Week In Review: Anti-Bullying Group Forms, CVS To Break Ground This Month

An . “15 Seconds” met for the first time this week with a group of parents, school faculty, and a couple middle school students and law enforcement to gauge interest in the idea. Melissa Thaxton, the group’s creator, said she has had enough of bullying in the schools and wants to do something about it.

“It breaks my heart to see kids hurting and I think that kids can be very cruel,” said Melissa Thaxton, a parent who started the group. “They don’t realize what other kids are going through.”

15 Seconds is a non-profit group that hopes to do some fundraising and after school programs.

, which passed through committee recently. The bill would require manufacturers to label foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms. The bill has gained quite a following because many people suspect GMOs are to blame for food allergies and some think the corporations who produce genetically modified food are trying to corner the market.

Burns said the theme of this year’s farmers’ market is “GMO FREE”

Animal Control Officer Kimlyn Marshall let us know a She said the skunk attacked a dog, which was fine because its vaccinations were up to date. Marshall reminded people to stay current with their pets’ vaccinations and beware of animals that seem to walk in circles, seem aggressive or otherwise don’t run away when you approach them.

. The town has been in negotiations with the pharmacy chain for two years and they finally bought the property at the corner of Route 12 and Hurlbutt Road. Construction will begin in the next couple weeks.

at their meeting this week. The two actions seem at odds but the board is prohibited from moving funds from one account, say from heating, to the salary account for instance.

“I don’t want anybody sitting in this room, or sitting at home or at any of these tables to think ‘why are we giving $200,000 to the town when we have terminated some contracts,'” said Michelle Hinton, chair of the board’s finance committee at the meeting. “Two different accounts – that is not something we could have done.”

The board had surplus money in its heating account because two schools were converted from heating oil to natural gas, which saved about 53,000, according to Superintendent of Schools Michael Graner. The rest was not used because the winter was so warm.

That extra money will help the town council and finance committee in their goal to deliver a zero-increase budget. However, an updated town budget reports additional expenditures in salary adjustments. So, including the $200,000 from the school board, the finance committee and town council would have to find $192,000 in savings to deliver a zero-increase budget to the town.

In not so good news for the town’s bottom line, the Mashantucket tribe won the case against Ledyard for taxing their slot machines. The tribe leases those machines and the town’s argument was that since the tribe does not own the machines, Ledyard has the right to tax the third-party property tax.

Tax assessor Paul Hopkins said the Town of Ledyard gets about $100,000 by taxing the slot machines. He said one slot machine company is paying about two-thirds of their bill “under protest” and the other company is paying in full.

The Town Council met with Mayor John Rodolico this week to talk about their next move.