The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 14, Number 52
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Commentary
Top 10 favorite stories for 2010 — my picks By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen The Citizen publishes hundreds of stories each year and we hope you like most of them. There are many good and impor-
tant stories that come out of the town and it’s unrealistic to think that there is any kind of formula that would lend itself to picking the best or most newsworthy. I didn’t try. The stories I selected for
Canine Officer Titan with Officer Aimee Krzykowski of the Berlin Police Department.
my “Top Ten in 2010” are purely subjective. Here’s a bit about why I like them and what went on behind the scenes. Dog stories I have a soft spot for a good dog story and this year there were two that gave us an appreciation for the bond between a man (or a woman) and his (or her) best friend. Last July, Nick Carroll wrote the story Abandoned in Tennessee, dog finds home in Kensington. “An adult golden retriever, Tami was abandoned, left tied to a tree without food or water when her owners lost their home to foreclosure. It was winter in Tennessee. Temperatures dipped into the 20s. But Tami’s luck would change. Thanks to Heartland Golden Retriever Rescue, and a former Marine, Tami has found a good home, right here in town. Kensington resident Bob Quarti, 73, adopted Tami in April through the Heartland service. Quarti is a retired rehabilitation counselor for the state, and served in the Marines from 1956 to 1958. He earned a Marine of the Year award in 2000, and in 1999 received The Chapel of Four Chaplains service award. He is also the father of five and grandfather of six. In August, a profile on See Favorite, page 3
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Unplugging kids from technology a challenge Cyber-bullying, sexting, overconnectedness some of the issues By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Flixster, linkedin, tagged, classmates, myyearbook, livejournal, imeem — these are among the top social networking sites this past year. And there are plenty more vying to get you involved. These days it seems impossible not to be globally connected via technology — but some people watching the situation caution that going unplugged, at least once in a while, is a good idea, too. A recent poll in The Citizen revealed that 81 percent of respondents considered cyberbullying to be a real problem. Of those answering, 33 percent said “it happened to me or someone I know.” Nine percent
said what happens on the internet wasn’t the “real world” anyway and the remaining nine percent said “just ignore it.” (Results are not scientific.) While cyber-bullying can affect anyone, this story focuses on issues facing students in middle and high school. Ignor-
See Challenge, page 7
DeFronzo to serve in Malloy administration By Susan Haigh Special to The Citizen Governor-elect Dan Malloy tapped state Sen. Donald DeFronzo last week to lead the Department of Administrative Services and advise him on ways to stream- DeFronzo line state government and consolidate agencies. DeFronzo, a Democrat, has seved as New Britain mayor, leader of a nonprofit communi-
ty action agency and a former analyst at the state Office of Policy and Management. “He knows how to stretch a dollar,” Malloy said at a press conference announcing his choice. Beyond running the agency responsible for personnel recruitment, fleet operations, procurement of goods and services, payroll, human resources, and printing and mailing services, Malloy said DeFronzo will be helpful to him in reshaping state government amid trying financial times. “We’re not going into this
See DeFronzo, page 14