03/06/08 - Shame on Betty Sternberg - Pre-K Children are going to be carted 10 miles across town

Why can't pre-k students go to St Rochs?
The YMCA Daycare has been there for years and they are not even using half the building.

Schools make space available for Ham Ave.

Hamilton Avenue School teachers will move into the new locations around the district beginning today, after days of frenzied preparation following the closure of their temporary modulars because of mold.

At Western Middle School, Principal Stacey Gross said the four fourth- and fifth-grade classes coming in have been assigned to classrooms in a separate parts of the building to minimize interaction with middle school students. Several classrooms in relocation schools have been converted from art and music rooms, and so those classes will be held using a traveling cart, instead of a dedicated classroom.

"It's a tough situation. They're definitely making sacrifices," Gross said of displaced teachers.....

03/06/08 - Greenwich Sports Report From The Greenwich Post

Greenwich High School freshman Michael Dustin competes in the 100-yard butterfly during Thursday’s FCIAC championship meet. The Cards reclaimed the FCIAC crown this year, beating rivals New Canaan.
— Scott Mullin photo

Greenwich Sports Report

Reclaiming the title Greenwich swimming and diving team wins FCIAC ...
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT
It was a complete effort that brought the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference swimming and diving championship back home to Greenwich High ...

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03/06/08 - Some P&Z members appeared reluctant to grant the time extension, a majority supported it, and the matter was continued to a future meeting.

LUCA JUST CAN"T STOP ANNOYING
HIS NEIGHBORS

Neighbors slam Luca's over zoning

Luca's Steakhouse is trying to avoid fixing its premises to meet zoning codes by perennially submitting land-use applications that have little chance of gaining approval, neighbors said.

"This should not be allowed to continue," Church Street resident Kathryn Payne told the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night at Town Hall. "These continual planning and zoning filings are merely an effort to keep this pot boiling.

Every year for the past several years, Luca's has submitted a new zoning application for permission to alter its building. In each case, the zoning commission has denied the application, saying the Church Street restaurant and banquet hall seeks to build too much. After a few months, sometimes after trying unsuccessfully to appeal the zoning commission's decision in state Superior Court, Luca's then starts the process over again and submits a new application with a slightly different request.

On Tuesday, Luca's owners were at the zoning commission again to present yet another new plan to slightly enlarge its 35 Church St. building to add a new rear entry and replace two apartments that had been removed from the second floor without the town's permission....

....Jane Hogeman, the neighbors' lawyer, said the plan was another delay tactic Luca's was using to avoid having to tear down a dance floor the restaurateur built without permission several years ago to replace the two apartments that were removed.

"This is the sixth application since the zoning violations were discovered at Luca's Steakhouse," Hogeman said. "There's been a scramble over the last five years to try and come in with something that's going to allow him to keep the great big dance floor that he pulled out the apartments in order to put it in, and keep on with his big parties."

Hogeman asked the zoning commission to revoke Luca's right to use the second-floor space for banquets, saying the restaurant had "abused" its permit privileges. The neighbors Hogeman represents are unhappy with what they say is an increase in traffic and noise from the restaurant in recent years.....


Neighbors oppose larger Luca's

Jun 12, 2003

"You have a whole bunch of people that come out of this boom- boom party atmosphere (in Luca's)," she said. "I really want you to understand what a nightmare this atmosphere has been for the people who live there."

In its first public hearing at the meeting at Town Hall, Luca's proposal drew nearly three dozen condominium and nearby property owners who voiced disapproval of the restaurant's current operation and opposed expansion plans. Most complained of noise and rowdy customers who they said leave Luca's late at night.

Her main argument was that Luca's is not only in violation of zoning laws, but has a history of disobeying them, such as eliminating two apartments without seeking a building permit for the change. In the past, the restaurant has received zoning commission approval over neighbors' objections, [Jane Hogeman] said.

Residents lend hands to displaced family

Jun 8, 2004

Town officials had evicted them from their Church Street apartment days before, after determining the unit in the basement of Luca's Steak House was unsafe and lacked proper permits. [Jessica Dorneles]'s parents, [Jose Dorneles] and Laura Dorneles, both 41, were praying for a stable home for their three children: Jessica, a 14-year-old Greenwich High School freshman; Edward, 11, a fifth-grader at Julian Curtiss School; and Keziah, 3.

"Laura was asking me, 'What's this thing on Jessica's neck?' " [Annie Brown] recalled.

Greenwich High School guidance counselor Anthony Smokovich arranged for a tutor to help Jessica, who has been out of school since February, study at home so she can return to high school in the fall. Jessica, who will start three weeks of daily radiation treatment today, said she enjoys drawing and wants to be a fashion designer - but her favorite subject is biology.

Restaurant again denied permit to expand

May 25, 2005

"Definitely, it was not a surprise," Danny Gabriele, who runs Luca's Steakhouse, a family-owned restaurant and banquet hall, said last night after listening to the zoning commission's unanimous denial of the proposal.

This is the third time in two years the project was rejected or withdrawn following an unfavorable reception during zoning commission hearings. This time, the application asked for a more modest expansion of the banquet hall, but zoning commissioners said the plans still fell short of certain zoning requirements.

Town considers hiring another zoning inspector

Feb 6, 2005

About a year after First Selectman Jim Lash pledged to tackle the issue of illegal housing in Greenwich, town officials are closer to approving money to pay for another zoning inspector.

This week the Board of Estimate and Taxation's Budget Committee will discuss hiring a zoning inspector whose primary job will be to root out illegal dwellings or units built without the required town permits or that violate town codes.

There is currently a zoning enforcement officer and two other town employees who spend most of their time reviewing plans submitted as part of a building permit application, making sure zoning regulations are met.

Luca's banquet proposal revisited

Jan 27, 2005

Tom Heagney, the [Luca Gabriele]'s lawyer, argued that although the proposal seeks to increase the number of people the banquet hall can serve, holding banquets at the restaurant is allowable.

After the meeting, some commissioners doubted whether they needed to review the recent proposal given that it still seeks to expand the "non-conforming" banquet space, one of the reasons for the prior denial. But chairman Harry LeBien said the proposal had been revised and the commission was obligated to hear the Gabriele's lawyer present the latest proposal.

Officials reject restaurant expansion deal

Nov 14, 2006

"The proposed settlement does nothing to lessen the impact of the original application," Stewart L. Napoleon, president of the Board of Directors for the Town & Country Condominiums, said in a letter of protest to the zoning commission. "Luca's did not get the approval for a banquet facility in 2005. But, his settlement proposal still calls for this facility with all its detractions from the quality of life on Church and Sherwood streets."

Zoning board hears restaurant bid again

May 10, 2007

"As we all know, what's being done there now is not legal," [Richard Maitland] had just told the lawyer for Luca's Steakhouse, which wants to double its second-floor banquet space at 35 Church St. over the objections of more than 100 nearby condominium residents. "It was not done under a building permit, which was not properly vetted by Planning and Zoning."

While Luca's application may have been one of the more controversial ones to come before the zoning commission during Tuesday's hearing, the accompanying drama seemed all too familiar. This is the fourth time in four years Luca's has sought permission for larger banquet space. Each time, town officials have denied the request and proprietors have appealed to the state Superior Court. Unsuccessful in its last legal appeal, Luca's has resubmitted another version to the zoning commission.

"They want to change the way the building is operated," said Greenwich lawyer Jane Hogeman, who represents condominium owners. "The parties are quite different because when people come in a group to celebrate a wedding or celebrate some kind of event, they behave differently. They all show up at the same time instead of staggered times. They stay later into the night. There's a DJ or a bandstand with a lot of noise, with a lot of music. When they all come piling out into the street at 1 o'clock at night, they're feeling happy. It's a nuisance. It's just a nuisance."

03/06/08 - Greenwich Post News Links

Victoria Gelling watches last year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade
from under a festive hat.
— David Ames photo

Greenwich News Reports

Parade brings the luck o’ the Irish to Greenwich
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT
When Joseph M. Gavin was told he’d be the grand marshal of the Greenwich Hibernian Association’s 34th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday, ...

Celebration of hope NBC stars come to Greenwich to support ‘Save ...
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT
Last Friday, Save the Children’s Greenwich Leadership Council, a group of Greenwich volunteers, hosted a “Celebration of Hope” dinner event to benefit ...

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03/06/08 - Opinion From The Greenwich Time - Buckley's life had scrapes and scraps that cheered his crowd, but made others wince.

COMMENTARY

A conservative champion not made of everyman material

Of course, William F. Buckley Jr. will be most reverenced and remembered as the avatar of modern conservatism. He was its brilliant star, shining in ways once more usually associated with or claimed by liberals: intellectual champion, political seer, droll debater, prolific writer, galvanizing and talent-spotting editor, novelist of heroic dash, and witty television smart-talk host.

Buckley was not made of everyman material. His mighty word hoard and agile bon mots, his eclectic knowledge, his delight in controversy and sending up an adversary, his convictions of faith and polity, his cool confidence and poise, at sea and on land, his voice and gestures, were the assets of an idiosyncratic, purposeful and confident aristocrat....

03/06/08 - Greenwich Sportswire For Thursday

Greenwich Sports Reports

Crosby takes on Greenwich
Waterbury Republican American
BY MARK JAFFEE Coming off a 50-point win over West Haven in the opening round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, the Bulldogs host Greenwich tonight at 7 in ..

Boys Hockey: "DI Tournament: Opening Round."
Hartford Courant
1 Hamden lives to play another day against Greenwich Rundown: The Green Dragons entered the tourney clearly the top team. Over the last month, ...

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03/05/08 - This is Greenwich?

This is Greenwich?

by carlosville

To be fair, I’ve never been to Greenwich, Connecticut. I always thought it was kind of, well, waspy and horrible and why should I travel for such an experience when it’s available on the Upper East Side? Where I could at least pop into ...

Musings of the Crabby Shy/Wild - http://carlgaines.wordpress.com

03/05/08 - The Unionized (Teamstewrs) School District Custodial Staff Are Suggesting That There Might Be A School District Coverup At Ham Ave School

Were the children of Hamilton Avenue School exposed to formaldehyde?

The School District Teamster's Unionized Custodial Workers Are Saying That The Hamilton Avenue Classrooms Started Leaking Within Months Of Their Arrival.

The custodial staff is saying the classrooms were under some kind of warranty and could have been replaced at no additional cost to the taxpayers of the Town Of Greenwich.

The teamster members are also saying that they are afraid for their health as well as the health of the staff and children of Hamilton Avenue School.

Worse yet, the teamsters are saying they think the classrooms were evacuated and closed with in a day, because of formaldehyde. The union members speculate that the water reacted with the plywood glue in the walls and started emitting formaldehyde gas.

The custodial staff says that standard operating procedure for treating mold on walls has always been wash the walls with bleach, but they were ordered not to wash the walls with bleach.

Instead they were ordered to strip the walls of all plywood in day and to throw the plywood in a dumpster that was immediately carted away.

The Teamsters and School Officials have both said the classrooms or the plywood was never tested for Formaldehyde gas.

What was the rush?

Why was the plywood destroyed in less than 3 days?

What this a rush to destroy evidence?

Are the Teamster members going to suffer adverse health consequences for handling these contaminated pieces of plywood?

Have Hamilton Avenue School Children been breathing formaldehyde gas all along?

Can Hamilton Avenue parents trust the Board Of Education to protect their children?

Greenwich School Administrators had better come clean before they end up getting thier butts sued by angry parents and taxpayer

MOST EVERYONE HAS HEARD OF THE

FEMA TRAILER

FORMALEHYDE EXPOSURES

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided travel trailers and mobile homes starting in 2006 for habitation by Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Some of the people who moved into the trailers complained of breathing difficulties, nosebleeds and persistent headaches. Formaldehyde exposure can cause burning eyes and/or nose, coughing, difficulty breathing, headaches, and has been shown to be carcinogenic, causing nasal and nasopharyngeal cancer, and possibly leukemia as well.[13] Formaldehyde-catalyzed resins are used in the manufacture of engineered wood products such as particle board, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), plywood, and oriented-strand board (OSB), all of which have applications in site-built, and especially mobile homes and travel trailers.

The United States Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) performed indoor air quality testing for formaldehyde [14] in some of the units. On Thursday, February 14, 2008 the CDC announced that potentially hazardous levels of formaldehyde were found in many of the travel trailers and mobile homes provided by the agency.[15][16] The CDC's preliminary evaluation of a scientifically established random sample of 519 travel trailers and mobile homes tested between Dec. 21, 2007 and Jan. 23, 2008 (2+ years after manufacture) showed average levels of formaldehyde in all units of about 77 parts per billion (ppb). Long-term exposure to levels in this range can be linked to an increased risk of cancer, and as levels rise above this range, there can also be a risk of respiratory illness. These levels are higher than expected in indoor air, where levels are commonly in the range of 10-20 ppb, and are higher than the Agency for Toxic Substance Disease Registry (ATSDR, division of the CDC) Minimal Risk Level (MRL) of 8 ppb [17]. Levels measured ranged from 3 ppb to 590 ppb.[18]

MORE INFORMATION ON FORMALDEHYDE

Formaldehyde is an intermediate in the oxidation (or combustion) of methane as well as other carbon compounds, e.g., forest fires, in automobile exhaust, and in tobacco smoke. In atmosphere, formaldehyde is produced by the action of sunlight and oxygen on atmospheric methane and other hydrocarbons; thus, it becomes part of smog.

Although formaldehyde is a gas at room temperature, it is readily soluble in water. It is usually sold as a saturated aqueous solution with concentration of around 37% formaldehyde, stabilized with 10%-15% methanol. The commercial name is either Formalin or Formol. In water, formaldehyde converts to mostly the hydrate CH2(OH)2 or methanediol. A small percentage of methanol is usually added to these solutions to limit the extent of polymerization.

It Is EASY To Test For Formaldehyde...

The reagent chromotropic acid can be used in the quantitative determination of the presence of formaldehyde.

....That is if the Greenwich School Administrators had kept the contaminated plywood from the Hamilton Avenue School classrooms.

03/05/08 - Greenwich Business Newswire For Wednesday

How Global Stock Markets Work

Greenwich Business News Report

GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil surges to new highs, global stocks rally
Reuters - USA
... a bit even though it still seems pretty bad, said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut. ...

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03/05/08 - "I don't think they looked into the water problem," Mina Bibeault said. "We've put up with a lot and they've put our kids at risk."

Hamilton Avenue School student Courtney Roina, 6, joins other students and parents protesting outside the Board of Education in central Greenwich
(Bob Luckey Jr./Staff photo)

Was it maintenance or design flaws?

Greenwich Time, CT

By Martin B. Cassidy

After the sudden closing of Hamilton Avenue School after the discovery of mold throughout temporary classrooms, Mina Bibeault wondered if the Board of Education missed a chance to tackle the contamination with routine maintenance.

Bibeault, who has two children at the school, said there had been complaints earlier in the year about water leaking into the building, well before the investigation of a roof leak in a fifth-grade classroom last week found the mold problem....

... "This is about me getting a call on Saturday that my children will not be able to go to school on Monday," said Hector Ruiz, a former co-president of the school's PTA.

Exposure to toxic allergens produced by mold can trigger respiratory and sinus infections, skin irritation, and more severe respiratory conditions in the young and those with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Whether and how soon the modulars on the campus of Western Middle School could be opened again depends on a variety of factors, a town health official and building professionals said.

Mold, which is a fungus, grows faster in warmer temperatures, but also spreads if moisture, oxygen and organic matters are available, they said.

The extent of the mold growth in the school is still unknown, but condensation found within the walls and roof areas of the building this weekend raise serious health questions, said Michael Long, director of Greenwich Department of Health's environmental services division....

MORE:

03/05/08 - The Joke Of The Day - "I'll hold the staff accountable," Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg promised. - Yeah Right.

03/04/08 - First Selectman Peter Tesei promised to address the issue of accountability later on.

03/03/08 - Parents Bring Protest To The "Oldie Moldie" School Administrators

03/02/08 - Another Administrative Screw Up - "They let it happen again. Shame on them. They should be fired," said Laura Dibella past PTA president.

02/28/08 - Greenwich Children Left Behind

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

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

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

03/05/08 - "We want accountability. We want the town to spend our tax dollars wisely," Sam Romeo, one of the legal effort's organizers

It’s Purely about Accountability.

More join sewer battle


By Neil Vigdor
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

Nearly half of the homeowners who received sewer hookups in North Mianus have signed onto a planned lawsuit against the town, challenging the $23.5 million bill for the project.

Last night about 50 more homeowners joined the effort at a heavily attended meeting to discuss strategy at Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich last night...

With less than a week remaining to file their suit, 370 of the estimated 790 property owners who received sewer hookups as part of the oft-criticized project have joined the fight, contributing $200 apiece for anticipated legal expenses, organizers of the effort said. The homeowners accused the town of wasting more than $7 million on the project....

..."It's strictly because the administration of the town could not get their act together," said Peter Sherr, who represents the neighborhood in the Representative Town Meeting and lives in Riverside Acres....

....The homeowners have until March 12 to appeal the apportionment in state Superior Court. To be part of the lawsuit, Romeo said each household must contribute $200 by March 9. Members of the group said they hope the prospect of protracted litigation holding up the payments will cause the town to settle the matter.

"Just by filing, the town knows we're serious and they have to decide whether they want to play hardball," said Vin DeFina, a lawyer who lives in the neighborhood and is helping organize the effort.

03/05/08 - The Joke Of The Day - "I'll hold the staff accountable," Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg promised. - Yeah Right.

Our failed school board should dissolve itself, now.

Is Board member Michael Bodson, Who Serves As A Liaison On Town Facilities Committees, Part Of The Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Wimpy Board Member Michael Bodson Says. "We're not going to simply point fingers."

Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, wants an expensive investigation and study of what led to the mold problem,

Now after Hamilton Avenue School Children are sent to six different buildings Bodson wants to study how the mold filled trailer was acquired three years ago.

Now that parents are in the streets protesting in front of the Board Of Education Offices Bodson wants to study how maintenance was performed by the district.

The board is hiring its own consultant to investigate if there was gross negligence by the district by ignoring maintenance. If the mold problems could have been prevented by the district.

Maybe, The board should hire a second consultant to investigate if Michael Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, was grossly negligent by by ignoring maintenance.

Virtually everyone in Greenwich is wondering if Board member Michael Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, was a sleep at the switch and the mold problems could have been prevented by the district.

Please call, fax or write to the clueless Bodson and tell him what you think of his expensive study and what you think should be done about

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg and those high paid school administrators that have failed the children of Greenwich.

Michael C. Bodson
19 Holly Way
Cos Cob, CT 06807

Phone: 869-8584

Fax: 661-1933

Email: michaelbodson@yahoo.com


Headline:

Sternberg feels the heat

Reporter:

Andrew Shaw
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

Quote:

"I'll hold the staff accountable,"

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg promised.

Story:

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg realizes her job could be in jeopardy if the Board of Education decides she did not do enough to prevent the mold problems at the temporary buildings that house the Hamilton Avenue School....

...The Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich opened early yesterday to take in children of parents who were caught off-guard by the closure and did not have child care. The programs, which are to continue through the week, are recreational and do not include academics.

Sternberg said that tutoring is not being offered this week for the students because of the lack of time to set it up....

... Hamilton Avenue parents are upset that their lives and their children's lives are in disarray, said Dawn Nethercott, school PTA co-president.

"We definitely want accountability. I want to know where the system failed," Nethercott said.

Sternberg said that she also would not be surprised if upset school parents filed a lawsuit over the closure....

Ineffective School Board Members Like Michael Bodson Waste Time Ordering Expensive And Needless Studies Instead Of Taking Decisive Action That Will Protect Our Children.

The Parents Of Hamilton Avenue School Don't Want Long Drawn Out "Cover My Ass" School Board Studies. They want School Board Member Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees to take strong and decisive action.

The Taxpayers Of Greenwich Hate Useless And Bogus Consultants And Studies like this one....

11/18/07 - We need a school consultant to do a study on how to get rid of failed school administrators.

By The Way...

Why this March 5, 2008 Board Of Education Meeting Cancelled?

BOE Policy Governance Committee Meeting
This meeting has been CANCELLED
It was supposed to be held 1:00 PM in the
Board Room at the Havemeyer Building.

Right now the Board Of Education should be talking about policy and governance. The policy should be to get rid of failed school administrators.
Governance should consist of Board Members need to "Poop Or Get Off The Pot". School Board Members like Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees should step aside and let someone fix the maintenance problems that plague our schools.

03/05/08 - Judge David Hopper will issue a decision in writing that might be terse: "In light of the confidentiality, it may be a one-liner"

Jennifer Hagel Smith, center, the widow of George A. Smith IV, heads to the probate court at Greenwich Town Hall.
(Helen Neafsey/Staff photos)

Widow, parents face off over settlement

By Hoa Nguyen
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

A year of legal wrangling between the parents of a honeymooner who vanished from a Mediterranean cruise and his widow culminated in a probate hearing that began yesterday at Town Hall.

The parents of George A. Smith IV are fighting a $1 million-plus settlement that his widow, Jennifer Hagel Smith, reached with Royal Caribbean International following his disappearance from a cruise ship on July 5, 2005.

Maureen and George A. Smith III want the estate to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the cruise operator.

The hearing, which is expected to continue today, will include as witnesses, Hagel Smith, mother Maureen Smith, three Miami-based maritime lawyers and a Cheshire economist best known for his work helping Sept. 11, 2001, families determine the economic damages they incurred as a result of the terrorist attacks....

03/05/08 - Public Defender Howard Ehring: "We don't need anybody making their reputation by attacking and hurting my client."

Name: Golder, Alan
Alias: Alan William Golder, Alan Golden, Allan William Kulp, Alan William Kulp, William Alan, William Goebel, Goebel Kulp, Bogdan Radziwonski, A. Golden, Alan W. Golder, Alan Kulp, Bogdan Radzivonski, William, Knoedelseder

Headline:

Golder goes it alone

Reporter:

By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer - Greenwich Time

Quote:

"I can say there have been some threats made to him in the prisoner van and while he has been in the holding cell in Bridgeport Correctional," Ehring said.

Story:

After previous threats from fellow prisoners during trips to court, a judge has granted a request by Alan Golder, the suspect accused of being the stealthy "Dinnertime Bandit" jewelry burglar, to be brought to hearings by himself.

Since his arrest by Greenwich police in December, other prisoners have threatened Golder, 53, public defender Howard Ehring, Golder's attorney said yesterday....

... Ehring said he expected some discussion in a court hearing today on Golder's requests to have charges and evidence thrown out based on his questioning the validity of testimony of a burglary victim who identified Golder as the masked man who confronted her in her home.

Golder also argues authorities illegally extradited him from Europe, and that federal authorities reneged on a promise to put him in a witness protection program to shield him from vengeful organized crime figures due to his 1980 testimony about a Manhattan jewelry fencing ring.

Golder is being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Facility in Suffield on $3 million bond and is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford today. Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Valdes, the prosecutor in the case, declined comment on the case.

03/04/08 - First Selectman Peter Tesei promised to address the issue of accountability later on.

Why Can't Greenwich Politicians Hear What
Hamilton Avenue School Parents are Saying ......

When Are The Politicians Going To Listen To Common Sense:

We need to get rid of Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg and her very high paid administrators who have
failed our school children....

"Mr. Tesei, do not allow our children to be kicked to the curb for a third time by having their school family split up by a town that has for generations treated the western end in general, and Chickahominy specifically, as a trailer park and its residents as poor uneducated trailer trash," Laura DiBella, a Hamilton Avenue School parent said to loud applause.

"If it was a structural problem, why wasn't it fixed when we got it," said Sylvester Pecora, chairman of the Chickahominy Neighborhood Association. "Somebody should take responsibility for this fiasco and should be fired. This is the call I'm getting from the community and, you know, I have to agree."

Ham Ave. students to be scattered throughout district
Greenwich Time

By Hoa Nguyen

Hamilton Avenue School students will spend the rest of the year assigned to Old Greenwich, North Street, Glenville, Parkway, Cos Cob and Western Middle schools, officials told a packed audience at the Greenwich High School auditorium last night during an emergency Board of Education meeting.

Pre-kindergarten students will move to Old Greenwich and North Street schools, while kindergarten classes will be at Glenville School.

First-graders and those in a split first and second grade class will move to Parkway School.

Second-graders, third-graders and those in a split third and fourth grade class will attend Cos Cob School, while fourth-graders and fifth-graders will be in the Western Middle School building....

...Also, the Connecticut Mastery Test was to be administered starting today, but must be postponed for Hamilton Avenue School students because of the shutdown, officials said. The state requires the district to administer the CMT before the month is over, said Barbara Beaudin, the state's acting associate commissioner for assessment and accountability. Any postponement beyond March is highly unlikely, she said....

.... Additionally, the mold problems identified at the modular buildings will affect Glenville School. Students and staff had been hoping to move into the structures while waiting for their school to be rebuilt. The Board of Education expects to have an answer for Glenville School on where they will relocate to by March 27, officials said.

ALSO:

School officials scramble to put together relocation plan
Greenwich Time, CT - Mar 3, 2008
Board of Education officials said they are furiously working on a relocation plan for Hamilton Avenue School, with the goal of presenting an overview at ...

Parents protest school construction delays Greenwich Post, CT - Mar 3, 2008 With the modular classrooms closed for at least a week and the prospect of their children being dispersed to other schools, Hamilton Avenue School parents ...

What next for Ham Ave.? Board of Ed tries to keep homerooms ...
Greenwich Time, CT - Mar 3, 2008
By Martin B. Cassidy After closing Hamilton Avenue School for the upcoming week because of mold discovered in the walls of temporary classrooms, ..

03/04/08 Neil Vigdor Of The Stamford Advocate Says, "Some push for super status for Ned Lamont"

Ned Lamont’s backers are looking to bestow a new superlative on the former U.S. Senate nominee.

Some who supported the Greenwich businessman in his upset of Joseph Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary want the party to choose Lamont as a superdelegate for its national convention later this year.

Several liberal Internet blogs are promoting Lamont, who endorsed Barack Obama and worked on the Illinois senator’s victorious Feb. 5 Connecticut primary campaign over Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a superdelegate.

They said it would be poetic justice if Lamont was chosen to be a superdelegate, because Lieberman, a self-described independent Democrat who defeated Lamont in the 2006 general election, has been stripped of the same status for backing the Republican presidential bid of John McCain.

“I think he’d be an excellent choice,” said Aldon Hynes, a former Stamford resident and Lamont supporter who runs the “progressive” blog Orient-Lodge.com.

Superdelegates have gained a lot of attention as Obama and Clinton fight to become the party’s presidential nominee. The distinction usually is reserved for party leaders and elected officials. Superdelegates could help put one of the candidates over the top if the number of pledged delegates is close for the two candidates.

Under the party’s proportional system of awarding pledged delegates, Obama claimed 26 to Clinton’s 22 in Connecticut. The state has 12 superdelegates up for grabs, as well as an “add-on” superdelegate seat that must be filled later this month.

On March 19, Obama and Clinton supporters will gather in each of the state’s five congressional districts to elect delegates. The delegates will then assemble March 26 for a state convention, where they will choose the remaining superdelegate and at-large delegates.

State Democratic Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said the superdelegate position would likely go to an elected official.

“It’ll be a Barack Obama person, because they have the majority,” said DiNardo, an unpledged superdelegate.

A spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee said there are no rules requiring superdelegates to hold elected office or be a party official.

Lamont said he was flattered that some of his supporters are promoting him to be a superdelegate.

“That’s very nice of them. We worked hard on the Connecticut primary campaign,” Lamont said.

Although Lamont is planning to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, he said he likely will do so as an at-large delegate, not a superdelegate.

“I think that they prefer it to be an elected official,” Lamont said.

Lamont also pointed out that he has been helping the Obama campaign identify prospective delegates.

“It’s a way you reward some activists and fundraisers,” Lamont said.

Hynes, whose wife, Kim, worked as a scheduler for Lamont during his Senate campaign, said Lamont’s selection as a superdelegate would help cement his status as a key player in Democratic politics. Lamont helped bring people to the party and galvanize grassroots liberals, Hynes said.

“I think in many ways it would be a great thing,” Hynes said.

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03/03/08 - Bill Clark At Greenwich Gossip Speaks Out

Same Old, Same Mold

The boondoggle that ate Greenwich, laughingly known as the Hamilton Avenue "building" project, is reaching new heights - or is it depths? - of depravity. The latest news is that the modular buildings are infested with mold. Since mold was one of the purported reasons (accounts of its factuality differ) for closing and renovating the old building, it is ironic but totally in keeping with the project's horrendous karma that mold is once again driving the students from their classrooms.

So far none of the local media have mentioned - if they even know - that these modular units were originally intended to be leased by the Town. But the Board of Education, in its infinite wisdom (yes, folks, the same board that brought you the Larry Leverett follies and the Betty Sternberg non-stop train wreck), persuaded the Town Fathers to buy the suckers instead. So now we're stuck with millions of dollars' worth of useless mold-infested junk. Just to get rid of them will cost us all hundreds of thousands more.

In any other community, heads would have rolled long before now. In Greenwich, of course, the taxpayers are the ones being rolled.

The unspeakable Betty Sternberg has given the Ham Ave students a week off while she and her lapdog Board of Ed try to do damage control. What does this mean for the working parents of the Ham Ave community, dear reader? Disruption, unexpected day care costs, and the knowledge that unlike all the other kids in Town, theirs will not be allowed to take the Connecticut Mastery tests this week. As always, it seems, the victims will be paying the price for Betty and the Board's sheer and utter incompetence.

There is little doubt around Town that the Ham Ave "building" project is the most notorious disaster in our community's history. Inept planning, lack of oversight, huge overruns in costs and enormous delays - it's a blueprint of how to do everything wrong. But Betty and the Board of Ed roll on as before, oblivious and clueless about every aspect of running a school system.

Greenwich used to have one of the best school systems in the state, if not the country. It wasn't broke, so the Board of Ed decided to fix it. They hired Leverett, and then Sternberg, to oversee the wholesale multilation of a once-fine program with their ignorance and incompetence. And, of course, they will want us, the taxpayers, to come up with the money to pay for their blunders, even as they continue to ask for more money to add more positions to an already top-heavy bureaucratic empire.

Is it time for a taxpayer revolt? Should we sack all the feckless administrators and give their salaries to the teachers instead? Well, why not? The teachers are the ones who get the job done, while the administrators sit around all day throwing roadblocks in their way and digging ever-deeper financial holes for the Town. Who needs them?

Small wonder that a group of Ham Ave parents and students were picketing the Board of Ed building this morning. The general message was shame on Betty and shame on the Board of Ed. In your scribe's opinion, that about sums it up.

More From Bill Clark's Blog

• Same Old, Same Mold
• Tommy Hilfinger Sells a House
• Rape and Pillage Come to Greenwich
• Local Happenings and Non-Happenings
• Why the Town Fathers Won't Allow a Holiday Inn in ...
• The Silly Season Gets Sillier
• Valentine's Day Dilemma
• Elizabeth Watson 1944-2008
• Musical Magic at Christ Church
• Super Tuesday Comes to Greenwich / Update

03/03/08 - Parents Bring Protest To The "Oldie Moldie" School Administrators

Greenwich Roundup Photo

Headline:

Parents protest school construction delays

Reporter:

Ken Borsuk

Source:

Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT

Quote:

“The Board of Education and town have failed us as a community,” PTA member Mina Bibeault told the Greenwich Post outside of the Havemeyer Building Monday morning. “They’ve failed us in so many ways. We want answers. Our kids mean something to us. We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, literally.”

Story:

With the modular classrooms closed for at least a week and the prospect of their children being dispersed to other schools, Hamilton Avenue School parents took to the streets in protest Monday morning.

More than 30 parents and children picked up signs and picketed outside the Board of Education offices in response to the news that the modular classrooms the students have been in since spring 2005 would be closed for at least this week due to mold concerns from a leaky roof. Hamilton Avenue parents and children walked with messages such as “Deja Vu, Shame on You,” “No More Lies,” “Rich Town, Poor School” and “This is Greenwich?”

An emergency school board meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. in the Greenwich High School auditorium to discuss plans for the school. Nothing has been announced other than the school closure.

Ms. Sternberg and Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler could not be reached for comment before the meeting. The relocation plan is expected to be revealed tonight.

Parents have raised the point that the original building was deemed educationally unsound because of mold problems.

Construction problems have plagued the project since its inception and completion, which was originally expected in time to open the school last September, is now not expected until June, leaving parents visibly frustrated. Though the protest was not sanctioned by the school’s PTA, it was organized by PTA member Mina Bibeault. She said the effort was organized starting Sunday morning and a group of six parents made the signs....

....
“This could have all been avoided,” Ms. Bibeault said. “I don’t think we’re being told the truth and we really want the truth and the answers about what’s really happened. We have been in serious violation of fire codes since the beginning of the school year and that has not been addressed... This is being covered up by the mold issue. The mold issue definitely could have been addressed. We’ve had leaky roofs for almost a year now. We were putting band-aids on it because we thought we would be going to the new building. Shame on the Board of Education. Shame for not taking us more seriously and not taking the risk to our children more seriously.”
Ms. DiBella said she felt the board was not listening to the community. She said the community had received no information other than the school was closed and the meeting will be held tonight.

“They’re going to do what they’re going to do and to hell with what everybody else feels,” Ms. DiBella said. “There’s been no consensus. There’s been no discussion. There’s been no agreement. They haven’t even attempted to get us on board with whatever plans they have.”

A special meeting was held Sunday morning to discuss the issue. The meeting was called by Ms. Sternberg and was neither an official board meeting (because of an absence of enough board members to make a quorum) nor an official PTA meeting though Hamilton Avenue Principal Damaris Rau and Glenville Principal Marc D’Amico and PTA members from both schools attended. Press was not permitted to attend.

Greenwich police officers kept a watch on the protest to make sure pedestrian traffic wasn’t impacted. Officers were also deployed to the modulars to make sure all parents dropping off children knew the school was closed. Public Information Officer Lt. Daniel Allen said there were no incidents.

More:

Mold closes CT school for week
7Online.com, NY

(WABC)

-- A school in Connecticut was shut down because of mold. The Hamilton Avenue School will be closed all week while school officials try ...

School officials scramble to put together relocation plan

Board of Education officials said they are furiously working on a relocation plan for Hamilton Avenue School, with the goal of presenting an overview at tonight's public meeting and the details by Wednesday and Thursday. "We've got people working around the clock," district spokeswoman Kim Eves said. "There are so many details to work out in order to be able to logistically pull that off."

What next for Ham Ave.? Board of Ed tries to keep homerooms, grades together

After closing Hamilton Avenue School for the upcoming week because of mold discovered in the walls of temporary classrooms, education officials will reveal a plan tonight to discuss their plans to relocate students to other schools for the remainder of the school year.

03/03/08 - News Reports From The Greenwich Time

Tesei delays P&Z picks
First Selectman Peter Tesei is taking the unusual move of holding up appointments to the Planning and Zoning Commission unless the nominees pledge to change regulations to address drainage problems and other development complaints residents told him of when he campaigned for their votes last year.

Suspect's lawyer says Rubins reports are unavailable
The attorney for a man accused of causing a Greenwich plastic surgeon's fatal overdose last month faulted prosecutors for failing to turn over police reports.

Tractor-trailer slams into Merritt bridge
NORWALK - A tractor-trailer driving illegally on the Merritt Parkway about 7 p.m. yesterday hit the Grumman Avenue overpass in Norwalk, collapsing the truck, state police said.

Athletes spin to help fight breast cancer
NORWALK - After six hours and five water bottles, Karen Oert still pedaled her stationary bike vigorously yesterday to the beat of music, as did hundreds of others at the Fitness & Tennis Club.

State plugs Web site on long-term care
Gov. M. Jodi Rell and health care advocates are encouraging Connecticut residents to visit a state Web site that provides information about long-term care, including legal assistance, housing and home care.

A sweet success: Maple syrup draws record crowd
STAMFORD - Sunny weather, the opening of a LEGO exhibit and, of course, gooey maple syrup brought a record 4,900 visitors yesterday to the Stamford Museum & Nature Center's Maple Sugar Sunday.

03/02/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Monday

More than 500 teens danced the night away

at the "Pink and White" party.

Greenwich News Reports

For Valentine's Day Junior Committee raised money for breast ...
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT
More than 500 teens attended, including students from Greenwich High School, Brunswick School, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich Country Day School, ...

Parents protest school construction delays
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT
An emergency school board meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7 pm in the Greenwich High School auditorium to discuss plans for the school. ...

Concerns over access to Greenwich beach delay historic listing
Newsday - Long Island,NY
GREENWICH, Conn. - Greenwich preservation officials have curbed their attempts to get historic designation for a local park, prompted by people who ...

'Julius Caesar' selected as outdoor production for Rowayton/Greenwich
Norwalk Plus Magazine - USA
The nine-performance run in Greenwich is an extension of last season's four nights in the community when the festival extended its roots from its Rowayton ...

Scholastic scoreboard
Danbury News Times - Danbury,CT
Greenwich/Daniel Hand winner at Lou Astorino Arena, Hamden, 3/5, Time TBA; No. 8 North Haven (12-8-0) vs. No. 9 Notre Dame-Fairfield (11-8-1) at Northford ...

72 middle school students honored in essay contest
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
By Andrew Shaw

Seventy-two sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students from the Greenwich Public Schools were recognized Greenwich Laws of Life Essay ...

COLLEGE NOTES: Stinchfield stars for Bryant
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
Kiera Heath (Greenwich) was named Women's Most Outstanding Performer as Gettysburg won its 10th Centennial Conference title. Heath won the 500 freestyle ...

Greenwich Blog Post

Lawn Applicator ( Greenwich, CT US )
LAWN APPLICATOR WANTED CT Licensed Lawn Applicator wanted for large landscape contracting co. in Greenwich area. Qualified applicants will be responsible for lawn fertilization application under the direction of a supervisor. ...
Beyond.com - Available Jobs In: CT - http://www.beyond.com/MKT/RSS/

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