Wallingford News

Sometimes you need to leave your significant other, children, or stress at home...and fine solace with your girlfriends.

The manager of a Wallingford motel found a moose antler on the ground outside the motel on Friday, but there has been no sign of a moose.

Pregnant women are among the people protected by state and federal anti-discrimination laws, and one of the key rules says employers must make a reasonable effort to find suitable work for women whose pregnancy keeps them from their normal line of duty.

WALLINGFORD — In what town officials called a rare instance of involving themselves in the discussion of state legislation, the Town Council this week passed a resolution opposing a bill that would redefine public meetings under the state Freedom of Information Act. The resolution passed 6-1 Tuesday night, with Town Councilor Craig Fishbein, a Republican, casting the lone dissenting vote. Senate Bill 1148 would “exempt certain negotiations between the leaders of political parties from being considered a meeting for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.” The resolution, passed Tuesday, will be sent to the state legislature. It states that the bill “has the potential to make local government less accountable to the citizens.” Current Chairman Bob Parisi, a Republican, said that former Town Council Chairman Mike Brodinsky made him aware of the issue through an email, part of which he read aloud during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. Fishbein said Tuesday night he did not vote in favor of the resolution because he doesn’t feel it will have any effect on local government. “I know of no situation in this town or other towns that I’m aware of in which this could occur,” he said. Councilors who supported the resolution said the bill does not make for transparent government. On Wednesday, Fishbein said that is “absolutely ironic” because the council held a meeting not publicly posted before Tuesday night’s meeting. Fishbein said the council met to discuss an arbitration award. Discussions of strategy and negotiations connected to collective bargaining aren’t considered meetings, according to state Freedom of Information Commission public education officer Tom Hennick, so the arbitration discussion session was legal. “On one hand we’re saying to the state you shouldn’t be able to do this, and then we’re holding meetings without announcing them,” Fishbein said. “Where’s the transparency?” While Town Councilor John LeTourneau, a Republican, said he did agree that closed-door meetings like the one held before Tuesday night’s council meeting aren’t fair. “There is stuff we talked about during that meeting that should have been in open session,” LeTourneau said. “We seem to have gotten off track and have these non-meeting meetings. I don’t agree with this policy.”

WALLINGFORD — A local prescription drug take-back event scheduled for Saturday comes on the heels of a debate over whether the town should install a permanent drop box for unwanted prescriptions in the Police Department lobby. Saturday’s event, administered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is held twice a year. Residents will be able to turn in unneeded medications by entering the Police Department parking lot and driving to the rear lot, where they can hand medications to a police officer. Prescription drug disposal has been a divisive issue locally since March, when a small group of residents called for a permanent drug drop box at police headquarters. Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio strongly opposed the idea, saying monitoring the box would put a strain on department resources. Republican Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. backed the police chief. Dortenzio and Dickinson have pointed to the take-back event — to be held Saturday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. — as an example of why a permanent medication drop-off box in the department lobby is not necessary. Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri said the take-back event Saturday is “important to the town.” Still, he doesn’t view an event held twice a year as effective and would prefer to see a permanent drug drop box at police headquarters. “What if I worked Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.?” said Zandri, who is running for mayor. “How can I drop it off then? I still believe the most effective way to do this is the way other towns are doing this, in having that box.” But Dickinson said that if they can’t make it on Saturday, residents should “dispose of medication at home.” “The real bottom line is they can safely dispose of the drugs at home,” Dickinson said, calling it a “simple and efficient process.” He said residents just need to dissolve medication with a liquid before throwing it away in the trash. It’s healthy for the town to periodically hold a drug take-back event, said Town Councilor Craig Fishbein, a Republican. Unlike several of his colleagues, Fishbein defers to Dortenzio in regard to a medication drop-off box. “Generally, people should be responsible for disposal of their own medication,” Fishbein said. Expired or unwanted prescription medication, along with over-the-counter medicines, will be collected at the site. All medications must be in original containers with names crossed out. Residents aren’t allowed to get out of their vehicles during the process.