Category Archives: Business

Legal News You Can Use: Safety Tips for Winter Driving

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Editor’s Note: This is a Sponsored Post by Suisman Shapiro Attorneys-at-Law.

Snow may be pretty but driving in it demands special care and attention. Photo by Korey Moore on Unsplash.

Driving during winter months is inherently more dangerous than driving in other seasons because the road conditions can make an accident more likely. Some of this is also out of the control of motorists, who may have no choice but to drive in suboptimal conditions when they have to go to work or to school.

As such, it is important to know how to drive safely and avoid accidents. Here are some tips that can help.

Remember that you can’t always see ice

In some situations, it is very obvious that there is ice and snow on the road, so drivers are more likely to be careful. But you also have to watch out for black ice, which is a type of thin ice that is so clear that you can’t even see it while you’re driving. This is perhaps the most dangerous road condition in the winter.

Reduce your speed when possible

Slick road conditions are going to make it harder to react to conditions ahead of you because you cannot slow the car down as quickly. The best counter for this is simply to reduce your speed while you drive. This gives you a better chance of stopping and reduces the odds of serious injuries if you are involved in a wreck.

Focus on staying calm and in control

If you have to drive in poor conditions, always try to stay calm and remain in control of the vehicle, staying alert and keeping your eyes on the road. Never allow yourself to become distracted. Don’t rush, but focus on careful driving until you reach your destination.

If you do get injured in an accident caused by another driver, you may be able to seek financial compensation.

Editor’s Note: Suisman Shapiro is located at 75 State Street, New London, CT 06320. Their mailing address is 2 Union Plaza, P.O. Box 1591 New London, CT 06320. Visit their website or call 800-499-0145 — lines are open 24 hours a day.

Suisman Shapiro Attorneys Announce Kyle Zrenda of Old Lyme Elected a Director of Firm

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Atty. Kyle J. Zrenda of Old Lyme has been named a Director of Suisman Shapiro Attorneys-at-Law, effective Jan. 1, 2023.

NEW LONDON/OLD LYME — Suisman Shapiro Attorneys-at-Law has announced that effective Jan. 1, 2023, Atty. Kyle J. Zrenda has been named a director of the firm. He is a resident of Old Lyme.

“Kyle Zrenda is an exceptional lawyer, and his election as a director recognizes his excellent work and significant contributions to the firm and our clients. We look forward to his continued leadership and great success in the years to come,” said Eric W. Callahan, Managing Director of Suisman Shapiro.

Atty. Zrenda handles personal injury cases, representing those harmed by negligent motorists, property owners, and medical providers. As a member of the bars of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court and the Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court, he also represents people who have been injured at the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos.

Since 2017, Atty. Zrenda has been recognized by Super Lawyers® as a “Rising Star” in the area of personal injury law, an honor for which no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in each state are selected. He has also been recognized as “One to Watch'” by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Lawyers in America since 2021.

Suisman Shapiro is the largest law firm in eastern Connecticut, providing residents and businesses along the coast from New Haven to Providence with a full range of legal services. The firm was established more than 80 years ago and is firmly rooted in the community.

For more information about the firm, visit this link.

Only 3600 Houses for Sale in CT

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HARTFORD — Connecticut lawmakers on three legislative committees tried to tackle the real estate market Tuesday during an informational session on home sales, affordability, and construction. 

Jessica Lautz, chief economist and vice president of research for the National Association of REALTORS, told the Housing, Planning and Development and Insurance and Real Estate Committees, that there are only 3,600 homes for sale in all of Connecticut. That’s down from 17,000 homes for sale in 2017. 

The median price for a single-family home has also increased from $235,000 in 2017 to …

Visit this link to read the full story by Christine Stuart and published Jan. 18 on CTNewsJunkie.com.

Our Top 15 — The Most-Read Articles on LymeLine in 2022

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LYME/OLD LYME — It is always interesting in early January of one year to crunch the numbers and see which stories drew the highest number of readers in the previous year. This year was no exception — there were some predictable winners like the announcement of the Old Lyme 2021 Citizen of the Year and the unexpected (and unsuccessful, as far as we know) auction of the Old Lyme Shopping Center.

There were several pandemic-related articles such as the opening of applications for ARPA grants in Old Lyme and a dramatic increase in the number of Connecticut towns in the Red Zone in April. The decision by the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme to hold its White Elephant Sale after a two-year Covid-enforced hiatus was greeted enthusiastically by many readers as was news that Lyme-Old Lyme Schools had dropped their COVID mask-mandate.

Controversial issues always prompt a rise in readers and predictably the whole business about the then-insuperable obstacles facing Old Lyme’s Open Space Commissions’ efforts to acquire two parcels of the Ames property fell into that category. Similarly, people wanted to read all about the appointment of a new face to the OL Economic Development Commission against both the recommendation of its chair and over an incumbent. The still-ongoing saga of the Tantummaheag access dispute made the list as did the subject of armed guards in Lyme-Old Lyme Schools.

Sad news also invariably attracts increased readership and so the announcement of the passing of our beloved food writer Lee White is on our list as is the unanticipated departure of the then-director of the Florence Griswold Museum.

There were surprisingly few politically-related stories in our Top 15 for 2022, even though it was a feisty election year. The one that did make the list related to a well-known Old Lyme resident being the major funder of a new Republican PAC in the state.

We knew Maureen Haseley-Jones’s gardening columns were popular, but it was a slight surprise that February’s — of all months — crept into our Top 15. Congratulations , Maureen!

But the biggest surprise of all was the most-read story of the year, which, against all odds, was the second and final segment of a two-part-story about the history of tobacco in Connecticut!

It is a particularly topical article for today — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — because (and who knew?), MLK worked in the summers of both 1944 and 1947 on a tobacco farm in Simsbury to earn money for tuition. He wrote to his father that, “there was no discrimination at all,” north of Washington DC, adding that up North, “We go to any place we want to and sit anywhere we want to.” 

King wrote in his autobiography, “It was a bitter feeling going back to segregation after those summers in Connecticut.”

Corey Kilgannon wrote in the New York Times that the dream of equality that MLK first glimpsed in Simsbury helped reshape his world view, adding, “It was during those summers that King began his path to becoming a minister.”

Congratulations to our very own Tom Gotowka on being the author of our most-read article in 2022!

We have a feeling the article was picked up by some research entities, which may have increased its readership numbers, but that takes nothing away from the simple fact that it recorded more readers than any other article in the whole of 2022!

The complete list of our Top 15 most-read articles for 2022 in descending order is as follows:

  1. A View from My Porch: The Shady History of Connecticut Tobacco — The Finale by Thomas Gotowka

  2. Has the Pandemic Affected You or Your Business? Old Lyme Opens Applications for ARPA Grants to Businesses, Nonprofits, Town Entities

  3. Old Lyme Shopping Center Goes Up for Auction

  4. Old Lyme’s 2021 Citizen of the Year is Cheryl Poirier!

  5. April 21 COVID-19 Update: More Than Half of CT Towns Back in Red Zone, Including Lyme, Old Lyme; Three New Cases in Lyme Raise Cumulative Total to 268, Two in OL Take Total to 1085


  6. Old Lyme Open Space Commission Announces Efforts to Acquire Two Parcels of ‘Ames Property’ Have Ended, Obstacles “Impossible to Overcome”

  7. Letter to the Editor: Armed Guards in Lyme-Old Lyme Schools — More Questions from Betsy Groth

  8. Death Announced of Our Beloved Food Writer, Lee White

  9. After Two Year COVID-Enforced Hiatus, Old Lyme Church’s White Elephant Sale is Back

  10. Griswold, Ward Vote to Appoint Colwell to Old Lyme EDC Against Recommendations of Commission Chair

  11. Mask Mandate for Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Lifted From Feb. 28, But Masks Still Recommended; “Individual’s Decisions” Must be Respected (Neviaser)

  12. Old Lyme Town Attorneys Issue Findings on Tantummaheag Dispute, Owners Describe Report as “Filled with Factual, Legal and Historic Errors“

  13. Old Lyme’s Florence Griswold Museum Director Beaulieu Leaving to Become President/CEO of Cincinnati’s Taft Museum of Art

  14. Old Lyme RTC Chair Kelsey Donates $500,000 to Launch New PAC

  15. Gardening Tips for February from ‘The English Lady,’ Lift Your Spirits by Thinking Spring … and Beyond

Marylin Clarke Retires After 42 Years Practicing Law, 31 as Old Lyme Town Counsel

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Atty. Marylin Clarke (center) stands with two of the former Old Lyme First Selectpersons, under whom she worked — Bonnie Reemsnyder at left and Tim Griswold, right. Clarke served as Town Counsel for the Town of Old Lyme for 31 years. All photos by M. Shoemaker.

OLD LYME — On Thursday, a group of town employees, colleagues and friends gathered in Old Lyme’s Memorial Town Hall to celebrate Attorney Marylin Clarke. She was being honored by the Town of Old Lyme on the occasion of her retirement after 42 years in the practice of law, 31 of which she served as Town Counsel for the Town of Old Lyme.

She was appointed to consecutive two-year terms from 1985 through 2016, working under five different Old Lyme First Selectmen, namely, Wallace (Wally) Moore, Edmund (Ned) O’Brien, James Rice, Timothy Griswold, (1997-2011, 2019 -) and Bonnie Reemsnyder (2011-2019).

Elected to two consecutive terms as the Democratic Registrar of Voters in 2016 and 2020, it was noted that in the 2020 election — with the exception of Joe Biden and Joe Courtney — Clarke received the most votes (2,994) of anyone on the ballot in Old Lyme.

Old Lyme Town Clerk Vicki Urbowicz, speaking on behalf of the State of Connecticut, read the Proclamation, which was subsequently presented to Marylin Clarke on her retirement.

Clarke ran her own private law practice for 42 years from1976 until 2018.

She was in law school at Boston College when she and her husband Jim moved to Michigan for his work. Clarke continued her law studies at Wayne State University and graduated cum laude in 1971. Clarke recalls that women law students were not always treated equally when she was in school, sharing that one of her law professors would choose to call on women only by saying, “Tonight is ladies night,” much to the delight of the men in the class.

Marylin Clarke listens as Old Lyme Social Services Coordinator Jennifer Datum and Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker spoke about Clarke’s years of service to the Town.

Clarke served as Parish Trustee for Christ The King Church, and has been a member of the church choir since 1995.

She was also chairman of the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau Board of Directors for four years from 1984-1989 and Counsel to the Florence Griswold Museum for 22 years.

Clarke is an elected member of the Old Lyme Democratic Town Committee.

Despite all these accomplishments and her exceptional career, Clarke confessed that her proudest, “most special,” accomplishment is that she has the “nicest kids” — Sarah, John, and Anne.