08/18/08 Greenwich Post News Links For Monday

Researchers name Shays No. 1 moderate

Fourth District U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays is the No. 1 moderate Republican in Congress, according to new research published by Congressional Quarterly. Congressional Quarterly found that Mr. Shays, the only House Republican from New England, voted with George W. Bush 52% of the time over the course of his presidency, and with Congressional Republicans 70% of the time during that period. “I’m not afraid to stand with my party when it’s right and to stand against it when it’s wrong,” Mr. Shays said. “I’ve been effective working across the aisle to implement campaign finance reform, congressional accountability, and the 9/11 commission recommendations. The bottom line is bipartisanship will be fundamental to the success of the next administration, and I look forward to working with the next president to address the challenges facing our district, state and nation.” Congressional Quarterly ranked 27 Democrats and Republicans based upon their roll call votes from January 20, 2001 through July 18, 2008. Presidential support was based upon 432 roll call votes where Mr. Bush had a clear position..... Please Read The Full Greenwich Post Story Old Greenwich stop sign stays By Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter (kborsuk@greenwich-post.com) After months of discussion, the Board of Selectmen approved at its Aug. 14 meeting making permanent an all-way stop sign at the intersection of Sound Beach Avenue and Shore Road. The stop signs were installed in May for a three-month test of their impact on traffic and pedestrian safety during the peak season at Greenwich Point, which can be accessed only via that intersection. The signs were first suggested through the Safe Routes to Schools program to improve pedestrian safety for children walking to the beach and nearby Old Greenwich School. The selectmen’s pedestrian safety committee previously endorsed the plan, which had been making its way through town government for years before being implemented in spring. The project had a fair degree of controversy as some residents spoke out in strong favor of it and others had concerns about the impact on traffic in the area. Debate stretched on at the meeting for close to an hour, but ultimately the selectmen believed the stop signs were working and should be made permanent. Several people spoke at the meeting urging the selectmen to keep the signs so children could walk under safer conditions.... Road to close this month By Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter (kborsuk@greenwich-post.com) At the Aug. 14 meeting, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved closing Havemeyer Place from Greenwich Avenue to Mason Street for westbound traffic from Aug. 18 to Sept. 1 for work by Connecticut Light and Power.... Mosquitoes with West Nile Virus raise concern The State of Connecticut Mosquito Management Program notified Greenwich health officials earlier this week that pools of mosquitoes trapped in Greenwich in the beginning of August have tested positive for West Nile Virus. These mosquitoes are in addition to the first positive mosquitoes identified by the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station in Greenwich in mid-July, and come from two other testing locations. In addition to Greenwich, four new towns in the state — New Canaan, Shelton, Westport and Wilton — have been added to the list of municipalities that have positive mosquitoes for West Nile Virus. The State Mosquito Management Program traps and tests mosquitoes at three site locations in Greenwich (Old Greenwich, Riverside and central Greenwich) as part of its program, which maintains a network of 91 mosquito-trapping stations in 72 municipalities throughout the state. Including the new locations, positive mosquitoes have been identified in 20 towns — Bridgeport, Darien, East Haven, Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hamden, Hartford, Milford, New Canaan, New Haven, Norwalk, Shelton, Stamford, Stonington, Stratford, West Haven, Westport, Wethersfield and Wilton. A resident of Sherman who became ill in June is the only human case thus far to test positive for West Nile Virus infection. “The expanding number of towns with positive mosquitoes along with infected mosquitoes being collected from multiple trapping sites within the community is beginning to concern me,” said Caroline Calderone Baisley, director of health. “When the virus appeared much earlier than usual we realized that this could be a long season; however, the summer is not over yet. We will continue to have warm weather in the upcoming weeks with a chance of significant rainfall events. Historically, at least over the last few years, the fall has been warm, with the first frost coming sometime in November. “As it stands right now, the potential for virus transmission to the general public is increasing rapidly, but could become more severe if adult mosquito populations explode with infection. At this time it is important for all residents to know about West Nile Virus and for the town to continue larviciding; however, if the problem escalates, other measures to protect human health will need to be considered.”..... ================================================= Please send your comments and news tips to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com