By the time yew git this missive, October will be half gone, and things will be moving toward Halloween and, believe it or not, the holiday season. Yep, it’s less than two months away. Expect the store fronts and the TV ads to bypass Thanksgiving and go right into snowmen and the Jolly Ole Elf himself. Of course, what would October be without a Nor’easter and we had a humdinger in these parts last weekend. Heck, Felicia, before Friday was a few hours old, Storm Warnings and Watches were up all over the place, and there was talk of flooding, cuz the rain was gonna be torrential. It was in spots. So much for us needing rain.
Of course, this past weekend was Columbus Day Weekend, which puts some of the people in these parts in a tizzy. Though, one has to admit, with the change of administrations in DC some people have decided not to go full cuckoo and keep their nonsense to themselves. Oh, there are still the anti-Columbus rants, which are really anti-Western rants from the usual suspects: college profs, professional provocateurs and the always upset. We have lots o’ those around here, especially with several universities in the area.
Columbus Day also means that the Italian-American of the Year is feted. This year it’s the late Vinny Carr, who regaled many a city event with his music-making. There were very few events where he didn’t have his orchestra or only himself put a musical patina on events. He is greatly missed, but his family was able to accept the award for him. He was one of the people that made this city kind o’ special.
~~~
Sammy Bluejay was here and sez that city officials were really happy with the turnout at the Public Safety Expo last weekend. And, Cobina has to agree. She did motor past the event in her flivver, and saw multitudes of locals going to the various events….and the helicopter on the area in front of Savin Rock was quite an impressive sight.
Like I told yew in the last missive, it’s good for the local constabulary and the various fire brigades along with other city operations to have days like this. This is the reason taxpayers pay their annual levies to make sure that these departments do their jobs and do them well.
Given the stuff that was going on and the trucks and other apparatus we saw out there, we would have to admit that the money those department put out is well spent, and people here should be very appreciative.
~~~
The Wag was here t’other afternoon, and mentioned with the leaves turning and it getting – rather suddenly – colder, his thoughts are turning to Thanksgiving, and all that comes with it. He mentioned, too, that he expecks that Bill Ewry and his gang are beginning to plan the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner in its present iteration. We got talking about that event, and Cobina had to agree, the annual letter and request for assistance by the committee is jest about due. Ewry is like clockwork when it comes to organizational things.
It’ll be here before you know it, heck it’s almost two months since the kids were back in school! That’s how much time has flown, and with the leaves falling off the trees, thoughts go to the warmth of Thanksgiving. It’s been a long tradition in these parts to have a community event. It’s had about three different organizations or committee take the event over since it began in the mid-1980s, but much of it is the same as it was back then.
People come into the city just for it – city alums, who might have left the area. It’s quite something to hear about it. It’s always been one of the best things this berg has to offer, and it’s all volunteer!
~~~
Meanwhile, we see that a hotel on Bull Hill Lane/Sawmill Road is up for sale. Correck me if Iyam wrong, but wouldn’t this be the second change of name for the building if and when it goes into other hands? It seems to me that the name changed a while ago since it was opened.
That’s what a lotta these companies do, building things and stay for about five years, and then cash them out. I may be wrong, but it always seemed like the place was busy, but busy-ness is not always a variable in the equations of these corporations.
Somebody will take it over, more than likely. There is too much need for hotels and motels in the area with the universities and the sports venues having their tournaments and all the other stuff that creates that sort of need. Wouldn’t be surprised effen the place is sold rawther quickly.
~~~
Of course, the waning of October means we are getting closer and closer to Election Day. Iva Lootey was here a day or so ago, and we discussed the same thing yew and I discussed last time: the fack that Demmies are concerned about the under-ticket with Herronner not having any opposition this go-round. He pointed out something that Cobina had thought about in passing, but needs some more thought.
As we know, the city’s Republican Party has been a bit…hampered…in its attempts to unseat the opposition. And, natcherly, this goes all the way back to the marriage of convenience the party made with Clem Evangeliste way back in 1989. Without regaling you with all the details, yew know them. The city went bankrupt under the GOP administration, and hasn’t even had a whiff of the thoid floor since, excep for four years ago, when Barry Cohen was a handful of votes short in his attempt to unseat Nancy Rossi.
Cobina still thinks the judge on that case was cagey. Instead of calling the whole thing into questions, she invalidated enuff votes to say something was wrong, but not enuff to overturn the results and call for a new vote. It’s happened before.
Tennyrate, here we are four years later, and the GOP was unable to get a standard-bearer for its slate, and even left a few council districks without candidates. Enter Steve Mullins.
Mullins and the GOP have been on the outs since jest after the last election, and he resigned from the party. He is running this go-round as an Independent and there is some talk that he might win! Iva sez the chances are not bad, given the fack that Mullins is well-known in the community, has name recognition, and the GOP is more disjointed than ever.
The upshot is that under the right scenario, the GOP may or may not have a seat on the council if things break the wrong way. They have a couple o’ candidates who won last time, and there is little reason to think they might be losers this time. But it could happen.
The city charter mandates there be at least one “minority” candidate on the 13-member panel. In the past, this has generally happened in the “at-large” category, where the top two candidates get the seats, with the top minority candidate getting the third of three at-large seats.
There are some wondering if the majority party will sweep in this time, given the popularity of Herroner, and that the minority seat could go to Mullins for all the above-stated reasons. Cobina could ask Madame Olga with her crystal ball, but Olga has been under the weather lately. It’s an interesting scenario for political junkies, but not for anyone else. We shall see. Election Day beckons.
~~~
Whilst in the gassamobuggy a few days ago, we noted that things are starting to simmer over at the corner of East Avenue and Beach Street. On the Northeastern corner there is a building that has been gutted, and harkens from the amusement park days. The place was fenced in, and it looked like things were gonna start percolating over there after months of waiting.
Meanwhile, jest a few doors down the Debonair Motel is still standing many weeks after it was expected to see the wrecker’s ball. Not sure what the hold up is, but Nelly Nuthatch was told weeks ago that there was an expected announcement about it that never materialized. With the cold weather coming in, one wonders effen things will be put off until spring. Who knows?
Sooooo, we shall see how things materialize over the next week or so. I know that the Actors Colony seems to be interested in getting that area off the books and all that has to be done get done quickly. But, as we know in this berg, things happen slowly with the method being more madness than anything else.
And then there is the ever-present situation with the former Haven property. It’s still there! It’s still overgrown. The best thing that can be said about it is it allows a nice view of New Haven Harbor. What, if anything, happens with that property has been a state secret as far as the developers are concerned. From what we’ve been able to cobble together over the years, the developers only tell the city what it thinks it wants to divulge, not much more.
Despite her tenacity, Herroner has not been able to breach that wall of silence in her tenure any more than anyone else. So, it continues….
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,