Terry Cowgill

Oh, Seven! Oh, Eight!

I’ve gotten a fair amount of feedback on my piece on the GWB effect on local GOP committees and party enrollment. It’s a little puzzling to me as to why people would make decisons about whom to support on the local level based on whether or not they like the president. But the phenomenon appears real, although to precisely what extent remains unclear.

We did not have room to publish the chart below in the print edititon, but look at the numbers:

I think the real story may be the rise in the numbers of people like me who don’t want to be associated with either party because they don’t feel the parties represent their interests.

A two-party system depends on healthy political parties but the GOP and Dems have moved farther apart in recent years, leaving hybrids and moderates to fend for ourselves. Of course, the two parties write elections laws that discourage participation from independents and third parties.

Nevertheless, look at how unafilliateds outnumber those in either party statewide and in every town in the NWC. This is not healthy.

You’ve Got To Be Kidding

Kudos to Rick Green for writing a spot-on column in yesterday’s Hartford Courant on school spending.

It was especially needed, given the timetable for school budgets, including the Region One and local school budgets in the Northwest Corner that are being finalized for a referendum and town meetings in May.

As even some Region One administrators have admitted, cutting program budgets may have a painful effect on educators and students, but as enrollments continue to decline there is little alternative, lest budgets be rejected by the voters and the cuts become severe.

But the larger point Rick makes is that with Gov. Rell’s budget proposal targeting billions in new aid to local school districts, someone needs to ask the question: “Will this improve our schools?” So far, most of the discussion has focused on the increased income tax burden town residents will shoulder versus the amount of aid the town will receive (or not receive) in return.

The simple fact is that there has never been a correlation established between school district spending and student achievement. Family income, yes: but school spending, no.

Continue reading You’ve Got To Be Kidding…

A Snowball’s Chance

I have a proposal, but hear me out first.

When Jesus declared that the meek shall inherit the Earth, it’s doubtful he was talking about today’s school children, including those in Region One. As our educational institutions grapple with the grim reality of fiscal constraints, it’s become increasingly clear that the Sermon on the Mount wasn’t delivered at budget time.

I have been covering school budgets on-and-off (mostly on) since 1998. And the whole process that begins in the late fall and ends in May resembles a broken record accompanied by axe-wielding school board members and punctuated by the occasional shriek of protest.

Here’s what happens just about every year. The administrators present their “dream budget” with increases across-the-board — often amounting to 7% or more. They present it to a board of education, all the while knowing the spending package doesn’t have a snowball’s chance.

Continue reading A Snowball’s Chance…

Food Fest

In this morning’s print edition of the LJ, you will find my story on food prices. The comparisons were very interesting and I hope they strike our readers the same way.

While researching the story, I sent out an email inquiry to some 50 people asking them to share their thoughts about their shopping habits, as well as their reaction to our survey.

We didn’t have the room to publish them in the print edition, so I am posting them here. All the comments have been edited for clarity and brevity. Thanks to all our readers for responding so thoughtfully.

[One other note that was not included in the story: In an October 2006 Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey of 54 major supermarket chains, Stop & Shop placed 41, Price Chopper 30 and Big Y 24. Wegmans and Trader Joe’s were 1 and 2 respectively, while Winn Dixie and Tops Markets were dead last.]

Unless it is a special, the [Stop & Shop] prices are very high. When they have a good special on canned goods, more often than not the shelf is empty!!! They make sure you cannot get much at the good price.
Nina Mathus
Salisbury
Continue reading Food Fest…

Upper Housy Heritage Area Passes

Last night the U.S. Senate passed a bill that included the designation of the Northwest Corner and parts of Berkshire County, Mass., as a national heritage area.

If signed into law by President Bush, the Upper Housatonic National Heritage Area will make the region eligible for about $1 million per year in federal matching grants for historic preservation and environmental protection.

Heritage Area Chairman Ron Jones told me in an email today: “Terry - I just heard that the Senate has passed our bill, S. 203, so we now have our Congressional designation, assuming, of course, that the President does not veto it.”

Of course, Ron was being tongue-in-cheek. Imagine if Bush used this opportunity to issue only the second veto of his presidency. That would put us right up there with stem cell research on his list of betes noires.

At any rate, congratulations are in order to Ron, Ed Kirby and the rest of the gang who made this terrific project possible. Click here to see the heritage area’s website. Click below on the “Read the rest of this entry …” link to see the press release accompanying Ron’s email.

Continue reading Upper Housy Heritage Area Passes…

The Green Alps State

Note: This is the second in a series on states that have harebrained ideas. For the first, click here. [photo of Newport and Lake Memphremagog courtesy vermontvacations.com]

There is a very amusing piece in today’s Los Angeles Times about a movement in Vermont — albeit a small one — to secede from the Union. A group calling itself the Second Vermont Republic wants the Green Mountain State to split from the U S. and become a neutral and self-sustaining nation much like Switzerland.

Members of the group worry, according to the Times, “about global warming, the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, unfair trade practices, and the ‘tyranny of multinational corporations.’”

Of course, secession is a pipe dream, as even many of it advocates admit. But it raises some very interesting questions about one of the most interesting states in the nation.

As an undergraduate in nearby Quebec, I spent a lot of time in Vermont in the mid 70s to early 80s. I drove through it often on the way back and forth from my home in the Boston area. My girlfriend’s family had a place in Townshend, Vt. And the family of one of my best college friends from Montreal had a summer place in Highgate Springs. When we stayed there it gave us the opportunity to experience Burlington. What a fun and funky place …

Continue reading The Green Alps State…