Monthly Archives: September 2015

Rep. Carney Achieves 100 Percent Voting Record

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State Representative Devin Carney

State Representative Devin Carney

State Representative Devin Carney (R-23) achieved a 100 percent voting record during the regular 2015 Legislative Session according to statistics compiled by the House Clerk’s Office.

This year, Rep. Carney cast his vote on all 379 separate pieces of legislation that made it to the floor of the House of Representatives. Only about 20 percent of legislators achieve perfect attendance each year. In addition, Carney attended every committee meeting and public hearing during the 2015 session.

“Throughout my first term representing the citizens of the 23rd district, I have made it a priority to be present for every debate and every vote,” said Carney. “The people of Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook put their faith in me to serve as their representative and they deserve a voice on every piece of legislation that comes before the legislature. While I am proud to receive a perfect score, this is simply my duty to my constituents and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Carney, who represents the 23rd district in the General Assembly, is a House Republican Chair and Founding Member of Young Legislators Caucus and serves on the legislature’s committees on Environment, Transportation, and Higher Education & Employment Advancement.

The next regular session of the legislature will convene in February 2016.

Carney represents the 23rd district communities of Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and the southern section of Westbrook.

Talking Transportation: Happy 75th Birthday to The Merritt: Queen of the Parkways

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A century ago the only way to drive between New York and Boston was on Rte. 1, The Post Rd. If you think traffic is bad today, imagine that journey! So in 1936, 2,000 men began work on the state’s largest public works project, the $21 million four-lane- parkway starting in Greenwich and running to the Housatonic River in Stratford. The adjoining Wilbur Cross Parkway didn’t open until years later when the Sikorsky Bridge across the Housatonic was completed.

The Merritt, named after Stamford resident, Congressman Schuyler Merritt, is best known for its natural beauty, though most of it was planted: 22,000 trees and 40,000 shrubs. And then there are the bridges, since 1991 protected on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architect George Dunkleberger designed 69 bridges in a variety of architectural styles, from Art Moderne to Deco to Rustic. No two bridges are exactly alike. In short order the Merritt was being hailed as “The Queen of Parkways”.

The parkway at first had tolls, a dime (later 35 cents) at each of three barriers, not to pay for the parkway’s upkeep but to finance its extension to Hartford via the Wilbur Cross Parkway, named after Wilbur Lucius Cross who was Governor in the 1930’s. Tolls were dropped in 1988.

The old toll booths themselves were as unique as the Parkway, constructed of wooden beams and covered in shingles. One of the original booths is now preserved in Stratford at the Boothe Memorial Park.

At recent celebrations of the parkway’s 75th birthday, one old timer told of a friend from Yale who resented paying the dime toll in the 1940’s. So he went to the medical school and procured a cadaver arm, glued a dime on its finger and hid the arm up his sleeve. When the prankster slowed to pay his toll, the collector got the dime and the arm as the student sped off.

The Merritt’s right of way is a half-mile wide, the vistas more obvious now since massive tree clearing after the two storms in 2011 and 2012 where downed trees pretty much closed the highway.

Since its design and opening in 1938 the Merritt Parkway has been off-limits to commercial vehicles and trucks. But as traffic worsens on I-95, debates rage from time to time about allowing trucks on the Merritt and possibly widening the road. Either move would probably mean demolition of the Parkway’s historic bridges, so don’t expect such expansion anytime soon.

The best watchdog of the Parkway is the Merritt Parkway Conservancy which has fought to preserve the road’s unique character. Their latest battle is against plans for a multi-use trail along the south side of the roadway. Costing an estimated $6.6 million per mile, the Conservancy worries that the trees and foliage that would be clear-cut to allow bike and pedestrian users would despoil the eco-system.

Jim Cameron

Jim Cameron

Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM. The opinions expressed in this column are only his own. You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com For a full collection of “Talking Transportation” columns, see www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com

Clad to Speak on World Politics of a Changing Energy Landscape at SECWAC Meeting, Oct. 14

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LogoThe next meeting of the Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC) will be held Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Stoneridge Retirement Community, 186 Jerry Browne Rd, Mystic, CT.  The speaker will be James Clad, who is a Senior Adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses Corporation, Arlington, Va., and consults for energy, investment, and strategic advisory firms.  His presentation is titled, “The World Politics of a Changing Energy Landscape” and a reception with Clad begins at 5:30 p.m. with the presentation following at 6 p.m.

A dinner follows immediately in a dining room at Stoneridge Retirement Community for a limited number of members and guests. To attend the dinner, a reservation is required –  call 860-912-5718 or email info@secwac.org to make your reservation.

During 2002-2010, Clad served as US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Asia, as a senior counselor at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the US Agency for International Development.  From 1995-2002 he held a Luce Foundation professorship at Georgetown University and was, concurrently, Director/Asia Pacific Energy at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).

Trained as a lawyer in New Zealand, his career has focused on Asian commercial and security affairs, broadening after 2002 to include the Middle East.  In the 1980s and 1990s he wrote for the Far Eastern Economic Review, and had fellowships from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, from the Carnegie Endowment, and from Harvard’s Center for International Affairs.  He also served in the diplomatic service in New Zealand.

He has authored several books on Southeast Asia and US foreign policy, most recently a volume on political geography entitled “The Borderlands of Southeast Asia”.  He received the Secretary of Defense Public Service Award in 2009, and became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011.

Milt Walters, SECWAC’s Chairman, indicated he was delighted an expert of James Clad’s caliber was available to shed his views on the geopolitical impact of the world’s rapidly shifting energy supplies.”

All reservations must be received 24 hours prior to the program.   Bring your check for the total number of your reservations at $35 for each, payable to SECWAC.  Courtney Assad will collect your check when you arrive to pick up your name tag.  At the same time, you will be given dinner tickets for each reservation to be collected by the serveras confirmation of your payment. Credit card payments are also being accepted.

SECWAC is a membership organization, however, guests are welcome. Call 860-912-5718 or email info@secwac.org to reserve a guest pass.

In November, SECWAC will host two meetings, one at a luncheon and the other in the evening, on the topic of Cybersecurity (details to follow).

SECWAC is a regional, non-profit membership organization affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America and fosters an understanding of issues of foreign policy and international affairs impacting America through study, debate, and educational programming.  Our principal activity is to sponsor 10 Speaker Series Meetings a season. We provide a forum for nonpartisan, non-advocacy dialogue between our members and U.S. policy makers and other experts on foreign relations (http://www.secwac.org).

Pulver to Speak on Role of Coastguard at Friends of Fort Trumbull Meeting, Oct. 29

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Captain Wes Pulver

Captain Wes Pulver

On Thursday, Oct. 29, as the final speaker in the 2015 Program, the Friends of Fort Trumbull State Park announce that Captain (Ret.) Wes Pulver will be the presenter in place of the previously  scheduled Admiral (Ret.) Robert J. Papp, Jr., USCG.  Adm. Papp’s full time assignment at the State Department in Washington, DC will not allow him to be present on that night.

Captain Pulver has agreed to bring the message of ‘The Coast Guard at Fort Trumbull and Beyond’ to the Fort.  This lecture concludes the 2015 series entitled Windows on the World of Fort Trumbull – a series of programs based upon the periods in history that were significant to Fort Trumbull.

The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. in the Conference Center at Fort Trumbull State Park, 90 Walbach St., New London.  The interesting Gift Store at the Fort will be open from 6:30 to 7 p.m. before the meeting so that participants can view and purchase the many historically themed items.

The public is invited and new members are always welcome. Come early; seating is limited. Refreshments will follow the presentation.

For more information about the group: www.fortfriends.org

‘The Bowerbird’ Seeks Help to Select Next Annual Donation Recipient

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In a few short weeks, The Bowerbird located in the Old Lyme Marketplace on Halls Rd. will be selecting a new recipient for their 2015-2016 gift wrap give-back program.  Usually, this is a closed process; however, this year the store is soliciting suggestions from their customers and LymeLine.com readers.  Do you have a favorite non-profit that could benefit from some extra funds?

Eligible organizations must be registered as a tax-exempt nonprofit 501 (c) organization, be located in Connecticut or have a Connecticut chapter.  In addition, they are not eligible if they have previously received funds through the store’s gift wrap program.

For a complete listing of past recipients, visit www.thebowerbird.com

The Bowerbird pioneered ‘cause’ marketing when they created their gift wrap donation program in 1992.  In the past 22 years, The Bowerbird has donated over $71,000 to 27 statewide and local non-profits proving that small businesses can make a difference.

The current recipient is the Children’s Medical Center located in Hartford.

The 2015-2016 year’s wrap donation program will begin Nov. 1, 2015.

For more information, stop by The Bowerbird in the Old Lyme Marketplace.