Compare and contrast. First a small item in yesterdays NyPost:

DREDGE REPORT: BROOKLYN GAINING NAVY YARDAGE
By RICH CALDER

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Recent attacks on headstones have left 10 either missing or damaged at Pine Island Cemetery. From the HOur:

When David W. Park visited Pine Island Cemetery on Crescent Street the day after Thanksgiving, what he saw didn’t leave him feeling very thankful.
Several of the headstones had been yanked out of the ground and scattered nearby. Some were in pieces while others were left tilting in their places or were missing altogether.

“It’s heartbreaking to see this,” Park said. “A lot of Norwalk’s original families are buried here. Some of these headstones are 300 years old.”

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Before I launch into the meat of the article about who is coming to town, and its not Santa, I want to focus on the last two grafs from the Hour article:

Alvord, who also may attend today’s discussion, said erosion, stones, boulders and gravel — not sedimentation — are the principle reasons for flooding. He rejected that building another dam will eliminate flooding along the river and expressed skepticism that the state or Army Corps will offer any solutions.

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In short order, the municipal budget is surely going to be a hot topic heading into the end of the year for a few reasons. One, the cost of everything has gone up. Think oil, think asphalt, think energy and you get a good picture of what DPW and building operations are facing. Then there’s the $145 million of BOE money. Corda still hasn’t figured out he needs a CFO type on his staff and he needs it yesterday, so once again we’ll get the arithmetically challenged presenting budgets not based on any reality and a lame attempt at a PR campaign. The bonus this year is a new council, already off to a fractious start because, well, recurring theme here, some people can’t count.

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Keep the comments going here, while I figure out what to do with 613 comments.

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From the Courant:

William A. O’Neill, the one-time tavern owner and small-town Democrat who became the longest-serving Connecticut governor in nearly 200 years, died Saturday afternoon at his home in East Hampton. He was 77.

After weeks of nursing-home and hospital care for complications from his chronic emphysema, O’Neill returned home Monday under the care of hospice nurses. His wife, Nikki, who married him 45 years ago, notified Gov. M. Jodi Rell of his death.

The death was announced by Rell’s office.

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Helen Higgens, executive director of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, got it right when she said that the Norwalk Preservation Trust needed to move in a different direction. For much of its recent history the NPT has spent more time focused on a handful of issues rather than expanding its ranks through educational resources. Having a sense of what is historic architecture in Norwalk would be a good start. That’s exactly what the NPT plans to do. Even Mayor Moccia agrees its a good thing to do. Tim Stelloh reports in the Norwlak Advocate:

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Nothing like having a City employee ratcheting up the billboard trash talking before implementing a new policy change. These guys really should pay attention to what not to do before a big football game. From The Hour:

Jim Haselkamp, city director of personnel and labor relations, said he recognizes the dispatchers have a stressful job but added they are well compensated for it — among the highest-paid in the state with base salaries ranging from $44,072 to $62,018 this fiscal year.

Haselkamp said the dispatchers’ beef with their contract is about money, not stress.

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May everyone enjoy the day with friends family and turkey. Not necessarily in that order.

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If last night’s Common Council meeting could be likened to a football game then it was the Republicans acting like the New England Patriots and the Democrats acting like the Miami Dolphins. Both these teams are working on perfect records. For you non football fans out there, the Patriots are currently 10-0 while the Dolphins are currently 0-10. Now, before we get all our partisan fur up, let’s review what happened. Two teams hit the field last night, one team executed its strategy perfectly and the other didn’t. While I’ll get into the analysis of what really happened, let’s not drop sight of the most important part.

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