Accident Leads To Death Of Prominent Hartford Resident (The Hartford Courant)- Neil R. Esposito, 42, of France Street, Rocky Hill, died after his Mercedes-Benz convertible ran off the road in Cromwell about 1:30 a.m. police said. A passenger, Heather L. Specyalski, 29, of Bridle Path Lane, Vernon, was in critical condition at Hartford Hospital late Saturday. Esposito was well-known in Greater Hartford business, political and charity circles as one of the owners of McCauley Enterprises, a Hartford-based trash hauler. Esposito, who was driving north, was taking the I-91 exit off Route 9 when he lost control of the car, police said. The car went off the road and into the woods, striking several trees before overturning. Friends and family remembered Esposito as a devoted father and philanthropist and a man who lived life to the fullest. "He loved life and people," said Hartford Mayor Michael P. Peters, a friend. "He was very successful in life and gave a lot of it back, mostly to kids." He was in the process of planning a New Year's Eve gala for hundreds at the Hartford Armory to raise money for the foundation. After he and his father, Ray, sold the business nine months ago, Neil Esposito was involved in several other ventures, including efforts to bring a Spanish restaurant and nail salon to the former Three-D Bed and Bath building in West Hartford Center. He and Montinieri had also started a container business in West Springfield. In 1995, he was the producer of a short film, "Filthy Rich," which tells the tale of a California mother with two children who leaves warmth behind to take over a failing garbage company in the dead of a Connecticut winter. Aided by a band of gutsy, but heartwarming street kids, she beats back a rival trash company. Esposito's survivors include his two children, Raymond, 15, and Marisa, 13, and his former wife, Marisa Julian.

New Bishop Addresses Congregation (The Hartford Courant)- The new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut presided at his first state convention Saturday, outlining his vision for a church more aggressively evangelistic and one in which children are central. Bishop Andrew Smith won the support of more than 600 lay and clergy delegates in Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford to make his vision a reality. They accepted his request for the election of two suffragan bishops to help him; established a task force to look at how the church's mission outreach can be reinvigorated; and asked the diocese's executive council to give Smith the resources he needs "to nurture our children." Smith was installed two weeks ago to lead the oldest and one of the largest dioceses in the U.S. Episcopal Church, with 184 congregations, 78,000 baptized members and nearly 500 priests. Financial constraints prevented the diocese from having more than one suffragan bishop in recent years. On occasion retired bishops have been called on to help, particularly for parish confirmations. The convention gave Smith authorization to appoint a full-time assistant bishop until an election can be arranged, which could take up to a year and a half. He said he has asked the diocese's commission on ministry to look at the role of bishops along with that of priests and deacons so that "we as a diocese may think creatively and carefully about each order." He said, to appreciative laughter, "My dream is for our kids, when they see a staff and miter, not to stare in wide-eyed amazement, as if a creature had just arrived from another planet, but to say, 'Oh, that's a bishop and he/she is one of us.'"

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