Attention runners – sign up now for 'Four On The Fourth' road race

Attention runners – On July 4, The Rotary Club of Chester will sponsor its 31st annual “Four on the 4th Road Race.” We encourage participants to enter online through July 2.

This year’s event, for the first time, will make use of state-of-the-art chip timing by Super Race Systems.

The scenic, rolling course that loops its way around and through the quaint Village of Chester is USATF-sanctioned and measured.

This event is a Chester Rotary fundraiser. All profits go back into the community, as well as toward the club’s participation in projects supported around the world by Rotary International.

The start time is 10 a.m. sharp.

Prizes will be awarded to the winners in multiple categories.

As in past years, entertainment will be provided by the ever-popular bands The Portable Folk Festival and Exit 6.

Food and drink for participants and spectators will be available from the Chester Hose Company and Chester eateries.

Entry forms and race information is available at the club’s website, http://www.chesterrotary.org/fouronthefourthr.html

The fee is $20 for pre-entry in advance and $25 on race day.

All runners will receive an official Chester Road Race T-shirt and a complimentary drink ticket for use after the race.

Registration for all participants on the day of the race will take place between 8 and 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Parish Center on Middlesex Avenue (Rte 154) in Chester.

Please note that Main Street in Chester will be closed at 9 a.m. on race day. And this year, due to bridge replacement and road construction, all race entrants must take Exit 5, off of Route 9, and detour through Deep River to get to the parish center for registration after 9 a.m. (No pets please.)

Information and maps with detour and parking data are available online at the club’s website, www.chesterrotary.org

Posted June 30, 2009

Have questions about Storrs Center? Come to Open House on Thursday, July 2

The Storrs Center project has been divided into phases. File photo © by Brenda Sullivan.

The Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc. holds monthly open houses to provide updates for the public on the Storrs Center project.

The July Open House will be Thursday, July 2 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 p.m. at the Downtown Partnership office located at 1244 Storrs Road (Route 195, lower-level behind People’s United Bank).

Downtown Partnership staff will be available to answer questions and discuss the progress being made on the Storrs Center project.

For more information, call the office at 429-2740.

Written comments can also be sent to info@storrscenter.com

Posted June 30, 2009

New state-by-state report argues for health care cost reform

Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 98 percent in Connecticut. Photo courtesy of U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius [on June 26] released a series of new reports on the health care status quo that she said highlight the urgent need for health reform across the nation.

The new reports are available at www.HealthReform.gov and include information on health care cost and quality in all 50 states.

“In states across the country, health care costs are going up and families are struggling to get the quality care they need and deserve,” Secretary Sebelius said.

Each report includes data on:

• The percent increase in family premiums since 2000

• The hidden taxes that individuals and families pay as a result of subsidizing care for the uninsured

• The percent of state residents without insurance

• The overall quality ratings for health care in each state

• The impact of failing to adequately invest in preventative measures that could prevent disease and illness.

“The American people have been calling for reform, and they should not have to wait any longer,” Sebelius said.

“Health reform will assure quality affordable health care for all Americans, lower costs, and give more Americans the choices they deserve. The time for reform is now,” she said.

What the report says about Connecticut

Roughly 2.4 million people in Connecticut get health insurance on the job, and family premiums average $14,365, or about the annual wage for a full-time minimum wage job.

Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 98 percent in Connecticut.

Household budgets are strained by high costs: 19 percent of middle-income Connecticut families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.

High costs block access to care: 9 percent of people in Connecticut report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.

Connecticut businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $700 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.

Affordable coverage out-of-reach

Nine percent of people in Connecticut are uninsured, and 66 percent of these people are part of  families with at least one full-time worker.

The percent of Connecticut workers with employer coverage is declining: from 72 to 68 percent between 2000 and 2007.

Much of the decline is among workers in small businesses. While small businesses make up 76 percent of Connecticut businesses, only 55 percent of these businesses offered health coverage benefits in 2006 – a drop of 7 percent since 2000.

Choice of health insurance is limited in Connecticut. WellPoint Inc. (BCBS) alone constitutes 55 percent of the health insurance market share in Connecticut, with the top two insurance providers accounting for 66 percent.

Choice is even more limited for people with pre-existing conditions. In Connecticut, premiums can vary based on demographic factors and health status, and coverage can exclude pre-existing conditions or even be denied completely.

Connecticut needs more quality/preventative care

The report finds that overall quality of care in Connecticut is rated as “average.”

And that preventative measures that could keep Connecticut residents healthier and out of the hospital are deficient, leading to problems across the age spectrum:

• 13 percent of children in Connecticut are obese.

• 15 percent of women over the age of 50 in Connecticut have not received a mammogram in the past two years.

• 30 percent of men over the age of 50 in Connecticut have never had a colorectal cancer screening.

• 75 percent of adults over the age of 65 in Connecticut have received a flu vaccine in the past year.

Posted June 29, 2009

Related link: Join Obama’s Town Hall at http://www.healthreform.gov/

UConn leads in number of alum joining NBA

Hasheem Thabeet has been tabbed by the Grizzlies with the second pick, File photo © Vito J. Leo for HTN Sports

DeJuan Blair may have gotten the better of Hasheem Thabeet in the first Pitt-UConn game this past season – the 277-pounder flipped the UConn center over his back in a memorable moment on national TV – but it was the Pitt center who must have been flipping out as team after team ignored him in the first round of the NBA Draft on June 25 – while  UConn’s 7-3 shot-blocker extraordinaire from Tanzania will be laughing all the way to the bank in Memphis after being tabbed by the Grizzlies with the second pick.

Blair fell all the way to 37th before being claimed by the Spurs.

UConn’s sweet shooting All-American A. J. Price went to the Indiana Pacers with the 22nd pick in the second round, making it two UConn stars hoping to shine as rookies in Indianapolis this fall.  (Running back Donald Brown was snapped up by the Colts in the NFL Draft.)

Meanwhile, Thabeet joins former Husky Rudy Gay in Memphis, swelling the ranks of UConn alum in the NBA to a league-leading 15 from any one school, assuming the return for the 2009-10 season of Ray Allen, Hilton Armstrong,  Josh Boone, Caron Butler,  Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton, Donyell Marshall, Emeka Okafor [also a No. 2 pick; UConn has not had a No. 1], Kevin Ollie, Charlie Villanueva, Jake Voskuhl and Marcus Williams.

All-American A. J. Price went to the Indiana Pacers with the 22nd pick in the second round, making it two UConn stars hoping to shine as rookies in Indianapolis this fall. File photo © Vito J. Leo for HTN Sports.

According to a UConn Athletics Communications spokesman, “Thabeet becomes the 10th UConn player selected in the NBA Draft Lottery portion of the First Round and is the 15th First Round selection at Connecticut under Jim Calhoun. He is the first Husky selected since the 2006 NBA Draft, when UConn had five total players taken, including four in the first round.”  [Gay 8th, Armstrong 12th, Williams 22nd and Boone 23rd with Denham Brown going in the second round making Connecticut the third school to have four players selected in the first round in the same draft along with Duke (1999) and North Carolina (2005).]

That Thabeet was selected second is partially a tribute to his defensive skills, partially the result of a relatively thin group of potential draftees. But as much as it was no surprise Hasheem went so high, it was just as mystifying why Blair’s draft number tumbled fell faster than General Motors’ market share.

ESPN pundit Tony Kornheiser, an admitted fan of the Pitt wide-body, made this comment on a recent PTI show: “Blair played in the toughest physical conference in the country and he beat up on Hasheem Thabeet, who I believe went number two – I’m just surprised he didn’t go higher.”

Blair and Thabeet, who shared BIG EAST Player of the Year honors in 2008-09, could vie for “Rookie of the Year” honors in the NBA, if both can overcome their deficiencies – namely, Blair’s knees and Thabeet’s shooting – something national columnist Bill Simmons doesn’t see happening. Thabeet “is the best shot-blocker in the draft and if he ever develops any offense, he could be a dominant big (but) I’m skeptical,” he wrote.

Simmons offered his witty take on Thabeet’s new team’s low standings in the NBA echelon saying, “somebody should start a ‘Free Thabeet’ blog right now,”

And commenting on Hasheem’s even lower voice timbre: “Thabeet apparently bought Andre the Giant’s voice on eBay.”

Posted June 29, 2009

Drumming for little ones – at the library

Playtivity – creative artist Virginia Anderson and percussionist Craig Norton. Photo courtesy of Playtivity.

Kids love to play the drums, and they’ll have plenty of opportunity when Playtivity comes to the Mansfield Public Library at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 10.

Playtivity – creative artist Virginia Anderson and percussionist Craig Norton – will present an interactive program called Drum Fun that combines music, movement, storytelling and just plain fun.

Please note that this program requires advance registration, and is recommended for ages 4 and up.

Please call the Mansfield Library at 423-2501 or drop in to pre-register.

Posted June 29, 2009

Mansfield OKs contract for State Troopers

Photo © by Brenda Sullivan. ----------

Seven resident State Troopers and one Resident State Police Supervisor will be assigned to Mansfield for the next two years.

A new contract, effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011, was approved by the town council at its June 22 meeting.

Mansfield’s 2009-2010 budget includes $ 800,000 for the eight troopers for fiscal year 2010, which assumes a  state 85 percent reimbursement [paid by the town to the state], based on a recommendation by M. Jodi Rell.

Currently, the reimbursement rate is 70 percent.

Mayor Betsy Paterson said she supported the new contract because the troopers are needed – Mansfield does not have its own police department.

“We’re a small community in terms of taxpayers,” she said. “But we’re a large community when you add students and University of Connecticut staff.”

She also noted that while UConn has its own police department, it is responsible only for the campus – while many students live in housing surrounding the campus.

Town Council member Gene Nesbitt, who also voted for the contract, said he agrees the town needs public safety personnel but f the reimbursement rate changes, he would not want to add an additional trooper.

He said there are more fiscally responsible ways to use surplus funding. Nesbitt said he would rather see the money roll back to the town’s General Fund.

Posted June 29, 2009

Originally published in The Chronicle.

Electronic waste pick-up set for Sat. June 27

Dispose of your old electrical devices – computers, monitors, cell phones and more – and help a local community group.

From 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 27, drop off your old electronic items at 1776 Main St., Coventry.

Cost for disposal is $2 a piece, or $4 for a computer set. Small items (such as cell phones, iPods) are free.

This event benefits the Coventry Caretakers.

For more information, contact: www.coventrycaretakers.webs.com or 742-7334 ext. 279.

Storrs Automotive signs on for Storrs Center project

Schein, a UConn graduate, has been owner/operator of Storrs Automotive since 1975.

Storrs Automotive, a long-standing tenant in the commercial area that will one day become Storrs Center has signed on as the project’s first relocation tenant.

Owner Rene Schein, whose business is tucked slightly to the rear of Store 24, at 4 Dog Lane, has signed a letter of agreement to be a part of the new “downtown.”

Plans call for Storrs Automotive to relocate to Building DL2, whose construction is part of Phase 1A of the project.

Schein, a UConn graduate, has been owner/operator of Storrs Automotive since 1975. “We’re thrilled to be a part of the new community,” she said.

“Our plans call for expanding the facility into three bays, which will be good for business… I’m honored by the community support in keeping me here,” she said.

Speaking for the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Executive Director Cynthia van Zelm said, “We’ve known Rene Schein and Storrs Automotive for many years, and we’re very pleased and proud to have them on board as an initial tenant.”

Vice President of Planning and Development Macon Toledano, for master developer LeylandAlliance, said, “Since the earliest planning phases of Storrs Center, we’ve been hopeful of bringing Storrs Automotive into the community. They are a well-regarded Mansfield business and will be a welcome tenant in the first phase of the project.”

Posted June 25, 2009