Volume 20, Number 1
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, May 15, 2015
Students accomplish incredible academic feat By Charles Kreutzkamp Town Times
A LifeStar helicopter leaves the scene with the injured hiker. | Middlefield Volunteer Fire Department
Middlefield volunteer firefighters aid Higby mountain rescue By Charles Kreutzkamp Town Times
Firefighters from Middlefield, Meriden, and Middletown trekked three miles to rescue an injured hiker from Higby Mountain May 10. The hiker was injured after falling about 30 feet off a rock face near the blue trail. Other hikers have been injured in the area several times over the years. “It took about two and a half hours,” said Middlefield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Peter Tyc. Tyc said that ATVs other fire departments brought in were crucial in both reaching and safely transporting the hiker as quickly as they did. He was located using a cell phone GPS. Once the hiker was able to be moved to a more open area, medical personnel arrived in a Life Star helicopter.
“We don’t know his condition,” Tyc said. When the fire department makes a rescue and gets a patient to the hospital “that’s the last we hear, usually.” The patient was conscious and alert when transported to the hospital, according to Meriden Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Dunn. “It was a real cooperative effort,” Tyc said, with the Middletown Westfield Fire Department collaborating with crews from Meriden and Middlefield. Dunn said it was “a very cumbersome, manpower-intensive job.” Dunn said Life Star was called “due to the mechanism of the injury and a long extrication time from the woods.” The hiker was safely transported to Hartford Hospital for treatment of leg and other injuries. Record Journal staff contributed to this report.
The Coginchaug Cephalopods have returned from the National Ocean Sciences Bowl for the second year in a row, placing 12th in the nation out of 23 teams participating in this year’s competition. Coach Lorrie Martin said it was a “remarkable feat for a small rural school district team which may not be repeated for a while.” Last year, the Cephalopods became the first Connecticut team to reach the national competition. The competition includes buzzer-style multiple choice toss-up questions, short answer questions, longer team challenge questions, and even a “Scientific Expert Briefing,” in which students play the role of experts offering congressional testimony to show them “the interconnections between science, policy and the pub-
Posing with their stuffed mascots, members of the Coginchaug Cephalopods: Amelia Bianchi, Ryan Gossart, Josh Dalo, Garrett Puchalski and Lydia D’Amato. lic,” according to an NOSB press release. The competition includes 368 teams nationwide, including some from “exclusive Marine Science Schools, Private Schools for the Gifted and in general, much larger institutions,” Martin said.
Team captains and Amelia Bianchi and Ryan Gossart are veterans of last year’s competition, when the Cephalopods competed in Seattle, Washington and achieved 10th place. This year’s new team members See Cephalopods / Page 11
Willett wins BOE seat in close vote By Mark Dionne
Town Times
At Durham’s Annual Budget Meeting on May 11, Francis Willett won a three year term on the Board of Education over incumbent Eileen Buckheit by a close vote of paper ballots. The final tally, 105-90, reflected how well-attended the Annual Budget Meeting
was and the depth of support enjoyed by both Willett and Buckheit. By town charter, BOE candidates are elected at town meetings instead of on election day resulting in shorter campaigns and also elections based on fewer voters. In a statement after the election, Buckheit said, “I enjoyed my time on the board and I am proud of my con-
tribution over the past three years. We made great strides in the right direction.” In her speech to the meeting accepting the nomination, Buckheit stressed her time on the board. The Sandy Hook tragedy happened just a few months into her term, Buckheit said, focusing the BOE on safety See Willett / Page 4