Middletown Talks: Coyote Hunter Debate, Gaudet School Weapon Scare, Proposed Tax Hike

"At age 4, we get a daily dose of funny comments from our son who rarely stops talking, but one of our favorites was when my husband said to him, 'I don't understand what you're saying half the time.' My son looked at me very seriously and said, 'Mom, tell Daddy what I'm saying half the time.'" Sarah, mother of two toddlers who shared one of her most memorable funny kids quotes as part of this week's Moms Talk Contest for parents to share their funny quotes.

“I worry that fear and ignorance is creating a vigilante reaction.” Newport resident Shana Gaines, who presented a petition to the Middletown Town Council Monday night in hopes of stopping the town’s hiring of a coyote hunter.

To see what more Middletowners had to say on both sides of the coyote hunt debate this week, see the videos in the image gallery at right or click here for the complete article.

"He wasn't home at 2:30 so the red flags went up...It's a scary situation when any parent hears that." Ron Smith, a father of a Gaudet Middle School student who was among the many parents who waited outside for children to be dismissed for nearly two hours following a school lockdown on Thursday after school officials and police received a "credible report of a weapon" in the school.

“We’re contractually obligated by the charter by changes that have been made over the last 30 years. ..If we don’t do something, we’re going to have a complete revolt in the next two or four years. This year we’re talking about a $3.1 million shortfall...Whether you like it or not, your government is going to change." Middletown Councilor Ed Silveira said, explaining why town officials want to ask 2012 voters to approve Town Charter changes that would give the Town Council final School Department contract ratification authority, if passed. The council has not yet approved the ballot measure.

“You are reducing the school committee to a chairing department.” Elizabeth Bozyan, a town resident and former charter commission member, who maintained that the school committee should be able to negotiate its own contracts.

“I want to ensure that the people that have the expertise in education are making these decisions. All of that is part of the collective bargaining process.” School Committee Vice Chairperson Theresa Silveira Spengler.

"I knew very little about what was happening in Rwanda at the time, but after seeing the film, I decided to educate mysel...When I heard what was happening in Darfur, I knew I couldn’t be silent anymore.” Sandra Hammel, retired music teacher and activist, who is trying to raise awareness about the Darfur genocide, has been selected to show her film this Friday at the Compassion Film Festival.

“This is the first year we've done this. We really wanted to extend the opportunity for people to learn about compassion...We selected nine short flms...It’s really a nice collection on films about compassion." Michele Banks, the administrator of Day Services at Looking Upwards, which sponsored a Compassion Film Festival Friday night at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport.

“We need to make sure we play every game, every inning as if it's a zero-zero score. We live for every pitch, every 'at bat.' If I can get them to put this game in the books and refocus for every game. From here on I'll tell them our record is 0-0.  We need to focus on our next opponent." Middletown High School's new girls softball team head coach Robin Ramey, who took some time to answer a few questions after back-to-back wins against Rogers and Portsmouth this week.

“The great recession does not appear to be followed by a great recovery, at least not in the foreseeable future...So what we’re left with is two things: One is having to reconcile the economic realities that were somewhat masked by the federal stimulus package, and the second is that there’s a responsibility to contain the expenditures and growth over the next two years.” Middletown Town Administrator Shawn Brown, upon presenting his proposed town budget to the Town Council this week that calls for a 3.14 percent tax increase to help make up for the foreseen $3.1 million structural deficit for Fiscal Year 2012.

“We are negotiating with all of our unions. Everyone is working together to address this, including reopening some contracts.” Lynne Dible, Middletown's finance director on Tuesday, about efforts in every town department to help cut spending to close the $3.1 million budget gap this year.