Terry Cowgill

Feeling the Pain

I’m working on a story for next week’s print edition about fuel prices and am looking for some people willing to be quoted about the impact gasoline prices have had on their lives.

Anyone out there have a long commute? Or is there anyone else out there heavily dependent on their vehicles for business and have had to reduce spending in other areas in order to fill that tank?

I’m looking mostly for stories about the impact (or lack of impact) rising fuel prices have had on your lives and what steps you have taken to offset any hardship. I, for one, have started cycling to work when the weather is good, as it is today

Do you drive to Massachusetts, for example, where prices are lower than either Connecticut or New York? How do you view the prospect of $5 gasoline? Is there a larger lesson to be learned from this recent round of skyrocketing fuel prices?

Kindly respond to this post to submit a comment for the print edition article. Thanks.

Telling Tales

Update 11 a.m. Friday: Now McClellan says the tone of the book (and the title) “evolved over time” — apparently under pressure from his publisher, who thought What Happened was boring.

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SALISBURY TOWN GROVE — I have been absolutely amazed at the amount of attention Scott McClellan’s new book, What Happened, has received — although I suppose I should never underestimate the propensity of the news media to flood the zone with a hot story.

As I wrote this morning on Denis Horgan’s blog, the reax to these sorts of affairs is always so predictable. It’s ironic that the same people who hated McClellan and thought he was a liar are now praising him as a truth teller because he’s saying exactly what they want to hear. In fact, lots of lefties I’ve spoken to are swallowing this book whole, while many conservatives attack the messenger.

It’s sort of like these endless studies that come out about one thing or another. If the study confirms what we already believe, we say, “See, I told you so.” If we don’t like the study’s conclusions, we attack the methodology or the group that sponsored it.

McClellan was quite possibly the worst White House press secretary in my lifetime. I’d say he was the only Bush administration official more inarticulate than the president himself. He’s certainly entitled to write a tell-all book, but I would think someone with Denis’s level of sophistication would be a little more skeptical in assessing it.

Let’s face it, it’s not Swiftboating to point out that press secretaries in the Bush admin have been routinely left out of important discussions and that it’s questionable whether McC could have known all the things he claims. So, dear lefty friends, shouldn’t we be looking at What Happened with a critical eye? Why no, we can’t do that. It’s exactly what Bush, Cheney and Rove would want. Ergo, McC must be telling the truth.

As I said on Marshall and Mike this morning (click here to get podcast), I can understand that McC was torked off at Rove and Libby for sending him out to lie about their involvement in l’affaire Plame and perhaps he feels foolish now to have huffed and puffed about Saddam’s WMDs.

But is there really any need to write about Bush saying he couldn’t remember if he’d done coke because the parties he went to as a young man were so wild? That sort of thing just comes across as petty and score-settling. I think it even undermines McC’s credibility.

On This of All Days, I’ve Been Outed

I don’t usually do this — devote an entire post to a comment on a previous post. But here goes …

In a comment left on my post about how Obama will lose to McCain, Kathy Lauretano described me as — and you might want to make sure you are sitting down while reading this — “a kool-aid drinker of left-wing talking points and propaganda,” as well as a partisan afflicted with “Bush Derangement Syndrome.” The goofy pic at right pretty much captures my reax.

I’ve been called a lot of things in my time — a smear artist, a label-maker and a Rush wannabe, but never a mindless lefty. Evidently Kathy thinks it’s OK to criticize Obama but not McCain because the latter is a great guy and a man of substance. Say what?

Continue reading On This of All Days, I’ve Been Outed…

What A Country!

With apologies to Howard Zinn, I love America, especially on Memorial Day with all those flags and good feelings. I was in North Canaan this morning for the parade down Main Street and the observances at the Doughboy Monument. I still get misty-eyed when I hear taps being played to a respectful audience. See the video footage above.

As he has been for several years, Selectman Tom Gailes, himself a veteran, was the master of ceremonies. He introduced his son, Master Sgt. Wade Gailes, who has been in the Army for 18 years. Wade’s own son is in Iraq. The theme for the day, which everyone seemed to agree on, was “let’s bring them home safely as soon as we can.”

To all those who served their country and died for it — not only soldiers, but police, emergency responders and members of the intelligence and diplomatic communites — you once again have my deepest gratitude.

Yes He Can!

Update to the post below: The guy who will lose in the fall to the old warmonger will speak at the commencement exercises at my graduate school alma mater. That’s right, Obama will be in Connecticut Sunday to stand in for the ailing Ted Kennedy and sing to the teeming liberal masses at Wesleyan University.

When I got my degree there in 1990, I got to see Bishop Desmond Tutu speak. Like Obama, the bishop was uplifting, but he had that piercing and high-pitched quality to his voice. Fortunately he did not speak in bromides of the sort favored by Obama. Frankly, I think we got a better deal than the class of 2008. Yes We Did!

One For The Ages

I write from the Town Grove while listening to the estimable Hal Lefferts and his terrific afternoon show, The Wednesday Tune Fest (WTF), on WHDD-FM 91.9. It’s great to hear Hal’s voice on the air again (and his eclectic blend of electric and acoustic music). Now all we need is for Doug Harell to return and revive the outstanding Doug & Pony Show. Where is Doug these days anyway, Marshall?

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Well folks, we are witnessing the presidential campaign of your and my lifetime. We have a 71-year-old presumptive Republican nominee — a flip-flopper of Kerry-like proportions — allying himself with a dreadfully unpopular president. With an equally unpopular war, an economy in need of repair and gasoline prices at near $4 a gallon just about everywhere, it would appear to be a banner year for Democrats and, in particular, the Democratic nominee for president.

But wait! The Dems are on the verge on nominating an untested young pup with a thin resume about whom most people know little. He gives a great speech but has been exposed by his primary opponent as an empty vessel into which millions of Americans are pouring their dreams and aspirations (and money!). Worse yet, he has been a miserable failure at attracting the votes of blue-collar types who form the base of the party.

He speaks mostly in platitudes such as “Hope we can believe in” and “Yes we can!” When he does speak substance, he often reveals himself as an out-of-touch elitist with scant understanding of a huge sector of the electorate whose votes he asks for. And as the campaign progresses, he will be exposed as someone well to the left of the political center of this country.

And he will lose to the old man who thinks it would be fine to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years. You heard it here. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory …

Paying for the Privilege

You know, now that the kerfuffle over the purchase of land for a new Salisbury-Sharon transfer station has subsided (at least for the moment), I’ve had time to consider some other thoughts about garbage. Yes, it’s time to talk trash!

One of the central questions posed by opponents of the Luke and Fitting properties was “What about Sharon? She hasn’t committed on paper to anything. She will get all of the benefits of the new transfer station while assuming none of the up-front costs and the associated risks.” [apologies to Mike LaRose for the use of the feminine pronoun!]

Still others have asked, “What about Millerton? Would we want to invite Millerton to join us since residents there have been without a transfer station for 15 years?” Well, if you listen to my simple proposal, the answer to both of those questions will be: “Who cares about them? Build it and they will come.”

Continue reading Paying for the Privilege…

Backpack Journalism

Just read a really cool piece in Editor & Publisher on the new breed of mobile journalists (known as “mojos”). Unfortunately, the article is only accessible online if you are a E&P subscriber, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it will change the way I work.

Actually, I’ve been moving in this direction for some time. While at the NYPA convention in Albany last month, I attended a seminar on backpack journalism. The concept is pretty much what it sounds like. With advances in technology, it’s now possible to work from almost anywhere. Plus, what better way to serve the interests of your readers than to get out of the office and look for news at street level?

A typical backpack journo rides around on a bicycle or in a modest car and carries with him a wireless-capable laptop, digital camera, tripod and cell phone. The LJ has provided me a with a pretty good camera and I already own the other four items. That means I’m ready. Watch out.

The advantages of this approach are many: you can stumble upon news, write a story or take some video and have it up on the web within minutes.

I’ve already practiced what I call tote-bag journalism, as when I videoed a couple of guys paddle surfing last September at the Salisbury Town Grove and filmed part of the Salisbury Memorial Day festivities a year ago. The difference is that now I can upload the clip quickly via a wireless connection on my Macbook.

Of course, I also experimented with live blogging the town meeting earlier this month on the purchase of land in Salisbury for a new transfer station. I got positive feedback from a woman who walked up to me in the Stop & Shop and said she loved the immediacy and informality of it.

As soon as the weather turns nice (Monday?), I’m going to make a practice of bicycling to work. I will pack my journo tools and see what happens. And I’ll even save some bucks on gasoline. Wish me luck.

P.S. Eat your heart out, Sam Herrick.

P.P.S. Sam is the business manager for the Region One School District. During the warmer months, he regularly bicycles from his home in Sheffield to the office in Falls Village. I’d say it’s 15 miles each way. Iron Man Sam is amazing.

Student art show will be moved next door after fire

News alert: This bit of news was too late for this week’s print edition and is going up here and on the home page at tcextra.com. I’ve been to this event several times and recommend it highly.

LAKEVILLE — A relatively minor fire Wednesday morning in the basement of The White Gallery will not put the brakes on a planned student art show and reception this weekend.

Entitled “Blue & Gold,” the show featuring works by students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School will be moved next door to Borden Realtors at 346 Main Street in Lakeville, said Susan Galluzzo, co-owner with her husband Tino of The White Gallery.

The show will run from Friday, May 16, through Sunday, May 18. There will be a reception for artists on Friday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., also at Borden’s. Exhibit hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Saturday. All proceeds will benefit young artists in the art program at the high school.

The show is sponsored by Borden’s and the White Gallery.

– Terry Cowgill

More Wisdom From Hartford

Thanks to all those who commented on the previous post about the failure of the state legislature to enact a ban on open containers of alcohol in the car.

I have a legislative update story coming out in tomorrow’s print edition. Neither of our representatives in Hartford, Andrew Roraback nor Roberta Willis, gives the session high marks. Andrew gave it “a C+ at best,” while Roberta (a former teacher) did not want to hurt her fellow lawmakers’ self-esteem by assigning it a grade. So she characterized the 2008 session as “in need of improvement.”

Among the highlights:

• A bill passed that would uses state resources to help victims of the subprime mortgage crisis and impose tighter restrictions on lenders. Rell is expected to sign it. Lawmakers also succeed in raising the minimum hourly wage from $7.65 to $8 starting Jan. 1, 2009, and to $8.25 beginning Jan. 1, 2010.

  Willis voted for it and Roraback against it. Roraback said he had spoken with restaurant owners who were concerned that the profitability of their businesses could be placed in jeopardy by the increase.

• Both Roraback and Willis say they are proud of legislation that would impose restrictions on “greenhouse emissions” thought to cause global warming. Rell is expected to sign the bill, which will force state agencies to meet emissions goals by 2020. Connecticut is the fifth state in the nation to adopt such legislation.

• Different versions of an ethics bill that would revoke the pensions of corrupt state officials passed in both houses. The bill had attracted attention after it was disclosed that disgraced former Gov. John Rowland and other convicted state officials were collecting full pensions. An attempt to reconcile the two bills failed on the last day of the legislative session. That means that the measure died, which both Roraback and Willis described as a disappointment.

Whenever I say this about the minimum wage, many of my friends give me looks of horror. I don’t think we need one. Willis voted for the measure even though she conceded it will have little or no effect in her district, where even burger flipping jobs are paying close to $10 an hour.

This is where my libertarian streak sets in. I don’t think the government should be in the business of setting wages — minimum or otherwise. If you aren’t being paid enough, find another employer. If you can’t find another job that pays better, then you are out of luck. The vast majority of minimum wage earners are working second jobs on a part-time basis anyway.

Roberta told me that even $10/hr is not sufficient in the NWC. She indicated at least $15/hr was needed for a full-time worker to pay rent, utilities and drive a car in this area. So, why don’t we just raise the minimum wage to that level? Because there would be fewer jobs, of course.

Isn’t it better to have more people working at lower wages than fewer working at higher wages? Look, I feel the pain of those who struggle to meet the costs of living in the NWC. I myself work three jobs in order to live here. But outside of the large cities, raising the minimum wage to $8 is just window dressing — a symbolic gesture at best.

How about making Connecticut a more attractive place in which to do business by reducing the tax and regulatory burden on new and existing business? The resulting boomlet would create jobs, increase the demand for labor and drive wages up. Imagine that!