John Marini joins 'Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast,' to talk about two subjects: a 'Godzilla' double feature in Seymour to raise money for the people of Ukraine, and a just-signed lease agreement between the City of Ansonia and the owners of the Ansonia Opera House at 100 Main St.

The lease agreement discussion starts 19 minutes and 47 seconds into the broadcast.

Ansonia Chief Financial Officer Kurt Miller explains why the city isn't sticking to the rules with the city's budget process, and why the city enacted a spending freeze at the start of the year.

At a Derby Aldermanic subcommittee meeting in January 2022, members of the subcommitee made a motion to pass information related to the formation of a search committee to hire an economic development director to the full Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen. This is simply audio of the motion was made.

On this week's episode Valerie Knight-DiGangi of The Valley Community Foundation stops by to encourage groups to apply for a VFC "responsive needs" grant, which are multi-year grants that can be used to bolster a nonprofit group's operating budget.

The deadline for "responsive needs" grant applications is Feb. 24, so head to the VCF website to learn more and to complete an application.

At about the 31 minute of the podcast, the topic switches to a recent debate that started during a meeting of the Ansonia Board of Apportionment and Taxation, when two Ansonia Democrats said the board only has five members when the city charter says there should be seven members.

Tickets here. https://www.connecticutcultclassics.com/ Here is the show guide: 0:56  'Derby, Connecticut . . . what a nice small Connecticut town.'

This episode features clips from the Jan. 24, 2022 meeting of the Seymour Board of Education during which the superintendent announces there is an approximate $839,000 hole in the education budget. Please visit ValleyIndy.org or the Seymour Public Schools website for more info.

Derby Fire Department Chief David Lenart reviews the ups and downs of this past weekend's COVID-19 home test kit distribution. As of Tuesday, Jan. 4, officials do not know when the next distribution will take place. However, the test kits are available to purchase and local stores and on Amazon, until they are not.

Gov. Lamont and his department heads said Jan. 4 there are no plans to allow remote learning in Connecticut schools, though the state's positivity rate keeps getting higher.

But, before that, The Valley Indy reporter admits he's tired of reading your anti-COVID vaccination posts on Facebook.

Police believe Jair Irogoyen — Flores, 24 of West Haven, was driving a neighbor’s Acura MDX when he struck James and Barbara Tamborra, both 81 of Shelton, as they tried to cross Route 67 the evening of Dec. 10.