ESSEX – CHESTER – DEEP RIVER — Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 was passed to prevent discrimination in any education program or activity, including sports, based on sex. The idea is that boys and girls are given equal opportunity to participate in all federally-funded activities. To be in compliance with Title… Keep Reading
With a $900,000 surplus, and a mill rate that has fallen each of the last two years, Norm Needleman, the incumbent running for a fifth consecutive term as first selectman of Essex, says that Essex has never been better. Matt Fleming, his challenger, says that if elected his priority will be to keep costs under… Keep Reading
WATERFORD — Retiring First Selectman Daniel Steward has seen Waterford’s transformation first hand over 69 years living in town. Steward’s father sold the family dairy farm in the early 1970s, and now those acres are the site of a Lowe’s Home Improvement and shopping plaza just off Interstate 95. The catalpa tree his father planted… Keep Reading
As Betsy Gara explains it, for the small towns she represents, state funding is not just a matter of dollars and cents, but weeks and months. Tree-trimming, declining enrollments, recycling revenues, the summer schedule for road paving, the winter schedule for salting and clearing roads. Up in Hartford, these daily-life constraints can be lost as… Keep Reading
There are 77,000 students in the state of Connecticut with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), nearly 15% of the total student population of about 530,000 in 2018-19, according to the State Department of Education. For students with various disabilities that can impact their learning in a traditional school environment, an IEP is a written agreement… Keep Reading
EAST LYME — Town officials overseeing renovations of a new police building say that they expect to present a plan within the $2.2 million budget approved by voters last winter, while leaving the door open for an additional funding request. First Selectman Mark Nickerson told the Public Safety Building Vision Committee Monday night that the… Keep Reading
The Town of East Lyme is petitioning the state Freedom of Information Commission for unprecedented permission to ignore future requests for public documents from one resident the town alleges has abused transparency laws, harassed town employees, and made frivolous requests for years. The petition is the first of its kind — a test case for… Keep Reading
NEW LONDON — When David Kooris became chair of the Connecticut Port Authority in July, communication “absolutely changed” from “zero” and “we’ll let you know” to negotiations that have dramatically opened up between the Ørsted-Eversource partnership and the City of New London, according to Felix Reyes, director of planning and development for the city. “Whatever… Keep Reading
STONINGTON — Under the town’s announced sump pump amnesty, sixty-five property owners in Mystic admitted to having a sump pump discharging into the municipal sewer system, an illegal practice. The amnesty is part of a broader effort by Stonington to address sewer capacity issues. Stonington Water Pollution Control Authority Director Douglas Nettleton sent a letter… Keep Reading
ESSEX – CHESTER – DEEP RIVER — On Thursday, the Region 4 Board of Education voted to drop an appeal of a two-year-old freedom of information (FOI) request by an Essex resident. The litigation had cost the district $23,771.50. The request was originally made of the Region 4 board of education and superintendent on September… Keep Reading
