Pink Slips, Donkeys and Fisher Cats

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day, and in their honor we shared a column by Gales Ferry resident Carrie Jacobson. A lot of local moms celebrated by watching their kids graduate from the University of Connecticut. (Congratulations moms!)

Kit Foster led a walking tour of the Highlands last weekend, and we also published a tongue-in-cheek piece about a cow named Estban. Stan DeCoster wrote about the allure of the open road.

On Monday, we went looking for Steve Daggett, the new fire chief of the Ledyard Fire Department. He wasn’t at the firehouse because a gas detection sensor had gone off at the high school, resulting in the building’s evacuation.

There were two public hearings Monday on the Aljen Heights water and road maintenance projects for the benefit of a small handful of residents who attended. Attendance at a Thursday hearing also was light.

But don’t forget there is a Town Meeting on a $49.1 million town budget proposal on Monday, May 16, followed by a town-wide referendum on Tuesday.

A big week in Hartford. On Tuesday, the state began sending pink slips to some 4,742 workers after talks between Gov. Malloy and the state unions failed to produce the concessions the governor had hoped to secure.

By Friday, Malloy had received $1.6 billion in concessions, but just how a $400 million gap will be filled remains to be seen.

State Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, also was in the news this week after she met with Cheshire home invasion survivor Dr. William Petit, and afterward withdrew her support for a bill that would repeal the death penalty in Connecticut. Prague was considered the swing vote.

She made more headlines when she suggested that the second defendant in the case, Joshua Konisarjevsky, did not deserve a trial, and instead should be hanged by his genitals.

Moms Chat took a break this week, but Andrea McKenzie shared with us the odyssey that led her from public school teacher to homeschooler.

 We reported on three bills in Hartford aimed at teen violence and cyberbullying. We also reported on a new Home Rehabilitation Loan Program the town is pursuing, and efforts to market space on the town water tower for cell phone antennae.

The Ledyard High School girls’ tennis team is on a roll, there is a new headmaster at St. Bernard High School, and Silas Dean Road resident Terry Reber saw a large fisher saunter across his property.

There is a miniature donkey farm in Ledyard. Who knew?