Madison News Roundup

Madison resident James Byrne, an attorney accused of phoning in a bomb threat on Sept. 12 during a Republican Town Committee fundraiser attended by GOP senate candidate Linda McMahon, is seeking accelerated rehabilitation in Superior Court.

Byrne, 70, of 34 Hotchkiss Lane, was charged with first-degree threatening, falsely reporting an incident, and breach of peace. Police say that at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 12 a call was received by Madison police from a man with a New York accent. The caller stated “Yes, there’s a bomb about to go off at five five four Boston Post Road,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Police went to the address, the home of Tom and Eileen Banisch, and evacuated attendees at the Republican Town Committee fundraiser, including McMahon.

Police later traced the call to a pay phone in the vestibule of the Walmart in Guilford. They obtained surveillance tape from the store which showed a man identified as Byrne arriving at the store and putting on gloves as he approached the pay phone. The man pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and placed a call. The man left after about 3 minutes and the surveillance footage showed him leaving the parking lot in a silver Toyota Rav 4.

Byrne’s attorney, Hugh Keefe, has filed a motion requesting accelerate rehabilitation. Accelerated rehabilitation in Connecticut is a program for people accused of crimes “not of a serious nature. ” The court has discretion whether to allow a defendant to use the program and the court must believe that the defendant will probably not offend in the future. Under current law, a person is ineligible if he (1) was previously convicted of a crime or certain motor vehicle violations; (2) used the program before; (3) has been adjudged a youthful offender during the past five years; (4) has been charged with certain drug offenses and is eligible for the pretrial drug education program or has had that program invoked in his favor before; (5) has been charged with a family violence crime and is eligible for the pretrial family education program or has had that program invoked in his favor before; or (6) has been charged with certain serious offenses.

Byrne, who practices law in Hartford, is scheduled to appear in Superior Court Jan. 11, at which time a judge is expected to decide on his request for accelerated rehabilitation. The court can place the applicant on probation for up to two years. After successful completion, the charges can be dropped and there will be no conviction record.

Madison GOP Town Committee Chairman Tom Banisch is opposed to Byrne’s request and said he will raise his objections in court.

There will be a powder puff football game at 6 p.m. this evening (Tuesday, Nov. 23) between Daniel Hand High School Seniors and Juniors.

The game will be held on the DHHS turf field.

Admission is $1, and all proceeds go to Heifer International. If you have any questions, please email Dan Zittoun, assistant principal, at zittound@madison.k12.ct.us .

In the hopes of building a healthier community, the Madison Alcohol and Drug Education Coalition (M.A.D.E. in Madison) wants to understand more about adult perceptions and attitudes toward the use of alcohol and other substances by youths under age 21. M.A.D.E. is asking all adults in the community to complete an anonymous survey. Click the link below or visit madeinmadison.org, or the Town or library websites to take this online 10-minute community survey. Take this opportunity to add your input to the work of the coalition on behalf of our community. The survey will be accessible until Jan. 9, 2011.

Take the Madison Community Survey 2010.

Yale University Professor Carlos Eire will be at R.J. Julia at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, signing copies of his new book, Learning to Die in Miami.  Tickets for the event are $5, which may be used toward the purchase of the book.

In his 2003 National Book Award–winning memoir Waiting for Snow in Havana, Eire narrated his coming of age in Cuba just before and during the Castro revolution. That book literally ends in midair as 11-year-old Carlos and his older brother leave Havana on an airplane—along with thousands of other children—to begin their new life in Miami in 1962. Learning to Die in Miami opens as the plane lands and Carlos faces, with trepidation and excitement, his new life. He quickly realizes that in order for his new American self to emerge, his Cuban self must “die.” And so, with great enterprise and purpose, he begins his journey.We follow Carlos as he adjusts to life in his new home. Faced with learning English, attending American schools, and an uncertain future, young Carlos confronts the age-old immigrant’s plight: being surrounded by American bounty, but not able to partake right away.

Music at the Meetinghouse will present pianist Thomas Pandolfi who will be playing an all-Gershwin performance on the 1875 Steinway Grand piano in the sanctuary of the Madison First Congregational Church at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Pandolfi has performed all over the world and is considered a leading interpreter of the works of George Gershwin.  Pieces will include a medley of favorites such as “I’ve Got Rhythm” and “Embraceable You” as well as Gershwin’s signature “Rhapsody in Blue.”  There is a $15 recommended donation. For more information on this event and other Music at the Meetinghouse concerts, please call (203) 245-2739, ext. 12.

Bestselling novelist Adriana Trigiani learned about hard work, marriage, money, and moxie from her two Italian grandmothers Lucia and Viola. She shares these lessons at 7 p.m. tonight at R.J. Julia discussing her book Don’t Sing at the Table. Tickets for this event are $5, which may be used toward the purchase of the book.

The morning of November 8 proved to be something of a wake-up call for school officials when winter reared its ugly head earlier than anticipated. In response, the Madison Public Schools System has outlined its procedures for announcing school closings and school opening delays.

School Closings
When schools are closed due to inclement weather, all school and community activities are cancelled. The Town of Madison Beach and Recreation Before/After School Program is also cancelled.

Delayed Opening
For safety reasons, schools may open 90 minutes late, and all operations, including school bus transportation, are delayed by 90 minutes from the regular schedule. On November 8th residents received an uncharacteristic, early morning automated telephone message regarding the 90 minute delay through School Messenger because the weather conditions were completely unexpected and very premature. The notification of school delays is routinely communicated by local television news channels, local radio stations, Channel 19 (Comcast Cable System), and Infoline – soon to be e-Notify – messages. When school is delayed 90 minutes, the morning kindergarten and preschool programs will be cancelled and the afternoon kindergarten and preschool programs will begin at the regular time. The Town of Madison Beach and Recreation Before School Program follows the school district’s 90 minute delayed opening schedule.

Early Closing
In the event of an early school closing due to inclement weather, residents will receive an automated telephone message through School Messenger and an e-mail message via the district and school Infolines. (Note: the Infoline system will be replaced by e-Notify on November 24.) Please make sure that the schools have your correct telephone number on file. Early school closing announcements will be made by 10:00 a.m. and afternoon kindergarten and preschool programs will be cancelled. All afternoon and evening school and community activities are cancelled on days when school is closed early due to inclement weather. The Town of Madison Beach and Recreation After School Program is also cancelled when schools are closed early due to inclement weather.

Afternoon and Evening Activities Cancelled
When there has been a full day of school and the weather is expected to become more severe in the late afternoon/early evening the school system may, for safety reasons, cancel all school and community after school and evening activities. The Town of Madison Beach and Recreation After School Program will follow its regular schedule.

Where to get information if the school day is altered:

• Check the district website:  www.madison.k12.ct.us
• Sign up for e-notify through the district website – we will email you and alert you to a change in our school day
• View Channel 19 Madison Educational Access TV on the Comcast Cable System
• View local television news channels:  WTNH 8, NBC 30, WFSB 3,
• Listen to radio stations:  CBS, WTIC 1080AM, WTIC 96.5 FM, WRCH 100.5 FM, WRCH 100.5 FM, WZMX 93.7 FM, WELI 960 AM, WKCI 101.3 FM, WPLR 99.1 FM, WDRC 102.9 FM, WDRC 1360 AM

e-Notify
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve school/community communications, the Madison Public Schools Infoline system is being upgraded to e-Notify on November 24. Sign up at www.madison.k12.ct.us to be sure to receive district notices, school notices, calendar reminders and event changes. The district will discontinue sending messages via the Infoline system on November 24.

Fence Creek at flood tide / Chris Kilbourne, InsideMadison

This is the second entry in our new feature, Madison, CT Photo of the Week. This week’s photo was taken in July 2009 by InsideMadison’s Chris Kilbourne. You can see more of his Madison photos in our Photo Galleries. We invite our readers to submit their own photos for possible selection as an upcoming Photo of the Week. We ask that you please follow these simple rules:

• Send your photos as an email attachment to mail@insidemadison.com.
• All photos should be of places and/or people in Madison, CT, and should be accompanied by the name of the photographer (for credit purposes), and a description of what is in the photo (and the date when the photo was taken, if possible).
• Not all photo submissions will be published. We will try to publish as many as possible. We will send you an email if your photo is published so you can encourage your friends and family to view it.
• By submitting a photo you give InsideMadison permission to publish the photo. You retain ownership of the photo but you grant InsideMadison the right to use it on the website, including for possible promotional purposes.
• Limit your submissions to no more than 3 photos per week.
• Don’t submit the same photo more than once. The more you personalize your photo’s description, the better.
• Don’t submit copyrighted material, and only submit photos that you took yourself or have permission to submit.

Dali's Folle folle folle Minerva is at the center of a lawsuit involving Crespo and a Long Island gallery owner.

The owner of a Madison, CT art gallery that was searched by federal authorities Friday told the New Haven Register that he is working with federal authorities in an investigation into art fraud.

Brandon Gallery owner David Crespo told the Register that he is cooperating in the investigation, which sources on Friday said has been going on for about 6 months, and that he has been told he is not a target of the investigation.

The sight federal and local authorities swarming the Gallery at 759 Boston Post Road was the talk of the town on Friday.

Crespo has been embroiled in a lawsuit with a Long Island art gallery owner over the rightful ownership of a Salvador Dali mixed media piece, “Folle Folle Folle Minerva,” which was auctioned by Sotheby’s in February for about $220,000, the Register reported.

Crespo told the newspaper that artwork removed from his gallery by authorities on Friday included pieces by Picasso, Dali, Chagal and Miro.

Daniel Hand High School student Brian Nee lost his life in a car accident 25 years ago. In the wake of that tragedy, a scholarship fund was created to honor Brian’s character and the tremendous impact he made during his short life. The award is presented each year to a graduating DHHS senior. In addition, a sportsmanship award is given to a DHHS freshman lacrosse player in Brian’s name.

The family has been able to keep the scholarship going for 25 years without any additional fundraising. This coming Saturday (Nov. 20), there will be a one-time fundraiser with the aim of raising enough money to keep the scholarship going another 25 years.

The Nee family will host a dinner/dance from 6-11 p.m. Saturday at the Clinton Country Club. Tickets cost $75 per person and include:

• Hors d’oeuvres
• Buffet Dinner
• Live Music by local band Hit Play
• Chances to Win Great Prizes via Raffle and Auction

All are invited to attend an evening of great food, great company, and great music. For tickets, please contact MaryBeth Nee Hughes at bpneememorial@yahoo.com.