8/9/2019 The Hour, March 3, 2008

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Teens, adults worktogether on solutions

NORWALK The nextmeeting of NNHT (NorwalkNeighbors Helping ourTeens) will be Wednesdayfrom 7 to 9 p.m. at 25 VanZant St. This meeting willbe co-facilitated by teens.The format is based on cir-cle discussions without theusual front table/podiumspeaker that may make peo-ple feel reluctant to speak.Everyone can get involvedand everyone has somethingto contribute. The goal is tostop listening and starthearingour teens.

Sauerbraten dinnerNORWALK A sauerbra-

ten dinner will be heldMarch 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. bythe Norwalk Quartette ClubSingers, 162 New CanaanAve. Tickets are $15 per per-son prepaid; $17 at the door.Beverages not included.Reservations are requiredby Friday. Make checkspayable to NQC Singers, 14Cricket Lane, Norwalk, CT05850 or call (203) 838-0616.

Topics: How city canprepare for disaster

NORWALK To helpstrengthen and localizeexisting preparedness andcollaborative efforts, the

Norwalk Fire DepartmentOffice of Emergency Man-agement, has planned anemergency preparednessworkshop on Wednesday,focusing on houses of wor-ship and their congregantsas well as human serviceorganizations and theirclients.

The workshop will focuson equipping faith-leadersto lead disaster prepared-ness, response and recoveryinitiatives. Participants willengage in scenario exercis-es, and have the opportunityto discuss issues and con-cerns related to emergencyplanning.

The free workshop willbe held in the Center forGlobal Studies at BrienMcMahon High School.

Pre-registration isrequired. To register, con-tact Michele DeLuca at 203-854-0238 or e-mail mdelu-ca@norwalkct.org.

Police firefightersto aid blood drive

NORWALK The Ameri-can Red Cross has enlistedpolice and firefighters tohelp increase blood dona-tions for Connecticut hospi-tal patients. On Tuesdayand Thursday, from 12:30 to6:15 p.m., and on Saturday,from from 8 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.at the Fairfield CountyDonor Center on 596 West-port Ave., the second annual

Battle of the Badges 2008will bring together localpolice and fire departmentsfor a one-week competitionto see which group canrecruit the greatest numberof people to volunteer togive blood through theAmerican Red Cross. Thedepartment recruiting themost donors and garneringthe most votes from blooddonors wins a traveling tro-phy. Residents are asked todonate blood or join therecruiters bureau to helpspread the word. For moreinformation, call 1-800-GIVELIFE or visitwww.givelife.org and entersponsor code Norwalk.

Government today

NEWS

BRIEFS

A government that is bigenough to give you all youwant is big enough to takeit all away.

Just a thought . . .

Barry Goldwater

NEWS HOTLINE

354-1062

M O N D A Y , M A R C H 3 , 2 0 0 7 P A G E A 3

Local

Board of Estimate &Taxation Budget Reviewmeeting, 5:30 p.m., Room231, City Hall

Board of Estimate &Taxation Regular meeting,7:30 p.m., Common CouncilChambers, City Hall

Planning Committee ofthe Common Council spe-cial meeting, 7 p.m., RoomA300, City Hall

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By ROBERT KOCHH

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NORWALK The city of Nor-walk is not alone in picking upthe legal bill of employees andelected officials whove beencleared of allegations of ethicsviolations.

From there, how much suchbills should run is open todebate.

The Office of State Ethics inHartford administers andenforces the ethics code forstate employees and public offi-cials. Under state law, those

employees and officials areentitled to reimbursement, ifthey cleared of allegations, orif a court overturns an ethicsboards finding of a violation.

If an individual is the sub- ject of a complaint and facesallegations through a hearing (allegations) that he or shehas violated the code of con-duct and has been found notto have violated the code, thenthe state shall pay reasonablelegal expenses,said Carol Car-son, office executive director,citing state statutes.

State statutes, however, donot define a reasonable legalexpense in dollars.

According to state law, thestate shall pay the reasonablelegal expenses of the respon-dent as determined by theAttorney General or by thecourt if appropriate.

Last Tuesday, the NorwalkCommon Council approvedreimbursing CouncilmanNicholas D. Kydes $13,677 forlegal costs he incurred defend-ing himself against an ethicscomplaint last year. An ethics

board found that Kydes hadntviolated the citys ethics codeby discussing a Wall Streetredevelopment project.

Council members approvedthe reimbursement on a 7-3vote.

Councilwoman Amanda M.Brown, who voted No, saidafterward that she empathizedwith Kydes, but added that thecouncil had a duty to reducethe bill. Brown, a senior parale-gal, said Kydes bill seemedexcessive and bloated inareas. She reviewed the bill

and moved to reduce it to$5,910. The motion failed.

David W. Rubin, Kydesattorney, charged his client$13,195 for 40 hours of work on11 different dates between Sept.21 and Oct. 31, 2007, accordingto the bill presented to thecouncil. That averages to anhourly fee of $330. FedEx andcopying charges, and the hiringof a legal reporter, made up thebalance of the $13,677 bill.

When the matter was beforecouncils Finance and Claims

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NORWALK The growing populationof students who are not native Englishspeakers in the citys schools hasprompted a revision of curriculum andthe English Language Learner programthat is well underway.

A study conducted by professorNaomi Migliacci of Southern Connecti-cut University, recommended several

options to enhance resources for ELLstudents and their parents.

In the 19 schools, 1,350 students studyEnglish as their second language. AtWest Rocks Middle School, students inChester Dawsons and Donna Reevessclasses say they are grateful for the Eng-lish instruction.

In Spanish, Ninrod Escalante, whocomes from Guatemala, said he wasshown where his classes were by otherstudents when he came to West Rocksand he wants to help other new arrivalslearn the basics of life in the U.S.

Students in the West Rocks ELL pro-gram are primarily Hispanic, indicativeof the changing population in Norwalkand Fairfield County. There is also agrowing Haitian presence. Others comefrom Europe or Asia, Dawson said.

Dawson speaks Spanish fluently andcan quickly converse with his students.

Reeves speaks to many Haitian studentsin French.

After recommendations by Migliacci,who was herself an ELL student, theprogram is looking to revise curriculumthrough the Rosetta Stone languagetranslation tools,increased teachers andaides as well as educating mainstreamteachers.

Many of the West Rocks ELL studentssaid they are nervous about the newlyintroduced science standard tests at theend of eighth grade. The new test willmeasure a students awareness of biolo-gy, chemistry and physics during thefifth and eighth-grade years.

Becker said the program is providingmore science textbooks as well as aninstruction specialist to the programs.

Some students in Dawsons classworked on their science projects Thurs-

Hour photo / BEN GANCSOS

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, with Grace Fosnot, presents a proclamation to the residents of The Marvinin honor of their completion of 1000 blankets for wounded soldiers. Fosnot has been making blankets for soldiers since WorldWar II.

By JARED NEWMAN

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Marvin were showered with praises,proclamations and citations Sundayas they celebrated their 11th anniver-sary and the completion of 1,000blankets for wounded American sol-diers.

Handmade fleece blankets, bearingmilitary insignia, patriotic symbolsor traditional Army camouflage, havebeen sent to Landstuhl Regional Med-ical facility in Germany, Balad Air-base in Iraq, the National Naval Med-ical Center in Bethesda, Md. and Wal-ter Reed Army Medical Center inWashington.

The Marvin, 60 Gregory Blvd., isan affordable housing facility for sen-ior citizens. Among other activities,

residents are encouraged to partici-

pate in an accredited daycare pro-gram for 3- and 4-year-olds that isalso held at the facility.

Lori Coates, The Marvins residentservices coordinator, started the pro-gram to send blankets to soldiersaround the world two years ago. Shessince received honors from the Amer-ican Red Cross of Mid-FairfieldCounty, but Sundays event was forthe residents.

Surrounded by framed pictures ofblankets-in-progress and samples oftheir work hanging from the walls,residents received deep thanks fromgovernment officials.

Mayor Richard A. Moccia declaredMarch 2, 2008 a day of celebration inhonor of the residents.

Thats the best part of beingmayor, is working with people like

yourselves in The Marvin to continue

to help men and women who are inharms way, Moccia said.The state legislature delivered its

own citation via state Reps. ToniBoucher, Lawrence Cafero andChristopher Perone and state Sen.Bob Duff.

You do more than warm (sol-diers) bodies, you warm theirhearts, Cafero said, and you do thatfor our community and our nation,and for that I am grateful.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4,bestowed his blessings on the resi-dents as well.

Whether youre a Republican orDemocrat or unaffiliated, whetheryou thought we should be in Iraq ornot, everyone loves our troops, Shays

Hour photo/BEN GANCSOS

Warm upThe Serendipity Chorale, under the direction of Gigi Van Dyke, right, warms up their voices for ACelebration of Negro Spirituals at the First Congregational Church On the Green.

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HARTFORD The politicalclout of the Hispanic commu-nity is growing as its popula-tion continues to increase.

Andres Ramirez, vice presi-dent for Hispanic programs atthe New Democrat Network, aWashington think tank, hasanalyzed the Hispanic vote inthe presidential primaries. His-panic participation increasedfrom 9 percent of the Democra-tic primary electorate in the2004 primaries to 13 percent

this year, he said.In Connecticut, the number

of Hispanic voters grew from2,535 in the 2004 presidentialprimary to 20,236 this year,Ramirez said. This increasedthe Hispanic vote to 6 percentof the states primary elec-torate. Its a small percentage,but could provide the margin ofvictory in a close election.

The rising participationamong Hispanics is good newsfor the Democrats, Ramirez

said. As much as 75 percent ofHispanics who voted this yearparticipated in Democratic pri-maries, he said.

And in states such as Flori-da, where Cubans and otherHispanics historically haveleaned toward Republicans,Ramirez said large turnoutsthis year showed a shift to theDemocrats.

The Latino electorate isstill the great unknown tomany in the political and pressarena, Ramirez said. As a

result, they are prone to suc-cumb to stereotypes and myths.This election will certainlyhelp debunk some of thosemyths due to the increasedroles that Latinos are playing.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who speaks Spanish flu-ently, was asked by Sen. BarackObama after he was endorsedby Dodd to campaign for him inHispanic communities inTexas for the states primary on

City examines reimbursement of employee legal costs

See KYDES, A4

Curriculum

changed tomeet needsof non-native

English speakers

See NUMBER, A4

Hispanic vote seen makinga mark in Dems primaries

See DEMS, A4

The Marvin has our troops coveredResidents produce 1,000 blankets for wounded service members`

See RESIDENTS, A4