cheshirecitizen.com
Volume 7, Number 1
Youth vaping discussed at forum
PRIME PICKIN’
By Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Committee to study modernizing, closing of school buildings By Michael Gagne Record-Journal staff
Callie Fritz, a senior at Cheshire High School, didn’t use the word vaping to describe the use of electronic nicotine products during a forum at Town Hall.
More than 30 residents are interested in joining a new study group charged with developing a plan for modernizing the town’s school buildings.
She used the word “JUULing,” a reference to a popular maker of those devices.
The committee is tasked with presenting a school facilities plan to the Town Council and Board of Education by Sept. 15, 2020.
Fritz was speaking on a panel that included state Sen. Mary Abrams, DMeriden, state Rep. Liz Linehan, DCheshire, state Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Commissioner Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, and other state and local officials.
The committee would consist of 11 members — three of them from the Town Council, three from the Board of Education and five representatives from the public.
“As someone who has tried to intervene, we need to focus on helping and not shaming them,” Fritz said during the Oct. 10 event.
The Town Council last month approved a resolution to form the committee by an 8 to 1 vote. Thomas Ruocco cast the lone opposing vote.
Abrams, who serves as co-chair of the legislature’s Public Health Committee, referenced reports of suspected vaping-related lung illnesses, which have included some deaths.
Councilor Sylvia Nichols said she was delighted so many people are interested in joining.
See Vaping, A3
Karen Goldblatt, of Wilmington, Massachusetts, reaches for an Empire apple Friday while spending time with her sister, Amy Young, of Cheshire, at Hickory Hill Orchards, 351 S. Meriden Road, Cheshire. Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
“That shows it’s an issue we need to pay attention to,” Nichols said, adding See Schools, A2
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