The Southington
Cit itii zen
Volume 7, Number 14
Southington’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Friday, April 2, 2010
Youth group returns to Mississippi By Kelly Nelson Special to The Citizen
Sarah Stallworth’s eyes filled with tears as she saw that her door had been painted bright red. Her expression
Blake Hanscom and Kayla Alvarez install light fixtures at one of the houses the youth group rebuilt.
of joy as she walked through her nearly-finished home made it all worthwhile for the 10 Southington teenagers who had worked on her home in Mississippi all week. Her smile was all the thanks the teens needed for their hard work. “She saw her door painted red, it was shining in the sun, and her face just lit up,” said Diana Babineau, a senior on the trip. “It was probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and everyone loved seeing her face just light up.” Twenty members of the youth group at the First Congregational Church went on a mission trip in February to D’Iberville, Miss., near Biloxi, to help rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Many of the seniors had been to Mississippi three
Submitted photos
Kayla Alvarez, Katy Andres, Kara Auclair, Diana Babineau, Elena Babineau, Brian Bushnell, Lauren Casarella, Emily Chubet, Colin Daigle, Ryan Daigle, Joe Enright, Blake Hanscom, Nick Hasko, Jason Hasko, Rebecca Maddy, Kelly Nelson, Meredith Pinto, Alyssa Valerio, Connor Wardwell, Tyler Zak, Sherri Oullette, Richard Haverly, Charles Miceli and Bob Beaudoin pose for a photo during the First Congregational Church mission trip to D’Iberville, Miss. years earlier, two years after Hurricane Katrina, when all they could drink was canned water because the city water system was contaminated.
Five years after the storm hit, the FCC youth group returned to continue the rebuilding that some experts say will continue for five to
eight more years. D’Iberville is in the bayous where the water level
See Youth, page 45
Senate underdog Public has opportunity to comment on $125 million budget makes his case By Zachary Janowski The Southington Citizen The Southington Board of Finance will listen to community feedback on the proposed $125 million town and school budget 7 p.m. Monday, April 5, at DePaolo Middle School. The budget includes $45 million for town expenses, including $6.6 million in debt service, and $80 million for education. To fund the proposed budget, the mill rate would rise 1.37 to 24.64, a 5.8 percent increase. If this tax increase is ap-
proved, the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 would pay an additional $274 in taxes. The proposed general government budget rose 6.1 percent over last year and the education budget went up 5.25 percent. The combined budget would go up 5.55 percent. The Board of Finance has until April 19 to vote on the budget. The Town Council must adopt a budget by May 10. Then the Board of Finance will set the mill rate by May 17. Under the town manager’s proposal, the police
budget would increase 2.9 percent, fire department 2.5 percent, highway department 0.7 percent, parks department 8.3 percent and public library 2.5 percent. The capital budget would increase 26.6 percent to $2.3 million. In the education budget, the cost of benefits are expected to rise $1.8 million. Benefits combined with an increase of nearly $1 million in special education costs make up most of the $3.6 million increase in the education budget. See Budget, page 25
By Zachary Janowski The Southington Citizen Merrick Alpert is an unapologetic progressive Democrat. A year ago, fearing U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, a fellow Democrat, would lose his senate seat to a Republican, he launched a challenge against Dodd, despite previous financial support for Dodd’s campaign. Established politicians may balk at Alpert’s decision to leapfrog the lower rungs of elected office, but he is likely to respond: what have those politicians done for you lately? Even after Dodd ended his reelection campaign, Alpert
Alpert
continues to fight for the nomination, despite the entry of Attorney General
See Alpert, page 46