SCHOOL DEFICIT DOWN
The projected education budget deficit for the current fiscal year in Norwich has gone down, according to the school board.. More than 5-million dollars in state alliance and priority district funding for the city has resulted in 1-point-2 million dollars saved through-quote-strategic spending. Cost savings include more than 730-thousand dollars in tuitions. Director of Student Services and Special Education Jamie Bender says that’s because more staff will be hired to keep more special ed students at home. The school board also approved a staff reorganization of sorts, naming current cirriculum director Thomas Baird as an assistant superintendent. The board says, though, it still needs some 3-point-3 million dollars more to cover this year’s education costs. It has requested a 5-percent decrease in tuition rates and contracts to fill the deficit.
ROUTE 32 BUS CRASH
Route 32 in Quaker Hill near the Cumberland Farms convenience store was closed for awhile after a SEAT bus hit a car this morning. Both drivers and four passengers on the bus were taken to local hospitals, with the driver of the Subaru that hit the bus suffering serious injuries. Police say the Subaru was traveling southbound when it attempted to make a left turn into the convenience store, and it was struck by the bus. The car was dragged for a short distance. Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to contact Waterford police at 860-442-9451.
SOME EB WORKERS RELOCATING
Some 400 designers and engineers employed by Electric Boat will be moving from the company’s New London offices at Fort Trumbull to the vacant Eagle Park warehouse and office complex at the North Stonington-Stonington town line. The property is owned by the Mashantucket-Pequot tribe, and is being leased by EB for five years. Workers should start moving in by the middle of next month. EB says it has maxed-out its available office space in New London. The Eagle Park complex formerly housed the tribe’s employment office and training site, until last year, when it moved to Foxwoods and the tribe’s Museum and Research Center..
$$ FOR CROSS SOUND
More than 500-thousand dollars in federal grant money will be going to Cross Sound Ferry in New London for various infrastructure improvements, including a new ferry ramp. The money is coming from the U-S Department of Transportation’s Marine Highway Grant Program.
REINSTATEMENT OF SKAKEL CONVICTION SOUGHT
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut prosecutors are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel’s murder conviction. The state Supreme Court in May reversed its own 2016 decision and vacated Skakel’s conviction in the bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood in 1975, when they were teenagers. The 4-3 majority said Skakel’s trial lawyer failed to contact an alibi witness. Prosecutors asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to hear their appeal. They argue the state court didn’t properly weigh the overall performance of Skakel’s defense. Skakel is a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy. A jury convicted him in 2002 and he was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He was freed in 2013 when a state judge overturned his conviction.
V-J DAY PARADE ROAD CLOSURES
Plainfield police are announcing road closures for Moosup’s annual V-J Day Parade, which takes place this Sunday. Route 14 between Squaw Rock Road and Goshen Road will be off-limits to traffic beginning at 12:30 PM. Some local streets will also be closed to through traffic. The parade steps off at 1:01 PM in front of the Riverview Restaurant, and will end at the American Legion Post 91 on Prospect Street. It’s one of the few remaining parades in the country noting the official end of World War II.
