Today the NFL starts the draft. Chris Dodd participated in a Democratic contender presidential debate on Thursday. The investigation into the fire department’s alleged racism problem implodes with Wilson refusing to reveal the tape, and it rained heavily yesterday, so our Norwalk flood areas must have been inundated. The comments are yours for any topic.
Open Thread
by turfgrrl
April 28th, 2007 · 23 Comments
Tags: In the News
23 Responses so far ↓ “Open Thread”
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Okay… here’s a left curve for you. With regard to The Hour’s article “Fifth bus in one year for city spa,” I just noticed another nail salon opening up in Norwalk next to Marshall’s on Westport Avenue. I’m not suggesting that all salons are potential brothels or fronts for human trafficking such as these ’spas’ in the news of late, but I am wondering about everyone’s take on this issue.
We all know that these salons have popped up en masse over the past few years. I’ve had numerous chats with the “girls” who work in a few of the salons and the information I’ve gathered is that some girls are Chinese and some are South Korean. The other noticeable factor is that these girls usually come from New York, specifically Flushing or surrounding towns. Typically workers come to work in a large van that brings them to and fro their work stations. More intimate conversations reveal information that many of these girls have relatives, even children, who they plan to bring to the US eventually. Does anyone know this system works? The notion of human trafficking mentioned in the article is very unsettling, to say the least.
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It is time the city does something about these places. While reading the article I was shocked to see just how many there are in Norwalk. We need to shut them down. The Zebra Club was shut down and any place that provides this type of service in this town is not condusive to the well being of its citizens. What type of people go to a place where human trafficking runs rampant? The planning and zoning and any other department that condones this type of business should rethink their position when granting applications. Unfortunately under age girls begin to trickle into these establishments to satisfy the appetites of perverts who are willing to pay top dollar
for perverted pleasure. -
Why do all these spa’s have to be Asian? You have to drive all the way to Bridgeport for a Russian spa. We could use some diveristy around here.
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anon 3, is that you, Mr. Mayor?
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No, It’s me, your husband!
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Ð’Ñ‹ говорите руÑÑкого?
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Sure! Why Not!! I’ll try anything once my lil’ babuska!
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Yeah, yeah. Big talk. Step in front of the council and say that.
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TG will find this amusing.
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Your Brownies drafted a tackle. Much better than drafting Quinn.
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Thanks for thinking of us flood folk, Turfie! As usual, my mind was on my home instead of work yesterday….kept waiting for the “we’rrrrrrrre flooooooding” phone call. Thankfully, the call did not come. Have not heard about others yet, though. Ah, the unpredictability of flooding in Norwalk. What a way to live. On the living in Norwalk note, newspaper accounts have it that Greenwich not only pays the flood claims of its victims, it encourages them to file, and even provides a link to the “Damages Claim Form” on its website. What a wonderful little town that gives a * about its taxpayers. Here’s a proposed motto: “You pay taxes, we work for you”. They admit their storm systems fail, and not only do they fess up to it without hiding behind their lawyers, they openly want to make reparation for their failure. More to come on this as your humble researcher digs deeply into the what, whys, hows, and whens of this. Stay tuned.
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NO11, aS USUAL YOU GIVE HALF TRUTHS, THE FORM ON THE GREENWICH SITE DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU ANYONE PAYMENT AND IT GOES TO THE SAME AGENCY THAT NORWALK’S CLAIMS GOES TO, KNOW AS CIRMA, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT GREENWICH PAYS ANYONE THEY HAVE WAIT UNTIL CIRMA INVESTIGATES AND MAKES A REPORT. AND NO WHERE HAVE I SEEN ANY REPORTS SAYING TAH GREENWICH ADMIT THAT THE 7 INCHES OF RAIN IN 24 HOURS IS ADMISSION THAT THERE STORM DRAINS FAILED. BUT I GUESS THE MASSIVE FLOODING THAT TOOK PLACE IN STAMFORD, WESTPORT, FAIRFIELD AND THE ENTIRE NORTHEAST IS BECAUSE OF ALL STORMS DRAINS EEVERYWHEE FAILED AND MSUT BE SOMEONES FAULT OTHER THAN GOD. BY THE WAY INFORMATION HAS BEEN AVAILABLE TO NORWALK RESIDENTS IN THE PAST ABOUT FILING CLAIMS AND YOU KNOW IT. YOU JUST DO NOT LIKE THE IDEA THAT MOST OF THE CLAIMS WERE TURNED DOWN. YOUR HATE FOR ALL POLITCIANS INLCUDING THE ONES IN OFFICE ARE EVIDENT AND YOU REALLY MISLEAD THE PEOPLE AND GIVE FALSE HOPE, IT HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE, YOU WANT THE CITY TO BUY YOUR HOUSE EVEN THOUGH YOU BOUGHT IN A FLOOD AREA. I GUESS SOME OF THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN FLOOD AREAS AT LEAST UNDERSTAND THAT SOME PEOPLE OF GOOD INTENTIONS FROM ALL PARTIES AND BOARDS ARE TRYING TO HELP BASED ON A RECENT LETTER TO THE EDITOR. SO KEEP DIGGING AND I AM SURE YOU WILL DIG UP HALF TRUTHS AS USUAL. OH WAIT HOW ABOUT THIS, HOW ABOUT RUNNING FOR OFFICE AND
THEN WHEN YOU CAN GUARNANTEE 20 MIILION DOLLARS IN ONE YEAR WITHOUT RAISING TAXES THAT YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT ALL THE TIME. -
Wow! Once again I must waste my time addressing your inaccuracies: starting with where did I say the word “guarantee”? And I have never seen a CIRMA form on our website, or any link to it. Yes CIRMA sends appraisers to investigate damages, how else do you think the dollar value of claims are determined?
Here are the news accounts, by the way, which you obviously do not read:ADVOCATE APRIL 19:
Residents also are filing damage claims, seeking reimbursement for problems they say occurred because of some failure on the town’s part.First Selectman Jim Lash said the town is encouraging people to fix their problems first rather than rush to fill in the claim forms, which are available at the town’s Web site. “A lot of these people, of course, don’t have failures in the town system,” Lash said. “They live in a low-lying area that always floods whenever you get a major storm, and those are not failures of the town systems and they’re not going to get reimbursement, but in other places people will.”
ADVOCATE APRIL 20:
But there also is some red ink that can result from increases in grand lists that mean more land is covered with buildings and pavement. For example, Greenwich First Selectman Jim Lash recently said he anticipates receiving flooding-related damage claims from many areas of town, and he noted that the town every year appropriates “a couple of million dollars” for claims. No doubt, that type of expense also will be borne in most cities and towns affected by recent flooding. It also comes on top of costs for municipal repairs needed because of flooding damage, and overtime for police, fire and public works personnel, as noted by Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy. In addition, the state will have its own financial burdens arising from cleanup and repairs, while the federal government is expected to spend money as well if and when it heeds the governor’s call to declare a major disaster in Connecticut.GREENWICH CITIZEN NEWS APRIL 20:
Lash said problems like backed-up sewers would likely lead to damage claims against the Town. He said a few claims have already been received, but residents shouldn’t rush to file. “What you need to do is get your house back in operation, clean up your property,” he said. “File the claim soon, but you don’t have to rush to do it.” The first selectman said that of the hundreds of homes damaged by the deluge, only a fraction would make claims against the Town and it was still too early to know how many claims would be received. -
By the way, I LOVE some of our politicians, maybe just not the same ones as you ANON12- and the ones I think are smart, productive and add value are on BOTH sides of the aisle over there. Even the ones I dislike I actually like because they are so amusing in their antics. If only they would let us bring popcorn and goobers into council chambers!
And the other thing I love is MY HOME. Though modest in stature, it is my home, the only house I have ever lived in versus apartments, and I would not trade my yard for the world! I have the best neighbors anyone could ever ask for. It is true I wish for a better quality of life on my own street and thru the city, but I a working on that, and not just complaining about it. So I don’t want this city or anyone to buy my home. I plan to live here after retirement, and hope to leave this world while in my own home. I just can’t stand the floods any longer. I don’t make any apologies, as other victims do not as well, for making it known that I would sell my home in a heartbeat to be relieved from the flooding. And if I did so, you are probably right: I would flee Norwalk. -
When sewers back up and water comes gushing out of manhole covers, it is a city problem.
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Thanks Pats fan. No fewer words have ever said so much.
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patriotsfan: posted too soon, my Browns hit the daily double and traded up to draft Quinn. This was a good draft thus far.
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itsridiculous: I hope all the other flood victims fared as well. I noted today, that upstate the rivers were high today. This was not the case of last week after the big storm. I’m wondering if we see problems as the water works its way downstream. I seem to remember several years ago Danbury suffered from some major floods for awhile, but that those areas don’t seem to flood anymore. Worth investigating why that is.
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Yikes, Turfie, maybe Danbury has piped all its flood water to Norwalk….that was no Bethel to Norwalk electrical line going in underground- it was storm water pipes from Danbury! LOL (DPW Director Alvord lives in Danbury….hmmmmmm).
On a more serious note, I think Stamford (Mill River) topped the banks again as the ground water sunk in. I would love to know the relationship between high tides and rivers as it pertains to flooding outside of shore and river areas. No doubt more engineering studies are needed to truly understand all the causes of flooding, and in some cases, all the reasons why we flood in some events and not others. I still suspect maintenance (lack thereof) is the main culprit here in Norwalk, although the “upstream” action may very well come into play. Any engineers out there????
Flooding is getting worse every year, so I am hopeful we can be successful in our efforts for a new Flood & Erosion Control Board. Anyone with info on the history of this in Norwalk, please provide some background here. -
#12
People who don’t know you might take you seriously if you:1. Stop attacking persons while putting words in their mouths, as you are guilty of the half truths you speak of.
2….find the CAPS LOCK key; you are not a headline writer here.
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I’m glad I did not flood again. I think the ground is now thawed and can absorb more rain water. It is always bad at the beginning of April and eases up as it gets closer to May…I hope we have a lot of fLoWeRs after this past month!
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Thanks for the reminder of the flowers, anon21- so many things in bloom following some rain and some sun and some warmth. That is the beauty of spring rain that I hope we all enjoy peacefully again some day! I remember collecting rainwater as a child to use to rinse my hair. It was nature’s first conditioner (yes, before Herbal Essence!) That was LONG before acid rain and other pollutants. Bring on the flowers and my lilacs and the beautiful maples - what a sight!
To: Robert F - thank you for speaking up. -
Anonymous#12
Using all caps is considering yelling and is rude. Please observe proper etiquette, since I don’t think you meant to be rude.
