The Sizzler was popular last Friday at the fund-raising carnival held last weekend by the Washington Volunteer Fire Department. Photograph by Erin FitzPatrick.

WASHINGTON-Though nothing has been signed yet, the Region 12 school district Lease Committee and the three regional first selectmen made substantial progress toward negotiating a 20-year elementary school lease agreement at a special Tuesday morning meeting.

LITCHFIELD-A Morris man whose brother was responsible for a fatal courthouse shooting in Middletown three years ago was arrested by State Police late last week on charges connected to the discovery of a cache of weapons that included an assault rifle and fully automatic submachine guns.

KENT-Any good representational artist knows the importance of the light source in a painting, but a great artist, like the late George Laurence Nelson, knows how to capture the light and transform it into an element that transports viewers.

NORFOLK-The Norfolk Chamber Music Festival has been host to a variety of extremely accomplished musicians, and this summer world-renowned violinist Midori will step foot on the stage. Her passion for music is apparent in her words as well as her playing, and she works to share this passion with as many listeners as possible.

WARREN-Think of the Fourth of July and things that come immediately to mind include fireworks and family gatherings. The town of Warren has found another way-one that's both new and old-to celebrate this patriotic holiday.

The two candidates in the Fifth Congressional District support efforts to increase domestic oil production but differ on whether it would have a short-term impact on gasoline prices, which have soared from an average of $3.13 per gallon for regular a year ago in Connecticut to a current price of $4.37 per gallon, according to Facts.com.

Trish Haldin of New Milford takes a closer look at a photograph in the booth of Kava Designs-Under the Sea at last weekend's art festival in New Milford. Photograph by Walter Kidd.

SOUTHBURY-If you Google the name Asaf Shariv, you'll find a YouTube video shot during the celebrations of Israel's 60th birthday in New York City. It shows an Israeli in his mid-30s holding his baby daughter, Mika. He hopes that by the time his daughter is 18 there won't be any wars, so Israel won't need an army for her to serve in.

LITCHFIELD-Dorothea DiCecco and her husband, Mario, have opposed the war in Iraq since it began, and make their sentiments known by standing on the green every Sunday morning with signs protesting its impact on U.S. troops, the federal budget deficit and beyond.

HARTFORD-He tearfully admitted that until his arrest on sex charges, he put his fire department above the needs of his family. He also said he knew something was wrong but thought reaching out for help meant weakness.

WOODBURY-In the (mu­­seum) rooms where women come and go, talking of Michelangelo, classically-proportioned sculptures whose marble aspires to immortality are typically surrounded by large-scale paintings that bespeak at least one lost art-that of the frame maker, who, by hand, designs and constructs showcases as grand an unique as the art itself.

BRIDGEWATER-After gathering at least six sworn and notarized affidavits, New Milford attorney Paul Garlasco is preparing to move forward with the lawsuit he filed in federal court last September against the town of Bridgewater and its First Selectman, Bill Stuart.

NEW MILFORD-Faced with plans they feel would push a historic residential neighborhood closer to the jaws of commercialization, residents of the East Street/Route 202 section of town lobbied the Zoning Commission again Tuesday to consider realities over the promises contained in polished plans and a traffic study.

WOODBURY-The music of a composer best known for his tribute to winter will be celebrated as the town honors the 100th anniversary of beloved composer Leroy Anderson's birth with a series of events that begin Saturday morning a commemorative postal cancellation at the Woodbury Post Office.