March 12, 2026
.com
Chester, Deep River, & Essex Vol. XXVI Iss. 11
Voters OK $175K for Fire Engine Repairs, Animal Control By Christian Maldonado Staff Writer ESSEX
Voters approved transferring $175,000 from town sinking funds during a March 4 special town meeting to pay for fire engine repairs and begin planning for a new animal control facility. The largest portion, $75,000 from the
Essex Fire Department Sinking Fund, will be used to repair Engine 656, a Pierce fire engine purchased in 2015. According to the meeting agenda, $50,000 will go toward major mechanical repairs, including work on the engine’s transmission and pump system. The remaining $25,000 will be used to purchase a respirator fit-testing machine used to ensure firefighters’ air masks prop-
erly seal and meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety standards. First Selectman Norm Needleman said the repairs are unrelated to a separate fire engine, Engine 7, that caught fire during the Ivoryton Illuminations celebration in December. See Voters OK $175K page 10 It’s been a year to remember for Mary Charlton...............................2
Paws Meet People Robin Esposito, founder of Operation Save the Paws Rescue, tends to Copper and other adoptable dogs during an adoption event at Kaleidoscope, a Chester art collective, on March 8. The event partners with Kaleidoscope as part of the collective’s one-year anniversary community give-back effort.
Photo by Wesley Bunnell/ The Valley Courier
All on the Court Valley boys basketball took a tough loss in the final seconds at States.....................................12
Postcards from Afar The Florida Keys, Unlocked..........20
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