Terry Cowgill

Undaunted Crooners

I attended the first part of Project Troubador’s Grove Festival in Lakeville on Saturday and took some photos.

Organizer Eliot Osborn (on guitar at left) and the Joint Chiefs started off but were interrupted twice by downpours that sent concert-goers scurrying for cover.

I left after the second soaking but it looks like things cleared up in time to finish the program with the likes of the New World CEIli Band.

Anyone out there stay after the rain? I recall the event was canceled in 2006 because of the previous day’s rains and the threat of the same on the day of the festival. A wise call by Osborn, as holding the concert then would have resulted in a mud bath. This year’s adverse weather was a comparatively tepid affair.

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Word on the street is Region One Assistant Superintendent Tom Gaisford is handing in his resignation and taking advantage of early retirement. I’ll no doubt learn more about it at today’s special Board of Education meeting.

The big question for me is whether the board will replace him. Will they find a new assistant superintendent or take advantage of Gaisford’s departure and opt to go without a #2 in the face of declining enrollments regionwide? Stay tuned …

Think This Is Real?

Pretty amazing if it is. Best ballgirl ever …

BTW …

… Two pieces in today’s NYT that reinforce my strong desire to send George Bush packing for Crawford. It’s been an open secret for years that the Bush admin has politicized the Justice Department. But today we learn that former Attorneys General Alberto Gonzalez and John Ashcroft applied ideological litmus tests to candidates for career civil service posts at Justice, including internships.

Then we learn that when the White House received an email from the EPA concluding greenhouse gasses are pollutants that need to be controlled, the Bush admin simply refused to open it. Could this be a variation on “No news is good news?”

Now, more than six months later and under pressure from The White House, a watered-down and redacted version of the EPA report will be published. Why not let the EPA release the original version and if Bush admin officials disagree with it, then they can challenge it in public?

I know the Dems are trying to paint a President McCain as a second term for GWB. In some ways it would be, but I can’t picture McCain engaging in this type of disgraceful behavior. As for a President Obama, well, who knows? He’s a blank slate. Even his supporters know little about him. I guess you know which way I’m leaning …

A Pair of Summer Slippers

The 2008 battle for president is turning out to be the Battle of the Flipfloppers.

Reversing years of opposition, McCain has come out for offshore drilling. This runs counter to what he said as recently as January. And reversing years of advocacy for public funding of elections, Obama has opted out of the Watergate-era system of taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns. This runs counter to what he said as recently as February.

Both men rationalize their 180s by claiming that circumstances have changed. Obama’s seems the more breathtaking of the two, but I’d guess neither will be substantially harmed by their inconsistencies. Maybe that’s because there isn’t a good YouTube sound byte like John Kerry’s legendary quote on funding the Iraq war.

Obama supporters such as Colin McEnroe are trying to spin for their man, arguing that he faces such an onslaught from GOP 527s that he simply must have enough money to answer the Republican attack machine. He further argues (just as unconvincingly) that the system is broken and that since he has a record number of donors, many of whom are giving small amounts, then his campaign is already tantamount to public financing.

That really is pathetic. There is no evidence that independent GOP groups will be any more effective at smearing than similar groups sympathetic to Democrats.

Here’s what Obama should have said: “This is a historic moment for America. We have a choice between me and a guy who wants to continue the legacy of one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. This election is simply too important to worry about spending limitations, especially since I can can easily raise twice as much as Sen. McCain. That’s why I have changed my mind.”

So much for change we can believe in …

R.I.P., George Carlin

First it’s Timmy; now it’s George. I know among his many attributes, George Carlin was a scathing social critic. But I was partial to his observational humor, as in this brilliant riff about “finding a place for your stuff.”

BaroxyContin

Define the term above. If you can’t do it on your own, go here.

Wet One

I wouldn’t say tonight’s commencement exercises at Housatonic Valley Regional High School were a complete disaster. To be fair, considering the near-chaos that precipitated the event, I’d say it went off pretty smoothly.

When I arrived about 20 minutes early, the rain had already started, but the dais and the endless chairs were already set up in front of the main building for the usual outdoor ceremony. There were about 75 umbrellas visible and some of them were already planted on the seats with their owners waiting for the event to begin.

I went inside near the superintendent’s office in an attempt to avoid getting wet and to try to find out what was going on. The band had retreated to the hallway outside the principal’s office, their instruments dripping with Mother Nature’s moisture.

The scene was one of confusion tinged with some bemusement that the wrong decision had been made in a day whose weather forecast vacillated between horror and delight. As I milled about the halls, I finally saw Principal Gretchen Foster, wearing that look principals get when they’ve been dealt a bad hand, striding toward the front doors and announcing under her breath that, “We’re coming into the auditorium!” This was at 6:33 p.m., about three minutes after starting time.

So inside they went. Scott Fellows announced very firmly that only two representatives from each graduate’s family would be admitted because of the sudden and unexpected premium on space. But the show went on — and remarkably well, at that.

If you’d like to view Andrew Sadowski’s salutatorian address, click here. For some hideous reason, Youtube (or perhaps iMovie) insists on cropping the top and bottom of the video frame during processing, so you don’t see all of Andrew’s head. But it’s worth a listen anyway.  Andrew’s mother, former Region One Board member Jane Sadowski, sat behind me and was in stiches the whole time.

I’ll have more in next week’s print edition. Meanwhile, blogging will be light for the next few days, as I will be vacationing on the Cape. Cheers …

St. Timmy’s Passing

Update 1:30 p.m. Wednesday: After reading this interview, my opinion of Timmy has been raised a notch. Good for him for his willingness to discuss MSM bias without dismissing it as some kooky right-wing grievance.

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To this point, I have resisted commenting on the passing of NBC’s Tim Russert. I have mostly been watching in disbelief as much of the news media heap so much praise on the fallen newsman that you’d think he was the journalistic equivalent of Jesus himself.

I agree with Colin McEnroe. You tend to feel awkward when someone who mostly annoys you kicks the bucket, especially if you’re a writer and get paid to give your assessment of people like Russert.

But mostly I have held back from writing about Russert because I have been waiting for a piece like this. That’s how brave I am. I’m not sure whether it’s OK to speak ill of the dead until someone else does it. But Jack Shafer jumped in first, so here goes.

Here’s what I liked about Russert: his humble beginnings; his passion for journalism and politics; his strong family life; he worked for Pat Moynihan (whom I admired) and; sometimes, the way he ran Meet The Press.

Here’s what I did not like about him: Russert was a slippery player in the Scooter Libby-Valerie Plame imbroglio; he is the very embodiment of the Washington media establishment; and nowhere is the incestuous world of power journalism more on display than in the self-indulgent assumption that the rest of the world cares as much about Russert’s passing as the media do.

Let’s face it: the coverage of his death is more fitting for a head of state than a TV journo. I think Terrence McCarthy got it right on Colin’s blog. It’s likely Russert is rolling his eyes from the grave at the excessive coverage of his passing. Then again, maybe he’s just flashing that wolfish grin …

Bridge to Nowhere

The old iron bridge linking Amesville and Falls Village was closed suddenly this afternoon by state officials. Click here or on the graphic at left to read the news story I just posted on our website.

The feeling in the newsroom was that this story was too important and timely to leave until our next print edition comes out June 19.

Of course, if this is a route you generally use to get to downtown Falls Village, you’ll have to find an alternate. Dugway Road to 112 to Rt 7 looks like your best bet.

Wow!

I am just now getting around to posting an update on the whopper of a storm that hit the Northwest Corner last night. I write this from the offices of The Millerton News because it’s the only place I can find that has both Internet access and power.

Last night between 9 and 10 p.m. a powerful front rolled into our area. There wasn’t a whole lot of rain but the combination of wind and lightning was a sight and sound to behold. We lost power at about 10 and as I write this at 2:45 p.m.Wednesday, CL&P tells us we might get it back late tomorrow.

When I awoke at 6 this a.m. and still had no power, I drove straight to the McDonald’s in Millerton hoping it would be open. Thankfully, it was. But on the way I saw dozens of trees and limbs down over power lines, along with several utility poles snapped like toothpicks.

We are going to try to put together both the LJ and The Millerton News tomorrow for Friday distribution. But it’s possible we won’t be able to, in which case we will start as soon as we get power back at our Bissel Street plant.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for someplace to eat, Millerton has plenty of power. I suspect the restaurants will be doing a great business. When I took my kids to lunch today at Mickey Dee’s, I’d say 75% of the cars in the parking lot had CT plates.

Got any storm stories to share? Feel free to leave a comment here and unburden yourself.

P.S. To follow the power situation, click here to see CL&P’s stats on the number of people who are still in the dark.