http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/ It's Your Town. Read All About It. en marcia.chambers@yale.edu Copyright 2013 2013-05-20T01:10:00+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/board_of_finance_aims_for_99m_budget/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/board_of_finance_aims_for_99m_budget/#When:01:10:00Z UPDATE: The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) last week adopted a $99.317 million school and town budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, after the Republican side of the aisle raised last-minute objections.  Today the Board of Finance (BOF)  reviewed and approved the budget and set the mill rate at 25.59, a 2.6 percent increase over last year.   The BOF final budget meeting took place at Branford High School where Finance Director Jim Finch provided the BOF with an overview. At the meeting, the BOF learned that the town is expected to lose about $163,000 in expected state funds. Finch offered various adjustments to offset the loss, which if the BOF accepts “will allow the mill rate to fall to a level pursuant to the RTM reductions.”  Politics 2013-05-20T01:10:00+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/speeding_up_public_works_building/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/speeding_up_public_works_building/#When:12:07:04Z Third Selectman James Cosgrove (pictured right) presented a 7-point plan to speed up the site selection process for a new public works building, and First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos said he is close to finalizing a deal on a new property.The proposals for Branford’s public works building were discussed at Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, but no decisions were made.Discussions have been ongoing for two years about where to locate the new public works building. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted 2-1 in November to approve the town-owned Tabor property. However, Tabor neighbors were adamantly opposed to the plan, and the proposal has been stalled.Branford: 2013-05-17T12:07:04+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/town_committee_to_explore_renovating_two_schools/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/town_committee_to_explore_renovating_two_schools/#When:11:47:35Z Branford’s Board of Education (BOE) voted unanimously to recommend major renovations at both Walsh Intermediate School and the former Branford Hills Elementary School. The board is asking town officials to form a building committee as one of the first formal steps in the process.Two options for the elementary school involved either renovating the aging Sliney school, or renovating and expanding the former Branford Hills School to serve as the new Sliney School. The board on Wednesday chose the Branford Hills option. Schools 2013-05-17T11:47:35+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/dtc_chair_steps_aside/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/dtc_chair_steps_aside/#When:20:03:09Z Chris Sullivan will temporarily step aside as chairman of the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) while he campaigns for the first selectman spot on the Democratic ticket. Branford. 2013-05-16T20:03:09+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/rtm_moderator_sullivan_to_run_for_first_selectman/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/rtm_moderator_sullivan_to_run_for_first_selectman/#When:12:04:08Z Chris Sullivan, the moderator of Branford’s Representative Town Meeting ( RTM), wants to be the town’s first selectman. And he plans to ask the Democratic Town Committee (DTC), which he chairs, to endorse him.Sullivan’s decision follows the announcement that First Selectman Unk DaRos will not seek reelection.  Sullivan, 36, then decided he would enter the race, he said in an interview Monday.Sullivan became the second Democratic candidate in recent days to publicly announce that he wants the town’s top job. Second Selectman Andy Campbell, an attorney and a former RTM member, told the Eagle he has submitted his application to the DTC for the top post. Campbell, 47, is a former chair of the DTC.For 1st selectman, in wake of Unk’s announcement. 2013-05-14T12:04:08+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/unk_wont_seek_reelection/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/unk_wont_seek_reelection/#When:12:26:09Z Anthony “Unk” DaRos is ending an overall 12-year run as the town’s full-time chief executive and administrative officer. But don’t expect him to slow down.“You are going to see the most active lame duck you have ever seen,” he declared.In an exclusive interview, he publicly confirmed for the first time that he will retire from government life when his term ends this November.He reflected on his years in office during a 50-minute interview Friday. DaRos, who is 70, plans to tell his Town Hall staff, department heads and other employees at their weekly Monday morning meeting that he will not seek a fourth two-year term in the upcoming November election.As first selectman he oversees the day-to-day operation of town government and all town departments.  Overall he has served 12 years as first selectman, beginning with his first six year stint in 1997 when he ran for the town’s top job on the Democratic ticket. In exclusive interview, he promises to be “the most active lame duck ever.” Politics 2013-05-13T12:26:09+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/sixteen_sweet_years_for_the_branford_compassion_club/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/sixteen_sweet_years_for_the_branford_compassion_club/#When:01:09:37Z Full crinoline-stuffed skirts, saddle shoes, sweater sets, rolled up jeans, and hoola hoops were all on display as the Branford Compassion Club (BCC) celebrated 16 years of caring for the town’s cast-off kitties.The Sweet Sixteen Anniversary took place late last month at the Blackstone Library, which reflected the 1950s theme of the party. One would have never expected the dignified rotunda of the library to serve as a venue for a dance contest complete with colorful strobe lights. 2013-05-10T01:09:37+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/wang_hangs_out_a_shingle/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/wang_hangs_out_a_shingle/#When:15:16:46Z Dr. Lishan Wang, accused of shooting his former colleague Dr. Vanjinder Toor (pictured with son) to death on April 26, 2010, has filed two new federal lawsuits while at the same time preparing to represent himself in his murder case.He is charged with gunning down Dr. Toor, then 34, who was a post-doctoral fellow at Yale-New Haven Hospital.In the last two months Wang, 47, has filed two lawsuits in federal court, one in New Haven against the Branford police department and the state police and one in Hartford against the state Department of Corrections.Murder defendant files federal suits against Branford PD, state corrections. Legal Writes 2013-05-08T15:16:46+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/widlitz_mattress_recycle_bill_a_national_model/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/widlitz_mattress_recycle_bill_a_national_model/#When:10:18:37Z A mattress recycling bill that is expected to become the model for laws across the nation was overwhelmingly approved by the state House of Representatives late Thursday, nearly a year after it was shelved because it wound up on the other side of midnight on the last day of a legislative session.As fate would have it, Rep. Pat Widlitz (pictured), D-Guilford and Branford, the major sponsor of the bill, said waiting a year may well have been a blessing because the additional year gave legislators and industry officials time to formulate a plan that others states are likely to adopt. A model. Environment, State 2013-05-07T10:18:37+00:00 http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/branford_schools_superintendent_talks_frankly/ http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/branford/entry/branford_schools_superintendent_talks_frankly/#When:12:23:32Z School Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez (pictured) last week outlined a variety of challenges facing the Branford School district: a declining student population, increasing special education needs and the absence of an official talented and gifted program in the elementary, intermediate and high schools.He also repeated what he told the Board of Education (BOE) at the April 24 meeting, that the state is contemplating eliminating the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT). Teachers have complained for years that they were required to teach to the test. Schools 2013-05-06T12:23:32+00:00