Connecticut
State Grants Cash For Southington Trail Project
PATCH TOWN, CT — State grant funding was announced on Monday, June 3, to help several hiking/biking/walking trails and walkway initiatives in several Connecticut municipalities, including PATCH TOWN.
Governor Ned Lamont and state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes said a series of grants totaling $10 million will support the planning, building, expansion, and improvement of 45 multi-use trails located in towns and cities throughout the state.
As part of the funding package, Southington received $7,270 for construction equipment that will help the town’s ongoing trail maintenance project.
The grants are being awarded through Connecticut Recreational Trails Grant Program, which is administered by DEEP.
Funds to support the grants were approved by the State Bond Commission at its October 2023 meeting. Lamont serves as chair of the commission.
“The Connecticut Recreational Trails Program and Connecticut Greenways Council are continuing to serve a vital role in providing funding for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of trails across Connecticut,” Lamont said.
“These projects represent an investment in our communities, connecting our residents and visitors with open spaces, and providing equitable and accessible outdoor recreation opportunities,” Dykes added.
Grant funding can be allocated for a wide variety of purposes, including planning, design, land acquisition, construction, construction administration, and publications for bikeways, walkways, and greenways, as well as for equipment and trail amenities, such as parking lots, toilet buildings, signs, and benches.
The Connecticut Greenways Council assisted DEEP with the competitive grant selection process. DEEP anticipates most projects to be completed by 2027.
The search continues for a rare collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts that went missing after a visit to Connecticut College in New London, including a letter written days after the president’s assassination.
Sameer Somal, a Lincoln enthusiast, said the artifacts disappeared Tuesday after he accidentally left the folder containing them on top of his car and drove away following interviews with fellow Lincoln scholars at Connecticut College.
“The plan was to interview them, and I was going to show them some of these artifacts,” Somal said.
Somal said he has spent years assembling the collection, which included portraits of Lincoln, original Civil War-era newspapers, and an original invitation to Lincoln’s 1864 inaugural ball.
Among the items was a document Somal described as especially significant.
“There was a letter, which is particularly precious, written on April 17th, 1865, from General William Tecumseh Sherman about the assassination of Mr. Lincoln,” Somal said.
After realizing the folder was missing, Somal contacted campus security. He said he was initially told the folder had been recovered, but later learned security had mistaken it for a book that had fallen from his car.
“I proceeded to look in the dark in my state of disappointment and trauma,” Somal said.
The next day, Somal made the five-hour trip back to New London and checked with the police. He believes the folder likely fell on or near the Connecticut College campus, but it has not been turned in.
Somal said the loss goes beyond the monetary value of the artifacts, as the collection was intended to serve as a centerpiece for a future museum dedicated to Lincoln in Illinois.
Now he is asking whoever found the folder to return it.
“I will do anything to get these items back and anything to help someone else in life if I can just get them back,” Somal said.
Patch AM brings you the breaking and trending news stories of the day in Connecticut. These stories and headlines feature articles from across the state. You can go directly to your local Patch by clicking here.
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