A few posts ago on “What’s Going On” and “The Mystery Deepens” which you can re-read in my “Recent Posts” category on the right hand side, (can you now see why my quotation key fell off)?? I mentioned and showed photos of the clearing out of the left side of the Farmington Canal off of Cornwall Avenue for approximately 700 odd feet after the wooden bridge. The clearing out stops abruptly, and cleared brush can be seen stacked up by the side of the waterway. Large bare spots of mud and silt, which are now just starting to grow back can also be seen.

I noticed this about a week and a half ago when I was taking a walk in that part of the Lock Park. The next day, I contacted Ms. Suzanne Simone, Cheshire’s environmental planner extraordinaire and told her about what I had seen. She immediately went out to the area to inspect. I called her a few days later and asked her if the town was doing some clearing and dredging in that area, because it had been mentioned. I was concerned as she was, (wait–was I REALLY CONCERNED, or did I just seize on an opportunity to bust the Towns chops?)

Well anyway, I called Suzanne and she assured me the town had nothing to do with this clearing out. The next day I returned to the Lock Park and struck up a conversation with a woman who said she lived “in the area” and remembered seeing a man in mid to late June, clearing that particular area out. She also said she did not think anyone in the area would privately be doing this.

Now this whole issue was getting even stranger. Of course my butinski husband, had to go to the town hall on business and decided to ask Ms. Simone if she found out anything. My husband came home and told me what was said to him, but I decided to contact Ms. Simone myself on Tuesday because I wanted to hear it for myself. I try, I said TRY not to repeat hearsay if I can physically get in touch with the party in question.

So I got a hold of Ms. Simone on Tuesday and she told me that indeed some “man” decided to “try to help out” and cleared out this stretch of the Lock Park. I mean this is some endeavor. And to boot, Ms. Simone told me it was an “older man” I did not ask her what she meant by “older” so let us leave it at that.

Ms. Simone told me the town had nothing to do with it. I really grilled her but I believe her. You know why? Because Suzanne Simone will not take any garbage from anyone. You can tell by just speaking with her. She takes her job seriously. The biggest concern of this clearing out was that there were no haybales or silt fence put into place to control erosion.

Ms. Simone said the police did approach this “man” the day he was clearing out that area. Apparently he is from out of town and decided to help out. He thought he was doing a good deed.

Well, I am leaving it at that but questions still remain. WHO was this “man” helping out?? Was this a private undertaking?? I know that wooden stake I saw at the beginning of the Lock Park trail on the left hand side as you first enter the walkway, looks fairly new. It looks like a boundary stake. I wonder if that was put in by the town after the clearing or by a private individual to mark property lines? I don;t know and probably will never find out.

Also, there is a drainage pipe on that side of the cleared out bank. I wonder if it got clogged up during all the summer rain we had and the clearing was done to alleviate flooding? And why would private individuals take it upon themselves to clear out that area?

This was a lot of work for one person to undertake, adding to it that it was done in June in the heat of the summer. Why then? Why not now?

Ms. Simone told me the Town was sending letters to homeowners in the area reminding them that clearing out brush near the Farmington Canal is a regulated activitiy and to report any such activity to her office.

I hate to keep bringing this up, but I wonder what would have happened if I were clearing out brush at the lock park and the police approached me? Would SOMEONE be floating downstream? Maybe!!

Onto a different matter:

I did receive an email from Chief Cruess of the CPD regarding the Notch Trestle. that is part of my “Cheshire: Then and Now” project.

He made a good point stating he thought the “Then” Notch Trestle photo was the trestle that is past the entrance to Mixville. It could very well be.

I honestly do not know myself where this photo was taken originally, but doing research, I believed it was near what is now the “Notch” Store on Rt. 68.  So on advice from my spouse, who has lived here 55 years, we believed the old trestle remains to be part of that big hill that is next to the now abandoned gas station on the corner of Mountain Road. I know my spouse said some of the tracks are still on top of that “mountain” or hill, whatever you want to call it. And if you really look at the “then” photo of the trestle, it does bear a resemblance in shape to the Mountain Road, Rt. 68 intersection.

I did take a drive on Tuesday up past the entrance to Mixville Park and came across that stone arch. The road narrows to one lane there. I really do not believe that is where that particular photo was taken. I believe it was taken near the “Notch Store” Honestly, Tuesday was the first time in my 23 years of living in Cheshire that I actually drove up through that stone arch and through that area. If anyone knows exactly where that photo was taken, please drop me a line under the comments. Thanks.

So that is all for now. I know many of you enjoyed the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers video.

I am now going to run my speech about Municipal Gas usage that I made to the Town Council in March under my “Featured Video” segment. Look at Matt Hall, he knows Cindy is getting up to speak and she don’t play!!

P.S. Speaking of Mopeds/Scooters, here is my boy Jimmy Jammz with a pimped out scooter–I think this would be great for our Police Department. After you buy it, call me and I will “fix it up”

Click here

Several months ago, Town Council member Tim White brought up a VERY important issue in this town and every town for that matter–municipal gas usage and municipal take home vehicles. Now Tim White Listens actually lists the number of take home vehicles: Building Department-1; Parks and Rec Department-2; Police Department-6; Fire Department-6 and Public Works-7 for a total of 22 take home vehicles.

Now, as you know, I have backed up Tim many times on this municipal gas use and take home vehicle issue. I know it is policy in every town to have on call high ranking municipal officials being able to use town vehicles 24-7 in the event of an “emergency” but I think it extends way too far down the line in Cheshire and most other municipalities.

I don’t believe in take home vehicles AT ALL!! We have arguments in our home about this all the time. My spouse thinks the Police and Fire Chiefs should have take home vehicles. I don’t. But that is where we differ. I think it is a waste of money.

And as far as this municipal gas use goes, I ain’t buying that “performance “at the March budget hearings. “Oh we are documenting”–come on!!

We may know how much gas is being dispensed, but whom is it being dispensed to?? And unless we have GPS on the town vehicles, besides the snowplows which have that tracking system, we don’t know where these cars are going.  Let us ask it straight up–DID A TOWN CAR GO TO VERMONT???

Several months ago, I actually went in front of the Town Council and addressed the municipal gas usage. I told the Council about a town in Wisconsin that uses a “gas card” and has their employees fill up at a regular gas station. In order to use the “gas card” the municipal employee, (police or civilian) must put in the VIN number of the vehicle and its’ odometer reading.

Well, I found a few towns in Connecticut that have the gas use policy. The first one, (my favorite town Trumbull), put out quite a report last year on their take home vehicles.

Click here for Trumbull Take Home Vehicle Report.

Another town that has addressed this take home vehicle and municipal gas use issue is Ridgefield, in lower Fairfield County with a population of approximately 22,000, slightly smaller than Cheshire,

Ridgefield also has a system to monitor municipal employee gas usage called “gasboy.”

Link to Ridgefield’s website. Take Home Policy is Agenda Item # 8

The “Gasboy” municipal vehicle gas use monitoring system

As some of you might have noticed, under WORDTUBE, I did update the “Cheshire:Then and Now” series I have been doing over the past few months. I added photos of the old and new police station. I believe the fire department was also located in the “old” police station on Maple Avenue. Of course, the new fire station is right next to the old one. I did not mean to slight the Fire Department, but if they want me to run any “now and then” photos I will be glad to do so. If any of you have “now and then” photos of Cheshire, just drop a comment and I will be glad to run them. P.S. When I say “now and then” I don’t mean photos of how you looked when you were a kid, and how awful you look now as an adult!!!

If you were paying attention, you also would notice the music has changed. The original music to the “Then and Now” project was a jazz rendition of “Paper Moon” Unfortunately, the music file got corrupted, so I had to go back onto free music downloads, which are copyright legal, I DON’T VIOLATE COPYRIGHTS, and I found a jazz instrumental. I can’t remember the name of the song or the artist, but believe it or not, the CD this song came from is entitled “CHESHIRE MOON” Can you believe it!! So this fit in fine!! Cheshire Now and Then, and the background music is Cheshire Moon. Great!!

I was talking to an old friend over the weekend, and we were chatting about the silent movies I have and we started talking about when we were kids and took tap dancing at Muriel Howe’s Dance Studio on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport. I tapped for many years. I even tapped at the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport.

In fact, a few of the kids I tap danced with went on to perform in a few Buster Brown Shoe Commercials believe it or not.  So, we started talking about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

I love those movies. I mean they are CORNY, but the dancing–unbelievable. Even today, NO ONE can come close to them. And if you think those moves are easy–try them!!

My favorite dance scene is from “Top Hat” Entitled “Cheek to Cheek.” It is featured under “Featured Video” This dance scene sends shivers down my spine. It is sensual and classy.

Women and men had class back then. Especially women. They stood their ground. They acted like women. Men acted like men and went out and supported the family on ONE INCOME. Not like today. Women acting like men with tattoos and whatever.

My mother, for what she was worth, always used to say: “Why would a woman want to lower herself and act like a man or work in a man’s field”

These films came out in the 1930’s when our country was in the middle of the “Great Depression” For five cents you could see several films and spend most of the day in the theater. Speaking of depression– we came close last Wednesday people, to a complete monetary shutdown. If the Government had not stepped in, on Thursday, everything would have been closed. Monetary transactions would have been impossible.!!

See you in a few days.

I am going to be busy for the next few days and won’t be able to post as frequently as I usually do, so I thought I would get in as much news as possible until mid-week.
The first issue that caught my attention as I was reading my newsfeeds on my blog involved some people in Meriden who took it upon themselves to post their own “speed limit” or “slow down” signs because of a heavy volume of cars that take it upon themselves to drive extremely fast past schools and in neighborhoods with a large amount of children.
The Record-Journal had photos of the signs, which are hand made and quite large telling people in plain English to slow down. Apparently, this speeding past school zones and in neighborhoods with many children playing is an issue in parts of Wallingford also.

Click here to see a new variation of speed limit signs

I contacted the Meriden and Wallingford Town Halls. I told them about the sign you see above in Cheshire which has had a positive effect on drivers and residents alike. These signs were put up by the late Chief Gary Walberg and I am so happy to see that the Public Safety Commission has taken it upon themselves to continue this “tradition” in Cheshire. I think it really makes our town stand out and sends a message in a very nice way. Because, let’s face it, no one wants to speed when they see children or think there may be children in the area.

These signs started when I had seen an article in a national magazine about a family in a mid-Western state who were concerned about people speeding through their neighborhoods. They came up with this idea, but their wording on the signs were somewhat different. I brought the article to Chief Walberg and he did look into it, telling me that the signs these people had put up were copyrighted.
So, to the late Chief’s credit, he came up with his own special wording. Instead of “love” he had the heart symbol put it. It really stands out, I think and sends a positive message. So you see the bottom line is that two people on opposite ends of the spectrum, so to speak, got together for the good of the community and the result is what you see above. I know Cheshire got a grant to pay for these signs, hopefully, Meriden and Wallingford will be able to do the same.

Now, speaking of speeding, I have another report from a long time Cheshire resident: L.N. that he received a speeding ticket of all things, a few weeks ago for ALLEGEDLY traveling 52 in a 40 mph zone on YES, HERE WE GO AGAIN–ACADEMY ROAD.

Now look, I know people speed. We all do it. We are in a hurry, we are not thinking. EVERYONE GOES OVER THE SPEED LIMIT–no, oops that is not true, my husband doesn’t believe it or not. My husband goes so slow that I literally get sick in the car because my brain can’t process motion that slow. He is horrible he is so slow. He backs up traffic where ever he goes for God’s sake.

Well, Mr. L.N. who has also lived in Cheshire for well over 50 years, according to people who know him, is the same way. He drives SLOW. He obeys the speed limit. So, for a person in his fifties to get a motor vehicle moving violation ticket FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE, says volumes, doesn’t it.

Now I don’t know what happened down at the CPD, but ever since there seemed to be a change in the Traffic Department, from Lt. Deegan to Lt. Mazzini, there seems to be an increase in the volume of tickets being given out. I already told these people right to their face, I don’t like it. I don’t like people being made targets so someone can benefit from it.

No one takes food from my table-NO ONE. This issue with my husband who also received a ticket but it was nolled for allegedly going right through a stop sign at the intersection of Carriage Drive and Rt.68/70  is also known as yes, you guessed it, Academy Road!!  Do you see a “pattern” here?

I have had people contact me and claim they were not speeding or stopped at the light or whatever, and believe me, when they told me their story, a few of them I actually told they deserved the ticket.

This was not the case with my husband, for THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE, and with Mr. L.N. First of all, Mr. L.N., as I mentioned above, has NEVER in his 50 some odd years living in Cheshire, gotten a ticket for any motor vehicle violation, which in this town is an outright miracle!! So he must be a great driver, and he is!!

Number two: the officer, who I am familiar with, followed Mr. L.N. from Academy Road to the front of the Cheshire Public Library, before he pulled Mr. L.N. over. When Mr. L.N. asked why he pulled him over in front of the library, when the “alleged” speeding violation occurred several miles away, the officer said he waited to pull him over to see if he was “intoxicated”!!!

First of all, if the officer was so “sure” Mr. L.N. was speeding (at 52 in a 40) why did the officer follow Mr. L.N, for SEVERAL MILES and then tell him he followed him so long to SEE if he was intoxicated!! If Mr. L.N. was zipping in his car in the center of town SO FAST, why wasn’t he pulled over RIGHT THEN AND THERE!! WHY FOLLOW FOR SEVERAL MILES AND THEN SAY WE THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN INTOXICATED!!
Just like my husband, he was pulled over one half mile away from the so called, stop sign violation and then asked “didn’t you see my car?” If he went THROUGH this stop sign, wouldn’t the first words out of the officers mouth have been, “didn’t you SEE THE STOP SIGN”???

This is what happens when pressure is put on people to perform!! I know. I saw it in the car business. Plain and simple. Justify your existence, or you are OUT!!

Keep in mind, this all occurred around 11 p.m. at night. So, like my son who was also pulled over at 1 a.m. a few years ago for having his “highbeams ” on (which is not illegal as long as it is within a certain distance of the upcoming vehicle) and Mr. L.N., who was “allegedly doing 52 in a 40  on the Academy Road section near Cheshire Academy–this is tactically impossible!!!

People driving late at night in Cheshire apparently are thought to be intoxicated I guess!! That seems to be the excuse. That was the excuse with my son, who happened to be coming out of work, and this seems to be the excuse with Mr. L.N.

Some developer will be receiving the Police Logs REAL SOON. I hope they see the real Cheshire when they read through them. Can you imagine people trying to come to that Lifestyle Center and leaving late at night? NO I CANNOT!! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN HERE UNLESS SOME PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR MINDSET FAST!!

It may already be too late. Take a good look at all the business that have closed and are still closing in this town and ask yourselves why? This has been going on at a fairly steady rate for the past two years and the economy is only partially responsible. If you are honest, you know why!! Just read the comment in the last post “DRAMA” by a Cheshire resident and you will understand.

Go out and catch the real speeders and violators. There are plenty of them-out late at night too. Not just someone to be able to put a notch on your employee file. I have friends who received tickets and they deserved them!! Again in this instance, this is not the case. “Oh we wanted to see if you were intoxicated” FINE!! HOW FAR DO YOU HAVE TO DRIVE BEHIND SOMEONE TO DETERMINE THIS?? NOT SEVERAL MILES!!!

Now I will be running a few videos from people who claim that traffic tickets are illegal unless damage can be proven by the plaintiff, (in most cases, the Police, or courts) which represent the Government. And, as some of the speakers in the “Featured Video” have stated, the Governments job is to protect peoples rights.

So, here is the topic you may discuss: is it ok to go over the speed limit, not fully stop at a stop sign after you have seen it is safe, not wear your seat belt or talk on the phone (who is being injured by doing that)?

Are traffic tickets just a SCAM by the Government to raise money and keep people down? These days, if you get convicted of a traffic offense, it probably will affect you getting employment or even credit.

Why?  To keep people out of the loop. Too many opportunity seekers, not enough opportunities. Get It?

If there are NO injuries: what is the problem? Shouldn’t a ticket only be given out only if actual injuries or God forbid a death occurrs.

So what if Mr. L.N. WAS going 52 in a 40 if NO OTHER CARS WERE ON THE ROAD AND THE ROADWAY WAS CLEAR? As someone says in the forum I have a link to below: if there was no harm: there is no foul. What do you think? Is this too far fetched? An excuse to do what you want? Or is there some points in this argument? Is law enforcement just a revenue maker? Or as I have heard before, do even minor motor vehicle stops end up in many instances in the arrest of wanted criminals. If that is the case, then would these criminals ever be caught if they did not drive that particular day? Is that the ONLY way to catch criminals? I hope not!!

Click here for some different points of view on this subject matter

This is why I go out of town to shop and if I am in town, I ride my new moped!! It only goes 25 (ahem, well) nevermind.  It is yellow. A few people called to tell me they have seen me on it. I wear a white helmet and with my sunglasses,  I swear I look like a traffic cop!! My close friends remember my old blue Tomos moped. I drove that moped for 28 years!! I bought it in 1979 people!! It finally bit the dust two years ago. I hemmed and hawed about getting another one because they ARE expensive, but I saved my money over the past two years, and went out and got another one this past weekend. This moped, like my old one, gets around 100 miles to the 1.5 gallon. GREAT!!

And unlike my old moped which just had a saddle seat, this one has a banana seat and will actually carry a passenger!! My old moped was really a moped, (motorized bicycle). It had bicycle pedals.  It was really heavy because it was all metal. There were no mirrors, no signals, it was real small. It was a real adventure riding that machine, because if you rode it for more than 20 minutes straight, it would overheat and shut off.

Now that I am thinking about it the old moped probably overheated because I fooled around with the carbuerator and jetted it out. The thing went like 55 miles per hour. One day, It stalled and I went flying into a forsythia bush in Easton. OUCH!! You were supposed to be able to pedal this “MOPED” but the weight made it impossible.

I remember riding my old moped one day from Bridgeport to Redding when it overheated and would not start. I had to call a friend to come pick me up!! Also, the ride was so bumpy and the vibration was, well, when you would get off of the moped after a ride, your entire genital area was numb!!

This new moped is nice and smooth. I like it!! So hopefully I will see you around town.

P.S. I will be adding a few new photos to “Cheshire: Then and Now” so be patient.

Goodbye for now.

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO THE ONES I LOVE!!  (NOT)!!!!

As many of you have heard, yet another scandal involving yet another police department-this time Torrington, where apparently an officer and two dispatchers had sex while on duty.

They all resigned.  The Torrington Register-Citizen did a real good job on this story. They originally filed to FOI to have the documents turned over and like SOME OTHER TOWN I KNOW, were given a hard time. Finally, the city of Torrington caved in and turned over to the newspaper somewhere in the area of 600 pages of transcripts between the officer and the dispatchers texting each other while on duty. When I read a story like this-I am reminded of the duty of a newspaper and the media as a whole. To inform, tell the truth with as little bias as possible. YEAH!!! GREAT JOB!!

It is really sad, because these people, especially this police officer, went through the academy, had a nice job and blew everything because he couldn’t control his libido!!

And then they had the nerve to talk about that prisoner in Cheshire that just had to see his girlfriend for sex and got caught leaving the prison grounds with only a few weeks on his sentence.

THIS IS WORSE!! You would think in today’s economy, where good jobs are hard to find, that this “intelligent” person would have had more sense!! Well, too bad now!! Good luck finding a good paying job like the one you just “blew.” Get it!!

When you go to work, you put all your personal “feelings” aside and do your job as a professional. It doesn’t matter what someones’ personality is, if they do their job and do it professionally, that is all that matters.

As my “grandfather” used to say, “they have a badge they think they are God Almighty” Wrong!! I AM GOD ALMIGHTY!! Thank you!!

To make matters worse, one of the dispatchers even texts to the officer that “people get caught doing this all the time” DUH!!!

So here is the story on the Torrington Police Department sex scandal issue

I know the story has a link to the chat between the officers and the two dispatcherss, but I am providing a separate link. The conversation I must warn you, does get a little “dicey” Boy, this guy thought he was the cat’s meow with women.

Click here for “chat”

I wonder what would have happened if this had occurred in Cheshire!! What do you think? I know what I think. It would have been dealt with quietly. The press never would have found out.  The Town Government would have shrunk up and put up their wall of protection and the local paper probably would have gone along with it. The Torrington paper is a REAL NEWSPAPER that does ITS JOB!!

When issues like this get out in the open, it helps to send a message that worktime is not fun and game time.

Can you guess WHAT THIS IS?
Is it a new way of playing Wheel of Fortune? NO!! Believe it or not this is the front of the United States Post Office at the North Main Street Location in Naugatuck Connecticut. I noticed it a few weeks ago when I happened to drive by after getting off Route 8 to go onto Rt. 68. Had my cell phone with me, and took a photo.
This is an absolute DISGRACE in no uncertain terms. You mean to tell me, with all of the money the U.S. Government spends on ridiculous earmark items that we have just heard about like that now famous “Bridge to No Where” in Alaska, that there is absolutely NO MONEY LEFT to replace the missing letters on this building?

And can you look me in the eye and tell me no one at that facility or no one in the area has noticed this? I don’t believe it!!! This is really sad. I did contact the US Postal Service in Washington D.C. and informed them of this but I think I gave them the wrong street. It is North Main, not Water Street. I will have to call them back.

UPDATE: I received a call from the Post Office in Cheshire about the Naugatuck Post office which is strange, but I will call on Thursday. Our Postal Service people deserve to work in facilities that are clean and modern. They work hard!! We depend on them!! This country would grind to a halt without them!!

It just seems that people are so fed up with everything today, that they just don’t care. They think about themselves and that is it. The Feds have a nerve spending millions to bail out AIG Insurance and Bear Stearns and this corporation and that corporation, but they can’t even take care of their own properties!!

The people who work for the Postal Service in the this country do a phenomenal job. You would think our Federal Government would have enough respect for them to keep their working facilities in tip top shape.

And don’t think you (Feds) are getting away with the Post Office in Cheshire either. That building needs to be painted around the window sills. It is all peeling.

Our highways and bridges are falling apart. When is our government going to stop bailing out these greedy corporations and let them FAIL!! Could you just imagine being able to call up our Government and ask then to pay your student loans or your high credit card balances. You could if your name was AIG or Bear Stearns!!

I remember when I was affiliated with a car dealer. The people would come in wanting to buy a vehicle but did not have the best of credit. NO PROBLEM!! Most of the time they would be driving a better car than someone with a perfect credit score!! And then to top it off, the sub prime person, (who was later dismissed from the job), would puff up the cars “amenities” to get the bank to approve the loan. No wonder we are in the mess we are in today. I can bet if the person did not pay on the loan, the bank was stuck with a car that was not worth anything near they loaned the money out for.

But you know what? A lot of these banks deserve it. They are GREEDY!! All they saw was the big 20 something percent interest rate. I remember a few years back my spouse had a credit card with “dittybank” and they actually called up and told him his card was canceled because, get this, he made all his payments ON TIME!!!

GOOD! GREEDY BANKS!! I HATE ALL OF THEM!! That is why the majority of my money is NOT AND NEVER WAS IN A BANK!! Mortgages?? I don’t even know how to apply for one. Never had one. Never will.  I pay cash or don’t buy it!! I live the way I talk. I work hard. Make real estate deals, work on my own property with my husband, sweat equity and that is how I do it.

The days are coming to an end in this country where the greedy take advantage of the less fortunate. Because guess what, there are more of us “recessionistas” than you “fashionistas.”

And as far as this Lock Park in Cheshire goes, I have gotten several calls and comments from people who want to know the same thing. WHO DID CLEAR out this property?  You really can see what I am talking about if you go down to the Cornwall Avenue entrance to the “Farmington Canal” park and see it for yourselves. It is quite a large area. I can’t believe a private person would spend this much time and effort clearing out this part of the canal. And seeing how many hits I have had from the Town Government, I guess they may be wondering the same thing!! I have an idea about this. I hope it isn’t true. If any of you or even if I cleared property like this with no silt fence and no haybales, you know I would be getting a letter from the Town.

Also, I noticed there is some backhoe work going on at the old “Huxley” Motors property. Remember a few months ago I had photos of the barrels and the overgrown land there? A few days later I noticed the barrels were gone. Now I notice a big hole that was dug on the property near the 7-11.

Will keep you posted.