GET OFF THE STREETS OR PAY UP

 The City of Hartford  has declared a snow emergency parking ban for the City of Hartford, beginning at 12:01am on January 24 ending at 11:59pm on January 24, 2015. As it is Saturday, all Hartford Public Schools will be closed and lots will be available for parking.  Currently, there is not a parking ban on Sunday, January 25. Winterfest Hartford in Bushnell Park will remain open.

The snow could be anywhere from 4 to 7 inches in Hartford along with freezing rain  Residents are encouraged  to check on their neighbors whenever possible. Shelters will remain open for 24 hours as long as the temperatures are below freezing.”

During a snow emergency parking ban, all on-street parking is prohibited throughout the City of Hartford. Any vehicles not removed from City streets by the start of the parking ban will be ticketed and towed. Residents without access to off-street parking should move their vehicles to one of the following authorized parking areas before the start of the parking ban:

•       Morgan Street Garage

•       2 Holcomb Street Lot

•       Keney Park Entrance Lot—Ridgefield Street

•       KDA Center Lot—Naugatuck Street

•       Pope Park Center Lot—Park Terrace

•       Metzner Center Lot—Franklin Avenue

•       Colt Park Lot—Wawarme Avenue

•       Elizabeth Park Lots

•       All Hartford Schools Parking Lots beginning today at 3:00pm

Residents should remove their vehicles from the lots promptly following the end of the parking ban. Residents whose vehicles are towed during the parking ban should contact the Hartford Police Department at (860) 757-4000. The cost for retrieving a towed vehicle is $93.59. An additional $99.00 ticket will be issued which owners are responsible for paying before the answer date. Please visit http://www.hartford.gov/snow-parking for a list of snow emergency parking locations, and for information regarding towed vehicles.

Anyone in need of shelter is urged to call 211. As long as the temperatures are below 25 degrees, the following shelters will be open 24 hours:

•       McKinney Shelter: 34 Huyshope Ave, (860) 722-6922

•       Immaculate Conception Shelter: 560 Park St, (860) 724-4823

•       South Park Inn: 75 Main St, (860) 724-0071

KEEPING THE HFD PIO BUSY

I'm pretty sure he would prefer to be busy putting out the good news at the Hartford Fire Dept. but lately that seems somewhat rare. The new PIO, Lt Raul Ortiz has his hands full

This rather abrupt statement was emailed a few minutes ago

As of today, January 23, 2015 4:30pm,  Firefighter Cinque Scott is no longer employed with the Hartford Fire Department.

 

For more on Scott's termination, click here

CIRCUS FIRE PHOTO DESTRUCTION STORY GOES NATIONAL

The story of Hartford Fire Captain William Pond destroying historic Circus Fire photos has made the big time, The story appeared on NBC.com late this afternoon. To view the story on NBC's national network page , click here.

Making Hartford Proud.

IT IS ALMOST THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN, ST,PATRICKS DAY FUNDRAISER THIS SUNDAY

The 44th Annual Greater Hartford St. Patrick's Day Parade

The Parade will be Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. Come down  early and get your seat! The parade begins at Capitol Avenue by the State Capitol, takes a left on Main Street, a left on Asylum, a left on Ford Street, and then ends by the Memorial Arch. The parade is held rain or shine.
In addition  the Parade will again be broadcast live on FOX CT WTIC-TV beginning at 11:30 a.m. The parade coverage will rebroadcast on St. Patrick’s Day at noon on WCCT-TV.

1/25/2015

 HARTFORD PARADE COMMITTEE FUNDRAISER THIS SUNDAY

Time:

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Donation:

$25.00

Location:

Polish National Home 60 Charter Oak Avenue

Details:

The Hartford Parade Committee will be honoring Tim Sullivan as Town Marshal and Jimmy Cosgrove as Town Honoree. Join us for an afternoon of music, food and laughter as we honor Tim and Jimmy.  We will have some terrific raffles prizes for you to win.

I THINK WE HAVE A PROBLEM

The following press release came in this morning from the Hartford Fire Department:

On January 23, 2015 at 1:30 this morning, The Hartford Fire Department received notification from the Connecticut State Police Troop E in Montville that Firefighter Cinque Scott was arrested on charges of Failure to Drive Right, Operating under a Suspended License and Driving under the Influence. 

Firefighter Scott has been a member of the Hartford Fire Department since 2000 and at the time of this incident, was on Administrative Leave with Pay. 

Effective immediately, Firefighter Scott has been placed on Administrative Leave with No-Pay pending further investigation.

There seems to be a pattern of alcohol and drug abuse within the Hartford Fire Department that needs to be addressed and dealt with. I am not sure if their EAP (Employee Assistance Program ) is operational, but it needs to be looked at so that people in a high stress occupation can turn somewhere for help other than alcohol or drugs.


I am also wondering what type of follow up is done to make sure employees have a valid drivers license. According to the release , Scott's license was under suspension at the time of his arrest. Anyone driving a City vehicle or potentially operating a City vehicle in any department should have the validity of their license checked regularly. Just imagine the liability to the City of someone crashing a Fire Truck or DPW Vehicle without a license.


You might recall a few years ago when the driver for Mayor Perez was found to have a suspended license , I believe after an accident with the Mayor's City car . At the time no one had checked his license.


It just seems sad that a respected organization is being embarrassed regularly now by the poor decision making of its members and reflecting on all when it is in reality a very few that need to be addressed At least it keeps their PIO busy

 

 

TODAY'S PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH DAN LOVALLO

 

 

GO TO CT TALKING WITH DAN LOVALLO AND HEAR THE PODCAST HERE

The interview is about ten minutes long but we covered a lot of territory, the McGeee viral posting, what I thought would be an appropriate penalty for McGee, how the blog started, the Perez corruption Trial and the Registrar of voters controversy and appropriate remedies.

NBC CONNECTICUT'S VERSION OF THE CIRCUS FIRE STORY

Click here for NBC Connecticut

WHO IS LUKE BRONIN?

Watch Hartford Mayoral candidate Luke Bronin on "Face the State"
 this Sunday at 11:00am on Channel 3

This Sunday at 11AM on WFSB Channel 3

 

Registrars, Taxes and Bathrooms

Guests:   State Senator Bob Duff (D) Senate Majority Leader

                   State Senator Rob Kane (R) Deputy Senate Minority Leader

 

The race for Hartford Mayor

Guest:  Luke Bronin (D) mayoral candidate

 

Flashback:    Demolition of historic YMCA

              Acrchive film from 1974

CHIEF HUERTAS RESPONDS TO CIRCUS FIRE PHOTO DESTRUCTION. WARNING - SENSITIVE PHOTO BELOW, USE DISCRETION WHEN VIEWING

WARNING-SENSITIVE PHOTO BELOW, USE DISCRETION VIEWING

The Day the Clowns Cried, the Hartford Circus Fire

FROM CHIEF HUERTAS:

Hartford  Fire Chief Carlos Huertas today responded to my posting from yesterday regarding the destruction of photos from  the Hartford Circus Fire.
***********************************************************************************
HUERTAS STATEMENT BELOW
***********************************************************************************
Soon to be retired Captain William Pond exercised poor judgment in removing photos from the quarters of Engine Co. 14. He has demonstrated a lack of professionalism in his decision to take matters in to his own hands and circumvented the process put forth to better handle the situation. The photos removed were found to be copies and have no intrinsic value. However, I will be taking the necessary actions to ensure the situation continues to be investigated in its entirety.****END OF STATEMENT*****


Below is apparently one of the photos in question, This is a morgue photo that was used to eventually identify the deceased victim known as little Miss 1565. This photo apparently drove Hartford Fire LT. Davey to persevere for years to continue to investigate the Circus fire and eventually identify Little Miss 1565 as Eleanor Cook. Her body, after being identified, was eventually exhumed from its grave at Northwoods Cemetery in Hartford and reunited with her family at their plot in Longmeadow , MA

Pond announced his retirement, his last day is tomorrow.

The picture below is apparently what has started the uproar. I apologize for posting it but I think it is important to put this matter in perspective

 

Alittle more about Lt Rick Davey and his quest for the truth, from a Newweek article:

 

For 47 years she was known as "Little Miss 1565." On July 6, 1944, as 7,000 people in Hartford, Conn., watched the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus perform, the Big Top burst into flames. When the inferno subsided, its cause was a mystery and 168 people were dead, including an 8-year-old child lying unclaimed in the morgue with a toe tag numbered 1565.

Haunted by a morgue photograph, Lt. Rick Davey, 42, investigator for the Hartford Fire Department, decided to find out who she was. Beginning in 1982, he studied files and interviewed old-timers. He publicly identified her last month as Eleanor Cook.

If Davey could solve that mystery, what about the fire itself? At the time, the police concluded that a dropped cigarette, probably igniting the tent, caused the fire. But Davey found witnesses who said the flames started high on the tent wall. Davey even tracked down a possible arsonist: a 14-year-old circus worker. Davey's suspect, now 61 and living in Ohio, denies setting the circus fire, He later served time for arson elsewhere, which he allegedly confessed to committing after "frustrating" sexual experiences. Connecticut officials are reviewing the case to determine whether it was arson or an accident. Says Davey: "These [fire victims], even in death, have a right to expect that the truth be known."

The Circus fire always had an interest to me . At the time I was born at Saint Francis, many years after the fire, my mothers roommate was a surviving victim of the Circus Fire also giving birth at the time. My mother and Barbara stayed in touch and  became friends .Coincidentally my father and her husband eventually became employed at the old Hartford Gas Company. I remember at a young age going to their beach house one summer and noticing the scars on her body, arm and legs and chest, and my mother explained to me the devastating effects and the story of the Circus Fire and that those were burn scars covering her body . Apparently her mother and sister were also trapped in the tent and burned , fortunately all 3 survived I didn't realize the damage at the time, but as an adult I can only imagine the pain and agony they went through as well as the terror trying to escape that tent  My grandmothers cousin, Michael Godfrey was also Hartford's Police Chief at the time and I remember photos of him from various reports with the burning tent and devastation as a backdrop behind him, not to mention the pictures of the limo style sedan he was chauffeured in by his police driver. Times have changed.

THE ENGINE 14 EXORCISMS

HARTFORD CIRCUS FIRE

 

 

Rally, I don't make this stuff up.

The e-mail below was sent by Captain William Pond of the Hartford Fire Department to Chief Huertas. Apparently Pond took exception  with several framed pictures of a victim of the Hartford Circus fire Eleanor Cook, known as Little Miss 1565 for years.

The best-known victim of the circus fire was a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is known only as "Little Miss 1565", named after the number assigned to her body at the city's makeshift morgue. Oddly well preserved even after her death, her face has become arguably the most familiar image of the fire.

Her true identity has been a topic of debate and frustration in the Hartford area since the fire occurred. She was buried without a name in Hartford's Northwood cemetery, where a victims' memorial also stands. Two police investigators, Sergeant's. Thomas Barber and Edward Lowe, photographed her and took fingerprints, footprints, and dental charts. Despite massive publicity and repeated displays of the famous photograph in nationwide magazines, she was never claimed. Barber and Lowe spent the rest of their lives trying to identify her. They decorated her grave with flowers each Christmas, Memorial Day, and July 6.^. After their deaths, a local flower company continued to decorate the grave. In 1991, the body was declared to be that of Eleanor Emily Cook, despite the fact that her aunt and uncle had examined the body and it did not fit the description they provided. The Connecticut State Police forensics unit compared hair samples and determined they were probably from the same person. The body was exhumed in 1991 and buried next to her brother, Edward, who had also died in the fire. Apparently Captain Pond took exception with photos  that were supposed to be used after the fire to identify victims, the photos had been posted inside engine 14 for their historic value since the house had been built. The historic value of the pictures is indisputable.

Despite the historic value, Pond for some reason felt he needed to destroy the pictures to bring peace to Cook's soul. According to his e-mail he took the pictures home and burned the pictures in his fireplace as he prayed for the "poor girls" soul. It is unknown as to what authority Pond felt he had to destroy property of the Hartford Fire Department, property of such historic value. This needs to be investigated thoroughly and appropriate action taken immediately.

Pictures or property of such a historic value that are destroyed   have removed a part of Hartford's history that can never be replaced. This is inexcusable and probably criminal as well

THE E-MAIL



From: "Pond, William"
Date:01/15/2015 8:25 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: "Huertas, Carlos M."
Subject:

Chief Huertas
I received your voice mail and will respond to it in writing. When originally assigned to engine 14 in the summer of 1990 I objected to the naked deceased pictures of Eleanor Cook displayed in the hallway. I objected verbally to every house Captain through my career where my efforts proved fruitless. My first order of business as house Captain was to remove them from display.
I was afraid after retirement they would be placed back on the wall where this poor girls soul would never rest. I removed them today and at my home prayed for peace for Eleanor and burned them in my fireplace. I hope you understand and also the Cook family had no knowledge that there loved one was publicly displayed in this horrific manor.
Respectfully Submitted
William Pond

Portions of this posting obtained through Wikipedia

WALLER AGAIN

The Hartford Courant ran a story this morning detailing the latest complaint against the Hartford Fire Department  and former acting Assistant Chief Terry Waller. The complaint was made by Captain Luis Ocasio who apparently felt his career was being threatened by Waller if he didn't lie at a hearing before the Connecticut Department of Health to cover for another firefighter .

You can read the Courant story here

Here is Captain Ocasio's complaint below

ocasio

GOING VIRAL

That is how the Springfield Republican has described the story of the Connecticut Legislator parking illegally in a handicap space. In a story posted tonight they described that as the response on their website masslive.com , you can view that story and related video here.

Although I am pretty sure that Representative Mcgee is not happy with the attention. I hope at the very least it has brought attention to the illegal practice of using handicap spaces for a quick convenience for able bodied drivers.

And I loved this line from the article  "A state lawmaker was left with egg on his face – or possibly jelly from a doughnut – after he was caught parking his Beamer in a handicapped parking spot at a Hartford Dunkin' Donuts on Friday."

EXPANDING MY HORIZONS, AND THANK YOU

Last week I posted an entry entitled "Whaddaya know" and it has turned out to be well worthwhile. To those of you who provided information and tips, a sincere Thank you. The parts of the puzzle are coming together.


This morning I received a phone call that I should be in the Hartford Federal Courthouse for 11:00am. No further details. Needless to say, I was at the Federal Courthouse at 11:00am.
I felt a little odd when I approached the Federal Marshal at the metal detector and he asked where I was going. My response surprised him I am sure. "I don't know where I am going, I got a call to be here at 11:00am. I gave him a couple more details as to why and for who I thought I was there and was pointed to a courtroom.. Luckily I wore new socks because they made me take my shoes off also to make it through the metal detector. And no cell phones allowed, leave it in the car


The expected event didn't happen as planned, but apparently lawyers and the US Attorney sometimes work out deals for their clients to surrender, so be patient.I would love to elaborate on the reason for being there , but that will come soon. Be patient.


While I was sitting there in the gallery with NBC Connecticut's Max Reiss, we watched the arraignment of the Finance Director from the Town of Plymouth. Again, not much on details, more procedural than anything else. After the court recessed, The US Attorney handling the case came over to us and introduced himself. I was a little surprised when he asked "Aren't you Kevin Brookman?"  When I answered yes, he replied "I read your blog occasionally" Who doesn't?


He then handed myself and Max the arrest warrant, or whatever the terminology is in FED talk, indictment maybe?


Later when I read it, I thought heads should be rolling today in Plymouth. How does the Finance Director of a little town write almost a million dollars in checks to himself and no one notices. One of the checks was reportedly for $300.000. No one noticed? Who monitors their budget?


The really interesting part to me though was the FBI Agents explanation of how the case began. There apparently was no complaint from the town of Plymouth. The investigation began based on Media reports.


If that is the case and the US Attorney had just told me he reads the blog, the FBI must be crawling all over Hartford City Hall by now. If it works for Plymouth, I am sure it can work for Hartford.. If you ever wondered how to blow a million dollars, read on

Plymouth Finance Arrest0001

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE, REMEMBERING WHY YOU HAVE TODAY OFF