UConn-Hartford Hospital deal is dead
The Hartford Courant's Chris Keating has an email that indicates the proposal for a partnership between the UConn medical school and Hartford Hospital is kaput.Bristol Hospital officials are no doubt thrilled, having warned that a new hospital in Farmington, paid for by taxpayers, could cripple Bristol's own hospital.*******Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City to drop local emergency planning position
The city plans to eliminate the part-time local emergency planning coordinator position it created 15 years ago.Its functions will be shifted to the Capitol Region Emergency Planning Committee beginning in January.The former chairman of the city’s Salary Committee, Frank Nicastro, said the move is part of the ongoing effort by the city to look at the regionalization of services.“We’re transitioning this position to the state,” Nicastro said, adding that nobody was doing it in order to dump Ed Luczkow from the job at City Hall.The two part-time city workers who handle emergency planning -- Emergency Management Director Richard Ladisky and Luczkow – together

Bristol Mums owner dead at 62
The owner of Bristol Mums - Jerry Heresko -- has died at age 62. It's a real loss to the community.Here's what reporter Jackie Majerus wrote about him back in 2007:Jerry Heresko knows his mums.Owner of Bristol Mums Inc., he oversees the cultivation of hundreds of thousands of the city's namesake flower every year, shipping them across the country and into Canada as well as selling to friends and neighbors around town.About 200,000 tiny mums – with and without roots – are sent out by mail every spring, said Heresko.They're about three

Memorial service for Deschaine on Saturday
A memorial service hosted by a Washington, D.C. city council member will be held Saturday in the nation’s capital to honor Desi Deschaine, a Bristol native who drowned last summer in a boating accident.Deschaine, 30, made such a mark in politics in Washington that the Gertrude Stein Democrat Club recently found a way to perpetuate his memory with the creation of the Desi Deschaine Young Democrat of the Year Award to honor young activists who share his infectious enthusiasm and energy.The District of Columbia’s city council approved a resolution for presentation at Saturday’s service taking note of Deschaine’s activism in everything from gay rights to presidential politic

Damn flu
I'm down and out.*******Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com