Are we “chopped liver” or what?

Channel 3’s Dennis House takes on the Blue Black Square newcomer “New York Sports Clubs” here: http://www.wfsb.com/getinthehouse/index.html

What do you think?

So who should we vote for?

There’s no news in the papers and not much going on.

So let’s debate who should serve on the next town council and Board of Education. Tell us why you think the way you do — and try to convince us that you’re right without being mean-spirited.

I’m sure I’m not alone in having no idea who should be elected.

AC Petersen gets iffy review

Trinity College’s paper gives our local eatery mediocre marks in this review.

Cowabunga!

As if an influx of nasty rats wasn’t enough, our town’s also been invaded by giant, multi-colored plastic cows. I can’t explain what’s going on anymore.

Truck ban on Avon Mountain

Other than tunneling through the mountain, I have no idea how they’ll ever make the road truly safe. But does it make sense to ban heavy, through trucks for a few months? It seems like such a gimmick.

Cut taxes for “green” cars?

What does everyone think of the idea of dropping car taxes for all vehicles in town that get more than 40 miles to the gallon? It’s at least an interesting idea, right?

Don’t leave, Kevin, et. al.

Former Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan wrote in another post that “all candidates and candidate spouses” should stop posting here until after the election “or the ‘dialogue’ will soon become mostly just a bunch of ill-disguised political pitches.”

While the intention is honorable, it’s mistaken.

One of the best things about a blog that works is that it provides a place for the community to talk to itself, to have candidates and residents discussing issues, to focus on problems and solutions. For the most part, that’s been happening here, no thanks to me. We have a highly educated, interested town that has taken advantage of this little gathering spot.

As newspapers dwindle into irrelevancy — something that saddens me — blogs and the like are the only thing that can take their place with any effectiveness. But they won’t do much good if officials avoid saying anything on them out of a misplaced sense of honor.

I admire Kevin for thinking about this. But I do believe he’s wrong to leave and I hope that other candidates stay, although if Joe Visconti feels the need to go….

A total waste of money and a travesty

I learned today — thanks to a sharp-eared parent at a school’s opening day event — that the Board of Education is paying to have full-time security greeters at every elementary school this year. The logic, apparently, is that having someone there to be “security” will keep our kids safer.

Well, phooey.

I’ve been in the schools enough to know that almost every adult who walks in is known to the secretaries. They sign in at the office and either proceed to wherever they’re going or the necessary calls are made. There’s nothing a security person can do that isn’t already being done.

This just infuriates me because this year we didn’t have money for Middle School Quest. We almost slashed away expanded languages for elementary schools. We pared needed positions at Smith and Charter Oak. We had a big fight over every dollar.

And now it turns out that hundreds of thousands of dollars are being squandered on security personnel who are doing nothing of any value to protect children from threats that don’t exist.

I find it almost sickening that we’re sending a message to our kids and ourselves that we no longer trust the community to look after schoolchildren, that we need security in schools to keep an eye on all of us. We’re bringing distrust into a place that depends on trust.

I want to know how this happened and why it’s being allowed. There are so many educational needs that are not being met that I can scarcely believe money existed for this mind-boggling move.

Fire the security guards and fund some more teachers. Let’s put our dollars where our priorities are.

Why no speed bumps for residential streets?

The other day I happened to drive along the road in front of the governor’s mansion and was stunned to find that two plastic-like speed bumps had been more or less nailed into the street nearby to slow drivers down. Presumably, that’s to keep some nut from running down Gov. Rell.

Down the street only a little further is one of those speed readers that are normally on a trailer that the cops have put somewhere to let drivers know how fast they’re flying by — only this one is permanently attached to a road sign.

I’ve never seen anything like it. But, of course, Gov. Rell has a little more political pull than the rest of us.

Even so, the setup got me thinking. If this is good enough for the governor, how come it’s not good enough for my kids? or your kids? or, God forbid, even you? or me?

I’ve always heard that speed bumps are too costly, mostly because they supposedly interfere with snow plows. Yet somehow they’re coping with that problem to lend the governor a hand. So can’t they do it anywhere else?

I’m all for installing speed bumps on residential streets all over town. Slowing these crazy drivers down is best done by creating a risk that they’ll rip their cars and trucks to pieces if they fail to obey the speed limits. Speed bumps work.

Now I know that putting in thousands of speed bumps all over town would cost a ton of money so I’m not saying we should do this all at once. But let’s get cracking. Surely we can do a couple of dozen blocks a year at a minimum. Call it a test if that makes it easier. Let’s see how it goes. They can start with my street.