Community Corner

This Year in Fairfield: Local Teen Publishes Book, Irene Hits, Residents Remember 9/11

Fairfield Patch looks back on the events of 2011 while looking forward to 2012 with This Year In Fairfield. This Friday marks the penultimate installment of this four-part series, which will be published on the remaining Fridays in December.

 

We continue this week with a look at the news that made headlines during the third quarter of 2011:

July

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Columnist Don Harrison former First Selectman Ken Flatto and former town attorney Richard Saxl give Fairfield taxpayers an explanation for the Metro Center cost overruns.

Fairfield teen publishes the book “Dear Mr. Potter: Letters of Love, Loss and Magic,” an idea that took off from a blog she started. 

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Residents celebrate the Fourth of July with a that attracted thousands.

Fairfield University announces it will take over the downtown space previously occupied by Borders , to the delight of many a Patch reader.

The enters the spotlight again when the Board of Selectmen approves a committee to oversee the fundraising and potential bidding for the lighthouse. Selectman James Walsh says the committee should explore securing the lighthouse for the town for free.

Election Day 2011 campaigns take off with the between three Republican candidates: David Becker, Rob Bellitto Jr., and Hugh Dolan (who would later on the Independent ticket).

In a similar vein, Rob Bellitto Jr. gets the as the Republican candidate for the 2011 municipal elections.

A kayaker rescues a 3-year-old child near Penfield Reef.

After a right-wing extremist detonates a bomb in Oslo, Norway, and then shoots to death nearly 70 people at a youth camp on the island of Utoya on July 22, and members of the share their reactions.

August

A study conducted by the Hartford-based Partnership for Strong Communities confirms that Fairfield

The long-awaited officially opens to much pomp from the town and its officials on Thursday, Aug. 4.  

A in nearby Black Rock reinvents itself after a devastating fire that occurred in March of this year.

The RTM officially forms a panel to probe the and approves funds for an audit of the station’s expenses.

The state Appellate Court denies Fairfield the opportunity to regain losses resulting from the

A Shelton man ; Fairfield police and fire personnel do their best to save him but, as Police Chief Gary MacNamara said, “it’s a tragedy.”

Fairfield welcomes its newest -- and furriest -- officer to the police force:

Fairfielders report feeling the effects of the that shook from Richmond, Va., all the way up the East Coast. 

late Saturday, Aug. 27 into Sunday Aug. 28, causing widespread , flooding, and , , and power lines.

September

Fairfield resident Christopher Message is arrested in connection to a in town. He confessed to setting the fires.

Residents and town personnel just before its 10th anniversary and dedicate a of steel I-beam at the Fairfield Fire Department.

opens on Tunxis Hill Cutoff to the delight of many residents.

The iconic appears closed in mid-September…it turns out resident Leo Redgate, who managed the non-profit, .


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