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Thursday, December 5, 2019

ALL ABOARD THE GREY GRANITE RAILROAD

Time for a Big Mack at the Farm

Is that the James Brothers before their next train hesist?


No, it is actually the The Cavanna Brothers, John (L) and Andy (R), and the Cavanna Family of South Glastonbury . 

They are are at it once again with the unveiling of the Grey Granite Railroad and their latest acquisition,
with  the arrival of “Mack”, a 1928 Vulcan Iron Works steam locomotive. Mack is a 0-4-0 wheel arrangement tank engine that is fired by coal. Mack carries 1,500 gallons of water in his saddle tank, weighs 82,000 pounds, is 13 feet tall, and is 28 feet long. The engine was built in 1928 at Vulcan Iron Works in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. The engine was then purchased by the Jeddo Coal Company, where it worked until it was retired in the early 50’s. Mack was later purchased by Gramling Locomotive Works, and underwent restoration from 2011 to 2017.
Mack will be under steam and running on Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th. We will run on the 1,400 foot main section of rail laid at the Gray Granite Railroad located at Cavanna’s Farm: 80 Woodland Street, South Glastonbury, CT 06073.
We will be offering cab rides in “Mack” for 35 dollars. (Honestly, where else on earth can you ride in the cab of a working steam locomotive?) We may also offer the opportunity to run the engine from the engineer’s seat! Work boots, gloves and hearing protection are encouraged! And, if you’re riding, prepare to shovel coal!
The railroad will be open from 9 am into the evening. We will also have our Plymouth 35-ton locomotive on static display for kids to climb in, along with farm honey and “GGRR” apparel for sale. The farm will be open for Christmas trees, as well, and the crop is fantastic this year!
If anybody has questions, please reach out to John Cavanna at 860-398-8929. 

Stop by and check out their great selection of fresh grown, live, cut your own Christmas trees and experience the beauty of winter on a family owned farm that has been in the Cavanna family since 1903, raising several varieties of apples in their orchards, strwberries, maple syrup and of course Christmas trees.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

CLOSING FIREHOUSES?


No one can dispute that the Hartford Fire Department is rich in tradition. HFD has been part of many things that have resulted in huge changes to fire codes and regulations and the history of HFD.

The circus fire where many died, the fatal Hartford Hospital , the Greenwoods Nursing Home fire all resulted in changes to the way the City of Hartford as well as fire departments nationwide approach firefighting.

I think that is why the phone calls ramped up last night after word started getting out about the imminent closing of the Pearl Street firehouse. Although "firehouse" may be too general of a term.

I think most people think of a firehouse as that building down the street from their homes where that first fire engine responds from in case of a fire. The reality is that basic firefighting equipment is not housed at the Pearl Street firehouse for years. The only equipment garaged at Pearl Street is Tac 1, the heavy rescue truck, which responds to most incidents in  the City including accidents and structure fires. A district Chief or Tour Commander is also garaged at the Pearl Street building.

So to answer the questions , or fears, of downtown residents, there should be no delay or danger of longer response times to fires downtown . Currently, the closest responding fire apparatus for fires downtown will still be Engine ! from the South Green firehouse on Main Street or Engine 2 from the Main Street firehouse near Albany and Belden.

Hartford Fire Chief Reggie Freeman has been very transparent for several years with his plans to shutter the Pearl Street firehouse. Freeman has also been very open regarding the "deplorable" conditions of Hartford's Firehouses. Those conditions include rodent infestations, code violations, structural deficiencies as well as lacking gender specific locker and shower area and sleeping areas for both male and female firefighters.

The Pearl Street firehouse pretty much fits into all of those deficiencies above, and the construction of the Public Safety Complex a few years ago moved Hartford Fire Administration Offices out of the Pearl Street HQ and into a much more modern structure at 253 High Street. For some odd reason, there were no plans included in 253 High to accommodate fire apparatus and alleviate the money pit at Pearl Street. HFD dispatchers were housed for many years at Pearl Street, but they were moved into the 911 Dispatch Center many years ago.

The time has come to shut down the "garage" that houses Tac 1 on Pearl Street and use the money wasted in the upkeep and operation of thousands of  square footage  and should be put into repairing the deplorable conditions of Hartford's firehouses where out first responders live ,work and sleep everyday of the week.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

IS THIS THE BEST WE CAN DO ?

The newest resident at 253 High Street, in the HPD lobby

I think we have become pretty immune to the political rhetoric that spews from Hartford City Hall and the lips of "our" politicians. They all want to talk about homelessness and how they need more money to correct the problem, some of them even make good money for their organizations by benefiting off the homeless problem.

According to sources, a homeless female has taken up residence in the lobby of the Hartford Police Department for the last couple weeks.

She has apparently moved in with several pieces of luggage and has pizza delivered for her meals.

We need to do better than this. Now I know, that some homeless people don't want to accept any help, but the lobby of a public building is not an acceptable alternative , especially when we have so many buildings sitting empty that could be used.

As an example , the Hartford YMCA still sits empty to this day after we fell for a grand proposal for the property that never happened.

There needs to be an effort for  more dignity for all of our citizens.

Monday, November 25, 2019

LONG OVERDUE

Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy


This mornings special meeting by the Criminal Justice Commission  into the performance, or more accurately the lack of performance , by Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy is long overdue. 

Gail Hardy's failure to perform her job points out several problems. The main one being that even though there is a Chief States Attorney, the individual States Attorney's for the Geographical Areas, really don't answer to the Chief States Attorney, and the Chief SA has no direct supervisory accountability or responsibility for them. 

Gail Hardy's failure to complete mandated Police Use of Force investigations brought this issue to light. Some of the cases that have been sitting on Gail Hardy's desk collecting dust for almost a decade, according to documents received from the Connecticut State Police pursuant to an FOI request.

There is no excuse for that. 

The system to have State's attorneys investigate Use of Force allegations was created to build the Public's trust in the credibility of these incidents. Gail Hardy's actions have done the total opposite.

Instead of people having confidence in the reports, whether good or bad, they must now be suspect. 

Most of these incidents appear to be justified, but the delay will only raise more questions. Officers involved in these incidents, as well as the families of  the "victims" deserve a timely conclusion.

To conduct an investigation and then potentially conclude that the actions of an officer were unjustified but the statute of limitations for any accountability has expired will not lead to any greater trust of a system that is often called into question.

It is not fair to the public or the officer's and agencies involved for that cloud of question to remain over the incident for potentially years without Hardy's reports being completed.

Gail Hardy has shown for years that she is out of touch with the communities she serves and continually refuses to accept invitations to community meetings  to interact with the public.

The Legislature needs to look at correcting this antiquated, broken system of States Attorneys  and bring us into the current day Judicial processes that work much better in other states and provide better accountability to the system of Prosecutor's in Connecticut

Sunday, November 3, 2019

TIME TO THINK ABOUT A QUOTE FROM PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

It is widely acknowledged that one question from Candidate Ronald Reagan turned the course of Jimmy Carter's re-election bid in 1980.

The Presidential campaign was capped by only one debate between the two candidates. Many polls showed a dead heat between the two Presidential candidates. During that debate, Republican Ronald Reagan sealed the fate of that election and the future of Jimmy Carter with one simple question to voters.

Reagan asked "are you better off than you were four years ago?" That was all it took.

Hopefully this Tuesday as Registered voters in Hartford prepare to vote, they can ask themselves the same question.

Are our streets any better than four years ago as Luke Bronin promised they would be? Definitely not. Hartford repair garages and body shops are still reaping the benefits of our streets every
time they re-align another front end victimized by our canyon sized potholes.

Resurfacing City streets this summer was almost nonexistent with the exceptions of a handful of streets, far short of the milling and paving we usually see every summer-

Is trash on our streets and bulky waste piled at the curbs any better, as Candidate Bronin had promised in 2015? Nope. The rats love the furniture and mattresses thrown at the curbs, they make for some great rat harborages. The overflowing dumpsters that are never inspected or cited at many apartment complexes and businesses are loved by the rats also, it grows their families big and strong.

And I think the rat inspectors and additional housing inspectors we keep hearing are coming must have gotten lost or are broken down after hitting a pothole.

Do you feel safer in your neighborhoods than you were four years ago when Pedro Segarra was leaving Office and as Candidate Bronin promised? The reality is you are not any safer.  As of today, Hartford's homicide rate is 67% ahead of 2017, and the year still has a ways to go, so we can add more.  Shootings are almost an every day occurrence. Shots fired from illegal gun activity are almost an hourly occurrence and two more people were shot on the streets of Hartford  last night.

Our schools are still a mess, even though the Mayor appoints the Majority of the Board of Education , He often ducks the issue of failing schools by saying he has no control over the BOE. Isn't that convenient.

Hartford's finances are still a mess despite the State of Connecticut bailout. Actually, Bronin tries to make it sound like he did a great job of arm twisting at the Capitol to get the bailout. What he should be calling it is the first installment on the past due bill the State owes us for underpaid P.I.L.O.T. funds.  But chances are good we will be revisiting this issue in a couple years, probably before the term of the next Mayor ends.

And that basaball stadium deal? Yes, it opened but it is still a drain of $5 to 6 Million dollars a year on the City budget for debt service payments.

Is the toxic environment of City employment gotten any better in the last four years? Definitely not. Instances of attempted suicides, actual suicides , numerous CHRO complaints filed against the Police Department and other City Departments are keeping some politically connected law firms profitable at the taxpayers expense. All due to mismanagement and lack of leadership or accountability by Bronin Department heads.. So no, that is no better than it was four years ago.

Those are probably enough examples to get you to honestly answer President Reagan's question as it pertains to Hartford.

But as you prepare to fill in that little bubble on your ballot, also keep in mind the general version of "insanity". Insanity is doing the same old thing and expecting a different result. I know Tuesday I am unwilling to settle for insanity, if we are honest with ourselves and really do care about the City many of us claim to love.