I really am starting to wonder about myself. On Monday, I was opening the trunk of my car and when I lifted up my head, and not realizing that I was close to the edge of the trunk, whacked my head. Ouch!! Now last night, Wednesday, because by now it is Thursday morning, I was leaving work, had my mind on other things, went to open this humongous gate with a large metal strike plate on it and guess what? Whack right on my nose and my forehead, in the same exact place I hit it Monday night!! Oh do I hurt!!

Anyway, there are some developments. The Ordinance Committee of the Town Council is meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Room 210 of the Cheshire Town Hall. There are several items on the agenda, one of them being a discussion on expanding the powers of the Public Safety Commission to take complaints against the police for a trial period of six months. You already know I really don’t like this idea because it is too negative. The Town Government does not want a police commission so this is their compromise. I wasn’t going to attend, then I decided to attend, now I don’t know if I can attend because of my accident.

To follow up on the “no sign posting” on telephone poles that is now being enforced by the Cheshire Police Department, I contacted Police Chief Michael Cruess to ask for an update and he provided me with the following information:

Officers went to three residences last weekend and spoke with homeowners re: tag sale signs. They were removed. S. Main St appears much better than it did a few weeks ago.

The Chief also provided me with this “interesting” news article regarding of all things, the posting of signs on light poles in the Omaha, Nebraska area:

Posters advertising positions with the Omaha Police Department were posted illegally.

“OMAHA, Neb. –

The signs appeared on light poles along Omaha’s 13th Street early Thursday. And by Thursday evening, they were gone.

They were posters advertising positions with the Omaha Police Department. The white fliers with color photos were the work of police recruiters who likely thought they’d catch the attention of thousands of visitors attending the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium.

“Equal opportunity employer,” the poster stated.

But there was a problem. The signs were posted illegally.

The KETV Newswatch 7 I-Team brought it to the attention of Omaha police and City Councilman Garry Gernandt, a former Omaha police officer.

“Oops,” said Gernandt, when he learned about the signs posted in the city’s right-of-way.

It’s one of Gernandt’s pet peeves. He said he was a little embarrassed because the Omaha city code specifically prohibits any signs on public property.

“What’s that going to cause? Rear-end accidents, dangerous situations. It’s put in the code for just that reason,” said Gernandt.

Public information officer Sgt. Teresa Negron said as soon as the department realized it had posted the signs in error, they were removed.

It’s still unknown whether police will cite themselves for the violation.

“They wouldn’t have to go very far, would they?” said Gernandt, laughing.

Gernandt said police usually give a warning to violators before ticketing them.”

So I guess Cheshire is not alone with this problem after all. I wonder if Omaha is considering a lifestyle center.

RETURNING TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME.

If any of you are as old as I am, ( oh no, I must have a concussion, because I forgot, I am extremely young), then you will remember the movie “Midnight Express.” In that movie, which came out in the mid-80’s if my memory serves me correctly, an American named Billy Hayes goes to Turkey in the early 1970’s in an attempt to smuggle hashish back to his friends in the United States. Well, he gets caught by Turkish police at the airport and ends up spending several years in a Turkish prison. The movie “Midnight Express” which was directed by Oliver Stone, brought Billy Hayes plight to light and dramatized his ordeal. The movie was very controversial at the time. In fact the Turkish government would not allow the movie to be filmed in Turkey. So Oliver Stone filmed it in Malta.

Turkey until most recently, banned this movie stating that it did not accurately portray the Turkish people and the Turkish government. In other words, it made Turkey look bad.

The Billy Hayes incident took place during the Nixon administration. The relations between Turkey and the U.S. Government at that time were strained to begin with, and in my opinion, the Billy Hayes incident made it even worse. Now, Mr. Hayes has decided to return to Turkey to try to mend fences. I am sorry but I think Mr. Hayes needs to stay in the United States. If I were he, I would not be going back to Turkey. First of all, the “Midnight Express” movie seemed to me to paint this man who was a drug smuggler as some sort of martyr.

It is true, the conditions were abominable and harsh, and he suffered, but he knowingly and willingly tried to smuggle drugs out of the country! What did he expect– the red carpet treatment? Give me a break! It is one thing if a person is set up and used by drug smugglers, which has happened and is still happening. That is tragic. But this person smuggled knowingly, and in a country with strict drug laws that he knew about. Do us a favor Mr. Hayes and stay home and count your blessings that you got out of there in one piece. Talk about tempting fate! I wonder if we will be seeing “Midnight Express Two” in theaters soon.