MIDDLE SCHOOLS MAY MERGE
The Franklin Board of Education has taken the first step toward regionalizing its school system with Bozrah’s. A 10-member regional school study committee has been approved to explore combining its Pre-K through eighth-grade students at Franklin Elementary School with the student body at Fields Memorial School in Bozrah. If approved, regionalization would bring drastic changes to education in both towns in the areas of staffing, transportation, class size and where students would attend school. The goal is to have the process completed by September 2018.
FORUM WEDNESDAY ON MAG SCHOOL CONVERSION
A public forum will be held by Norwich school officials Wednesday to explain the transition to two magnet themed middle schools next school year. Norwich received approximately $4 million over five years from the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program. Wednesday’s forum will be carried live on Facebook and is for anyone wishing to learn more about plans to convert Kelly Middle School and Teachers’ Memorial Sixth Grade Academy into magnet themed middle schools for students in grades six through eight.
STOLEN LION RETURNED
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) – A stone lion statue weighing at least 200 pounds (91 kilograms) that was stolen last week in Connecticut has been returned. Bob Paolino says a jogger found the statue sitting in a baby stroller Saturday. He says it took two men to wheel the statue home. Paolino previously said he was shocked to find one of his two lion statues missing from his New London home last Wednesday. He says he thought about securing the statues to their bases years ago, but he figured no one would be able to get away with them. The man says it took two friends and the assistance of rails to place the statues when he bought them. There is still no information on who originally took the statue.
BAMBOO BATTLE
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) – A Connecticut man is facing a criminal charge for failing to maintain what city officials describe as an unruly bamboo grove. Carlos Carrion of New London says he’s being unfairly targeted by the city and is mounting a defense. Carrion entered a not guilty plea last week in New London Superior Court to the city’s first blight-related criminal infraction under a newly revised blight ordinance.
City officials say Carrion repeatedly refused to clean up his property and trim his bamboo.
Carrion’s attorney – former New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio – said the city overstepped its authority. Finizio said a Vietnam veteran gave Carrion the bamboo over 30 years ago and he’s kept it in his memory. The towering bamboo covers much of the property.
FREEZE FROZEN
When it meets later tonight, the Norwich City Council will vote to extend a freeze on hiring and layoffs to Dec. 1. That means the decision will then fall to the new city council after the Nov. 7 election and swearing-in of the new members. The current city council has ended efforts to fill several key city positions while the state still doesn’t have a budget in place.
CENTRAL HALL MAY GET NEW LIFE SOON
The town of Groton is reviewing the building permit application from the owners of the former Central Hall Block in downtown Mystic and expects to issue a permit by Tuesday at the latest. Historic Mystic LLC, owners of the West Main Street property since 2004 plan to build a four-story structure over the water, with six retail stores on the first floor and 12 two-bedroom condominiums on the other three floors.
