WESTON
LWV PREVIOUS EVENTS:
Weston LWV happenings - click
on photo for more information!
The Super
Bowl of Local Politics... "SPEAK UP XIII"
FEBRUARY 7, 2004 ("The
Town's Business Is Your Business: Direction From the People to Their
Government"); "Speak Up" reports from events in last 3 years - recent history:
2002-2003;
2001-2002;
2000-2001;
International
Affairs...
Westport NEWS
reported
FIRST BETTY HILL FORUM ON
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS;
H2O: Ridgefield/Wilton/Redding/WESTON
LWV Program
Clean Water For Southwestern
CT—Will It Be There For Our Children?
November 12,
2003
7-9 pm
Meadow Ridge
Life Care Center, Georgetown, CT
Coffee/Dessert
7:00-7:30
I. Welcome/Introductions—LWV
5 mins.
II. What Is
a Watershed? Why Are They Important? 10 mins.
Pat Sesto,
Director, Environmental Affairs, Town of Wilton
• Local watersheds,
how they work
• Water quality
issues—point and non-point source pollution
• Water availability—future
supply of drinking water (reservoirs and aquifers)
III. Water Quality,
Water Quantity, and Taking Action—Panel Presentations 15 mins.
a. Dick Harris,
Director, HarborWatch and RiverWatch, Earthplace, Westport
• Water Treatment
Issues
• Monitoring,
treating point-source pollution in the Ridgefield/Wilton area
b. Jessica
Kaplan, Coordinator, Norwalk River Watershed Initiative (NRWI)
• NEMO Video—Luck
Isn’t Enough 10 mins.
• Non-point
pollution—implementing federal mandates… 15 mins
• NRWI—A model
for communities, purpose, action plans
c. Cheryl
Dunson, Drinking Water Specialist, League of Women Voters of Connecticut
15 mins.
• CT’s endangered
reservoir lands.
• Learn how
our reservoir lands can be sold for development and what you can do to
permanently protect them.
IV. Q &
A. End @ 9 pm
OPENING MEETING SEPTEMBER
11, 2003 AT WESTON LIBRARY:
Legislative
Review given by State Senators Judith G.Freedman, John McKinney and Representative
John Stripp; Weston FORUM reporter present (article for next week's
paper). Good audience of 30 persons present, questions about the
session answered - Weston netted a $41,000 increase in State of Connecticut
funding after all was said and done! Moment of reflection asked
by President Failla at opening. Photos HERE.
As reported
by reliable source...
NOVEMBER
21, 2002, Weston Library, Leagues of Women Voters of Wilton and Weston
presented a forum on...
Fairfield
County: A Region At Risk?
Power Lines,
Traffic, Highway Gridlock and Casinos...members of four (4) area LWVs present
(Redding, Wilton, Westport, Weston) to find out what's cooking:
League heard
from the experts...pretty full house at Community Room (@45 people present),
great questions; emphasis on Casino Traffic during Q&A.
Bob Wilson,
Director, SWRPA South Western Regional Planning Agency, enjoyed the discussion,
was very impressed with League questions. Wilton and Weston SWRPA
reps there, too. Paul Hannah, Wilton First Selectman & Energy
Task Force & Working Group - gave excellent backgrounding on these
issues.
In preparation for "Fairfield County:
A Region At Risk?" the Weston LWV hosted another meeting earlier in the
year...
The Honorable Emil Frankel (then
Selectman) at "Speak Up"...previews transportation issues to surface later.
TRANSPORTATION CONVERSATION:
(Westport NEWS report)
The Honorable Emil Frankel, Assistant
Secretary of Transportation, addressed the League of Women Voters of Weston
on Friday, October 25, 2002. Many people in Weston and surrounding
towns attended this special and personal event, and Emil was as we all
remember him--a great communicator, funny, intellectual and above all else,
a person who gives honest and direct answers to difficult questions!
The League is having produced a video
of the "Transportation Conversation" for later broadcast on both the Town
Channel #73 as well as Channel #71--to go out to all of lower Fairfield
County Cablevision customers.
"SPEAK
UP 2002" took place on Feb. 23, 2002...
LWVs of Weston
and Redding interviewed (for LWVCT) Sen. Freedman and Rep. Stripp;
event took place in Redding (Mark Twain Library)...discussion about Transportation
and Campaign Finance...the issues for '02 "Short Session?"
An
invitation...to League of women Voters members:
From Senator
Kevin Sullivan...following up on Wilton League meeting this Fall:
"School Daze"
school scheduling for student performance (this bill did not pass in '01)
Tracey Nichols,
Senator Kevin Sullivan's Legislative Assistant invites League to an informational
meeting, concerning school scheduling reform. It will take place
on January 30, 2002 from 4 p.m.. to 6 p.m. in the Old Judiciary room
at the State Capitol.
As you may recall,
Senator Sullivan proposed legislation last session that would prohibit
high schools from starting instructional lessons before 8:30 in the morning
that did not pass. Despite evidence that early school start times
have adverse effects on teenagers, due to their biological body clock,
there are powerful hurdles even for school districts that want to change.
School bus contracts
remain tied to common school start time patterns, so school districts must
bear the cost of individually varying from the pattern. Interscholastic
sports schedules and practices remain inflexible and are routinely given
priority over larger school scheduling decisions that affect the vast majority
of students. Above all, educators and education policymakers do not
yet sense that parents or students demand change.
Senator Sullivan
has scheduled an informational meeting to further discuss this issue.
The meeting will include a presentation by Craig Vana, the Executive Director
of Special Initiatives from Minneapolis Public Schools. Minneapolis
public schools implemented later start times for high school students in
1997 and has been tracking its effectiveness. Craig was a high school
principal at the time of the change. He will touch upon how the changes
were implemented and what effects the changes have had on the students.
The meeting will provide an opportunity to better understand the issues
involved and to have an open dialogue on how to proceed with this statewide
effort.
Senator Sullivan
encourages our participation. Questions or concerns--please call
Tracy Nichols at (860) 240-8634.
Click HERE
for WESTON LWV SPECIAL EVENTS...
League Brainstorming
Session 6-14-01...
Summer Brainstorming
Session Thursday, June 14...10:30-1am (Brown Bag Lunch)
30 Salem Road
(dessert & beverages provided)...word on the street is that this was
a meeting NOT TO HAVE MISSED...LWV taking action to inform public about
significance of referendum and the rules that apply (including absentee
ballots).
LWVCT Convention
2001 Report:
Fresh from
Convention '01 in Hartford this report from Co-President...this early highlight
surrounds the immediate ACTION taken by the Convention to write a letter
to Senate Majority Leader to PLEASE leave the funding for the KELDA purchase
as is; lobbying by telephone was done as well...if the KELDA lands
are ultimately saved, the LWVCT will know that it did its best to rally
support and didn't give up...more to come (about other activities).!
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May 18 (Friday)
Annual Meeting '01:
Business session
report...news officers elected as nominated...
2nd ANNUAL
BETTY HILL FORUM ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS...
Speaker at
luncheon was Dr. Mark LeClair: "New Directions in Global Trade: Searching
for Alternatives to the WTO System." Questions and answers and a
wonderful day all around! (Westport NEWS and Weston FORUM attend...watch
for our report of THEIR report (s)!!! Three dozen attend and hear
Betty Hill herself speak in introduction...StateLWV Board members present,
students, too...both FORUM and Westport NEWS reported most flatteringly
about the event and Betty Hill's remarks.
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Speak
Up 2001: agenda for the upcoming year in Weston looks serious:
Co-President
moderates, Board of the LWV and a potential member are pleased, and the
citizens are in a dark mood as troubling issues are voiced...MORE.
Election
Reform Meeting in Weston Town Hall Tuesday, 2-27
Brown Bag Lunch
in Weston Town Hall--Registrars of Voters attend from towns around Weston
as well as Weston's own!!! More than two dozen hear from LWVCT specialists!
Now everybody is interested in the subject!
News story
on related matter from the Hartford COURANT...
SPEAK
UP 2000 sets Town of Weston agenda for the year!
"Speak Up 2000"
was an undeniable success. At the beginning, panel talks among themselves,
nervously; First Selectman Hal Shupack answers a tough question;
Selectman Woody Bliss explains how it would be possible to get through
our problems; standing to answer a pointed question on school readiness
is Superintendent Dr. Janet Shaner (in distance). For more "who,
what, when, where why and how": Click
here for close up view of SPEAK UP 2000...
For an explanation
of affordable housing...
What percentage
of Weston's housing stock is considered AFFORDABLE by State of Connecticut
definition?
Affordable
Units Added Between 1990 and 1998
NEW TO CONNECTICUT
AND WESTON? Want to know the who, what, when, where, why and how to vote
in our State? Call the local Registrars of Voters in Weston at (203) 222-2686.
To link to the LWV of Weston's KNOW YOUR TOWN DIRECTORY ON-LINE, click
below:
KNOW
YOUR TOWN DIRECTORY
LWVWeston's
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