Learn about fitness at any age from local sports expert

Image courtesy of PRWeb (2004)

As part of the “Coffee & Conversation” series presented by the Windham Hospital Foundation, Stephen F. Scarangella, MD will be engaging people in a discussion about “Exercise at Any Age: How to prevent injuries and achieve physical wellness.”

This free program is offered to anyone in the community with an interest in staying physically fit. It will be held in the Community Room at the Mansfield Community Center on Thursday, March 10 from 8 to 9 a.m.

Refreshments will be served.

Reservations are appreciated, but not required. Contact tbirkenholz@wcmh.org to RSVP or call 860-456-6849 for more information.

Dr. Scarangella is a Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon as well as maintaining certification in hand and upper extremity surgery.

He is President of the Connecticut Orthopedic and Hand Surgery Center, PC in Willimantic and Glastonbury and serves as Team Physician for the Connecticut Tigers baseball team, as well as for the athletic teams at Eastern Connecticut State University. He is also a consultant to the PGA Tour Players and Officials at the Canon Greater Hartford Open.

Dr. Scarangella has an easygoing manner and friendly disposition that makes him perfect to present this topic at the Community Center. The presentation will be geared to all ages and there will be plenty of time for questions and answers.

“Coffee & Conversation” events have been a great way to engage people in our community in learning more about the great physicians, services and programs at Windham Hospital,” commented, Dick Brvenik, President & CEO, Windham Hospital.

For more information about this and other programs at Windham Hospital, visit www.windhamhospital.org.

Posted Feb. 28, 2011

Mansfield's E.O. Smith High School budget is up $588K

With the addition of some Columbia students next school year, Regional School District 19 could see more than $100,000 to help offset a projected $588,250 increase under Superintendent Bruce Silva’s proposed budget.

The school board is currently examining the proposal as it works to draft its own proposed spending plan for E.O. Smith High School in time for a May referendum.

Silva has proposed a $ 19.26 million budget for the 2011-12 school year, an increase of 3.2 percent over the current year’s budget. The full proposal is available on the district’s web site, www.eosmith.org.

Willington would see the largest funding increase of all three sending towns due to enrollment shifts. Its share would be $4.45 million under Silva’s proposal, an increase of $396,331, or 9.8 percent.

Willington’s enrollment figure for budget calculations is 277, an increase of 18 students, or 6.9 percent, while Ashford’s figure, 229, decreased by six students, or 2.5 percent, and Mansfield’s, 615, dropped by 16 students, or 2.5 percent.

Due to their respective enrollment decreases, Ashford’s share for next year would be $3.75 million, an increase of $5,181, or 0.1 percent, and Mansfield’s would be $9.98 million, an increase of $56,288, or 0.6 percent.

Silva said the expected addition of 10 Columbia students would also provide an additional $113,500 in revenue for next year.

The Columbia and Region 19 school boards agreed to a contract last month allowing as many as 30 freshmen to attend E.O. Smith.

The biggest expenditure increases in Silva’s budget include a hike of $133,520, or 13.1 percent, over last year for professional and technical services, such as special services from EastConn.

Silvia is also recommending an increase of $200,000, or roughly 96 percent, for tuition for Region 19 students attending school else­where, with the majority of the funding going toward out-placed special education students.

The school board is in the process of dis­cussing the budget now and will continue to hold budget review meetings through the middle of next month.

According to the board’s timeline, there will be a public hearing on Silva’s proposed budget on March 22 at 7 p.m. at E.O. Smith, followed by a finance committee meeting to adopt recommended adjustments. The entire board will receive those recom­mendations for its April 5 meeting, and the board will continue to work on drafting its own proposal for its annual budget meeting on May 2.

The meeting would then adjourn to a ref­erendum on May 3, with polling places in Mansfield, Ashford and Willington.

Posted 2-27-2011

Survey – Homelessness is on the rise in region

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, addresses the audience during an event at the WRCC office in Willimantic on Thursday. Photo: Roxanne Pandolfi

Like many other areas of the state, the Windham region has been hit hard by the recession, resulting in an increase in the area’s homeless population in recent years.

A study done by the Windham Regional Community Council, a nonprofit agency providing health and social programs to residents, counted 220 homeless people on Jan. 27, an increase of nearly 100 people from the first year of the annual study in 2007.

“The numbers went up so dra­matically,” said WRCC Executive Director Jeffrey Beadle.

The WRCC has outlined a 10-year plan to combat homelessness and will use two federal grants it was recently awarded to fund its efforts. The grants were awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and total more than $419,000.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, state Rep. Susan Johnson, D-Willimantic, and local officials were at the WRCC office on Main Street Thursday morning (Feb. 24) to cele­brate the two grants.

“It put the spotlight on WRCC in terms of your success,” Courtney said.

Earlier Thursday, Courtney spoke at a Windham Region Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

Johnson congratulated the agency for the work it has done addressing homelessness in the region.

“It’s vitally important to keep this up,” Johnson said. “It’s important to put the spotlight on the fact that we have a growing homeless popula­tion.”

Beadle said the funding will be used to support two programs: Pro­ject Home and Project Haven. These programs provide housing subsi­dies, case management and other services for homeless individuals in the region.

The programs, managed by Kim Lindell and Pat Sullivan, are part of the Greater Windham Region 10-Year Plan to end homeless­ness, which began in 2007 and is part of a national movement to combat the issue.

“Through their (Lindell and Sullivan) hard work we contin­ue to get funding (from HUD),” Beadle said.

The plan outlines an agenda of activities the community will implement to address homeless­ness in 20 surrounding communi­ties, including Chaplin, Coventry, Columbia, Lebanon, Hampton, Mansfield, Scotland, Willington and Windham.

A study, known as a “point in time count,” was completed by a group of volunteers as part of the application process for the two grants.

The study, first conducted in 2007, is done statewide with the goal of providing a snap­shot of homelessness in each of Connecticut’s regions.

The WRCC group was sent out to five sites in the region on Jan. 27 to count the number of home­less people they encountered.

One site that was surveyed was the parking lot and field near Wal-Mart in North Windham.

Beadle, who headed the group conducting the survey, said Wal-Mart allows people to stay in cars on their property.

Other surveyed sites include along the Willimantic River and Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum on Bridge Street, behind New Alliance Bank at the East Brook Mall and Big Y, a field on Stearns Road, and a site on Mansfield Avenue.

In addition to surveying sites, the group also collected data from numerous shelters and support programs for the homeless, such as the Holy Family Home and Shelter on Jackson Street, various United Services locations, and the Windham No Freeze Hospitality Center on Main Street.

Results of the study were unveiled by Beadle Thursday morning. The study produced good and bad news.

“It’s a mixed report,” Beadle said.

Beadle was pleased to learn that of the 220 homeless people in the Windham region, 101 were in shelters and 115 were in support programs, with only four people outside.

Another piece of good news was that 115 homeless individu­als were counted in assistance programs throughout the region, including programs at United Services, the Holy Family Home and Shelter and WRCC’s Project Home and Project Haven.

One item of bad news, how­ever, was the number of homeless children in the region. The group counted 51 homeless children under the age of 18, an increase of 19 from the first year of the study in 2007.

Windham school administra­tors, including Superintendent Ana Ortiz, are involved in numer­ous programs to help homeless students in the district, Beadle said.

Beadle said it is a “major chal­lenge” to help these students. He said Ortiz is currently working with 96 kids in the district.

“Obviously, there’s a lot more work to do,” Beadle said.

The number of homeless people increased from 128 to 220 from the 2007 to the 2011 study.

According to the Connecticut Coalition for Homelessness, there are approximately 4,154 people without homes on any given day in the state, including: 2,902 single adults, 430 families, 801 children in families and 18 unac­companied youths.

Posted 2-25-2011

Public hearing Monday on reducing Mansfield senior fees

The town council will hold a public hear­ing Monday (Feb. 28) to receive input on a proposal to include senior center program fees among those eligible for a waiver.

The public hearing will be part of the council’s regular meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Audrey P. Beck Municipal Office Building.

The town’s current fee waiver program, and the proposed chang­es, are available on the town’s web site, www.mansfieldct.gov, and at the town clerk’s office.

If approved, the change would make seniors eligible for fee waiv­ers for programs at the senior cen­ter if they meet certain financial criteria.

Fees currently included in the ordinance include those for cer­tain recreation programs, solid waste disposal and recycling, ambulance services, the parks and recreation department’s after­school program and membership and programs at the Mansfield Community Center.

Residents currently receiving Medicaid are eligible for a 90 percent fee waiver, as are those households whose family adjusted gross income exceeds the federal poverty level by no more than 130 percent.

The federally determined pov­erty level in the contiguous 48 states in 2011 is $10,890 for an individual, $14,710 for a family of two and $22,350 for a family of four.

Those whose family or house­hold adjusted gross income is no more than 185 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for a 50 percent fee waiver.

Posted 2-25-2011

Blues & Bluegrass music, Willimantic Orchestra performance & fundraisers among activities this weekend

Saturday Feb. 26

PREPARED CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION CLASS
Windham Community Memorial Hospital offers an all- day, ” mara­thon” childbirth education class from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the hospital’s education center. Cost is $65 for families delivering their babies at WCMH and $75 for families delivering elsewhere. Info: (860) 456-6894.

MOVIE, ‘SECRETARIAT’
Willington Public Library Community Room, 7 Ruby Road, Willington, will host a 12:30 p.m. showing of the movie “Secretariat.” All are welcome to attend and visitors are asked to bring their own snacks.

SNOW MOON DINNER DANCE
The Snow Moon Dinner Dance is being sponsored by St. Francis Ladies Guild and Knights of Columbus. It will take place from 6 to 11 p.m. Cost is a $20 donation per person at the Lebanon Fire Safety Complex, Lebanon. Tickets or information available at (860) 642-7049 or (860) 423-8040.

LASAGNA TAKE -OUT DINNER
The Federated Church of Christ, Route 6, Brooklyn, will host a take­-out lasagna dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Cost is $8. Take-out orders only.

SPAGHETTI SUPPER
Hampton Congregational Church, 263 Main St., Hampton, will host a spaghetti dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets $8 adults; $5 children up to 12 years; free for children under 5.

NETWORK INC. FUNDRAISER
The French Club, Club Road, Windham, will host a fundraiser from 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets, $25 individual, $40 couple. All proceeds from the event will benefit clients with developmental disabilities served by Network Inc. For tickets, call Bev at (860) 742-1313. For information, call Kathleen McLean (860) 753-2923 or e-mail to kmclean@network­programs.com.

WINTER BLUES FEST
The annual Winter Blues Festival is slated at the Elks Lodge, 198 Pleasant St., Willimantic, from 7 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $15. Info: (860) 456-2188.

BLUEGRASS SHOW
A bluegrass show featuring Mike Boulay and The Hope Valley Volunteers, along with Nick Anderson and Shady Creek, will take place at 7 p.m., Killingly Grange Hall, Route 101 at Dog Hill Road, Killingly. $12 donation requested. Info: Call Nick at (860) 564-1018 or e-mail nick.anderson@att.net.

Sunday Feb. 27

BUFFET BREAKFAST
Knights of Columbus Council 14, 41 Club Road, Windham, will host a buffet breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Children under 5 are free, ages 6-12 $5.50, seniors $6 and adults over 12 $6.50. Take-out available.

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES – STORRS
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Storrs will host Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. David Nelson will present a sermon entitled, “Neither Victims nor Executioners.” Info: (860) 429-6088.

WINTER BUFFET DINNER
Moriah Lodge No. 15, 220 Providence Turnpike, Brooklyn, will host a winter buffet dinner from noon to 2 p m. Cost is $10 person. Indoor yard sale — rent a table for $5. Help support the VA by bringing unused essential apparel. Tour the lodge, which was established in 1790, and learn more about the Freemasons.

WILLIMANTIC ORCHESTRA PERFORMS AT EASTERN
The Willimantic Orchestra will present a concert at 3 p.m. in Shafer Auditorium at Eastern Connecticut State University. Admission free, however, a donation is suggested. Individuals with a disability who need accommodations for this event can contact the Office of University Relations at (860) 465-5735.

VICTORIAN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
The Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association will host a meeting to elect officers at 3:30 p.m., 869 Main St., Willimantic. Guest speaker, Andrew Gutt, owner of Cafemantic, Topic: his vision of Main Street. Potluck to follow at 67 Lewiston Ave., Willimantic.

Posted 2-25-2011

Mansfield, union reach deal

Town officials said some changes to health insurance contributions and other measures helped offset increased wage costs in a new union contract for professional and technical employees.

The new contract, unanimously approved by the town council Feb. 14, applies to a “broad range” of employees, including the assessor, youth services coordinator and clerical employees, Town Manager Matthew Hart told the council.

Assistant Town Manager Maria Capriola added the Connecticut State Employees Association represents 44 town employees and Hart said the group accounts for about 28 percent of the town’s total salaries.

The contract begins with the current fiscal year, which started on July 1, 2010, and will run through June 30, 2013, the end of the 2012-13 fiscal year.

The town’s representative to CSEA Local 2001 could not be reached for comment. Hart told the council in a memo that the union ratified the agree­ment Feb. 1.

The contract includes split pay raises over the first two years, a move Hart and Capriola said saves the town money.

The employees will received a 1.5 percent wage increase on July 1 of each of the first two fiscal years, followed by another 1.5 percent increase on Jan. 1 of the first two fiscal years.

Hart estimated the total salaries would increase by $24,430, or 1.6 percent, in the current fiscal year and $49,410, or 2.1 percent, next fiscal year.

The contract calls for negotiations to reopen for wages for the 2012-13 fiscal year, so Hart did not estimate a wage for that year.

Under the contract, the lowest step calls for a salary of $20,517 as of July 1, 2010, while the highest the step calls for a salary of $108,524.

By Jan. 1, 2012, the last salary requirements before negotiations reopen, the lowest step would increase to $21,449, while the highest step would increase to $113,475.

But Hart said the town’s contributions for employ­ee health insurance plans also dropped by $18,675, or 4.5 percent, from the previous fiscal year to the current one. He said the town was able to realize sav­ings in health insurance costs by increasing employ­ees’ shares for premiums and co-pays, although the changes vary based on each employee’s plan.

Hart also said the town was able to lower its costs for life, short-term and long-term disability insur­ance packages offered to employees.

Posted 2-23-2011

Mansfield Town Council wants school vote in May

While most members of the town council agreed Tuesday to send some form of a building project to referen­dum in the spring, they could not come to terms on the proposal’s details.

After passing a referendum last Novem­ber, the town council has been working for months in the hopes of having a proposal ready for a vote in May.

Current possibilities include renovat­ing the existing three elementary schools or building one or two new elementary schools, with all plans calling for vary­ing degrees of renovations to Mansfield Middle School.

While all of the councilmen present for Tuesday’s discussion said they wanted to build two schools, most said they were worried the project was too expensive and residents would not support the project at this time.

Councilmen Meredith Lindsey and Carl Schaefer were not pres­ent Tuesday.

They grew further concerned after seeing the impact of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget, which would reduce the reim­bursement rate for any school projects involving new construc­tion.

The proposed change would mean an increase of between $5.47 million and $6.22 million in the town’s share of a new school project, depending on the proposal.

Tom Dimauro, the project’s con­struction manager from Newfield Construction, said there is no way the town could submit its propos­al in time to receive the current reimbursement rates.

The current rates apply to any project breaking ground before April 1, 2012, but Dimauro said approval from the legislature and state officials would hold up a project in Mansfield until the fall of 2012.

After seeing the fiscal impact, Mansfield Mayor Elizabeth “Bet­sy” Paterson and councilmen Antonia Moran, Bill Ryan and Denise Keane all said they sup­ported something other than a two-school option because of the costs.

“I think, in the end, it will hurt the town and it will hurt the education (system),” Ryan said, adding the budget would need to be cut to accommodate debt for the project.

Paterson, Keane and Moran said they originally supported the two ­school option to varying degrees, with Paterson admitting she was still on the fence, but said cost was the final determining factor in their stances.

A proposal for two new schools and a renovated MMS would cost an estimated $59.58 mil­lion and, under Malloy’s propos­al, Mansfield would need to pay $33.07 million after reimbursements.

A revised proposal, which includes fewer renovations and downsized new schools, would cost $55.98 million, with town responsible for $29.6 million.

Finance Director Cherie Trahan said the owner of a home assessed at $168,350, the median assess­ment, would pay an average $315 annually in taxes for the full, two­ school option annually, and $268 for the revised plan.

Ryan, Moran and Paterson all supported a plan to build one school and renovate MMS, which would cost $48.04 million, with the town’s share being $24.53 million under Malloy’s proposal.

They said the town still needed to do something to upgrade the current schools, but Paterson said it would be “fiscally irrespon­sible” to build two.

Trahan’s figures said the project would mean an average of $177 in new taxes just for the project for the owner of a median assessed home.

But Keane said the town needed to separate needed “improve­ments” from “wants,” and voiced support for a plan to renovate the existing schools over the next 20 years, with funding in the town’s budget.

Funding the project with cash would result in a price tag of $20.83 million, with a town’s share of $13.3 million and a tax impact of $106 annually on a median assessed home.

Keane also urged the council to consider other projects on the horizon and declining state revenues when proposing a project, as residents “don’t know the whole picture the way we know it.”

She expressed concern residents might see the tax impact as small because they cannot see all of the things impacting the town’s mill rate when voting on a project.

Councilmen Christopher Paul­hus and Paul Shapiro said they supported the two-school option, saying they believed the project would improve the school sys­tem.

Paulhus also said a tax increase hurts in any economy. “It’s never a good time to build anything,” he said.

Shapiro, though, said he would agree with Keane if residents rejected a two-school proposal because the schools have pressing needs, especially security.

Councilman Peter Kochenbur­ger, meanwhile, urged colleagues to simply wait until the town has a better financial situation and firm numbers from the state.

He also said he did not want to simply pass a less expensive option because it would not im­prove the school system as much as intended.

“I don’t want to build (a school) that’s better, I want to build one that’s substantially better,” he said.

School Superintendent Fred­erick Baruzzi, though, said either new school proposal would meet the town’s needs for “40 or 50 years.”

The rest of the council dis­agreed with Kochenburger, voting 6-1 by consensus to send some form of a project to referendum in the spring.

Councilmen said they did not want to keep pushing off needed improvements, while Dimauro said construction costs are already starting to rise.

Posted 2-23-2011

Do you know this guy? Bank robbery suspect looks familiar

On the left is the suspect in a Feb. 23, 2011 robbery of New Alliance Bank in Coventry, CT. On the right is a surveillance photo of the suspect in a Jan. 25 robbery of the Savings Institute bank branch at East Brook Mall on the Mansfield-Windham town line. Original surveillance photos provided by the State Police and Coventry Police. Composite photo © 2011 by Brenda Sullivan.

While police aren’t saying they think this is the same guy, a man who robbed the New Alliance Bank in Coventry this morning (Feb. 23) bears a striking resemblance to a man wanted for a Jan. 25 robbery.

This morning’s robbery was reported at approximately 9:43 a.m. at the New Alliance Bank at 1372 Main St. in Coventry.  According to the press release issued by the Coventry Police Department, “Coventry police arrived within two minutes of the alarm being received.”

Police say a white male entered the bank and walked directly to the teller station and passed a note demanding money.

The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money and the suspect left without incident. Police say there was one customer in the bank at the time, along with several other employees.

The photos accompanying the press release show an older white male with a moustache and what appears to be graying hair, wearing a dark jacket and cap, who looks much like the man who robbed the Savings Institute branch located in the East Brook Mall on Jan. 25. The Mall is on Route 195 at the Mansfield-Windham town line.

The suspect in the Feb. 23 2011 robbery of the New Alliance Bank on Main Street in Coventry. Police say he didn't speak to the teller, just slipped a note asking for money. Surveillance photo provided by Coventry Police

Coventry Police Chief Mark Palmer said today that police are investigating the connection with “any previous robberies in the area,” but would not say whether police believe this is the same suspect.

The suspect in the Savings Institute robbery, which was reported at about 11:40 a.m., threatened to have a weapon but did not show it, according to the police report.

In today’s robbery, Chief Palmer said, “there was no weapon displayed or implied.” In fact, the robber didn’t speak, he just slipped the teller a note.

In both robberies, witnesses saw the suspect leave the bank on foot but did not see whether he then entered a vehicle.

“We have no description of a vehicle at this time,” Chief Palmer said of today’s robbery.

In the January robbery, witnesses described the suspect as a white, middle-aged male possibly in his mid-50s with a mustache and graying hair and wearing glasses.

He was also described as wearing a “varsity style” black jacket with black leather sleeves and a black baseball cap with red and white letters on it.

A surveillance photo of the suspect who on Jan. 25, 2011 robbed the Savings Institute bank branch at East Brook Mall on the Mansfield-Windham town line. Photo supplied by the CT State Police.

In today’s robbery, the suspect is described as possibly in his late 30s, approximately 5’6″ tall with brown eyes and a medium build. Asked whether a witness could have miscalculated the suspect’s age, Chief Palmer said this can happen.

The Coventry Police Department is continuing the investigation with the assistance of the State Police Major Crime Unit.

Anyone with information that might be helpful is asked to contact the Coventry Police Department at 860-742-7331. Or anonymous tips may be left at 860-742-2400.

Posted Feb. 23, 2011

Another surveillance photo taken on Feb. 23, 2011 of the man police say robbed New Alliance Bank in Coventry, CT.