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Saturday, February 28, 2009

02/28/09 Author Andrew Gross Writes About Greenwich

Looking Twice: An Interview with Andrew Gross

' third thriller, and the second to feature Connecticut police detective Ty Hauck, Don't Look Twice, is being published next week by William Morrow. Mystery Books News is pleased to post an interview with the author provided by the publisher in which Andrew talks about the book, a sequel to The Dark Tide (which we reviewed last year, calling it "a must-read for thriller fans and those looking for high-stakes adventure"; read our review at ).

Looking Twice: An Interview with Andrew Gross

One of the strongest appeals that readers often cite about your writing are the complex web of family ties and family relationship dynamics that weave throughout your stories. In Don't Look Twice, you explore the bond between two brothers -- as well as the parent/child relationship (across two sets of characters). What draws you to focus so deeply on family in your novels? Why do you think that quality is so compelling for readers?

It’s never my precise goal to write “crime” novels, but to write stories about compelling, human situations in which a crime, or some other world-shattering event, takes place. My stories are rooted in the drama of broken trust, of calm disturbed, when something a person counts on for sure turns out to be false. The family unit is the most universal one where a rupture can feel the most traumatic. I know I’m not exactly the first to work with this material. Our most compelling stories and myths are tales of families in conflict going all the way back to Genesis......

....This is set in a relatively small town, mostly in Greenwich, Connecticut ... but it has global implications, from New York City to Asia to the Middle East. Can you tell us a little about the way corporate misdeeds can have massive, global, political repercussions?

Greenwich is a perfect “small” place with universal dimensions. It is the home to hedge fund barons and powerful CEOs. Yet, as I like to say, it’s a town of yoga moms and dads who cheer their kids’ teams from the sidelines. So what happens in the “big” world filters down to the small world pretty quickly. My books are also about conspiracies, and ultimately, the people behind them, who are not bigger than life, or twisted, evil doers, but people we all might know, and people for whom, greed, fraud, and deceit are part of the corporate misdeeds. People who have been tilted off the moral plane by the evil in life.....

What's next for Hauck ... and for Andy Gross?

To me, it was hard to set these books around New York City and Greenwich and not deal with the financial meltdown. So the next book pits Hauck in the middle of a group of conspirators who use vulnerable fund managers to bring an already teetering economy to its knees. For me, the struggle is for the whole story not to be too gloomy -- especially when it deals with the personal side of what’s going on today -- because I don’t believe in gloomy, especially for escapist fiction. But again, I think Hauck will find himself on a similar quest.
Author's website: AndrewGrossBooks.com

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02/28/09 READER SUBMITTED COMMENTS: Economic meltdown will affect everyone in Greenwich

So 600,000 jobs were lost in January. Yet here in Greenwich, many are indifferent to it.

Unemployment's official number is said not too bad in Fairfield County.

Of course, if you are self-employed or haven't worked in a while, well, sorry, you just don't count.

But it really doesn't matter in this conservative bastion. The pervasive attitude of "so what, I got mine" prevails. Those still working or comfortably retired — how nice. Yet the economy is tanking.

What is the solution? How is it to be fixed? Can it be fixed? A trillion dollars is a lot of money. Wall Street has already received a bailout and apparently all we taxpayers got for that is a bunch of million-dollar bonuses paid to already overpaid executives.

I guess that's good for Greenwich.

A $1 million bonus is equal to 25 moderate-income jobs. That would be enough to sustain 25 moderate-income homes and their mortgages. The moderate-income families could keep their homes and keep spending money within their community. But, no, it's better to support trickle-down economics.

Moderate-income jobs are vanishing. They are gone — probably gone for good. The job you had that paid $18 to $20 an hour now pays about $10. We may be on the verge of class warfare. Dramatic? You bet.

If you are against any kind of stimulus package, you probably still have your job and make a living wage.

Ocean County's population is about 65,000 and some 7.5 percent — about 4,8,75 people — are unemployed. That's a lot of families. Homes lost. Cars repossessed. Local jobs lost. Businesses closed — and closing. Not to mention all the town employees who have been fired.

I realize that until this disaster hits you personally, it is irrelevant. But it will hit you. Somehow. It's just a matter of time.

Lisa

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02/28/09 The Raw Greenwich Blog And RSS Feed - Bloggers Who Are From, Work In Or Used To Live In Greenwich


GREENWICH CITIZEN JOURNALISTS BLOG TO PROTECT TRUTH, JUSTICE AND OUR AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE
THIS IS BEYOND BEING CRAZY!

From the Daily News

Now that’s multi-tasking.

Ohio cops busted a woman after she was spotted driving, breast-feeding and talking on the phone - all at the same time!

Genine Compton, 39, was charged with child endangerment after another motorist called cops in Kettering to report her.

“She literally has the little girl on the steering wheel,” the caller said in a 911 call, according to the Dayton Daily News.

He said he admonished Compton - and she asked if he wanted to breastfeed the child.
“I’m like, ‘You can feed your kid when you stop.’ It’s like wet out here. It’s full of traffic. It’s ridiculous. She’s got like three other kids in the car,” he told the 911 operator.
Authorities used a license plate number to track down Compton the next day, saidOfficer Michael Burke.

She admitted she was breast-feeding while driving, saying she didn’t want her child to go hungry.

Burke said the concern is that Compton had a child under 2 in her lap while driving, not that she was breast-feeding in public. She faces up to 180 days in jail if convicted.
For What It's Worth By Riverside Blogger Chris Fountain
The Media and soldiers’ corpses - Defense Secretary bowed to his new boss’s pressure and this week modified the Pentagon’s ban on photographing the coffins of soldiers brought back to our country. The New York Times and other scum trumpeted this as a triumph of their desire to “honor our fallen heroes” when of course their intention was to exploit the dead, not honor them. The press wanted to use the pictures to stir up public sentiment against the Iraq war when Bush was running it. Today, the show “On the Media” aired an interview with some guy from Salon who said exactly that. Good for him - he’s the only honest man among the entire swarm of liars.....

Publicani By Dr. Zak Maymin Of Greenwich
All men are created equal. - “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, …” Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776 Look what I found on inter...

Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter
Uncles - Ted, Bernie, Bill - Writers, we need to ditch this co-dependency - Caroline Kennedy, author of books that did well enough, still clings, at least in her public statements, to an Uncle figure. In her case it's her Uncle Ted. ...

Greenwich Time: Local Sports - RSS Feed
Adrien, UConn trip Notre Dame - STORRS -- Jeff Adrien saved one of his best for last. The UConn forward, playing the final home game of his career, scored 25 points and pulled down nine ...

Greenwich Blog : The Blog of Greenwich, Connecticut :: USA
Cos Cob Art Colony Revisited - Mention the Cos Cob Art Colony and one immediately thinks of Childe Hassam, Theodore Robinson, John H. Twachtman and J. Alden Weir, but there are other ...

Greenwich Geek David S. Isenberg's musings at isen.blog
The story on why Saturday's F2C price increase is delayed until Tuesday - Yesterday was a Friday to remember. About 11 AM the phone rang. "I'm trying to register for F2C: Freedom to Connect, but your system keeps rejecting my cre...

The Fox Trot By Nick "The Sly" Fox
Kennedy strong in Yankees' Loss! - TWINS 5, YANKEES 4 at Fort Myers, Fla. Friday, Feb. 27 Yankees at the plate: Brett Gardner, who is battling for the starting center-field job, went 2-for-2...

Today's Greenwich Time Most Emailed Web Article - RSS Feed
Artist's hand in sculpture exhibit challenged - A self-proclaimed art scholar and artist from Florida is questioning the validity of The Bruce Museum's sculpture "The Kiss" by Rodin.

Today's Greenwich Time Most Viewed Web Article - RSS Feed
Brunswick basketball edged in FAA thriller - Minutes after the most exhilarating game of his career, Masters junior standout Mason Lopez was still sprawled out on the Dann Gymnasium floor.

Today's Greenwich Time Letters To The Editor
Letters from Readers - Fire station needed - New firehouse is clearly needed for proper protection To the editor: It was disappointing to read in Greenwich Time "BET puts King Street station on hold,"...

Greenwich Time: Community Events - RSS Feed
Fairfield County Scene - The Second Congregational Church Just for Men Chorus and Men's Fellowship treated ladies of the congregation to a musical review, home-cooked dinner and re...

EDDIE "Greenwich Native" ROSS
Uncovered - When I was little, my mother would always say to me, "Never judge a book by its cover." She meant, of course, don't write someone or something off just becau...

Exit 55 By Rob "WGCH" Adams - The Sports Voice Of Greenwich
Thanks, Yanks - As you may or may not know, I was a Yankees' partial season ticket holder for 11 years. I wrote my farewells to the old House and the friends who sat with ...

The Daily Spurgeon
The true faith - My dear friends, if your faith is only a sunshiny faith, get rid of it, for you may not have many bright days between this and heaven. If your godliness ...

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02/28/09 Heather Smith helps Greenwich residents on road to recovery

Norwalker Heather Smith has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders for close to 14 years and has practiced at 91 East. Ave., in Norwalk for the last six. She believes that eating disorders are somewhat more prevalent....

..."It also seems that parents are educating themselves more and I've heard many times of groups of friends going to a school counselor or guidance counselor because they're concerned about a friend. I think it's awesome."

In addition to Norwalk residents, Smith sees clients from Darien, Wilton, Stamford and Greenwich. She treats anorexia and bulimia and also works with athletes and compulsive exercisers, food addiction, binge eating disorder, obesity, night eating syndrome, compulsive overeating, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).

....She pointed out that they are many great resources in Fairfield County to help people beat eating disorders, including the Wilkins Center in Greenwich and the Renfrew Center in Wilton....

....Henrick said she sees about 35-40 people a week. For the most part, those numbers have been consistent over the last five years, but she believes the Internet has made a big difference in the number of adults seeking help. That part of the population is typically harder to reach when it comes to eating disorders. Typically young adults will be referred by their pediatrician.....

....Henrick can be reached at 853-2457 or online at http://www.suzannehenrick.com/.....


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02/28/09 Our Cities Are Devastated -- Will Obama Bail Out Urban America?

Forty years ago this month, President Richard Nixon, HUD Secretary George Romney and Washington Mayor Walter Washington took a walk around the nation's capital -- in particular Mount Vernon Square, one of the ...

... of America's hundreds of "metros," but far-cast suburbs and exurbs -- not just the Bronx, but Teaneck, N.J. and Greenwich, Conn. Tying all these areas together, reducing pollution and sprawl, is a national priority, but it shouldn't be confused with ...

Full Story: www.alternet.org

Related Stories:
International Herald Tribune - Obama says it's up to parents to help educate
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02/28/08 University of Buffalo Shocked that alum was charged in $500M Greenwich fraud case

Greenwich Scam Artist Stephen Walsh May Have Sent University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University Monies To The University at Buffalo

A University at Buffalo alumnus who has contributed to the college’s athletics department and is a member of the UB Foundation board has been charged with misappropriating more than $500 million in client investments.

Stephen Walsh appeared before a federal magistrate this week along with Paul Greenwood. According to charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission the men, while operating WG Trading Investors of Greenwich, Conn., were involved in conspiracy, wire and securities fraud. The complaint details actions back to 1996 and said the men promised investors that their money would be invested in a stock index arbitrage strategy.

“Instead, Greenwood and Walsh essentially treated their clients’ investments as their personal piggy bank to purchase multi-million dollar homes, a horse farm and horses, luxury cars, and rare collectibles such as Steiff teddy bears,” the SEC said.

The SEC obtained an emergency court order freezing the assets of Greenwood and Walsh as well as their companies: WG Trading Investors, L.P. (WGTI), which is an unregistered investment vehicle; WG Trading Company, Limited Partnership (WGTC), which is a registered broker-dealer located in Greenwich, Conn.; and Westridge Capital Management, Inc. (Westridge), which is a registered investment adviser located in Santa Barbara, Calif.

After appearing in a Manhattan court Feb. 25 the men were released on $7 million bond.
Also this week, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University filed suit against the two men for using a total of $114 million in investments from those institutions. Earlier this month, the National Futures Association was unsuccessful in attempting to audit the actions of WG Trading Investors — an NFA member — and suspended the membership of Walsh and Greenwood. That attracted the interest of the universities, who contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Walsh, a 1966 graduate of UB, is listed among its “Donors of Distinction.” In 2001, he pledged $250,000 to the UB athletics department. Later, the basketball office complex inside Alumni Arena was named after Walsh.

When asked about his involvement with UB, the university released a statement: “Mr. Walsh has been an inactive member of our foundation board since March 2004. Furthermore, we have a policy that prohibits investing funds with any member of our foundation board.”

Walsh was also listed as a former executive with the New York Islanders hockey team in the 1990s.


PLEASE SEE:

The Poky Reporters And Editors At That The Green Kitty Litter Liner Have Totally Missed The Story And Still Have Failed To Report On The Greenwich Ponzi Scheme Arrests....

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02/28/09 Prep schools: Host with the most

It's an extraordinary setting.

One could easily become entranced by gazing out the picture window that occupies an entire wall of Deerfield Academy's Dewey Squash Center.

But not Ned Gallagher. He is the head of the New England Prep School Squash Association, and he was anxious to see what the business end of this state-of-the-art facility had to offer.

So, when Gallagher, who is also the Choate girls' squash coach and athletic director, brought his crew here to do battle last winter, it didn't take the veteran mentor long to like what he saw.
''I don't think he was in the facility five minutes before he asked if we could host the 2009 Boys' Class A Tournament,'' recalled Chip Davis, the Deerfield athletic director. ....

... at a trio of teams favored to become the last team standing come Sunday afternoon. Brunswick, which hails from Greenwich, Conn., owns the top seed, while Belmont Hill and Tabor are ranked 2-3. In head-to-head competition this season, Deerfield has ...

Full Story: http://www.recorder.com/

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02/28/09 Former "Rich Bitch" From Greenwich Gets Screwed Out Of Millions (Updated)


Photo: Grrrrrr....."Rich Bitch" Trouble Is In Shock As She Learns That She Just Lost Over 11 Million Bucks

Leona Left 12 Million To Trouble And The Vast Majority Of Her Estate To Animal Rights Groups.

Is There Going To Be Trouble?

Will Leona Hemsleys Dog Trouble Sue To Get Back The 11 Million That The Judge Took Away Her And The Millions That Her Fury Friends?

Not All of Helmsley’s Trust Has to Go to Dogs

New York Times

By STEPHANIE STROM; WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM CONTRIBUTED REPORTING.

The judge overseeing the probate of the hotelier Leona Helmsley’s will has ruled that, contrary to her wishes, the billions of dollars that will flow into the charitable trust she created do not have to be spent solely for the care and welfare of dogs.

The judge, Troy K. Webber of Surrogate’s Court in Manhattan, said that the trustees who control the trust may distribute the money as they see fit. “The court finds that the trustees may apply trust funds for such charitable purposes and in such amounts as they may, in their sole discretion, determine,” Judge Webber wrote in a ruling dated last Thursday.

Experts in trusts and estates had warned that Mrs. Helmsley’s order that her fortune be spent promoting canine well-being may not have been legally binding. The two-page “mission statement” that contained her instructions also gave the trustees discretion in spending the money, and it was never incorporated into her will or the trust documents.

The trustees — Mrs. Helmsley’s brother, Alvin Rosenthal; two of her grandsons, Walter and David Panzirer; her lawyer Sandor Frankel; and her longtime friend John Codey — had filed a lengthy motion in court arguing that the mission statement did not limit use of the money, and the New York attorney general’s office filed a similar argument.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Howard J. Rubenstein, a spokesman for the trustees, said they planned to begin making grants from the trust next month. “In the hope that this would be the court’s decision, the trustees have been diligently working to identify potential grantees so that the trust’s funds would be put to optimal use as soon as possible in such areas as health care, medical research, human services, education and various other areas,” Mr. Rubenstein said, pointedly avoiding the mention of dogs.

The trustees, who are also the executors of Mrs. Helmsley’s will, had fretted about the terms of the mission statement, and the public discussion it incited. News that the biggest named beneficiary in Mrs. Helmsley’s will was Trouble, her Maltese, led to death threats against the dog, who now has a security detail costing the estate $100,000 a year. The judge’s decision does not affect Trouble’s inheritance.

Animal lovers around the world were delighted when the terms of the mission statement were reported last year, and many of them wrote the trustees with suggestions about which organizations and programs the trust might support in fulfilling Mrs. Helmsley’s wish. Major animal welfare organizations applauded Mrs. Helmsley, who was known for her sharp tongue and imperious manner. She died in August 2007.

Bernard Unti, senior policy adviser at the Humane Society of the United States, said the judge’s decision was disappointing, though not entirely unexpected. “Whatever the legal status of the mission statement, it certainly signaled a clear intent on Mrs. Helmsley’s part to see the money used to help dogs,” Mr. Unti said. “The animal welfare sector in the United States and abroad is chronically underfunded, and just the annual interest thrown off by an estate this large could do a tremendous amount of good.”

Mrs. Helmsley drafted the mission statement in 2003 to establish goals for the multibillion-dollar trust that would disburse her assets after her death. The first goal was to help indigent people, the second to provide for the care of dogs. A year later, though, Mrs. Helmsley struck the first goal from the statement, effectively devoting the estate primarily to the welfare of dogs — though she did add “and such other charitable activities as the trustees shall determine.”

Mr. Unti noted that bequests made for the purposes of furthering animal welfare generally have a hard time surviving the probate process. As far back as the latter half of the 19th century, a bequest of real estate valued at more than $100,000 to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was contested by the donor’s heirs, who claimed he was insane. In that case, the court upheld the donor’s wish.

In another prominent example, Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress, left her money to support the arts and for the prevention of cruelty to animals or children. “The trustees apparently said, ‘Oh, well, she said animals or children, not animals and children, so let’s do just children,’ ” Mr. Unti said.

COMMENT:
An Intern At Greenwich Hospital Outpatient Center Told Greenwich Roundup That There Was A Rumor Going Around The Hospital That Ms. Hemsley's Estate Was Going To Make A Substantial Donation.
The Intern Was Saying At Least 10 Million Will Be Given To The Supplement The Surgery Center In The Hemsley Pavilion.
Update
4/23/09
Greenwich Time
By Lisa Chamoff
The charitable trust of late hotelier Leona Helmsley and her husband has donated $9.7 million to Greenwich Hospital, the second-largest gift the hospital has ever received.

The money will help pay for the hospital's new outpatient surgery center at 55 Holly Hill Lane, which opened in January. It will be renamed the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Ambulatory Medical Center.

The hospital had applied for the grant from the foundation several months ago, and the money will replace hospital funds that were used to construct the building, said Frank Corvino, the hospital's president and chief executive officer.

"We're very, very pleased because had this grant not been approved, it would have been a significant drain on our capital," Corvino said. "But the Helmsleys were always very good to us. They really cared about this hospital and making sure we could provide the very best health care to our community."

The most recent grant is exceeded only by the first $10 million the Helmsleys donated to Greenwich Hospital in 1996, after Harry Helmsley was hospitalized there. The money went toward construction of the Helmsley Medical Building, the first building of the hospital's new campus.

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02/28/09 This Just In ....For Now - The Rest Of The News Will Be A Lilltle Late Because Greenwich Roundup Went To A Mens All Night Church Prayer Group

Please Note: Greenwich News Reports Will Be A Bit Late Today

Greenwich Roundup Participated In An Overnight Men's Prayer Group At Harvest Time Church Up On King Street That Was Followed A Big Breakfast.

While The Breakfast Was Being Cooked Greenwich Roundup Joined The Hispanic Congregations Weekly Saturday Morning Prayer Group.

This Prayer Group Can Really Pray. Whole Families Come Before Dawn Feverishly Pray For An Hour And A Half In The Dark Until After The Sun Comes Up A Lights Up The Harvest Time Sanctuary.

After The Breakfast Many Of The Men Were Going To A Memorial Service In The Dome But Greenwich Roundup Wimped Out And Decided It Was Time To Go To Bed.

The Latest Greenwich News Briefs:

New York Times
In Towns of Many Means, Feeling the Budgetary Pain
New York Times
By MARGARET FARLEY STEELE OUT OF WORK Ennio De Vita was among 38 workers laid off in Greenwich last month. He worked for the town for 35 years. ...
Task Force makes first arrest in Greenwich
Greenwich Time
Razor's arrest was the first made by Greenwich police working with the newly formed state Financial Crimes Task Force, which was created earlier this year ...
The Latest Business News:
Treasuries Head for Weekly Loss on Concern Debt Supply Swelling
Bloomberg
... the federal budget," said David Ader, head of US government bond strategy at Greenwich, Connecticut-based RBS Greenwich Capital, another primary dealer. ...
The Latest Sports Reports:
Greenwich High School boys hockey relishes home ice opportunity
Greenwich Time
By David Fierro Everyone on the Greenwich High School boys ice hockey team was in grammar school the last time the Cardinals played an FCIAC Tournament game ...
Smooth skiing for Greenwich High School
Greenwich Time
It was another successful day on the slopes for the Greenwich High School skiing team. The Cardinals boys and girls teams each went 2-1 in their competition ...

The Latest Greenwich Blog Posts:

It Looks Like Greenwich Blogger And Fake Wrestling Maven Nick "The Sly" Fox Missed This Story, But Don't Worry The Wrestling Blog Got The Story About Exploited Human Beings Coming To Nearby Stamford In Droves:
Stamford may get 'Jerry Springer Show" - Greenwich Time
By WWE
Greenwich Time, CT By Michael C. Juliano STAMFORD -- Move over WWE, another form of on-stage fighting could be coming to Stamford soon. "The Jerry Springer Show," infamously known for fighting couples, chair-throwing and the audience ...
WrestlingBlog RawNews - http://wrestlingblog.com/rawnews/



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02/28/09 Stimulus package weighed and found wanting - Greenwich Citizen

PHOTO :

Professor Edward Deak of Fairfield University chats with Jim Shattuck, vice chair of the Greenwich Chamber's member services and Chuck Zoubek, Chamber board member. (Julie Ruth/ Greenwich Citizen)

President Obama's stimulus package will not correct recession contagion rattling jobs, toxic home mortgages and 169 town and city governments in Connecticut, 65 folks attending a Greenwich Chamber of Commerce luncheon were told Friday at the Field Club.

The telling was done by Edward Deak, Ph.D., Fairfield University economics professor. He coughed out statistics with machine-gun rapidity as he soldiered on to put billions of dollars in the new President's economic rescue plan in perspective.

"I think we have a long way to go to get out of this," Barbara Devine, senior vice president of Patriot National Bank in Greenwich told the Greenwich Citizen after Deak sized up "U.S. Macroeconomic Outlook: Obama and CT + 1 Month." Her prognostication was on the same page as the professor's.

Full Story: http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/topstories/ci_11791899

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