Covid-19, Wuhan Virus, Chinese Virus. Whatever moniker you wanna put on it, honeybunch, in the Asylum by the Sea as everywhere else, that’s all anybody is talkin’ about and all anyone is concerned about. Our little corner of the universe is jest like everywhere else as well. Stores are closed for the most part, so are restaurants and “non-essential” businesses. Of course, as the Wag pernted out when he stopped over for tea (we stayed six feet apart), the interesting thing about “essential” is it is what is deemed so by the powers in Hartford, namely one Edward “Ned” Lamont, esteemed governor of the Land of Steady Habits.
The Wag noted as did others, that “essential” to the state is very interesting. Lotto outlets are essential, as are package stores and such. The state gits big bucks from the “sin taxes,” and ain’t gonna close them down. That’s immediate revenue. The other places, the powers figger, will come later when things can open up. Business taxes will come rolling in once the state is reopened cuz people will need those services.
Of course, Cobina ain’t complaining the package stores are open. We still like to have our wee bit o’ sherry on the off-occasion. And, effen this shutdown ain’t an off occasion, I ain’t sure what is.
The Wag came cuz he wanted to show Cobina – though she’d already seen it – the absolute Yutz Sen. Christopher Murphy was makin’ himself. Murphy has always been a yutz, that’s one o’ the reasons he got the Demmy nomination. They don’t want people who think for themselves.
Tennyrate, Yutzo got the idea to defend the Communist Chinese government for its handling of the Wuhan Virus and then torched the present administration. Now, I understand he’s gotta make a political thing outta it, but to defend the place and people who made decisions that were either malicious or stupid and got the world in this mess is just crazy.
We’ve never had much use for Murphy or his “senior” partner for our state, Richard Blumenthal, over the years. They are both hyper-partisan hacks, and have proven that over and over. In the words of the late Shrimpus Flynn, “Nuff said.”
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Yew know Cobina ain’t a social media type. The few times I’ve seen what people post on social media makes my skin crawl. Some bodies don’t have a filter, and hafta let people know everything about their lives. To use a word I used before, it’s crazy. But, I guess people git addicted to that stuff the way they get addicted to other things.
Our webmaster showed some comments about our recent editorial, and our editor knew it would “trigger” the usual suspects, and it did. But, there ain’t any reasoned discussion or real thought, just vitriol. Cobina will stay off social media.
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Despite the Wuhan Flu, things hafta git done in a municipality, and one of the things getting done is the budget. This year will be a bit different however, as told to us by our correspondence with City Council Chairman Ron Quagliani.
Ole Ron sez that the council, unlike past years, jest began lookin’ over the mayor’s proposed budget, which was isshewed a month ago. It was just before the trash hit the fan over the virus. But, they got a bit of a reprieve. It seems that Gov. Lamont has determined that the May deadline for budgets, which I think is the second week of May be state law, was summarily moved to late June, and the July 1 implementation date for the new fiscal year’s tax collection will be moved as well.
Sooooo, the committee-of-the-whole that reviews the budget will meet over and above regularly schedule meetings and in the same way, via Skype or some other electronic means. The good news is the people can take part in the deliberations jest like they could when we could all actually be in groups. Effen they have questions they can be emailed or mailed to City Hall (see the story in the papyrus) and those queries will be addressed.
Quagliani sez the public hearing on the budget went about as well as expected and that several questions were fielded, mostly about the Library, witch took a beating in this spending plan.
Electronic means or not, the rules still apply. The council can only make changes via a super-majority of nine votes on the 13-member council. Once they do their thing, reviewing the document, they hafta vote the ordinance into law. They can change it or pass it. Failure to pass the ordinance means that the budget goes into effeck by default – something that I think has happened three times, and not to great effect.
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The big news via Sammy Bluejay is that the city is gonna close Water Street on April 27 – we got that story, too. That is big news cuz something – anything – had to happen over there. The neighborhood must be givin’ a sigh of relief cuz things were getting more and more seedy over there by the day.
The closure means that a shortcut or side road used by many motorists to leave or enter the city will be closed off, and traffic down there might be a bit more congested from now on. The good news is that after 23 years, four iterations and thousands of words at council meetings, civic forums and in the press, it looks like something is happening.
Remember, a projeck for that site was announced in September of 1997, cuz our editor was there. There have been three names – Water Street Project, West River Crossing, and now The Haven – and several attempts to get things started, including one plan that envisioned hundreds of million-dollar condos. This project was announced in October of 2014, and six years later something is happening.
This is only one step in a long process, but maybe, jest maybe, things are moving toward something getting built down there.
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Methinks I mentioned this to yew a couple o’ weeks ago, but it bears mentioning, again. Nelly Nuthatch fluttered by t’other day and told me that a couple o’ private schools she’s aware of have already let it be known that the “snow day” is now on the ash heap of history as far as they are concerned. The “distance learning” or “on-line learning,” that schools have gone over to in this pandemic has opened up a new way of making sure all 180 days of school get on the schedule.
Most public school systems, including our own, have developed a perty good format for the kiddies – who are probably likin’ it cuz they hafta stay home for weeks. I posed the question somewhat tongue-in-cheek before, but it seems that necessity has been the mother of invention, or innovation, and effen there’s a blizzard, school will be handled via the Internet, unless, of course, wires go down. That’ll be another kettle o fish.
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The isshew of graduation and proms has come up, and it looks like the Class of 2020 is gonna git short shrift on these rites of passage. Some schools have already canceled graduation and prom, while other things are being canceled, like Class Night, etc. It’s too bad. The nights are more for Mom and Dad than the kids. Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro indicates in a story today he wouldn’t be surprised effen graduation is canceled.
Another casualty is gonna be the fireworks on July 3. It seems the Fireworks Committee has been hampered trying to fundraise for the event. Heck, a lot o’ the events are held in eateries that have been closed. Soooo, seeing that there is no real chance of getting the bucks they need, since the public will be watching its pennies, the event was called.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,