Volume 18, Number 14
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
www.berlincitizen.com
Thursday, May 8, 2014
FISHING BUDDIES
Signage outside of district 2 (the American Legion) on referendum day, April 29.
Berlin budget Referendum: close race, low turnout By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
At the recent Berlin Parks and Recreation Fishing Derby, from left, Kiera Riedel, Meghan Riedel and Chloe Loehr caught three fish, and won a stocked tackle box and a new fishing rod. | (Submitted by Ally Riedel)
BHS students shadow Comcasters By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
Students from Berlin high school toured the Comcast regional headquarters on New Park Drive in Berlin as part of a job shadowing program that is now in its second year. State House Majority Leader and representative for Berlin and Southington Joe Aresimowicz joined State Representative for Berlin and Meriden Catherine Abercrombie and BHS Students at Comcast in Berlin during the kick-off for Berlin Mayor Rachel Rochette their day of job shadowing. For more photos visit us online. See Shadow / Page 6
| (Charles Kreutzkamp / The Berlin Citizen)
Voter turnout for the budget referendum was low, but the preliminary results are in from the Registrar’s office. At 1,522 Berlin-registered voters plus 15 Berlin property owners, the turnout exceeded last year’s at 1,172. 720 voted “Yes,” (46.8 percent) and 817 voted “No” (53.2 percent). Turnout was already looking low at around 10:00 AM when district 2 moderator Scott Veley said that turnout at the American Legion was typical thus far for the annual referendum. At 8 A.M., only 30 voters had visited each district, and by 10 A.M. the
numbers had barely climbed to hover around 50 or 60. At the polls at the American Legion and Griswold School, signs advocating for lower taxes and for voters to vote “No” on the budget were present. All signage was outside of the 75 foot legal boundary which such signs are not allowed to cross. Now that the budget has gone to referendum, it will be returned to the council for further consideration, after which the council will vote to adopt a finalized budget. Join the conversation about the referendum on our website by visiting http://tinyurl.com/BCBudget2014.
Treasure hunters tidy up trails By Charles Kreutzkamp
in geocaching, a hobby that makes use of a GPS device. Cachers follow coordinates Ever wish you could be to a cache, where they can a treasure hunter with a sign a logbook using their secret code-name, track- geocaching name. Randy Wills, also known ing down hidden troves? More than two million by his geocaching userpeople worldwide do exactly that by participating See Geocaching / Page 4 The Berlin Citizen