Wallingford: how like a bad intersection. No one will blame Amtrak for any delay, but it’s notable that Amtrak is not available for comment. Is this one of those situations wherein someone will have to get killed before anything can happen? 114 accidents in 3-4 years are a lot . . . does this represent a change, or are these just what has been recorded recently?
Wallingford: Lyman Hall students who won prizes for reading Howard Fast’s 1944 Novel, Freedom Road and writing essays in response. Howard Fast was persecuted for membership in the Communist Party and imprisoned for three months for refusing to reveal the names of donors. Wrote Spartacus. Blacklisted.
Meriden: Quinceañera discussion and celebration is building identities at Edison. That’s a good thing.
Cheshire: train show, held twice a year, brings lots of visitors and benefits Cheshire HS Marching Band as well as jazz band, winterguard and winter percussion. Seems a bit of an odd match-up, but it’s been going for a long time and if it works, great!
Meriden: More stimulus cash seems to be on the way.
Meriden: Postal Service can’t sell and can’t protect old building on Colony. And apparently can’t care less about the plight of Meriden’s downtown. Well, that’s not news.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
The Editor's Notepod, Fri., Feb. 27, 2009
Southington: Board of Ed approves policy to let school groups sell ads to raise cash for what they may need. Well, that’s the American Way or something, isn’t it?
Wallingford: Does make you wonder what good the TARP bailout funds are if Bank of America can’t help local businesses who have been customers continue to operate.
Meriden: Stimulus cash arrives – first hunk goes for Community Development Block Grant. Hope this isn’t the only chunk.
Meriden: Congratulations to two local attorneys, Gerard Adelman (also a former R-J Editorial Board guest) and Corinne Klatt confirmed to seats on the Superior Court bench.
Wallingford: Does make you wonder what good the TARP bailout funds are if Bank of America can’t help local businesses who have been customers continue to operate.
Meriden: Stimulus cash arrives – first hunk goes for Community Development Block Grant. Hope this isn’t the only chunk.
Meriden: Congratulations to two local attorneys, Gerard Adelman (also a former R-J Editorial Board guest) and Corinne Klatt confirmed to seats on the Superior Court bench.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Editor's Notepod, Thurs., Feb. 26, 2009
Wallingford: rarely has a legal opinion so forcefully added the bottom line to a discussion. The charter says funds are ended at the end of a budget year. Amen.
Meriden: DEP rejects golf course plans to dry up a couple of holes. You’d think that DEP would have made it clearer what they wanted.
State: Miss Outstanding Teen seems to have done a less than outstanding job at hosting a party, but we’ll wait for all the facts. I can’t see withholding names of teens arrested because they are young, though.
Southington: A 2.9 percent increase is very modest, but to those who have taken the no tax pledge, it may still be too much.
Meriden: Executive Auto Group to present before city’s IWWC next Wednesday. How can 792 new parking places and the asphalt they sit on and whatever leaks from them NOT have some negative effect upon the wetlands or anything else round about?
Wallingford: MacKenzie Reservoir dredging project seems ready to go, and if stimulus money is received, that will alleviate bonding load.
Wallingford: good work of Lyman Hall students at Master’s Manna.
State: The raise the age law, providing some sort of legal cushion for 16- and 17-year olds, is a good change, and I think departments are making a whole lot of extra noise over a fairly small matter.
Meriden: new director about to be selected for the MHA. Regarding comments by Roland Cockfield, it has always seemed to me that there is a disconnect between the purpose of Public Housing, which is to provide low cost good quality units for those who can not otherwise afford decent housing, and the constitution of the MHA board, which has to run a business as a landlord and actually protect a bottom line, with very little support.
Meriden: DEP rejects golf course plans to dry up a couple of holes. You’d think that DEP would have made it clearer what they wanted.
State: Miss Outstanding Teen seems to have done a less than outstanding job at hosting a party, but we’ll wait for all the facts. I can’t see withholding names of teens arrested because they are young, though.
Southington: A 2.9 percent increase is very modest, but to those who have taken the no tax pledge, it may still be too much.
Meriden: Executive Auto Group to present before city’s IWWC next Wednesday. How can 792 new parking places and the asphalt they sit on and whatever leaks from them NOT have some negative effect upon the wetlands or anything else round about?
Wallingford: MacKenzie Reservoir dredging project seems ready to go, and if stimulus money is received, that will alleviate bonding load.
Wallingford: good work of Lyman Hall students at Master’s Manna.
State: The raise the age law, providing some sort of legal cushion for 16- and 17-year olds, is a good change, and I think departments are making a whole lot of extra noise over a fairly small matter.
Meriden: new director about to be selected for the MHA. Regarding comments by Roland Cockfield, it has always seemed to me that there is a disconnect between the purpose of Public Housing, which is to provide low cost good quality units for those who can not otherwise afford decent housing, and the constitution of the MHA board, which has to run a business as a landlord and actually protect a bottom line, with very little support.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Editor's Notepod, Wed., Feb. 25, 2009
Southington: recreation Director files labor complaint over overtime. And this is the fellow whose wife was permitted to work for the town as well. Times are tough, and this sort of thing, not surprisingly, is up for tightening. But there’s a procedure for doing this sort of thing, surely, and it's too bad that the situation seems to have gotten way out of control.
Wallingford: an examination of accounts, while interesting and raising questions of procedures, is likely to be tedious.
Meriden: golf irrigation project approved with golfers footing the bill. Let’s hope there turns out to be no need for blasting.
Meriden: tougher policy seems to have improved attendance at high schools, which is all to the good.
Meriden: City’s cultural center facing some revenue issues, which will hopefully be alleviated through the annual appeal.
Wallingford: Work progressing on Superintendent search, but it might be good not to refer to the eventual nominee as the “ideal” superintendent, which kind of sets whoever it turns out to be up for a fall.
Wallingford: charter revision. Looks like a major effort, but I wonder if the commission needs to be working on details of personnel and pensions. Do such technical things need to be in the charter at all, considering their propensity to change? And there is still room to differ on the premise that the charter needs to be reworked merely because it hasn’t been done recently.
Wallingford: an examination of accounts, while interesting and raising questions of procedures, is likely to be tedious.
Meriden: golf irrigation project approved with golfers footing the bill. Let’s hope there turns out to be no need for blasting.
Meriden: tougher policy seems to have improved attendance at high schools, which is all to the good.
Meriden: City’s cultural center facing some revenue issues, which will hopefully be alleviated through the annual appeal.
Wallingford: Work progressing on Superintendent search, but it might be good not to refer to the eventual nominee as the “ideal” superintendent, which kind of sets whoever it turns out to be up for a fall.
Wallingford: charter revision. Looks like a major effort, but I wonder if the commission needs to be working on details of personnel and pensions. Do such technical things need to be in the charter at all, considering their propensity to change? And there is still room to differ on the premise that the charter needs to be reworked merely because it hasn’t been done recently.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Editor's Notepod, Tues., Feb. 24, 2009
Southington: town has convinced a number of teachers at high end to retire, meaning lower costs for salaries. What does it mean for experience?
Meriden: comparison between Summitwood and today’s Plan of Conservation and Development makes the POCD look good, naturally. But not as good as leaving alone in the first place.
Wallingford: Enterprise of Sheehan students in their Dominican Republic Mission team fundraiser.
Wallingford: do they actually mean that conservation programs are causing the rates for sewer and water and electricity to RISE, because the demand is lower? If that’s really true and not a twist or a spin, then we need to do something radically different about our conservation mindset.
Wallingford: Sen. Fasano doesn’t want to see tolls return . . . but there are potential toll-collection methods which work electronically and which don’t mean slow-downs.
Meriden: comparison between Summitwood and today’s Plan of Conservation and Development makes the POCD look good, naturally. But not as good as leaving alone in the first place.
Wallingford: Enterprise of Sheehan students in their Dominican Republic Mission team fundraiser.
Wallingford: do they actually mean that conservation programs are causing the rates for sewer and water and electricity to RISE, because the demand is lower? If that’s really true and not a twist or a spin, then we need to do something radically different about our conservation mindset.
Wallingford: Sen. Fasano doesn’t want to see tolls return . . . but there are potential toll-collection methods which work electronically and which don’t mean slow-downs.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Editor's Notepod, Mon., Feb. 23, 2009
Meriden/Wallingford (And elsewhere): Red Cross and other charitable organizations all experiencing serious declines in income with the withering economy. People should take a close look at how much good these and other charities do before going out the next time for dinner – which we say carefully, because we don’t want to harm anyone’s retail expectations either. But if we don’t support charities voluntarily, it will be up to government to do so, through public funding.
Southington: New scoring system for nutrition at local supermarket. It will be interesting to see how effective it will be.
Southington: New scoring system for nutrition at local supermarket. It will be interesting to see how effective it will be.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Feb. 22, 2009
Wallingford: Stockpiling of cash discussion. While it’s good to have money to spend when needed, money in a sock isn’t always the best method, particularly if it seems to be spendable for particular requests other than intended.
Meriden: Noisy vehicles. Motors, mufflers, radios. But where can anyone draw the line? I wish there would be better muffling of trash collection vehicles. They make an awful racket. So does the occasional fire engine which comes up the street. Or how about neighbors' lawnmowers? Depends on the time of day and the necessity, of course. Why can’t motor cycles be properly silenced? Ans.: they can. Noise is part of some riders’ statement.
Southington: make a blanket day – for kids – should help a lot of youngsters keep warm.
Cheshire: Betty Allen’s commitment to taking care of others; she just returned from Biloxi and work on homes harmed by Katrina.
Wallingford: after assurances regarding the future of the linear trail, the trail advisory committee has changed course and withdrawn opposition to transfer of funds to the immediate improvements for Reskin Drive. If the committee’s convinced, that’s okay, but it’s still an odd way to fund particular projects.
Meriden: Noisy vehicles. Motors, mufflers, radios. But where can anyone draw the line? I wish there would be better muffling of trash collection vehicles. They make an awful racket. So does the occasional fire engine which comes up the street. Or how about neighbors' lawnmowers? Depends on the time of day and the necessity, of course. Why can’t motor cycles be properly silenced? Ans.: they can. Noise is part of some riders’ statement.
Southington: make a blanket day – for kids – should help a lot of youngsters keep warm.
Cheshire: Betty Allen’s commitment to taking care of others; she just returned from Biloxi and work on homes harmed by Katrina.
Wallingford: after assurances regarding the future of the linear trail, the trail advisory committee has changed course and withdrawn opposition to transfer of funds to the immediate improvements for Reskin Drive. If the committee’s convinced, that’s okay, but it’s still an odd way to fund particular projects.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)