“What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”~ Author Unknown
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Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown AN INDEPENDENTLY OWNED FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume X, No. 1
Friday, January 3, 2014
Middlebury woman victim of hit-and-run driver
A reminder of warmer weather to come
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
As a cold snap descends on us and a long winter lies ahead, we turn to this photo of hydrangeas and Easter lilies we took last March in the greenhouse at Vaszauskas Farm. The photo will serve as a reminder, in the middle of winter when the snow is on the ground, that warm weather will return once again. (Marjorie Needham photo)
Stowell resigns town job, will stay on BoF By MARJORIE NEEDHAM In a Dec. 26, 2013, letter to Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John, William Stowell resigned from his part-time job as administrative manager for the town effective Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. Stowell had served in that position since January 2013. That was when the former administrative assistant, Claudia Greenfield, unexpectedly resigned what was then a full-time job to accept a position in North Carolina. Stowell was working six hours a week at the time he resigned. This fall, Stowell successfully ran for a position on the Board of Finance (BoF), but when he attended his first BoF meeting Dec. 11, Chairman Michael McCormack challenged the legality of Stowell serving on the BoF while he was employed by the town. McCormack said state statue did not allow this. Stowell responded that town attorney Robert Smith had reviewed case law and determined Stowell’s part-time position with the town did not classify him as a salaried officer, the term used in the state statute.
Members of the BoF refused to accept Smith’s opinion, and BoF member David Cappelletti was assigned to get a written opinion from the state saying Stowell could not work for the town and also serve on the BoF. McCormack said Monday afternoon that Cappelletti has not yet done that. When he heard a copy of Stowell’s letter of resignation was in the mail to BoF members, McCormack said, “That is good. That is the best way for this whole thing to come out … I’m glad it’s over. As far as I know, it’s over. We’ll have a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 8, and we’ll go back to being one big, happy family again.” Stowell said, “I still, to this day, believe if I went by the letter of the law, it wouldn’t apply to me. But since the other five members all believe it does, I decided to be the bigger man.” He said in his letter of resignation that he felt the strength of the BoF would be compromised by this contentious matter if he chose to remain as administrative manager, and so he felt the best thing to do would be to resign from his town job. “I think it is a shame because I think I am a big benefit to the town hall,” he said. He
brings to the job, and now to the BoF, many years of experience as the business manager in Regional School District 16. He said as part of that job he met with the boards of finance in both towns to go over the Region 16 budget with a fine-tooth comb. Because of this, he doesn’t understand why the Middlebury BoF doesn’t meet with Region 15 officials to review the Region 15 budget. Stowell said he thinks BoF members need to look at their town’s needs and what people want from their town government and act accordingly. “People expect a Memorial Day parade and and a tree-lighting,” he said. “Do you look at putting them on at the lowest cost? Absolutely, but don’t cancel them.” As for cutting overtime, he said, “Do I believe you should look at the overtime? You bet I believe you should look at it lineby-line, but not decree there will be none. You cannot have no overtime.” With Stowell’s part-time employment with the town no longer an issue, the BoF can focus on matters such as the 2014-2015 budget at its next meeting Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. in Room 26 at Shepardson Community Center.
Wreck closes Route 64 Middlebury Police reported a three-vehicle accident closed Route 64 to traffic near the entrance to the Middlebury Convalescent Home for an hour-and-a-half Monday morning. They said at approximately 7:34 a.m., police and the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) were dispatched to the accident scene. A 2005 Dodge Ram pickup driven by Jonathan Martin, 33, of Seymour, Conn., was heading eastbound on Route 64 and crossed
over into the westbound lane, striking a 2004 GMC Safari Van operated by Rocco Cipriano, 27, of Wolcott, Conn., which was westbound on Route 64. Cipriano’s vehicle rolled over after being struck. Another vehicle, a 2002 Chevrolet G20 van being operated by Domenic Rinaldi, 46, (no town listed) also was westbound on Route 64. It swerved right off the road, hitting some rocks in an effort by Rinaldi to avoid Martin’s vehicle.
Inside this Issue Adoptable Pets................ 8 Book Review................... 2 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 3 In Brief............................ 4 Library Happenings.......... 2
Library Lines.................... 2 Nuggets for Life.............. 6 Puzzles........................... 7 Region 15 School Calendar....3 Senior Center News......... 3 Sports Quiz..................... 7 Varsity Sports Calendar.... 6
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Cipriano and Rinaldi were transported to St. Mary’s Hospital by MVFD ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries with a Campion Ambulance paramedic assisting. Route 64 was closed for about 90 minutes while the accident was investigated and the vehicles were removed. The cause of the accident was found to be Martin for failure to drive right, and a warning was issued to him. Officer Blick is the investigating officer with Officer Cronin assisting.
Meghan Tateo Beebe of Middlebury, 21, died Saturday, Dec. 28, from injuries sustained when a hit-and-run driver struck her at approximately 2 a.m. as she and a friend retrieved items from a vehicle in a William Street parking lot in the Byram section of Greenwich, Conn. The Greenwich Police Department reported the driver stopped his vehicle briefly before driving on, dragging Beebe for three blocks and then fleeing the scene. Beebe was transported to Stamford Hospital, where she died. Meghan graduated from Westover School in Middlebury in 2010. Head of School Ann Polina issued the following statement: “There are no words to convey the heartbreak we all feel at the senseless loss of this beautiful young life. All we can do is try to honor Meghan’s strength, joy, courage and caring by recognizing that her life is, in the words of Cicero, placed in the memory of the living. We owe this world and those who remain in it an extra measure of our mindful love and attention to compensate for all that Meghan daily offered to those around her.” Meghan’s father, Richard Beebe, works at Westover in marketing and communications and as a publications layout editor and staff writer. His late wife, Eileen Tateo Beebe, also worked at Westover, serving as a counselor there and at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury. Eileen died from cancer seven years ago when Meghan was 14. Since Meghan was born while Richard and Eileen were working at Westover, Richard said that made her a “faculty brat” known and loved by the faculty. He said Meghan had finished the requirements for her bachelor’s degree in sociology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst a semester early and planned to walk with her classmates in May 2014. In the meantime, she was actively looking for a job in the Amherst, Mass., area. She also was weighing her longterm options and considering earning a master’s degree in social work as her mother had done. That was one of three options she was considering. Her dad said when she volunteered at Camp Mataucha in Watertown, she fell in love with the fifth-graders, enough in love that she was considering the option of becoming a middleschool teacher. A third option for her was earning a Ph.D. so she could teach and do research at the university level. Richard said, “I think she would have done well in any of those areas because of her intelligence, her personality and her versatility.” In her obituary, which is on page 5, Richard said, “In her brief life, Meghan was recognized at Westover for her musical talents and her photographic work; during her senior year she had served as a dormitory proctor, co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and Second Head of the Glee Club. At UMass, she volunteered for a sexual assault crisis hotline and had recently completed an internship at the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction in Northampton, Mass.”
Meghan Tateo Beebe Following the loss of his only child, Richard said, “I am horrified by the loss. It seems like an incredible chain of events as described by the police.” As he understands it, she had gone to a party and she and a friend went to get something from a car in the parking lot. Meghan was standing behind the car when a car suddenly entered the parking lot and struck her. Richard said, “As far as the driver, I can understand it was an accident, it was unintentional, and he panicked and bolted. If her body was in fact dragged by the car, why he didn’t stop? That to me … I cannot comprehend it. That is beyond my understanding. I can understand to a degree the accident. I cannot understand what he did when he drove away – the way her body was dragged through the street.” Faced with a situation that is every parent’s nightmare, Richard said, “The outpouring of support I’ve received from the Westover and Nonnewaug communities, from every continent on the globe, from people I know and people I’ve never met has given me strength.” Following the incident, Greenwich Police launched an investigation to locate the driver, posting a description of a red sedan that was low to the ground with chrome wheels and possible damage to the front air dam. The suspect vehicle had Connecticut license plates on the front and rear. The operator was described as a male with a light to medium complexion and dark, short hair wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a gold chain with a cross. Tracing pieces of the vehicle found at the scene, police determined it was a 2005-2010 Pontiac G6. On Monday, Dec. 30, a red 2006 Pontiac G6 matching that description returned to the William Street parking lot. Police interviewed the owner, who works at a restaurant in the area. He is 26-year-old Vyacheslav Cherepov, whose last know address was in Ridgefield, Conn. He was arrested and charged with Evading: Serious Physical Injury and was held on $500,000 bond. Lieutenant Kraig Gray of the Greenwich Police Department said, at Cherepov’s arraignment Monday, a charge of manslaughter was added to the earlier charge, and the bond was raised to $750,000. Unable to make bond, Cherepov was taken to the Bridgeport Correctional Center. He is to appear in Stamford Superior Court Monday, Jan. 6.
Middlebury Republican Town Committee Caucus What: When: Where: Note:
Election of committee members for 2014-2016 terms 7:30 p.m. Shepardson Community Center Proper identification will be required for voting purposes.
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Middlebury Democratic Town Committee Caucus What: Election of committee members for 2014-2016 terms When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Shepardson Community Center, Room 25
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