Kent was ablaze Saturday, Dec. 7, when the Kent Volunteer Fire Department staged its annual Parade of Lights in conjunction with Kent Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Fest, which included sales, treats, and a bonfire with caroling. Full story.
Residents packed a Town Hall meeting room and joined on Zoom to hear more about a proposed and controversial town ordinance that calls for the installation of two traffic cameras in the village center with the aim of decreasing speeding in town. Full story.
The Planning and Zoning Commission enacted a six-month moratorium on applications for any cannabis related businesses, effective Dec. 1. If the commission has not completed work on the regulation within six months, it can authorize two successive six-month extensions. Full story.
The Park and Recreation Commission voted Monday, Oct. 21, to remove the portion of its bylaws that requires the third selectman to be a member of the commission. No other commission has a selectman among its voting members, but the first selectman is an ex-officio non-voting member of every commission and board. Full story.
Just weeks before one of the most contentious elections in generations just weeks away, Kent’s election officials were wrangling over a series of moves by the both the Republican and Democratic Registrars of Voters that left them shut out of their shared email account and unable to log into their computers. Full story.
Warmer weather helped energize cold-blooded creatures, which is one reason there were more than half a dozen sightings of rattlesnakes in Kent and neighboring towns. This was about average for late summer, according to a DEEP wildlife biologist.
His advice: watch where you step. Full story.
The Planning and Zoning Commission gave reluctant approval to a site plan for several businesses, including the unlicensed Motoriot car dealership, which opened in February 2024 before getting local land use approvals or a license from the state. Relationships between the dealership's owners and town officials had been frosty since March. Co-owner Jason Doornick told officials in May that he was in a “Catch-22” situation and expected to conform to town regulations but is not being given sufficient help in coming into compliance. Full Story.
Beyond Kent's bustling streets, boutiques, cafes and cultural events, a grimmer picture emerges for those struggling to make ends meet. Many of them are finding support from the town's food bank, which serves about 100 people a month, according to Social Services Director Samantha Hasenflue. Some 128 Kent households pay 50 percent or more of their income toward the cost of housing, according to Justin Potter, president of Kent Affordable Housing. Full story.
Sculptor Sabin Howard completed a 58-foot-long, 38-figure frieze commemorating World War I veterans, which was later installed in Pershing Park in Washington, D.C. It is the last of the United States’ four major 20th-century wars to receive a memorial in the nation’s capitol. Howard said the project involved three years of bureaucratic frustration dealing with Washington commissions, followed by five years of intense labor and innovation to meet his deadline. Full story.
The owners of an ancient house located on the southeast corner of Camp Flats and South Kent roads uncovered a fascinating reminder of the building’s former life while making repairs to the mid-18th century building. As workers cleared away the damaged portion of the house, removal of a ceiling suddenly revealed an old sign painted on what was once exterior clapboards. Full story.
Kent residents voted 120-21 at a special town meeting to begin the transfer of a 1.16-acre parcel of land adjacent to the South Commons to Kent Affordable Housing, which plans to build 10 dwelling units on the site.
Much of the discussion was dedicated to whether the affordable housing project —seen as a pressing need—represents the best use the land, or if it should be reserved for possible future expansion of municipal uses. Full story.
Kent Center School Principal Michelle Mott and the local Board of Education ran into a barrage of complaints from parents concerned about a course that dealt with gender identity and sexual orientation. Tempers flared during the public comment portion of the meeting; parents who spoke were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of communication from the school. Full story.
The controversy spilled over into a second meeting in May.
An honor guard from the Kent Volunteer Fire Department carried Robert Bauer's ashes into Kent's Congregational Church on Feb. 3. Bauer, 98, Kent’s last surviving World War II veteran, was an active citizen who served Kent in various roles. Full story.
Town officials went to court to overturn a state Appellate Court ruling siding with High Watch Recovery Center's plan to build a greenhouse on the nearby 70-acre farm it purchased in 2017. High Watch got permission to use the farm as part of its residential treatment program. But in 2020, local zoning regulations were amended to prohibit such facilities, making High Watch’s use of the farm nonconforming. The state Supreme Court was due to hold a hearing on in the matter Dec. 5. Full story.
A Webster Bank employee was charged with illegally withdrawing more than $100,000 from older customers’ accounts and transferring them to his personal accounts. A state police report said that investigation began in June 2023 when the bank identified “unusual account activity in the form of increased cash withdrawals from the savings account of an elderly client of the Kent branch location.” Full story.
The Board of Education approved amendments to a policy governing an armed security guard in Kent Center School. Under the policy, the armed security officer must have at least 15 years prior experience as a sworn law enforcement officer with an organized local police department, a federal law enforcement agency, or the state. Full story.