1. Sequester’s effects felt in state
Sunday,
now
with
only 23
hours
By Kevin Fagan
Don’t be surprised if you’re act-
ing a tad wacky Sunday. You’ll
have plenty of company.
Blame it on daylight-saving time.
Losing that one measly hour
when the clock lurches forward
from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. every spring
knocks so many people off their
natural rhythms that some have
gotten into the shower with their
underpants on, put soap in the
baby’s bottle or tossed their pay-
checks in the trash, according to a
new poll.
Others reported putting their
clothes on inside-out or going to
the ATM to order chow.
Overall, 61 percent of Ameri-
cans say they significantly feel
the effects of losing that hour of
sleep, and 40 percent say it will
take them at least a full week to get
back to normal, according to the
survey of 1,038 adults released this
week by the Better Sleep Council.
Digital artist Byron Lobos, 42,
feels the pain with disdain.
“I hate the time shift!” he com-
plained as he strolled up San
Francisco’s Market Street with
his friend Chrissy Linn. “It’s great
when you get that hour back in the
fall, but so terrible to lose it.
By Bill Cummings
HARTFORD — A trio of fed-
eral lawmakers on Friday said the
sequestration process could take a
big bite out of the $60.4 billion ap-
proved to help victims of last year’s
devastating Superstorm Sandy.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-
Conn., said across-the-board cuts
required by the fiscal stalemate in
Washington could remove billions
from a bill approved in January to
aid Sandy victims and help Con-
necticut, New Jersey and New
York harden infrastructure.
“When disasters hit, families
deserve federal disaster money,”
DeLauro said. “Sandy is when we
apply this contract of citizenship.”
DeLauro said Republican lead-
ers want to apply a 5 percent cut to
disaster relief, the same percentage
being applied to federal spending
under the sequestration order.
“With a 5 percent cut, we won’t be
able to do everything necessary to
rebuild the Jersey shore,” said U.S.
Rep. Frank Pallone, of New Jersey.
But Bill Wilson, president of
Americans for Limited Govern-
ment, said Sandy relief money was
protected by Congress.
Rep. DeLauro: GOP pushing for 5% cut
to Superstorm Sandy disaster relief bill
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Classified..........................B5-6
Comics....................................B9
Nation/World....................... A7
Obituaries..............................A4
Opinion...................................A6
Lottery....................................A5
Movies/TV ............................ B7
Clear.
High: 47. Low: 29
Page A8
WEATHERINDEX VOL. 183, NO. 335
2 sections
18 pages
© 2013 Southern
Connecticut
Newspapers Inc.
www.StamfordAdvocate.com | Early Sunday, March 10, 2013 | Since 1829 | $2.00
We want to know
where you stand
Gun control: Last week, The
Advocate asked southwestern
Connecticut legislators where they
stand on gun control proposals in
the wake of the Sandy Hook mas-
sacre. Most respondents backed
universal background checks for
gun buyers, while mainly urban
elected officials supported ex-
panding the state’s list of banned
semi-automatic rifles. Where
do you stand? Let us — and the
General Assembly in Hartford
— know by taking our poll. Visit
stamfordadvocate.com and tell
us what you think.
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Coming Sunday
Fear factor: The “million moms
for gun control” groups started
out cautiously, afraid of the criti-
cism and threats they were getting
from some gun rights advocates.
Emboldened by the turnout at last
month’s March for Change in Hart-
ford, they are afraid no longer.
Budget buster: Given the
structural constraints of pen-
sions and other post-employment
benefits that make up a major
chunk of the city’s budget, there’s
actually very little wiggle room
for the mayor to launch any major
initiatives unless there are signifi-
cant layoffs.
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Daylight-savingtime
Reminder: Daylight-saving
time begins Sunday at 2 a.m. Don’t
forget to turn your clocks ahead
one hour before turning in.
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DAYLIGHT-SAVING
Snow day
cuts into
April break
By Maggie Gordon
STAMFORD — Students and
teachers will lose the Friday
of April vacation as a result of
school’s cancellation on Friday.
The snow day was the seventh
one recorded this school year,
and the first since Superstorm
Sandy blew through the region in
October and November. While Su-
perintendent of Schools Winifred
Hamilton was able to troubleshoot
earlier this year, carving out an
extra day of classes from the previ-
ously reserved day-off on Veterans
Day, all the flexibility is now gone,
she said Friday.
“This would be the 180th day
of school, and we will make it up
on the last day of April vacation,”
Hamilton said Friday morning,
noting that she has no more tricks
up her sleeve to avoid reinstating
classes on Friday, April 19.
The school calendar for the
2012-13 academic year allowed for
a total of four built-in inclement
weather days, which the district
used on the four days between
Oct. 29 and Nov. 1, 2012.
SAY IT AIN’T SNOW
Lindsay Perry/Staff photographer
Willow Gray, 2, and her mother, Alissa, play in the snow outside their Stamford home on Friday. Below, sledders slide down a hill at
Cummings Park in Stamford.
By Linda Conner Lambeck
HARTFORD — The federal
budget standoff that has forced ev-
eryone to learn what the word se-
questration means will force cuts
in special education, remedial edu-
cation and other programs tied to
the state’s most vulnerable popula-
tion, Commissioner of Education
Stefan Pryor warned this week.
Pryor said at least 15 education
grants stand to lose about 4.5 per-
cent of funding, with most of the
impact starting in 2013-14.
“Wearestilldecipheringit.We
arestillgettinginformation.Notallof
theinformationisconsistent,”Pryor
toldthestateBoardofEducation.
Education Commissioner Pryor says
15 school grants to be cut by 4.5%
UConn
Kevin Duffy: The Big East
that we’ve known for 34 years is
no more. The inevitable breakup
became official Friday morning,
the two sides, the Catholic Seven
and soon-to-be renamed Big East,
reaching an agreement. But the
doom and gloom is getting old. A2
Business
236,000 jobs added: Job
growth surged in the U.S. last
month as the unemployment rate
hit a four-year low, defying con-
cerns that sequestration would
harm the economic expansion.
B10
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See Snow on A5
See Schools on A5See Sandy on A5
See Daylight on A5