PAR 4 STAYS OPEN
The Par 4 Restaurant at the Shennecosset Golf Course will play through. Groton Town Councilors unanimously Tuesday night agree to extend the eatery’s lease five and a half years, after negotiations between the two sides stalled last week. The Council met behind closed doors for almost an hour, while some 90 people, nearly all of them supporters of the restaurant, waited. News of the lease extension was met with loud cheers and applause. Par 4 customers and friends had quickly organized a petition drive to keep the restaurant open. It attracted some 900 signatures. Par 4 had been threatened with closure on July 1st, if the current lease hadn’t been extended. It has been in business for 30 years.
GOOD BUDGET NEWS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Connecticut legislators have finally received some good state budget news. Malloy’s budget director, Ben Barnes, says the current fiscal year deficit has shrunk by $215.5 million, to a projected $107.2 million shortfall, since May. In a letter sent Tuesday to State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, Barnes says the change is due to transferring revenue from various funds to cover the red ink, as well as improvements in state tax collections. The largest increase occurred in the corporation tax. The $107.2 million shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30 will be covered by the state’s budget reserve account, leaving a balance of $128.4 million. The Democratic governor and state lawmakers are meeting Wednesday to discuss how to fix a projected $5 billion deficit in the new two-year budget.
ANOTHER LOSS FOR NORWICH
For the second time in just over a week, Norwich is mourning the loss of one of its leading community members. Greeneville native Olive Buddington died Thursday, just four days after noting her 92nd birthday. Buddington taught for 37 years in the Greenwich school system, but then, after retiring, returned to live in the same Eighth Street home she grew up in, serving on the Norwich City Council, and various other municipal and community boards and organizations. There will be a private burial. Donations in her name can be sent to the Greeneville Congregational Church. Buddington’s death occurred just a few days after long-time Norwich NAACP President Jacqueline Owens passed away.
YALE DEAN LEAVES
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – Yale University says a dean who was placed on leave over offensive reviews she posted on Yelp has left her position. Pierson College Dean June Chu last month issued a public apology for the reviews including one that referred to customers of a local restaurant as “white trash.” Pierson Head Stephen Davis on Tuesday informed members of the residential college that Chu had left her position and “wishes the best to the students.” He said he was beginning the search for a new dean. Chu was placed on leave last month after the reviews from her personal Yelp account began circulating on campus. Davis has described the reviews, including one that described movie theater workers as “barely educated morons,” as reprehensible. Chu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
RI BUDGET TALK
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Leaders of the Rhode Island House of Representatives have briefed their colleagues about the $9.2 billion tax-and-spending plan set for a vote this week. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and House Finance Committee Chairman Marvin Abney, both Democrats, held a budget briefing on Tuesday afternoon. The House is scheduled to debate the budget and vote on it Thursday. Only one lawmaker publicly asked a question about the plan Tuesday. The plan includes tax relief for car owners, a pilot program for tuition-free community college, cuts to government spending and no major tax hikes, except for a higher cigarette tax. It also would restore free bus rides for low-income elderly or disabled riders. If approved by the House, it would then move to the Senate. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
MORE TICKS
MARSHFIELD, Vt. (AP) – Tick numbers are on the rise across New England this spring, raising the prospect of an increase in Lyme and other diseases associated with the blood suckers. The region got a respite last year as the drought took a toll on ticks, whose numbers drop as the humidity falls below 85 percent. But the drought is largely gone from the region and ticks are taking advantage. Tick numbers and the diseases they spread have been on the rise for some time. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of Lyme disease cases has tripled to about 30,000 cases nationwide each year. Cases of anaplasmosis, which can cause fever, headache, chills and muscle aches, have also risen steadily.
