From the category archives:

Bridgeport

The Money Game For Mass Transit

by turfgrrl on December 12, 2009 9:27 am · 1 comment

Two articles in the past few days about earmarks just make me think Norwalk goes about the funding process in a dysfunctional way. The Hour reported on the Norwalk Transit District’s inability to get state matching funds for a federally funded project to upgrade the bus hub on Burnell Blvd.

The contretemps outlined in The Hour via a series of memos, is fascinating. Schulman, via The Hour says he can’t get the federal funds because he doesn’t have the state matching funds of $400k. The DOT commissioner says that the federal funds flowed directly the Transit District, meaning Schulman already has them, and that the DOT never provides matching funds for local transit district projects.

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Hidden Gems of Bridgeport

by turfgrrl on August 30, 2009 8:41 pm · 3 comments

Hidden Gems of Bridgeport.

By Eileen Walsh

bport

I have been thinking about our city and all its many attractions and how many go under appreciated. I thought I would put together a list of some things that I enjoy that I think a lot of people might pass by without knowing what they are missing. This is not to detract from the many fabulous better-known gems that our crown is rich in. Hope y’all will add to the list. In no particular order:

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9th Annual “CT United Ride” Honors 9/11 Victims and Rescuers

August 30, 2009

More than 1,000 motorcyclists met up in Norwalk Sunday morning for the start of the ninth annual “CT United Ride,” memorializing the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States and honoring the rescuers. Starting out at 11:30 a.m. from Norden Park, the bikers rode up Interstate-95 to Seaview Park in Bridgeport.

CT United -- deep

CT United -- exit

CT United -- flag

Norwalk firefighters recover the flag that flew over the start of the event at Norden Park.

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Rell Cuts Bonding, Norwalk Loses

August 11, 2009

Norwalk’s various institutions will be hit by bonding that Rell is proposing to stop. So does Stamford. Bond issuances are solely at the discretion of the Governor.

Norwalk:

  • Grant-in-aid to the Norwalk River Rowing Association, Incorporated, for construction of a boathouse
    • $250k
  • Grant-in-aid to the city of Norwalk for improvements in the flood control system
    • $3,005,000
  • Grant-in-aid to the city of Norwalk for harbor dredging
    • $1,000,000
  • Grant-in-aid to the Norwalk Seaport Association for infrastructure renewal projects
    • $250k
  • Grant-in-aid to the city of Norwalk for the Maritime Aquarium to defray financial obligations incurred for construction of the Environmental Education Center
    • $400k
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Ancestors’ Roadshow Bridgeport Library

March 6, 2009

 

Ancestors’ Roadshow

Saturday, March 28, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM

This is your opportunity to sit down one on one with an experienced genealogist from the Connecticut Professional Genealogist Council  and learn some tricks to send you in the right direction with your family tree research. Bring your questions and spend 30 minutes getting solutions and suggestions.  You may be a beginning family historian or an experienced researcher blocked by a brick wall.  We will have consultants with a wide range of specialties.

Call the Historical Collection at 576-7417 for an appointment (required). 
Sponsored by Connecticut Ancestry Society and the Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collections.

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Hartford Legislators Wants To Raise Taxes

March 3, 2009

Ken Dixon over at the Connecticut Post has an alarming story about just what Hartford legislators are up to in the finance committee, raising taxes:

 Connecticut teachers and state employee unions on Monday asked the legislative Finance Committee to approve a new progressive income-tax structure that makes the wealthy pay more.

And first-year Rep. Auden Grogins, D-Bridgeport, said the city needs a new law that would allow it to establish a local 1 percent tax on meals, alcoholic beverages and hotel occupancy.

Apparently Groggins never heard of the send 1% back from the current sales tax, championed by State Senator Bob Duff and State Rep. Chris Perone. But it gets worse.

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Norwalk Should Learn From Bridgeport; Union Contract Delivers Wage Freeze & Furlough

January 28, 2009

Remember those administrative contracts that were rubber stamped through both the BOE and the Common Council? Look at how Bridgeport handles it union negotiations:

A city union representing school and municipal employees has ratified a new four-year contract that freezes wages for two years and requires workers to take a five-day, unpaid furlough.

The agreement reached with Local 1522, Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was announced Tuesday by city officials. The union represents 761 workers.

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Mid-Sized Cities Band Together

December 27, 2008

In college football, there is no playoff to determine the national champion. Instead a series of bowl games settles the score, or not, as the convoluted formula deployed by the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) administrators, ranks and revises the pecking order of the top 25 college football teams, and then messes with who gets to play who in the bowl games. The Connecticut legislature in Hartford has much in common with the BCS, which is why there is debate about just who is the real national champion in college football, and in Hartford, just who is getting state funding.

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Recession And Cultural Institutions

December 26, 2008

What would Bridgeport look like if the Beardsley Zoo, the Bridgeport Bluefish, and Captain’s Cove Marina  were to close? Bridgeport would look similar to Waterbury, a former industrial city trying to attract a young and burgeoning economy.  These days Waterbury has pinned its hope on an indoor water park. The Coco Key Resort, 55,000-square-foot indoor water park, recently opened in October of 2008.  Not that there’s anything wrong with water parks. But commercial attractions like Coco Key rely on the disposable income of families just as much as non-profit organizations too. And in tight economies, things happen. Witness the latest PR push by the firm that operates Waterbury’s park:

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Hey Bridgeport Is Raising Fees

December 9, 2008

Why? Because they are in deficit. The AP report:

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Bridgeport officials are looking at raising more fees for all sorts of services to make a dent in a projected $20 million deficit.

The proposed increases include charging owners $150 when their dogs leave a mess on a sidewalk or if they are found roaming at large.

Proposals also included increasing fees for loitering, carrying a weapon, selling live poultry, building new sidewalks, erecting signs and parking violations.

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