Middletown News

Police say they arrested five students at Wesleyan University who were part of a large crowd on campus that lashed out at police early this morning.

Two of the students, Andrew Dermont, 21 and Andrew Price, 23, are being held on $10,000 and are scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Middletown this morning. They are charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, disorderly conduct and inciting a riot.

Dermont is additionally charged with reckless endangerment. Price is also charged with possession of less than four ounces of marijuana. Read more

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“I'm not going to tell my son he can't go to school anymore because I don't have the money, or that you can't go to class because I can't afford it. I'm going to sell my car, I'm going to do whatever I have to do.”

- Citing tough economic times, the common council Tuesday night approved a $129 million city and school budget that trimmed funding requests for almost every city department but preserved a 5 percent increase for education.

While city departments took a hit, much of the talk at the meeting revolved around schools. Many of the 70 or so people in attendance said that if the board of education did not receive a 9 percent increase, it might have to close schools.

The council-approved budget means the property tax rate will be set at 25.5 mills. The current tax rate is roughly 24 mills, adjusted for the revaluation that was completed last year. Read more

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“Low-income people may not have access to transportation”

- With one hand pressing her 3-month-old baby to her chest and her other handing out fliers to passing parents, Izzi Greenberg waged a battle to keep the doors of Macdonough Elementary School open Monday.

'Are you coming to the council meeting tomorrow?' Greenberg, executive director of the North End Action Team, asked a parent in front of the Spring Street school Monday afternoon. 'Here, did you get one?' she asked, thrusting a flier at another woman with a kid in tow.

Activists like Greenberg and parents have grown increasingly alarmed at talk that the board of education might shutter Macdonough because of the city's budget crunch. It's a move they said would deal a blow to the North End and guillotine a campus that serves some of the city's most disadvantaged children. Read more

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Recent articles in The Courant, have described involvement of all stakeholders in a community in planning for land use and future development in their towns and cities. via WTIC-TV Hartford

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“We're not really sure how the cows are going to react.”

- It seemed an odd way for the trio of college students to show off their freshly-inked tattoos: posed dramatically on chairs and ensconced like museum exhibits in a display case.

Then again, these weren't your typical tattoos. Colored numbers and charts unfurled on the shoulders and backs of the young women. One of them had a catalog of raw material from the local landfill etched on her left calf.

The three women - and their data-crunching tattoos - will be among dozens of art pieces on display at the first 'Feet to the Fire' festival, a Wesleyan University- and city-sponsored event Saturday that organizers said seeks to fuse art and science to address growing concerns about climate change. Read more

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“We have a new high school coming online and our property's been reassessed”

- The state's projected budget deficit could put city officials in an even tighter squeeze as they try to pare down a city and school budget that already calls for a tax increase.

City officials are especially keeping an eye on PILOT funds - money the state doles out to municipalities that have tax-exempt or state-owned property in their borders. The money is meant to substitute for the property taxes municipalities would normally receive from those lands.

Middletown has several large properties that qualify for PILOT funds, including Connecticut Valley Hospital, Wesleyan University and the Connecticut Juvenile Training Facility. This year, the city received $9.4 million in PILOT funds; officials expected to receive about $9.8 million next year. Read more

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W esleyan Potters' Spring Festival & Sale is Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, at their gallery, 350 S. Main St. via Hartford Courant

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“If you can get 'em and get some good habits as they're starting talking about looking at social networking sites and their own Web sites, we have a better chance at getting them to have good habits from the get-go”

Cyber bullying and Internet luring are crimes that happen to kids in the secrecy of the computer. via KOMO-TV Seattle

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“It also will conserve energy by using the waste heat from the turbine to make steam while relieving the electric grid of the need to produce more than 60 million kilowatt hours per year.”

The Combined Heat & Power plant will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs. via TurboMachinery International

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Steve Roslonek, known as SteveSongs, will perform music for kids and families on May 24 to benefit the Green Street Arts Center's scholarship fund, which provides assistance for underserved youth to attend the ... via Hartford Courant

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