i'm just wondering..............

if her name was juanita gomez or alia hamid or something like that................WOULD she have gotten the very same slap on the wrist?

you and i both know the answer

Socialite hardly punished for thefts

Greenwich, Conn. (WTNH) - A New York socialite accused of stealing two scarves in Greenwich worth about $12,000 got a slap on the wrist from a Connecticut judge.

o don't know who took the pic but this is where i got it

my pop's house was broken into and robbed yesterday

no one was home (thank the goddess) but still, it's disquieting


here's a brochure from the west hartford police on how to survive a robbery. this is of course if you are CONFRONTED by a robber (we were not)


speaking of the west hartford police, they did an OUTSTANDING job. a shout out to the officers and detective who came over. 


my pops called ME first when he came home and saw the door busted. then he called the police. i was minutes away so i arrived almost at the same time they did. my dad and i both entered the house and were in the front hallway. we were strongly reminded we should have stayed OUTSIDE until AFTER the police went in. that was for our safety. we didn't know if the robber/robbers were still inside. that's a point i want to pass on. if you notice anything amiss at your home, call the police and wait OUTSIDE until they arrive.


all in all, no one was hurt. the door was busted and is being replaced. some items were taken, but like i said, no one was hurt. 

pretty cool find in montville!

Montville officials find historic documents

• ADAM BENSON, Norwich Bulletin

MONTVILLE, Conn. (AP) - Sometimes, history just sneaks up on you.

Officials recently discovered a pair of original, centuries-old documents that provide a look into the community's earliest days — Montville's first known audit, from 1823, and meeting minutes from the North Parish Ecclesiastical Society in 1722 — tucked into a nondescript gray filing cabinet in the town's archives.

"It's like an independent comment on local town government," Historical Society President John Geary said.

Town Clerk Lisa Terry said the documents will be sent away for preservation within the next month, and then will be kept under lock for use by residents, scholars and historians..............

robbery on farmington ave WEST HARTFORD

don't know if there was any follow up and/or if they caught him. i can't find anything else 

West Hartford Police Investigating a Street Robbery on Farmington Avenue

By DANIELA ALTIMARI, altimari@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

WEST HARTFORD – Police are investigating a street robbery near 772 Farmington Avenue late Saturday.

A woman told police she was walking home from her waitressing job at a West Hartford Center restaurant 11:20 p.m. when a man approached her and asked if she needed help carrying her bag.

When she said no, he grabbed her from behind and tried to seize her pocketbook, slapping her in the face during the ensuing scuffle, police said.............

i want to go!

Poquetanuck Cove: Spooky And Beautiful

Preserve Is 234 Acres On Banks Of Thames River In Ledyard

Peter MartekaNature's Path & Way To Go

At first, the description of The Nature Conservancy's Poquetanuck Cove Preserve in Ledyard seems to go a bit overboard. "Go back in time to when Native Americans camped along these shores to harvest oysters, and bald eagles soared overhead."

After a slight chuckle and roll of my eyes, I got out of the car and started my journey along the 1.5-mile trail that travels through the 234-acre preserve on the banks of the Thames River. After passing through a second-growth forest crisscrossed by stone walls with a half-dozen wolf trees seemingly standing guard next to them, the path entered a ravine filled with huge hemlocks. The bright, sparkling day had suddenly been turned into a spooky twilight................

from the dep

poquetanuck cove water access

pic from the dep site linked above

stupid connecticut crimes

yes, it's been a while, but it was indeed worth the wait!

Man Complains Shelton Police Don't Enforce Parking Laws

Gets His Wish And A Ticket

By DAVID OWENS, dowens@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

SHELTON—

A local man who called police on himself for illegally parking in a handicapped spot, and berated a dispatcher and officers for not enforcing parking laws was arrested early Thursday, and issued a parking ticket.

Michael Andes, 29, of Howe Avenue, called police at about 2 a.m. and told a dispatcher he parked his car in a handicapped parking spot without a permit because police don't enforce parking laws, police said. Andes called police 15 more times over the next several minutes and yelled at the dispatcher about the lack of enforcement.

When officers arrived they found a vehicle in a handicapped spot without a permit, and then Andes approached the officers yelling and screaming about the lack of enforcement, police said.............

my new ink

by john hinkle at green man

ravenwoman is an original work by john. fellini is an image i got off of the net

they were done last week. i'll take better pictures once they've fully settled down. these were taken with my phone.

my sunflowers at the half door

one week apart. taken with my phone, so the pictures aren't that great. still NO flowers, but i planted them VERY late

thehalfdoorhfd.com/">the half door

i'm not a fan of jails for animals

(yes, i know there are some good points to zoos and aquariums but still.........) BUT this video (from mystic aquarium) is pretty damn amazing and wicked cool and special

Connecticut based Mariachi band Los Trovadores de America recently serenaded a Beluga Whale at Mystic Aquariumin Mystic, CT.


via

art after hours at teh wadsworth

Art After Hours: Cirque du Wadsworth Block Party

WHAT: 

The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art partners with Cirque du Soleil and the XL Center to create a spectacular fantasy evening at August’s Art After Hours.

WHEN: 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

5 – 9 pm

$10; Free for Members

WHERE:

Travelers Plaza

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103

BACKGROUND:

Experience what it’s like to run away with the circus!  Immerse yourself amongst street performers as they awe and amuse the crowd. Become part of the show by getting your face painted “Cirque-style” by Amazing Face Art. As you wander through the various spectacles, be sure to keep a look out for Anne Cubberly’s costumes as they parade around the street. Stop by the bar and indulge in some refreshments, then rock out underneath the big top with the sounds of XY Eli Band as they fuse blues, funk and rap.  Don’t forget to catch the film Desert Flower at 8 pm in the theater.

Art After Hours takes place the first Thursday of every month. First Thursdays at the Wadsworth Atheneum offer a wide variety of programming - art, live music, cocktails, gallery talks, and films.

MORE INFORMATION:

www.wadsworthatheneum.org

CONTACT:  

Sarah A. Ferri

Communications Assistant

sarah.ferri@wadsworthatheneum.org

860.838.4081

any family or friends vietnam war casualties?

Photos Sought Of Vietnam Casualties

Don Stacom

The state veterans affairs department wants to hear from relatives of soldiers, sailors and Marines killed inVietnam to ensure the deceased veterans are properly honored at a new memorial in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1^st District, and state Veterans' Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz will start Connecticut's "Call for Photos" initiative on Friday at 10 a.m. at Central Connecticut University's Founders Hall..........

i got the following email from the wadsworth atheneum

and wanted to share it. by the way, if you've never been, you're missing out. GO GO and GO. it's a fine museum.  

Community Engagement Initiative at the Wadsworth Atheneum

Wadsworth Atheneum Seeks Ongoing Feedback from Greater Hartford Community on Its Community Engagement Initiative

HARTFORD, Conn., July 27, 2011 – After the first year of new programming and events launched by the Wadsworth Atheneum’s Community Engagement Initiative, the Museum will hold ChatBacks Part II, and invites the public to participate. During these sessions participants will be updated on the initiative’s progress. Following the update, researchers will seek additional feedback from participants. Please review the Community Engagement Initiative 2010 Annual Report, which will be on our website shortly, at wadsworthatheneum.org.

In order to better serve the community, the Museum invited visitors to a series of ChatBacks, or town-hall style discussion groups in 2008 and 2009. These ChatBacks provided invaluable feedback from the local community about the Wadsworth. For example, information was collected on how well the institution was doing to reach and involve people in the Greater Hartford area, what perceptions of the Museum existed by various constituencies, and how to better engage diverse populations. As a result, the Community Engagement Initiative is the overriding focus of the Wadsworth and the development of responsive programming is an ongoing process. 

To accommodate various schedules and constituents, we are holding three ChatBack Part II sessions at the Museum:

1) Thursday, August 4, 4 - 5:30 pm

Participants will receive free admission to First Thursday (members will receive an extra bonus). The August 4 First Thursday is a Cirque du Wadsworth block party from 5 – 9 pm.

Please note: Atheneum Square North will be closed on this date for our block party so please use theMain Street entrance or the entrance in the back of the Museum at Prospect Street.

2) Saturday, August 13, 11 am - 12:30 pm

Join us before or after the session at Second Saturdays for Families from 10 am – 1 pm with fun-filled, hands-on art activities related to the theme of Water!

3) Saturday, September 10, 11 am - 12:30 pm

Participants are invited to partake in the Museum’s Community Day with free admission and art activities all day from 10 am - 5 pm! 

Interested participants can RSVP by email, chatback@wadsworthatheneum.org or by phone (860) 838-4058.

Funding from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has provided essential support for this initiative. As a result, the Wadsworth has made great strides in addressing the above issues for our primary target audiences by connecting art and people through establishing an ongoing dialogue with our community. In the words of Wadsworth Atheneum Director Susan L. Talbott, “The whole face of the Museum looks different. The grant from the Hartford Foundation really made that possible.”

In the past year, the Wadsworth has implemented programming in conjunction with more than 60 community partners, such as the Hartford Public Library, the American School for the Deaf, Charter Oak Cultural Center and Mi Casa.  A new Artist-in-Residency Program has engaged community members in a meaningful way. Museum on the Move has brought the Museum to Hartford Public School classrooms as part of Hartford Public School’s Hartford Performs initiative. A multi-lingual, cross-cultural marketing strategy was launched and programming was expanded to include free multicultural-themed performances and hands-on art activities. Bilingual promotional materials have also been produced and distributed. To enhance the experience for each visitor to the Museum, a new informational map that improves orientation was developed. In addition, the Connections Gallery was created as a new interpretive space to create relevancy by presenting innovative art installations. Lastly, free and discounted admission has been provided to various partner non-profit organizations in order to make the Museum more affordable and accessible to members of the community.

The Community Engagement Initiative will be the overriding focus of the Wadsworth in the years ahead and program development will be an ongoing process of implementation and evaluation.  The Museum invites the community to participate in ChatBacks Part II in order to update them on its CEI progress and to welcomeadditional feedback to further its mission towards greater engagement with the diverse local and regional populations of Greater Hartford.

Contact:

Luiselle Rivera

Community Programs Coordinator

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

600 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103

860-838-4058

Luiselle.Rivera@wadsworthatheneum.org

Sarah Ferri

Institutional Advancement & Communications Assistant

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

600 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103

860.838.4081

this really is something!

the mountain lion that got (tragically) killed here a few weeks back, traipsed all the way from SOUTH DAKOTA. that's some hike. i guess he didn't like driving on the highway either

Lion Traveled 1,800 Miles to Connecticut

By LeAnne Gendreau and Debra Bogstie

The mountain lion killed on Route 15 in Milford last month traveled about 1,800 miles to get here.

It came from Black Hills of South Dakota and traveled through Minnesota and Wisconsin before eventually ending up in southern Connecticut. This is the longest journey recorded for a land mammal and nearly double the distance ever recorded for a mountain lion, according to state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

The animal's nickname, the St. Croix Cougar -- a mountain lion and a cougar are the same thing -- a state wildlife official said. Its journey was tracked on a Web site.............

DEEP: Mountain Lion Killed In Milford Was From South Dakota

Said Animal Traveled 1,500 Miles

By KIM VELSEY, kvelsey@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

The mountain lion killed by a car in Milford in June probably traveled 1,500 miles from its birthplace in the Black Hills of South Dakota before dying on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Connecticut, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

This mountain lion's trip was the longest one documented for a mountain lion and quite possibly the longest undertaken by a mammal in North America, said DEEP wildlife biologist Paul Rego.

"It was an incredible journey that ended in a tragic death on our highway here," said Daniel C. Esty, commissioner of the DEEP............

bunch o' steamin' piles o' hipster scenesters

number one, i didn't know we USED to be able to have open containers in west hartford
number two, i don't give a flying fuck yoo hoo if we can have an open container in black and blue square or west hartford center or not. i will NEVER GO TO BLACK AND BLUE. i just won't. and as far as the center goes, i can't remember the last time i was there. there are some good restaurants there which i'd go to (and several restaurants which simply cater to posers and the like). as i've said MANY times before and will say again, I HATE WHAT MY TOWN HAS BECOME

pic: creative commons from moblog NOT wh but it sure as shite COULD be. effin' hipster scenester posers

this ain't gonna be pretty

Fox CT Weather: Sunny And Hot; Temps In The 90s

we have offices in both des moines and minneapolis. i have been talking to my collegues there. it's NASTY. really NASTY. with the heat index it's well into the 110s. coming here now.........

and please please please remember to care for your pets in this weather. they suffer as much as we do.

this by NO means is funny

yet when you read the courant headline, you cannot help but laugh

Lil Wayne Dancers Beat Up Waitress At Westfarms Restaurant, Cops Say

Disagreement With Waitress Over Splitting A Check Escalated

a long long time ago in a galaxy far far far away.........

i got a dog, baby roo! at the magic pet shop. i distinctly remember going in there and buying her (i told my parents someone gave her to me and we couldn't abandon her). it was SO long ago, it was before the current owners were there


to this day, i still do an impression of the man sitting there talking to his bird (who most likely WAS NOT the bird in the photo) and saying GIVE ME A LITTLE KISS JOE JOE


i miss you baby roo


(i'd NEVER go to a pet store these days. i'd of course rescue a dog or a cat from a center)

Magic Pet Shop Closing After 50 Years, Ziggy The Parrot Jobless

 

By JANICE PODSADA, jpodsada@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

Ziggy, a raucous tenor who's been serenading customers at the Magic Pet Shop for 20 years, is about to be out of a job.

The shop's owners Edward and Ellie Kinsella are closing the 50-year-old pet store at the end of the month, which means that Ziggy, a yellow-fronted Amazon parrot, will have to practice his wolf whistles and pop tunes including "Rolling in the Deep" elsewhere.
"Everything is for sale," said Edward Kinsella, 66, who put up a dozen handmade signs in Newington and Wethersfield to announce the store's closing.

A combination of the economic downturn and competition from big-box pet stores made the Kinsellas and their daughter Jen Lowy, 30, who works at the shop, decide to close the business.

"If it had only been one of the two, we could have survived," said Lowy. A year ago, in an effort to diversify, Lowy added fresh flower arrangements to the pet store's offerings. But it wasn't enough...........

my personal feeling?

well i think  you know it but i'll articulate it any damn way. it's just this: IF you join this church or follow this EX CON (yes, i believe SOME - NOT ALL people can and do change) you deserve EVERYTHING you get (taken away from you)

Conservative Sect's Leader, Who Served 12 Years In Prison For Larceny, Opens Church In Enfield

By KIM VELSEY, kvelsey@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

ENFIELD ——

Archbishop John P. Walzer's biography, posted on the website of the Catholic Charismatic Church, begins with his consecration in 1990 and ends with his succession to church patriarch in 2009.

Walzer, who operated churches in Branford, West Haven and East Hartford prior to his conviction, and in New Haven afterward, said that the church — which is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church — decided to move to the red clapboard house at 195 N. Maple St. because of the "opportunity to buy an ideal property for a missionary district."...........

The biography omits the 12 years that Walzer — who has just opened a new church in Enfield — served in prison for first-degree larceny. But church officials say that what is in the past is in the past. ...............

because i'm SO with it...........

i didn't know about this stupid new sales tax until yesterday when a co worker mentioned it.


i don't mind paying taxes, i don't BUT this is getting ridiculous 

good luck!

As Friday's Sales Tax Changes Loom, Confusion And Scrambling Continue

By KORKY VANN and JANICE PODSADA, kvann@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

Whoever said there was nothing certain but death and taxes didn't have to figure out the new Connecticut sales tax package that takes effect Friday.

Uncertainty and last-minute scrambling over which goods and services will or won't be taxed is widespread as state agencies are still researching some of the finer points, and merchants are still learning the new law.

"There have been a lot of changes, so there has been some confusion," said Sarah Kaufman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue Services. "We want to be sure that businesses and consumers have the correct information, so we're continuing to update."

Kaufman said the agency has been contacting businesses, retailers and trade organizations to clarify the new tax rules. But some groups, such as yoga instructors, are harder to reach than, say, the owners of package stores.

And speaking of yoga, we know that classes at yoga studios are now taxable — they've long been taxed at fitness centers — but what about training and workshops for instructors?

Paula Scopino, owner of Sacred River Yoga Studio in Glastonbury, says she received a letter from the Department of Revenue Services, but she said the communiqué left her with unanswered questions..................

i didn't forget solstice

i just didn't get a chance to post my rose

asses

elizabeth park
is such a wonderful place. i grew up right next to it. i walked there almost every day. in the winter we skated and skated and skated. that's where i learned how to play ice hockey (on figure skates mind you). the boyz let ME, a rose is a rose, the ONLY grrrl play! hmmmmmm is THAT where i got it from???????


hands off of the park you vandals. it's an escape. don't damage it. love it. it's there for YOU just as much as it's there for me

Damaged Tree Expected To Survive, But Some Limbs Could Be Trimmed

By VANESSA DE LA TORRE, vdelatorre@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

HARTFORD —— 

The vandalized tree at Elizabeth Park is expected to survive, but will be "somewhat disfigured" after a few of its long, sleepy limbs were severely damaged over the weekend, the park's foreman said Monday.

One thick branch that curves skyward will likely die, Rocco Cianfarani said. It was stripped smooth of its bark sometime during the annual Rose Weekend Festival and carved haphazardly with names, initials, hearts and other signs of juvenile love or boredom.If the limb starts to brown, Cianfarani said, the park will saw it off. Another branch might also die.

"It will be standing, it just won't look as nice as it does," Cianfarani said of the red cedar, believed to be at least a century old and original to Elizabeth Park. "It's a shame."

Police were investigating the vandalism on Monday after the park filed a formal police report in the morning............

pic: Damaged tree limbs at Elizabeth Park in Hartford. (Vanessa de la Torre / Hartford Courant / June 19, 2011)

don't forget this thursday is the faith middleton

food schmooze martini contest in hartford

come on out and vote for your favorite

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 

6PM to 9:30 PM 

At The Marquee 

960 Main Street 

Hartford 

(pssssssstt we know who i'll be voting for. ok, i'm NOT going, but if i was going to go, that's who i'd vote for)

he was 20............20

he never got a chance to live his life. to the family and friends of eric soufrine, i am so very sorry for your loss.

Woodbridge Native, 20, Dies In Afghanistan

 

A picture of Eric Soufrine hangs in Amity High School. He graduated from the high school in 2009. (RYAN BERNAT, FOX CT)

By HILLARY FEDERICO, hfederico@courant.comThe Hartford Courant
Woodbridge native Eric D. Soufrine has died while on a tour in Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense. He was 20.

Word of Pvt. Soufrine's death spread quickly through his hometown Wednesday night, according to First Selectman Edward Maum Sheehy. He said Soufrine was a 2009 graduate of Amity High School and enlisted in the Army after graduation.

"We are very saddened by his death," Sheehy said. "Something like this points out that freedom isn't free.".................