Date: Fri 16-Aug-1996

By ANDY GOROSKO

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-accident

Full Text:

with cuts: Police Cruiser Involved in Accident

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

A police car on the way to a motor vehicle accident on Church Hill Road

collided with a car at the intersection of South Main Street and Glover Avenue

on August 8.

Police said Patrolman Douglas J. Wisentaner, 29, who was driving a 1996 Ford

Crown Victoria police car with its emergency lights and siren on, was heading

northbound on South Main Street as he approached its intersection with Glover

Avenue at about 11 am. Patrolman Wisentaner was planning to drive straight

across the intersection to get to the Church Hill Road accident, police said.

At the time, motorist Kimberly W. McDonnold, 39, of 2 Diamond Drive was

traveling westbound on Glover Avenue in a 1989 Toyota Camry and was planning

to go straight across the intersection to Sugar Street on a green traffic

light, police said.

The police car, which had a red traffic light, hit the Toyota in the middle of

the intersection, causing both cars to spin out to the western edge of the

intersection, police said.

Neither driver had any visible injuries but both were transported to Danbury

Hospital to be checked, police said. The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps

went to the accident scene.

After investigating the accident, Lieutenant David Lydem, head of the police

department's field services unit, issued Patrolman Wisentaner a written

warning stating he failed to slow or stop an emergency vehicle, displaying its

emergency lights and sounding its siren, when going through a red traffic

light.

Lt Lydem issued Ms McDonnold a written warning stating she failed to grant the

right of way to an emergency vehicle.

Patrolman Wisentaner had been driving to an accident on Church Hill Road which

had happened just minutes earlier.

In that collision, motorist Hildreth Rosenthal, 90, of 87 Brushy Hill Road was

driving a 1992 Plymouth Acclaim westbound Church Hill Road and started to turn

left into Lexington Gardens, but she turned directly in front of an eastbound

1989 Ford Tempo driven by Jessica Schwartz, 16, of 17 Castle Meadow Road,

resulting in a collision, police said.

Police said Rosenthal was slightly injured but refused medical treatment at

the scene. The ambulance corps responded. Police issued Rosenthal a written

warning stating she made a restricted turn.

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Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

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Date: Fri 16-Aug-1996

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