10/02/04 - A community college for greenwich ?

David Levinson, who became president of the state's largest community college six weeks ago, said last week he would like to see the school open locations in Ridgefield and Greenwich. Levinson said he has already discussed his vision with Ridgefield officials, but has not had talks in Greenwich or sought a location.

"We're thinking perhaps in Greenwich, but this is very exploratory," he said. "We need to reach out more to the southern part of Fairfield County. One of the interesting things I foresee there is not only offering educational programs but some of the cultural events that I think pull people in Greenwich. And the other thing there too, strategically, is to bring people from Westchester County and New York."

10/01/03 - GT News Clip - "It's certainly not our intention for us to advertise for people from Greenwich to come walk their dogs in Stamford,"

Dannel Malloy, who recalled having a general conversation on the subject of a dog park with former Greenwich First Selectman Richard Bergstressser more than a year ago, but nothing since.

09/25/04 Margolies Murder Inquiry Resumes: GPD Detectives Finally Get off Their Ass And Again Fly Down To Texas To See Former PCPD Officer Roger Bates

By Martin B. Cassidy - Greenwich Time

Two Greenwich detectives interviewed former Port Chester, N.Y., police officer Roger Bates this week as part of their investigation of the 1984 murder of Greenwich teen Matthew Margolies, the police chief said yesterday.

The detectives flew to Dallas over the weekend and returned earlier this week after talking to Bates, who was recently convicted in Texas of child molestation, Greenwich Police Chief James Walters said.

"The only thing I can say is that they went out and spoke to Roger Bates about the case and we will be following up on any information he provided," Walters said.

Detectives Timothy Duff and Gary Hoffkins, along with an investigator from the Chief State's Attorney's Office, spoke to Bates, who moved to Garland, Texas, from Port Chester in 1998. Bates, 60, was convicted earlier this month of two counts of sexual assault of a child and sentenced to two consecutive 11-year prison terms for molesting a 14-year-old Garland boy.

Walters declined yesterday to say whether Bates is a suspect in the Margolies murder or what information Greenwich police sought from him.

John Read, Bates' attorney, said he had no problem with his client talking to Greenwich detectives again about the unsolved murder. Greenwich police interviewed Bates in the past, and there was no new information to uncover, said Read, who practices law in Dallas.

"This Greenwich thing is weird," Read said. "He's been through this before and has nothing to hide."

During Bates' sentencing, a friend of Matthew Margolies testified that Bates had molested him in 1984. The man, who is now 36, said he, Bates and Margolies fished together on one occasion that year, Shelley Hallman, a Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Bates, said last week.

Hallman also said last week that Bates would be required to submit a DNA sample to a centralized database kept by the FBI.

Walters has not said whether police are seeking samples of Bates' DNA.

Read said yesterday that the Connecticut man's accusations against Bates were false and his testimony about fishing irrelevant.

"So what?" Read said. "Roger was always taking someone hunting or fishing. That's what he does."

Read also said he has filed notice of appeal of the Texas conviction.

Calls to Hallman Thursday and yesterday were not returned.

Margolies disappeared Aug. 31, 1984, and his body was found five days later, buried in the woods near his Pilgrim Drive home in Pemberwick. He had been stabbed, strangled and suffocated, according to an autopsy report.

Officers who served with Bates in the Port Chester Police Department characterized him as a solid policeman with good people skills. Bates worked for the department from 1975 to 1985 after transferring from the Mount Pleasant Police Department, said Lt. James Ladeairous of the staff services division.

Port Chester Police Chief Joseph Krezeminski said Bates was quick on his feet and very persuasive with the public and fellow officers.

"Roger was a real smooth operator and he could charm you if he wanted to," Krezeminski said. "He did do a lot of good police work, but apparently he had this dark side."

Ladeairous, who joined the force the same year as Bates, remembered his colleague's neat appearance and that women would occasionally visit the station looking for him.

"He was very good with people," Ladeairous said. "There were times women would come in and ask, 'Is Roger working?' I'm not saying he was a ladies' man, but I guess he was attractive to the opposite sex."

Bates didn't chat about hobbies or other interests, Ladeairous said.

"He had a wife or two kids and he wasn't a gun nut, like some guys that you would remember them for that," Ladeairous said. "He was kind of blah."

Bates left the department with disability pay from a back injury in 1985, he said.

Capt. John Telesca said he never noticed anything strange about Bates' behavior.

"He didn't display any indication of what he's convicted of," Telesca said. "Not like people who wear it like a badge advertising their peculiarities."

Telesca recalled Bates working for a short time as a detective in the Port Chester youth bureau.

"People who worked with him here have called and asked what this is all about," Telesca said. "People are just shaking their heads because life is full of surprises."

PLEASE SEE:

TWO YEARS AGO !!!!!

02/24/02 Forget About The Greenwich Time: Independant Journalist Kevin F. McMurray Says There Is A Possible Break In The Margolis Case?

02/27/02 Forget About The Greenwich Time: Independant Journalist Kevin F. McMurray Says Juvenile Margolies Murder Suspect Has Criminal Record

09/25/04 - Louis C. Lustenberger Reports On Daniel Warzoha

The report prepared by Irvington, N.Y., lawyer Louis C. Lustenberger cites interviews with Daniel Warzoha, 14 career firefighters and others, written statements of four career firefighters, press reports and other sources in reaching its conclusions. The report affirms the union's allegations that Warzoha drank alcohol at the Polish Club of Glenville before taking command at a fire on Davis Avenue on Dec. 5.

Warzoha could not be reached for comment. Emanuel Margolis, an attorney representing the chief, said he advised Warzoha against commenting on the report.

The union called for Warzoha's resignation nine months ago, after alleging that Warzoha had been drinking before assuming command at the Davis Avenue fire.

09/12/04 - School Safety Study Presented To The Board Of Education

The study, presented at last week's Board of Education meeting, was commissioned by Greenwich Public Schools to examine safety issues affecting students who walk to Cos Cob School, Julian Curtiss Magnet School, Central Middle School and Greenwich High School.

09/11/04 - Chris Says Throw The Bum Out

Christopher von Keyserling has led the charge to remove Victor Coudert Jr. from office, accusing Coudert of conducting secret meetings, fudging records and flip-flopping on key issues.

09/10/04 - Andreoni Stands Up For Nathaniel Witherell

"For the life of me, why would I want to spend $46 million and then hand this building over to a private entity?"

Felix Andreoni, a District 4/Byram delegate to the RTM who has worked as housekeeping director at Nathaniel Witherell for the last three years, said during an informational session held at Greenwich High School last night.

09/03/04 - Headmaster Alan Capasso said Greenwich scores should be higher

School News

Greenwich scores were significantly better than the state averages, which were 46.1 percent for the percentage of students testing at or above goal in math, 47.4 percent in science, 48 percent in reading and 53.7 percent in writing. But Greenwich High School interim Headmaster Alan Capasso said Greenwich scores should be higher.

09/01/04 - Matt Carstensen

A private in the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment based in Alaska, Matt Carstensen flew late last year to Afghanistan, where he joined U.S. forces in running counterinsurgency missions, border patrols and other assignments intent on rooting out Taliban forces.

Greenwich News Roundup 8/2/04 thru 8/8/04

Greenwich resident John Fareri and his real estate development company bought the property for $5.2 million last year after Competition & Sports Cars abandoned plans to build a BMW showroom and service facility there.

The town is negotiating contracts with the Silver Shield Association police union and three other unions, the Greenwich Firefighters Local 1042, Connecticut Public Health Nurses Association Local 1303-222 and Teamsters Local 456, all of whose contracts expired June 30. The terms of the expired contracts remain in effect until new ones are signed, town labor officials said.

A Greenwich woman who was injured in June 2003 when the heel snapped off her shoe, causing her to fall down a flight of stairs at her home, has filed a lawsuit against Grossman Shoes in Greenwich and Prada USA Corp.

The Week Of 7/19/04 thru 7/25/04

Ellen Mello, whose son, Chris DeMeo, sat directly behind the suspected ringleader of the hijackings, Mohamed Atta, on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center, lamented the political climate greeting the World Trade Center report's release. Her son, a 25- year-old Greenwich native, Princeton University graduate and telecom analyst, was on a business trip.

Greenwich earmarked nearly $30,000 in its 2004-05 budget for new voting machines, which will be required nationwide in two years under the Help America Vote Act of 2002. But town officials said they recently learned that the secretary of the state's office had yet to develop a uniform set of standards for new voting machines. Some people warned that the office could recommend technology other than optical scanners.

The board voted unanimously to recommend changing the Town Charter to officially give it oversight of construction projects at the nursing home. As it stands, the charter requires that the Board of Health initiate and oversee all such projects. The health board had agreed with the prior Nathaniel Witherell board to make the charter change, board member David Ormsby said, but it never reached the Board of Selectmen or Representative Town Meeting for approval.

7/17/04 - Lucie Labreche Queening Of ARC Wins An Award

Lucie Labreche-Queening, a Stamford resident who has worked since 1999 as health services director at ARC of Greenwich, was named Connecticut's Private Sector Nurse of the Year Monday by the state Department of Mental Retardation.

Formerly known as the Association of Retarded Citizens and largely funded by the United Way of Greenwich, ARC currently oversees 61 people in 11 group homes in Greenwich and Stamford.

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July 9, 2004 - School Notes

Phillip Williamson, the assistant principal at Hamilton Avenue School since 1999, will go to North Mianus School, and Carleen Wood, a special education coordinator in Greenwich since 2002, will go to Cos Cob School.

Full Service Greenwich Time

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Friday, July 16, 2004 - Boo boo Hits The Lottery For $100,000

After years of gambling, Donald Smith "Boo-boo" Smith has superstitions about lucky days, weeks, even months, and Friday, July 16, was not supposed to be lucky. But an employee at Greenwich Cigar and Stationery, where the Chickahominy resident buys his lottery tickets nearly every day, persuaded him to buy a one that Friday. Smith scratched it off and saw immediately that he had won $100,000.

At that point, Smith said his heart was pounding so fast that he had to rush over to the Bruce Park Grill, another favorite haunt, to settle down with a drink. A few minutes later, he called a friend who is a taxi driver, offered him $200 to chauffeur him around for the day and the pair took off for New Britain to claim Smith's winnings. They returned in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day celebrating at the Bruce Park Grill.

Paul "Gov" Rachl, a bartender at the Bruce Park Grill who has known Smith for more than 30 years, said patrons were dubious about Smith's good fortune at first.

The week ending 8/15/04

Real Estate - Open Space

"We acquired properties through Mr. van der Stricht's hard work in encouraging people to give land to be preserved as open space for perpetuity," Greenwich Land Trust co-founder Daniel Badger said in a recent interview with Greenwich Time.

Remembering Mr. Rockafeller Accomplishments

Mr. James Stillman Rockefeller attended Yale University, where he rowed for all four years of his college career. He became team captain in his senior year and led his team in beating Harvard University's crew, which was then considered the best in the nation. Yale's victory over Harvard at their annual regatta earned Mr. Rockefeller's crew the right to compete in the Olympics as the United States team.

Family Feud

Lucy Eisenberg and Jessica Matthews wanted to sell their portions of the property; Tuchman wanted to continue living on the property, which includes a house, stables, several small cottages and acres of open space. The sisters were unable to work out an agreement and, in October 2000, Eisenberg and Matthews sued Tuchman.

Aug 20, 2003

"We've seen that people are anxious about buying their school clothes," said Candy Nichols, owner of Candy Nichols and The Loft, which sell clothing for infants through middle-school-aged children. Nichols added that several popular items have already begun to sell out.

"Cashmere has come down in price and it's really comfortable," said Suzanne Zarrilli, the co-owner of WishList, where shelves feature Juicy Couture sweat suits, Miss Sixty jeans and retro Lacoste shirts - all big hits with teenage girls.

"I really like the new Juicy velour suits, the long sleeve Lacoste shirts and the new Juicy cashmere scarves," said Brooke Richman, 17, as she sifted through the shelves at WishList looking for a pair of black pants

By

Jessica Peet; Special Correspondent

Full Story Greenwich Time

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May 25, 2003 - Retro street signs win favor with residents

A maverick in the satellite communications field whose North Street mansion was modeled after the Petit Trianon at Versailles, [Rene Anselmo] initially suggested green signs instead of white, only to be convinced that the latter would be more attractive, [Mary Hull] recalled. Anselmo agreed to pay for more than 60 signs prior to his death in 1995. The signs are predominantly located north of Route 1 and in Chickahominy, although several have cropped up in Old Greenwich and Riverside over the years.

"The fact remains, a lot of people were very pissed off when Anselmo did this," [Bernie Yudain] said, explaining that he prefers the low- key, utilitarian look of the metal signs rather than the contrived image of elegance that the wooden ones exude. "I hated them because I thought they were too Mickey Mouse village, quaint sort of thing."

Greenwich Time

May 4, 2003 - YUDAIN COLUMN - It's Wetherell Not Witherall

Please "ell" not "all" at the end

The deceased may have worked as a printer at the huge Conde Nast plant on the Post Road where now stands the Hyatt Regency Greenwich hotel and a nicely gentrified office building. Or maybe he or she worked at Electrolux in Old Greenwich, a major maker of vacuum cleaners and other devices.

Others may have earned their daily bread at the sprawling Maher Bros. coal and stone establishment that once dominated Greenwich Harbor. Or in one of the many small machine shops and iron works, or in some of the historic mercantile shops in all parts of town, like Meyer Cohen's fancy grocery, where two young guys named John Gleason and Dave Robbins worked and went on to become Greenwich chiefs of police.

If I may say so, it behooves those who write and and babble about The Nathaniel Witherell nursing home at least take the trouble to learn how to spell and pronounce the name of the benefactor in whose honor the home is named. It's Witherell - not Witherall. The gaffe becomes more conspicuous when used in the context of a presumably erudite dissertation about the issues involving Witherell. Please - "ell" not "all" at the end.

Link

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February 17, 2003 - One less gardener will rake the leaves in local parks this fall. Will anyone notice?

Officials: Budget cuts won't hurt public

By Neil Vigdor
Staff Writer

One less gardener will rake the leaves in local parks this fall.

Will anyone notice?

Probably not, according to the scores of municipal officials who last week declared that strict belt-tightening guidelines established by the town's finance board would result in negligible reductions to the services their departments provide.

Those same department heads boasted they were able to limit their budget increases to the Board of Estimate and Taxation's desired threshold of 3 percent to 4 percent largely without consolidating or eliminating vacant positions as the finance board recommended.

But asked if the departments he oversees had received too much money in sunnier economic times given their response to current spending limits, First Selectman Richard Bergstresser rushed to the defense of his immediate subordinates.

The first-term Democrat claimed municipal department heads made substantial cuts to their budgets in areas that do not impact the public.

"Internally they will suffer, but they aren't going to do it at the expense of services to the citizens," Bergstresser said, citing the Police Department as an area where administrators are making cuts. He serves as police commissioner by virtue of his post as first selectman.

By reorganizing shifts and the deployment of officers, Bergstresser said, department officials will reduce overtime expenses and the additional costs associated with part-time employees.

While most municipal department heads appeared unwilling to lay off employees to achieve savings, they agreed to maintain the same spending levels on supplies as this year.

In the past, most departments raised spending in these areas to account for inflation. Facing a projected revenue shortfall of $1 million to $2 million in the town's $260 million-plus budget, department heads are now being urged to be more judicious in using supplies such as salt for icy roads and services such as the hiring of outside counsel to defend the town against lawsuits.

"Another example would be to say, 'Don't make as many copies,' " said James Lash, chairman of the finance board's Budget Committee. "You could have some (personal computers) that you might have replaced this year that you put off until next year."

In the town's Law Department, attorneys typically rely on an Internet-based legal research service that charges on a usage basis. Town Attorney John Wetmore speculated that his department will have less leeway to exceed its budget for that service given the current economic climate.

"We have to live within that budget," said Wetmore, whose $1.45 million overall budget request is 2.1 percent higher than last year's due mostly to salary increases.

However, Wetmore refuses to pare down salary allocations through a hiring freeze or consolidation of vacant positions in his department of 13 employees. Current staffing levels are just enough for his department to get by with its work, he said.

"The thought of reducing my staff didn't enter my mind, and hopefully it wouldn't enter the BET's mind," Wetmore said.

The BET has the power to reduce departments' budgets, and except in the case of the schools, dictate which areas will be cut.

To control spending on supplies and services, Wetmore said his department would hire outside counsel in few circumstances. He estimated that his department currently has no more than 10 cases pending with outside counsel.

The heads of the town's fleet, public works and parks departments echoed many of Wetmore's opinions regarding budgets, with many of them describing their operations as "bare bones" to begin with.

Parks Director Joseph Siciliano agreed to eliminate a vacant gardener's position from his 143-person operation to help cooperate with the finance board's guidelines. The position paid $39,219 per year plus $11,766 in benefits.

"I was making a sacrifice," said Siciliano, who plans to reassign his remaining employees to offset the elimination. "It is our goal not to have the public recognize these changes."

While municipal department heads were resolute about not allowing their downsizing to affect the public, elected officials were equally optimistic that services would be uninterrupted.

"I don't think the general public is going to get any less, and if they do, you'll hear them, believe me," said Sam Romeo, chairman of the Representative Town Meeting District 12 delegation.

The loudest public outcry over potential budget cuts came last week from parents of public school students and educators. They rebuked the finance board's budget committee after its chairman said he was contemplating an additional $500,000 reduction of the schools' $98.7 million budget request.

Several key members of the town's finance board sought to calm parents' fears that additional cuts would lead to layoffs and burgeoning class sizes.

"You're talking about positions being reduced as they come open because of retirement or normal movement," said Lash, who did not address how class size would be controlled.

Budget officials also were hopeful that a revenue shortfall, once projected to be $10 million, would be reduced to $1 million or $2 million and result in less cuts.

"Quite frankly, I'm very optimistic," BET Chairman Peter Tesei said.

Helping the town's overall fiscal situation is a $1 million surplus from the schools' current budget, which the town deposited into its $11 million to $12 million fund balance, finance board members said. The town also may not have to contribute as much to its pension fund as once thought, finance officials said, adding that department heads' budgets cuts are helping the overall outlook.

Tesei went on to suggest that municipal departments used the additional bounty from sunnier economic times to develop programs that streamlined their operations. He cited a townwide accounting system as an example.

But Tesei also conceded the possibility that municipal budgets had been too fat.

"You could very well arrive at that assumption based on those statements you are receiving," he said.

12/21/02 - Rethinking the town's FAR regulations

EDITORIALS

Rethinking the town's FAR regulations
December 18, 2002

The drumbeat of anti-FAR sentiment in town has been constant for several years. Even so, the Planning and Zoning Commission has been working to reinstate a modified form of the floor area ratio rules that were adopted in part to regulate the size of houses built in town. Now the Representative Town Meeting has weighed in with a resolution asking for another look at the situation.

Foes say the FAR regulations didn't work when they were in effect between 1998 and earlier this year. A court decision tossed them out because of problems in notifying the town about the rules when they were adopted.

While the commission's initial reaction was to simply vote anew on the FAR regulations -- with a few alterations to deal with conservation zones and other nuances -- townspeople opposing this house-sizing strategy have pointedly questioned whether other approaches wouldn't be more effective.

The genesis of the Planning and Zoning Commission's FAR strategy was a resolution approved by the RTM back in 1998 seeking an initiative to control the development of oversized houses within our town. Now the matter has come full circle, with the RTM's sense-of-the-meeting vote Dec. 10 that urges a new examination of how best to implement appropriate controls.

While some RTM members told staff writer Ryan Jockers the 2-1 vote doesn't rule out the use of floor area ratios as a tool for controlling construction, it is plain to us that community sentiment supports different tactics. Failure to get this message could pose problems for the Planning and Zoning Commission, which sometimes has seemed out of touch with town residents.

We've been critical in the past of the unwieldy way the RTM can sometimes conduct its business. But in this case, the 229-member town legislature showed its value as a democratic institution, conveying a message from the public to another branch of town government. The vote -- 119 to 54, with 13 abstentions -- to us reflects enough of a consensus for the Planning and Zoning Commission to re-think its plans.

In the past we've suggested that pinning all the town's efforts at controlling the size of new residences on the floor-area-ratio calculations approved by the commission didn't reflect the best use of available zoning tools. Now that the RTM has suggested a review of the problem, we hope the commission will look at other measures, such as setbacks and side-yard limits, that combined with floor-area regulations might better address the needs of our town.

We also agree with some of the FAR critics that whatever regulations are adopted in an effort to prevent the spread of so-called McMansions, the rules should not unduly penalize people by preventing them from building houses consistent in size to their neighborhood. Fairness in this matter is particularly important, because it involves people's homes and their families.

One way the commission might deal with this challenge -- and enlighten some tough critics -- could involve enlisting their help in looking into how other municipalities in Connecticut and elsewhere have addressed the same problem. Greenwich isn't the only place where huge houses have marred the landscape.

In the meantime, now that the RTM vote is on the record, it wouldn't hurt for the Planning and Zoning Commission to openly discuss where it stands and where it will be going as it tries to address the issue. Candor would be better than consistency in building support for the tough task the commission is facing.