Norwich aldermen decide not to bring a school consolidation project to a November referendum. A 4 to 2 vote kills the proposal, at least for this year, after most of the city council says they haven’t had some concerns addressed. The proposal had been tabled by the city council on May 1st, and wasn’t on the printed meeting agenda for Monday night. However, aldermen decided to vote when the city’s attorney informed them the plan would die, unless they did act on it. School Superintendent Abby Dolliver says she had additional information about the plan, but didn’t bring it to the meeting, not knowing a vote would be taken. The proposal would’ve put all kindergarten through sixth grade classes into renovated and expanded Stanton, Mahan, Moriarity, and Teachers Memorial school buildings.
NEW MALLOY BUDGET
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has released a revised two-year state budget that reduces aid by another $362 million in the first year to many Connecticut cities and towns while boosting funds for poorer communities, including Hartford. The new proposal unveiled Monday also eliminates the state sales tax exemption on nonprescription drugs and increases the real estate conveyance tax rate on properties valued at more than $800,000. Malloy, a Democrat, revisited the two-year $40.6 billion budget he released in February after anticipated income tax revenues dropped sharply. It will be the basis for budget negotiations with legislators. It comes after the projected deficit for the fiscal year starting July 1 jumped from $1.7 billion to $2.3 billion. Malloy’s plan still relies on $700 million in state employee concessions, which remain unsettled.
LABOR MOVE PROTESTED
Local officials in the New London area aren’t too pleased with the state’s decision to relocate the Department of Labor office from New London to Montville. Sylvester Trailor is a life member of the NAACP. He says it will take two-million dollars to renovate the former Beit Brothers supermarket on Route 32 in Uncasville. New London Mayor Mike Passero is asking the commissioner of the labor department to think twice about relocating the agency’s office. The Norwich labor office is also scheduled to relocate to Montville.
SLOTS NUMBERS
Good news for Mohegan Sun, not so for Foxwoods in the latest monthly slot revenue figures. April’s slot totals show Mohegan with an almost 4-percent increase over the same month one year ago, while Foxwoods has gone down 3 percent for the same time period. Mohegan Sun sent a check for 13-point-2 million dollars to the state, while Foxwoods gave 10-point-5 million, as part of the casinos’ slots revenue agreement with the state.
LOTTERY CHIEF QUITS
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The acting president and chairman of the board of the Connecticut Lottery Corp. has resigned. Frank Farricker, of Greenwich, stepped down Monday amid the scandal involving a lottery instant game. Farricker recently told a legislative hearing that lottery officials “put revenues over security issues” after discovering that retailers could illegally access winning numbers of the 5 Card Cash game on computer screens and manipulate the tickets. A report from the state Department of Consumer Protection found that lottery officials learned of the problem in January 2015, but didn’t alert consumer protection officials for seven months. Farricker was appointed to the Lottery Corp. board in 2011 and had served as acting president and CEO since the resignation of Anne Noble from the $212,000 a year job in September.
CRN SAYS GOODNIGHT
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) – CRN International says it will discontinue its Connecticut Radio Network daily news service at the end of this legislative session. In operation since 1973, the network has reported on everything from the election of the first woman governor, Ella Grasso, to the daily developments at the state Capitol. WICH, WCTY, WNLC and WKNL radio are affiliates. CRN President Barry Berman said Monday the network plans to continue producing “Dialogue,” its long-running weekly news interview program, and may cover other major events. Berman said continuing deregulation of the broadcast industry has led to many local radio stations in larger Connecticut cities to be sold to national corporations with “diminished appetites for news and local programs.” He said the closing of daily operations on June 9 “reflects that market shift.” Berman called the network “a beacon of quality and commitment.”
