whvoice

It’s been quite a couple o’ weeks, honeybunch. In fack, it’s been three weeks since we last corresponded. We pushed back the second isshew of the month to this week cuz herronner was putting together the Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal. But like with most things over the last fortnight, this year’s announcement was anything but normal.

As yew know – how could you not – the nation is in the throes of something it hasn’t seen since after the Great War. This Wuhan Virus from mainland China has perty much stopped the nation in its tracks. In a matter of days the stock market crashed 10,000 points, and is still in free-fall, governors and mayors have shut down cities, and we’re all supposed to exercise “social distancing.” Now there’s a bit of jargon that’s gonna make it into the country’s lexicon.

Herronner, declared a State of Emergency jest like all the mayors around. Governor Ned Lamont got off his high horse about highway tolls, and had to show leadership in other ways. Right now, he’s got the state in a semi-lockdown. Non-essential businesses are supposed to stay closed, but several businesses are remaining open and being declared “essential:” Gas Stations, Liquor/Package Stores, Trash/Recycling Collection, Post Offices/Shipping Services, Legal and Accounting Services, Pest and Landscaping Services, Child Care, Auto repair shops, Hardware stores. The one that caught my peepers, and my thanks, was the fack that package stores are gonna be left open – at least in the short term. That means that we can stock up on things.

Of course, Cobina is a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to spirits, but she does like her glass of wine at dinner, dontcha know. At least we’ll be able to git our favorite vintage.

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Schools have been closed for the better part of two weeks, and, although the hope was they could re-open by March 31, Sammy Bluejay and other of our feathered friends aren’t holdin’ out much hope for that. Y’see, the feds are saying the virus hasn’t “peaked” yet, and until it does we can’t even think about getting back to normal.

From what Sammy has told me some state officials and even officials in some area towns are wonderin’ whether schools will open for the rest of the year. Out in Ohio, the governor there, Michael DeWine, has said as much. Closer to home, methinks it is gonna be a slower process, with deadlines extended until they can’t be anymore.

Of course, the city has what they call “distance learning,” another phrase for the lexicon, that means that those with computers will be able to have classes on the Internet, whilst those without – and there can’t be very many of those these days – will get packets. The state has announced that effen the schools go into this “distance learning” they don’t hafta make up the days that were lost. So, the new electronic hook-ups are a way to keep things moving.

Don’t be surprised, though, effen the kiddies will hafta go to classes late into June. But, with the distance learning the whole thing might be as close to schedule as one could hope for.

Of course, people are always lookin’ for the bright side o’ things. A meme has been circulating the Internet that is perty funny: Parents are beginning to realize, the teachers aren’t the problem.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next lit’le while, m’dear. Like I said above, we ain’t seen this since the Spanish Influenza more than 100 years ago. But, what is happening is people are adapting better than some of our elites would like to admit. It might be a changing paradigm, too. As one columnist said, we are seeing that the repairman is more important than the college prof.

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Of course, in the meantime, the city has been caught up in the virus. We had confirmation from the authorities last week that at least one person in town has the virus. Don’t be surprised effen that number goes up, and goes up considerably.

Foist off, it’s gonna happen cuz people are being tested and the thing seems to be omnipresent. But, we have another variable in this burg, the Veterans Hospital. Now, we don’t know effen the person who contracted the virus is from there, there are laws against knowin’ setch things, but the chances of the VA Hospital being a locus for the virus is perty good.

That news shouldn’t send anyone’s hair on fire, or get people riled up. Sakes alive, the press’ handling of this thing has been over the top in so many ways. The thing to know is that those who get it, for the most part will be treated and recover. Some may not, but that’s cuz they have compromised systems based on other things. We shall see.

Our Health Director as well as the CDC has given good tips on what to do, and we should take those into consideration.

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Whilst all that is going on, Mikey Mercuriano has an idea that I will pose to you. Cobina has kep’ it under wraps for a couple o’ weeks, and there will be more on this. As yew know, Mikey is always lookin’ for the city to git its collective act together finance-wise, and is lookin’ for ways to help. Now, he can be a bit of a noodge when it comes to these things, and has rubbed more than one person the wrong way over the year, but his heart is in the right spot.

He found an old story wherein the city had legal gambling at Savin Rock for about four years with the blessing of the state assembly, of course. He believes the city should try to git back that status, and work to put a gambling establishment within the city limits. But, he also has a place he thinks it could work – the Haven.

Mercuriano, like many, are not convinced the high-end stores that are in the plans for the mercantile space are ever gonna appear. Whilst signs have been placed concerning the closure of Water Street (Cobina saw them herself whilst out shopping), there ain’t much to indicate anything more is being done.

Now, before anyone gets on the aforementioned high horse, the developers have been playing their cards close to the vest over the last few years, not letting people know what’s going on. In fack, some city officials have intimated that getting info sometimes is like pullin’ teeth. However, the plans are the plans, and until setch time as we know different, we hafta determine things accordingly.

Tennyrate, Mike’s idea is to push the concep’ of a casino, or casino-like expanse on the plates of the developers. He thinks the city, with its past of gambling, could make more kopecks in the city coffers. In theory he’s probably right, but, Cobina is like the others, she don’t see this group of conservative investors going that route. Foist off, with the state givin’ veto power over setch places by the Indian tribes already with casinos, and with a new one in New York and Massachusetts as well as Rhode Island, whatcha think the chances are this’ll git through? Me neither.

So, it is a good thought, but unless the develpers are gonna make that plunge, it’ll be a cold day in the Hot Place before I think we’ll see setch a thing. Then, there is the matter of the neighborhood. That’s a whole other kettle o’ fish.

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Finally, someone made mention of the fack that the jobs boom – before the pandemic – never hit the Land of Steady Habits (that’s Connecticut). Well, with the tax-and-spend nature of our state government, not to mention the fack that we are a very business-unfriendly state, why would people put jobs here? Only 50 years ago people were making this a destination, now it’s a point of departure.

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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,