This week, we go back to 1990!
The Top Five Songs in the U.S. this week were:
“Opposites Attract” – Paul Abdul
“Escapade” – Janet Jackson
“Dangerous” — Roxette
“All Or Nothing” – Milli Vanilli
“What Kind Of Man Would I Be?” – Chicago
The #1 song in the U.K. this week was “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor, which was originally written and sung by Prince.
Malcolm Forbes, a prominent American businessman and publisher who led Forbes magazine, died on Feb. 24, 1990 at age 70.
George Bush was president; Dan Quayle was vice-president.
The population of the U.S. was 249,438,712 and the average life expectancy was 75.4 years.
“Driving Miss Daisy” won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, becoming one of the most iconic songs of her career.
90s Grunge Fashion was all the rage, from ripped denim jeans and baggy tees to plaid shirts and crop tops.
Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping were indicted on five criminal counts related to the devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in Alaska in 1989. This landmark environmental legal case highlighted corporate accountability for ecological disasters.
Here is what was happening in our Valley, as stolen from the microfilm edition of The Evening Sentinel!
Saturday, Feb. 24, 1990
Ronald McDonald To Appear At Mall
ANSONIA – Ronald McDonald will appear at Ansonia Mall to introduce children to the benefits of oral hygiene at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Ronald McDonald Dental Health Show is designed as an informational celebration of February as the officials Dental Health Month.
All area children are invited to join in the free festivities that include a puppet show. An area McDonald’s representative will add to the celebration by handing out hats and gift certificates to children.
Board Studies Change In Class-Starting Time
DERBY – The Board of Education is considering a proposed change in the class starting times for the Derby Upper School.
A request from the upper school faculty was announced at a recent board meeting at Derby High School.
The proposal would allow school to begin at 8:07 a.m. and end at 2:10 p.m. Currently, students begin school at 9 a.m. and are dismissed at 3 p.m.
“Ordinarily, the idea would make a lot of sense with the upper school students going in before the elementary school students,” said Superintendent of Schools Nathan Chesler. “But there is a fly in the ointment. It would require adding a bus, van and fuel, which would cost about $60,000 more a year.”
City Hall To Close
DERBY – City Hall will be closed from 9 a.m. to noon Monday in respect for Fabio Lucarelli, Jr., City Hall custodian for more than 15 years, who died Friday.
School Activists Seek Budget Support
SEYMOUR – With the Board of Selectmen set to begin a review Monday of departmental budget requests for 1990-91, a parent group is drumming up support for the Board of Education’s proposed spending plan.
Parents for Action in Seymour Schools will circulate petitions this weekend asking townspeople to lend their signatures to an appeal to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance to leave the proposed school budget of $11.9 million intact.
The school board has asked for a $1.5 million increase in the $10 million budget with which it is currently operating.
Sunday, Feb. 25, 1990
No paper.
Monday, Feb. 26, 1990
Sunday Storm Leaves Behind 8 ½ Inches of Snow In Valley
VALLEY – Valley residents continued digging out today from a weekend snowstorm that blew into Connecticut carrying frigid temperatures and dumping up to 11 inches of snow on parts of the state.
The Valley received 8.5 inches of snow according to weather observer David Haversat of Oxford, who said there was a 65-degree drop in temperatures between Friday’s high of 65 and this morning’s low of zero.
“This is the coldest weather we’ve had since the decade began,” Haversat said.
Cemetery Vandalism
DERBY – Four more headstones on graves in Oak Cliff Cemetery were tipped over by vandals Wednesday. They were discovered by cemetery workers while doing routine maintenance.
Center To Open On Saturdays
DERBY – Edward J. Cotter Jr., chairman of the Board of Directors of the Derby Veterans Memorial Center, said today that the board had voted to have the center open on Saturday afternoons from noon to 4 p.m. on a trial basis.
“If enough interest is shown in using the facility that includes a pool, gymnasium and health room, it will be kept open on a permanent basis,” Cotter said.
Daddio Takes Second In Miami Auto Race
SEYMOUR – Mark Daddio returned to the Pro Solo race circuit earlier this month with a second- place finish in the season’s first race in Miami, Fla, Feb. 11.
He finished 1.5 seconds behind the winner. The second-place finish earned him $300. He could earn approximately $2,000 for a good year.
The second-place finish automatically puts him in second place in the national standings for the 1990 Pro Solo championship. In his first year he finished 23rd and last year he moved up to finish fifth.
Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1990
Ansonia Tax Board Ok’s $25.5M Budget
ANSONIA – In what many members called record time, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation approved a final $25.5 million city budget and a 1.5 mill tax increase Monday at a meeting in City Hall.
That total represents roughly $3 million more than last year’s budget or a 14 percent increase.
The mill rate was set at 54, compared to last year’s rate of 52.5. That means a taxpayer with a home assessed at $30,000 will pay $45 more this year.
The biggest chunk of the budget will go to the Board of Education, which will receive $12.5 million – $2.3 million more than last year.
City government will receive $1.1 million, $142,206 less than last year.
Rangers Targeted By Gunman During Osbornedale Stakeout
DERBY – Park rangers of the state Department of Environmental Protection who were on a stakeout in Osbornedale Park seeking deer poachers allegedly were fired on at about 9 p.m. Monday.
The park has a large population of deer and the DEEP has been receiving numerous reports of poaching and deerjacking. The rangers have been assigned to the park to apprehend suspects hunting illegally.
Poaching is hunting game out of season, while deerjacking is the practice of using spotlights or headlights to lure game into shooting range.
CD Radio Stolen
DERBY – A truck, owned by the Derby Feed Co., parked on Caroline Street, was broken into and a CD radio stolen Monday.
Seymourites Looking at 5 ½- Mill Tax Rise
SEYMOUR –With at least a 5.5 mill increase in the 40-mill tax rate looming as a strong possibility for 1990-91, the Board of Selectmen will scrutinize budget requests with a fine tooth comb when it continues its budget workshop today.
First Selectman Robert J. Koskelowski painted a bleak financial picture for the selectmen Monday at Town Hall as they began looking at budget proposals from departments that totaled about $3.5 million more than the current budget of $18 million.
Koskelowski told the board he would not be willing to support more than a 5.5 mill hike in addition to possibly the implementation of a sewer use tax that would fund the operational expenses of the Water Pollution Control Authority.
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 1990
Fees For Parking Head Up
ANSONIA – Motorists should be prepared to dig deeper into their pockets before they drop nickels and dimes into downtown parking meters or leave their cars in the municipal lot, officials warned this week.
The city’s Parking Authority recently approved a 400 percent rate increase on its parking meters – up from 5 cents to 25 cents per half hour – to cover the expense of increasing vandalism to the parking meters, Chairman Stephen Dzwonchyk said today.
It has also boosted fees in the municipal parking lot to $1.50 from $1 a day or for those who pay monthly to $13 from $10.
Grand List Rises 1.2 Percent in Derby; Lowest Since ‘84
DERBY – The city’s 1989 Grand List has gone up by just 1.2 percent – the lowest increase in five years.
Assessor Paul Dinice announced Tuesday the total assessed value of all taxable property jumped from $202,963,773 to $205,366,404, an increase of $2.4 million over 1988.
The relatively small boost follows a robust 6.8 percent gain last year and 5.5 and 3.3 percent rises during the previous two years.
A Familiar Face Watches Wildcats
SEYMOUR – There was a familiar face in the crowd at the Seymour-Watertown girls’ basketball game last night, although most of the people did not know who she was.
Tina Dragalin, Seymour’s all-time girls’ scoring leader, was attending her first Lady Wildcat basketball game since her own playing days in 1980.
Today, the attractive and statuesque former basketball star is a graphic designer for a Stamford firm and makes her home in Hamden. Still athletic, she confines herself to skiing and tennis and some “knock-around basketball.”
“My grandmother keeps me informed about the team,” Dragalin said. “But it really is the first Seymour game I’ve been to since I graduated. It certainly is good to see the home team win.”
5 Arrested In Seymour Drug Raid
SEYMOUR –Five persons were arrested on drug charges in a raid by Seymour police and the Valley Street Crime Unit at a South Main Street house at 8:03 p.m. Tuesday.
Four minor children, whose mother was among those charged, were taken into protective custody by agents of the state Department of Children and Youth Services.
Small amounts of cocaine, heroin and marijuana were seized by police along with a loaded pistol, ammunition and drug paraphernalia.