E. Pendleton James, assistant for presidential personnel for Ronald Reagan from 1981-83 at his home on Old Church Road.
(Keelin Daly/Greenwich Time photo)
Many stumble out of the starting blocks. Others find themselves running in place as if on a treadmill.
A Stamford woman formerly employed by Saks Fifth Avenue in Greenwich has sued the company over alleged racial discrimination that she claims led to her being fired.
Parents object to school budget slashingSchool employees and parents voiced objections Tuesday to the schools superintendent's decision to target staff positions for reductions under her 2009-10 budget proposal.
When a man in a stolen BMW came tearing down Interstate 95 at speeds exceeding 140 mph, Officer Carlos Franco was ready and waiting in his patrol car.
Greenwich Audubon reports soaring hawk numbersAudubon Greenwich officials have reported a steep rise in the number of broad-winged hawks and other raptors flying overhead as they migrate south for the winter in search of food and warm weather.
Police are investigating a residential burglary reported Monday morning at 244 Davis Ave. Police said the homeowners reported the crime, telling officers that someone had entered their home between midnight and 9 a.
WASHINGTON - General Electric Co. said Tuesday it expects fourth-quarter earnings to be near the low end of its guidance and will take a charge of up to $1.
When I was a teenager in Meriden, the baby boom had the city's two high schools, constructed only a decade earlier, bursting at the seams.
Maloney High School was in its original form during my freshman year, and things were pretty tight. Students were doubling up on lockers, and study halls had to be held in the auditorium and cafeteria.
By the time I was a senior, there were two new wings of classrooms, a gorgeous two-floor library, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, new bathrooms and office space and plenty of lockers to go around.
Students and teachers put up with a little extra noise and had some classes relocated within the building during construction, but in less than two years we had a bright, shiny, functional school, big and modern enough for all comers.
The same successful renovation happened across town at Platt High School, a virtual twin of Maloney, at the same time.
I thought of my high school experience as I read reporter Colin Gustafson's latest story on delays in the Hamilton Avenue School renovation that may add even more months to its long-overdue completion.
The word boondoggle is hardly strong enough to describe the Ham Ave. project, a public building disaster that should forever change the way Greenwich handles major construction endeavors.
Now two years late on its original 18-month completion schedule, the recent revelation of ventilation problems in the renovated building could mean that Ham Ave. won't be habitable until April. That's four years after the project began.
In the meantime, students were herded into modular classrooms parked on school grounds and eventually dispersed to other buildings throughout town when mold was discovered in the modulars.
With all those distractions, it was no wonder that scores on their mastery tests tanked a few weeks after the Diaspora.
Everyone involved in the Ham Ave. project should feel some sense of responsibility for putting these poor kids in a situation where they were bound to perform below their potential. This includes the school building committee, the administration, the Board of Education and the project's general contractor.
All have been inept in performing their roles in the school's renovation; collectively the lack of competence is astounding. You'd like to think that one person or group's inadequacies would be made up by the higher-level performance of another person or group. In the case of Ham Ave., you'd be wrong.
Last summer's vacuum of information about the school's readiness and its near-daily unfulfilled deadlines formed an absurd comedy. Further delays into the fall and perhaps to next spring are simply sad and discouraging.
Let's hope, though, that this whole process will be taken as a lesson by the town government and Board of Education.
Processes must be in place, responsible people on the job and accountability absolutely demanded from everyone the next time Greenwich embarks on such a critical project.
Buildings can be completed on time, and disruptions to the stakeholders kept to a minimum. I saw it happen when I was in school. Too bad the kids at Hamilton Avenue haven't been as lucky.
================================================================
