Architect’s rendering of new Lyme Public Library building.
The Lyme Public Library is now closed for the long-planned move into a new library building. The Library will remain closed through at least Sept. 29. An opening date for the new library has not been determined yet, but is projected to be in early October.
Call 860-434-2272 for more information.
Join the Estuary Council of Seniors (ECSI) to celebrate its 40th Anniversary at a “Forty and Fabulous” Gala tonight at 6 p.m. at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “The Kate,” at 300 Main Street in Old Saybrook. This fund-raising Gala will benefit the Estuary’s Meals on Wheels program. Last year, the ECSI provided 70,000 hot, nutritious meals to individuals in its nine town district and Madison.
Comedian Vincent McElhone
This Gala evening will include wine and hors d’oeuvres under the tent, catered by Coffee’s Country Market of Old Lyme and “Comedy Tonight” on the stage featuring Old Saybrook resident Vincent McElhone, who has worked all over the country from Caroline’s in New York to The Tropicana in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Vince will be joined by Tony Liberati, a professional stand-up comic for 15 years, whose jokes have been published alongside greats like Chris Rock and Henny Youngman.
The Fred Astaire Ballroom Dancers of Old Saybrook, Heiko and Vera Leyhausen, will grace the stage where dancing expresses the joy of living.
Music will be by the Von Zells, who will provide music that is enjoyable for listening or dancing and starring three individuals with one unique sound.
Tickets are $50 per person and are available by calling the Estuary at (860) 388-1611. Attire is ‘Casually Elegant.’
23 rd House District candidates Devin Carney (R) and Mary Stone (D) respond to audience questions in Tuesday night’s debate at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School.
An almost capacity audience of around 200 people gathered Tuesday at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School for an hour-long debate between 23rd House seat candidates Democrat Mary Stone and Republican Devin Carney. The debate was co-sponsored by the New London Day and the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce. The Day Editor Paul Choinere, who moderated the debate, asked the candidates written questions submitted by the audience.
The 23rd seat has been held for the past 12 years by state representative Marilyn Giuliano (R), who will be retiring after completing her current term.
In a relatively quiet, respectful debate, candidates responded to audience questions on a wide range of topics including education, job creation and taxation.
Carney described his array of political and business experience, adding that he has “done all this while working part-time jobs to help pay the bills.”
“We need a state rep. to carry on Marilyn’s legacy of strong constituent services and passionate public service,” Carney noted, adding “It’s time that my generation steps up and takes hold of the debt we will have to shoulder and the future of our state.”
Stone said that the extensive experience she has gained in volunteer and elected positions over some 20 years in the town, including on the Board of Education, Zoning Board of Appeals, Old Lyme Libray and Open Space Commission, has demonstrated her, “ability to lead and work hard with proven results.” She submitted that “everything I have accomplished in our towns … has been because of my ability to work with others across party lines, to make real and lasting changes.” She summed up her candidacy in the words, “I do not make huge, unrealistic promises just to get your vote. But, as your full-time legislator, I will work as hard as I possibly can to serve your needs and get the best results for our towns.”
Green party candidate Colin Bennett, Republican Senator Art Linares and Democratic challenger Emily Bjornberg in first campaign debate
OLD LYME— A legislative appointment to a state task force on children’s jewelry was the focus of the sharpest exchange Tuesday as three candidates for the 12-town 33rd State Senate District seat faced off in the first campaign debate.
Republican State senator Art Linares of Westbrook, Democratic challenger Emily Bjornberg of Lyme, and Green Party nominee Colin Bennett of Westbrook appeared before a crowd of nearly 100 voters at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School for an hour-long session that was co-sponsored by the New London Day and the League of Women voters. Day editor Paul Chionere posed written questions, most submitted from audience members, to the candidates.
Linares, a 25 year-old incumbent seeking a second term, and Bjornberg, a mother of two who works in the Youth and Family Ministry of Deep River Congregational Church, agreed on some issues, such as support for small businesses, and differed on others, such as the stricter state gun law enacted last year. Linares had voted against the gun bill, contending it was never fully presented at a public hearing and imposed “unnecessary” restrictions on “law abiding citizens.” Bjornberg, noting she is from a “family of hunters”, said she would have supported the legislation, and contended Linares was not engaged during the crafting and debate on the bill.
Linares called for tighter control over state spending, along with possible reductions in the state gas and sales taxes. Bjornberg promised “fiscal responsibility,” while adding that she would “not balance the budget on the backs of children and senior citizens.”
But it was a question on the environment that prompted the sharpest exchange of the session, with Bjornberg contending a Linares appointment to a 16-member state task force reviewing the safety of children’s jewelry, particularly the presence of cadmium in the jewelry, showed a lack of concern for the environment and children’s safety.
As the ranking Republican member of the Children’s Committee, Linares was appointed to the task force, or allowed to designate a member in his place. Linares named Brent Cleaveland, the executive director of the Fashion Jewelry and Accessories Trade Association of Rhode Island.
Bjornberg said Cleaveland is a paid lobbyist for the children’s jewelry business, and has publicly opposed limits on the mineral cadmium in jewelry. She noted that cadmium has been listed as a potential human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration, and also claimed that Cleaveland has publicly downplayed the hazards of lead. Bjornberg raised this issue during the exchange on the environment, and again in the final minutes of the debate.
Linares said Cleaveland is “an advocate for making children’s jewelry safe.” Linares also contended a bill that Bjornberg had expressed support for, to ban all pesticides from high school athletic fields, would have imposed a costly new mandate on schools districts in the 33rd District.
Bennett, a substitute teacher who has run for the seat previously on the Green Party line, avoided direct criticism of the two major party candidates. Bennett said he was uncertain whether he would have supported the 2013 gun law, but expressed opposition to plans to expand natural gas service in Connecticut because much of the gas is produced through hydraulic fracking. Bennett also called for expanded investments in clean energy technology and legalization of the recreational use of marijuana as economic development measures for the state.
Bennett will also participate in a second debate scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Valley Regional High School in Deep River. Another debate sponsored by the Westbrook Council of Beaches is scheduled for Oct. 6 at the Mulvey Municipal Building in Westbrook. The 33rd District includes the towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Portland, Westbrook and sections of Old Saybrook.
The Lyme Land Conservation Trust and the East Haddam Land Trust have scheduled a field class on Saturday, Sept. 20 for anyone interested in learning how to participate in the outdoor game of geocaching, a real-world, outdoor treasure hunt using GPS-enabled devices.
Geocaching is a relatively new game in which participants hide “treasures” (caches) in various outdoor locations (often in parks, preserves, public forests, etc.) and then leave clues on the Internet on how others can find them using a smart phone or other GPS devices. Participants seeking out the caches navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find a treasure-filled container hidden at that location.
After finding a cache, a participant may take a treasure as long as it’s replaced with another small “treasure”, or as geocachers say, “Take some stuff, leave some stuff.” (Treasures are usually small items of little value, such as beads, buttons, small items of plastic jewelry, and the like).
The two land trusts will supply the treasures for this event and instruction by active geocachers led by Jim Lockhart, a geocaching enthusiast.
Participants must bring a GPS-enabled device or smart phone. More information and a free app needed to participate can be found at: http://www.lymelandtrust.org/event/geocaching-101/
Meet at 10 a.m. in the parking lot for Mount Archer Woods Preserve, Mount Archer Road, Lyme. (On the left one mile from Rt. 156. To locate using GPS coordinates, copy and paste the following log/lat into Bing Maps, Google Maps, or MapQuest search box: 41.409354, -72.353012 ).
This outdoor treasure hunt is anticipated to last approximately two hours.
More information on geocaching can be found at: www.geocaching.com
Register by sending an email containing your name and the number in your party to: rsvp@lymelandtrust.org . Put “Geocaching” in the subject line.