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;
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...