Schools and Politics Dominated the Week

Heat wave suffocates the region

Greenwich wasn't spared by the weather system baking the Midwest and the Northeast.

Town and state officials have been issuing health advisories which continue through this weekend, and offering tips on how to cope with tropical-like heat and humidity.

On Wednesday, the town opened cooling centers including all four public libraries, the Bendheim Western Greenwich Civic Center and the Public Safety Complex, better known as police headquarters on Bruce Place.

The good news in all of this, there haven't been any major power outages the way the last heat wave caused thousands of residents to endure similar weather conditions in early June.

Interim schools chief named

Among the headline-making news in Greenwich last week, was the announcement that Roger Lulow has agreed to come out of semi-retirement and serve a one-year term as interim superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools.

In what may have been one of the shortest meetings ever, the Board of Education unanimously approved the appointment Tuesday. Lulow said he and his wife Anne, will relocate to a temporary residence, preferably in Greenwich before he starts his work Aug. 23. Since his retirement in 2002 as Greenwich schools chief, the couple has been living in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, where Lulow works as an educational consultant and at Ohio State University.

He will be  paid $230,000 for the year - the same salary as outgoing Superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund.

Greenwich GOP Endorses Slate

The only fanfare at the Greenwich Republican Town Committee nominating convention on Wednesday was who would be endorsed to run for the two available Board of Education seats.

The Executive Committee of the RTC recommended that the party break with tradition of putting forth two candidates for two seats and give voters a choice of four candidates: embattled incumbent Marianna Ponns Cohen and newcomers Barbara O'Neill, Anna Saras Povenelli and Peter von Braun. First Selectman Peter Tesei nominated a fifth candidate, Lisa Harkness, prompting a ballot vote by the RTC membership. Harkness lost in that vote.

The rest of the GOP slate was endorsed, including Tesei, Selectman David Theis and Town Clerk Carmella Budkins, who is seeking her 11th two-year term.

Town Democrats Endorse Their Candidates

On Thursday, the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee by acclamation, endorsed its slate of candidates.

This year, the Dems voted to challenge Republican incumbent Town Clerk Carmella Budkins. Steven Ng, a member of the Representative Town Meeting District 10, is challenging Budkins. And in a replay of their challenge two years ago, Bill Grad is running against Tod Laudonia for the tax collector post.

The DTC endorsed two newcomers for the two Board of Education seats - Jennifer Dayton and Adriana Ospina. Incumbent Selectman Drew Marzullo got the nod to seek a second term and John Blankley is at the top of the ticket, seeking to oust incumbent Peter Tesei.