02/27/08 - News Reports From The Greenwich Time

Hilfiger mansion hits market
An eight-bedroom, eight-bath house that a famous fashion fortune built in backcountry Greenwich is on the market for $28 million.

At Stone Hill, the gated estate of fashion icon and marketing whiz Tommy Hilfiger, fieldstone walls curve outward to embrace guests arriving at the 20,000-square-foot home. Beyond the allee of snow-covered trees is the imposing facade of stone and clapboard, with Ionic columns rising to the pediment....

... This is not Hilfiger's only recent real estate leap. A year and a half after buying a contemporary home on 150 feet of beachfront in East Hampton for $18 million, he resold the property for $26.5 million late last year, according to news reports. Hilfiger's engagement to former model Dee Ocleppo was announced earlier this month. Ocleppo is the former wife of famed '80's Italian tennis star, Gianni Ocleppo.

Hilfiger has been a town resident for more than a decade.

Review to set goals for grads
Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg is launching a comprehensive review of secondary education in Greenwich, to begin with a critical look at what skills and knowledge students should have as key milestones in middle- and high-school careers.

New principal to start at North Street in July
Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg appointed Charles Smith as principal of North Street School earlier this month, replacing longtime principal Betty Burfeind.

Audit of votes cast on new machines shows no mistakes
No mistakes were found during a state-mandated audit yesterday of more than 800 votes cast electronically at one town polling station in this month's Super Tuesday presidential primary.

Children's group objects to tax credits for movies
A pair of legislative committees yesterday considered a trio of bills aimed at expanding the work force for the state's burgeoning film industry.

State film division appoints new director
The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism has appointed a new director for its film division, George Norfleet, who was senior program manager of the film tax credit program.

Metro-North price hikes won't affect Connecticut
Fares in Connecticut will remain unchanged when Metro-North ticket price hikes begin March 1, officials said.

Social services providers say 'rescue fund' needed
There was a time when anyone who wanted to work for CLASP Inc., a Westport agency that runs group homes for mentally retarded people, was not allowed to take a second job.

Canine couture
What do you get when you mix a well-known dog behaviorist and canine center owner with a Switzerland-based technology company? Dog Gone Smart products.

02/22/08 - 'It's drudge work,' said Veronica Baron Musca, the town's Republican registrar of voters.

State to audit Greenwich primary results

Norwalk Advocate

GREENWICH - Election officials in Greenwich are reluctantly preparing for a state-mandated audit of this month's Super Tuesday primary results.

A dozen poll workers will hand count the ballots cast Feb. 5 at Greenwich High School, one of 71 polling precincts randomly chosen for the statewide audit.

The audit will start at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Town Hall meeting room and will be open to the public. A total of 874 ballots were recorded in the precinct during the primary. However, absentee ballots will not be part of the audit....

....Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz defended the system, which requires municipal election officials to send the hand count results to the University of Connecticut for a statistical analysis. A report on that analysis should be available in about a month, she said.

'I have had a few legislators say, 'Gee, maybe in the future we won't need this.' I would fight that,' Bysiewicz said. 'I think from the voters standpoint and from the standpoint of the integrity of the election process, it's important to do a random audit each year to ensure people that their vote is being counted properly and that, if there is fraud, we can ferret that out.'

Municipalities chosen for the random audit will receive reimbursement for 'reasonable' expenses incurred from the process, Bysiewicz said.

'Yes, it does cost some time and effort, but I think it is a worthwhile investment in the security and integrity of our election process,' Bysiewicz said.

According to Bysiewicz, the vast majority of the 702 electronic voting machines used in the state worked without incident on Feb. 5. Six of the machines needed replacement because either their memory cards that read the paper ballots were improperly programmed or because of technical problems such as paper jams.

Musca said she had confidence in the machines' accuracy.

'There's no way you can make a mistake. You color in your ovals and the machine reads it,' she said. 'It's as good as scanning their can of peas (at the supermarket). If they trust the price on their can of peas, they should trust this as well.'

Original Norwalk Advocate article: State to audit Greenwich primary results