US. POSTAGE PAID GLASTONBURY CITIZEN, INC. P.O. BOX 373, GLASTONBURY, CT, 06033 POSTAL CUSTOMER PRESORTED STANDARD LOCAL ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ RIVEREAST News Bulletin Serving Amston, Andover, Cobalt, Colchester, East Hampton, Hebron, Marlborough, Middle Haddam and Portland Volume 42, Number 49 Published by The Glastonbury Citizen September 14, 2018 Trying to Reduce Arrigoni Suicides by Elizabeth Regan The state Department of Transportation has and have an overall reductive effect in a geo- announced measures local officials hope will graphic region,” he wrote on Sept. 8. significantly reduce suicides on the 80-year-old State transportation department spokesman Arrigoni Bridge. Kevin Nursick said the fencing is not “easily A letter from transportation department Com- defeatable.” missioner James Redeker to Middletown Mayor “It will act as a deterrent for reckless and Daniel Drew said the department will install 8- irresponsible thrill seekers and hopefully also foot-high fencing on both sidewalk railings for as a deterrent for folks who are considering the entire length of the bridge. The work will harming themselves,” Nursick said. occur as part of an estimated $37 million project He emphasized anti-suicide fencing is not to repair the approaches on either side of the typically installed on the 4,000 bridges under bridge. The work is slated to begin in 2019 with state control. When 8-foot fencing is used, it is an expected completion date in 2021. traditionally limited to areas directly over high- Drew has been advocating for suicide pre- ways – in this case, Route 9. He credited input vention measures on the bridge for three years, from municipal leaders and area mental health ever since the July 2015 murder of 7-month- agencies for the department’s decision to con- old Aaden Moreno by his father, Tony Moreno. tinue the heightened fence for the full length of A jury in February 2017 convicted Tony the bridge. Moreno of murder and risk of injury to a mi- Nursick said the fencing is likely to go up nor; a Middlesex Superior Court judge sen- during the latter part of the project, though he tenced him to 70 years in prison that May. cautioned the exact timing is still to be deter- The same day Moreno was sentenced, Port- mined. land police responded to an unrelated call for a Drew said in his Facebook post he was jumper on the bridge. According to the depart- shocked to learn about how many people die ment, the suicide involved a gun. by suicide on the bridge. The protective fence may be similar to one “It’ll be a few years before these fences are of the two types of fencing used on the new installed and longer even before new data is Tappan Zee Bridge, according to the letter: thin available but, when they are, I expect that the wire mesh or non-climbable wire fencing. number of suicides experienced there will drop A project to replace the center deck was com- precipitously and hopefully in this region over- pleted in November 2012. State transportation all,” he wrote. department documents show the upcoming ini- Data provided by the Middletown Police tiative will address the deck spans on either side Department this week show police responded of the bridge, replace sidewalks, install new 42 times since 2010 to suicide-related emer- pedestrian railings and update lighting. gency calls on the bridge, which could include Engineers said traffic lanes will be reduced suicides, attempted suicides, suspicious activ- to one lane each for the expected 18-month con- ity and well-being checks. It is unclear how struction period on the approach decks. many people ultimately jumped or how many Never Forget… The Belltown community converged on the Congregational Drew hailed the addition of protective fenc- died. Church of East Hampton lawn Tuesday to honor first responders who died in the ing last week in a post on his Facebook page. Six of those calls originated on the Portland attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Roughly 170 “Research has shown that preventative mea- side of the bridge, according to the data. people in attendance also paid homage to local police, fire and ambulance personnel sures, like barrier fences, reduce significantly Middletown Police Department spokes- who respond to local emergencies every day. or eliminate suicides and attempts at those sites See Arrigoni page 2 Oei Wins First Runner-Up at Miss America by Sloan Brewster Hebron’s Bridget Oei didn’t take home the new title. rience to compete in the Miss America program. to answer an additional question. This one asked crown in the Miss America pageant Sunday She also said the lack of the swimsuit por- Oei’s response was that the new format of her to name something she wished she could night. tion did not dampen her enthusiasm in the least. the competition gives a deeper focus to high- invent. She replied that she wanted to create an But she came pretty darn close. “I really appreciate that the new competition lighting the multi-faceted talents of competi- app that would allow the user to plug in symp- Oei, who won Miss Connecticut in June, was – Miss America 2.0 – was focused on highlight- tors. toms someone was experiencing to determine named first runner-up at the national competi- ing the accomplishments of the 51 people com- Be creative, she said. if they need to go to the hospital or if someone tion, while Miss New York, Nia Franklin, was peting,” she said. “Sometimes when you’re “Think outside the box when generating a should dial 911. the overall winner. According to WTNH-TV, looking at swimsuits, you don’t get that same talent,” she recalled answering. “You don’t nec- “A few years ago one of my good friends in Oei’s finish marked the first time since 1936 a connection.” essarily have to do a fine arts talent.” college had a stroke,” she said. “He was 21 and Connecticut resident has made it to the top five In place of swimsuits, the competition made Instead, Oei said she suggested that competi- healthy and my friends and I didn’t recognize at Miss America. room for contestants to talk about themselves tors work with something they know, such as a the symptoms until 24 hours later.” The competition was dubbed this year “Miss and answer questions about their jobs and roles, love for athleticism. Shultis, who had no back- If they had realized they needed to bring him America 2.0,” due to recent changes made to Oei explained. It gave them a chance to learn ground in fine arts, had faced that challenge, to the hospital, doctors could have given him the event – the most prolific of which was elimi- from one another. Oei said. the appropriate medication and possibly pre- nating the swimsuit portion. In a phone call The additional questions were peer-gener- “Miss Nebraska herself did a monologue vented the stroke. Monday, the day after the competition took ated, and Oei’s came from Miss Nebraska, Jes- about her battle with cancer and her struggle, “I’m always thinking of inventions and dif- place in Atlantic City’s Jim Whelan Boardwalk sica Lynn Shultis, who asked her how she en- so that was one [way to handle it],” she said. ferent ways to make things better,” Oei said. “I Hall, Oei, 22, repeatedly referred to it with its courages young women with no fine arts expe- When she was named to the top 10, Oei had See Oei Wins page 2 Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cov Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cover Story ï Cov Arrigoni cont. from Front Page woman Heather Desmond said the Middletown and Portland police departments split the bridge down the middle. According to Portland police, calls on the Portland side of the bridge included the May 2017 suicide involving a gun and a November 2012 suicide. Portland First Selectwoman Susan Bransfield Bridget Oei took her skill in Irish step dancing to the Miss America stage. The stressed Drew was the impetus for the project, Hebron native, who was named Miss Connecticut in June, was named first runner- but added she has been kept in the loop by staff up in the Miss America 2019 competition. members with the state transportation depart- ment. Oei Wins cont. from Front Page “It is a beautiful bridge and I trust the DOT would love to start working on it.” cut to continue spreading the word on her theme will do their best to maintain the beauty as well Oei, who is half-Irish and half-Chinese, nods for her year as Miss Connecticut – Women in as the integrity of the bridge,” she said, acknowl- to each culture when competing. A longtime STEM: Inspiring the Next Generation of Inno- edging concerns from at least one resident who competitive Irish step dancer, she took her danc- vators. She plans to tour schools and talk to was worried the protective fencing would ob- ing skill to the Miss America stage. She said young women about exploring science, tech- struct the bridge’s well-known vistas. she was proud to showcase the Irish art in the nology, engineering and math (STEM). “I certainly respect and will work with the competition and on national television. Oei, a University of Connecticut environ- DOT to enhance safety on the Arrigoni Bridge,” The red color of her gown spoke to her Chi- mental chemistry graduate, has only been com- she added.