Bethel Daily Briefing: Tuesday, February 28, 2012

TODAY IS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012

WEATHER from The National Weather Service 

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Northwest wind between 8 and 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

QUOTE OF THE DAY from Brainy Quotes 

No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.

Voltaire

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eye on Bethel, February 29th and March 1st. Larry Craybas, School Board Chairman and Dr. Kevin Smith, Superintendent of Bethel Schools, will be the featured guests on Wednesday, February 289h at 7:30 pm and on Thursday, March 1st at 11:30 am on Comcast Community Access, Channel 23.  The show is hosted by Paul Szatkowski and is sponsored by the Bethel Republican Town Committee.  Mr. Craybas and Dr. Smith will be discussing the challenges and goals for the future.

SPRING countdown! Our annual SPRING GARDEN EXPO is scheduled for
 March 24 - April 1. We are busy preparing our gardens and preparing for our topics and discussions that will soon be posted on our website.
 Save the Dates for attending our demonstrations and seminars on Sat. March 24, Sun. March 25, Sat. March 31 and Sun. April 1st. 
We can't wait to see you! Click for information.

Families Network of Western Ct, Inc. is dedicated to ensuring that all families, especially those facing the greatest challenges, receive support that they need in order to get their children off to a safe, healthy and happy start. We do this by establishing healthy family relationships, improving child development and healthy outcomes, reducing therisk of abuse and neglect and preparing children to be healthy, responsibleproductive lives.

Volunteer Opportunity Details: Nurturing Connections Volunteers provide phone calls to all first time moms and dads once a week.Volunteers could potentially have a maximum of 10 families and spend about 2 hrs.per week reaching out to those families. Phone calls consist of providing newparents with education, resources within the community, parenting programs. Training is 7 hours and is conducted in two different daysessions. If you are a parent, grandparent or would like to give back to your community contact us for further information. We are in need of English, Spanish, and Portuguese speaking individuals that can commit for 2 hours per week which includes paperwork. For more information, click

New Business? Planning an event? Proud of someone? New baby in the family? Send in your announcements and we will let the world know!

MUNICIPAL MEETINGS:

Planning and Zoning, 7 pm, Room D, Municipal Center

GARDENING HINTS from Old Farmer's Almanac

Plan some window boxes. Good choices for plants: zinnias, nasturtiums petunias, geraniums, begonia. Edible choices: cherry tomatoes, lettuce, kale, and herbs.

TODAY IN HISTORY from On This Day

1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first railroad incorporated for commercial transportation of people and freight. 

1844 - Several people were killed aboard the USS Princeton when a 12-inch gun exploded. 

1849 - Regular steamboat service to California via Cape Horn arrived in San Francisco for the first time. The SS California had left New York Harbor on October 6, 1848. The trip took 4 months and 21 days. 

1854 - The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, WI. About 50 slavery opponents began the new political group. 

1861 - The U.S. territory of Colorado was organized. 

1881 - Thomas Edison hired Samuel Insull as his private secretary. 

1883 - The first vaudeville theater opened. 

1885 - AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph) was incorporated. The company was capitalized on only $100,000 and provided long distance service for American Bell. 

1911 - Thomas A. Edison, Inc. was organized. 

1940 - The first televised basketball game was shown. The game featured Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh from Madison Square Gardens in New York. 

1948 - Bud Gartiser set a world record when he cleared the 50-yard low hurdles in 6.8 seconds. 

1951 - A Senate committee issued a report that stated that there were at least two major crime syndicates in the U.S. 

1953 - In a Cambridge University laboratory, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. 

1954 - In San Francisco "Birth of a Planet" was aired. It was the first American phase-contrast cinemicrography film to be presented on television. 

1956 - A patent was issued to Forrester for a computer memory core. 

1962 - The John Glenn for President club was formed by a group of Las Vegas republicans. 

1974 - The U.S. and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a break of seven years. 

1979 - Mr. Ed, the talking horse from the TV show "Mr. Ed", died. 

1983 - "M*A*S*H" became the most watched television program in history when the final episode aired. 

1993 - U.S. Federal agents raided the compound of an armed religious cult in Waco, TX. The ATF had planned to arrest the leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, on federal firearms charges. Four agents and six Davidians were killed and a 51-day standoff followed. 

1994 - NATO made its first military strike when U.S. F-16 fighters shot down four Bosnian Serb warplanes in violation of a no-fly zone over central Bosnia. 

1995 - The Denver International Airport opened after a 16-month delay. 

1998 - Serbian police began a campaign to wipe out "terrorist gangs" in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. 

2001 - The Northwest region of the U.S., including the state of Washington, was hit by an earthquake that measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale. There were no deaths reported. 

2002 - Sotheby's auction house announced that it had identified Peter Paul Reubens as the creator of the painting "The Massacre of the Innocents." The painting was previously thought to be by Jan van den Hoecke. 

2002 - It was announced that John Madden would be replacing Dennis Miller on "Monday Night Football." Madden signed a four-year $20 million deal with ABC Sports.

Have an announcement or an interesting bit of news?  Let us know! 

Email Christine Rose at RosepetL5@aol.com