WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE

MAYORAL HOPEFULS DEBATE

Several topics are discussed during a debate between the five candidates seeking to become the next mayor of Norwich. It happened last night at Kelly Middle School. The men had a passionate discussion about the future of the central city district tax, which requires residents and businesses in the CCD to pay an additional eight-mills in taxes. Petitioning candidate Joe Radecki says the time has come to eliminate the CCD tax.  Libertarian candidate Bill Russell says the city relies too much on revenue generated by the CCD tax.  Republican candidate Peter Nystrom says doing away with the CCD tax would drive businesses out of the city.  Petitioning candidate Jon Oldfield says the CCD tax needs to be reduced, at the very least. Democratic candidate Derell Wilson says the CCD tax is a non-issue. Among the other issues that came up last night were downtown revitalization, education, and race relations.

NYSTROM COMPLAINS ABOUT OLDFIELD

Petitioning mayoral candidate Jon Oldfield is using his public access TV show to promote his candidacy without giving campaign disclaimers and without reporting the advertising value and Republican mayoral candidate Peter Nystrom filed an election complaint on Friday because of it. Commission staff attorney Josh Foley said he could not confirm whether a complaint has been filed and could not comment on any complaint until it is brought to the commission. The commission meets today, but Nystrom’s complaint is not on the agenda. Foley said the complaint likely wouldn’t be discussed until well after the Nov. 7th election. Oldfield has called the complaint “malarkey.”

AUTHORITY WHACKS BOLING

The New Lon­don Hous­ing Author­ity Board of Com­mis­sion­ers has fired Ex­ec­u­tive Direc­tor Roy Bol­ing and will explore the pos­si­bil­ity of hir­ing a man­age­ment com­pany to run the au­thor­ity. The board voted 3-1 both to ter­mi­nate Bol­ing’s con­tract and to re­hire Lee Erd­mann as in­terim ex­ec­u­tive di­rec­tor. Com­mis­sioner Kath­leen Mitchell voted against and ac­cused the com­mis­sion and Mayor Michael Passero of con­duct­ing hous­ing au­thor­ity busi­ness with­out the full knowl­edge of the board. The fir­ing comes less than a year af­ter the board voted to ter­mi­nate the con­tract of for­mer hous­ing au­thor­ity ex­ec­u­tive di­rec­tor Sue Shon­tell.

EEE HAS ARRIVED

Accord­ing to the Con­necti­cut Agri­cul­tural Ex­per­i­ment Sta­tion, Eastern Equine En­cephali­tis, rarely found in the state, has been con­firmed in mos­qui­toes trapped in the east­ern Con­necti­cut towns of Hamp­ton and Vol­un­town. While rare, there are an av­er­age of six hu­man cases re­ported na­tion­ally each year. East­ern equine en­cephali­tis is an in­flam­ma­tion of the brain, does not cause ill­ness in most peo­ple, but symp­toms in se­vere cases can in­clude headache, high fever, chills and vom­it­ing. There has been one hu­man fa­tal­ity in the state, which oc­curred in Oc­to­ber 2013 in east­ern Con­necti­cut.

RESIDENTS WAITING

The 119 families living at the Crystal Avenue high-rises in New London are awaiting word on exactly when they will be able to move out and when they can expect the Section 8 vouchers they were promised. Many of the more than 50 people who filled a cramped community room at the Thames River Apartments complex on Tuesday are wondering when? The goal has been to move residents out by the end of the year. The distribution process is likely to be phased in, with about 30 residents a month moving out, though it is unclear in what order the residents will be chosen.

HODGES IS HISTORIC

The State Historic Preservation Office and New London Landmarks on Tuesday announced that the Hodges Square Historic District was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service.  Construction of I-95 left Hodges Square disconnected from downtown New London, leading to its decline. Officials say this designation asserts that Hodges Square matters, and, by providing access to tax credits, provides tools with which to reverse its decline. Hodges Square is a historic neighborhood that showcased New London’s expansion as the economy shifted from whaling to manufacturing.