"5 Things You Need to Know About..." Manchester Patch's Week

It was another busy week for the indefatigable Manchester Patch, with everything from the Board of Education honoring to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announcing that he was to reinstate $300 worth of a property tax credit. 

Here's the highlights: 

1. We had a bunch of interesting columns this week, from bullying columnist Joel Waldron's advice on ways to  to business columnist Sujata Srinivasan piece about the rise in . And Patricia Moran offers a parents perspective on the Manchester public schools' delayed April Vacation this year. 

2. JCPenney announced this week that a result in the elimination of 150 jobs in town. 

3. This week marked the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and locally north central Connecticut made a number of notable contributions to the war effort. From Windsor’s Christopher M. Spencer, who invented the repeating rifle, to Enfield’s Col. Augustus Hazard, founder of the Hazard Powder Company, which produced 40 percent of all the gunpowder used by the Union during the Civil War. You can read about those historic Connecticut residents and more. 

4. The Board of Directors met Tuesday and for the 2011-12 fiscal year, a 1.5 percent increase over current year spending that calls for a 2.14 increase in the mill rate. The board voted 8-1 to approve the budget, with only Dennis Brenner, a Republican, dissenting.

5. And by all indications, a restructuring of management at the Manchester Country Club and with the town appear to have put the club back on the road to financial stability. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember Sunday's for the University of Connecticut's NCAA Champion Mens Basketball team at the Capitol in Hartford!