The story also brought attention to a new national non-profit organization, FocusDriven, dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, as well as Connecticut's model distracted driving laws. After learning that Village Creek founders were forerunners in obliterating racial and ethnic barriers in the city and prominent artists left their marks there, the Citizen staff began wondering what other historic Norwalk neighborhoods look liked, up close. [...] Nicole Rivard won honorable mention for feature article, community, non-daily, for "Norwalk native pens story about how he stopped smoking."

Please don't throw shoes at me, but I blame love songs for creating unrealistic and mushy ideas about love that spark more silly notions than help us fall in love. I want to celebrate love as much as the next guy, but have you listened to the advice some of these tunes are pumping out over the radio airwaves as you drive along with the windows down now that the warm weather is upon us? Or these days you might be listening to your iPod as you jog on the treadmill at the gym or stroll along the city streets. Read these mind numbing lyrics: How can we be lovers if we can't be friends? Couldn't they have picked a couple of cutesy deer or chattering chipmunks? I suppose this song is an allegory of sorts, but guys, this is plain bad, and we listened to it and hummed along. [...] it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind Perhaps, the singer is a correspondent on assignment, and he's achin' to get back to his woman. When I tell my kids how great the Beatles were, and they listen to "Silly Love Songs," they fall down laughing, and then tell me to never criticize their rap tunes again. Call me crazy but in my book, the Police love song, "Every Breath You Take," is an ode to stalking more than loving: "Every single day, and every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay, I'll be watching you."

While Sheen kept up his rants, more and more viewers flocked to watch his sitcom, in which Sheen reportedly had been paid nearly $2 million an episode. Since Warner Brothers fired Sheen, he has filed a $100 million lawsuit for lost wages for him and the crew for the last eight episodes of the show that were canceled. Sheen is leaving a trail of domestic violence incidents involving weapons and threats and gloating statements portending alleged harm coming to female relatives of his former spouse and soon-to-be ex-wife. Sheen's very public unraveling obviously delights some segments of the community, mostly male, but truly not those who work in the mental health field. [...] disgust mounted when news reports indicated that advertisers were capitalizing on Sheen's success by cherry-picking some Sheenisms that the actor has splattered within his diatribe. Any advertiser, television executive, producer or corporate entity who hires Sheen or capitalizes on his success whether it be in dollars, viewers or customers, just doesn't get it. Despite past incidences of Sheen's alleged incidents of domestic violence, they continued to employ him on the show. [...] I couldn't believe how many times Morgan interjected his own opinion, even going so far as to say that Sheen had a right to live his private life as he saw fit and that the way he led his private life had nothing to do with his performance in the sitcom. Charlie Sheen may not be filming any more new TV segments for "Two And A Half Men," but it remains to be seen if and where he resumes his TV or movie career.

Little did I know that I would soon be on the receiving end of those services as an accident landed me in the emergency room on Feb. 6. [...] thanks to the doctors and staff members at Norwalk Hospital, I didn't dwell on the "what ifs." During my stay I was constantly surrounded by my mom, dad, sister and friends--one friend even stayed with me for almost nine hours. Norwalk Hospital was the only hospital in Fairfield County to earn the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence award from HealthGrades for 2011. The award is based on HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study and is given to hospitals that had a statistically significantly lower risk-adjusted mortality and lower rate of in-hospital complications than all other hospitals based on an analysis of three years of Medicare data (2007, 2008, 2009). [...] physicians who refer their patients to the hospital can be assured that their patients are receiving care ranked among the nation's leaders, said Daniel DeBarba, president and chief executive officer of Norwalk Hospital, in a statement. According to HealthGrades, a five-star rating means a hospital's performance is statistically significantly better than expected, and places the hospital in the top 15 percent nationally in clinical performance. "Norwalk Hospital can be proud of the contributions of its physicians, nurses and staff in achieving outstanding patient care," said Dr. Rick May, HealthGrades vice president of clinical quality services and co-author of the study, in a release.

Mayor Moccia has been asking for residents to be patient even though the snow removal process can be frustrating. Since there are likely more storms ahead of us this season, people need to remember to be good neighbors and help eachother out like they did during the wicked weather we experienced March 13, 2010. With more snow expected the cooperation and assistance of residents and businesses will be required to get through the storm recovery more quickly and efficiently. Residents should keep in mind the following general guidelines city officials released this week: ¢ With this amount of snow on the ground, and using all available staff, at least 14 hours is required to complete all streets once snowfall has stopped. ¢ Residents are encouraged to not clear sidewalks or ends of driveways during this time, if possible, so as to avoid having to repeatedly shovel. ¢ Clearing school parking lots and driveways requires at least an additional six hours. Special requests (digging out buses, cars, AAA requests, special streets to be done, medical conditions, elderly, etc.) add to the length of plowing operations.

The Family Economic Security Program is a five-year, $2 million working families initiative designed to help low and medium-wage students with dependents receive tuition assistance, career guidance, achievement coaching, personal financial guidance and financial assistance for childcare and transportation. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center that supports needed transformations in American education through tighter connections between teaching practice, evidence of student learning, the communication and use of this evidence and structured opportunities to build knowledge. By actively partnering with the community to meet community-identified needs, our faculty, staff and students are able to leverage both public and private resources to the benefit of children, families and seniors in Fairfield County, said NCC Dean of Academic Affairs Pamela Edington in a statement. [...] Norwalk is certainly lucky that it does. ¢ NCC in partnership with Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON), the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, local health care providers, state representatives, teachers, administrators and after-school providers, has held Community Conversations focusing on the economy, education and healthcare reform. ¢ In 2009-10 the college coordinated 19 private, state and federal grants totaling nearly $10 million dollars, which helped to reduce the achievement gap for under-represented populations, expand community-based job training, build the allied health workforce and enhance initiatives related to ESL coursework, hospital partnerships, school readiness, renewable energy and school to career preparation.

According to Moccia the charter school application is currently under review by the state Board of Education. [...] if he can open this charter school, it will give us another opportunity to assist the Norwalk public schools with some of the issues of minority disparity and the achievement gap. Again it's not a criticism of the school system....The main thing is everyone is trying to work together to bridge the achievement gap and I thought it was a worthy goal. The essence of the Charter School concept is choice, choice for parents to provide a different educational opportunity for their children, other than our fine public schools....In 1997 I was proud to assist educational visionaries in their formation of the Side By Side Community Charter School....I was privileged to serve on the board of Side By Side and have since watched its development into one of the finest charter schools in the state and region.

Last month I was fortunate enough to interview Norwalk native Frank Lato, who now resides in North Carolina, on the heels of him publishing "Tobacco Road," a self-help book for anyone who wants to stop using tobacco. Publicity materials for the book say, Frank could be your neighbor-- he rode show horses, worked in the family construction business, served in the Marines, drove a truck, and worked as a real estate broker, developer and contractor. The reason I bring Frank up in the first issue of 2011 is I realize this is a time when people are making New Year's resolutions and struggling to keep them. The Aura About You--Students will learn how to tap into their intuition and increase awareness in their lives through meditation and energy exercises.

The hospital is once again reaching out to help make people's lives easier this time of year. Norwalk Hospital's Department of Psychiatry offers the following tips for coping with holiday stress: Be realistic about how much money to spend on presents and the way in which your family traditions or spiritual events are celebrated. According to Lateef Habib, outpatient coordinator for the department, Do not mistakenly assume that you are the only one for whom the holidays are not perfect. If you believe that everyone else is well organized, has enough money, goes to fun and exciting parties, and is generally happier, you may develop a real case of the `holiday blues'. ¢ Practice time and money management. If your problem area does happen to be food, Barbara Schmidt, the nutrition lifestyle specialist at Norwalk Hospital, provides the following advice on how to survive the season of festive feasting. There are special foods and social pressure from family and friends, "try some of this" or "I made this especially for you." Often, busy holiday schedules (or lack of structured schedules) bump people off their exercise routines. Exercise, especially aerobic (brisk walking, jogging, running, biking, or swimming) can help relieve stress, and burn up extra calories. Consider the portion size and limit to ½ cup servings. Use applesauce instead of oil in holiday breads; use egg substitutes in place of whole eggs; use nonfat dairy products in recipes. Bounce back and make a plan to get back on track. If you are having difficulty coping with the stresses of the holidays, the Norwalk Hospital Department of Psychiatry can help.