01/14/08 Today's Extreamly Late Greenwich Time News Links

Car repair shops busy after storms

By Colin Gustafson

Staff Writer
Posted: 01/14/2009 08:10:14 AM EST

Icy roads and frigid winter weather may spell bad news for motorists, but it's been a boon in business for auto body shop owner Louis Mora.

Since roadways began freezing over with the season's first snowstorm in late December, Mora has seen the number of accident-damaged vehicles at his repair shop, Classic Auto of Greenwich on Mason Street, jump to 15 to 20 per week on average, compared to eight to 12 in early December.

"We're back to being overbooked again, and don't have enough space on the lot," the shop owner said Tuesday. "The phone doesn't stop ringing."
Mora's recent uptick in business is hardly unique for local repair-shop owners. With regular snow and freezing-rain storms coating local roads with ice for

P&Z to review power plant proposal

Greenwich Time Staff
Posted: 01/14/2009 08:34:12 AM EST

The Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Town Hall meeting room to review the final redevelopment plan for the former Cos Cob Power Plant on 10 currently unused acres at 22 Sound Shore Drive.

Plans for the North Street animal shelter are also up for final approval. If approved, the Public Works Department's existing 2,890-square-foot maintenance building at 393 North St. would be demolished to make way for a new, 8,400-square-foot field maintenance facility and 3,500-square-foot animal shelter on the 23-acre, town-owned property.

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m., the Holly Hill LLC corporation will seek final approval to renovate the existing Howard Johnson Hotel at 1114. E. Putnam Ave. Plans include decreasing the number of rooms from 106 to 86 and the indoor dining area from 4,831 square feet to 3,050 square feet, while introducing an outdoor restaurant area.

Aquarion Water Company of Connecticut could also be granted preliminary approval to expand the Putnam Water and Filter Plant at 10 Dekraft Road. Representatives of the company faced harsh criticism from neighbors last week, when the commission reviewed expansion plans for the third time without voting. Neighbors said that increasing the water-holding tank from 1 million gallons to 3.5 million gallons and building a 120-by-30-foot chemical storage facility so close to their homes would destroy their property values and lower their quality of life. The commission has until March 12 to vote.....

Firefighters save dog from ice

By Debra Friedman

Staff Writer
Posted: 01/14/2009 08:31:42 AM EST

When a frantic 911 came in from a woman who told dispatchers her golden retriever had fallen through an icy pond in her backyard, firefighters rushed to the backcountry scene and within minutes saved the dog's life.

Ham Ave. move waiting on weather

By Colin Gustafson

Staff Writer
Posted: 01/14/2009 08:13:35 AM EST

The town schools chief said Tuesday she will consider allowing Hamilton Avenue School staff to move into their new building next month, but this time won't give anyone the green-light to pack until the needed safety approvals for the school are in hand.

Teachers and staff, after being told to pack for a move, were dismayed late last month to learn that the planned relocation from their temporary modular classrooms to the rebuilt school was delayed because the facility had not received a temporary occupancy certificate on time.

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg, who'd previously instructed staff to prepare as if the relocation was imminent, said Tuesday she did not want to risk repeating the recent ordeal if the certificate, once again, does not arrive on schedule.

"I'm not going to do what I did last time. "¦ Before I tell anybody to start packing again, we've got to be sure that we have that TCO or that CO (certificate of occupancy) in hand," Sternberg said at a school building committee meeting Tuesday.

Still, the superintendent said if the building committee is able to secure the certificate by Jan. 30, she would be open to the possibility of allowing students to return in mid-February after staff members move equipment there over winter recess, which starts Feb. 9.

Previously, school board chair Nancy Weissler had said the board would consider an April relocation date, so as not to interfere with students' preparations for the Connecticut Mastery Test, to be administered in early March.

But with many parents objecting to that plan this week, Sternberg said Tuesday she now plans to meet with parents and school officials to "weigh the pros and cons" of moving students in earlier.

"There's this angst and desire, and I understand that, to get the kids in the new building already, and out of the modular (classrooms)," she said, but added that it also was important to ensure students would be prepared for the 2009 CMT.

Before that becomes a consideration, however, building committee members will have to resolve problems with the school's new flue pipes, the one remaining facilities-related issue keeping them from getting a TCO....

In town

Greenwich Time Staff
Posted: 01/14/2009 08:35:52 AM EST

Roast and Toast of Sen. Nickerson

A Roast & Toast fundraiser honoring retiring Sen. William H. Nickerson of Greenwich will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at Richards of Greenwich, 359 Greenwich Ave.

Some of the toasters (and roasters) for the event include: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal; state Sen.-elect L. Scott Frantz; state Reps. Livvy Floren and Lile Gibbons; and Moffly Publications co-founder Jack Moffly.

Tickets begin at $100 per person.....

MORE GREENWICH TIME NEWS LINKS:

Greenwich girls basketball team upends Darien

Greenwich Time Staff
Posted: 01/13/2009 11:50:07 PM EST

With her team facing a three-point halftime deficit against host Darien, Greenwich High School girls basketball coach Danielle Morgan knew the Cardinals had to raise their defensive intensity in the second half.

Author gives business tips for tough times

Big Tips for Small Businesses

By Michael C. Juliano

STAFF WRITER
Posted: 01/13/2009 06:56:01 PM EST

One must remain positive to survive as an entrepreneur in today's economy, said Barbara Weltman, a top-selling author on succeeding as a small business owner.

"Things are going to change, and we know it," she said Tuesday as a guest speaker on "Strategies for Thriving in a Tough Economy" at the Entrepreneurial Woman's Network luncheon, held at the Norwalk Inn & Conference Center.

Sources of enjoyment are rediscovered

By Bernie Yudain

Special Correspondent

In bone-chilling weather, a few warm tidbits to distract you from your throbbing furnace and the painful thoughts of expensive heating oil (or gas) going up in smoke: Serendipity Fumbling at my bookshelf for a special book, I stumbled on an old paperback that had become wedged in the back of the row.

Serendipity

Fumbling at my bookshelf for a special book, I stumbled on an old paperback that had become wedged in the back of the row. It was "The Summer of '42" by my friend Herman Raucher. Of course, I'd read it when it came out all those years ago, and saw the movie adaptation.

Idly, I started reading it, and soon became engrossed. I don't remember my emotions when I first read it, but I'm convinced I missed something because I didn't realize how excruciatingly funny the writing is and how poignant and sensitive is the counterpoint telling of the story.

TODAYS LOCAL AND HARD HITTING GREENWICH TIME EDITORIAL: "A new page for energy commission"

Joseph Kelliher is not exactly a household name in Connecticut, but state residents have reason to cheer his decision to step down as head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Kelliher was the federal government's champion of Broadwater, the monstrous liquefied natural gas platform proposed for Long Island Sound. Moreover, as head of FERC, he was an advocate for overruling the rights and authority that states and communities traditionally had to ensure environmental and other local issues were addressed when energy projects were being planned.

Mr. Kelliher's resignation as chairman coincides with the Democratic takeover of the federal government on Jan. 20 and paves the way for President-elect Barack Obama to appoint a new chairman whom we trust will be more sensitive to properly balancing competing interests.......BLAH ..... BLAH ..... BLAH ...... BLAH ...... BLAH ...... BLAH ....... BLAH ...... BLAH ......BLAH ......BLAH .......

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