Hard to believe, honey bunch, here we are in the dawg days of summer and before you know it, it’ll all be over. Even though it’s been a decade or four since yew and I have darkened the hallways of an educational institution, seeing the “back to school” ads on the boob tube or elsewhere still gives that sense of forebodin’ that we used to have when school was ready to git back in session.
We hear tell that it is only a few weeks more and the kiddies will be back in session, and one hopes that things will be getting back to normal – status quo ante as they like to say. Around here the kiddies had a full year with some exceptions, but things seem to be on the upswing, even with this new “variant” that the local and national media jest wanna keep hyping to boost their ratings.
With all that as the backdrop, the big news around here was last weekend’s Savin Rock Festival. After a four-year hiatus, the block party went off as part of the centennial celebration. One hopes that with the city now looking at something of a brighter future, things like the festival can get back to status quo ante as well.
At the time o’ this writing it wasn’t apparent what the turnout was or how successful. But with the lineup they had, and the concerts expected, it was all that was expected, we’re sure. Tennyrate, people jest wanna git outta the house and this was a good way fer them to do it.
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Getting back to schools opening, it looks like Aug. 30 is the big day with full in-person learning going on unless something happens to gum up the woiks. And, like I said above, there are some that are trying to do so with a vengeance. So far the state has been slow to push any panic buttons and let’s hope it stays that way. Soooo, before the month is out we’ll have school buses on the road, kids in their new finery, and school vacation will be a fleeting memory before long.
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Before summer is gone, however, a few things in matters politick have to take place, and the process is underway. Over the last little while the two parties have announced their “endorsed” slates. There was little surprise. The Demmies re-nominated incumbent Herroner Nancy Rossi, and the slate that she has. The Democratic Town Committee is dominated by her folks, so it was not exactly an event that offered much drama.
The big thing now is what John Lewis can do. He knew he wasn’t gonna git the nod, so the petitioning process begins. He needs to git his petitions out, and then they need to be verified. It shouldn’t be hard work, though it is tedious. Once that happens, we’ll have a September primary cuz this ain’t a national election year. Then it’s onto the November generals.
Just a reminder, two weeks ago former Mayor Ed O’Brien opted outta the primary route, putting all his chips on the general election. His reasoning was that he wanted his “team” to be held together. A primary can mean cobbling together a patchwork of the slates, and he didn’t want that. Methinks, also, and Cobina is jest surmising here, he doesn’t have a war chest that would allow for the expenditures needed for both elections. So, it was a good move on both counts.
Meanwhile, the GOP had its caucus and nominated Barry Lee Cohen as expected. There was some opposition as also was expected. As we’ve said before, Cohen is the type o’ guy who can rub people the wrong way cuz he’s so direct. People don’t like direct.
At the eleventh hour, Steven Mullins put his hat into the arena and it remains to be seen effen he will go the primary route or jest let the endorsed slate go into the general election. There seems to be a split in the GOP regarding direction. Some don’t like the route being traveled, while others think maybe it’s high time to change direction. We shall see how this all washes out in the coming weeks.
Of course, things couldn’t go off without some kind o’ hitch, and it seems a deadline was not met, which means the GOP slate has to jump through a few more hoops, and get some signatures in order to git on the ballot. In effeck, there is not GOP “endorsed” slate, but will be once the fol-de-rol is taken care of by the party.
Kudos, by the way, to Patty Horvath, who let the GOP know the deadline was approaching and they hadn’t made the filing. She didn’t hafta let anyone know anything, but did the “right” thing in giving a phone call. We can think of other people in that position and in other years when setch a thing would not have been done.
Sooooo, while the stage ain’t exactly set for November, it is set for the opening weeks of what could prove to be an interesting Silly Season. Can’t wait!
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So, Sammy Bluejay was by t’other afternoon and saw that New Haven County was considered a place wherein new Covid-19 cases are being reported. Does that mean we’re going to have mask mandates? One hopes not. Cobina can’t breathe in those things, but that’s beside the point. They don’t work. It’s all dress up.
I guess we’ll see in the next little while, but with the people in DC flip=flopping al the time it’s no wonder a lotta people jest don’t believe a thing that’s being said. Cobina amongst them.
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T’other big news came by way of Nelly Nuthatch, who let it be known that the former Chieck’s Restaurant was sold to a consortium of business people, including some well-known personae around the town. It’s still unclear what exactly is gonna be put on the site, but it’s good to see it finally moving to another phase. It’s been about five years now.
Gotts think things are getting better when it was sold for a cool million bucks. That’s one of the three properties on Beach Street that Cobina has been harping about for quite a while. Now all we hafta see is the former Debonair Motel property sole as well as the former Captain’s Galley site. Both are going to seed, though the Debonair site is really looking bad. The building on the Captain’s Galley site was taken down a few years ago. Maybe this will be the thing catapult those sales.
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That brings us to the Haven over at t’other end. All the buildings along the harborside have been taken down it seems. One wonders about remediation and all those things that might hafta be done cuz those were industrial sites, and there were oil tanks along the way. We shall see. When, exactly, the construction of the new projeck is supposed to start is anyone’s guess.
The houses along First Avenue are still rotting in the sun, though there seems to be an effort to cut the grass and keep things somewhat tidy.
Trying to git a handle on things though has not been easy. These developers are playing things very close to the vest and have all along. Things really aren’t known until they jest about are ready to happen. That usually ain’t the way things happen around here. Usually there is a press conference, a lotta hullaballoo, and then nothing happens.
Cobina seems to remember that some Christmastide was mentioned more than a year ago. Christmas 2022, methinks. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one for sure.
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Jest a final word on Beach Street. Cobina was in the gassamobuggy t’other afternoon and noted that the water level across from Chick’s is almost to the street. There is a part of the beach that was rebuilt for the umpteenth time over there – where the pipes were exposed to the elements effen yew remember – and that’s almost all gone now.
Whilst we know things aren’t gonna happen over there until the roadway is heightened, somebody might wanna take a gander at what’s happening in that particular area.
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,