Local Economy, Flood Anniversary, Aikido Farmer

Patch got a makeover this week. Our new look is very green and grassy. And the little photo of yours truly was made even smaller. It is now about the size of a microchip.

The Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce was in the news twice this week. First, the chamber announced its Foundation awarded $81,857 in grants to 22 organizations that provided services to children. And the chamber's Ledyard and Groton division this week invited officials to weigh in on the state of the local economy.  The consensus: things are looking up.

We began the week with a story about Aiki Farm, and farmer-martial arts teacher Bob Burns. We also profiled Haley Hinton, our Whiz Kid of the week. 

Since 1992, the Community Advisory Panel has been meeting at Allyn's Point to monitor activity at the Dow chemical site. Who knew? And we explained a new state proposal to tax non-profit hospitals, and some of that possible negative consequences of the plan. 

The one-year anniversary of the Flood of 2010 was observed on Wednesday, March 30. Wednesday also was Moms Day. Our Moms Chat topic was organized sports. And homeschooler Andrea McKenzie opined on the weird factor.

Ledyard Police made two larceny arrests this week, and had to enlist the help of Ringo the dog to track down a suspect in a domestic disturbance case. Also this week residents were warned of another a potential scam involving water line insurance solicitations. 

The Ledyard Board of Education recognized teacher David Bednarz and student Taylor Strelevitz at the board's regular meeting this week. We also ran a feature on a new labeling system at Big Y that makes it easier to buy more nutritious foods.

We had planned to run an April Fools story, but figured you guys were all too smart for that.

We were very fortunate this week to have a photo gallery submitted by local photographer Fran Mileski. Her topic was "signs of spring," and even though it snowed Thursday night and it's been unseasonably cold and raw all week, we know it's coming.