07.08.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:06 pm by Zilru Jones
According to a Hartford Courant article, the Glastonbury BOE is considering seatbelts on new school buses. It brings up many interesting questions (such as, if you fit elementary-schoolers three to a seat and high-schoolers two to a seat, how do you design the belts?).
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-bothsides0706.artjul06,0,448595.story
However, I haven’t seen anything in the BOE’s agenda or minutes to suggest that this is being considered. I’ll look into it.
Permalink
06.01.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:56 pm by Zilru Jones
http://www.wfsb.com/news/13428592/detail.html
First-year Glastonbury High School mathematics teacher Ms. Meagan McCormick died late Thursday in an automobile accident on I-91 in Wethersfield.
Needless to say, this really shook up the GHS campus. She apparently had made a positive impact upon her students.
Graduation is in 11 school days (6/18).
Permalink
04.25.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:49 pm by Zilru Jones
As regular readers of this blog may have noticed, my posting frequency has been less than optimal, and Kathleen Healy recently took me to task for this. When I first took the opportunity, the goal was to establish a Glastonbury space in the CT Local Politics network, and I hoped I would be able to post more than I have. I apologize.
Healy reminded me of something else - while most, if not all, TownBlogs are currently run by one individual, it is very easy to set up the blog to allow multiple people to post. So if you’re a Glastonbury resident and are interested in reporting town news and views, please let me know. I would only take one or two so the space doesn’t get too crowded. I will have to “pass the torch” anyway in the autumn, so now’s as good a time as any to expand the roster.
Permalink
04.16.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:50 am by Zilru Jones
The heavy rains of this nor’easter system are pounding the state, including Glastonbury. There’s a Town crew out in the Buttonball neighborhood pumping standing water out of someone’s backyard, near a small brook/stream. Hopefully, we won’t experience flooding as nasty as up in northern CT.
Town pumps standing water out of backyard (large image size)
Permalink
04.11.07
Posted in BOE at 8:24 pm by Zilru Jones
The Board of Ed’s holding a public hearing April 23rd to discuss their proposal for a new drug/alcohol policy. It’s an offshoot of an independent committee that studied the issue, and the policies were just a few of the many varied recommendations from the committee. The plan is to have Breathalyzers available in cases of suspicion, and to increase the potential penalty for drug use/buying to up to 90 days expulsion (to lessen the difference between buying and selling penalties - selling is a 180 day expulsion per state law).
The school’s Student Council discussed the proposed changes at a recent meeting, and they found a few questions they plan to ask the Board (most notably - alcohol possession doesn’t receive the tougher 90 days). However, I think the general gist of the policy is a solid foundation.
Permalink
03.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:57 pm by Zilru Jones
Apparently, the storm last night (or something else bizarre) caused a few problems in the high school neighborhood, and the school itself had no power. The school was hoping to open a bit late, but a bit turned into a lot, and around 8:15-ish, they just said, “Yeah, this isn’t happening” and now high school students are busy enjoying an unexpected day off.
The high school orchestra concert scheduled for tonight was canceled as well, probably due in part to the missed rehearsal today. It will be rescheduled for next week.
All in all, never a dull moment!
I remember waking up at 3 in the morning to the buzz of my stereo flicking off and back on a few times, wondering what the heck was going on. Sounds to me like it’s all connected.
Permalink
03.12.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:15 pm by Zilru Jones
I was walking in town the other day with some time to kill, and on Hebron Avenue, I noticed a small sandwich shop near the graphics company. Called the “Semolina Bread Company,” (phone: 734-0090) it’s apparently been there for several months, but I never noticed it or knew it existed. I went inside and it seems like a nice place - I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t have any food. It focuses on sandwiches, with soups and salads as well. Perhaps most tellingly - it was nearly empty.
Granted, it was around 1:45pm - not the doldrums of the afternoon, but far from regular lunchtime operations. So, curious, I hopped over to the nearby Panera to see how it was doing.
The Panera was pretty full. Not packed (and by packed, I mean literally brimming with people), but most every table was full, it was noisy, and there was a 6-deep line at the cash registers.
Two sandwich shops, literally a hop, skip, and jump from each other. So why is Panera full and Semolina empty? I will investigate further.
Permalink
03.08.07
Posted in Town Council at 6:45 pm by Zilru Jones
The ongoing conflict in Iraq takes up plenty of space in our television and print media, even the Glastonbury Citizen’s editor’s column and letters to the editor section. Former BOE member Tim Coon is serving there, and Glastonbury Schools graduate Marine Sgt. David Coullard was killed in action in Iraq. Other members of the community have served in the conflict.
With such an impact on Glastonbury, should the Town Council debate a resolution opposing the troop surge plan presented by President Bush, as requested by its Democratic members?
Here’s the Vision Statement for the Town of Glastonbury:
Building on over 300 years of tradition and heritage, Glastonbury continues to balance the preservation of its natural resources with the evolving needs of the community. Through positive community partnerships, careful planning, and professional management, we are committed to the highest levels of responsible and equitable service, integrity, and fiscal responsibility. Ongoing innovation, regional cooperation, and effective leadership will ensure that Glastonbury will always be a great place to live, learn, work, and do business.
(http://glastonburyct.virtualtownhall.net/Public_Documents/GlastonburyCT_WebDocs/about)
Doesn’t sound like national issues play into the vision. Definitely, it affects Glastonbury residents, but the power to wage war may be best for our representatives at the national level. The separation of powers, I believe, isn’t about local govt’s rolling into state rolling into nat’l, but instead, local controls local, state controls state, national controls national, and that’s why we all have three representatives, one for each level.
Since the National Guard has to send troops, state levels are also at play. Which brings us to a Letter to the Editor in today’s Citizen, which suggested that National Guard callups could push the burden onto local police for natural disaster response and the like.
So here’s an idea. Focus the resolution, allowing for specific grievances which directly affect town government facilities like the police and fire. Say something like, “The Town Council is concerned that the conflict in Iraq is placing too much of a burden on Connecticut National Guard soldiers, undermining the preparedness of emergency response in the event of a disaster impacting Glastonbury.”
The National Guard aspect of this has been overlooked by the media, I think. There’s the occasional article where a governor expresses concern, but focusing on lowered state preparedness may be effective to demonstrate the strain of Iraq. (I should note that I personally never was keen on invading Iraq, but as of now, I do not yet know what to do about the current quagmire, except that sending more troops doesn’t seem to be a winning solution.)
So I say to the Democrats on the Town Council - research specifically how National Guard deployments would affect CT units and local responders in the event of an emergency. Word your resolution to focus on possible impact on Glastonbury government response. Send your general individual concerns on the war to Larson, Lieberman, and Dodd, but send this resolution through the Council, and if it passes, to Kehoe, Stone, Handley, and Rell.
And to the Town Council Republicans - if it focuses on the impact to Glastonbury, by all means let the resolution be debated, and have the local Emergency Preparedness guys testify. At the very least, the resulting debate would strengthen our understanding of Glastonbury’s emergency response system, and we’d know how safe we are. Not too much wrong with that.
Permalink
03.04.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:02 pm by Zilru Jones
I follow track. Glastonbury track, really, because this year, they (and cross-country in the fall) have dominated. The New England Championships yesterday were no exception.
In the girls’ events, a CT state record in the 4×800 Relay (9:18.60) was set by the team of Danielle Lyons, Christine Vogel, Kristin Michell, and Jamie Olson. Also, Olson placed 1st in the 1-mile run (Mitchell placed 9th), Vogel placed 2nd in the 1000m run, and the 4×400 team of Emily MacEwen, Olson, Laura Vehlies, and Lyons placed 3rd.
In the boys’ events, Donn Cabral set a meet record with a 9:15.38 in the 2 mile run. The 4×800 team of Joseph Rossitto, James Llamas, Kevin Wilson, and Chris Klobedanz placed 5th.
The long-distance running events are strongest for Glastonbury track, but there was even a field event notable. Mike Goulet placed 3rd in the boys’ shot put.
All Glastonbury athletes who competed were designated “All New England.” Congrats!
With reporting by MySportsResults.com, DyeStat.com, and Danielle Lyons
Permalink
Posted in BOE at 10:50 pm by Zilru Jones
At the 2/26/07 Board of Ed meeting, the CT Association of Boards of Education presented Glastonbury with an “Award of Excellence for Educational Communications” for its budget document. Said the presenter, [paraphrased] “I keep a copy of the budget on my desk… it’s the only town BOE budget I have on my desk.”
The 3/1/07 Glastonbury Citizen, in a correction, noted that the Board of Finance did not unanimously recommend the BOE budget to the Town Council (the error was from the minutes, and was subsequently corrected). One member, Jim McIntosh voted against the recommendation, and the Citizen reported that “he has maintained for years BOE budget documents do not provide the information needed for Finance Board review.”
EDIT: In fact, the minutes from the Board of Finance meeting note, “James McIntosh indicated that he was uncomfortable supporting this budget since he is unable to determine where there are inefficiencies or where there may be efficiencies. He was also uncomfortable with the way the budget was presented.”
Did I miss something?
Permalink
« Previous entries
