Volume 14, Number 46
Friday, November 15, 2019
www.southingtoncitizen.com
ELECTION 2019
State, federal issues cited in local GOP sweep By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Frustration with national politics, state taxes and possible highway tolls played a role in a sweeping Republican victory on Nov. 5, according to former and current politicians of both parties.
Republicans posted large signs throughout town saying Democrats shouldn’t take credit for recent low tax rates and that local Democrats had supported state tolls. Every Republican candidate won election night, keeping or gaining the maximum number of seats the
party is allowed by law on every board and commission. “The Republicans were wise tying the local election to the state issues,” said Cheryl Lounsbury, a Republican and former town councilor who’s worked on statewide campaigns. “The Republicans tied it to
the state and I think people are getting more and more upset with the state.” The tax on plastic bags is one of the small but noticeable tax increases that has angered some, Lounsbury said. It’s something people think See Election, A13
School board OK’s raises for non-union employees By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Ragged Mountain will host the second annual Run Ragged Trail Race, a “Last Man Standing” endurance event, next May 30. Participants run a 3.1-mile course every hour until only one runner is left.
This race will run you Ragged ‘Last Man Standing’ endurance event returning to Ragged Mountain for second edition next spring By Sean Krofssik Record-Journal staff
straddles the Southington and Berlin town line.
The Run Ragged Trail Race tests the human body to its limits and will return again for its second year in 2020.
Run Ragged is the only “Last Man Standing” event held in Connecticut. Participants run a technical 5K trail loop starting every hour on the hour. They have one hour to complete the 3.1-mile course. The cycle continues until there is one runner left.
The May 30 event will again be staged by the CT Trailmixers running club at Ragged Mountain, which
The 2019 winner was New Jersey’s Scott Snell. He won the event after 31 hours and just under 100 miles. There are three directors staging the event: Karen Prado of Wethersfield, Brian Roccapriore of Clinton and Stefan Rodriguez of Berlin. The CT Trailmixers, a nonprofit organization, began in 2015. The group holds two races a year at Southington’s Camp Sloper. On Nov. 24, the See Race, A2
The Board of Education unanimously approved raises for non-union employees and administrators, including Superintendent of Schools Tim Connellan, at its Oct. 24 meeting. The non-union employees will Connellan receive the salary increases in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2020. The raises for non-union employees follow a favorable performance review for Connellan by the board last month. He’ll receive a 2.5 percent increase for the 2020-21 fiscal year. His salary will rise from $200,000 to $205,000. See Raises, A13