earlier this morning

i was reading some connecticut web logs and an entry in geoff fox's blog caught my eye. he like i is a GIANT fan of darlene love's annual letterman performance. when i read his blog, i hadn't yet seen this year's show. i just now watched it. WOW! to date, it has been THE BEST i've seen her. she certainly kicked ass and sang her little heart out on christmas, baby please come home. oh, and she looked MORE beautiful than ever

traitor who broke my heart

New-look Damon arrives in New York
By Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
NEW YORK — His hair trimmed and his beard shorn, Johnny Damon put on the pinstripes for the first time Friday after finalizing his $52 million, four-year contract with the New York Yankees.
After spending four seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Damon switched sides in baseball's hottest rivalry.

He passed his physical Thursday, then went to Salon Ishi on Manhattan's East Side for a new look. With Damon's wife, Michelle, looking on along with a Yankees' photographer, a stylist identified as "Chantal" rid Damon of his facial hair and long locks, putting him in compliance with the code of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

"First of all, what do you guys think?" Damon said, looking at the cameras and stroking his chin. "Obviously, keep on snapping away."

The Boss seemed pleased..........

a man has to do what a man has to do BUT hell 40 million WOULD have been enough to send your daughters to college with. i hope you enjoy your relationship with 'the boss' johnny. it ain't gonna be no picnic

more on blue back

one of my LEAST favorite subjects. a thorn in my paw. i don't want MORE people coming into my town center to shop. i don't like the ones that are there now. driving their suv, in summer with their $3,000 dog on display at one of the sidewalk cafes and designer clothing, noses in the air. i don't want my taxes to continue to go up and UP THEY HAVE BEEN GOING (our town gave over MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of dollars to blue back. RIDICULOUS). the traffic coming off of the park road exit is horrid right now. i cannot imagine what it WILL be like in the future. so the roads will need to be worked on, more police will be needed as well. there go our taxes again. the rents for the stores will be exorbitant. like the other stores currently in the center, many will be unable to afford them. stores will come and go like crazy. but my absolute favorite is the quote i am listing below from the hartford courant. if you can't read between the lines, let me translate for you, we (NOT ME MIND YOU) want a NON URBAN (ie WHITE AND/OR RICH) west hartford center. oh, the townsfolk will deny it to your face. they will say all are welcome. they will say how liberal and accepting they are. let me tell you that is NOT what they are really thinking. all are not welcome. the looks i get on the rare occasions i shop there are far from welcoming. i did go into the yarn shop yesterday (i never knew there was one there and i must admit i was delighted to find out about it) sit 'n knit and was treated quite well. knitters ARE a special breed though.

West Hartford Center's distinctive feel, a sort of "Urban Lite" that offers city charm without the grit.


Blue Back Condo Buyers Like 'Small City' Life



By TOM PULEO
Courant Staff Writer

December 24 2005

WEST HARTFORD -- Barbara and Arthur Spivak enjoyed their years in "the country." Now the kids are grown and they want something new. Now Avon Mountain looks more like a barrier than a buffer.

So they plan to leave West Simsbury, give up the 13-room house and 2 acres of privacy, and start anew in a condominium that sells for about $700,000 in West Hartford Center.

"We'd like a complete change now," said Barbara Spivak, 63, a fitness instructor. "I always wanted to move to New York or Boston, a big city, but I know that will never happen. West Hartford to me is the next best thing, a small city in a safe area.

"I think the center is one of the prettiest shopping centers in our travel that I have seen. I love the restaurants and I love the shops. And I'm excited about the [coming] theater because we do go to movies all the time."

Since October, prospective buyers have placed deposits on 27 of the 62 units available in the two buildings of "The Heritage" at Blue Back Square. One-bedroom condos start at about $350,000. Three, fifth-floor, three-bedroom units have been reserved at about $900,000, according to BBS Development, the partnership developing Blue Back Square with the town.

The Heritage is proving a hit among older folks, the so-called empty nesters, many from the Hartford region, who are willing to pay a premium to live above sidewalk shops in the region's strongest commercial district. The buyers cite West Hartford Center's distinctive feel, a sort of "Urban Lite" that offers city charm without the grit.

"It's all the advantages of city living without the disadvantages, the crime, the traffic," said Joyce Tarantino of McWilliams/Ballard, the Virginia-based sales and marketing firm retained by BBS Development. "It's a more convenient lifestyle. It's a healthy lifestyle; the temptation is not to get in the car all the time."

BBS broke ground this summer on the 20-acre Blue Back site just east of the center. The $159 million shopping, housing and entertainment complex will nearly double the size of the center, adding 30,000 square feet for retail use and 75,000 square feet for offices when it opens in about two years...............

the UNTOLD story of the statue of noah webster in west hartford center

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: THE courant published a story on noah's finger MARCH 10, 2008!!!! here is the link to my posting

and the courant story link as well


first, here is the story on the west hartford library site (accurate although not the FULL story, as i have heard it)

Noah Webster and the Sculptor
The Artist's Model of Noah Webster Statue is on Display at the Main Library
The West Hartford Public Library is now showcasing a fascinating piece of local history, a statute of our town’s most famous citizen, Noah Webster. But it is not just any statute. This statute is the original model for the 13-1/2 foot statute of Noah Webster which rests on the corner of Memorial Road and South Main Street. The statue, and the man who carved it, Korczak Ziolkowski, are an intriguing part of West Hartford lore.
The library’s statue, affectionately known as “Little Noah,” is 2-1/2 feet tall and stands across from the reference desk on the main floor. Ziolkowski originally donated the statue to the library in May 1943, but because it could not be properly protected, it has been kept in storage until its formal unveiling on May 15. Former Mayor Nan Glass calls the statue, “a little treasure for the town, a valuable and unique item.”
Noah Webster’s sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was a man of great spirit, strong convictions, and certain persistence. About 65 years ago, Ziolkowski came from the Boston area to West Hartford as a young man and bought a house on Sedgwick Road. He made the basement of his house into a gallery, and his garage into a studio workshop.
Soon after he arrived in town, Ziolkowski began reading the history of Noah Webster, who was born in our town in 1758, and who wrote “An American Dictionary of the English Language,” published in 1828. Ziolkowski said, “I was standing before the fireplace in my West Hartford home, when it dawned on my that the Town where Webster was born had no memorial to him. As I studied his history, I became fascinated with what he had accomplished and I determined to do a statue memorializing a great American.”...........

the next portion of this story was told to me years ago by a friend. it seems his mother was part of a women's group in town who was none too pleased with the final rendition of the statue. if you drove around from memorial drive taking a right onto main street, you would see noah's hand down by his side with his index finger extended. however, it didn't LOOK like his index finger, it looked like good old noah had a giant woody (again, the way i heard it was mr ziolkowski was pissed at the fine citizenry of the charming town of west hartford [as i am MOST of the time. hey, what are the percentage of people in west hartford that own an suv? i am guessing it's in the 85% range. do they NEED an suv? ] and to get them back for all of their complaining and whining, he redesigned the arm and finger of the statue just a bit). the fine citizenry of the charming burg of west hartford (well a group of babes at any rate) decided to do something about it. by the cover of night, they snuck into the center (no radio shack and no max's or grants back then) and armed with only their wits, stealth and a ball peen hammer, they whacked (so to speak) off mr webster'appendaged appendege, never, may i add, to be replaced!

if you don't believe this is true all you have to do is get in your car and drive from memorial to main (of course you can't do that now because they are working on blue back [another story for another day] and see for yourself.

bronzes by korczak

meredith broadcasting owns wfsb channel 3

in hartford. see what meredith broadcasting is repsonsible for by going to this posting at jesus general (a REALLY great site i might add) (and YES the general is being VERY sarcastic in his letter to mr karpowicz). i initially found the referral on raw story.

(this is the jesus general posting)
Fox Carolina: News that Right and White

Paul Karpowicz President, Meredith Broadcasting GroupDear Mr. Karpowicz, I want to be the first to congratulate you for what I assume was your decision to embrace white supremacy as an editorial perspective. Your first effort, a WHNS "Fox Carolina" piece (Commenter Dayv made a screencap before Fox Carolina removed the story) on Stormfront.org, was fantastic. It certainly convinced me that Stormfront is as mainstream as Young Americans for Freedom, the College Republicans, or GOPUSA.I don't think Stormfront has ever had more positive coverage. Fox Carolina was right to forgo any discussion of Jamie Kelso's close ties to David Duke. The "Charles Lindbergh fan" angle works much better. The same is true for how they profiled Bob Whitaker. Certainly, his brief career in the Reagan Administration is more important to viewers than the many years he's worked to end the sin of race mixing................

(this is the raw story posting)
Fox News South Carolina affiliate quietly promotes white supremacist website; Site says Fox is a member

Filed by John Byrne

A South Carolina Fox affiliate ran a story appearing to cheer a white supremacist website -- and the leader of the group says that Fox news staff are members of his white supremacy forum, RAW STORY can reveal.

The story was picked up by Jesus' General Dec. 18. Fox apparently aired a video news segment which was also pulled; RAW STORY has not seen the video. The station is owned by Meredith Corporation.
The story, which profiled white supremacist website Stormfront.org, ran on Fox Carolina's WHNS website in late November. It is still available in Google's cache...........

i had a link to wfsb in my sidebar, but until i see a response from mr karpowicz, it has been taken away.




a copy of the broadcast can be found at think progress

do we really want to support a station whose owner(s) meredith broadcasting appear to support a racist organization? i know my answer

i have driven over avon mountain over half of my life

i have seen horrid accidents. i have almost been in horrid accidents. now, this morning another fatality. the family is in my thoughts and prayers.

people drive like asses you know (i'm NOT saying the accident victims did, i'm saying LOTS of people on that mountain and all over connecticut do). especially those in suvs and the like (don't even get me started on hummers. just because your car is bigger than mine doesn't mean it's going to stop or steer any better on ice than mine does. i am not a violent person, but i swear i would love to take a sledge hammer to the vehicles of those ass wipes.

i know a man who was in the 18 car accident on the mountain in the summer. i work with him (and have for years). he was lifestarred out and doesn't remember the accident at all. upon his return to work, we had a very long and intense chat. it was personal, so i am not going to mention any details here other than these two; i wept during our talk and he has an incredible attitude. through circumstances, i also know a cousin of one of the people who were killed in this accident. these two people, my friend from work and the person who was killed were innocent. accidents do happen, but this accident was due to negligence.

let's all think of the others on the road when we buckle up. if you don't care about your own life, how about thinking of mine?

your efforts ARE appreciated mr dodd!!!

i do thank you for getting back to washington and voting (under the circumstances).


Recuperating Dodd Rushes Back For Key Senate Votes
Associated Press December 21 2005, 1:26 PM ESTWASHINGTON --
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd was easy to spot as he arrived at the Capitol Wednesday morning for showdown votes.The usually animated Democrat was alternately using a walker and wheelchair as he gingerly made his way inside."I can't wait to get a picture of this," bellowed Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as he noticed his longtime friend.Dodd, who was home in Connecticut nearly all month recuperating from knee replacement surgery, had rushed back to Washington hoping his last-minute vote could help Democrats defeat a budget-cutting bill and strip language allowing Arctic oil drilling from a major defense spending package.As it turned out, Vice President Dick Cheney, who had hurried back from an overseas trip Tuesday, cast the tie-breaking vote on the budget bill to help Republicans prevail, 51-50, during a morning session. Dodd joined other Democrats to block the defense bill.Dodd, 61, had the operation Dec. 3 at a New York City hospital and has spent most of the month at home rehabilitating his knee.The senator, who also has a home on Capitol Hill, has missed every vote since having the surgery.Dodd said he had no idea the Senate would still be in session this Christmas week when he decided on knee replacement surgery nearly three weeks ago...........

i just got my natural gas bill

and it knocked me on my ass (for real)! i can't wait to get my future electric bills

Electric Bills Face A Surge Agency Proposes Letting CL&P Raise Rates 22%
By PAUL MARKS Courant Staff Writer
December 22 2005
Electric rates would rise by more than 22 percent starting Jan. 1, adding more than $23 to the average monthly residential bill, under a draft decision issued Wednesday by the state Department of Public Utility Control.The regulatory agency, in a proposed decision that must be made final by year's end, granted most of a rate increase sought by Connecticut Light & Power Co., which serves about 1 million customers in Connecticut. That is about 80 percent of the state's electricity users.The sharp increase is necessary, the DPUC said, because global spikes in fossil fuel prices have almost doubled the cost of power generation.It said the average electric customer should expect to pay $23.40 more a month on a bill that is now about $104. DPUC Chairman Donald Downes said power generation costs, which account for about two-thirds of the typical electric bill, are rising by more than 40 percent. Under the 2003 law deregulating the electric power industry, costs in that category are harder to restrain, Downes said.In contrast, he said, the portion of rates based on the cost of transmission "are directly regulated" by the DPUC."The increase in generation charges is vastly different from the traditional rate-setting proceedings in which the department has much more authority over the level of cost that can be recovered from ratepayers," the draft decision states................

whip it good

Of Human Bondage
Why did the police confiscate the computers of an Enfield Dom? (i'm sure the advocate MEANT to say domme NOT dom)
by Adam Bulger, Nathan Conz and Meir Rinde - December 22, 2005

There's still no word on exactly why police in Enfield raided the home of bondage mistress Michelle Silva last month and seized computers she used to operate her website, EmpressM.net.
In an account posted on her site, Silva said dozens of officers entered her home on Nov. 16, refused to show her a warrant, disparaged her lifestyle and wouldn't let her call a lawyer while they spent hours rifling through her belongings. They took away $20,000 worth of computers, BDSM furniture and other equipment, she said, but have not charged her with any crime.
Silva's attorney, Daniel Silver, said the seizure appears to violate her First Amendment rights to distribute bondage movies that she makes. He's trying to get a court date scheduled so he can argue the equipment should be released, since it does not include drugs or other true contraband. The computers are being examined at a state forensics lab and it could be months until she gets them back, Silver said.
The search warrant remains sealed and Silver said he doesn't know what charges his client could face. Enfield police told the Journal-Inquirer the investigation followed complaints from neighbors who reported seeing car traffic at Silva's home, including vehicles from out of state.

my world has come to a SCREECHING halt

my lil' johnny damon did NOT give me what i wanted for christmas (or, in my case, solstice). he DEFECTED

Source: Johnny Damon Reaches Deal With Yankees
BoSox Star Jumps To N.Y.
POSTED: 10:57 pm EST December 20, 2005
NEW YORK -- He'll have to get a haircut.
The New York Yankees, owned by a man who prohibits beards and long hair, have reportedly found a new leadoff man by coming to terms on a four-year, $52 million contract with former Boston centerfielder Johnny Damon.
Newsday reported the agreement, which only enhances baseball's fiercest rivalry.
The 32-year-old Damon, regarded as probably the best free agent centerfielder and leadoff man on the market, hit .316 with 10 homers, 75 RBI, 117 runs and 18 stolen bases last season, his fourth with the Red Sox after playing six years with the Kansas City Royals (1995-2000) and one with Oakland (2001). He was offered salary arbitration by the Red Sox, but declined Monday night.............

still #1

(however it's my personal opinion the wealth of this state is NOT spread around, it's held by a very few)

State Still Richest In U.S. In Income Growth, Though, It's 37th
By RITU KALRA
Courant Staff Writer December 21 2005

For all the concern over the high-paying jobs lost in the past few years, new data released Tuesday show that Connecticut is still far and away the richest state in the nation in average income per person.The numbers aren't even close. For the July-through-September quarter, the gap between Connecticut and No. 2 Massachusetts - nearly $4,000 - was greater than the differences between any other two states, except in the case of Louisiana, which was knocked to the bottom of the list, a distant 50th place, because of Hurricane Katrina.But Connecticut residents shouldn't be smug, economists warn.Yes, the income numbers are a sign of a stronger economy than the state is generally given credit for. And yes, the $47,978 earned, on average, by the state's residents reflects prosperity beyond just a few scandalously high-paid hedge fund managers.The funny thing about numbers is that they can tell more than one tale. And in the case of how fast personal income has grown during the past year, Connecticut ranks closer to the bottom than the top.State residents' $168 billion in total personal income - which includes wages, investment earnings and rental income earned by all residents - grew 5.3 percent during the past year, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.That's half the rate of growth in Nevada, where total personal income rose by 10.6 percent during the past 12 months, the fastest in the country. Overall, Connecticut ranks 37th in the nation in total income growth - the measure of wealth overall, not necessarily for typical families...........

happy solstice

i used to write a little column (YEARS AGO) in our work newspaper

i was going through some of my word documents just now and i found this one. it applies NOW as it did then:

GOOD DAY GENTLE READERS
Today I have a change of pace from my normal jovial and witty, yet poignant columns.

It’s getting to be that time of the year. We’re pulling out our winter wardrobes and turning up our thermostats. We all have the gift of free will, but I’ll not hesitate to take this opportunity to put a little thought in your heads.
No matter how badly you feel or think your problems are, there are others whose tribulations far outweigh yours. Right in our own state some cannot afford to pay their heating bills, to buy their families or themselves proper winter coats, to purchase food fit for human consumption, to get proper medical care and more (or is that less?).
There are several things you can do, some of which cost no money whatsoever, but are
priceless in the long run. You can offer your time and services by volunteering for a
local organization. You can help serve meals to the house-bound, elderly or homeless.
You can help build a house (no skills necessary) with Habitat for Humanity or
you can teach someone how to read (working with Literacy Volunteers). You can tack as
little as $1.00 a month extra onto your utility bill which will be used to help heat homes
for those in need. You can donate your old coat or clothes so someone can be warm or
look better when they’re applying for a job (come on now, we all have things in our
closets that are in wonderful condition, but we just haven’t worn them in a long time).
You can pay a visit to the residents of a local nursing home or donate toys to a children’s
hospital. You can drop your old and no longer stylish eyeglasses off at Lenscrafters (they
have a wonderful program for distribution of old glasses). You can be a foster family for
a Fidelco Guide Dog for a few months. The list truly could be endless.
The Hartford Courant regularly publishes a listing of volunteer organizations.
(By the way, Gifts of Love an organization helping residents of the Farmington Valley is in Avon Park North).
Always be thankful for what you have

i don't care HOW respected she is

if this story is true, SHE is JUST as guilty as he is and should be tried for NOT reporting what waraksa told her he did


Affidavit: Trooper Failed To Report Talk Of Sexual Assault
POSTED: 3:18 pm EST December 19, 2005
UPDATED: 4:34 pm EST December 19, 2005
ENFIELD, Conn. -- The assistant director of East Windsor's Emergency Management Department confessed to state Trooper Mary Buckley that he had sexually assaulted a child, and she responded by telling him to "stay away from kids," according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Monday.

Her decision not to turn in Peter Waraksa gave him the opportunity to sexually abuse three more children, prosecutors allege in the court filing.
Buckley, 59, was presented in court Monday on charges including failure to report child abuse, risk of injury to children, and hindering prosecution. She and her attorney declined to comment following the brief court appearance.
Waraska faces first degree sexual assault, kidnapping and related charges. He was due in court Monday afternoon.
One of the longest-serving female state troopers, Buckley also served as director of the town Emergency Management Department and was Waraksa's neighbor.
According to the arrest affidavit, Waraksa had told Buckley of his sexual feelings toward children. He later told her about "fooling around" with boys in a swimming pool, and eventually that he had sexually assaulted a child, according to the affidavit.
"Mary Buckley informed Peter Warasksa 'not to talk to anyone and to stay away from kids,"' the affidavit alleges...........

winter in hartford

the cathedral of st joseph, hartford

the annual visit to the shrine of tacky lights

‘s’ and i finally made it to le spigot (pronounced spee-jo to those of us in the know) on friday. we have an annual pilgrimage there at this time of year. he and i missed last year, and i didn’t want that to happen again. we go because of two things, the great juke box (although the one at the half door is better AND free – except for the overabundance of the HIGHLY OVERRATED u2) AND the wonderfully tacky christmas lights hung from the ceiling. they didn’t have as many lights up this year as in the past. it was a bit of a disappointment although we still had fun. the bad part is the yankee memorabilia is STILL all over the place. difficult for a bosox fan to sit amongst unless she is drinking stoli and tapping her foot to james brown or dean martin singing christmas carols.

how can you be going to trinity college

and NEVER set foot on park street? it's unbelievable. it's WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE too.

Trinity Explores Park St. Students Encouraged To Learn From Area
By ROBERT A. FRAHM
Courant Staff Writer
December 19 2005
It was not until this year that Trinity College senior Bridget Reilly, a Hispanic studies major, set foot on Park Street, the lively thoroughfare of Hispanic food markets, restaurants and shops a short walk from campus.Reilly spent her junior year in Spain, but knew little about the mostly Puerto Rican neighborhoods surrounding the private college in Hartford.All of that changed when she took a new course requiring students to immerse themselves in the city's Hispanic culture by exploring neighborhoods, meeting business owners and talking with residents."I had been to the Bushnell, the Atheneum, the typical things in Hartford, but I never made it to Park Street," said Reilly, 21, of Fair Haven, N.J., who is completing a photography project about life along the street.The "Hispanic Hartford" course, a requirement for students majoring in Hispanic studies, is another part of the effort by Trinity to build an identity as an urban liberal arts college by establishing closer ties with the surrounding community. The course, taught in Spanish, was offered for the first time last spring.For homework, modern languages Professor Anne Lambright assigned weekly essays about the community, asking students to walk down Park Street, interview a Latino employee at Trinity, eat in a Latino restaurant, talk to the owner of a Hispanic business and work in a class at the largely Hispanic Moylan Elementary School.With Hispanics making up 40 percent of its population, "Hartford is the most Hispanic city east of the Mississippi and north of Florida," Lambright said. It is also the nation's only state capital headed by a Hispanic mayor, Eddie A. Perez.The idea for the class arose two years ago, Lambright said, after two colleagues took some graduating seniors to lunch at a neighborhood restaurant............

our capital is crumbling

State Capitol in need of repairs
HARTFORD (AP) -- There are leaks at the state Capitol. But not the kind that find their way into the media.
Despite a 39-(M)-million-dollar renovation done nearly 16 years ago, a report says the historic building is leaking and crumbling.
An arhitechural firm recently completed a study on the 127-year-old Capitol and pointed to number of structural problems, the Connecticut Post is reporting in today's editions.
Those problems include flaking of plaster ceilings under three of the four Capitol entrances, oak doors in need of refinishing to prevent decay, rust on beams and columns on the first floor and the need for a major cleaning project.
The report did not include a cost estimate for the repairs.

wow, this is ONE LUCKY DUDE

unbelievable - a train hit his car and he survived. i am ALL for retesting the elderly on their driving abilities. my dad is up there and he's doing fine so far (goes WAY too slowly though) but i do monitor him.

Car's Driver Survives Crash With Train
By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN
Courant Staff WriterDecember 18 2005

An elderly Hartford man escaped serious injury Saturday when his car crashed through the barrier at a railroad crossing in the city and was struck by a fast-moving passenger train, police said.Curtis Anderson of Wilson Street was trapped in his demolished Honda Civic for 20 minutes while emergency personnel worked to free him. But police and witnesses said he never lost consciousness and was alert and talking the entire time. He was in stable condition later Saturday at Hartford Hospital.Investigators have not determined why Anderson failed to stop at the crossing, said Hartford police Sgt. Dan Albert. Anderson's exact age was unclear Saturday. Motor vehicle records indicate he is 80, the age police gave for him Saturday. But voting and other records show his age as 77.The impact tore apart the front of Anderson's car, scattering pieces 150 yards down the tracks and leaving his engine in a twisted heap. Anderson was alone in the vehicle when the train struck the passenger side. Police said anyone in the passenger seat would probably have been killed."He's lucky," said Martin Hernandez, who lives in a house adjacent to the train crossing. Hernandez said he heard the train's whistle as it approached and then the thunderous boom of the collision. He said he rushed out of the house, fearing the worst."But when I got there, he was alive," Hernandez said. "He was just asking, `What happened? What happened?' I said, `Don't worry. The police are coming.'"...........

yet ANOTHER child tragedy

i don't blame most of the case and social workers. they are overburdened and overworked.

Leeana's Last Day How Incompetence And Neglect Led To A Toddler's Death At A State-Funded Group Home
By KEVIN RENNIE
December 18 2005

Leeana Calendario might have died of any of the complex and chronic illnesses she developed as an infant. Instead, 13 days short of her third birthday, Leeana died of something quite ordinary - respiratory failure as a result of a clogged breathing tube.That's the medical explanation.Just as accurate is that the Bridgeport toddler's death is the result of incompetence and neglect at a state-funded group home for medically fragile children.A confidential, 40-page report by the Special Investigations Unit of the Department of Children and Families says Leeana died at Trumbull House, a privately operated facility licensed and largely funded by DCF. The agency placed Leeana there despite her family's apprehensions about the quality of care there. Leeana suffered from a multitude of problems, including a brain injury common to premature babies, chronic lung disease and tracheomalacia, a weakness in the walls of her airway that required a tracheostomy and a breathing tube in her throat.Many Trumbull House staff members themselves worried, too, that they would be unable to care for such a severely disabled child. Because of the group home's tense working climate, however, and earlier acts of retribution against staff who protested certain policies and practices, most employees were reluctant to challenge the appropriateness of the child's placement. One nurse who did complain to the program director was told to quit if she could not work under the supervisor who'd approved Leeana's placement at the home, an affiliate of St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport.On her final day, Leeana's care was assigned to a licensed practical nurse who had worked at Trumbull House for six weeks and whose only previous experience as an LPN was a six-month stint at a long-term care facility for the elderly. In the child's final moments of most acute need, nurses in the home panicked as she struggled to breathe through a clogged tube in her airway. One grabbed an oxygen mask and placed it over her face, a useless gesture to aid someone who breathes not through her nose or mouth but through a tube in her throat. Perhaps the only thing that makes this story more outrageous is its familiarity. Yet again, DCF, which gets $800 million a year in taxpayer money, has failed in its most basic mission: to keep children safe.Yet again it has failed to provide the standards of care it insists parents meet.And yet again, it is hiding behind its worn shield of confidentiality (read, secrecy), asserting that is in the best interests of the child.We know more now than we often do when catastrophe strikes and DCF mans the barricades. The confidential report tells the story............

gov rell has a set

she didn't back down, she signed this bill. it appears to be a GOOD thing. only time will tell if it's too late or not

State Joins Pollution Compact
By MARK PAZNIOKAS
Courant Staff Writer
December 16 2005

Gov. M. Jodi Rell agreed Thursday to enroll Connecticut in a regional plan to reduce greenhouse gases.Connecticut is expected to be one of seven Northeastern states signing on to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which sets goals for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants beginning in 2009."The agreement creates incentives that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and help free our economy from the price volatility of world oil and gas markets," Rell said. After years of negotiation, Thursday was the deadline for committing to the regional compact. Some environmentalists had feared that Rell might join fellow Republican governors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island by backing away from a tentative deal intended to encourage utilities to shift to cleaner-burning plants. Gov. Don Carcieri of Rhode Island and Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts each raised concerns that the plan could drive up electricity rates. Romney had sought a cap on what power plants would have to pay if they exceeded emissions limits.................