08/19/11 Obituary: John Benjamin Evans And More From The Greenwich Topix News Message Board

Greenwich - News August 19, 2011 See Greenwich Weather Obituary: John Benjamin Evans (Manhasset Press) John Benjamin Evans (Ben), son of Flora (nee Walther) and William H. Evans, died Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, at Greenwich Hospital of complications from pneumonia at age 87. Born July 19, 1924 in New York City, he resided in Plandome, New York and attended the Manhasset Public Schools. He was an Ensign in the Navy and achieved Veteran’s status as a Second Mate in the Merchant Marine during World War II. He served on tours of France, India, East Africa and South America. He attended Johns Hopkins University after the war, and went to work in textiles for Leslie and Co., Mill Agents, and Burlington Industries in New York City. Ben resided in Riverside and Greenwich, CT from 1961-2004...... FROM BYRAM ROUNDUP: Was Superintendent of Schools Sidney Freund Good For Byram Children (greenwichroundup.blogspot) This week, three months after he stunned the town by announcing his resignation, Superintendent of Schools Sidney Freund will spend his last days in Greenwich. Now that the initial shock has worn off, Board of Education and Byram officials, along with parents and other stakeholders have started to reflected on Freund's two years as Greenwich schools chief. Freund's tenure may have been brief, but it was filled with challenges, as well as significant achievements. Debates about expanding the International Baccalaureate program into Western Middle School in Byram. People in the Byram community have long called for cuts to the number of administrators and to this goal not much was accomplished by Freund. Many Byram parents and teachers odds with the superintendent, but they seem to take a somewhat balanced look at Freund's impact on Greenwich overall. The feeling Generally is that in certain respects he left the district better than he found it. But, in many other respects, however, he left the district much worse than he found it. The school district's credibility with the public was compromised by the manner in which the superintendent undertook International Baccalaureate program, and his unprofessional handling of issues surrounding his abrupt voluntary resignation. Greenwich Board of Education member Marianna Ponns Cohen has repeatedly accused Freund of committing the town financially to the IB program without the authorization of the full school board. When explaining his decision to resign, Freund cited his increasingly tense relationship with Ponns Cohen and school board member Peter Sherr, who both voted against starting negotiations on a two-year contract extension for the superintendent a few days before he made his announcement. Many Byram parents answer to the question about Freund's tenure lies with Byram's scores on state exams, which have fallen in many areas. Many parents think that speaks for itself...... Metro-North Takes Heat From Commuters (The Daily Greenwich) Delays on Metro-North's New Haven Line on Thursday evening made railroad President Howard Permut at least 20 minutes late to a public forum where the railroad's bad service was the topic of discussion. ... the worst experience I've ever gone through on Metro-North," said Stratford resident Dot Crosby, who commutes to Greenwich. "The conductors did nothing to help people. Metro-North is useless. They should be ashamed of themselves." At the beginning ... Darien resident puts Start U Up back in business (The Hour Online) DARIEN -- Jeffrey Glick is ready to Start U Up -- again.The Darien resident and CPA has relaunched his compliance, financial and human-resources service company. ...in 2004, but due to the economic meltdown in 2008, took a full-time CFO job with one of his clients, the Greenwich firm Sagard. Now Glick is getting back in the entrepreneur game. He has been working in the financial field since the 1980s and .... Please send your comments, news tips and press releases to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com Angie Needs a Loving Home in Greenwich (The Daily Greenwich) Greenwich's pet of the week is Angie, a 5-year-old spayed German shepherd who was transferred to our shelter in June from a local municipal shelter along with her four puppies. Forget About A TEA Party Downgrade - They Are Talking About A Greenwich Downgrade !!!!!! (greenwichroundup.blogspot) The Greenwich First Selectman Report .... News And Commentary About Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei First The Mill Rate goes Up And Now This ...... Moody's Threatens To Downgrade Greenwich's Tripple-A Credit Ratting Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei And The BET Finally Start To Put Long Over Do Financial Controls In Place Greenwich could be in danger of losing its AAA bond rating from Moody's, which recently put the town on a negative outlook list Moody's, a member of the big three credit ratings agencies, put on notice Aug. 4 that their top borrowing status could be at risk. Greenwich has a negative outlook, which basically means there's a risk of downgrade over the next year or two. Greenwich been consistently rated triple-A in recent decades. If Greenwich was downgraded, the immediate impact would be higher interest costs. Bonding had been commonplace up until 1933, when the town, saddled with debt, decided to go in a new direction of pay-as-you-go. For decades, Greenwich never went to the bond market with the exception of sewer debt. Greenwich turned to short-term borrowing to augment tax revenues to pay for capital items in recent years, resorting to long-term bonds for sewer improvements and other projects in which the town will get a guaranteed return on its investment through fees. The town is currently carrying $129 million in debt, a total that excludes $17 million in potential borrowing for a new music instruction space and auditorium at Greenwich High School and $15.6 million in potential borrowing for other projects...... Patch Pets (Patch) Last fall animal control was alerted to a litter of kittens discovered living outdoors. Patch Picks: Six Great Date-Night Destinations (Patch) Looking for a great spot to take your date on Saturday night? Some of the best eateries and activities are just around the corner.