In response to the grief and shock accompanying the tragic killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on Dec. 14, the University of Connecticut has created a memorial scholarship fund to honor those who died.

UConn women’s basketball Coach Geno Auriemma and his wife, Kathy, have made an $80,000 lead gift to the fund.

“Over this past difficult weekend, Kathy and I gave much consideration to what we as a family could do that would have some significance for the future,” Auriemma said. “Because UConn is so important to us, we decided to establish a scholarship and encourage other UConn alumni, friends and fans around the world to invest in the future of the Sandy Hook survivors.” … Continue Reading

Gov. Malloy asks period of grieving for victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, where 20 school children were killed on Dec. 14, 2012. Web site photo

Earlier this evening (Dec. 15), Gov. Dannel P. Malloy asked for a period of grieving for the 20 young children and seven adults shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.

Gov. Malloy acknowledged that people want to know more about the man police believe was the shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, and about the events of that morning – many, out of concern for the safety of their own children at their schools – but asked that for a moment, people focus on the shock and grief felt not just in Connecticut, not just across the country, but in homes around the world. … Continue Reading

Lions offer 12 days in Israel and Istanbul

The tour includes – Jerusalem: Old City Tour; Mount Zion; Tomb of King David; The room of the last supper; Nazareth – The Church of the Annunciation; Caesarea – Ancient Roman Port; Golan Heights; Sea of Galilee; Jordan Valley; Haifa; Tel Aviv and Istanbul; and more. Pictured here, the Via Dolorosa.

The Hebron, CT Lions Club invites you to ISRAEL + ISTANBUL, a 12-day escorted tour from March 6-17, 2013.

The cost of the trip is $2,459 including air travel to and from JFK Airport.

The tour includes –

Jerusalem:  Old City Tour;  Mount Zion;  Tomb of King David; The room of the last supper;  Nazareth – The Church of the Annunciation; Caesarea – Ancient Roman Port; Golan Heights; Sea of Galilee; Jordan Valley; Haifa; Tel Aviv and Istanbul;  and more.

The $2,459 includes the round-trip flights from JFK

eight nights First Class and Superior Tourist class hotel accommodations (Israel),

two nights Istanbul;

four nights Prima Royale Hotel, Jerusalem;

two nights Rimonim Mineral Tiberias, Tiberia;

two nights Tal Hotel, Tel Aviv,

two  nights at Hotel: Innova Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey.

The fee also includes all group transfers; 11 meals (12 breakfasts, one dinner); sightseeing in modern, air-conditioned motor coaches; and the services of English-speaking tour managers per itinerary.

What’s not included are the following costs: airline taxes, $280; insurance, $159 (required); Single supplement, $630; Turkish Visa, $20 (paid upon arrival); optional tours; and gratuities.

All personal expenses are also your responsibility. And beverages are not included with the Tuesday dinner on March 12.

Transportation is available from Hebron, CT to/from JFK.

Questions? Contact Hebron Lions member Dr. William Levy, who will accompany the trip, at 860-647 -1195.

For reservations, call Doug Payette at The Travel Companion (44 Groveway,  Clinton, CT 06413) at 860-399-7776  Doug Payette. The fee is $509 to hold your space, which includes both your insurance and deposit.

Here’s more about the trip:

MARCH 6 (Wed.) Depart USA, flights include meals, drinks and in-flight entertainment.

MARCH 7 (Thur.) Arrive in Tel Aviv and transfer to Jerusalem and your hotel. In the evening, a welcome briefing at your hotel. (Optional: dinner 1 of 5 Day Dinner Value Package – $119. Your hotels provide an economical way to stick to your budget, enjoy dependable local cuisine, without incurring any travel cost. Meals are based on the hotel’s buffet or four-course set menu. Beverages are not included.) Overnight: Jerusalem

MARCH 8 (Fri.) A half-day tour of Jerusalem’s Old City. Walk along the Via Dolorosa and visit some of the Stations of the Cross en route to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pass through the local bazaars en route to Mount Zion. Visit the Room of the Last Supper and the Tomb of King David. (Optional: dinner 2 of 5 Day Dinner Value Package).

You also have the option of a half-day in Bethlehem, 2 p.m., $33… a half-day tour featuring the Church of the Nativity. A shopping stop for local souvenirs and olive-wood handicrafts is included. Please note that Bethlehem is located six miles south of Jerusalem in the West Bank and governed by the Palestinian National Authority. Overnight: Jerusalem.  Meals: Breakfast.

MARCH 9 (Sat.) – Day at leisure in Jerusalem. Enjoy the day at leisure in this fascinating city. Stroll the pedestrian Ben Yehuda Street with its many shops and cafés and restaurants or visit one of the city’s many museums. (Optional: Dinner 3 of 5 Day Dinner Value Package.) You also have the optin of Full Day Masada and Dead Sea, $94.  Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A towering desert mesa via cable car to visit the excavations of the fortress of King Herod and the last stronghold of the Zealots against the Romans. Here you will be able to see the synagogue and storehouses, painstakingly restored by archaeologists. Descend the mount via cable car. Next, visit the Museum of Masada, the Story of Masada. Continue your tour via Ein Gedi and the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea, more than 1,200 feet below sea level. While at this natural wonder, enjoy the opportunity to float in the water or cover yourself in the mineral-rich mud. Return to your hotel.  Overnight: Jerusalem. Meals: Breakfast.

MARCH 10 (Sun.) Day at leisure in Jerusalem. Enjoy a full day at leisure in Jerusalem. You also have the option of  Half Day Jerusalem Old City – Jewish Quarter (morning)/Half Day Jerusalem New City, $54.

In the first half of the tour… drive past the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament to visit the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed on a rotating platform. View the model of Jerusalem during Second Temple period. En route to Yad Vashem, pass by the Israeli Supreme Court Building. Explore the new facilities of Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Holocaust.

In the second half of the tour… Half Day Jerusalem Old City Jewish Quarter (p.m.), $50. Begin the Old City tour, entering through Zion Gate, where provisions for the Jewish Quarter were smuggled through during the War of Independence. Walk to the Cardo, the ancient Roman Street which was the main shopping area during the Roman and Byzantine Periods. Visit the Jewish Quarter and the four Sephardic Synagogues from the 16th Century, restored after the 1967 war. Visit Davidson Center and tour the southern wall excavation.

Another option, Illuminated Jerusalem, with dinner, $61.  Jerusalem at night shows off her splendor. Drive by the walls of the Old City and various other monuments to see the city in a new light. Continue to a local restaurant for dinner. Overnight: Jerusalem. – Meals: Breakfast.

MARCH 11 (Mon.) Beit Shean and Capernaum Sightseeing. Depart Jerusalem, driving via the Jordan Valley to Beit Shean, a city mentioned in the Bible, later a Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine city which was destroyed by an earthquake in 749 AD. Continue north following the Jordan River to Yardenit. Drive around the Sea of Galilee with views of Tiberias, to Capernaum. Overnight: Tiberias. Meals: Breakfast and dinner.

MARCH 12  (Tue.) Day at leisure in Tiberias. Enjoy a full day at leisure in Tiberias. With the evening at leisure, we suggest a visit to a local diamond factory  (Optional: Dinner 4 of 5 Day Dinner Value Package).

Another option, Full Day Golan Heights Tour with lunch, $94.  To Safed, a holy city and the center of the mystical Kabbala. Stroll through the artists’ colony and visit an ancient synagogue. Proceed to Golan Heights stopping at Mitzphe Gadot for a tour and lunch at Kibbutz Gadot. Continue to Har Ben Tal, site of a former Israeli bunker. Next visit a kosher winery in Katzrin, the largest town in the Golan Heights.  – Overnight: Tiberias. Meals: breakfast.

MARCH 13 (Wed.) Nazareth, Haifa and Ceasarea sightseeing. Drive south through the Galilean hills to Nazareth, home of the Church of the Annunciation. Continue to Haifa, via Bahai Gardens. Proceed to the Mediterranean coast and visit Caesarea. Tour the remains of the Roman and Crusader – ancient history comes to life with the multi-media presentation. Drive south along the coastal highway to Tel Aviv.

Another option, Panoramic Night Tour of Tel Aviv with dinner, $61. This evening you will see the highlights of Tel Aviv, a vibrant city renowned for its chic, cosmopolitan character. Drive down Ibn Givrol Street, one of Tel Aviv’s main streets with shops and restaurants. Pass Yitzhak Rabin Square with its memorial to the late Israeli Prime Minister. Continue past the Mann Auditorium and Habima, Israel’s National Theatre, and down the tree-lined Rothschild Avenue which boasts a large selection of Bauhaus Architecture style from the 1930s and 1940s. Continue toward the Mediterranean Sea and then south to Jaffa for dinner in a local restaurant. – Overnight: Tel Aviv. Meals:breakfast.

MARCH 14  (Thur.) Day of leisure in Tel Aviv. Enjoy a full day at leisure in Tel Aviv. Stroll along Dizengoff Street and have coffee in one of the many sidewalk cafes. Or visit the open-air arts and crafts market in the pedestrian streets of Nahalat Binyamin. (Optional: Last Dinner of 5 Day Dinner Value Package).

Another option, Half Day Tel Aviv (morning) – $43.  Morning tour of Tel Aviv begins along Ben Gurion Boulevard, named for Israel first Prime Minister and where David Ben Gurion’s House remains as it was as a permanent exhibition, to the Tel Aviv waterfront on the Mediterranean to ancient Jaffa. Proceed to Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhood of Tel Aviv style. Stroll through the narrow lanes and winding streets. Overnight: Tel Aviv. Meals: breakfast

MARCH 15 (Fri.) Morning. TEL AVIV to ISTANBUL departure flight. The remainder of your day is at leisure Overnight: Istanbul.  Meals: breakfast.

MARCH 16 (Sat.) Istanbul City Tour (Topkapi Palace & Grand Bazaar), the famous Underground Cistern (remember the James Bond movie From Russia with Love?); The Topkapi Palace, residence of Ottoman Sultan’s, housing the richness of 700 years. Finally, the Grand Bazaar , world-famous shopping center where you will have the opportunity to shop for carpets, jewelry, leather, etc. Overnight: Istanbul.  Meals: breakfast.

MARCH 17 (Sat.) Transfer to the Istanbul airport for your departure flight to JFK. Meals: breakfast.

Posted December 4, 2012

Have a news item, event or Letter to the Editor you’d like posted on this news site? Simply send your information to editor@htnp.com and include your town in the subject line of your email. Please also include a phone number where you can be reached if there are questions. For daily updates on local and Connecticut news, “like” us on Facebook at HTNP News. https://www.facebook.com/HTNPnews and find us on our NEW  Twitter page at HTNP News (@HTNPNews )