New Haven Independent

Branford Eagle | May 9, 2008

John Smith Threatens Lawsuit over Job Dismissal

by Marcia Chambers | May 9, 2008 9:08 AM | Permalink

John Smith, whose patronage appointment as the town's facilities manger last year set off a storm of protest and who was later dismissed from his $58,000 a year job by First Selectman Unk DaRos, is threatening to sue the town.

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Branford Eagle | May 2, 2008

Branford Takes Tabor Case to Connecticut Supreme Court

by Marcia Chambers | May 2, 2008 3:25 PM | Permalink

A high-powered team of attorneys, moving in State Supreme Court to overturn a $12.4 million jury verdict against the town of Branford, says the trial judge unlawfully permitted "a double recovery" for the same parcel of land, first for the owners, then for the would-be developer.

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Branford Eagle | April 29, 2008

Lonnie Reed Announces Run for 102nd Assembly Seat

by Marcia Chambers | April 29, 2008 10:33 PM | Permalink

Branford RTM member Lonnie Reed (pictured) formally announced her run for the state House of Representatives, saying her campaign would be "clean, green and decidedly not mean."

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Branford Eagle | April 24, 2008

Yale Law Students Argue Education Case to Connecticut Supreme Court

by Marcia Chambers | April 24, 2008 2:30 PM | Permalink

Seven months ago Superior Court Judge Joseph Shortall gutted a lawsuit aimed at fixing the badly broken education cost sharing (ECS) formula the state uses to fund its public schools. This week two Yale Law School students asked the justices of the Supreme Court to restore the full lawsuit, saying the trial court "prematurely decided the case."

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Branford Eagle | April 21, 2008

Lonnie Reed Expected to Run for State Assembly

by Marcia Chambers | April 21, 2008 9:26 PM | Permalink

RTM member Lonnie Reed, a leader in the Connecticut-New York State battle against Broadwater, is considering a run for the Connecticut General Assembly.

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Branford Eagle | April 17, 2008

Jacques Pepin Cooks For The Needy

by Marcia Chambers | April 17, 2008 4:35 PM | Permalink

Famed French chef Jacques Pepin donned a Branford Community Dining Hall apron and quickly went to work -- slicing and dicing veggies to create a savory vegetable soup that may well become a staple for feeding the shoreline needy.

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Branford Eagle | April 10, 2008

RTM Applauds Broadwater Defeat

by Marcia Chambers | April 10, 2008 10:24 AM | Permalink

Word that the New York Department of State and New York Governor David Paterson had rejected Broadwater came in the middle of the Branford Representative Town Meeting Wednesday night.

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Branford Eagle | April 7, 2008

CT Sends Plea Across The Sound

by Marcia Chambers | April 7, 2008 4:40 PM | Permalink

Under chilly, overcast April skies, two Connecticut U.S. reps., the state's attorney general and other elected officials made a united plea to New York's governor Monday to reject the Broadwater LNG facility in Long Island Sound.

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Branford Eagle | April 1, 2008

Watch Out While You Work Out

by Marcia Chambers | April 1, 2008 11:13 AM | Permalink

While women exercise out in area gyms, a thief slips into the locker room. An accomplice waits in the getaway car. The thief slips key-remotes from the women's jackets, finds their cars through the remote beep -- then steals purses tucked under the dashboard.

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Branford Eagle | March 28, 2008

Branford Dems Elect Incumbents; CT Public Campaign Financing Begins

by Marcia Chambers | March 28, 2008 9:01 AM | Permalink

About 75 Democratic Town Committee members gathered this week to elect a new board and to learn about the impact of a new state public election financing system that begins this year. It is designed to eliminate special interest groups from the election process and to encourage competition in legislative races. Currently 75 percent of all state legislative elections occur without an opponent or with only a nominal one.

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Branford Eagle | March 20, 2008

FERC Approves Broadwater; DaRos, RTM, Blumenthal Fight On

by Marcia Chambers | March 20, 2008 5:39 PM | Permalink

First Selectman Unk DaRos said he would do everything possible to keep Broadwater from becoming Branford's destiny. If built, the 1,200- foot- long, 82-foot-high terminal would be located only 11 miles off Branford's shoreline.

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Branford Eagle | March 19, 2008

RTM Approves Plans for New Fire Headquarters

by Marcia Chambers | March 19, 2008 9:42 AM | Permalink

Here's the down and dirty on Branford's main Fire Department headquarters: It is in deplorable condition.

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Branford Eagle | March 14, 2008

Stony Creek Quarry Operator May Face Legal Action

by Marcia Chambers | March 14, 2008 8:50 AM | Permalink

Douglas Anderson, the operator of the historic Stony Creek Quarry, has been ordered to stop using the town-owned quarry as a contractor's yard for outside business ventures. If he refuses, he faces multiple zoning penalties, including possible eviction.

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Branford Eagle | March 11, 2008

DeLauro Recommissions Hilltop Brigade

by Marcia Chambers | March 11, 2008 11:18 AM | Permalink

Back in 2005, U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro met with a group of angry Democrats who gathered in Stephanie Farber's Branford living room to seek ways to change Washington. DeLauro talked about what it was like "to operate as the minority party in Washington," Farber recalled. What the Democrats needed was to turn around 15 seats in the 2006 election in order to take control of the House. Three of those seats were in Connecticut.

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Branford Eagle | March 7, 2008

Town Pursues Insurance Claims in Tabor Case

by Marcia Chambers | March 7, 2008 8:18 AM | Permalink

Branford First Selectman Unk DaRos has approved hiring a prominent nationally recognized law firm to investigate why the town's insurance carriers did not cover legal costs in the Tabor land case.

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Branford Eagle | March 4, 2008

Property Tax Reform? Fuggetaboudit

by Marcia Chambers | March 4, 2008 5:46 PM | Permalink

When it comes to property tax reform, State Sen. Ed Meyer has gone from optimist to realist to cynic, a journey that has taken fewer than four years. He said the state legislature is "timid,'' a band of followers, not leaders.

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Branford Eagle | February 26, 2008

Judge Begins Mediation in Tabor Case

by Marcia Chambers | February 26, 2008 11:43 AM | Permalink

The lead attorneys in the Tabor land trial are back in court for the first time since a Waterbury jury delivered a whopping $12.4 million verdict against the town five months ago.

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Branford Eagle | February 15, 2008

Meyer Seeks DEP Overhual

by Marcia Chambers | February 15, 2008 11:08 AM | Permalink

State Sen. Ed Meyer promised to work to reform the "dys- functional" State Depart- ment of Environmental Protection and accelerate its enforcement powers.

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Branford Eagle | February 12, 2008

Tabor Master Plan Unveiled

by Marcia Chambers | February 12, 2008 5:50 PM | Permalink

A new Tabor Drive Master Plan that includes softball and baseball fields, walking trails, a cemetery and a new public works building, was made public at a recent Board of Finance meeting.

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Branford Eagle | February 8, 2008

Unk Files Official Complaint Against Shipman & Goodwin

by Marcia Chambers | February 8, 2008 10:55 AM | Permalink

This has been a week of Tabor developments -- in the legal bar, in the courthouse and on the land itself.

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