There's a lot going on in Derby Public Schools, so Superintendent Matthew Conway came on The Valley Indy's podcast to bring the public up-to-speed.

The school/city received $3 million from the state and at least another $3 million from a private donor to reconfigure athletic fields.

Derby is getting a new multi-purpose turf field, a new track, a new field house, a new baseball field, and a new combined facility for softball and little league.

Conway goes over the various projects, then goes over the school budget, academic achievement, and regionalization.

Just click play!

Valley Indy reporter Eugene Driscoll's 7-year-old son, Jack, joins the podcast this week to complain about being sick and stuck at home with his dad all week.

Then reporter Ethan Fry reviews The Valley Indy's most-read stories of the week, and ask the question -- given the recent violence, is it time to end the "Valley New Year" drunkfest?

The reporters then talk about Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan's controversial decision to bring in a new DPW director.

The podcast ends with a summary of the weird stuff Driscoll and Fry watch online.

On this very special episode of "Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast," reporters Ethan Fry and Eugene Driscoll quiz Thomas Hennick on the ins and outs of the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Hennick is the public education officer for the state’s Freedom of Information Commission.

The reporters pose real-life open government scenarios to Hennick, concerning everything from executive sessions to grabbing drinks at a bar. 

This week’s podcast features Donna DeLuca and her son, Matt, the founders of The CARES Group, a support group for families dealing with addiction.

Click the play button to listen.

CARES stands for “Community Addiction and Recovery Education and Support Group.”

DeLuca’s two sons, including Matt, were addicted to drugs for years.

DeLuca, a Newtown resident and retired school administrator, discovered that talking to other moms and families dealing with addiction helped her situation.

Rick Dunne is the executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.

Jim Gildea is the chairman of the CT Commuter Rail Council, and the new chairman of the Derby Board of Education.

In this very special episode of "Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast," the two Derby titans talk transportation, from the Route 34 widening in Derby to a series of public forums that have been happening around the Valley. 

Click the play button below to hear the majority of Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan's inauguration speech, which was made at the Derby High School auditorium Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 in front of about 225 people.