Terry Cowgill

Breaking News

It took about an hour and 15 minutes, but almost 170 people braved an impending snowstorm to debate and approve plans for a new firehouse tonight at the Salisbury Congregational Church.

The vote to approve the plan, which could cost a maximum of $3.3 million, passed by paper ballot 158-11. Interestingly, there was some new information from Mike Flint concerning the listing of both the ITW site and the current Lakeville Hose Company firehouse on the DEP’s web site as potentially polluted sites. More on that later.

Several questions and observations came from the trio of former Selectman Peter Oliver, his wife Sandy Gomez and her brother Mark Gomez. Some guy named Mike LaRose spoke for 10 minutes about what an honor it was to be “able to vote on your own safety.

And there were some other questions, most of which had been answered before at previous meetings. First Selectman Curtis Rand looked a little nervous but fielded questions from the voters and offered answers for just about everything except for Flint’s revelations.

Then when the meeting adjourned at about 9 p.m., we were treated to a blinding snowstorm and a parade of slow moving cars down Route 44 all leaving at the same time.

When we arrived for the town meeting at 7:30, it was merely cold, but when the meeting got out, there had to be 4 inches of fluffy white stuff on the ground and it was accumulating quickly.

As I made my way out of the building I got stuck behind one of Salisbury’s many elderly citizens. This fellow, who was headed to one of Noble’s vans, had a walker and was proceeding extremely slowly out the door because the snow made his footing treacherous. Hat’s off to that fellow for braving the elements to exercise his civic duty.

I’ll have a complete story in Thursday’s LJ.

Victory for SCS

It’s great to watch a well fought basketball game at the lower levels. Yesterday I went to HVRHS with both my kids to see Salisbury play Cornwall in the finals of the Region One elementary schools boys basketball tournament.

I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t recall the score, but from the photo at right of SCS’s Parker Rawlings holding aloft the trophy, it should be evident that Salisbury Central won (I think it was 45-34, give or take …).

The place was packed and it actually appeared that tiny Cornwall had a few more fans than Salisbury. It was an exciting and very physical game. I was struck not only by how hard the kids were playing but by how well coached the SCS team was. Head Coach Anthony O’Neil and his capable assistant Joe Kremer obviously know a lot about the game and both their knowledge and enthusiasm were infectious.

But try as I might to focus on that game, I couldn’t help but remember my own battle for the Region One championship in that very gym 37 years ago. My God, am I that old?

I was in my 8th-grade year at Kent Center School. With a season record of something like 2-7, we did not have a particularly strong team. Indeed we even suffered the indignity of losing to Cornwall, which at that time had a gym about the size of my bedroom and was a perennial doormat.

Continue reading Victory for SCS…

LJ 02.28.08

Very informative pieces on the front page this week:

Karen Bartomioli leads with a feature on the difficulty of finding home heating oil retailers to participate in aid programs for the needy; our Winsted editor Michael Marciano interviews native son Ralph Nader about his recently announced presidential bid; and our Millerton reporter Shaw Izikson gauges reaction to a Dutchess County official’s scathing letter denouncing the proposed Durst development in Pine Plains.

I did a piece on the Region One Board of Education telling HVRHS Principal Gretchen Foster to forget about cutting the third rail of the school’s budget — the agriculture education program; and in Nature’s Notebook, Fred Baumgarten has a fascinating look at a mysterious disease that’s killing off bats in the region (see also Tim Abbott’s excellent blog post on this in Walking the Berkshires).

I don’t know about you, but I think we have more than our share of bugs in the Northwest Corner. Indeed, I’d even go so far as to say we are an entomologist’s delight. I shudder to think of the size of our insect population if the bats disappear. The gnats and mosquitoes will be so thick that we’ll all need to wear netted helmets like the beekeepers …

P.S. According to this piece in the Daily Freeman (linked by Tim):

A mass die-off of bats could have economic implications because bats feed on insects that, if allowed to survive, could destroy crops.

Barack Hussein …

Update 8 p.m. Monday: Now Hilary’s people have taken to stabbing the Obamaniacs. This is the best political brawl I’ve seen since my days in Amenia.

* * * * * * *

This is what the Clinton campaign has been reduced to: circulating a photo of Obama in traditional African garb.

I wonder if Hillary will still be “honored” to be on that stage with him in tomorrow night’s debate.

And her campaign seems confused by it, first not denying it, then attacking back, then saying they don’t think it came from the Hillary campaign and asking if anybody knows what’s going on.

Maybe this is all a grand design by the Clinton campaign to improve ratings for the debate. If so, they got me. Count me in. I’ll be in front of my TV.

Lazy Sunday Thoughts

Thinking out loud on a Sunday afternoon …

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They’ve been keeping me exceptionally busy this week at the LJ. What with all those meetings on the firehouse and all those events, I’ve been running around with my camera and note pad in perpetual use.

Yesterday morning it was the firehouse informational meeting, followed that night by the Chocolate in the Village fundraiser at the D.M. Hunt Library in Falls Village (above left) and then back in Salisbury this afternoon for the Region One Open Music Recital (see below right).

I even wrote an editorial on my laptop Saturday afternoon while sitting in the lodge at Catamount and waiting for my kids and their friends to burn off some steam on the slopes. Not that I’m complaining. I love to write and keep others informed of what’s going on.

* * * * * * *

Speaking of keeping informed, while on my elliptical this morning I put myself in the iPod cocoon and listened to the podcast of Mike Flint’s Straight Talk on AM 1020 WHDD. For the second week in a row, Mike spent his entire one-hour show on the proposed new firehouse for the Lakeville Hose Company.

Mike’s got lots of good raw data posted on his Straight Talk website. Take a look at it and also read my article on it in this week’s LJ, although be advised that, contrary to what First Selectman Curtis Rand told us, absentee ballots will be available if the issue is forced to a referendum by Mike’s petition. Mike is to be commended for contacting the Secretary of the State’s office to confirm that.

Which brings me to my next point. I like Mike and I think he is sincere in pressing this matter, but I don’t see the “lies and deceptions” that he insists are coming out of Town Hall. There has been some bad information (such as the above error and a misstatement on the assessed value of the ITW building) but I have no reason to think they were anything but honest mistakes.

Yes, the time-frame is compressed and moving at break-neck speed, but Curtis has explained it to my satisfaction. We do agree, however, that the selectmen do not appear to want to hold a referendum and one of the reasons they gave for opposing it was not accurate. But that necessarily doesn’t mean we’re being lied to.

It means, in the words of The Gipper in 1986, “Mistakes were made.” It does not, in my humble opinion, mean “Government Out of Control.”

Live Blogging Tonight’s Debate

Pre-debate chatter on MSNBC has focused on today’s NYT story on John McCain’s relationship with a female lobbyist. The consensus among Matthews, Barnicle et al is that, if true, it’s a deal-breaker.

But the story is thinly sourced and just not a solid piece of journalism.

* * * * * * *

All I can say is it’s a CNN debate but thank goodness Wolf Blitzer is not going to be involved. He is the single most irritating person on television. Clearly, the most irritating slogan on TV is CNN’s insistence (repeated often by its shameless anchors and reporters) that it is “the best political team on television.” No authority is cited for the accolade. I guess they just think if they repeat it often enough, then viewers will be dumb enough to believe it.

• The crowd is responding well to Obama’s message. Now the Univision guy is asking Senatore Cleentun about Castro. Hill says she is ready to reach out to a new Cuban government but only if they are serious. She would not meet with them until they demonstrate they are serious about “change.” That word again …
• So far the tone has been cordial. Now John King is asking how an O presidency would be different from Hill’s. Not much, but I like his emphasis on alternative energy. But Hill can’t really differentiate much either. They are both going after Bush instead. This is not what I expected so far.
• Maybe the friendly tone is a result of the two candidates sitting next to each other. There’s something about lecturns that brings out the worst in people. Remember Revko?
• The strong applause Obama got for slamming No Child Left Behind suggests there are a lot of teachers in the audience. Could also explain why Hill’s welcome was as hearty as O’s. Teachers seem to love Hill.
• Now CNN’s John King has had enough. He’s trying to get them to take off the gloves. Hill’s reax: “Actions speak louder than words.” But O didn’t really take the bait. He handled Hill’s “action” charge with great aplomb, as he did the plagiarism deal.
• Hill says lifting Deval Patrick’s words is “change you can Xerox.” Good line but a cheap shot.
• Hill bullied Campbell Brown into letting her not answer their question and changing the subject back to healthcare. “I want a universal healthcare plan now!” she insisted.
• The debate is about 2/3 over and I don’t think Hill has put a dent in O’s armor. Her point, though, that most people can’t name a single accomplishment of O’s is precisely to the point. People are for O; they just don’t know precisely why.
• My God, a standing ovation for Hill after saying she was honored to be next to O. You think it was a Democratic audience? I’d say Austin is the only place in Texas where you could get that many Dems to assemble in one place.
• I’d say the debate was a draw, which is not what Hillary needed. But with her closing remarks, she seemed prepared to lose.

LJ 02.21.08

It’s been a lively week for the paper. Some weeks I write no stories that end up on page A1, but this week I have three: a piece of about how the Northwest Corner real estate market is holding up remarkably well in the face of a national slump; the continuing saga of the quest for a new firehouse in Salisbury (also see our editorial on that subject); and the dreadful weather that has wrought havoc on the region in the last several days.

Inside, I have a profile of Malcom McKenzie, the new head at Hotchkiss, Ryan Snyder has stories on new developments in the Sharon Valley Tavern case and speeding near Sharon Center School, and Karen Bartomioli weighs in with the first in an occasional series about the Civilian Conservation Corps.

A page B1, there are some terrific photos of the weather at the Great Falls by Karen’s son, Steven, and a couple of stories by yours truly: the annual Region One budget battle and an upcoming town meeting in Falls Village.

There is a lively discussion on our letters page (see print edition) on the Sharon Valley Tavern and Sharon Hospital and fine columns by Tony Piel, Dick Ahles, Bob Estabrook and a guest piece by Robin Roraback on the tragedies that can befall unwanted animals. Read on …

Down and Out?

They’re at it again. The pundits are pronouncing Hillary dead. Last night’s drubbing in Wisconsin, a similar place demographically to Hillary’s March 4 firewall state of Ohio, pretty much seals her fate. Obama has eaten so far into Hillary’s down-market base that she will never recover.

In order to get the nomination, she will have to get something like 60% of the delegates from here on out, according to the math MSNBC did last night. Almost impossible. But if Bill and Hill try to sway the superdelegates in a way that runs contrary to the popular vote, or if they go to court to seat the delegates in Michigan and Florida, all hell will break loose.

If that happens, the only people happier than the hyperventilating journalists covering the race will be the Republicans, who will jump for joy at the prospect of facing a weakened Democratic nominee and a divided party. You would think that ’08 would be the perfect year for the Dems to regain the White House, but they just might blow it yet.

The only thing I know for certain is that I’ll have plenty to blog about.

P.S. As much as I dislike Hillary, there is something sad about seeing her careen from state to state trying to pump air into a leaking balloon. Plus, she has been ill-served by her husband (again!).

Can Government Save Your Soul?

Most of us don’t know much about Michelle Obama — or much about her husband, for that matter … that’s another story. But a speech she gave at UCLA a couple of weeks ago was really strange — even by the standards of presidential politics. For someone representing a husband who professes to embody hope, unity and optimism, she gave a remarkably depressing and manifestly divisive speech.

Here are various portions of the speech on YouTube (evidently it was too long to upload on one file). For the Cliff’s Notes version on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, click here. Hewitt starts playing her speech about two minutes into the stream, so skip ahead if you don’t want to listen to his intro. It probably won’t surprise regular readers of this blog that I agree with much of Hewitt’s commentary on Mrs. Obama’s stump speech.

First of all, where does she get off saying none of us “know our neighbors” and that “we are too isolated?” Maybe in urban areas like the South Side of Chicago (the Obamas’ stomping grounds), where it’s possible to be right on top of one another but still live in anonymity.

[Disclosure: I lived in Chicago’s South Side for a year when I was 11. It wasn’t a particularly friendly place, but I did know my neighbors.]

Continue reading Can Government Save Your Soul?…

Yikes, Winsor’s Back!

Just got back from interviewing Malcolm McKenzie, the new head of Hotchkiss School. He’s a very impressive (yet down-to-earth) “global educator.” We’ll have a profile on Malcolm in the LJ either this coming Thursday or next.

Speaking of independent schools (lame transition?), I couldn’t help notice that an old controversy from the 80s and 90s here in Lakeville resurfaced in yesterday’s Boston Globe.

It seems that Winsor Copeland, one of the teachers implicated in a child sex scandal at Indian Mountain School, has resurfaced in a U.S. setting where he could have contact with children. [the photo at top left is not of Copeland but of a model]

Copeland is now a “volunteer” fundraiser at his middle school alma mater, Pine Cobble School in Williamstown, Mass. But Globe columnist Kevin Cullen paints a picture of a school that is not being candid about Copeland’s role there. It doesn’t pass the smell test. Is he spend his time licking envelopes, or is Copeland, as a Pine Cobble newsletter suggests, doing something more? From Cullen’s column:

Continue reading Yikes, Winsor’s Back!…