On Tuesday October 30^th The Wall That Heals (a 1/2 scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.) will be arriving in Cheshire, Connecticut. The Wall will be sited in Bartlem Park on South Main Street directly opposite Cheshire High School. Opening ceremonies are November 1^st at 6:30pm and closing ceremonies are November 4^th at 5:00pm. The Wall has been brought to Cheshire so that all may honor the veterans of our great nation. Please visit the official website for this event for additional information. www.Wall2Cheshire.com

The Wall That Heals will be escorted from The Connecticut Grand Hotel & Conference Center at 3580 East Main Street Waterbury, CT to the site at Bartlem Park on October 30, 2007. A motorcycle escort of veterans and supporters that may number in the hundreds will escort the wall. Several Police Departments from across the state are also sending officers to assist with traffic during this escort. The Wall and its motorcycle escort will leave The Connecticut Grand Hotel & Conference Center at 11:00am on October 30^th traveling through the towns of Waterbury, Wolcott, Southington, and Cheshire. The route is as follows: East Main Street to Pierpont Road to Meriden Road to Meriden Waterbury Turnpike to Knotter Drive to West Johnson Avenue to Highland Avenue to South Main Street ending at Bartlem Field. Traffic delays should be expected along this route.

Organizers are asking for your support for this event by displaying the flag of our nation where it can be seen and by joining us in honoring the veterans who have made our country free and secure. Join us as we escort The Wall That Heals through your area by waving from the sidewalks, driveways, and parking area along the route. Supporters are asked to avoid the area of Bartlem Field during this escort, as parking is limited. We thank you in advance for your support, understanding, and patience as this escort travels through your area.

Please contact Deputy Chief Joseph Popovich at (203) 271-5500 with any traffic related questions or concerns for this escort.

Michael Cruess

Chief of Police

Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall is the Town Hall Candidates Forum. I will be present. I am so nervous it is beyond belief. But I will try my best.

Now there is ONE TOPIC that will never be discussed. You guessed it–the Police Commission. Not one candidate, (maybe Lou Murray) will discuss this issue.

In this town it is like talking about Mas——-n for God’s sake, probably worse.

But I still would like to see my recommendation of a year ago last May 9th to the Town Council of expanding the Public Safety Commissions powers. This would also include the Fire Department.

By expanding the powers I mean hiring and firing police officers and the police chief. You all know this is not going over well and that is an understatement to say the least.

How can one or possible two people make the decisions when it comes to the Police Department and especially people’s careers and how can it be called fair?

Believe me, if I were the Town Manager, you can be your a– that I would not be allowed to make these personnel decisions. But why can the present Town Manager or Personnel Director be allowed to?

You can’t tell me it isn’t more fair and equitable to have five or seven people in charge of hiring, promoting or firing instead of what is going on now.

When I went to the Police Chiefs extended office hours a few weeks ago, the Chief picked up a large file and told me that was the files of the candidates who are to be considered as our future police officers? He said he was not picking the finalists, the Town Manager was.

Do we know who they are? Their backgrounds? Don’t tell me it is executive session material. Baloney!

This is not the Vatican and the election of the Pope when the only time we know a new Pope has been elected is when they burn the white smoke.

We have already had letters to the editor from a police officers family expressing their disappointment over their family member not being promoted. (In fact, I remember the letter stating this officer was promised the Police Chief position). This letter appeared after the late Chief Loudon passed on.

If you were accused of a crime, I am sure most of you would want a jury trial, a jury of your peers, because you cannot tell me, one person can be as fair and open minded as five or seven. They can’t. It is human nature. There is no one to balance it out. That persons’ bias will come out- that is only natural.

I would like to know what you think. Feel free to comment. Remember-we do have people monitoring so keep it intelligent please. I know you have ideas on the issue and not just “we don’t want it” or  “it doesn’t work.”

Maybe some of you have been involved in a Police Commission or knew people who were on a Commission. I hope you will share your thoughts.

I know this has been around other blogs, but I thought it important enough to post. I had trouble uploading this info a few weeks ago, so I tried again.

Oh, breaking news, Starsearch hit my website. Now, are any of you surprised??? They know a real STAR when they read one!!!

You can’t fool me, I know all of you out there can’t wait for Thursday night because the STAR will be there!! You talk your trash, but you know YOU will be watching. I won’t disappoint you!!!

If I am elected to the Town Council, I will just have to have a STAR on my nameplate. I think we might change the name of this town to STAR TOWN!!

THE CURRENT TOWN COUNCIL

Earlier this year, W/S appeared before the town council and explained their proposal for developing a retail mall with residential units on 109 acres of the interchange zone.

At the end of the public meetings the Council voted on the W/S request for needed text changes to the “THE TOWN PLAN OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT.”

Here’s the breakdown:

E. ESTY YES

M. HALL YES

M. ALTIERI YES

M. ECKE YES

D. ORSINI NO

D. SCHRUMM NO

T. RUOCCO NO

D. VISCONTI YES

T. WHITE YES

THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION

How they voted on the W/S Development Zone Change text changes:

P. FLYNN-HARRIS YES Chairman

M. COBURN YES

W. DAWSON YES

E. KURTZ YES

R. LEVY YES

S. STROLLO YES

L. TODISCO YES

P. RANANDO NO

T. SLOCUM NO

Cindy Kleist would vote NO on this issue.

Not that I do not like the Lifestyle Center, it is in the wrong place at the wrong time. We need to put the Lifestyle Center (a smaller version of it) in the old Ball and Socket Factory on West Main Street and get the state to pay for all the improvements. This would be a payback for all the problems the Prison is causing the Water Treatment and Sewage Treatment plant in town.

I finally found a photo of the new polycarbonate glass that was recently put up around the Milford/Orange YMCA Pool.

This pool originally had a “bubble” like Cheshire’s Community Pool. Cheshire, it is expensive, but worth looking into. And you notice the town does not own this pool. It is run by the YMCA and run as a business.

Photos from: Openaire INC

I just watched some of this fiscal impact study on the proposed Lifestyle Center at the Planning and Zoning Public Hearing.

 I found it quite interesting, especially the comment regarding the proposed housing. Many people in this town, not all, are questioning the housing part of this proposal. Many people are concerned about the impact the apartments or townhouses or whatever they are now proposing, will have on the school community.

To temper this, the consultant for W/S Development pointed out that between now and 2025 88 percent of all the households in the United States will be childless, so a one or two bedroom apartment or condo would not have a severe impact on the towns educational system, citing these trends.

This consultant from Hamden, whose name escapes me at the moment, also claimed that in Cheshire, 54 percent of households are one or two persons.

I know the national trend is leaning towards women delaying having children and to back this up, I found an interesting article on this very subject. Take it as you will.

I remember years ago, doing a research paper for college, and one of my professors, (a woman) summing up our society very succinctly. She said “we live in a patriarchal society that disdains women and children.”

You know what, it sure seems that way at times. Anyone who has had children, has known that feeling from time to time. When something goes wrong, it seems all you see or all you get is fingerpointing. YOU the parent are wrong-It’s YOUR problem.

I really believe that being a parent today is harder, much harder and more stressful than it was years ago. Our state wants the parent to take control, but the exact opposite it seems has happened. The state has taken many of the parents rights away, especially when it comes to disciplining the child. If you even look at your child the wrong way today, you are in deep trouble.

Not only can we not correct the child, we can’t touch the child, can’t raise the voice. It is pathetic. I am NOT talking about parents being able to beat their child to a pulp, not at all, but a little correction now and then is not child abuse.

I remember when I went to St. Raphael’s School in Bridgeport many years ago. I had a nun as a teacher, Sister Beningna. To this day, people that had her as a teacher still talk about her, and believe it or not, it is good, not bad. The bottom line with Sr. Beningna, if you talked in class or put your head down, because you went to bed too late and were too tired to keep your head up and listen to her, she would take the eraser from the chalkboard, and fling it at you, hitting you right in the face. Everyone would just stare silently at you. You were embarrased to say the least.

But guess what, the next day, you did not DARE talk in class. You remembered. Now today, Sr. Beningna would be in jail for child abuse. But in our day, the parents backed her up. I mean, we did things we shouldn’t have, but we knew there was a line in the sand that we would never cross, because most of us, not all, respected and feared our parents. We knew there would be consequences, bad consequences, if we did not go to school, talked in class or God forbid, did not do our homework.

Sr. Beninga had the solution for that too. She would ask you why you did not do the homework and why if you were having problems that you did not ask her for help. If you plain out said you just did not do it, she would take her ruler and hit you on the palms of your hands.

Don’t think this did not have a lasting impact on myself and many others. It did. When I went to Southern Connecticut several years ago to get my Master’s I did not dare not do my homework!! I kept remembering Sr. Beningna.

And I got to class on time, and if I did get there late, I knocked on the door and apologized to the teacher. I couldn’t get over some students walking into class a half hour late, walking right in front of the professor as he/she tried to lecture.

 And this is a good one, eating food and drinking coffee in class. I was shocked. No respect for learning!!

St. Raphaels also had another famous teacher, Miss Benson. A friend of mine had her as a teacher in third grade. One day, this girl kept getting up out of her seat and running around the classroom. Well today, this would be ADD, she needs counseling, blah blah!!

Guess what Miss Benson did. She TIED the child to the chair. Now I know many of you will be upset with this. But guess what, the next day, this child sat still in her chair. This does not mean we ignore people with problems, no we do not. But it is funny, this girl today is a pediatric surgeon. Sometimes I feel our state legislators go overboard when they pass some of these laws. Many children, not all, feel they can get away with anything. I believe there are many children that do not know there are consequences to actions. It is sad.

The state is so afraid of a lawsuit, they practically have taken the authority out of parenting. It is like the state saying that no one can drive automobiles anymore because there are too many people getting into car accidents.

Parenting is difficult, we have our problems. But we like most parents, give it our best shot. If many in our society choose not to have children, that is their decision. But to try to pass off this apartment/condo townhouse situation at the proposed lifestyle center by trying to say that most people who will be renting or buying them will be childless and mostly DINKS (double income no kids) is premature and arrogant to say the least.