Category Archives: Top Story

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Announce Quarter 3 Honor Rolls

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Lyme-Old Lyme High School

2024-25 Quarter 3 Honor Roll

HIGH HONORS

Grade 12:  Ella Austin, Gavin Biega, Molly Boardman, Nathaniel Bradley, Mark Burnham, Chase Calderon, Andrew Clougherty, Tabitha Colwell, Gloria Conley, Chloe Datum, Caeli Edmed, Anna Eichholz, Davis Fallon, Grace Ferman, Benedict Frazier, Manu Geronimo, Christopher Gibbons, Elias Goldberg, Nicolas Hatch, Kaela Hoss, Yucheng Hou, Shyla Jones, Thomas Kabel, Simon Karpinski, Ella Kiem, Skylar Kobelia, Peter Kuhn, Elise Leonardo, Andrew Liu, Lana Lopes, Colette Marchant, Tirill Mundal, Abigail O’Brien, Kanon Oharu, Sophie Pennie, Madelin Salazar Cajamarca, Ryan Shapiro, Drea Simler, Andrew Sprankle, Charlotte Tinniswood, Kathleen Walsh, Giovanni Winters, Ava Wood-Muller, Wenyao Zhang, Gabriella Ziegler

Grade 11: Tyler Cann, Julia Clark, Maya Cook, Annabelle Coppola, Colman Curtiss-Reardon, Christopher Dagher, James Dahlke, Sophia D’Angelo, Rose Dimmock, Alexa Donovan, Alexander Glaras, Elizaveta Gregoire, Christopher Kachur, Jayden Livesey, Poveda Lucas, Ian Maeby, Daniela Marin Yanza, Serena Mazzi, Carter McGlinchey, Samuel McKenzie, Ryan Miller, Isabella Presti, Jacob Prokopets, Luca Signora, Andrew Taylor, Madeleine Trepanier, Connor Vautrain, Oliver Wyman, Stella Young

Grade 10: Ceciley Buckley, Morgan Buerger, Brooke Burgess, Anna Bussmann, Lillian Calabrese, Aidan Carpentino, Isaac Chartier, Samson Edmed, Lauren Fulara, Angeline Gencarella, Gavin Goulis, Tessa Grethel, Owen Holth, Josephine Kiem, Olivia Lovendale, Autumn Newbury, Grace Osborne, Ainsley Rinoski, Cameron Russell, Owen Shapiro, Carli Teixeira, Magdalena Tooker, Kaylyn Vernon, Caterina Wilson

Grade 9: Lillian Acosta, Lauren Belval, Scarlett Blatter, Vivian Boller, Lana Brunza, Trevor Camarra, Gabrielle Clark, Nathaniel Condon, Katharine Ferman, Jonah Filardi, Cortland Forbes, Avery Goiangos, Frederick Goss, Gavin Gray, Sawyer Graybill, Kinsley Grenier, Maia Guisti, Colleen Harrington, Morgan Harris, Sophia Huang, Henrik Hummervoll, Fiona Judge, Jillian Kleefeld, Kaedyn Koproski, Alice Li, Graham Macadam, Benjamin Mattox, Menzi Mbele, David McAdams, Charles McEwen, William McKeever, Addyson Morosky, Grace Morrissette, Marielle Munster, Mattea Parnoff, Remi Patz, Nicholas Porto, Jonah Scheckwitz, Avery Spooner, Hailey Suisman, Charlotte Thuma, Ella Ziolkovski

HONORS

Grade 12: Hannah Bonilla, Andrea DeBernardo, Zoe Eastman-Grossel, Hoshena Gemme, Abigail Greene, Hannah Johnston, Gage Kaulfuss, Olivia Kelly, Evan LeQuire, Nola Slubowski, Josephine Small, Erika Teixeira, Nicholas Turtoro

Grade 11: Charlotte Antonino, Max Bartlett, Zoe Brunza, Trevor Buydos, Makayla Calderon, Caden Camarra, Braden Dawson, Michael DeFiore, Benjamin Goulding, Oliver Hatchel, Anne-Marie Hinckley, Thomas Kelly, Maya LeQuire, Emily Looney, Sebastian Lopez-Bravo, Madeline Murphy, Sybil Neary, Ryan Olsen, Ryan Ortoleva, Quenten Patz, Tanner Snurkowski, Addison Spooner, Carson St. Louis, Sydney St. Pierre, Meredith Thompson, Margaret Thuma, Carl Zapatka, Katherine Zhang

Grade 10: Addison Arndt, Phineas Barrett, Zachary Belval, William Burgess, Johanna Coker, Amirah D’Lizarraga, Brady Donovan, Elliot Dunn-Sims, Edward Fiske, Harrison Goulis, Marley Iaia, Callahan Lacourciere, Patrick Lynch, Matilda Miller, Michael Millerick, John Morosky, Cara Paonessa, Vincenzo Pietrowicz, Arthur Riccio, Alexandria Sanford, Allegra Schaedler, Kevork Shegirian

Grade 9: Naomi Cameron, John Comstock, Alistair Grenier, Reese Holland, Henry Kyle, Treyton LaConti, Holden Leonardo, Sadie Lukasiewski, Rowan McCormick, Clarissa Mock, Theodore Neary, Ava Novak, Gwenevere Osborne, Mila Pacelli, Logan Patana, Caiden Pelletier, Marguerite Sevigny, Audrey Sheehan, Delilah Tooker, Renee Viera, Ashlynn Ward, Charles Zapatka

Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School

2024-25 Quarter 3 Honor Roll

HIGH HONORS

Grade 8: Josie Arndt, Anna Block, Emily Bonatti, Cassidy Buckley, Ewan Cabell, Trent Cameron, Emily Campbell, Finnegan Choisnet, Reagan Christopher, Eliana Cicchiello, Emerson Coker, Miles Coppola, Nadia Daily, Maya Desai, Parker Fedorich, Jackson Fiske, Samantha Fulara, Ava Fuller, Olivia Gerardo, Victoria Glaras, Cayden Graybill, Kylie Grethel, Olivia Griffith, Cole Haslam, Charles Holth, Quinn Hoss, Mary Kane, Griffin Karpinski, Collin Langley, Zoey Langley, Curran Livesey, Ellison Lodge, Isabel Martel, Grant Maxwell, Harland McKenna, Maxwell Mooney, Oliver Newbury, Thomas O’Connor, Kanato Oharu, Giovanni Orlando, Jack Ouellette, Jack Parker, Benson Reis, Tristan Reyes, Lillian Reynolds, Beatrix Rubino, Addison Sapia, Juliette Small, Mia Stokes, Natalie Suisman, Cooper Thomas, Olive Vautrain, Benson Wang, Reagan Weinstein, Samuel Zelek, Lily Zerkowski

Grade 7: Jack Antonino, Annalisa Archbald, Miella Bard, Sawyer Barreto, Cole Barris, Jackson Basham, Zakary Benedetto, Conor Buckeridge, Thomas Calabrese, Rowan Cantner, Mason Catalano, Jackson Chapps, Ainsley Conroy, Oliver Constantine, Daniel Crisp, Ella Davis, Amy Diaz, Daphne Eisensmith, Kate Ewers, Camryn Fedorich, Estelle Filardi, Beckett Goss, Delana Green-Oldfield, Julia Haslam, Sean Hunter, Rowan Kilfoil, Eva Levonick, Yago Lobo, Jamie Maloney, Mary McAdams, Ariana McEwen, Finn McLaughlin, Henry Miller, Broderick Morris, Maya Munster, Maura Murphy, Avery Olson, Gunnar Palmer, Juul Parrott, Quin Parrott, Quinn Quarto, Caliana Rand, Emily Randak, Charlotte Reynolds, Olivia Rozanski-Rose, Linden Sarnoski, Ari Shegirian, Maya Smith, Weston Taylor, John Young, Kingsley Zheng

Grade 6: David Acosta, Mylo Awwa, Cecelia Bradley, Brody Burr, Finn Cabell, Luz Cajamarca, Finn Celic, Liang Chang, Maizie Curtiss-Reardon, Croix Demars, Catherine Fisher, Maxwell Garvin, Natalie Gibbons, Gabriella Gonzalez, Gerald Holland, Joseph Jewett, Callie Kelo, Aiden Lapinski, Parker Lee, Colton Lodge, Benjamin Lott, Siena Maguire, Linnea McLachlan, Emma Morales, Nico Orlando, Alexander Reid, Jack Reiter, Brandon Reyes, Connor Rice, Taylor Rooney, Magnolia Sahl, Kate Scheckwitz, Colton Schroder, Madison Seckla, Leif Sullivan, Audrey Thuma, Tobias Tooker, Carina Vakili, Henry Whalen

HONORS

Grade 8: Samuel Dunn-Sims, Colin Farrell, Parker Forbes, Jared Fulara, John Osborne, Charlotte Sanford, Adrianna Squarciafico

Grade 7: Liam Carpentino, Hunter Emma, Aibhlinn Hall, Thomas Hayes, August Jungkeit, Tristan Montanaro, Ryann Montesanto, Isla Morrissette, Roman Schlachter, Reed Snurkowski, Lucius Stebbins-Wallen, Grace Strekel, Molly Supersano, Kolbein Vigen, Jack Walter, Liam Ward

Grade 6: Dylan Boisseau, Ella Boudo, Ryan Campbell, Andrew Chonka, Connor Christopher, Ryan Dawson, Lucia D’Onofrio, Walter Glenn, Niall Hallahan, Ofelia Karsten, Roosevelt Lowry, Aidan Mulligan, Loretta Newbury, Gabriella Norris, EmmaLeigh Reed, Michael Soriano, Piper Spiegel

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools’ Board Sends Unchanged Budget Proposal to Tuesday Referendum

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The Region 18 Board of Education on Monday declined to take upwards of $700,000 from the district’s ‘Rainy Day Fund’ to mitigate the impact to taxpayers of a $39.7 million budget proposal.

OLD LYME–The Region 18 Board of Education on Monday evening unanimously sent the proposed $39.7 million 2025-26 budget to referendum unchanged despite calls from several residents to take money out of its reserve funds to reduce the impact on taxpayers going forward. 

The referendum will be held Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. Old Lyme residents and qualified taxpayers will vote at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Gym, 53 Lyme Street. The vote in Lyme will be held at the Lyme Town Hall, 480 Hamburg Road.

Of the proposed budget’s $2.7 million or 7.39% increase, $1.8 million is attributable to debt payments on the extensive renovation project affecting all the district’s schools except Lyme-Old Lyme High School. 

Old Lyme resident Andy Russell, a member of the Old Lyme Board of Finance and the District Building Committee, who said he was speaking for himself, asked the board to use $700,000 of its $3.1 million undesignated fund – colloquially referred to as the ‘Rainy Day Fund’ – to offset the anticipated increase in the district’s special education spending. 

State law beginning in 2023 empowered each regional school board to create a reserve fund for “educational expenditures.” The law previously specified reserve funds could only be used for one-time capital expenses. 

Special education is up $726,721, or 58.67%, in the proposed budget. Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser has attributed the increase to the number of students, who need to be placed in programs outside the district to meet their needs. There are four students requiring outplacements in the coming year compared to the single student identified when the current budget was approved. 

Russell said the school board could dip into its undesignated fund balance for the next several years until the debt payments stop increasing. 

He said the district typically ends each year with a healthy surplus. 

“I’m reminded that you’ll probably end up – because the school district is very well run – with another $700,000 put back in that budget following this year,” he said. 

David Kelsey, another Old Lyme Board of Finance member, who also said he was speaking for himself, said the school board needs to be more “healthily skeptical” of the enrollment projections from the New England School Development Council (NESDEC) that helped justify the need for the renovation project. 

He said the NESDEC forecast overestimated the number of students in the district.

“Going forward, we have a high school that’s going to need to be renovated as well, and I do not think that we need to rely upon projections that are not commensurate with an obvious skepticism that’s required,” Kelsey said. 

District Building Committee Chairwoman Susan Fogliano before Monday’s vote to send the budget proposal to referendum laid out the school board’s case for not dipping into the ‘Rainy Day Fund.’ 

She said the school board over the past two years used reserve funds to reduce the overall amount of money that would have to be borrowed for the project, which resulted in the proposed 2025-26 budget coming in lower than the 10% increase originally anticipated. 

She also cited grant funding and advantageous interest rates that helped bring down costs. Neviaser said the district will be spending about $17 million less than the $57.5 million price tag approved by voters at referendum in 2022. 

Neviaser said the district’s bond rating – which district business manager Holly McCalla said has stood at an AA2 rating from Moody’s since 2017 – is influenced by the size of the district’s undesignated fund balance. 

“Keep in mind too, we will be bonding again this summer, so they will be looking at what’s in our undesignated fund, and that does impact our rating,” he said. “We’ve confirmed that with our bonding agent, so that’s another consideration.”

Fogliano pointed out the school board has earmarked $1 million of the undesignated fund balance to be used if necessary for security upgrades to the school vestibules. 

She said the district hopes to cover the expense out of the total project budget. 

“We hope, but we can make no promises,” she said. 

She cited the potential impact of tariffs enacted under the administration of President Donald Trump. 

“A great number of our materials have already been purchased, but it’s possible we may see overruns that we don’t anticipate based on future purchases that we can’t control,” she said. 

Fogliano and Neviaser said state law allows the district to put an amount not exceeding 2% of the prior fiscal year’s education budget into its reserve fund. But they said the school board is willing to put less than that into the fund in the coming year – if it makes financial sense at the time based on district needs – so that it can return more of the surplus to Lyme and Old Lyme. 

“I just wanted to have that out on the table so everyone understands that we are thinking about this concept, and that we are doing as well as I think anyone could expect under the present circumstances,” Fogliano said.

Labrador Retriever Viera Brings Comfort Both Across State, At Home in Old Lyme

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Old Lyme Resident State Trooper Matt Weber’s new partner, Viera, was trained through the state police Comfort K9 program.

OLD LYME–One of the latest graduates of the Connecticut State Police Comfort K9 program is a Labrador Retriever named Viera who, in four short months, has been there for traumatized children, shell-shocked First Responders, and her own partner, when they most needed a helping paw.

Viera had spent most of her life in training for the New York-based Guiding Eyes for the Blind program when the two-year-old was reassigned to Old Lyme Resident State Trooper Matthew Weber in November.

Weber said she wasn’t cut out for life as a Seeing Eye dog. 

“I think she has a little bit too much energy for that,” he said from the Old Lyme Police Department earlier this week as Viera padded around with a huge stuffed cow in her mouth. “That’s why we wanted her.” 

Resident State Trooper Matt Weber and Comfort K9 Viera.

Viera and Trey, another Labrador retriever and Guiding Eyes dropout, who works alongside Trooper Stephanie Cortes, comprised the most recent Comfort K9 class. A month of obedience training from the state’s K9 instructors honed the dogs’ ability to remain calm, companionable and compliant in a wide range of situations. 

“Viera is just a rock steady dog in all sorts of environments, around different types of people,” Weber said. 

Her role as a therapy animal has had her snuggling up to young victims of violence during forensic interviews. She’s gravitated toward the tears of otherwise stoic First Responders gathered to debrief after difficult calls. 

She laid by the side of Weber’s wife, Donna Bennett, at Smilow Cancer Center in New Haven. 

“Viera also met with numerous other patients, and did the same cheering up the nurses and doctors,” Weber said. 

Bennett died earlier this year. 

The couple shared a love of dogs, including the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers bred by Bennett. Now it’s Viera and five Tollers, who live at home with Weber in Old Lyme. 

He said he can’t imagine a life without dogs. 

“They’re your best buddies, your confidants,” he said. “You can go and unwind and relax with them. If you’ve had a stressful day at work, you forget about everything for a while.”

It’s gratifying to be able to share her with the wider community, according to the state trooper. 

He described a recent meeting Viera attended during which Emergency Services personnel discussed their response to a quadruple-fatal car crash in Newington. 

“Nobody wants to talk and open up, and then when Viera or the other dogs start playing, it kind of brings a smile to people’s faces, and it loosens the room up a little bit, and then they can talk,” he said. “So that’s pretty rewarding, knowing the power that she has.”

Weber said his work across the state is done in addition to his regular duties as the Old Lyme Resident State Trooper. 

Weber describes comfort dog Viera as a “big goofball.”

Besides responding to critical incidents, assisting crime victims and providing support to first responders and their families, state police comfort dogs are charged with helping to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the community.

Old Lyme Police Department Corporal Dominic Solari said Viera breaks down barriers in a landscape where distrust of law enforcement is rampant. 

“Even if you have a personal relationship with somebody that you may have dealt with on positive terms as a police officer, a lot of times there’s still that little bit of a wall there,” he said. “And she helps to break down the wall.”

A lot of that work is done in schools, according to Weber and Solari. 

“Viera can sit there in the middle of the room with 15 kids crawling all over her,” Solari said. “You don’t have to worry about the dog snapping or anybody getting upset over the dog’s actions.” 

Weber said traditional police K9s used for jobs like search and tracking are separate from their comfort cousins.

Weber explained he had been a member of the State Police K9 unit for nine years when his German Shepherd, Tazz, died at the age of 10 in late 2023. Weber had retired his four-legged partner just two weeks earlier. 

He said Viera is a different breed from the highly-skilled working dog, who’d been by his side for so long. 

“You always have to be cognizant when you have a Shepherd of what they’re capable of, and even though they’re highly trained, you still have to make sure you don’t put them in a situation where they could fail,” he said. “With Viera, all she knows how to do is lick and get pets.”

Weber and Viera start out every morning in a rotation of the Lyme-Old Lyme School District’s five buildings. She attracts attention from the youngest students to the oldest, he said. 

Mile Creek School Principal Kelly Enoch in a phone interview this week said elementary students and teachers alike enjoy meeting Viera in the front vestibule as students stream in from cars and buses at the start of the day. 

The six-year principal said students are more likely to approach a police officer if there’s a dog nearby. And as they’re petting the dog, they’re more likely to start asking questions. 

“We just feel really strongly that we want the children to see police officers as friends and people that help them,” she said. “They’re not people to be afraid of.”

The district also feels strongly about therapy dogs, with at least one certified pup working alongside a teacher or school psychologist in each building. Mile Creek’s therapy dog, a Goldendoodle named Isla, is entrusted to Enoch. She said she brings her to school two or three times per week. 

Donated stuffed animals and a dog-sized couch help make life comfortable at the Old Lyme Police Department.

At the secondary level, Weber has found that students’ affection for dogs remains evident. 

“The high school kids that otherwise wouldn’t talk to you, they come over and pet your dog,” he said.

Weber and Solari said the department is looking to rejuvenate its dormant Cop Club as another way to break down those barriers between police officers and the community. 

The program had been popular with high school students before it was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Solari. 

A collaborative project between the Old Lyme Police and the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau, it began in 2011 with the goal of bringing together cops and kids through a series of monthly planned activities. The group mixes students, who’ve had difficult upbringings, with more privileged members of the student body. 

Weber said that when Cop Club starts up again, Viera will be there. 

“Anywhere I go, she goes,” he said. 

Talking Transportation: Don’t Believe the Hype

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Jim Cameron

Don’t believe everything you read or see in the media. 

Sage advice on any topic, but especially when it comes to coverage of transportation.  A couple of recent stories illustrate my point.

Improved Cell Service on Metro-North

The Governor and Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner held a media event recently in Stamford to promote the fact that AT&T has improved its cell coverage along the New Haven line. That telco spent $6 million installing 30 high-powered macro towers and small cell nodes, some of them on CDOT land, in a public-private partnership. Many are specifically aimed at dead-spots in service on the trains.

This is good news…if you are an AT&T subscriber.  If you use Verizon or T-Mobile and find an area with no cell coverage on your commute, this won’t help you. The AT&T enhancements are for its customers only.

There is no word from the other companies on how they might be filling holes in their service. But… it’s a start.

However if you read the media coverage, you’d think every commuter’s cellphone coverage had been improved!  “Cellphone service to get upgrade on Metro-North rail line,” proclaimed the Hearst papers. “Wireless service upgrades coming to New Haven line for CT commuters,” said WSHU public radio.

Improved cell coverage is a crucial issue for commuters looking to be more productive during train-time. But attention-grabbing headlines such as these may lead to a perception of better service. The more you’re told “cell service is getting better” the more you’ll think it is.  Or so they hope.  

But… don’t believe the hype.

Faster Than Acela?

In April another media event, this time at Grand Central, celebrated faster train service from New Haven: three early morning (5 – 7 am) super-express trains, one of them cutting ten minutes off its old running time, making that single train “faster than Acela”.

Great news… if you’re a pre-dawn-commuter from New Haven. Again, kudos to Metro-North for much needed signal and infrastructure improvements. But has the average commute to Grand Central really improved?  Not really. The exception is not the rule.

With limited stops these super-express trains still average only 52 mph. Regular express trains get about 46 mph and locals run just 38 mph.  Remember: the M-8 cars on Metro-North are capable of 80 mph.

How Did the Media Portray These Improvements?

“New Metro-North schedule, with shorter trips on New Haven line, now in effect,” trumpeted the Hearst papers. “Metro-North Is Faster Than Acela,” promised Bloomberg (quoting MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber).

The “faster than Acela” claim is technically true…for one Metro-North train. Keep in mind that New Haven to Grand Central is 73 miles but to Penn Station (on Amtrak) is 75 miles. But not wanting to always sound like a grouch, I say good for Metro-North.

What worries me is the media coverage which over generalizes and lacks the caveats I’ve cited. Telling commuters repeatedly that their trains are running faster, when they are not, may be persuasive but it is not accurate.

So, take media coverage of transportation with a grain of salt.  The headlines don’t always tell the full story. And don’t believe the hype.

Editor’s Notes: i) This article has been updated to reflect a correction sent by the author regarding AT&T’s investment in new cell towers, which he had incorrectly stated as $60 million, rather than $6 million.
ii) Jim Cameron is the founder of the Commuter Action Group and advocates for Connecticut rail riders. He writes a weekly column called ‘Talking Transportation,’ which is published by a number of publications in the state.
iii)”Talking Transportation” recently won first place in the general column/commentary category in the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Contest.

Ferry Landing Pier/Boardwalk Closes in Old Lyme, Another Pier Opens in Haddam

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New Pier Provides Alternate Fishing Location While Old Lyme Boardwalk Closed During Construction of New Connecticut River Bridge

The new pier at Eagle Landing State Park in Haddam provides an alternative to the one at Ferry Landing State Park in Old Lyme, which is closed at least until 2030. Photo courtesy of Amtrak.

OLD LYME–The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has announced the opening of the pier at Eagle Landing State Park in Haddam as an alternate fishing location for local anglers and outdoor enthusiasts who have been displaced by the construction of the new Connecticut River Bridge between Old Lyme and Old Saybrook. 

The DEEP in a press release said Ferry Landing Pier/Boardwalk in Old Lyme is closed to make way for Amtrak’s construction of a new Connecticut River Bridge between Old Lyme and Old Saybrook.

An announcement posted on the Old Lyme website earlier this month said reconstruction of the pier at the state park in Haddam was undertaken by Amtrak in anticipation of the temporary closure of the Ferry Landing Pier. 

The DEEP said the new pier at Eagle Landing State Park, and Amtrak’s commitment to build it, resulted from public feedback during the environmental review phase of the Connecticut River Bridge Project. 

This $1.3 billion project broke ground in September. It’s supported by an $826.64 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. The remaining portion will be funded by Amtrak and the State of Connecticut.

According to Amtrak, the bridge project will replace the existing 118-year-old bridge with a modern moveable bridge that will support a maximum train operating speed of 70 mph – a 55 percent increase from today’s maximum speed of 45 mph. 

Maritime navigation and safety will also improve due to the increased vertical clearance of the new bridge compared to the existing bridge, the company said.

The DEEP said Amtrak will build an improved, fully accessible observation deck more than 1,000 feet long at Ferry Landing State Park in 2029, once the new Connecticut River Bridge is in service and the old bridge has been demolished. 

The Ferry Landing Pier and boardwalk upgrade is expected to open in 2030 or 2031, according to the DEEP. Plans call for a 50% wider walkway with improved accessibility in a location slightly west of the existing site. The state agency promised better access to deep water, and stronger, more durable concrete piles for more support compared to the wooden piles used for the original structure.