January 4 2007: Greenwich fund sued over mine investments - Greenwich Time

Greenwich fund sued over mine investments - Greenwich Time

When the Airlie Group acquired a struggling
Montana coal mine last year, the intention was
to turn it around and make a handsome return
on investment.

Instead, the Greenwich hedge fund is
embroiled in an emotional federal lawsuit
involving about 350 middle-class investors who
say Airlie owes them $20 million.

The a story goes back to 2001, when the original owners of
the Bull Mountain Mine, a 22,000-acre coal mine just outside
Roundup, Mont., looked to raise capital in hopes of commercially producing
coal, said plaintiff attorney Gregory Bartko of Atlanta.

Three promoters - Webb Financial Group Inc., Franklin Asset Exchange
LLC and Disciples Limited LLC - tried to find the money. They turned
primarily to "middle-class, hard-working, unaccredited investors," Bartko
said.

Investors in hedge funds must be "accredited," or able to prove a high level
of income and assets.

With promises of 12 percent to 15 percent returns a year, the promoters
drew more than $20 million from investors.........

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12/31/06 Greenwich Newsmaker Of 2006 - Ned Lamont

Edward Miner "Ned" Lamont, Jr. (born January 3, 1954) was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in the Connecticut United States Senate election held on on November 7, 2006. He faced incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman, who ran as the nominee of the Connecticut for Lieberman party, as well as Republican nominee Alan Schlesinger in a three-way general election in November, having defeated Lieberman 51.8%-48.2% among Democratic voters in a primary election on August 8, 2006. In the election, Lamont lost to Lieberman - Lieberman won 50% of the vote while Lamont won 40%, with 10% voting for Schlesinger and 0.5% voting for Green Party candidate Ralph Ferrucci.

Background

Lamont was born in Washington, D.C. to Camille Helene Buzby and Edward Miner Lamont. He grew up in Syosset, New York, and is an heir to the fortune of his great-grandfather Thomas W. Lamont, who was a partner of the banking and finance firm J. P. Morgan & Co. After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy (home of the Lamont Infirmary and Lamont Hall named for his great-grandfather) in 1972, Ned Lamont earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University (home of the Lamont Library, named for his great-grandfather) in 1976, and a master's degree in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management in 1980. While at Phillips Exeter, Lamont was the president of the student newspaper, The Exonian, which was published twice a week during the school year. He began his career working for The Black River Tribune, a small newspaper in Ludlow, Vermont. He was an early producer for Vermont Public Radio.

Lamont then entered the cable television industry, managing the startup of Cablevision's operation in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In 1984, he founded, and is currently president and chairman of, Lamont Digital Systems, a builder and operator of advanced telecommunications networks for college campuses and residential gated communities, with over 150,000 subscribers. The company's finances are private, though it currently has 35 employees, down from 100 in 2001. His most recent salary was reported as $546,000 per year.

Before running for the U.S. Senate, Lamont was elected and served as selectman in the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, for eight years (two terms), chaired the state investment advisory council, and served on many civic boards. Lamont unsuccessfully ran for a state Senate seat in 1990, finishing in third place.

Family

Lamont and his wife, the former Ann "Annie" Greenlee Huntress, a venture capitalist, have three teenaged children.Ann Lamont seconded her husband's nomination at the Connecticut Democratic Convention in May 2006.

Lamont is the great-grandson of former J.P. Morgan & Co. Chairman Thomas W. Lamont and the grandnephew (not the grandson, as has been widely reported) of Corliss Lamont (a director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1932 to 1954). His self-reported net worth lies somewhere between $90 million and $300 million.

His father, Ted (Edward M. Sr.), was an economist who worked with the Marshall Plan which helped reconstruct Europe after World War II. He later served in the Nixon administration in Housing and Urban Development. Ted Lamont is now an unaffiliated voter, having last voted for a Republican in 1988. Since then he has voted Democratic. He told The Hartford Courant that "Eastern Moderates no longer have a place in the GOP." Ned Lamont contributed to one Republican as late as 1998, when he contributed $500 to the re-election effort of Congressman Chris Shays, but since 1999 has contributed over $57,000 to Democrats, including $1,500 to Joe Lieberman.

His mother, Camille Buzby "Buz" Lamont, was born in Puerto Rico, the daughter of an American salesman (a Quaker veteran of World War I) and a Catholic missionary. She is of French and U.S. descent and she studied at the George School in Pennsylvania, Middlebury College in Vermont, and at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. She speaks fluent Spanish but never taught Ned.

2006 U.S. Senate campaign

Lamont began showing signs of considering a run against Lieberman around February 2005. In March 2006, Lamont officially announced his campaign for the United States Senate against Lieberman. As of July 19, 2006, Lamont had spent over $2.5 million of his own personal fortune on his campaign.

It was reported that as of September 11 Lamont had spent another $1.5 million of his own money on the campaign, with two months yet to go.

Lamont continued to pour personal funds into the campaign during September, with reports indicating his total contributions now exceed $12.7 million.

Also, Lamont pledged not to take money from lobbyists.

Lamont's campaign manager, Tom Swan, was, however, a registered lobbyist with the state of Connecticut. In early 2006, Lamont received the backing of former independent Connecticut Governor and Republican U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker, who was unseated by Lieberman in 1988.

Lamont eventually portrayed himself as an anti-war candidate calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, in contrast to Lieberman, who supports the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and advocated for a troop increase proposed by then-President George W. Bush.

His campaign was partially supported by anti-war activists who oppose the Iraq war and are calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, including MoveOn.org, which donated $251,156 from its contributors to the campaign.

On July 6, 2006, Lamont faced off against Lieberman in a 51-minute televised debate which covered issues ranging from the war in Iraq to energy policy to immigration.

Lieberman argued that he was being subjected to a "litmus test" on the war, insisted that he was a "bread and butter Democrat" and on a number of occasions asked, "Who is Ned Lamont?" Lieberman asked Lamont if he would disclose his income tax returns.

After the debate, Lamont did release his 2005 tax return and financial details about prior years. Lamont focused on Lieberman's supportive relationship with Republicans ("...if you won't challenge President Bush and his failed agenda, I will") and criticized his vote for the "Bush/Cheney/Lieberman energy bill."

Lieberman stated, in response to Lamont's assertion that he supported Republican policies, that he had voted with the Democratic caucus in the Senate 90% of the time. However, Lamont argued that the then three-term incumbent lacked the courage to challenge the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq War.

Lamont began as a "dark-horse" candidate, but was at a statistical dead heat with Lieberman in July, and went on to win the primary in August. Polls taken prior to the primary vote showed Lieberman, if running as an independent, polling better among Republicans and independents in a three-way race, including Republican candidate Alan Schlesinger, who greatly trailed both Lamont and Lieberman. Early August polls, however, showed Lamont increasing his lead significantly[35], and many speculate on the effect of the primary outcome (and expected high Democratic endorsement) on the general election. The initial post primary poll showed Lieberman holding a narrow lead in a general election, however.

On July 30, 2006, the London Sunday Times reported that former president Bill Clinton is believed to have warned Lieberman not to run as an independent if he lost the primary to Lamont. Many Democratic leaders pledged to support the winner of the Connecticut Democratic primary. Most Democratic leaders, however, supported Lieberman's campaign for the Democratic nomination, and some, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, allegedly asked Lamont not to run.

Lamont resigned his membership in a Greenwich country club shortly before his campaign began, as the club was "too white and too rich and he did not want it to become a campaign issue." It became an issue, however, following the release of a flier from the Lieberman campaign questioning Lamont's record on race.

Lamont criticized Wal-Mart during the campaign and lambasted Lieberman for previously receiving campaign contributions from Wal-Mart, which he later returned.

On August 4, 2006, The Washington Times reported that Ned "Lamont, his wife and a dependent child own as much as $31,000 in Wal-Mart stock. Mr. Lamont and his wife jointly own two accounts containing as much as $16,000 in Wal-Mart stock.

Their Wal-Mart holdings spin off as much as $3,500 in annual dividends. In addition, a trust fund he set up for one of his children contains as much as $15,000 in Wal-Mart stock and spins off as much as $1,000 in dividends." Time magazine reported on August 4, 2006, that Lamont's campaign manager,

Tom Swan, said the candidate was not actively controlling the investment. "He does not own any stock directly, it's not a direct holding," he said. Part of the Wal-Mart stock is held in a Goldman Sachs "Tax Advantaged Core Strategies managed account", according to a letter released by Swan. He said the account is designed to track the S+P 500 index, and that Goldman Sachs makes the investment decisions for the account."

On August 21, Lamont distanced himself from the demands of some supporters that Joe Lieberman be purged from the Democratic voter rolls.

Ned Lamont lost the general election and conceded to Lieberman at approximately 10:30 EST, November 7.

Links About Ned Lamont

Associated press profile from Boston Globe

"Connecticut Primary Results". Hartford Courant. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2006/by_state/CT_Page_0808.html?SITE=CTHARELN&SECTION=POLITICS.

NY Times: Lieberman Camp Blames Rivals for Web Site Crash. Patrick Healy and Jennifer Medina.

AP: Key races in Tuesday's primaries. 8 August 2006.

AP: Lieberman Race Tops Primaries. Robert Tanner. 8 August 2006.

Lieberman Prevails Against Lamont in Connecticut. New York Times. November 7 2006

Ancestry of Ned Lamont

History - Lamont Library: Harvard University Libraries - Lamont Library History.

DFA Link: Ned Lamont for US Senate.

"Lieberman challenger Lamont sheds light on his wealth". The Boston Globe.

"Connecticut Candidate's Cable Connections". Broadcasting and Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6362006.html?title=Article&spacedesc=news.

My Left Nutmeg: Lamont Grants MyLeftNutmeg First Blogger Interview.

NY Times: Ann Huntress to Wed E.M. Lamont Jr.

NedLamont.com: Family photo

Historic Humanist Series: Corliss Lamont. .

Hartford Courant: Wealth: Touchy Political Issue; Lieberman Plays Up Lamont's Millions, But Will Voters Care? Mark Pazniokas.. Original URL dead, reprint at NedLamont.com.

The Nation: A Fight for the Party's Soul. John Nichols,

Hartford Courant: Out of the Political Shadows. Mark Pazniokas.

Indivs search

1998 and 2000 election cycle contributions

2002, 2004, and 2006 election cycle contributions

"Camille H. Buzby Becomes Fiancee". New York Times. 1950-11-03. p. 22.

Ken Krayeske (January 24, 2006). "Ned Lamont (interview)". http://www.the40yearplan.com/article_012406.php.

Lamont Taps His Own Funds for Conn. Race

Topic Galleries - Courant.com

"This campaign has not solicited, and will not accept, Washington lobbyist money" – Lamont campaign email

Office of State Ethics: Lobbyist List

Lowell P. Weicker Jr. "Enough Of The War - And Enough Of Lieberman". The Hartford Courant. http://nedlamont.com/news/175/enough-of-the-war-and-enough-of-lieberman-the-hartford-courant.

Congressional Quarterly: The CQ Politics Interview: Ned Lamont.

BBC: Lieberman fights for political life. Matt Wells.

PoliticalMoneyLine: MoveOn.org Political Action Raises $2.6 Million.

NBC30: Lieberman, Lamont Face Off In NBC 30 Debate.

Quinnipiac University: Polling results.

Bloomberg: Lieberman Trails Lamont by 13 Points in Connecticut, Poll Says.

Hartford Courant: Post-Primary Poll Gives Lieberman Narrow Lead

The Sunday Times: The anti-war tycoon splits Democrats. Tony Allen-Mills.

Wall Street Journal: Kos Celeb. Joe Taranto.

New York Times: Lieberman Rival Seeks Support Beyond Iraq Issue. Patrick Healy,

Talking Points Memo: Scan of flier.

The Washington Times: Lieberman rival owns stock in Wal-Mart. Charles Hurt. URL accessed

TIME: An Embarrassment of Riches for Lieberman's Challenger. Massimo Calabresi.

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December 28, 2006: Town hikes park fees

Golf course, other spots to charge more in 2007

It's going to cost a little more next year to get a round of golf in at the Griffith E. Harris Golf Course after the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved next year's fee schedule for the town's parks and recreation activities. Membership fees at the municipal course will increase from $125 to $140 for adults, from $75 to $85 for seniors and $85 to $95 for juniors. Greens fees will also be going up either one or two dollars, depending on the time of day.

Source: http://www.greenwich-post.com/

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December 28, 2006: Concern grows over potential changes at senior center

As the possibility of losing their building continues to loom, members of the Greenwich Senior Center are also speaking out against a proposed plan that would change the structure of management at the center.

First Selectman James Lash has suggested that management of the senior center would shift from the Department of Parks and Recreation to the Commission on Aging. This would mean expanded powers and responsibility for the seven-member commission, but according to Sam Deibler

Source: http://www.greenwich-post.com/

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December 21, 2006: School board approves $119M

After a few final nips and tucks, the Board of Education gave its unanimous approval Dec. 14 to the $119 million 2007- 08 schools budget. The board-approved budget was cut from the originally proposed level of $120 million, with reductions in maintenance and from Hamilton Avenue School's preschool and proposed magnet program. Despite the cuts, Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg pledged the district is still committed to preschool and the magnet program

Source: http://www.greenwich-post.com/

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December 21, 2006: First Selectman proposes school board move to senior center

The Board of Education's journey to a new office space took another turn last week when First Selectman James Lash suggested that the board not build a new office but rather move across the street into the old Greenwich Avenue Town Hall building. Doing this would pave the way for a proposed arts center to move into the Havemeyer Building, where the board is currently located. The building switch would mean displacing the Greenwich Arts Council and the Greenwich Senior Center.

Source: http://www.greenwich-post.com/

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December 21, 2006:With 'no current plans' to close schools, board considers options

In response to questions over whether any of Greenwich's 11 public elementary schools will be closed because of declining student enrollment, the Board of Education will hold a special meeting next month. The meeting will be held Jan. 18 at a time and location still to be determined. Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg said the board would take a long look at declining enrollment, racial imbalances in district schools and the best use of district buildings.

Source: http://www.greenwich-post.com/

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December 14, 2006:Administrator stays optional

Charter change voted down by town representatives

For those hoping that having the town administrator in the charter would provide "continuity" between selectmen's terms, the future is uncertain following Monday's 91-97 Representative Town Meeting (RTM) vote against the idea. While most said the current town administrator, Ed Gomeau, who came on the job in early 2004, is doing his job well, those opposed said they thought mandating the position creates a second first selectman

Source: http://www.greenwich-post.com/

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12/08/06 - Archive - News Reports

Agents Try New Tricks to Entice Home Buyers

Source: Natl. Relocation & Real Estate

...... the people surrounding the marketing of them to become focused," said Linda Hodge of Preferred Properties' Greenwich, Connecticut office. The slowdown is a particular conundrum within the new-construction and higher-end markets, said Melanie Healey, ......


Bristol-Myers, Sanofi Win a U.S. Court Block on Apotex's Generic Plavix

Source: Bloomberg.com

Sanofi-Aventis SA and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. won an appeals court ruling that prevents Apotex Inc. from selling a generic version of the blood-thinner Plavix until a trial can be held.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington today upheld a lower court ruling that blocks sales of the generic drug until a judge can rule on the validity of a Plavix patent. The trial is set for January.

Prescriptions of brand-name Plavix plunged 32 percent in the third quarter of 2006 after Apotex flooded the market with a six-month supply of the generic drug during three weeks in August. Plavix, which is used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, had global sales of $6.3 billion in 2005, with $3.8 billion in the U.S. last year........

....... never, so it's nice to have the appeal upheld,'' Barbara Ryan, an analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut, said in a telephone interview. Apotex ``didn't have to remove the supplies that were shipped. Until those are all ......


Global Gold Names Ambassador Harry Gilmore (Ret) to Board

Source: Market Wire

... with mining properties in Chile and Armenia. Global Gold Corporation is located at 45 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. The main phone number is 203-422-2300. More information can be found at www.globalgoldcorp.com . Contact: Van Z. Krikorian ........


WWII Vet Recalls Drop Behind Enemy Lines

Source: Greenwich Citizen

The 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, marked Thursday, presented an opportunity for the Greenwich Citizen to interview Chandler Bates, a veteran of Uncle Sam's super-secret Office of .......

UPDATE:

Please search for this article in the: archive search.


Hedge funds: Secretive, lucrative and part of pop culture

Source: International Herald Tribune

Marshall Wace raised €1.5 billion on Friday in the largest initial public offering of a hedge fund, permitting individual investors to buy into a market normally limited to millionaires.

The London-based company sold shares of MW Tops, a closed-end investment company, for €10, or $13.27, each, Marshall Wace said late Thursday. The stock, which began trading Friday on Euronext Amsterdam, rose to a penny to finish at €10.01.

... huge sums of money on fast cars and fancy art, as well as magazine photo spreads of top managers' estates in Greenwich, Connecticut, and on New York's Long Island. Some might point to the fascination with hedge funds as a sign that the business has ...


George W.S. Trow, 63; Writer, cultural critic spent 30 years on New Yorker staff

Source: Los Angeles Times
By: Elaine Woo

George W.S. Trow, a writer and social critic whose dry humor and coruscating intelligence defined a 30-year career at the New Yorker, where he was a favorite of legendary editor William Shawn, died Nov. 24 in Naples, Italy, where he lived for the last five years. He was 63 and died of natural causes.

Trow, who joined the magazine in 1966, was best-known as the author of 'Within the Context of No Context,' a scathing analysis of contemporary American culture.

Originally published in the New Yorker in 1980 and later issued as a book, it was a collage of riffs, each identified with a subhead such as 'History,' 'Gossip' or 'Celebrities,' that wryly displayed Trow's mortification at the ignorance of a generation reared on television.

'Television is the force of no-history, and it holds the archives of the history of no-history,' he wrote. 'No good,' he concluded, 'has come of it.' 'Within the Context of No Context' quickly attained a cult following for its originality and prophetic insights.

'People passed that copy of the New Yorker from hand to hand,' recalled Martin H. Kaplan, a media expert and director of the Norman Lear Center at USC's Annenberg School for Communication, who knew Trow. 'It was one of those early and prescient works of cultural criticism which conveyed how troubling it was to live in the brave new media world.' It was also intensely personal and heavy with yearning for a bygone social order, when adults were adults and trivia were actually viewed as trivial.

His lamentations focused on an idiosyncratic array of what he called 'Mainstream American Cultural Artifacts,' such as People magazine, the 1964 New York World's Fair and the 1970s game show 'Family Feud.'

Civilization had declined to the point where, Trow wrote, 'a man named Richard Dawson, the 'host' of a program called Family Feud, asked contestants to guess what a poll of a hundred people had guessed would be the height of the average American woman.' To Trow, that millions of viewers could be engaged by such puerile entertainment - guessing what others had guessed, with nary a fact in sight - was alarming evidence of cultural anemia. With some disdain, he described this 'important moment in the history of television' under the heading 'No Authority.'

Authority was one quality Trow (pronounced like grow ) possessed in spades. His pronouncements were godlike, as well as abstract, bordering on mystical.
In reference to an America that had gotten too big and impersonal, for instance, he wrote: 'The middle distance fell away .

Two grids remained. The grid of two hundred million and the grid of intimacy.' But, as Trow saw it, the intimacy was a television-induced illusion. Loneliness loomed. 'What made George's piece great was the deadpan minimalism of the style, a freaky-deaky,

I Ching-like idiom that made it seem like a text carved on some future, unearthed Rosetta stone . It was a gag, but a gag about how everything you've ever cared about was just destroyed in a flashfire,' Donald Fagen, the musician and songwriter who met Trow in the 1980s after co-founding the band Steely Dan, wrote on his website this week.

'He was a kind of genius in the way he saw the world,' said author Jamaica Kincaid, who joined the New Yorker staff in the 1970s through Trow's ardent sponsorship.

Born in Greenwich, Conn., Trow was well-grounded in the rituals of the upper class, even though his old New York family was not rich........


'Day of Infamy' remembered

Source: Norwalk Advocate (home page)

... to him died. 'It's a big deal in our family,' said Breen, 52, a commercial insurance broker who lives in Old Greenwich. 'It inspired our son to go into the Naval Academy.' Along with the Breen and his wife, Jane, close to 40 people turned ...


Festive facades vie for prizes

Source: Stamford Advocate
By: Martin B. Cassidy

While more minimalist than competing displays, Sea Cloth on Greenwich Avenue wowed contest judges with its striking concept: green pillows stacked to look like a Christmas tree.

For the second year in a row, the downtown home furnishings business took top prize in the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce's Winter Wonderland holiday window display contest.

'We're very excited and it's a flattering award to get,' said Ann FitzGerald, the manager of Sea Cloth, which designs and manufactures fabrics for upholstery and other household furnishings.
In addition to naming the top three most original displays at local stores, the contest also includes separate awards in recognition of other displays which are the most traditional, festive, or show community spirit.

Greenwich Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mary Ann Morrison said that elaborate and creative holiday window displays are an important part of bringing in foot traffic and wooing shoppers away from malls.

'It's part of the community spirit we have here in Greenwich that keeps people from going to the mall,' Morrison said. 'This type of spirit is what people are longing for.'
While primarily a fabric company, FitzGerald said that during the holidays Sea Cloth stocks up on Christmas tree ornaments and other holiday decorations.

'It's one of the most fun times of year to decorate,' FitzGerald said.

Hoagland's of Greenwich took the best traditional display award with a three-dimensional Advent Calendar, among a diorama of elaborately carved wood figurines of Santa Claus and children, and a glittering set of Nativity figurines that rotate inside a gold box.

Lynn Muscari, a sales associate, said the design and construction of the display was done on nights and weekends over several weeks.......


Puppy -- and kitty -- love

Source: Statesman Journal

... According to a 2005-06 pet owners' survey conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in Greenwich, Conn., Americans planned to spend $2.6 billion (yes, the 'b' is correct) this holiday season. Katie Beckner, general manager of ...

E-mail: online@statesmanjournal.com


Mortgage lender sparks bid battle

Source: REVIEW-JOURNAL
By JOHN G. EDWARDS

Compass Partners, a New York-based investment company, made the apparent highest and best bid of $67 million Thursday for the assets of a mortgage loan fund managed by USA Capital and a contract to service loans for the bankrupt private lender.

Bankruptcy Judge Linda Riegle conducted a slow-paced auction in her courtroom taking bids from three companies, Desert Capital Real Estate Investment Trust of Henderson, hedge fund Silver Point Capital of Greenwich, Conn., and Compass.

USA Capital solicited investments from about 6,000 individual investors around the country and used the money to make short-term loans to developers, including USA Capital majority owners Tom Hantges and Joe Milanowski.

USA Capital controlled $962 million in assets for investors when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in April. While USA Capital was making monthly payments to investors, many of its loans were not being repaid.

Some investors bought fractional interests in the loans. Others invested through USA First Trust Deed Fund and USA Diversified Trust Deed Fund, which served like mutual funds for these real estate-backed loans.

An interim management team led by Tom Allison has run USA Capital since the bankruptcy filing.

Silver Point Capital was approved as a "stalking horse," or first bidder, with an offer of $46.5 million to buy out investors in the First Trust Deed Fund. In addition, Silver Point agreed to take over loan servicing from USA Capital for other loans.

The auction started Thursday with that $46.5 million bid.

Compass came next with an offer of $57.5 million. The three bidders took turns usually raising their bid often in $100,000 increments over the previous bid, but sometimes by $1 million or more. Bidders often made higher bids on the spot, but they were allowed to privately confer for 20 minutes before deciding in several instances.

At the end, both Silver Point and Desert Capital passed, leaving Compass as the apparent high bidder at $67 million..........


A new pecking order

Source: Rocky Mountain News
By: Patti Thorn

Weary of reading the same old authors and their formulaic plots?

Today, we welcome some fresh faces.

This year, while big-name authors were busy stealing the spotlight, scores of titles by unknowns were hatched. Many were superb reads. How do we know? Our critics spent 2006 screening nearly 60 debut novels that weren’t reviewed on the regular books pages. They read books of all stripes: futuristic tales, family sagas, suspense stories and more. And when it was all said and done, they had uncovered a wealth of fresh talent — in every genre. Today, we offer 10 of the best, books of all types of plot and style. If you missed these titles when they were first released, here’s a hint: Don’t make the same mistake twice.

And a special thanks... To those who have dedicated countless hours to this annual project. We owe a debt of gratitude to Joan Hinkemeyer, Christine Jacques, Justin Matott, Verna Noel Jones and Vicky Uhland.

.......The Dressmaker

By Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck (Henry Holt, 306 pages, $23).

Author’s background: Oberbeck has written for numerous publications, including Cosmopolitan, Travel and Leisure, Glamour and Working Woman. She lives with her husband and four sons in Greenwich, Conn., and was introduced to the world of haute couture through her mother, who worked with Diana Vreeland at Harper’s Bazaar.

Plot in a nutshell: Claude Reynaud is a shy yet skilled dressmaker working in the small town of Senlis outside of Paris. He and his chatty pet parrot Pédan live a contented life, where Claude diligently designs and stitches eye-catching gowns while humoring his nephews with puppet shows. The dressmaker’s life is turned upside down, however, when he becomes smitten at first glance with the lovely Valentine de Verlay, who has come to him to have her wedding dress made. Claude then sets out on a Don Quixote-like quest to lure Valentine away from her fiancé and into his own arms. Along the way, the author composes poetic visual pictures of dresses designed expressly to reflect an individual’s outer and inner beauty.

Sample of prose: "His greatest talent — and what he was becoming renowned for beyond the small town of Senlis — was his ability to match a client’s natural colors with enhancing hues and textures. He obsessed over color classifications and names. Inadequate descriptions frustrated him to the point of fury. He would yell across his studio to Pédant, ‘That is not the color pink! Non! That is the color of dawn reflected on the yellowing marble steps of the Trevi Fountain.’"

Author reminds me of: No one in particular; Oberbeck has a unique voice.

Best reason to read: This is the kind of story that sneaks up on you. It seems simple enough in the first 20 pages or so, but as you continue reading, it quickly develops into a rich fabric of sharply drawn characters with real complications in their lives that aren’t tied up so neatly at novel’s end. You’ll relish the complexity. Verna Noel Jones

11/16/06 - Archive - Blood And Money

Blood And Money

By: CBS News

(CBS) This story originally aired Nov. 18, 2006. It was updated July 12, 2007. Forty-six-year-old Andrew Kissel hoped to make his name in real estate in Greenwich, Conn., but instead, as correspondent Erin Moriarty reports, he earned the dubious distinction as the town’s first murder victim in 2006.

Seven months after the murder, with no one yet in custody, Police Chief James Walters remains optimistic. "Everyone that was in Mr. Kissel’s circle is being is being investigated," he says.

But in this tony town, it’s not easy to get people to talk. "Within a few days after the murder everybody we wanted to talk had a lawyer," the police chief explains. Andrew Kissel’s violent death brought to an end a life once brimming with promise. He grew up in New Jersey, the oldest of three children in an upwardly mobile family. Andrew’s brother, Robert, was four years younger and there was a baby sister, Jane......

More 2 3 4 5 6 7

11/16/06 - Archive - Teens Call for an End to Dating Violence

HEADLINE:

Teens Call for an End to Dating Violence

STORY:

...... violence in a number of ways. First, it is awarding a $1,000 challenge grant to a teen dating violence program at Greenwich High School the only other student-led dating violence program in Fairfield County, which adopted the model used at BMHS. If .......

Source: Greenwich Citizen

Source URL: http://www.norwalkcitizen-news.com/local/ci_4670757 (Dead Link)

11/16/06 - Archive -Philadelphia Fed Factory Index Climbs in First Expansion in Three Months

HEADLINE:

Philadelphia Fed Factory Index Climbs in First Expansion in Three Months

STORY:

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded for the first time in three months in November as costs eased and shipments rose.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index rose to 5.1 this month from minus 0.7 in October, which was the lowest since April 2003. Readings below zero signal a contraction. The index has averaged 9.4 in the past year.......

...... prove to be a boon to consumers and also to the manufacturing sector,'' Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut, said before the report. "As consumer spending picks up, manufacturing will .......

Source: Bloomberg

Publication Date: November 16, 2007

Reporter: Bob Willis bwillis@bloomberg.net

Source URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aq1wiDi4M8_k&refer=us

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10/10/06 For several years now, Trinity Church in Greenwich, CT has had a significant and sustained commitment to serving the country of Rwanda

07/01/10 The Bank Of Greenwich Extends Initial Stock Offering

You Wont Read This In The Greenwich Time.....

The Bank of Greenwich, a new full-service state-chartered commercial bank (in organization) to be headquartered in Greenwich, has extended its initial stock offering period in order to give potential investors, who missed the April deadline, a chance to make an investment during this final extension. The stock offering may remain open as late as June 28, 2006.

The Bank has received subscriptions from investors in excess of $10,000,000 in its initial stock offering. Stephen C. Thurlow, Chairman of the Organizing Group, said, “The fact that we met our initial capital goal prior to our deadline -- and met it with investors who are genuinely energized -- is confirmation of a substantial need here in Greenwich. We need a homegrown, hometown Greenwich bank that provides the respect and service customers deserve. The Bank will use the extra time to ensure everyone who wants to be a part of investing in The Bank of Greenwich has the opportunity to do so.”

Robert J. Oca, the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “The foundation of The Bank is being built right now in our community. This is an exciting time for us and our investors.”

This is a unique opportunity to invest in the only bank headquartered in Greenwich -- Greenwich's "hometown" bank. The Bank of Greenwich brings together an outstanding team of professionals with banking and financial experience and strong ties to the community. The minimum investment in the Bank's offering is $25,000.

This is not an offer to sell securities. The Offering is made only by the Offering Circular. An Offering Circular providing detailed information regarding the shares, can be obtained by calling Robert J. Oca or James E. Calkins at (203) 622-7680, or by writing The Bank of Greenwich, Two Sound View Drive, Suite 100, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.


Author Information:

Robert Oca
The Bank of Greenwich

More Information:

https://www.thefirstbankofgreenwich.com/oldnew.htm

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6/19/06 PRESS RELEASE

The Junior League of Greenwich, Connecticut, Inc.
231 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830
Telephone (203) 869-1979 Ÿ Fax (203) 869-9215
e-mail jlg@jlgreenwich.org Ÿ website www.jlgreenwich.org

President 2006-2007: Kara Donahue President 2007-2008: Eileen Bartels

June 19, 2006 Press Contact: Pamela Hearn,
(203) 912-4375
For Immediate Release 28 Debutantes – 28 Years!

Greenwich, CT – Twenty eight young ladies from the area made their debut on Saturday, June 17 at the 28th Greenwich Cotillion sponsored by the Junior League of Greenwich, CT. The event was held at the historic Tomes-Higgins House in Greenwich, CT. The lovely tented grounds and beautifully restored house provided the perfect backdrop for the elegant debutantes and their guests. This special evening gathered family and friends to honor tradition, community service and a rite of passage.

It was a true family affair with all ages enjoying dancing and dining. The renowned New York society band The Bob Hardwick Sound serenaded the debutantes and their guests to the music of George Frideric Handel and a selection of waltzes. Joe Jenkins of Le Potager of Stamford, CT created a delicious menu of savory flavors and a festive dessert of individual key lime calypso and lace tuilles.

Flowers by George of Greenwich, CT provided stunning floral arrangements in lovely shades of blue, pink and white. The debutantes carried tightly bound bouquets of pink peonies.

Outgoing Junior League of Greenwich President, Katey O’Leary welcomed the 400 guests and commended the debutantes for their commitment to community service through voluntarism. In the spring, the young ladies experienced “An Afternoon at the League” held at the Junior League Headquarters on East Putnam Avenue. There they participated in a training session similar to one they might experience as Junior League members.

This year’s master of ceremony was Mr. David Ogilvy. Wendy Duryea and Anne Maletta co-chaired the event.

The Junior League of Greenwich is an organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through
the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

The young ladies who made their debut are listed on the following pages with their high schools and colleges.

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5/08/06 PRESS RELEASE: The Junior League of Greenwich Hosts “Keeping Kids Safe” at Armstrong Court

The Junior League of Greenwich, Connecticut, Inc.
231 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830
Telephone (203) 869-1979 Fax (203) 869-9215
e-mail jlgreenwich.org website www.jlgreenwich.org

President 2005-2006: Katey O’Leary President 2006-2007: Kara Donahue

May 8, 2006 Press Contact: Pamela Hearn
(203) 912-4375

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Junior League of Greenwich Hosts “Keeping Kids Safe” at Armstrong Court

May 8, 2006, Greenwich, CT...The Done In a Day Committee of the Junior League of
Greenwich (JLG), is holding a new event entitled “Keeping Kids Safe” at Armstrong Court in Byram, on Saturday, May 20 from 11:00 AM-2:00 PM. The entire day is focused on safety and will provide interactive presentations, educational materials and entertainment for the children and the parents of Armstrong Court. Fairfield County Safe Kids and Silver Shield of the Greenwich Police will cover the following topics: 911 emergencies, choking, stranger safety, poison control, passenger safety and child identification. JLG committee members will use the outdoor courtyard at Armstrong Court and provide lunch for all attendees. Additional activities will include face-painting and safety trivia. We expect approximately 50-60 residents of Armstrong Court, (adults and children), to attend the event.


The Junior League of Greenwich is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained individuals. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. If you are interested in joining the Junior League of Greenwich and making a difference in our community, contact the JLG Office at (203) 869-1979 or visit our website
at www.jlgreenwich.org.

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04/20/06 Compilation of scenes from Greenwich, CT Fire Department

04/18/06 PRESS RELEASE

The Junior League of Greenwich, Connecticut, Inc.
231 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830
Telephone (203) 869-1979 Ÿ Fax (203) 869-9215
e-mail jlg@jlgreenwich.org Ÿ website www.jlgreenwich.org

President 2005-2006: Katey O’Leary President 2006-2007: Kara Donahue

April 18, 2006 Press Contact: Pamela Hearn,
(203) 912-4375
For Immediate Release
Junior League of Greenwich Hosts Prom Dress Drive for Greenwich High School

April 18, 2006, Greenwich, CT… The Junior League of Greenwich (JLG) has “done” it again! The Done In A Day Committee hosted Operation Prom Dress Drive and collected nearly 50 formal dresses and coordinating accessories for donation to the Club Former Attire organization within Greenwich High School.

The JLG’s Done In A Day Committee collaborates with local community organizations on short-term events and provides volunteers to help in all aspects of these events. This year they approached the Greenwich High School to see how the JLG could get involved and Operation Prom Dress was created. Co-chair of the event, Melissa Turner, said, “This was a fun event for us, and one that I hope we can replicate next year. While it was relatively easy to collect the dresses, we are so pleased to be able to make a small difference in the lives of some deserving young women”.

The Former Attire club was created by seniors Susan Beaty and Halley Hindman when they were juniors in high school. The club is run by students with an advisor and its purpose is to provide attire that may not be easily afforded by some of the students to Greenwich High School junior and senior girls who will be attending the prom. Dress donations are received from retailers on Greenwich Avenue, faculty, friends of faculty, students, and parents. Girls are able to purchase attire at an extremely discounted price and the club then redistributes the money to a homeless shelter. Last year the club raised $2,700 for the homeless shelter and they are looking forward to an equally successful 2006. “This year the Junior League took the initiative and approached us to help us with the collection and we greatly appreciate all of their efforts”, said Debra Chauvin, advisor to the Former Attire Club.

The Junior League of Greenwich is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained individuals. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. If you are interested in joining the Junior League of Greenwich and making a difference in our community, contact the JLG office at (203) 869-1979 or visit its website www.jlgreenwich.org.

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01-0106 Greenwich Police group eyed in probe

A now-defunct fraternal police group using the Greenwich name for its fundraising has been under scrutiny for several years for how it represented itself and how it used the money it collected.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said yesterday his office is investigating the Greenwich Connecticut Fraternal Order of Police Gateway Lodge 21 for possible misuse of donor funds.But the president of that defunct group, Frank Colello, a Carmel, N.Y., man who works as an investigator for the state judicial division, said he has accounted for all the money raised by the group, and that much of it was spent on legal fees to sue the state chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police after it revoked the group's charter.

Lt. Thomas Keegan, fund drive chairman for the Greenwich Silver Shield Association, said the group was not affiliated with the Greenwich Police Department, but Colello said some individual Greenwich police officers were members.

It could not be confirmed this week whether any were.The Greenwich Connecticut Fraternal Order of Police Gateway Lodge 21 had a post office box in Cos Cob, but no physical office here. Its officers ran the lodge out of their own work offices in Stamford.

At the time its charter was revoked by state chapter, the Greenwich lodge was extending benefit coverage to about 640 law enforcement officers from around the state, Colello said."I brought the Public Charities Unit all of the records and showed them where the money went," Colello said. "I never heard back from them again, so if they weren't happy with the report they never told me."The remnants of the Greenwich lodge have reincorporated as a nonprofit group named the Connecticut Association of Police Officers Inc., Mark Pesiri, of Stamford, a state marshal and president of that group, said. The group offers disability and line of duty death insurance, tuition for law enforcement courses for officers, as well as various scholarships for high school students, Pesiri said.

According to a recent state report on paid soliciting campaigns for charities, the Gateway Lodge 21 allowed its paid soliciting company, All-Pro Marketing of Fairfield, N.J., to keep more than 80 percent of the $1 million raised over several years for the group. This return rate is one of the lowest in the report.

Blumenthal declined comment on what type of misuse of funds was being probed."Our investigation concerns first the organization itself and how it used and managed money that it received from contributors," Blumenthal said. "All-Pro's methods are related to that."The state Fraternal Order of Police, based in New Britain, revoked the Greenwich lodge's charter in 2002 based on the group continuing to raise funds separately from the state lodge, according to the state lodge's president, John Flynn.

Flynn succeeded Colello as president of the statewide organization."We ended up disciplining them and revoking their charter, and fundraising was the main issue," said Flynn. "They were misusing the name and they sued us and we actually won."Colello said he has good records of the money spent by the group, and that the roughly $60,000 left in the coffers after the group lost its charter in 2002 was awarded to a variety of law enforcement and other agencies around the state.

Those awards included $25,209 to a lodge made up of federal correctional officers in Danbury for classes, $2,000 to the Stamford Youth Associa-tion, and $2,920 for special training grants for police officers, and $3,010 for state Lodge 6, Colello said."We were pretty busy giving that money out and it wasn't spent on beer, parties, or anything like that," Colello said.

Blumenthal said that the percentage of charitable donations that All-Pro Marketing and other paid soliciting firms keep may be disturbing, but there is nothing illegal about it.Other local law enforcement membership groups and benevolent associations received back between 25 and 45 percent of the fundraising take from their paid solicitors, according to the report. Other groups listed in the report raising money through paid campaigns generally received more than 50 percent of the total collected, including groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national tolerance education organization that tracks hate groups, which kept 76 percent of the total funds raised by its solicitor, Telefund.

Mark Galvan, president of All-Pro Marketing, defended the ethics behind his company's keeping the majority of the money it raises, saying the overhead to collect relatively low donations is much higher than that of local groups."You have to compare apples to apples," Galvan said. "The average donation is about $20, and . . . only about half the people honor their pledges. You have to call four times as many people to raise the same amount of money."

Blumenthal said that under a U.S. Supreme Court decision there is no minimum percentage that paid soliciting firms must return to the charitable groups they raise funds for.Potential donors have to determine whether the firm soliciting them is misrepresenting their connection to their communities, he said."They have to be accurate in what they are saying or they could be prosecuted,"

Blumenthal said of the firm.Flynn said the state chapter will not renew its contract with its paid soliciting company, the Civic Development Group Inc., and will begin to conduct its own fundraising, allowing it to keep 90 percent of the gross collected.Keegan said that the Green-wich Connecticut Fraternal Order of Police has never given money directly to the Silver Shield Association."It does seem like a misuse of our name," Keegan said.

According to the state report, the Greenwich Silver Shield Association in 2004 also contracted with a paid solicitor, LPC Fundraising of Framing-ham, Mass., and only received 28 percent of the $46,000 raised.

Keegan said LPC also alienated many residents with its aggressive telephone fundraising campaign, and that the Silver Shield Association won't hire another paid solicitor because their profit motive drives obnoxious fundraising efforts.All future campaigns will be conducted by mail, so residents will know that phone solicitations on behalf of the Silver Shield Association are not legitimate, Keegan said.

Money donated by the public to the Silver Shield Association helps fund events promoting safety and better community relations, providing bulletproof vests for active officers, tuition for children of police officers and sponsoring local youth athletics, Keegan said."We realized that the members of our community are extremely generous and charitable and do not need the annoyance of an organization contacting them in a bothersome way," Keegan said. "It was the first and last time the Silver Shield Association will enter into a similar arrangement."

Article sourced from:

Greenwich Time - Greenwich, CT, USA

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12/24/05 - News Clips - Legislative committee OKs civil unions bill

Source: Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:

Tobin A. Coleman; Staff Writer

...The victory is complicated because Love Makes a Family, the gay rights group most active on the issue, has said nothing less than a law granting full marriage rights for gays is acceptable. The group has vowed to lobby against the bill passed yesterday that would allow gay couples to form civil unions, nearly identically to the law in Vermont...

...Love Makes a Family President Anne Stanback said she has mixed feelings because many of the lawmakers who voted for civil unions said during the debate that they wanted to vote for a full marriage bill, but went for civil unions instead because they did not think a gay marriage bill has a chance to pass the General Assembly this year....

..."I do have mixed feelings . . . because of the really wonderful tone of the debate in support of marriage and very explicitly stating civil unions is not enough," Stanback said. "While we don't support civil union we would ask them to support us as we move forward with our marriage struggle."...

September 21 2005: Greenwich Time - Hurrah for hors d'oeuvres! Newbie judges pick .....

Greenwich Time - Hurrah for hors d'oeuvres! Newbie judges pick ...

Carolyn and Jerry Anderson have a unique way of
thanking the clients of their real estate business,
Anderson Associates of Greenwich.

Annually, they host a "best of" tasting under a huge
tent on the grounds of their backcountry Greenwich
estate and invite 200 or so new and old friends who
act as food critics for the night. On a recent Friday,
with the hint of fall in the air, these newly appointed
judges sat around large round tables, sipping
glasses of wine and eagerly awaiting the first of 20
hors d'oeuvres - provided by 10 of our area's top
caterers - that would be nibbled, dissected,
discussed and finally judged.

Behind the scenes

This is the third time the Andersons have held this
event. They started with pizza, judged truffles and
vanilla ice cream last year, and decided to tackle
hors d'oeuvres this night. Each caterer was asked to
provide one hot and one cold nibble that would be
dropped off before guests arrived. The caterers were
not allowed to stay because this was a blind tasting.....

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08/09/05 - Kissel Fraud Case

Banks, builders file suit in loan fraud

Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:	Hoa Nguyen; Staff Write

...The developer is accused of fradulently obtaining $25 million in bank loans. Federal prosecutors contend Kissel filed fradulent mortgage releases that appeared to free him from loans that he still owed. Kissel then used those releases to persuade other lending institutions to issue him new mortgages on the same property, according to the federal complaint...

...The companies provided insurance policies to the lending institutions that issued new loans to Kissel, Stewart Edelstein said. Because the institutions lost money, they are seeking compensation from the title insurance companies, which in turn want to hold Kissel financially liable, according to the lawsuit....

...Timothy Mulroy, according to land records, filed a $48,985 lien on 58 Quaker Lane, where he said he built Kissel a library. Although Mulroy received a deposit for the work, Kissel missed one payment and then issued him a check that bounced, said Mulroy, adding that based on what he knows now, he fears he may never be paid...

08/01/05 - Report From U.S Attorney for Connecticut Kevin O'Connor.

Three weeks after George Smith IV, 26, of Greenwich, was reported missing while on a honeymoon aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship on July 5, investigators are busy conducting interviews and reviewing evidence, according to U.S Attorney for Connecticut Kevin O'Connor.

07/31/05 - First Selectman Spotlight - Neighborhood Associations

Since First Selectman Jim Lash urged residents to be active citizens, especially through their neighborhood associations, more than 60 such groups - large and small, old and new - have followed Lash's advice, and it may be changing the way Greenwich does business.

07/31/05 - According To Press Reports - Steven Seeger said the test results will be provided to police as evidence that one or more of the ......

Steven Seeger said the test results will be provided to police as evidence that one or more of the youths who were with Bria the night before he died provided the drugs and should be arrested on drug charges in connection with Bria's death, Seeger said.

06/29/05 - News Clips - Developer charged in bank fraud

Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:	Hoa Nguyen; Staff Writer

...Kissel allegedly would file a fraudulent document releasing him from a mortgage from one institution and then use that same property to seek a new loan from a different institution. One such property named in the complaint is 43 Burning Tree Road, where Kissel was building a nearly 8,000-square-foot residence....

...Kissel had agreed to invest in the horse riding and boarding facility on Riversville Road. According to the federal complaint, Kissel's $1 million investment came from a loan that was secured with the help of fraudulent mortgage release documents....

...Kissel's wife, Hayley Kissel, filed for divorce in March, according to [Philip Russell]. The couple also had taken in two children from his brother's marriage. Kissel's sister-in-law, Nancy Kissel, is on trial in Hong Kong for the murder of her husband, whom she allegedly fed a milkshake laced with sedatives before beating him to death, according to news reports...

Greenwich Real Estate News

Basic Instinct

from The Wall Street Journal

By LIONEL TIGER

They have an irrational enthusiasm for a rational model of human economic behavior, and therefore economists can coolly confuse apples with prickly pears and conclude that all asset classes are the same. Owning a house in which one lives and owning a thousand shares of last season's aerated dot-com are supposed to involve comparable economic decisions. If dot-com shares plummet because their companies do nothing anyone is willing to pay for, then that is fairly a bubble. But it's supposed to be a bubble, too, if housing prices rise persistently.

There are good reasons. The world is ever more efficient and produces more assets nearly everywhere which people want to use. Immigrants come to countries like this and want a deck and a rec room and work like a Dickens character to acquire them -- and house their relatives, too. There are now relatively few straightforward ways to earn generous interest and profits because current enterprise is more efficiently low-cost than ever and pricing is global. Some places like New York are discernibly more fun and intricate, and people like inhaling them whatever the ruckus and cost. Finally, people have to live somewhere -- it's a philosophically existential veterinarian obligation. They develop primitively firm affections about where they store their slippers and where the kids whoop when they surprise Dad.

Terms such as "housing bubble" are so self-evidently admonitory, and commentators so secure in their Deep Concern, that owners of modest castles of sheetrock now endure the fear that their prized irreplaceable haven is a birchbark canoe careening down a rocky rapids.

In his lively study, "The Mystery of Capital," Hernando De Soto shows how seemingly disorganized slums in poor countries maintain a precisely gauged metric of rights and obligations. People know their ground, stand their ground, and enjoy their ground. Mr. De Soto also advises to listen "for where the dogs bark," because that's where the boundaries are. Basic territoriality and allegiance thrive. The cumbersome legalism involved in securing a search warrant to ruffle through your bedroom reflects the severity of a home's importance.

The emotionality of a dwelling is primordial, economically wholly different from ownership of a stash in a Bermuda hedge fund or a tranche of a leveraged buyout or an ormolu desk at which Napoleon or de Villepin wrote poetry. The most popular recreation in America is gardening. People surround their houses with frilly plants and especially with lawns -- an astonishingly costly national extravagance. To an anthropologist's eye, lawns suggest a Paleolithic savannah-dweller eager to see fierce beasts and bad guys before they reach the front porch. And what else but emotionally nutritious satisfaction could induce an indolent and sanitized population to grub in mud for weeds and grin with pride at their perky thorny roses and their copious specimens of zucchini, the world's worst vegetable?

All assets are not the same.

Of course there are real issues in the housing market. The entrepreneurs who've problems placing their funds into profitable adventures have now created a host of new "products" (what a degraded use of the word) which permit marginal or intrepid borrowers to pay little or no principal on mortgages, adjust their interest rates, or put off a grown-up reckoning by postponing for years when they must repay principal at a higher rate of interest than they bought into. This may become a disaster about which neither borrower nor lender should have been so cavalier. But in a sense, no more a setback than paying rent and having to show for it only a notice about next year's 6% increase. Of course their income could rise too, as well as fall. There's always the real estate industry's Old Best Friend -- inflation. And to top or bottom it all off, the government subsidizes interest with a tax deduction. Housebubblers are using OPM -- Other People's Money.

However, there is no question many individual owners will be pained, evicted, wiped out, or in extended fiscal conniption. So may be their unduly experimental lenders who will have to mine for bread in a pile of stones. Some vain vendors have already had to reduce their colorful prices -- Jack Welch, Ozzy Osbourne, pick your starlet -- because buyers aren't wholly feckless. But again this is at the margins and in gossip columns. The broad flow of housing transactions offers countless people a decisively advantageous accomplishment of their life cycle. They root themselves in a place which is theirs and is illuminated with the clarity of genuine autonomy. The accidents are always too many and too poignant, especially among the buyers for investment (not shelter) -- who have made uncoerced adult choices.

Meanwhile the center holds. The national housing situation is a triumph overall. If other societies blow similar bubbles, too, it's not because they're foolish but because they have the itch for homes and the scratch for them as well.

Mr. Tiger, professor of anthropology at Rutgers, is author of "The Decline of Males" (St. Martin's, 2000).

06/03/05 - News Clips - Ban on motorists' phone use OK'd

Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:

Tobin A. Coleman; Staff Writer

...Sen. William Nicker-son, R-Greenwich, said concerns raised by opponents do not stand up to scrutiny in the face of 36,000 annual deaths on the nation's highways, some traced to drivers distracted by using a cell phone. Nickerson said activities such as eating, combing one's hair or drinking from a can of soda are not the same...

...The bill was introduced on the floor by Sen. Biagio "Billy" Ciotto, D-Wethersfield, co-chairman of the joint Transportation Committee, who until this year was one of the bill's most ardent opponents. But he said his mind was changed this year due to the proliferation of cell phones, the coaxing of the bill's main sponsor, state Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford, and statistics that suggest the ban would make streets safer...

...An amendment was defeated that would have also banned the use by drivers of other hand-held electronic devices, including Palm Pilots, text messaging devices, video games, laptops and DVD players. Ciotto told senators to vote against all five proposed amendments to keep from having to send the bill back to the House for another vote in the waning days of the legislative session. But he promised another bill soon will be used as a vehicle to consider most of them...

05/17/05 - News Clips - Paul's and Andrew's contribution

Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:

Norma Bartol; Columnist

...When Andrew M. Kissel joined Paul Quirk as a partner of Epona Stables on Riversville Road, the horse community in Greenwich breathed a collective sigh of relief that another stable was not going down the drain along with old houses...

...From horses to dogs, and "a chance to howl and wine" with an evening of wine tasting, hors d'oeuvres, silent auction and raffle, that took place on May 13 at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club to benefit Adopt-a-Dog. Theresa Rogers was honorary chair, and Cynthia Ginter, Fiona Fahnestock-Roth, David Roth and Leona Levy were co-chairs....

...The committee included: Catherine and Jill Agonis, Jane Barr, Kelly Brennan, Samantha and Gene Cleaves, Kerrin Coyle, John Curran, Nina DeCecco, Judy Finch, Ellie Gerli, Brian Gordiski, Gilbert Herzberg, Ken and Rachel Hess, Meg Kelley, Donna Kozak, Catherine Ladnier, Tory Maiko, Ellie Mayer, Becky McCulloch, Cookie Murato, Donna and Fred Nives, Elsie Patrick, Claire Reed, Gary Silberberg and Sandy Strain....

04/18/05 - News Clips - Epona Stables becomes a place to date for TV show

Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:

Hoa Nguyen; Staff Writer

..."She watched as he showed his equestrian prowess," Epona Stables co-owner Paul Quirk, 43, of Greenwich, said last week, rolling his eyes as he recounted the scene....

...O'Connell got back on his horse, Vinkingo, and led him on a walk around the paddock. At one point, he gave Vinkingo a kick to get the horse into a canter, or a faster pace. That's when the perfect scene ran into a hiccup and O'Connell nearly fell off Vinkingo....

...On that day, Quirk was at Epona for hours helping to manage the horses and assist the crews setting up.In one scene, bales of hay were brought to the second-floor of a barn and lanterns were placed everywhere in preparation for the romantic dinner planned for the couple....

03/10/05 - News Clips - Bill to abolish death penalty advances Committee OKs measure by wide margin; full legislature to take up issue

Source: Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

...Among lower Fairfield County lawmakers on the committee, [Andrew McDonald] and state Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, voted in favor of abolishing the death penalty. State Reps. Lawrence Cafero Jr., R- Norwalk and Claudia "Dolly" Powers, R-Greenwich, both voted to keep current law and retain the death penalty....

..."It is in fact, in my estimation, a harsher penalty for him to sit in prison, or rot in prison, for the rest of his natural life," McDonald said during debate. "He is choosing death. I don't think he should have that right." McDonald said [Michael Ross] should have to spend the next 30 or 40 years behind bars. "He doesn't want it. I think he should have it," McDonald said....

...Cafero, arguing that the death penalty should remain in place, said state residents have made it clear through polls and through their representatives over the years that they want "a rarely used, incredibly difficult to obtain death penalty, in only the most severe, most serious, heinous cases imaginable. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we have."...

12/24/08 Obituary

SARICA, JOHN A. SR., 75, of Greenwich, Conn., a winter resident of St. Petersburg, died Monday (Dec. 22, 2004) at Greenwich Hospital. He was born in Port Chester, N.Y. He retired in 1973 as a police officer for Greenwhich after 20 years of service. He also was the owner of A-1 Limousine in Greenwich for 20 years. He was an Army corporal in the Korean War. He was past president and a founding member of the Silver Shield Association. He was a member of the Sons of Italy in St. Petersburg and the Pasadena Yacht Club. He was an avid golfer. Survivors include his wife, Dee Dolly Sarica; a son, John A. Jr., Greenwich; two daughters, Roseann Sarica Benedict and Angela Carino, both of Riverside, Conn.; a sister, Rosemarie Angi, Somer, N.Y.; and seven grandchildren. Castiglione Funeral Home, Greenwich, Conn.

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12/12/04 - News Clips - Town riders are back in the saddle

Source: Greenwich Time - Greenwich, Conn.

Author:

Hoa Nguyen; Staff Writer

..."It's something I've become passionate about," said Andrew M. Kissel, a Greenwich resident who has a daughter who rides. The real estate developer is the newest investor in Epona Stables...

...A rink is handy during the winter, when inclement weather makes it harder to give riding lessons and work out horses. Lack of a covered rink hurt Epona in the past because it limited the days when the stable could operate, [Paul Quirk] said...

...Though there is a need for more stables in town, horse owners are finding ways to get by, said Jennifer Freedman, head of the 90-year- old Greenwich Riding and Trails Asso-ciation. She bought her house because it had a barn and a paddock...