By Peter Marteka, The Hartford Courant, Conn. May 15--EAST HAMPTON -- -- Colchester First Selectwoman Linda Hodge used to picnic along the banks of the Salmon River and swim in its waters. She would read a book while the river babbled nearby.

By David Funkhouser, The Hartford Courant, Conn. May 9--LYME -- -- Nathan Frohling stood next to the Eightmile River near the East Haddam-Lyme border and pointed to a shrubby clearing in the woods. "This was going to be a six-lot subdivision," he said.

By Jesse A. Hamilton, The Hartford Courant, Conn. Apr. 30--WASHINGTON -- -- In what has been the most significant legislative victory in his first term, Rep. Joe Courtney's effort to give Connecticut's Eightmile River greater federal protection now only awaits a presidential signature.