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Recruitment issues have halted discussions on a proposal to hire more Plainfield police officers to patrol town of Sterling

After ending its participation in the resident Connecticut state trooper program 12 years ago during budget cuts, Sterling officials reconsider.

STERLING - It’s been a rough few months for the town of Sterling. In September, amid a pandemic that upended everyday life and largely forced the closure of town hall, Selectman John Firlik Jr., a longtime resident active in local politics, died. Months later in January, Russell Gray, the town’s long-serving first selectman who after years in office was preparing to say good-bye to the job, also died suddenly. On Monday, a group of town hall staff will gather with invited members of Gray’s and Firlik’s families to honor the two men inside the municipal complex gym, First Selectman Lin...

STERLING - Russell Gray, the long-serving first selectman of Sterling, died today, town officials said. Gray, a former dairy farmer-turned-local politician, died this afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich after a brief illness, Selectman Lincoln Cooper said. He was 76. “He was stubborn and loyal – he loved this town,” Cooper said. “He was a self-made man whose stubbornness led him to make good decisions for Sterling. If he liked you, you knew it, just like if he didn’t like you, you knew that, too.” Gray was in his fourth four-year term as...