Monthly Archives: January 2022

Old Lyme Girls’ Basketball: Two Losses for the Wildcats, But they “Never Quit” (Coach Bugbee)

Posted on by
Reply

Ali Kyle takes a shot during the Wildcats game against North Branford.

OLD LYME — Last Friday, Jan. 14, the Old Lyme girls suffered a heartbreaking 36-35 loss to Morgan. Junior Alexis Fenton scored three three-pointers in her 13 points and senior Megan Loflin added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Coach Don Bugbee said, “The girls played their hearts out during this game, and we came up just a bit short. Without a doubt, the last five seconds of the game were ‘one for the ages.’”

Alexis Fenton (#23) falls to the ground on an opposition player during the Wildcats’ hard-fought game against North Branford.

On Tuesday, Jan. 18, Old Lyme was soundly defeated 52-34 at home by North Branford. Old Lyme freshman Kate Walsh put up 13 points while senior Megan Loflin notched six points and 10 rebounds.

Bugbee commented, “The girls played hard and never quit, but were overmatched on this night by a bigger, aggressive North Branford team.”

Old Lyme’s season record now stands at 4-4.

Lyme Library Hosts Program on Coyotes in Connecticut, Tonight

Posted on by
Reply

Coyote — friend or foe? Learn all about coyotes  at a presentation on Thursday at Lyme Public Library.

LYME — On Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m., the Lyme Land Trust and Friends of the Lyme Public Library are offering a presentation called “Eastern Coyotes in Connecticut” with master wildlife conservationist Paul Colburn at the library.

Colburn will discuss the history of coyotes in Connecticut and provide an overview of their habitat, diet and behavior.

The program is free and all are welcome.

Registration is requested. To register, visit this link.

For more information, contact programreg@lymepl.org.

Old Lyme Open Space Commission Co-Chair Explains Why ‘Ames Property’ Acquisition Efforts Ended

Posted on by
7

Old Lyme Open Space Commission Co-chair Evan Griswold. Photo courtesy of E. Griswold.

OLD LYME — Several readers raised questions regarding the reasons why the efforts to acquire the two parcels of ‘Ames Property’ donated to the Old Lyme Open Space Commission have concluded.

We contacted the commission and were told that its co-chair Evan Griswold was speaking on behalf of the agency.

Griswold kindly returned our phone call earlier today and explained first that terminating the effort to acquire the parcels was “personally a disappointment” to him since he had invested a great deal of time and energy on the project over the past 18 months. He added, “It’s just a shame that we weren’t able to bring all the parties together.”

He noted that the owner of the properties, Stephen Ames, had been “very patient” throughout the whole process.

Asked what the fundamental issue was that halted the acquisition, Griswold explained that the problem went back to the restrictions that were placed on the five-parcel subdivision by Ames when it was created in 2005. Those restrictions deemed that the lots, in Griswold’s words, were, “really for residential purposes only,” and moreover, “Anyone buying one of the lots would have to commence construction of a house within 18 months of purchase.”

Griswold commented that the Open Space Commission by its very nature was not planning any construction and that its intentions were to preserve the 35 acres of land, adding that the most ‘construction’ they would undertake would be some signage and trail map information.

A second issue was that the access road for all five lots was established as a private road.

Noting that all the homeowners would have to be on board in order for the restrictions to be waived to allow for a house not to be built and to give access to the two lots in question over the private road, Griswold said, “one neighbor objected.”

Two of the three remaining lots not included in the proposed land acquisition are sold and Griswold said he believes the third is currently on the market.

While stressing his disappointment with the outcome, he noted that as a “someone involved in real estate for over 40 years,” he can appreciate both sides of the situation in that there were, “privacy concerns” for the objecting homeowner. He concluded, “There must be equity for the public and landowners.”

League of Women Voters’ Delegate to 2021 U.N. Climate Conference Gives Report, Discusses Future Actions, Tonight via Zoom

Posted on by
Reply

NIANTIC — On Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022 at 7 p.m., the League of Women Voters of  Southeastern Connecticut (LWVSECT) will host a presentation on the subject of climate. The event will now be held exclusively via Zoom. All are welcome.

The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85793934144pwd=TktDbGlyeFhhZFpzTH F2b05PbkNFZz09 

The LWVSECT includes the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme.

The presenter will be LWVSECT member Emily Polakowski, who was a League delegate to the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) held in November 2021 in  Glasgow, Scotland, and a member of the LWVSECT.

Polakowski will talk about her attendance at the U.N. Climate Summit (COP 26)  in Glasgow where she represented the League of Women Voters – U.S. as an  observer delegate to the event.  

Her talk will cover the set-up of the conference and she will:

  • offer a brief history of  climate negotiations
  • provide background climate information and terms
  • share what she learned from events that she attended at the conference
  • discuss what actions  one can take today to help limit climate change on a local and national level.

There will be a Q&A session at the end of the event. 

The League of Women Voters has been celebrating its 100th anniversary in  2021 and looks forward to continuing its non-partisan, political, educational mission  on subjects of import to all.

The League welcomes men and women as members of its organization.

Jan. 18 COVID-19 Update: Six New Cases in Old Lyme Take Cumulative Total to 867, Four in Lyme Increase Total to 219

Posted on by
Reply

LYME-OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report issued Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, at 4 p.m. by the Connecticut Department of Health(CT DPH) shows six new, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme taking the town’s total of cumulative cases from 861 to 867.

Four new cases were reported in Lyme, taking that town’s cumulative total from 215 to 219. 

The next Daily Data Report will be issued by the state Wednesday, Jan. 19, around 4 p.m.

The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate was up from 17.09% in the Jan. 17 report to 18.44% and COVID-related hospitalizations decreased by 38 to 1,819.

Of those hospitalized, 1,233 (representing 67.8%) are not fully vaccinated.

As we reported in our Thursday, Jan. 13 weekly COVID-19 Update, the weekly COVID-19 Average Daily Case Rate Report issued by the state on that day showed that the total number of towns in the Red (highest) Zone for COVID -19 Case Rates remained constant at 168, leaving only one town in the state — Canaan — not in the Red Zone. This number of 168 is equivalent to 99.4 percent of towns in the state.

The CT DPH will issue an updated map of the zones Thursday, Jan. 20 — the map is updated weekly on Thursdays.

Extracts from the Jan. 13, 2022 CT DPH report

As of Jan. 12, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Jan. 25, 2022)

  • Number of cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 115,021 (83,147)
  • Number of fully vaccinated persons in Connecticut: 2,540,829 (2,526,891)
  • Percent of fully vaccinated persons, who have contracted COVID-19: 4.53% (3.29%)

For the week beginning Jan. 02, 2022: (the number in parentheses is from Dec. 26, 2021)

  • Risk of unvaccinated persons testing positive for COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 3.4x greater (3.3x greater)
  • Risk of unvaccinated persons dying from COVID-19 as compared to fully vaccinated persons: 18.6x greater (17.2x greater)

Increase in Cases in Lyme & Old Lyme Since August 2021

The cumulative total of confirmed cases for Old Lyme has now increased by 424 since Wednesday, Nov. 10, when the total stood at 443 — that number had stood unchanged for a week since the previous Thursday, Nov. 4.

On Aug. 26 — which was the day Lyme-Old Lyme Schools started the new academic year — Old Lyme’s cumulative case total stood at 372, meaning there have now been 495 new cases there since that date. Meanwhile, Lyme’s cumulative total on Aug. 26 was 114 indicating 105 new cases have also been confirmed there during the same period.

Ledge Light Health District Update

All the towns in the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD), of which both Lyme and Old Lyme are members, are in the Red Zone.

In an email sent Thursday, Jan. 13, regarding the latest COVID-19 data, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) Director of Health Stephen Mansfield stated, “ We continue to see a significant increase in the number of new COVID cases within our jurisdiction.”

He continues, “Ledge Light Health District advises all businesses and residents take direct steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in your business, home, and place of work. We encourage all businesses within our communities to adopt masking policies for employees and customers, regardless of vaccination status.”

Mansfield concluded, “LLHD continues to focus our vaccination efforts on homebound populations and providing initial vaccinations and boosters to individuals who were vaccinated previously.

Information about vaccination opportunities can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/

COVID testing opportunities can be found at COVID-19 Testing | Ledge Light Health District (llhd.org)

The following link provides centralized access to Connecticut COVID data: https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/

The next Ledge Light update is due Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Update

Under new state protocols for schools, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools are no longer required to carry out contact tracing , but LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser said in a Jan. 4 email to the school community that he, “… will continue to notify the school community of any positive cases of COVID-19 that impact the schools.”

On Tuesday, Jan 18, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [seven] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms where those individuals were present are identified by the teacher’s last name: LOLHS – 3, LOLMS – 2, Mile Creek – 2 (Paradee).”

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools closed Dec. 23, 2021 and reopened Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 after the winter break meaning no new cases were reported by the schools during that period. We are no longer including positive cases impacting LOL schools between Aug 26, 2021 (the first day of the 2021-22 academic school year) and Dec. 23, 2021 (the last day of school before winter break began), in this report. During that period contact tracing was still required.

View the full listing of cases during that period (8/26/21 – 12/23/21) at this link.

A full listing of all LOL Schools-related cases during 2022 is given below.

This is the latest information that we have with the most recent cases first — there may have been further updates, however, which we have not yet received.

On Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Over the weekend we became aware of [six] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms where those individuals were present are identified by the teacher’s last name: Lyme – 4 (Atkins, McNamara, Sullivan, Library), Mile Creek – 2 (Tate, Oliver).”

On Friday, Jan. 14, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [three] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms where those individuals were present are identified by the teacher’s last name.  Mile Creek- 2 (Mulligan, Hotchkiss) LOLHS- 1.”

On Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [three] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms where those individuals were present are identified by the teacher’s last name: Mile Creek – 2 (Hotchkiss, Oliver), Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS) – 1.”

On Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of [three] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms where those individuals were present are identified by the teacher’s last name: Center School – 1 (Newman), Lyme School – 2 (Tartisel, Sestrom.)”

On Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Over the weekend we became aware of the following [two] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: Mile Creek- 1 (Velikaneye), Lyme- 1 (McNamara.)”

On Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of the following [one] individual, who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: Mile Creek- 1 (Wilson.)”

On Thursday, Jan. 6, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of the following [seven] individuals, who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: LOLHS [Lyme-Old Lyme High School] – 5, Lyme [School] – 1 (Tartisel), and Center [School]-1 (Lucier.)”

On Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, Neviaser reported in an email to the school community, “Today we became aware of the following [14] individuals who tested positive after being present at school.  At the elementary level, where students are in cohorts, the classrooms are identified by the teacher’s last name: LOLHS- 6, Mile Creek- 1 (Herel), Lyme- 3 (Tartisel, Sobus, McDermott) and Center-4 (Mullaney’s PM class, Miles.)”

On Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, Neviaser informed the school community that the administration had been made aware of “four individuals at Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) and one individual in the Center School 3-year old PK classroom, who tested positive after being present at school.”

Fatalities Due to COVID-19 in Lyme, Old Lyme

There has been one COVID-related fatality of a Lyme resident: a 57-year-old male passed away Nov. 16, 2021. On Nov. 30, the state finally included this fatality in its data

Three COVID-related fatalities have been reported in Old Lyme. The first two fatalities from Old Lyme, which were reported in 2020, were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.

Details of the third, which was reported in 2021, have not been made available.