02/27/08 - Greenwich Newswire

Tommy Hilfiger is so, umm, gay?

Greenwich News Report

Tommy Hilfiger Puts Mansion Up for Sale
The Associated Press -
GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — Fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger has put his backcountry Greenwich estate on the market. Southeby's International Realty said Hilfiger's ...

Crusaders Cruise Trinity rips Greenwich to reach FCIAC final
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
Such was the case last night, during the semifinals of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Tournament, when Trinity allowed Greenwich ...

Estate of designer Tommy Hilfiger on market
Newsday - Long Island,NY
GREENWICH, Conn. - Fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger has put his backcountry Greenwich estate on the market. Southeby's International Realty says Hilfiger's gated ...

TREASURIES-Bonds rise as homes prices and confidence fall
Reuters - USA
... the consumer confidence numbers were significantly weaker than expected," said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS in Greenwich, ...

Greenwich Blog Posts

Empowering Yourself with a Healthy Lifestyle: Fuel for Body, Mind ...
Where: Greenwich Library at Meeting Room Nutrition lecture featuring tips and techniques to keep you healthy, happy and fit in 2008. Three of the area's leading experts in nutrition, exercise and food will deliver essential secrets on ...
- http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

Tommy Hilfiger Puts Mansion Up for Sale
GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) -- Tommy Hilfiger has put his backcountry Greenwich estate on the market. Sotheby's International Realty said the fashion designer's gated Stone Hill estate is listed at $28 million. The 20000-square-foot home has ...
Columbian.com Entertainment News Feed - http://www.columbian.com/news/rss

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02/27/08 - Once Again Failed Greenwich School Administrators Take Care Of Thier Own

One Hand Washes The Other
At The Mutual Admiration Society
Known As The Greenwich Public School System

Headline:

New principal to start at North Street in July

Reporter:

Andrew Shaw

Quote:

"My hope would be to continue the good work that she has been doing there," said School Administrator Charles Smith, a Stamford resident.

Story:

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg appointed Charles Smith as principal of North Street School earlier this month, replacing longtime principal Betty Burfeind.

Smith, 50, will switch from being a district special education program administrator to his new position on July 1, where he will take over for Burfeind after she held the job for 15 years....

... Kathy Greider, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, said in a release that Smith's 27 years of educational experience made him an ideal candidate....

... Smith said he wanted to return to the classroom after spending years as an administrator....

... Now he'll lead one of the top performing elementary schools in Greenwich.

"I don't think it will require a lot of changes," Smith said....

02/27/08 - Greenwich Taxpayers Pay Through The Nose As Administrators Mismanage The Greenwich Public School System

Greenwich Tax Payers Are Repeatedly Being Held Up By Very High Paid Greenwich School Administrators Who Year After Year Deliver Academic Failure.

Quote:

"Since students need to remain competitive in a new world, we have the opportunity to think outside-of-the-box with this timely re-look," high school PTA co-president Laurie Heiss Grealy said. "We have a chance to evaluate other teaching and assessment models from around the world."

Headline:

Review to set goals for grads

Reporter:

Andrew Shaw

Story:

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.

"It's crucial that we agree to that first," Sternberg said.

The review will likely tackle topics such as the Advanced Learning program for top-performing students, start times and the Greenwich High School house system, which Sternberg said is not functioning as intended.

"It doesn't really function as a smaller learning community. It's just an administrative entity," Sternberg said.

The review will be carried out by a committee headed by Sternberg.....

... School start times has long been a topic raised by parents at board meetings who believe their teenagers would function better if they woke up later. Board Chairwoman Nancy Weissler also expects the committee to discuss adding the International Baccalaureate program in upper grades. The program is used at the International School at Dundee.

Weissler said the committee's work has no definitive timeline, although it does coincide with a similar review of secondary education being done by the state right now.

Greenwich's committee can help the board find more effective ways to operate the three middle schools and high school, Weissler said....

Comment:

Greenwich is long over do for a wake-up call.

Greenwich residents must insists that our local political leaders remedy the cavernous depths of their ignorance regarding local education.

It is time once and for all to reverse the record of the school administration's failure to successfully promote reform in the Greenwich School System.

It is time to put pressure on our local political leaders.

Our local leaders need to start thinking about the questions they must ask and the understandings they must secure if the Greenwich School System is to be salvaged.

The residents of Greenwich need to a embrace a deep and abiding belief in the democratic spirit of public debate as a means to make educational change happen,

To stimulate this debate Greenwich School Administrators need to get out of the way and let Greenwich residents and leaders explore the complexity of the issues, using history, research, commission reports and personal experience to gain fresh insights and perspectives into the problems that the Greenwich schools have and the urgent need for the attention they deserve.

The Schools Belong To The Residents Of Greenwich Not The School Administrators Who Have Repeatedly Failed The Town.

02/27/08 - Years Ago Malcolm Pray Warned Greenwich That Pickwick Plaza Would Cause Gridlock. No One Listened. Now Another Traffic Disaster Is Comming.

Greenwich lawyer and real estate developer Joseph Tranfo poses with a rendering of a hotel proposed for Benedict Place and Lewis Street.
(Bob Luckey Jr./Staff photo)

Developer's plan hinges on leasing town lot

Joseph A. Tranfo knows he is risking a good part of his family fortune on a $100 million downtown Greenwich redevelopment project that depends on getting access to a piece of town land. But the real estate lawyer-turned-developer said the risk is worth it because of what the project promises to achieve.

"There's an opportunity to create a community here," Tranfo said.

The project is to build a multistory complex of offices, a hotel, restaurant, underground parking and dozens of residences on 2 acres of prime real estate between Greenwich Avenue and Lewis and West Elm streets.

The catch, however, is that Tranfo must first acquire the right to lease from the town a 1.3-acre municipal parking lot on Benedict Place to get enough room for his plans.

Tranfo, who has already spent more than $7 million acquiring many of the other pieces he needs for the project, recently presented his ideas to the Board of Selectmen.....

... In addition to the town's financial commitment to the project, Selectman Lin Lavery said she is concerned about the four-story height of the proposed structures.

"It looks very big," she said. "I need to look at it more."

Lavery said she wonders about the proposed density and whether the new development would attract transient residents who only live there part-time.

"It might be like the Plaza Hotel in New York or the Greenwich Gables where people purchase high-end condos and don't necessarily become community members," she said....

...

02/27/08 - "They have already been relegated to a spot under the deputy chief/shift commander and didn't want to lose any perceived part of the ..."

Volunteer firefighters don't want to lose rank

By Martin B. Cassidy
Greenwich Time Reporter

A proposal to promote eight new lieutenants this year to provide better leadership and supervision at the Cos Cob and Byram fire stations has drawn concerns from volunteer firefighters' chain of command, town officials said.

In recent Board of Estimate & Taxation Budget Committee hearings, volunteer firefighters objected to the proposal, concerned that the lieutenants would be inserted above volunteer company chiefs during firefighting operations on each 24-hour shift, Fire Chief Peter Siecienski said...

... Jerry Cutrone, president of the Greenwich Volunteer Firefighters Association and a volunteer at the Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Department declined to comment on the proposal.

Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Chief Thomas Anderson, co-president of the Greenwich Volunteer Fire Chiefs Association also declined to comment....

...The new lieutenants would be promoted from within the department, requiring about $118,000 in additional salary for the new officers.

Siecienski said if approved the positions would create better accountability and safer firefighting efforts in those two neighborhoods.

"It strengthens our health and safety initiatives for the two areas of town that don't have lieutenants seven days a week," Siecienski said. "Those two areas don't get the same level of protection and we are looking to get those positions in place."

Currently the town charter places volunteer district chiefs second only in command to the chief of the fire department.

02/27/08 - Bill Clark of Greenwich Gossip Asks - Why Would You Buy A Landmark House Just To Tear It Down

Rape and Pillage Come to Greenwich

Cultural vandalism is nothing new in this Town, but it's always disheartening when a fresh and particularly egregious example rears its ugly head. The historic McCutcheon/Malley house at the entrance to Belle Haven, an outstanding example of the Richardsonian-Romanesque style of the late nineteenth century, has been posted for demolition. The Historical Society has filed an objection, but this will only delay the process for ninety days.

Only ninety days to save 120 years of history. Can Rene and Marie-France Kern be persuaded to reconsider this folly? Why, in heaven's name, did they buy such a historic house only a couple of months ago when there are lots of other places on the market that would never be missed? Is this some kind of perverse Gallic "in your face, America" gesture?

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If an American couple tried to commit a similar atrocity with a historic French home, it would quite likely become a national cause celebre. Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Le Canard Enchaine would all get into the battle, and pretty soon the hapless American couple would probably find that none of the merchants in the local village would supply them, none of the neighbors would speak to them, and their residency papers would suddenly become entangled in a bureaucratic nightmare of red tape.

Here, of course, they will probably be admitted to the once-prestigious Belle Haven Club, where they will find many of the more recent members avidly waiting to swap house project stories. The object of these stories, of course, is to try to outdo your neighbors in tales of extravagance and expense - which is how the nouveau-riche play "keeping up with the Jonses" these days. The destruction of a historic mansion will become fodder for bragging rights around the bar.

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you no sense of shame?" With these words Joseph Welch pricked the bubble of the infamous McCarthy hearings, and began to bring a national nightmare to a close. Your scribe poses the same questions to M. and Mme. Kern. Why would you buy a landmark house in order to tear it down? Can you perhaps find some other piece of property that will suit your needs without vandalizing our community? How would you react to an American behaving like this in France? And do you, at long last, have a sense of decency?

If so, please change your plans. Refurbish the house, as you originally planned to do - you will get your money back, and more. And you will also earn the gratitude of the local community.

How say you, M. et Mme. Kern? Nous attendons votre reponse avec hate et avec espoir. Soyez bien de nos amis, non pas de nos ennemis. Que dites-vous?

02/27/08 - School Board Coverup? - Are Displaced Hamilton Avenue Students Getting Rained On?

The itsy bitsy children went in the classroom.

Down came the rain, and washed the children out.

Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain

And the itsy bitsy children suffered from mold infections again.

Hamilton Avenue School Parents are saying that thier children's temporary classrooms are leaking water. The problem is particularly bad after last weeks heavy snowfall that closed Greenwich Schools.

Memo To: School Superintendent Betty Stienberg

Water is leaking into one of your classrooms.

Parents have been complaining to school personell, but feel that thier complaints have fallen deaf ears.

Parents started making complaints late last year about the water leaking.

But, your failed administration and do nothing administrators have ignored these concerned parents.

Why won't the very high paid Betty Stienberg looked into the water problem?

If water was comming into Betty's office, it would be
fixed immediately.

Many Hamilton Avenue School parents think they being ignored by arrogant high paid school administrators.

Some parents feel that School Administrators are Covering up maintenance issues and they are not being told the truth about the school administrator's failures.

These parents want the truth and the answers about why thier children's classrooms are
leaking water all over the place.

Parents say that the School System has been in serious violation of fire codes and that has not been addressed the Board Of Education.

Where is Peter J. Siecienski,
Greenwich Fire Department Chief ?

Parents are very concerned that Greenwich School Administrators are covering up the possibilty that there is dangerous mold in the classrooms.

Where is the Greenwich Director Of Health Caroline Calderone Baisley?

Parents want these classrooms to be tested for mold contamination.

Parents say that School Administrators have known about the leaky roofs since last year.

Why is the Teacher's Union allowing the School System to put band-aids on this problem?

Teacher's Union members and the children they care for are potentially at a sever health risk.

Shame, Shame, Shame on ...

Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler for not protecting the health of our children.

Shame, Shame, Shame on...

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg taking the risk to our children seriously.

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.

02/26/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Tuesday

'Cascade,' by artist Tom Richardson, right, is on display at the Bank of Greenwich. At left, Janice Stearns, vice of the bank, helps Mr. Richardson show off his work.

Greenwich News Reports

‘Pixels’ canvas the Bank of Greenwich
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT

A one-artist-show of works by Tom Richardson will be on view at The Bank of Greenwich, at 165 Mason St.

It is open to the public during normal business hours through the end of March.
Mr. Richardson’s “Pixels to Canvas 2” exhibit is a compilation of 10 pixel and oil paintings and drawings including montage/collage, oil portraits, computer graphics and photography.

“A full range of Tom’s creativity and imagination are on display here and we couldn’t be more excited in sharing his talents with the community”, said Robert J. Oca, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The Bank of Greenwich. “As a lifelong Greenwich resident, I fully appreciate the role art continues to play in our community to enrich and inspire. Tom Richardson’s work is a fine example of that.”....

...Mr. Richardson has shared a rewarding college internship program with his firm and many institutions including Cornell, Yale, NYU, Syracuse, Manhattanville, Parsons, RSDI, SUNY and others across the country.

To learn more about Mr. Richardson’s work, go to Logo500.com (click ‘Richardson Art’ header) or call 625-9236.

Greenwich girls hockey team upended by St. Joseph
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
DARIEN -- Everything seemed to be in order for the Greenwich High School girls hockey team to capture what has eluded it in the past -- the coveted ...

Colombia's Peso Rises to Eight-Month High on Rates, Investment
Bloomberg - USA
... while the US continues to cut its benchmark rate,'' said Benito Berber, a macro-strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut. ...

Greenwich High School hockey player arrested
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
By Zach Lowe

STAMFORD - Police Saturday arrested the captain of the Greenwich High School hockey team after he got ejected, entered the stands in violation ...

Getty Images Agrees to Be Acquired by a Private Equity Firm
New York Times - New York City
Hellman has obtained financing commitments from Barclays Capital, GE Commercial Finance and RBS Greenwich Capital. The deal is expected to close in the ...

Greenwich Blog Posts

Still looking for Good Mexican Restaurants In Greenwich/Stamford ...
Just want something that is fairly traditional and seems fresh and good.
Chowhound's Latest » Tristate Region - http://www.chowhound.com/boards/20

2's and 3's Story Time
Where: Greenwich Library at Children's Constellation Room Drop-in story time for 2 and 3 year olds with a caregiver. Program includes stories, songs, movement and finger plays. No registration required but space is limited. ...
- http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

Game #22 Greenwich vs. New Canaan FCIAC QF
Greenwich 58 New Canaan 49 FCIAC Quarterfinals from Fairfield Warde; February 2008.
Brightcove - 50 Newest Videos - http://www.brightcove.tv

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02/25/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Monday

Greenwich News Reports

Mail volume down Business slowing down at post office
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
Jared Feldman patronized a business on Friday he rarely visits anymore, even if it costs 41 cents to use and requires little effort.

Feldman, 29, stood inside the Greenwich post office on Valley Road with a stack of envelopes to mail. The letters weren't his. He was mailing them for a yacht club. Otherwise, with the advent of e-mail, instant messaging, online bill pay and other electronic communication, he has little reason to use the post office anymore....

... Postmasters around Green-wich said they've already noticed a drop in volume so far this year.

"I'm seeing a lot less," said Bob Palmer, Old Greenwich postmaster.

Part of the dip may be attributed to the expected post-holiday season when there are fewer items to be mailed, said Greenwich postmaster Doreen Reichard. But she said there's a lot of customers who are going online to send communication, forgoing the handwritten letter.

"E-mail is so impersonal," Reichard said.

Instead of fighting technology for business, the postal service is transforming its services, such as allowing customers to print address labels and stamps from a home computer and request home pick-up of packages.

"It helps them save a lot of time," Reichard said of her customers who use www.usps.com. "They are probably mailing more because of that."....

... Riverside postmaster Astor "Ozzie" Spezzano Jr. said he has embraced technology as a way to help customers. More people are using "click-and-ship," which is the package pick-up service.

Spezzano said he directs customers to use the service on the Web site, since it can be more efficient for some people instead of stopping by the office on East Putnam Avenue.

Greenwich resident Bill Galvin, 65, who used the Valley Road office on Friday, said that it makes sense for people to use the Internet when possible....

Getty Agrees to $2.1 Billion Private-Equity Buyout (Update3)
Bloomberg - USA
Barclays Capital and RBS Greenwich Capital are advising San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman on the purchase. The financing will be provided by Barclays, ...

TREASURIES-Bond prices tumble as US stocks firm
Reuters - USA
I think if you look for anything more than that, you're probably looking too far," said David Ader, Treasury market strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in ...

Getty Images to Sell Itself for $2.4 Billion
New York Times - New York City
But Hellman & Friedman has obtained financing commitments from Barclays Capital, General Electric’s GE Commercial Finance and RBS Greenwich Capital. ...

Greenwich church hopes to restore 'circle of trust'
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
By Hoa Nguyen

GREENWICH - Officials at Christ Church Greenwich are searching through old employment files to find any trace of two pedophiles said to have ...

Scholastic Roundup: Greenwich Academy squash teams wins New ...
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
Coached by Karen Schmidt-Fellner, Greenwich Academy won the coveted crown with 109 team points,easily outscoring runner-up Choate Rosemary Hall (89). ...

Word on the street Officials: Town must now embrace Avenue's status
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT,USA
By Hoa Nguyen

Already considered one of the priciest retail stretches in the region, Greenwich Avenue should make the most of its high-end reputation, ...

College Notes: Verrico stars for Loyola swim team
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
Jonathan O'Connor (Norwalk/Fairfield Prep) had an ECAC-qualifying time of 2:00.72 in the 200 butterfly for the Stags while Sasha Campbell (Greenwich) had a ...

Greenwich Blog Posts

Scarsdale is to Westchester as Greenwich is to Fairfield…
By Stephen Higley
As Greenwich dominates Fairfield County, Scarsdale has the richest and largest number of neighborhoods in the Higley 1000 in Westchester County. Four out of the five richest neighborhoods are found in Scarsdale including the 5th ...
The Higley 1000 - http://higley1000.com

Databases @ your library
Our Greenwich Library staff will provide a weekly half hour hands on introduction and practice on one database per session. Rosetta Stone provides a completely interactive online learning platform of language immersion designed to help ...
Greenwich Library | Today's Events - http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

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02/24/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Sunday

Will Christ Church Be Able To Stop The Child Abuse?

Greenwich News Reports

Tate's apology at sentencing prompts questions
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
By Martin B. Cassidy

Jack Bausman heard Robert Tate, former Christ Church Greenwich choir director, confess Thursday to viewing child pornography and committing decades of sexual abuse of minors. But Bausman said he still has questions about Tate's admission that he had hired two pedophiles who preyed on choir boys.

At his sentencing Thursday, Tate, 66, apologized for knowingly hiring the two unidentified men and called himself "a coward" for firing the men but not turning them into police when they molested boys in the choir.

Bausman, a Christ Church parishioner who has known Tate for 34 years, said he had hoped for the benefit of parishioners that authorities would identify the men and say when they had worked at the church.

"The specifics I don't know and I don't believe they were part of the court record," said Bausman, one of the parishioners who helped put up Tate's $500,000 bond in January 2007. It is difficult to know what to think of Tate's admission without more information, Bausman said....

... Eugene Riccio, an attorney for Christ Church, on Friday said the current leadership of the church was unaware of the two pedophiles hired by Tate until prosecutors disclosed it last week and were reviewing whatever records and statements....

... Caldwell said Tate's actions had changed many lives including his own, playing a role in his leaving Russell's firm, though the former legal associates are still friends.

"Until yesterday, I don't think anybody knew the extent of what Mr. Tate was doing," Caldwell said Friday. "This guy dropped a neutron bomb on a community of people and changed their lives. What was said today, it certainly had a shocking effect on the parishioners."

Surging Greenwich stops New Canaan
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
That was how Greenwich High School's regular season played out, so why should the script for its first playoff game be any different? ...

Historical society attempting to save Mayo Ave. home slated for ...
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
"It is one of the most architecturally significant houses in Greenwich," said Nils Kerchus, consultant to The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich. ...

GHS boys ice hockey aims to end playoff drought against Trinity ...
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
By David Fierro As the eighth seed, the Greenwich High School boys hockey team entered the FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals last season against top-seeded ...

Greenwich Blog Post

Greenwich Choral Society
When: Sunday February 24th, 2008 - 05:30 PM Where: Greenwich Library at Cole Auditorium Dixieland Jazz Benefit Concert.
Greenwich Library | Today's Events - http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

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02/23/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Saturday

Greenwich News Reports From The

Greenwich Time

Balancing strategy endorsed: Schools board confident of plan after ...
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
By Andrew Shaw

A legal opinion by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal supporting the state's racial balance statute has many Greenwich educators confident that their plans to racially balance local schools are valid.

In an opinion dated Thursday, Blumenthal said that a board can still use "race conscious measures" such as active recruitment and adjusting attendance zones, to racially balance schools, but cannot use race itself.

he issue was called into question last year after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered schools in Seattle and Louisville to stop assigning students based on race, saying that was a violation of equal protection guarantees.

The Supreme Court case and Blumenthal's decision are important in Greenwich because the Greenwich board was ordered by the state to racially balance New Lebanon School. The statute orders districts to ensure each school's racial make-up is not greater than 25 percent of the town's overall racial make-up.

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg last year recommended the board try to racially balance New Lebanon School even while the Supreme Court case cast doubt, in the eyes of some, that racially balancing schools would now be considered unconstitutional because of the court's decision. Greenwich and the state Board of Education requested the opinion from Blumenthal.....

Greenwich High the FCIAC's hottest team heading into FCIAC tournament
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
By David Fierro

Winners of 14 of its last 15 games, it's safe to say that no one is thrilled to play the red-hot Greenwich High School boys basketball team ...

Greenwich Blog Posts

M&M Acting Co production of the play, Having Our Say
Where: Greenwich Library at Cole Auditorium Having Our Say, The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Emily Mann, adapted from the book Having Our Say, based on the extraordinary lives of Sadie and Bessie Delany. ...
Greenwich Library | Today's Events - http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

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02/22/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Friday

Demetrius Ferguson flies through traffic in Greenwich High s win over Westhill Monday.
(GREENWICH CITIZEN photo / Amy Mortensen)

Greenwich News Reports

Cards Flying High Into FCIAC Tournament
Greenwich Citizen - Greenwich,CT,USA
By Scott Ferrari If Greenwich High's boys' basketball team wanted a peek into the upcoming FCIAC tournament, Monday night's game against Westhill of ...

Really 'Rad' Relay
Greenwich Citizen - Greenwich,CT,USA
By Mike Madera When the weather was uncooperative this past week, the Greenwich High indoor track team was forced to use a different style to prepare for ...

I-95 southbound shut down in Greenwich for 2 hours
myfoxny.com - New York,NY,USA
GREENWICH, Conn. -- The state Department of Transportation reports that officials have cleared multiple tractor trailer accidents that had shut down ...

I-95 southbound shut down in Greenwich
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
GREENWICH, Conn. - The state Department of Transportation reports that multiple tractor trailer accidents have shut down southbound lanes in Greenwich . ...

State to audit Greenwich primary results
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT,USA
By Neil Vigdor

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

AQR's Biggest Hedge Fund Fell Almost 15% Through Mid-February
Bloomberg - USA
... in the fourth quarter, said the people, who declined to be identified because the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm doesn't publicly disclose the data. ...

CMBX Signals Trouble In Commercial Property; 'Doesn't Make Sense'
Wall Street Journal - USA
"The level we're seeing in the CMBX right now just doesn't make sense," says Lisa Pendergast, managing director for RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, ...

Greenwich Blog Post

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Evaulating a Website
Where: Greenwich Library at Training Center This 1.5 hour session will offer tips and techniques for evaluating materials found on the Internet. Come to this session if you plan on using the Internet as one of your research ...
Greenwich Library | Today's Events - http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

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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

02/22/08 - The eight-bedroom, nine-bathroom three-family dwelling will be two and 1/2 stories high and include an eight-car garage below grade

Diamond Hill Church Wins Re-Zoning Permit to Build 3-Family Dwelling

By PATRICIA McCORMACK

The Board of Trustees of Diamond Hill Church at 525 E. Putnam Ave. won a re-zoning permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission last week.

The action in a 5-0 vote was coupled with the awarding of a final site plan/special permit to start construction of the new unit that replaces two single dwellings on the 36,311 square-foot property.

Continue »

02/22/08 - The initial problem was reported with just one truck accident. Later the DOT issued the report of multiple accidents.

I-95 southbound shut down in Greenwich for 2 hours

Hartford Courant

The state Department of Transportation reports that officials have cleared multiple tractor trailer accidents that had shut down southbound lanes in Greenwich.

The DOT says all southbound lanes between exits 3 and 2 were closed for about two hours.....

02/22/08 - News Reports From Greenwich Time

Painting program encourages children to use their imaginations

By Meredith Blake

Jessica Aselin, 7, placed her stuffed brown puppy May in front of her and carefully traced its features -- the long face and floppy ears -- onto the dog in her painting.

She was asked to create a story on paper, using tempera paint, during a children's program at the Bush-Holley Historic Site, and May was the main character.....
Former choir director sentenced to 5 1/2 years in child porn case

By Martin B. Cassidy

After owning up to 40 years of sexually abusing minors overseas and viewing hundreds more in illicit pictures, Robert F. Tate, the former Christ Church Greenwich music director caught with child pornography, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison yesterday.

"There are many people who, all my life, thought I was a good choir master and a good person and a good example for their kids," Tate, 66, said. "I want those people to know today that I was a terrible choir master, a terrible person and I harmed those kids."

As Christ Church parishioners and lawyers looked on, Tate told U.S. District Court Judge Alan Nevas that he never assaulted choir members under his instruction at the church, but did have sex with boys in Thailand, the Philippines and Costa Rica. He also said he knowingly hired two pedophiles to work in the Christ Church choir, standing by when they assaulted choir boys and then quietly firing them.....

Music director's love of music inspires him to travel the world
By Meredith Blake

Trekking alone across the Karakoram Range, Christopher Kabala learned about a new culture, largely unaffected by the world events unfolding just hours away.

"This is not the Pakistan that you read about in the papers," he said, "It is one of the most peaceful places in the world."

Kabala, 61, a pianist, and music director at the Round Hill Community Church, traveled to the country last August to go trekking....
Two teens hurt in crash

By Hoa Nguyen

Two Greenwich teenagers were in critical condition and two other people were hospitalized for minor injuries following a three-car accident yesterday on East Putnam Avenue in Cos Cob.

The accident involving a dark red Jeep sport utility vehicle, gray Volvo sedan and gray Subaru station wagon, occurred shortly before 6 p.m. by the Citgo gas station in Cos Cob, police said.

The SUV carrying the teenagers was traveling west when it struck the Volvo and then the Subaru, police said. The roof of the SUV was ripped open, and one of the teenagers was ejected, officials said

02/21/08 - Another Negitive National Headline About Greenwich. What Dose The Rest Of The Country Think Of This Town?

Ex-music director at Conn. church gets prison over child porn

From: KVIA-TV El Paso

An ex-music director at a Greenwich, Connecticut, church has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Sixty-6-year-old Robert Tate must also pay a $50,000 fine and participate in sex offender treatment.

Tate last year pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. He then spent several weeks at long-term treatment centers for sexually deviant behavior.

Tate was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, creating a music program that gained an international reputation.

Former President George Bush -- who now lives in Houiston -- attended that church while growing up. Funeral services for the ex-president's parents were held at Christ Church....

Former Christ Church Greenwich Choir Master sentenced to 5 1/2 ...
Stamford Advocate, CT
BRIDGEPORT -- Robert F. Tate, the former Christ Church Greenwich music director who pleaded guilty last year to possession of child pornography, ...

Ex-music director at Conn. church gets prison over child porn KTRE, TX Tate was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, creating a music program that gained an international reputation. Former President George Bush -- who ...

Authorities: Music director hired pedophile at Greenwich church Newsday, NY ... Robert Tate faces nine to 11 years in prison under guidelines when he is sentenced Thursday. Tate was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, ...

Church Choir Director Hired a Pedophile, Prosecutors Say
New York Times, United States
Mr. Tate, 65, was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, an Episcopal church, and he created a music program that gained an international reputation. ...

02/21/08 - NY Civil Liberties Union and Moxley Murder Blogger Files Lawsuit Against The New York Police Department

Former 'Newsday' Cops Reporter Levitt Suing NYPD On Denied Press Pass

By Joe Strupp - Editor And Publisher

NEW YORK The New York Civil Liberties Union and a longtime former Newsday police reporter have filed suit against the New York City Police Department seeking information related to the denial of a press pass for the reporter. Leonard Levitt, who claims he held a police press pass for 24 years as a reporter at Newsday, the New York Post, and Associated Press, contends he was wrongly denied a renewal in 2007. Although he left Newsday in 2005, Levitt has been reporting on police department issues at his Web site, NYPDConfidential.com, according to a press release.

Levitt also drew attention in the 1990's for breaking new ground in the famed Martha Moxley murder case in Greenwich, Conn. That case stemmed from the 1975 death of Moxley, a 15-year-old whose murder remained unsolved until the 2002 conviction of her neighbor, Michael Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy and a longtime suspect. Levitt also wrote a 2005 book about the case titled: "Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder" (Regan Books).

"In May 2007, following the NYPD’s sudden revocation of…Levitt’s press pass, the NYCLU served the NYPD with a formal request under the state’s Freedom of Information Law to disclose relevant information about the Department’s policy to issue or deny press passes," the release stated. "It also requested information specifically related to the decision to revoke Levitt’s pass. Over the past nine months, the NYPD has ignored the NYCLU’s request, violated statutory deadlines for responding to such requests, and denied an administrative appeal asking for a timely response."....

....“We want to ensure that the NYPD is applying its press pass policy uniformly and fairly,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman stated in the release. “New Yorkers are entitled to know if the NYPD is stifling investigate reporting aimed at uncovering inappropriate, illicit or illegal behavior within the Department.” The plaintiffs claim that the revocation of Levitt's pass is in retaliation for his reporting, stating: "Through his site, Levitt has reported on the NYPD’s failure to pay its bills on time, the arrest of an NYPD narcotics officer who was involved in drug-smuggling, and police brutality." “I think we’re going to find that this was strictly retaliatory,” Levitt added. “The police department has issued press passes to all kinds of people who they shouldn’t have according to their policy, but not to those who are in need and deserving of a pass....