Friday, March 19, 2021
www.towntimes.com
Volume 27, Number 12
‘Lakes’ bill moves forward
SPRING SPORTS
H.S. season is coming back in full
State Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams (D-Meriden, Middlefield, Rockfall, Middletown, Cheshire), state Rep. Michael D. Quinn (D-Meriden, Middlefield, Rockfall), and Amy Poturnicki, president of the Lake Beseck Association, applauded the Environment Committee's unanimous passage of House Bill (HB) 6384.
By Bryant Carpenter Record-Journal staff
CHESHIRE — The games are coming back in full and the masks, for the most part, are coming off. The CIAC released its COVID19 safety plan last Thursday for the upcoming spring season and there were no surprises. It reflects the improving landscape of the pandemic, the public health threat that still remains and the precautions that should continue to be taken to ensure a safe season. In the big picture, the plan released March 11 reads like a long-shuttered window being thrown open — apropos for a day that felt like spring. There will be a full spring 2021 season, complete with state tournaments. Also, athletes can go back to competing without masks so long as they’re playing outdoors — and so long as they want to. Masks in the spring season are optional. Outdoor athletes can wear them if they want to. They’re just not required. Not so for boys volleyball, the spring’s lone indoor sport. Like girls volleyball players in the fall and most athletes here in the winter season, boys volleyball players will be required to compete wearing masks. Whether indoors or outside, the CIAC is requiring masks to be worn at all times by coaches, players, officials, game workers, spectators and by athletes when they’re not in active competition. See CIAC, A12
The Pixellot automated camera in the Coginchaug High School gymnasium. Photos by Nadya Korytnikova
Automated cameras allow CRHS to broadcast events By Nadya Korytnikova Town Times
Streaming high school sports live isn’t new but it became a necessity thanks to COVID-19. When the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference released guidelines restricting the number of spectators at fall and winter sporting events, Coginchaug Regional High School had to grapple with the best way to proceed. During the fall season, the school’s athletic department utilized Facebook Live to broadcast sporting events. This winter the school joined the National Federation of State High School Associations, which provided Coginchaug with two Pixellot automated-production cameras. The Pixellot unit uses AI-powered algorithms and computer vision to track the ball without a human camera operator. The system can turn on and off by itself and is pre-programmed to cover events.
With the installation of Pixellot automated camera units, sporting events at the CRHS gymnasium and football field can be live streamed See Cameras, A14 without the help of human operators.
This piece of legislation, "An Act Concerning Aquatic Invasive Species Effects on Lakes and Related Funding," will require the commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to enter into an agreement with the town of Middlefield and the Lake Beseck Association regarding a schedule for annual water level drawdowns of Lake Beseck. "I am pleased the Environment Committee moved this legislation along unanimously," said Daugherty Abrams. "This intervention is needed to begin to rid the lake of harmful invasive species that can make Lake Beseck unsafe for native species and people who enjoy it. This collaboration among the town, commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and Lake Beseck Association will lead to a drawdown schedule that is best for the town, those who frequent and enjoy the lake, and ensures an even safer aquatic environment. I am grateful to have been able to work on getting this done with Amy Poturnicki and the Lake Beseck Association, whose commitment to the lake and our community are second-toSee Lakes, A20