Accident at Route 8 exit ramp kills two

Written by Staff
Saturday, 21 November 2009 16:36

Two young people, a 19-year-old Stratford man and an 18-year-old Shelton woman, were killed in a single-car accident in Shelton Friday night.

Shelton Police on Saturday identified them as Lawrence J. Morra of 195 Lobdell Drive, Stratford, and Viviana R. Cavalli of Woonsocket Avenue, Shelton.

Paula Ellis has seen three decades of school change

Written by Fred Musante
Thursday, 19 November 2009 12:44

Nobody has been a member of the Shelton Board of Education as long as Paula Ellis.

Since she was first elected in 1979, she has served 24 years on the school board — except for a six-year break when she didn’t run — and was just re-elected this year.

During that time, Ellis served three terms as Board of Education chairman and participated in many of the decisions that faced the school board over the past three decades, including the introduction of computer technology and the Back to Basics movement.

“When I first went on the board I was 26,” Ellis said.

Stratford halts sewer hookups across border

Written by Fred Musante
Thursday, 19 November 2009 12:42

The border dispute over sewer service between Shelton and Stratford is causing problems for a land-development company trying to develop property in Pine Rock Park.

Ronald Rohinsky, a representative of Netop LLC, a Trumbull-based land developer, said he was caught by surprise to learn that Stratford refuses to allow any more Shelton properties to hook up to its system.

Rohinsky addressed the Shelton Board of Aldermen on Nov. 12, and sounded as if he blamed Shelton for his company’s dilemma.

Stratford’s sewer system serves that part of Shelton along River Road and Long Hill Avenue, since the Stratford trunk line was extended across the town line in the 1980s.

Officials of the two communities are negotiating a new Interlocal agreement for their shared sewers, and both sides are trying to get the best deal.

Veterans Hall of Fame inducts Richard Belden and Al Sabetta

Written by Fred Musante
Wednesday, 18 November 2009 14:55

Two well-known Shelton men are among the eleven 2009 inductees to the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Monday that the late state Rep. Richard Belden and prominent veterans advocate Alphonse Sabetta would be inducted, along with nine others from across the state, this week.

Belden, who died in 2007, was Rell’s mentor when she was a state representative, and was the longest-serving member of the state House of Representatives, earning him the title “Dean of the House.” He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1961, and was first elected to the General Assembly in 1974..

Sabetta is a past Commander, and currently the Adjutant, of the Sutter-Terlizzi American Legion Post 16 in Shelton. He served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army in the Korean War and was awarded the Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Stars and the United Nations Service Medal.

The Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame is not designed to recognize notable war-time achievements. It honors veterans in the state who came home from their military service and went on to serve their communities.

Swearing-in ceremony tonight

Written by Fred Musante
Wednesday, 18 November 2009 14:33

The city will hold a swearing-in ceremony tonight at 7 p.m. in City Hall for all officials elected in the 2009 election.

The public is invited.

Model plane flyers chafe at commission’s new flight rules

Written by Fred Musante
Tuesday, 17 November 2009 09:27

New restrictions on flying hours and operations for the White Hills Eagles RC Club have left some of the members grumbling.

The Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approved the club’s use of a field at the Stern farm at 178 Birdseye Road, but sharply limited the hours of operation to satisfy complaints by two nearby residents that the remote-control model airplanes are noisy nuisances.

The P&Z also required the club to place spotters at the edge of its flying zone to warn remote-control pilots when their planes were approaching the edge of the approved airspace.

“There is no question this is too restrictive,” said Wes Wheeler, a club member.

Perry Hill School renovation 2/3rds complete

Written by Fred Musante
Friday, 13 November 2009 11:01

Perry Hill School is two-thirds of the way to becoming Shelton’s educational showcase.

The building committee overseeing the $41.5 million school renovation project is waiting until the last possible moment to order most of the educational technology that will stock its classrooms, library media center and computer labs, in order to make sure the latest equipment is delivered.

But School Supt. Freeman Burr and Perry Hill School Building Committee Chairman Sean Sullivan said recently that they are confident the school would be ready next August for the start of the 2010-11 school year.

Shelton votes to keep things as they are

Written by Fred Musante
Friday, 13 November 2009 10:54

The three Shelton political party chairmen agreed in their post-election analysis that city voters on Nov. 3 chose to keep things the same as they have been.

The party leaders each put a different spin on their analysis, however.

Shelton observes Veterans Day

Written by Fred Musante
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 15:19

Shelton residents honored U.S. service members at the city’s official observance of Veterans Day Wednesday morning.

“This is one of the biggest crowds we’ve had in the last 10 or 15 years,” said Al Sabetta, American Legion Post 16 Adjutant, who led the observance salute next to the veterans memorial at the downtown Riverwalk.

Mayor Mark A. Lauretti presented a proclamation issued by Gov. M. Jodi Rell designating Nov. 11 as Veterans Day in Connecticut, and Sabetta read the names of veterans from Shelton who died in the past year.

American Legion Post 16 Chaplain Walter Bills said a prayer for the nation’s veterans, alive and dead, who struggled and sacrificed in the cause of freedom.

Botti is guilty of financial misdealings

Written by Tom Giordano
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 13:51

Shelton developer James Botti was found guilty Tuesday on two of four counts in his trial in New Haven federal court.

The jury found the Shelton developer guilty of structuring and conspiracy to structure, but not guilty on charges of lying to investigators.

Botti faces maximum sentences of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each of the two counts, according to Thomas Carson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Evidence presented at the trial indicated that Botti conspired with his father, Peter C. Botti, to structure cash transactions in order to hide the existence of a large amount of cash from the Internal Revenue Service and federal law enforcement authorities.

Witnesses said Botti may have had as much as $1 million in cash in a safe in his office.

Federal prosecutors said the structuring and conspiracy violations took place between June 2006 and January 2007. According to a statement released by U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy, Botti and his father made numerous cash deposits designed to evade federal financial reporting regulations. Dannehy said cash was deposited in bank accounts and paid to a credit card company.

Peter C. Botti pleaded guilty in June to one count of structuring cash transactions, but sentencing was delayed until after James Botti's trial.

Following the verdict, the jury determined that Botti, 46, must forfeit $120,500 to the government. Prosecutors had asked for up to $147,000.