Headin’ toward the end o’ the year…cruisin’ downhill effen yew ask Cobina. Wow, hard to believe but we’re getting toward the end o’ 2018. The next isshew is gonna be the Turkey Day publication, and as per usual we’ll run the two football teams as is our custom since forever. People look forward to these front pages we’ve found out durin’ the years, and we look forward to puttin’ them out. Of course, to get full circle it means that another calendar year is comin’ to a close.
This is also a reminder that with the end o’ the year comes the annual two-week shutdown here at our little papyrus. It looks like the last isshew of 2018 is gonna be Dec. 20, and then we don’t publish for Dec. 27 and Jan. 3. That means, my good gal, that we’ll be back on the newsstands on Jan 10. The office, of course, will be closed durin’ that time, but one or t’other of us will be in the office making sure the emails are taken care of and the snail mail is collected – that’s usually bills, but there we are.
Here in the Asylum by the Sea we seemed to git through the recent election with things status quo ante – that’s Latin for things perty much stayed the same. Charlie Ferraro was one o’ the people we were keepin’ an eye on cuz he had a strong challenger in the 117th Districk. That challenger was an ole buddy o’ ours, Cyndi Boynton.
Effen that name rings a bell, we used to work with here when we were all with the Milford Citizen. Cyndi was a reporter then editor, and then a supervisor of weeklies. She was there until the New Haven Register, which then owned the citizen, decided to consolidate stuff, and eventually killed all those papyruses.
Talk about things comin’ full circle. Effen yew remember, the Register owned all the properties up and down the coast and into interior Connecticut, leveraging their capital to buy the newspapers. Eventually, that leveraging snapped, and the company was under water. Hearst recently took over the local papyrus and several others in the state, including weeklies once held by Hometown Publications. And jest like two decades ago, properties were closed, and are now being consolidated. Funny how that all works, huh?
Tennyrate, getting back to the election, the Demmies once again claimed ownership of our fair state, and that means despite all the call for change, we’ve done the same thing and expected a different outcome. Expeck more taxes, more spending and more debt, especially for those of us in the southern tier of the state. We’re gonna get zonked by tolls much like we were decades ago, and Uncle Ned is gonna call for more of us to “pay a little more.” Like our editorial sez, when is enuff enuff?
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The annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner is on the boards. Jest last week I inquired of yew whether you’d hoid anything about it. Usually we git a missive from Bill Ewry askin’ for help. Well, no sooner had we got the query into the newspaper, a missive came via the post askin’ for the usual volunteers – and pies. Every year they need volunteers and volunteers to make pies.
The dinner will be in the Fellowship Hall of the Congregational Church as is custom, and it should be a good time like it always is. The funny thing is that many think this is jest for the poor and homeless. In fack, a lotta people who either jest want to be with others, or have no family of their own, decide to go to the dinner. Many’s the year that families take part, just cuz they wanna be part o’ something community-oriented.
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Just as a heads-up, Shawn Brown is gonna be a new writer for our little periodical, taking care of isshews that affeck people in the Borough of Allingtown. Brown’s family is well known in the area, and he is gonna shine a light on things that affeck the borough and also make some suggestions on what could be done to make things better. As yew know, Allingtown is sometimes the red-headed stepchild of the city – and seems to have been for years.
Tennyrate, Shawn is gonna make people aware of things happening over there and maybe raise awareness as to what can be done. Politicos shouldn’t be afraid o’ having this new column, cuz it will help them. Also, it’s giving our little papyrus exposure in that area – even more than it has now.
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Nelly Nuthatch is all excited cuz the Dept. of Interior gave the OK to the purchase of Bayview Park as part of the Haven West projeck. Nelly reminded Cobina way back that in order to sell a designated park, the Dept. of Interior somehow is involved and has to give its imprimatur to the deal.
That isshew has been on the desk o’ some persona or t’other for the last several months, and things really couldn’t go forward until that matter was settled. I guess the question now is: where do we stand on the projeck?
Developers have been saying that construction – or rather demolition – of the site can begin after the foist of the year if everything comes together. One would think this decision by the feds is part o’ that coming together. So let’s hope that another hurdle has been cleared and we’ll be seeing things percolating over there.
Imagine, honey bunch. That projeck in some form or other has been on the books since 1997. The plan to do something called the “Water Street Project” was announced on a September afternoon that year – we remember cuz it was hot – and it was a big deal that brought together all the press. We remember cuz it was our foist year of business.
The project has languished for two decades and about four name changes, including West River Project amongst others. We were all a bit younger and bit more hopeful back then. Now we’re from Missouri on this thing until it comes time to cut the red ribbon. Too many projecks have been announced and too many disappointments had. Effen yew don’t believe me just look on Center Street at the “arts center.”
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Sammy Bluejay was wonderin’ effen the constant rain we’ve been havin’ in these parts has contributed to the fack that milled streets ain’t been paved yet. Foist amongst ‘em is Kelsey Avenue. Effen yew want a ride that shakes things up, including yore kidneys, traverse yore gassamobuggy on that thoroughfare from end to end. It’s quite an experience.
It needed to be paved. Heck the potholes were getting so deep, they were ready to be declared national monuments. So, we’re all waiting for the time the big pavers will be seen. But, like we said, Mother Nature ain’t exackly been cooperative with the planners.
Over the last three weeks we’ve equaled the amount o’ rain we could expeck in six months, let alone one season. It seems like every time we were outside it was pourin’. And here we are jest four weeks into fall and we’ve had at least two Nor’easters. That don’t bode well for the next little while, that’s for sure.
Till things clear out, I guess the paving on Kelsey and elsewhere will be forestalled. All we need are a few dry days, but as Iyam writing this week’s missive, more rain is expected. The wag keeps sayin, “At least it’s not snow.” I guess that’s one way to look at it.
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this week till next, mitt luff und kizzez,