Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The day's best comments from Patch account-holders in our Fairfield County towns.
MONROE: "We are all Mom enough no matter what direction we choose, and any time you see a happy, thriving kid, he or she is living proof of that." Susan wrote this in response to "Patch Back" columnist Lisa Bigelow's view of Time magazine's controversial cover featuring Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her three-year-old son. NEW CANAAN: "Choosing how to raise children is feminism and another woman judging proponents of La Leche or attachment parenting is just like men trying to appeal abortion rights, trying to control women's bodies and their ultimate freedom: reproductive rights which morphs into parenting." kim wrote her response to the same article NEW CANAAN: "He is rude, unpleasant, and ineffective." Joey wrote this in his review …
The last post in a three-part series reflecting on an experiment with life coaching.
I attended my third and final life coach session with Liz Hoffmann last week. When it comes to areas in my life I wanted to improve upon, we both agreed that with her coaching I had made great strides. I intend to keep her strategies and direction close as I continue down my career path and maintain relationships with friends and family. Lucky for me, I took advantage of these sessions as a relatively young adult -- I’m just starting out. What about the people who aren’t just starting out and may find themselves struggling to keep their life in balance, in check? I can’t speak for all the life coaches out there, but from working with Liz, I can lay down some qualities that make a person a good candidate for life coaching sessions: …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The day's best comments from Patch account-holders in our Fairfield County towns.
BROOKFIELD: "Never before in my life have I been in a studio as respectful, determined, and family friendly than Dance Dimensions." Ryan Bulson wrote this in response to this week's Readers' Choice poll for best dance studio in Brookfield. DARIEN: "After all this talk of the cover in the media, I still don't know what the story in Time is even about." Lisa Wilson Grant wrote this in response to this week's "Patch In" column about Time magazine's controversial cover featuring Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her three-year-old son. NEW CANAAN: "My last word on breastfeeding. Bottle for baby. Breast for daddy. Next." stella bella also responded this week's "Patch In." WILTON: "...Asking the media to stop suckling at the teat of advertising…
Monday, May 14, 2012
The day's best comments from Patch account-holders in our Fairfield County towns.
BETHEL: "Wow. So Murphy shot hoops. Hm. Just like his President. Will he be playing golf, next?" Donald Borsch Jr wrote this in response to news that Rep. Chris Murphy recently spent an hour at a Simsbury school shooting hoops and playing volleyball with approximately 400 students. RIDGEFIELD: "Heh, heh. So how's that fancy new library looking folks? 5 mil could have gone a long way to keep a school open..." Eileen wrote this in response to news that Ridgefield Schools will be holding a public hearing tonight to discuss the possibility of closing an elementary school within the next few years. STAMFORD: "Without question the best sushi in town." BARRY DEYULIO wrote this in his review of Kotobuki, which is in this week's Readers' Choice …
District 8 representative Tom McCarthy responds to District 5 representative Ann Stamler's letter to the editor published Thursday.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, May 14
Taxes, taxes, taxes...that begins the preamble to the Town of Fairfield's 2013 proposed budget, but unfortunately limiting the size of a tax increase requires a significant amount of will more than anything else. I read with great interest representative Stamler's letter to the editor this week in which she expressed her frustration over the RTM Budget Proceedings. As I believe she knows, I have great respect and admiration for her, because I know how hard she works. She does her homework, and she is among the faithful at the Board of Finance meetings, but I believe that in this case she has missed the mark. There are two sides to every argument, and in this case she seems to be among those who can see only their side. If you take the …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
And how to keep them from doing so.
Yes, we are number one. Connecticut residents work longer to cover their tax burden for the entire year than residents of any other state nationally, per a nonprofit organization called the Tax Foundation. This distinction is in large measure why Nutmeggers fly south in great numbers: Lower income taxes. Lower housing costs. Lower state and local taxes. Confirming this fact is a 2009 study from the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a Connecticut based, fiscal think tank. Connecticut lost an estimated 325,526 residents between 1991 and 2008, according to study. Where do they move? States that benefit most from migrating Nutmeggers are Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. What is common about these states? …
Friday, May 11, 2012
The day's best comments from Patch account-holders in our Fairfield County towns.
DANBURY: "I know it is hard to believe Filo, but yes kids actually play tag, and catch, and ride bikes, and walk their dogs... just like the 'old days' and then we call them to dinner and wash behind their ears and send them to bed..." On the Border wrote this in response to comments made on an article about how Turner Road residents feel about a Belimo Air Controls manufacturing plant possibly coming to their neighborhood. FAIRFIELD: "Go ahead and raid the transportation fund, it's just those Rich Fairfield Country commuters, these suckers can always keep paying more and more for less and less." Newtotown wrote this in response to news that Metro-North riders will face a 4 percent fare hike in January. SHELTON: "Dennis and his crew were…
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The day's best comments from Patch account-holders in our Fairfield County towns.
DANBURY: "Maybe it's time to invest in educating our kids in reading, writing, and mathematics, and not how to get steroids to play football and die at 25." g wrote this in response to an article about the Board of Education's approval of next year's budget. MONROE: "Love how our politicians mainly focus on legislation that affects the smallest minority of the population." QWERTY wrote this in response to Thursday's "Eye on the Beltway" column, which keeps readers up-to-date on the actions of Sen. Blumenthal, Sen. Lieberman, Rep. Himes, Rep. DeLauro and Rep. Murphy. NEW CANAAN: "Let them have the same opportunity to be as miserable as the rest of us." Dunn Glenbar wrote this in response to a poll asking readers whether they agreed with …
Do news organizations that publish 911 call audio help or harm the communities they serve?
The initial shockwave that swept through Fairfield County last week after the Ramsey family tragedy changed to disgust following the decision of area news outlets to publish the graphic 911 recording, during which a woman police identified as Mrs. Ramsey told the dispatcher that her husband was lying dead “in a pool of blood.” Patch received access to the tape but did not publish a link to it. As an American writer who considers the First Amendment our most cherished right, I believe that making 911 tapes available to the public is essential to community safety; however, are we not also human beings? Did the tape need to be released so soon after Mr. Ramsey’s tragic demise? And how -- if at all -- did the tape’s release advance the public…
RTM member Ann Stamler, D-5, on the 2012 budget proceedings.
To the Editor: I have often said that I am proud to serve on the Fairfield Representative Town Meeting because I believe our members of both parties are for the most part sincerely working to serve the interests of the people we represent. Because I have been so proud of this service, disheartened does not begin to express what I felt at the conclusion of our annual budget meetings this week. I attended budget related meetings of the Boards of Education, Selectmen and Finance starting in January 2012. I also attended (and took minutes at) special joint RTM committee meetings held for the first time this year, to gather information from Town Department Heads. I examined the proposed 2013 Town budget, through these meetings and on my own, …
fully involved
10:16 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Reps. McCarthy and Stamler, Thank you, both for raising good points on both sides of the questions. I think the best place to start is by asking the question, "What is the proper role for our tax payer dollars?" For example, embedded in the BoE budget is upwards of $500k or more of maintenance and janitorial fees to cover Building rentals that are not charged for. Our own Park and Rec Dept. … more ›