After months of wrangling in the newspapers, it looks like a plan of sorts is headed to the full council soon.

“We’re talking about maybe keeping a caretaker (at the third house), have it for community use, educational purposes — just a facility that could be utilized by the city while maintaining a nice entryway into Fodor Farm,” said Mayor Richard A. Moccia. “I think Tod (Bryant) and the Fodor Farm people knew my concerns about the historic district. But I also tried to reassure them that we didn’t need a historic district to maintain those houses.”

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The party faithful will be out for the annual shingdigs honoring the art of fund raising. The Elephant flavor event is staged at the perennial GOP clubhouse, the Norwalk Inn from 1 to 5pm. Salsa dancing is on the menu. The Donkey flavor event is staged at the Sons of Italy from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. Pasta is on the menu.

As far as I know the man with the 10 gallon hat is not staging an annual fund raiser today.

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A short history lesson is in order. Way back in April, when legislative flunkies of all flavors were trumpeting how much of a budget surplus they could all spend, the bonding package that was on the table totalled $3.4 billion. An example:

State Senator John A. Kissel (R-Enfield) was pleased that the State Senate approved a bonding package tonight that included $2.8 million for the town of Enfield. The language was included in section 14 of State Senate Bill 2001 and passed the Senate just after nine o’clock this evening. Senator Kissel had worked closely over the last several months with a variety of state officials to ensure that the funding was part of the bill. The funding will compensate the town for costs incurred upgrading its wastewater treatment plant to handle excessive sewage flow produced by the state’s Department of Corrections.

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The fear of actually solving the route 7 corridor traffic congestion must drive State Senator Judith Freeman-R and State Rep Toni Boucher-R to fits. Why else would a zero dollar funded study proposal send them into lame quotes like these:

State Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, worked to include the study - which did not include a request for funds - because he said traffic continues to worsen as commuting increases from northern suburbs into Stamford and Norwalk.

It took the Senate several hours to pass a Democrat-backed $3.2 billion bond package on a 21-12 vote that fell along party lines. The House passed the bill on a mostly party-line 84-38 vote shortly before midnight.

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2010 is a ways off, but the Hour has an interesting story about the potential candidates. Current occupant of the Governor’s office Jodi Rell,while having high approval ratings, is not expected to run in 2010. This might be wishful thinking on the part of many seeking the office or supporting those that might be.

Lt. Governor Michael Fedele is mentioned as proposed Republican candidate. Early on it seemed he would have high visibility as Lt. Governor. But, despite his efforts, outside of political junkie circles, he remains an unknown.

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According to the Hour, local officials are looking for Hispanic voters. Who knew they were missing?

Democratic Town Committee Chairman Galen Wells said language barriers and lack of information have prevented her party from efficiently reaching out to the Hispanic community.

“The thing that I want to figure out is, we have a lot of volunteers now who speak really good Spanish and say they want to volunteer in the Hispanic community, but at this point I don’t think we have a good way to find the Hispanic voters other than thumbing through the registry and finding Hispanic surnames,” she said.

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What’s not to love in this crime caper? The Hour reports that:

Rafael Collazo, 40, had concealed $200 worth of crack packaged for street sale under the belly fat that hung over his belt while working as a garbage collector at the show

From now on, instead of thinking about Relacore and stubborn belly fat, I’ll be thinking about crack. But that is not enough to make this story one of my all time favorites. It’s got all the mixings of a Carl Hiaasen thriller all right here in good old Norwalk. You see, a confidential informant tipped off Norwalk’s finest. You can imagine the scene:

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One of the mroe interesting things to come out of the law suit filed by the Norwalk Federation of Teachers Union is this:

“Over the last year, support for Corda among Norwalk’s teachers evaporated as a result of, among other things, Corda’s refusal to enact policies and practices which the NFT and its members believed were appropriate and in the best interests of Norwalk’s children, his failure to communicate appropriately, openly and respectfully with educational personnel and his perceived lack of knowledge of the day to day operations of Norwalk’s schools,” the suit reads.

Teachers union President Bruce LeVine Mellion said not every teacher would agree that support for Corda has “evaporated,” but most do.

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The Hour is reporting on some of the plans that NEON is implementing to provide a friendlier, more inviting and efficient face to the community it serves. Executive director Joe Mann is once again showing a commitment to making the agency operate better for its customers.

The South Main Street community center, which houses NEON’s main offices, will receive a completely new entryway, he said, and a new reception desk that will be located within feet of the new doorway. A new office area for the agency’s caseworkers will also be located near the reception desk, Mann said, enclosed in glass.

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In a quick reaction to the growing concerns that Fairfield County was getting ignored by Hartford yet again, Governor Rell announced that the truck inspections will commence at the weight station in Greeniwch. And not a moment too soon. Today I-95 travellers are faced with a beer truck that collided with another truck at 5am between exits 13-14 northbound, and another truck that wedged itself in the Metro North train underpass on the Boston Post Road in Darien.

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