Vayer case to go to mediation

WINSTED — At the Board of Selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, Feb. 21, Town Manager Dale Martin announced that former Town Manager Paul Vayer’s discrimination complaint against the town will be going to a mandatory mediation meeting July 12.Martin said the state’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities would likely retain the case for a full investigation.Martin did not make any further comments about the case at the meeting.Vayer, who served as a town manager during the 1990s, later served as an interim town manager starting on Jan. 3, 2011.He applied for the full-time town manager position but was passed over by the Board of Selectmen, which preferred Martin. Martin started working for the town on March 10, 2011.Vayer filed his complaint with the state’s Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities in late August.According to the complaint, which was obtained by The Winsted Journal, Vayer alleges that he was not hired for the permanent town manager position because of his age, race/ethnicity and/or physical disability. Vayer is 64, white, has undergone heart surgery and is hearing-impaired.

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Water main cleaning in North Canaan

NORTH CANAAN – Aquarion Water Company today announced a water main cleaning project in the company’s North Canaan system. The project is scheduled to take place from Monday, April 1 through Tuesday, April 16, and is being undertaken to ensure customers in North Canaan continue to receive the highest quality water.

The cleaning for April 1 and April 4 (subject to change) will take place on the following streets:

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Tuning up two passions under one roof

The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.

Natalia Zukerman

Magic Fluke Ukulele Shop and True Wheels Bicycle Shop are not only under the same roof in a beautiful solar powered building on Route 7 in Sheffield, but they are also both run by the Webb family, telling a tale of familial passion, innovation and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.

In the late ‘90s, Dale Webb was working in engineering and product design at a corporate job. “I took up instrument manufacturing as a fun challenge,” said Dale. After an exhibit at The National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, California, in 1999, The Magic Fluke company was born. “We were casting finger boards and gluing these things together in our basement in New Hartford and it just took off,” Dale explained. “It was really a wild ride, it kind of had a life of its own.”

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Robert Cray’s soulful blues coming to Infinity Hall

Robert Cray

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Blues legend Robert Cray will be bringing his stinging, funky guitar and soulful singing to Infinity Hall Norfolk on Friday, March 29.

A five-time Grammy winner, Cray has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and earned The Americana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance. He has played with blues and rock icons including Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and many more.

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