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Staff Writer
Jack Beckett is a staff writer for The Farmington Mercury, covering the police log, town government, land use and development across Farmington. Direct, reportorial, primary-sourced: he reads the arrest logs, attends the meetings, and does not bury the lede.
Farmington police published a third straight blank arrest log Friday morning. Seven of the last twelve logs carry no arrests at all, and every one of those blanks has come since the page covering the…
Jack Beckett·Sep 11, 2026
The Farmington Police Department's arrest log for the 24 hours ending Thursday morning is empty, the second blank page in a row. The town's last recorded arrests were the seven on the long-weekend log.
Jack Beckett·Sep 11, 2026
Farmington police are stopping juveniles on e-bikes in Unionville, and the town told the council new state rules arrive October 1.
Jack Beckett·Sep 11, 2026
The state expects to close Route 10 through Farmington for about two weeks next summer to replace a culvert built in 1924.
Jack Beckett·Sep 10, 2026
Today is Oliver Mangham Day in Farmington. Tomorrow is Liam Morrell Day. The Town Council named both on Tuesday night, for the newest Eagle Scouts out of Troop 170: one rebuilt the bullpens and…
Jack Beckett·Sep 10, 2026
The Ad Hoc Sidewalk Committee told the Town Council there are 48 miles of sidewalk in Farmington, 11 percent of it rated D or F, and about $18 million to repair all of it.
Jack Beckett·Sep 9, 2026
The Farmington Police Department's arrest log for the 24 hours ending Wednesday morning is empty. No names, no charges, no bonds. A day earlier the page carried seven records.
Jack Beckett·Sep 9, 2026
Farmington police published seven arrest records covering the Labor Day weekend, after four straight blank pages. Four of the five people named were charged with driving under the influence, three of…
Jack Beckett·Sep 8, 2026
The Farmington Inland Wetlands Commission voted twice on Sept. 2 that a project was "not a significant activity." The phrase is not among the 33 terms its own regulations define.
Jack Beckett·Sep 7, 2026
The Farmington Libraries launched a hunt for 50 green rubber ducks in public spaces. Find one, check in at a branch, and keep it.
Jack Beckett·Sep 6, 2026
Farmington police published a blank arrest log for the fourth straight weekday, covering 7 a.m. Monday through 7 a.m. Friday with no arrests recorded.
Jack Beckett·Sep 4, 2026
Farmington police published their arrest log Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All three were one page and all three were blank, covering 72 straight hours in which the department recorded no arrests…
Jack Beckett·Sep 3, 2026
Farmington's resident survey opens in early October and asks what people are willing to pay for. The first tax bills built on the town's new property assessments arrive nine months later.
Jack Beckett·Sep 3, 2026
Paper signs are still taped to the walls of Farmington's new town hall. The town manager said in May that signage would be first in line for the capital money that opened July 1.
Jack Beckett·Sep 1, 2026
Farmington police listed one arrest for the three days ending Monday morning: a 20-year-old Burlington man charged under the state's under-21 drunk driving statute, which sets the limit at .02 rather…
Jack Beckett·Aug 31, 2026
The bakery at 767 Farmington Avenue turns 16 on Tuesday, September 1, with two sandwiches for $16 and a Birthday Cake Latte made for the day.
Jack Beckett·Aug 30, 2026
Farmington police listed one arrest for the twenty-four hours ending Friday morning: a 19-year-old New Britain woman charged with failure to appear in the second degree, on a re-arrest warrant, with…
Jack Beckett·Aug 28, 2026
Farmington police listed one DUI arrest at 3:58 a.m. Wednesday on Tunxis Mead Road. The log reports a $5,000 nonsurety bond but gives no description of the alleged driving.
Jack Beckett·Aug 26, 2026
Farmington Public Schools opens the 2026-27 year on Monday, August 31, with early dismissals on the first two days. The Mercury's new calendar page has every no-school day, conference window…
Jack Beckett·Aug 25, 2026
Farmington police listed one arrest Monday on a violation-of-probation charge. The two-sentence remarks field repeats the charge and posted bond but does not explain the alleged probation violation.
Jack Beckett·Aug 25, 2026
Farmington police reported three arrests from August 21 through 23. Two were recorded 38 minutes apart at 15 Stonegate under the same incident number and by the same officer.
Jack Beckett·Aug 24, 2026
Farmington police recorded one warrant arrest at department headquarters on August 20. The log lists first-degree criminal trespass, attempted sixth-degree larceny and a posted nonsurety bond.
Jack Beckett·Aug 24, 2026
The arrest log for the twenty-four hours ending Wednesday morning runs to one page and one name. The name carries five charges, and the department's public account of all of them runs ten words.
Jack Beckett·Aug 19, 2026
A Monday afternoon traffic stop on New Britain Avenue produced the only arrest in Farmington's daily police log: three motor-vehicle charges, no bond, and a promise to appear.
Jack Beckett·Aug 18, 2026
Farmington police logged four arrests over the weekend, including two disorderly-conduct arrests at one Perry Street address three minutes apart.
Jack Beckett·Aug 17, 2026
Three arrests reached the Farmington police log in the twenty-four hours ending Friday morning. Two ended with a $5,000 bond posted.
Jack Beckett·Aug 14, 2026
The Farmington police log for Wednesday counts eleven arrests, made by six people. Seven of the eleven files are warrant service, and one woman accounts for four of them, held on a combined $305,000…
Jack Beckett·Aug 13, 2026
Five people were arrested in Farmington over four days, and none was from Farmington. Four posted bond and went home. A 19-year-old from New Britain, picked up on a burglary warrant and held on…
Jack Beckett·Aug 12, 2026
Farmington’s Green Efforts Committee is studying food-scrap collection after a potential hauler warned that the service would add a municipal cost, not produce savings.
Jack Beckett·Aug 12, 2026
A century-old church name is returning to School Street after three Unionville preservation projects cleared historic review in about 14 minutes.
Jack Beckett·Aug 11, 2026
Two people who share a New Britain address were arrested four minutes apart at the same Farmington commuter lot early Friday, both charged with violating the same protective order under a single…
Jack Beckett·Aug 8, 2026
The wetland being restored at 114 West Avon Road does not stop at the property line. Farmington's Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commission tabled the plan on July 8 until both abutting owners sent…
Jack Beckett·Aug 5, 2026
The Farmington Police Department's arrest log for Tuesday runs one page and carries one name. Officer Richard E. Bianchi arrested a 32-year-old Meriden man on a warrant charging second-degree breach…
Jack Beckett·Aug 5, 2026
Nine arrests over the long weekend: a $50,000 larceny warrant whose conspiracy count carried no bond at all, four drivers charged with operating under the influence, a failure-to-appear warrant…
Jack Beckett·Aug 3, 2026
Early voting for the August 11 primary runs Monday through Sunday in the third-floor training room at Farmington's new Town Hall. Democrats vote in one race, governor.
Jack Beckett·Aug 2, 2026
Three arrests in the Farmington Police log for the day ending Friday, with bonds from $1,500 to $50,000: a Hartford man held on a $50,000 burglary warrant, a first-degree forgery charge out of East…
Jack Beckett·Jul 31, 2026
Three arrests turned up in the Farmington Police log for the day ending Thursday: a Wednesday-night DUI stop at Farmington Avenue and Bidwell Square, and two warrants served in Hartford and at a New…
Jack Beckett·Jul 31, 2026
The Farmington Town Council unanimously hired CivicPlus to rebuild the town's website for $61,690.98, about $13,300 under budget.
Jack Beckett·Jul 31, 2026
Four arrests, three defendants, and one very busy Officer Fausel: Farmington's overnight log for July 28 was a crime wave that posted bond and went home before last call.
Jack Beckett·Jul 29, 2026
Farmington police made one arrest in 24 hours: a Bristol woman served on a breach-of-peace warrant at the police station and released on a written promise to appear, with the bond column recording…
Jack Beckett·Jul 28, 2026
Across 72 hours, Farmington police made exactly one arrest: a 28-year-old charged with assault and disorderly conduct at his own Town Farm Road address, released on a bond secured by his signature.
Jack Beckett·Jul 28, 2026
Three people were arrested in Farmington on July 22 and 23: a Simsbury woman on a warrant for evading responsibility after a crash, and two Hartford men on larceny charges, including a second-degree…
Jack Beckett·Jul 24, 2026
The Farmington Historic District Commission approved a picket fence at 7 Church Street on May 19 and called it the last exterior detail on a house it had reviewed in stages since March 2025.
Jack Beckett·Jul 24, 2026
The new oil tank behind 772 Farmington Avenue was installed, the bollards reset, and the screening panel built and painted before the Farmington Historic District Commission ever voted on it.
Jack Beckett·Jul 23, 2026
A Hartford man was held on a $50,000 bond after being booked at Farmington police headquarters Tuesday on a warrant charging him with stealing a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit.
Jack Beckett·Jul 22, 2026
A Hamden man was charged with assault and strangulation after a Saturday afternoon arrest on Batterson Park Road, and was the only person on the weekend log who did not post bond.
Jack Beckett·Jul 22, 2026
Farmington's bicycle and trails committee met July 15 with six members absent and a short agenda, but a full to-do list: new trail signs, a bollard question, Safe Routes to School talks, and a…
Jack Beckett·Jul 21, 2026
Farmington's newly seated Fire Station Building Committee held its first meeting Friday, taking control of a Town Council-scoped plan to build two new fire stations and renovate the historic Village…
Jack Beckett·Jul 20, 2026
Farmington police logged a single arrest in the day ending Friday morning: a 1:54 a.m. driving-under-the-influence case on Scott Swamp Road.
Jack Beckett·Jul 17, 2026
A 21-year-old Farmington man, Gannon Montgomery Patrick, was charged with first-degree criminal trespass on July 15 and released on a $1,500 bond.
Jack Beckett·Jul 16, 2026
The Farmington Town Council voted unanimously to build a sidewalk along Meadow Road, approving the revised Option 2 alignment after two years of hearings, a deferral, and a redesign.
Jack Beckett·Jul 16, 2026
Farmington's Town Plan and Zoning Commission unanimously rejected all four applications behind the Enclave at the Farmington River, the 237-home development proposed along the river between…
Jack Beckett·Jul 15, 2026
Inna Manashkin, 34, of Farmington was booked on three separate arrest warrants at police headquarters early Wednesday, the most serious a felony charge of assaulting a public-safety worker that…
Jack Beckett·Jul 15, 2026
Farmington police logged a single arrest in the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning: Shawn Cyr, 54, of Bristol, taken in on a re-arrest warrant for failure to appear and held on a $3,500 surety bond.
Jack Beckett·Jul 14, 2026
A man was killed in Farmington in March and left in the wood line behind a Talcott Forest Road condominium complex. For nearly four months the record held no name.
Jack Beckett·Jul 13, 2026
Farmington police logged four arrests from July 10 to 13, led by a murder charge against a 27-year-old Meriden woman in the March death of a Bridgeport man found behind a Talcott Forest Road…
Jack Beckett·Jul 13, 2026
The pump station that turned up corroded pipe in June is now, per the superintendent, 100 percent done, short of calibrating the new flow meter.
Jack Beckett·Jul 12, 2026
Farmington's Green Efforts Committee spent its July meeting not dreaming up new initiatives but narrowing the ones it already has, settling on four goals it might actually complete: waste reduction…
Jack Beckett·Jul 11, 2026
The owner of a West Avon Road house bought her first home, was told a grassy bowl out back was hers, and dug it into a pond.
Jack Beckett·Jul 10, 2026
Farmington police made a single arrest in the 24 hours ending Thursday morning: a Bristol man, 21, charged with engaging police in pursuit, interfering and resisting, and a traffic-signal violation…
Jack Beckett·Jul 2, 2026
The $16M renovation of Farmington's 1928 town hall is essentially done. At its June 23 meeting, the Ad Hoc 1928 Building Committee turned to the project's last mile: a signage and wayfinding package…
Jack Beckett·Jun 30, 2026
Farmington police made two arrests in the 24 hours ending Tuesday morning, both of non-residents: a Berlin woman charged with fifth-degree larceny in a shoplifting case, and a Wethersfield man…
Jack Beckett·Jun 30, 2026
Farmington's Town Council reviewed Town Manager Kathleen Blonski behind closed doors on June 23, then returned to open session and unanimously extended her contract through June 30, 2030, raised her…
Jack Beckett·Jun 27, 2026
Farmington police made a single arrest in the 24 hours ending Friday morning: a 47-year-old Waterbury man re-arrested on two counts of failure to appear in the second degree, served by writ of habeas…
Jack Beckett·Jun 26, 2026
The Next Chapters Bookhouse, a used bookstore and cafe built for slow browsing, cleared its last zoning step on June 22 and is headed for a second-floor storefront on River Road in Unionville.
Jack Beckett·Jun 26, 2026
A new Connecticut law, Public Act 25-1, forces Farmington to approve two-to-nine-unit housing in its commercial and industrial zones with no public hearing.
Jack Beckett·Jun 25, 2026
Farmington police made a single arrest in the 24 hours ending Wednesday morning: a Waterbury man charged with a second-offense DUI and operating under suspension after a Tuesday-evening arrest at…
Jack Beckett·Jun 24, 2026
Farmington police logged four arrest entries overnight, but only two men account for all of them: a local driver charged with DUI, who posted bond, and an out-of-state man whose narcotics stop came…
Jack Beckett·Jun 23, 2026
Farmington police made three arrests on their latest log, two of them men at adjacent Haberern Avenue addresses arrested the same Friday evening under one shared incident number.
Jack Beckett·Jun 22, 2026
Noble Energy withdrew both its wetlands and zoning applications for the proposed diesel truck stop on 86 acres above Batterson Park Pond, ending a fight that drew an intervener, dueling hydrology…
Jack Beckett·Jun 19, 2026
Farmington's Architectural Design Review Committee spent a second evening shaping the 237-unit Enclave at the Farmington River down to the brick, the dormers, and the fences.
Jack Beckett·Jun 18, 2026
A single warrant arrest dominates the Farmington police log for June 17: a Hartford man charged with third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, and third-degree larceny, plus a conspiracy…
Jack Beckett·Jun 18, 2026
Farmington police logged three arrests on Tuesday, two of them the same East Hartford man, taken into custody twice in under two hours on charges ranging from shoplifting to burglary, with two of the…
Jack Beckett·Jun 17, 2026
Farmington police logged four arrests over the June 12-15 weekend, three of them the same Hartford man: one shoplifting arrest on South Road and two failure-to-appear warrants served at police…
Jack Beckett·Jun 15, 2026
The Farmington Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee narrowed its plan for Highlands bike-route signs to two nearly identical streets on June 9, a red route off Crestwood and a blue off Briarwood.
Jack Beckett·Jun 15, 2026
The Unionville Historic District and Properties Commission approved a rooftop solar array and two EV chargers at 796 Plainville Avenue on June 11, with no objection to how the panels would look from…
Jack Beckett·Jun 14, 2026
Three Farmington bodies weigh in on the fate of the Noble Energy truck stop, but the elected Town Council, the one residents keep asking to stop it, doesn't actually decide.
Jack Beckett·Jun 13, 2026
A planned electrical upgrade at Farmington's Yukon Road pump station uncovered hydrogen sulfide corrosion eating through the discharge pipes.
Jack Beckett·Jun 13, 2026
Farmington's Town Council issued two unanimous negative referrals June 9, opposing the Noble Energy truck stop at 8261 Fienemann Road and a separate National Land Holdings residential project, even…
Jack Beckett·Jun 12, 2026
A Southington man was arrested Wednesday afternoon on New Britain Avenue on charges of disorderly conduct and fourth-degree sexual assault, according to the Farmington PD arrest log.
Jack Beckett·Jun 12, 2026
The Farmington Town Plan and Zoning Commission voted 4-2 on June 8 to deny a special permit for a new home at 8638 Pine Drive.
Jack Beckett·Jun 11, 2026
A Farmington man was arrested Monday on two warrants: one for failing to appear on a pending larceny charge, and one for a new larceny charge.
Jack Beckett·Jun 10, 2026
Noble Energy wants to build a diesel travel center and warehouse on 86 acres that drain toward Batterson Park Pond — the public pond the state is spending roughly $10 million to restore.
Jack Beckett·Jun 6, 2026
Two 19-year-old New Britain residents were arrested together Thursday on a single West Hartford retail-theft incident, Farmington police reported — one charged with sixth-degree larceny, the other…
Jack Beckett·Jun 5, 2026
Farmington police logged three arrests Wednesday, all Hartford residents, each charged with first-degree criminal trespass.
Jack Beckett·Jun 4, 2026
A single overnight arrest: Kamren Michaels, 18, of Farmington, charged with breach of peace, underage possession of alcohol, and littering after a 1:35 a.m. arrest on Main Street. Bond posted.
Jack Beckett·Jun 2, 2026
A single arrest over the weekend: Michael Joseph Pariano, 67, of Avon, charged with driving under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane after a Friday-evening stop at Waterville Road…
Jack Beckett·Jun 1, 2026
Two weeks after the May 14 ribbon cutting, the Ad Hoc 1928 Building Committee approved $17,700 for a standalone air-conditioning unit serving the new Town Hall's server room — and pushed exterior…
Jack Beckett·May 30, 2026
Farmington police logged a single arrest in the 24 hours ending Friday morning: a sixth-degree larceny warrant for a Hartford woman, served at headquarters by Officer Daniel R. Aparo.
Jack Beckett·May 29, 2026
At the May 26 Farmington Town Council meeting, Westview resident Tim Kelly asked the council for an inventory of the town's current volunteer-firefighter ranks by decade — twenties, thirties…
Jack Beckett·May 29, 2026
A Life Scout in Troop 170 of Unionville presented his Eagle Scout project to the Farmington Town Plan and Zoning Commission on May 27: demolish the deteriorated wooden kiosk at the Red Oak Hill…
Jack Beckett·May 29, 2026
Eight planning firms have submitted proposals to write Farmington's next Plan of Conservation and Development — the document that will shape the town's growth, conservation, and housing priorities…
Jack Beckett·May 28, 2026
FEMA has finalized new Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Farmington, with an effective date now expected in fall 2026. Some homeowners will be required to carry flood insurance who weren't before — some…
Jack Beckett·May 28, 2026
A Stratford woman, 31, was arrested at Westfarms Mall on Wednesday afternoon and charged with seven offenses across five separately filed incident numbers — an on-scene shoplifting and first-degree…
Jack Beckett·May 28, 2026
A legal opinion delivered to the Farmington Town Council on May 26 concludes that using the Don Tinty parcel for cemetery purposes would violate the 2004 deed covenant, and that the town has no legal…
Jack Beckett·May 28, 2026
The Farmington Architectural Design Review Committee took its first formal look at the Enclave at the Farmington River master plan on Thursday, May 21, and after about two hours of going through…
Jack Beckett·May 26, 2026
The Farmington Police Department's May 25–26 arrest log carries one name — a 1:19 a.m. on-scene disorderly-conduct stop on Colt Highway, brought in by Officer John A. Salute.
Jack Beckett·May 26, 2026
Noble Energy's owner insists his proposed Fienemann Road project is "a mini travel plaza," not a truck stop — a distinction he argues turns on scale and a business model aimed at the local trucks the…
Jack Beckett·May 23, 2026
The Farmington Inland Wetlands Commission worked through a backyard patio, a post-fire wetland restoration, an 18-unit active-adult subdivision, and the third hearing on Noble Energy's diesel travel…
Jack Beckett·May 23, 2026
Noble Energy returned to the Farmington Inland Wetlands Commission on May 20 with a redesigned stormwater plan built around Contech "jellyfish" biofiltration filters — a system the project's own…
Jack Beckett·May 22, 2026
