Work is scheduled to begin tomorrow on the long-vacant Southern New England Telephone (SNET) building adjacent to the Waterbury branch of Metro-North Railroad.

The demolition and redevelopment comes after years of discussions between the City of Waterbury and the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Funded by state bonding, the building at 333 Meadow Street will be demolished beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday March 19, 2014. Once the building is demolished the site will be leveled with the adjacent rail parking area.

Starting in the fall, the site will be redeveloped into a landscaped parking area adding an additional 50 parking spaces. Renovations will be done to the baggage area within the Waterbury Republican American Newspaper Building which will create restrooms and additional ridership amenities.

Three Stamford non-profit organizations have been selected as recipients of grant awards as part of the state’s Nonprofit Grant Program.

• Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut —$72,582 has been awarded for security and other improvements.
• Inspirica, Inc.—A combined total of $620,000 has been awarded, including $300,000 for a generator at the organization’s Franklin Common location, $170,000 for improvements and $150,000 for safety upgrades.
• Shelter for the Homeless—$153,000 has been awarded for shelter improvements.

The Stamford grants were announced along with others awarded to similar organizations across the state. A full list of all the grants can be viewed here.

Manchester Mayor Leo V. Diana has been nominated to be a Superior Court judge.

Mayor Diana’s appointment is subject to legislative confirmation.

Mayor Diana is married and has four children. He graduated from Manchester High School in 1979, received his Bachelor’s Degree from UConn in 1983 and his Juris Doctorate from the Western New England College School of Law in 1988.

Mayor Diana has served on a number of professional associations, including the Collaborative Divorce Professionals, Hartford County Bar Association Family Law Committee Chair, Academy for Child Advocacy, Connecticut Counsel for Divorce Mediation, and Collaborative Divorce Lawyer Association.

Mayor Diana has also served as Associate Treasurer of the Manchester Road Race, on the Odyssey Community School Board of Directors, with the Lutz Children’s Museum, and the Manchester Jaycees.

The General Law Committee, has passed of four bills designed to protect the rights and privacy of Connecticut Consumers. The legislation is intended to strengthen CT’s “Do Not Call List”, properly identify home improvement contractors, protect the privacy rights of consumers and increase transparency in debit card transactions.

The bills are a part of a larger consumer protection push in this legislative session including:

• Senate Bill 209, An Act Prohibiting Unsolicited Commercial Text Messages and Increasing Penalties for Violations of the Do Not Call Registry. This bill raises fines from the current level of $11,000 to $20,000, and establishes a system to increase consumers’ awareness of how and where to make complaints of violations by displaying complaint procedures on phone bills.
• Senate Bill 207, An Act Requiring Home Improvement Contractors and Salesmen to Obtain and Display Identification Badges. Some people unlawfully provide home improvement contract services in the state without proper registration, putting those contractors who play by the rules at a disadvantage. This bill will require a Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) issued identification badge to be worn at all times while on the job. The badge will have a picture, the name of the business, and a DCP registration number. The badges will protect consumers by ensuring that, if anything should go wrong on a project, the contractor can be tracked down using the state registration number issued by DCP.
• Senate Bill 208, An Act Concerning Pharmacy Rewards Programs and Protected Health Information. Several pharmacies offer prescription drug discount programs which can be attractive to consumers such as seniors facing high prescription drug costs. Consumers do not realize that when they sign up for these programs they are often allowing the pharmacy access to a customer’s health history and the right to sell a customer’s personal health information for marketing and other purposes. This bill will require pharmacies to clearly define in layman’s terms—on webpages and other promotional materials—the privacy rights a consumer is giving away by enrolling in the program. This will ensure that customers know what they are signing away when they sign up.
• House Bill 5259, An Act Concerning The Use of Debit Cards for Gasoline Purchases. Gas stations often offer a discounted price for payment with cash versus credit cards. However, these retailers do not always make it clear to consumers whether the use of a debit card is treated by the retailer as a cash or credit purchase. Many gas stations treat debit cards as credit cards, under the theory that debit card transactions result in fees. Consumers who are unaware of this think they are receiving the cash price and are unknowingly being charged a higher price per gallon. This bill will require that the policy regarding debit cards be clearly posted on the gas pump of stations that offer cash discounts, increasing transparency for consumers.

The bills now head to the Senate and House Floors for a vote or referral.

Norwalk Community College (NCC) has established a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

NCC has become one of the first academic institutions in the state to implement the VA’s Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership (VITAL) program on campus for students who are veterans.

Norwalk Community College has fully implemented the program, including comprehensive outreach to the entire student body and faculty, including:

• Training college faculty on military culture
• Coordinating with Student Veterans of America and other student veteran organizations
• Assisting campuses with the creation of support programs
• Providing onsite mental-health counseling
• Case management and enrollment into VA programs
• Educating veterans on benefits available to them.

VITAL aims to help veterans succeed in college by informing them of VA benefits, programs and resources. Its mission is to provide world-class healthcare and improve the overall mental health of student veterans, while supporting their successful integration into college and university campuses through seamless access to VA healthcare services and on-campus clinical counseling.

Dora Schriro has been confirmed as the Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP).

Commissioner Schriro was confirmed on a 31-4 Senate vote. Dr. Schriro previously served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, a position that she held since 2009, having been appointed by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

She earned a JD from St. Louis University, an EdD from Columbia University, a MS from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and a BA cum laude from Northeastern University. She has taught graduate level courses in law and criminal justice and published in the areas of correction and immigration innovation and systems reform throughout her career.

A bill is moving its way through the legislature with the intent of giving municipal leaders the ability to best secure the safety and wellbeing of their towns’ families. The legislation, aimed at protecting families from registered sexual offenders, was the subject of a recent public hearing by the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 432 will require the state’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to provide notice to the chief executive officer of a municipality upon the release of a registered sexual offender into such municipality.

This is particularly important in situations where a sexual offender is released into a neighborhood where young children reside. The bill would give the municipal Mayor or Selectperson discretion to inform residents of the neighborhood so that parents could take appropriate actions with respect to the safety of their children.

A recent situation in which the bill would have been relevant occurred in the Town of Woodbridge where a Group Home is home to two sex offenders. One of the offenders was convicted of four felony sex offense crimes, two of which involved young girls age 5 and 7. The other offender was convicted of two felony crimes involving sexual assault of a child.

Within 2 blocks of the Group Home live families with 28-30 children, ranging in age from 1 to 17. School-age children get on and off the bus mornings and afternoons and walk to their homes.

The bus stop for one of the children was located directly in front of the Group Home. It was relocated at the request of the parent once he learned of the residents of the Home. However, it was several years before the parents learned this information and were able to take appropriate action.

This legislation would have made a difference by giving the municipal Mayor or Selectperson the information necessary to inform families of the situation, and better secure the safety of these children.

A Michigan developer plans to open a 350,000-square-foot outlet center at Rentschler Field in 2016.

According to a news report, developer Horizon Group Properties predicts the center will create 1,200 jobs and generate $130 million in annual sales, $1.2 million in annual property taxes and $8.2 million in annual sales taxes.

The legislature had years earlier set aside about $10 million for roads and bridges and other infrastructure work. The intent then was to turn the abandoned airfield into a sports and retail venue.

The project still must receive the support of the East Hartford Town Council.

Claims can now be filed to recover money due to federal court preliminary approval of multistate antitrust settlements worth $310 million with all the major manufacturers of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) computer chips for conspiring to fix their prices.  

Eligible consumers include those who paid more for DRAM or for the many electronic devices that contain DRAM. DRAM is a common form of memory chip found in computers and other high-technology devices.   

After completing an investigation in 2006, Connecticut, along with other states, settled allegations with major DRAM producers Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Winbond Electronics Co. that consumers over-paid for electronic devices containing DRAM for their purchases made from 1998 to 2002.

Other settlements with major DRAM manufacturers followed, all of which have now been initially approved by a federal district court in San Francisco. 

The settlements, reached in conjunction with a number of class-action lawsuits filed, pay individuals and businesses that purchased DRAM or devices containing DRAM in the United States during 1998 to 2002 from businesses other than a DRAM manufacturer, such as retailers like Best Buy or Staples.

The settlements also require the DRAM manufacturers to implement antitrust compliance programs and enjoin them from certain conduct related to the sale of DRAM that would violate antitrust laws.

To receive money from the settlement, eligible consumers need to submit a claim form by August 1, 2014, with the settlements’ administrator.  The amount of money received depends on the type and quantity of electronic devices a claimant has purchased and the total number of claims made.

Individuals who purchased DRAM or products containing DRAM are expected to get a minimum $10 payment and may end up receiving up to the amount of the overpayment they actually made due to the alleged price fixing. To file a claim, visit www.DRAMclaims.com or call 1-800-589-1425. 

Any consumer who purchased one or more of the following products between 1998 and 2002 is eligible to make a claim:

•    Desktop computers,
•    Laptop computers,
•    Computer servers,
•    Computer graphics cards,
•    Printers,
•    Video game consoles,
•    MP3 players,
•    PDAs,
•    DVD players, and
•    Digital video recorders. 

If you purchased other technology devices also containing DRAM memory, you also may be eligible to make a claim.

Any payments resulting from the settlement cannot be made until the court has granted final approval to the settlements, including the resolution of any appeals. It is anticipated that final approval will occur within the next few years. Also, if too many or few claims are received, the court may order that the settlement funds be provided to public or non-profit organizations in addition to or instead of consumers who file claims.

For more information about the settlements, visit www.DRAMclaims.com or call 1-800-589-1425.

Connecticut’s real estate conveyance tax collected has receipts are running 71 percent above the same period last fiscal year. This is due to a strong housing market. 

According to a report from Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, there were 28,058 single family home sales in Connecticut in 2013, 12.3 percent higher than the number of sales in 2012 and totaling $11.4 billion in sales volume, one of the best years since 2006.

At the same time, condominium closings totaled 7,174 up 19.8 percent. Growth in home sales was strongest in Fairfield, Litchfield, Hartford, Windham and New London Counties.

However the median price increased 2.8 percent to $255,000 for single family properties and up 3.4 percent to $167,000 for condominiums. New Haven County median prices grew the most with a 4.3 percent change in single families and Litchfield grew 17 percent
in condominiums.