BRISTOLTODAY.COM

November 18, 2008

Hey, Hartford, doesn't anybody care about saving 100+ jobs?

A week after the Journal Register Co. declared it would close two of Connecticut's oldest newspapers on Jan. 12 if no buyer turns up -- and throw more than 100 people onto the unemployment lines -- there's been no indication that the state gives a damn.
I understand these are hard times, that lots of companies are struggling, that many jobs are in danger, that a budget crisis is exploding.
But we have a state Department of Economic and Community Development. We have a whole bureaucracy of different agencies whose mission is to make sure that state residents have good jobs. We are paying people to bust their butts to preserve the jobs that exist and find more.
Where the hell are they?
The demise of two daily newspapers, and a host of weeklies as well, undercuts the well-being of Central Connecticut. It would be a travesty that the region as a whole won't truly grasp unless the papers are gone. It would send a clear message out to the world that the region is dying -- not exactly the economic development mantra.
This isn't about saving my job. I fully expect that whatever happens, I won't be a part of it. This is about saving two institutions that circulate the lifeblood of their communities. This is about keeping intact more than a century of solid community journalism, of keeping intact the communities these papers have served for all those years.
The state's political leaders, who understand better than most how important newspapers are, should be pulling out all stops to find a way to stave off these closures. They should know that while The Bristol Press and the New Britain Herald are merely the first in line, there are many other wobbly papers in Connecticut, including the Hartford Courant.
We need to find a way to make sure they don't all vanish.
There's not much time. Let's get moving and find a solution. C'mon, Hartford, lead!
PS: Though I tend to focus on journalism, since it's been my life for two decades, it's important to recognize that these papers employ all sorts of wonderful people who aren't out there annoying people with questions. There are people who sells ads, people who process the inevitable paperwork, people who keep the buildings operational, people who answer the phones, people who print the papers, people who put the papers together and on and on and on. They need to make a living, too, and they deserve help from their elected leaders.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

No more news out of City Hall

Back in the 1980s, three different daily newspapers regularly had reporters covering City Hall - The Bristol Press, The Hartford Courant and the Waterbury Republican-American.

First to drop was Waterbury, about 20 years ago. By the mid-1990s its last newsboxes vanished in Bristol.

Then the Courant began trailing off its coverage over the last five or six years, though it didn't truly cease until a few months ago, when big cuts there left it too stretched to do much in Bristol.

Now the Press itself is facing closure on or soon after January 12, leaving not a single daily standing with any interest in Bristol.

As a watched nobody at all get up to speak during Monday's public hearing on two proposed new school sites, at least one of which remains controversial, I couldn't help thinking that I was seeing the city's future. Public hearings with no public. Decisions made by officials with no input. Actions taken with nobody even having the slightest idea they'd occurred.

Forget the watchdog nature of journalism for a minute. I was seeing what happens when there is no Press at all. Nobody will have a clue. The glue that's needed for the community to come to a compromise decision, the essence of our republic, is what newspapers provide. Take them out of the picture and everybody is operating in the dark. Forever.

PS: To those who think the Courant will fill the gap, you're simply wrong. Its corporate owners are in wretched shape and it's had to cut back sharply. It's only going to get worse there, too. I imagine if the Press closes, the Courant will make a stab at upping its Bristol coverage for a litle while, but it won't be sustained. Ask anybody who works there. It doesn't have the resources any longer to cover Bristol except incidentally (like a major crime).

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November 17, 2008

Council unanimously backs Crowley site purchase

City councilors gave their unanimous blessing Monday to buy the former Crowley dealership on Pine Street for $2.25 million in order to build a new school there.

The council did not take action on a proposal to buy land on Matthews Street for a second school, but officials said they expect to complete negotiations for the parcels there in the next two weeks.

Superintendent Philip Streifer said he expects to finish the deal “very, very quickly” in order to keep to a tight timetable for completing the land acquisition.

The city aims to build two new kindergarten to eighth grade schools – each with 900 students – sometime after June 2010. If money is scarce, the $132 million project may not be finished until 2015, officials have said.

Councilors said they had no problem approving the purchase of the Crowley site, which includes several adjoining parcels, in order to build one of the new schools next door to the existing Greene-Hills School, one of three elementary schools targeted for closure under the plan.

The city may also buy a small market at the corner of Pine and Daley streets as part of the project.

There doesn’t appear to be any opposition among councilors to buying two large lots and several smaller ones on Matthews Street, near Clark Avenue, to provide space for a second school.

Streifer said that the negotiations have to be completed soon.

“The clock is ticking with getting the deals done,” Streifer said.

Under a Board of Education plan, four older schools will be closed when the new ones are finished – Memorial Boulevard Middle School and three primary schools: Greene-Hills, Bingham and O’Connell.

Architects will have about a year to complete blueprints, which will be followed by a state review. The city must have a construction contract in hand by June 13, 2010 in order to preserve a 73.9 percent reimbursement rate for the project as a whole.

One hitch that developed Monday is that councilors expressed concern about former city attorney Edward Krawiecki, Jr’s representation of several of the property owners on Matthews Street.

City Councilor Frank Nicastro asked if that could pose a conflict of interest that might rebound to hurt the city in some way.

“There does appear to be an issue,” said Dale Clift, the city attorney.

Richard Lacey, a city lawyer, said that Krawiecki has a conflict if the legal work he is doing now as a private attorney is ‘”substantially related” to work he did as a municipal lawyer.

Lacey said the council could declare that it is not concerned or it could ask for an opinion from the Connecticut Bar Association or it could simply do nothing.

“The prudent thing to do” would be to ask for the opinion, said city Councilor Craig Minor.

But Streifer suggested that doing so might create a delay. The superintendent also said that there isn’t much to negotiate, since the city is set to pay the highest appraisal value for the relevant properties anyway. It can’t pay more than that unless ordered by a court later.

Clift said his office will prepare a memorandum by week’s end detailing the issue involved with Krawiecki’s representation of the property owners.

Nicastro said that Krawiecki is “a good attorney,” but he wants to make sure taxpayers are protected.

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No more Sunday hours at the library

One cost-cutting step the city has decided to take is to eliminate Sunday hours at the Main Library.
The library has been opening on Sunday afternoons from autumn until spring for a number of years, but slicing out the extra hours will help officials deal with rising costs and the prospect of sinking revenues.
The library has traditionally seen heavier use during recessions, perhaps because people can't afford to buy books or possibly because it offers something free for families trying to stretch strained budgets.
Mayor Art Ward said the move is one of a number of steps he's taking to hold the line on spending.
I'll have more on the issue tomorrow.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Don't let the paper disappear

Two letters to the editor from former members of The Tattoo:
To the editor:

I'm sad to hear about the tenuous future of The Bristol Press.
For nostalgic reasons, I don't want the paper to disappear. I was first published in this letters to the editor section in 1993, when I was a 7th grader arguing for equality for girl basketball players. I cut my teeth as a teenage writer for The Tattoo, and today I am a reporter for the third largest daily newspaper in North Carolina.

For professional reasons, I am worried for my friends and fellow journalists, reporters Jackie Majerus and Steve Collins. They taught me how to be a writer and a reporter. And although I have met Pulitzer prize-winners, journalism school deans and folks from swankier publications, Jackie and Steve are still the best damned journalists I know.

As a Bristol native, I am disgusted to think what will become of the city without Jackie and Steve watching the gate.

I don't want my nieces and nephews to attend school in a city where there are no reporters to hold the school board accountable. I hate to think what kind of shenanigans Bristol's elected leaders might get into while no one is looking. Who will call them out when there is no Bristol Press? No one.

Here's also an opportunity for people who say they take pride in Bristol: Dig change out of the couch cushions and buy a paper. When you use a coupon inside, tell the business you patronize that you read about them in the Press. And if you've got deep pockets, its time to really invest in your hometown. Buy the newspaper, and turn it back into a point of community pride. Do what the Journal Register Company never could.

Sincerely,

Amanda Lehmert

city reporter
(Greensboro, NC) News & Record
BCHS '99 graduate

AND

To the editor:

Reading about the financial troubles at the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald this morning shouldn't have effected me so deeply. Many American industries are foundering right now and newspapers more than most. But to me, it was personal.

I moved to Bristol in 1996. As a freshman at Bristol Eastern High School I found a community that supported the growth of its young people through sports, art and music – and a newspaper that helped me grow every bit as much. As part of The Tattoo, the paper's student news page, I learned journalism from veteran reporters Jackie Majerus and Steve Collins. They volunteered their time teach me the skills that would make me an award winning professional journalist and changed the lives of scores of other teenagers. But they also taught me, by example, why journalism matters.

Papers like the Press are priceless tools for building and maintaining a community. They inform their readers about their government, giving them the tools to effectively govern themselves. They shine light on dark places, exposing injustices. They throw a spotlight on the things of which we should feel proud. And they bring us together – announcing marriages, births and deaths and telling the stories of our lives.

When a community lets its lone newspaper fail, it is failing itself. In the past the Press thrived as a locally-owned community newspaper. Those who care about the future of Bristol should now invest in the paper, reclaiming it and restoring it to what it once was. The city owes itself that much. People who can't figure out how to make money with a city's only newspaper should frankly get out of the money making business – and people who think Bristol is not a lesser city without its paper are kidding themselves.

Joe Killian
Greensboro, N.C.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Rell coming to Bristol business Tuesday

Press release from a public relations firm:

(BRISTOL, CT) – November 17, 2008 . . . A new "cogeneration" plant – one that will power, heat, and air condition two manufacturing firms and put surplus power back into the grid – will be unveiled on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at PEPCO and Bass Products, 435 Lake

Avenue, Bristol, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Governor Jodi M. Rell, a proponent of alternative energy solutions, will be present at the event from 4:30-5:00 p.m. to lead the unveiling ceremony. Other highlights include food and beverages by Ann Howard's catering, live music by the Doug Jones Group and a display of vintage automobiles – a passion of PEPCO founder Bob Sposato. Complimentary valet parking is available at 75 Cross Street.

Designed and built by technicians at the firm and based on a low emission natural gas fired Caterpillar generator connected to a Cain heat recovery system, the plant takes the normally wasted heat produced by its engine and supplies two heat absorption chiller/heaters to heat and cool the building. The process also increases the overall efficiency of fuel burned from 30% to over 60% and still provides enough electricity to power both the PEPCO and Bass facilities at peak demand times, with surplus going back into the power grid to help lower the cost of electricity for all customers.

For more information about PEPCO or Bass Products, contact Tony Sposato at 860-585-7923 or visit www.bassproducts.com or www.pepco-ft4.com.

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West End study meeting Thursday

The West End Neighbhorhood Study, set for completion in four months or so, plans another meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Imagine Nation museum. Here is the agenda.

The consultant has a terrific website about the study here. It's a model for communicating effectively online what's going on that city government ought to follow, something that may be especially important if The Bristol Press vanishes after January 12.

Anyway, here are the study's tentative recommendations so far:

Housing

1. Target the use of Community Development Block Grant funds for housing rehabilitation activities in the neighborhood

2. Encourage the establishment of a West End Neighborhood Association, which could create a resource guide with information about codes, services, financial resources and assistance available to property owners

3. Educate property owners and residents about housing code requirements and nuisance ordinances

4. Encourage the development of a guide to the different types of residential architecture in the neighborhood; use the guide to market the neighborhood’s rich and diverse architectural character Connecting the Neighborhood via Diverse Means of Transportation

5. Support the construction of a new road through the former IGA Supermarket site to connect Park Street and Divinity Street

6. Replace deteriorating sidewalks in the neighborhood

7. Designate a neighborhood bike route and create a designated bike lane along Divinity Street

8. Provide traffic-calming measures along Park Street, including pedestrian connections along Park Street to create safe

pedestrian access to Rockwell Park and Muzzy Field

9. Explore the possibility of connecting Landry Street with Chestnut Street and then eliminating Landry Street’s connection to Divinity Street

10. Working with Connecticut Transit, encourage the extension of bus service into the neighborhood Parks, Open Space, the Pequabuck River and Recreation

11. Allocate the funding necessary to maintain the investment that the City has made in Rockwell Park

12. Create new, well-lit and safe pedestrian pathways in the neighborhood that connect the parks and that provide pedestrian access to the Pequabuck River for passive recreation uses

13. Support river clean-up/improvement efforts

14. Support efforts to better integrate the Pequabuck River into the neighborhood

15. Take the opportunity to rebuild the West Street bridge over the Pequabuck River with realignment that helps to create riverfront access

16. Ensure that any new development that occurs near the Pequabuck River be given sustainability considerations (runoff, plantings)

17. Acquire select properties adjacent to Muzzy Field along Park Street to provide greater visibility of/access to Muzzy Field

18. Encourage the further use of Muzzy Field and encourage neighborhood-based activities during events (e.g., closing off Muzzy Street for street vendors to create a neighborhood community atmosphere during games)

Business Support

19. Target the use of Community Development Block Grant funds for commercial rehabilitation activities in the neighborhood to improve the look of the center and the commercial corridors

20. Create new on-street parking spaces along Park Street

21. Encourage property owners to establish partnerships to provide additional and shared parking near the Route 72/Route 69 intersection, making municipal contributions to increased and improved parking wherever possible

22. Improve the streetscape to materially improve the overall look of the commercial corridors of the neighborhood, including lighting, signage, landscaping, and street furniture.

23. Support commercial improvements that create active uses of first-floor retail spaces and foster positive pedestrian activity, including zoning requests that foster appropriate outdoor uses (e.g., outdoor seating)

24. Target economic development efforts to attract new businesses into the West End neighborhood that will draw people to the neighborhood and will establish it as a destination (e.g., bank, quality restaurants, bookstore)

25. Support uses along Park Street that take advantage of their proximity to Muzzy Field and that complement activities and events there

26. Work with commercial property owners on environmental assessment and remediation as needed

27. Encourage the development of a West End Business Directory to promote the businesses in the neighborhood

28. Foster new relationships between neighborhood businesses and other businesses (e.g., banks) that are committed to the neighborhood Safety and Quality of Life

29. Support and encourage the formation of a West End Neighborhood Association, comparable to the Forestville Village Association, comprised of business owners, property owners, homeowners, and residents, who can function as a leadership body within the neighborhood and take responsibility and ownership of both this plan and neighborhood revitalization

30. Actively participate in a collaborative effort to market the neighborhood and promote its assets and amenities

31. Support the efforts of businesses, institutions, and organizations that engage the community’s youth in positive ways (e.g., mentorship programs, youth sports leagues, apprenticeships with local business owners)

32. Support and encourage neighborhood block parties

33. Support the efforts of the Bristol Boys & Girls Club to build a new facility in the neighborhood

34. Use the City’s Code Enforcement Team to target code education and code enforcement in the neighborhood

35. Support the creation of active block watches in the neighborhood

36. Increase police patrols in the neighborhood to improve safety and the perception of safety

37. Consider establishing a West End police beat to foster increased familiarity between the residents, business owners, and youth with the police and to improve preventative police patrols in the neighborhood

38. Explore the possibility of establishing a new police substation location in the neighborhood, particularly near Rockwell Park

39. As part of the coordinated signage and way-finding program for the neighborhood, create signs that clearly identify offstreet parking lots, their purpose, who may use them, and hours of operation

40. As part of a comprehensive streetscape strategy, install pedestrian-scale lighting standards along the street designed to improve the safety and comfort of people in the area and to establish a linked, consistent character with and

throughout the neighborhood

Safety and Quality of Life

1. Encourage and support the formation of a West End Neighborhood Association, similar to the Forestville Village Association, comprised of business owners, property owners, homeowners, and residents, which can take a leadership role on behalf of the neighborhood in the implementation of this plan and neighborhood revitalization efforts

2. Actively participate in a collaborative effort to market the neighborhood and promote its assets and amenities

3. Support the efforts of local businesses, institutions, and organizations that engage the neighborhood’s youth in positive

ways (e.g., mentorship programs, youth sports leagues, apprenticeships with local business owners)

4. Support and encourage neighborhood block parties

5. Support the efforts of the Bristol Boys & Girls Club to build a new facility in the neighborhood

6. Use the City’s Code Enforcement Team to target code education and enforcement efforts in the neighborhood

7. Support the creation of active block watches in the neighborhood

8. Increase police patrols in the neighborhood to heighten police visibility

9. Explore establishing a West End police beat to improve relationships and communications between the police and

neighborhood residents, business owners, and youth

10. Explore the possibility of establishing a police substation in the neighborhood, particularly near Rockwell Park

11. As part of a coordinated “way-finding” program for the neighborhood, provide signs that clearly identify the location

and purpose of local off-street parking lots, who may use them, and their hours of operation

12. As part of a comprehensive streetscape program for the neighborhood, install pedestrian-scale street lighting that improves the safety and comfort of people in the area and reflects the distinctive character of the neighborhood O’Connell School site

1. Utilize a portion of the site to provide public access to the Pequabuck River

2. Encourage the development of a bicycle/pedestrian trail and other passive recreation uses along the site’s river frontage as part of a comprehensive riverfront greenway and access program

3. Give preference to redevelopment projects that take the greatest advantage of the site’s proximity to the Pequabuck River and best “re-introduces” the river into the neighborhood

4. Give strong preference to redevelopment projects that include adaptive re-use – rather than demolition – of the main portion of the building

5. Support the adaptive re-use of the building for residential and/or community-based purposes

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Pasta dinner Thursday to benefit Derek Jerome's family

Release sent to me this morning:

Please support this Benefit for the family of Derek Jerome, Sr., candidate for State Representative, who sadly took his own life last month.

What: Benefit Pasta Dinner for the Jerome Family

When: November 20, 2008 from 5-7pm

Where: Elks Club, South St., Bristol

Donation: $10 per person and $7 for children under 12.

Proceeds go to the Jerome Family Fund c/o Valley Bank, 4 Riverside Avenue, Bristol, CT. The fund has been set up to provide tuition assistance for Derek & Teri’s sons- D.J., age 6 and Brandon, age 6 months.

D.J. is currently attending St. Anthony's School. If you are unable to attend, you may also mail your contribution directly to Valley Bank.

For tickets please call Henry Raymond at 860-796-8023 or Gary Schaffrick 860-806-0609. Tickets are also available at the door.

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November 16, 2008

California columnist decries possible Press closure

Silas Lyons, a columnist at Redding.com in California, wrote a good one today here.

Here's some of the piece:

If the The Bristol Press and The Herald of New Britain close, they will mark the spot where we turned a sad corner in this country. Ever since the printers who taught Benjamin Franklin the trade, there has been a place in the American town for a newspaper.

The industry has risen and fallen, to be sure. It has had dark days before.

The closure of newspapers in communities that once supported two, three or even more of them was common through the latter half of the 20th century. But that was consolidation. This is something different.

If newspapers close today, they will leave behind them not just a lack of competition, but a lack of news.

Newspapers bind together communities in a way nothing else does.

It will be a newspaper that tells you when your taxpayer money is misused. It will be a newspaper that tells you not that a candidate is running for office and saying such and so about his opponent, but who contributed to his campaign. It will be a newspaper that provides a public forum every day for dissenting points of view to hash out the important questions that face the community.

Plus, newspapers have the crossword puzzles and the funny pages.

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Ward 'cautiously optimistic' on fate of newspaper

Mayor Art Ward said the other day that he is "cautiously optimistic" that The Bristol Press will survive a January 12 deadline set by its corporate owners.

Ward said he spoke recently with the mayor of New Britain, where The Herald also faces closure, about what could be done to save both papers.

"We're both hoping that something can come to fruition" in time to preserve the historic dailies, Ward said.

Ward said he recognizes that is "highly unlikely" the Press "would be in the format it is today" if it manages to find a new owner or a new way to operate in time to avoid shutting down entirely.

Ward said that he was contacted last week by someone representing an unidentified potential buyer for the paper, which he hopes might lead somewhere.

He said that his aim is to do whatever he can "to keep the printed media in print form" to the degree possible for the long haul.

One alternative, the mayor said, is for the Press to publish less than seven days a week. For decades, it was a six day a week paper, adding a Sunday edition only in 1996 that many readers never liked.

Ward said he hopes that people will keep trying to think of ways the paper might stay open.

"The more scenarios that are presented, the more likely" that one will "arrive at a solution" that keeps the community's daily publishing.

The mayor said he's spoken with Press Editor Bill Sarno and many others "to get the message out of our willingness" to help foster a solution that would keep the paper alive.

"It wouldn't be responsible of me to shrink back into the woodwork," Ward said.

Ward asks state, feds to drop unfunded mandates

Statement from Mayor Art Ward this afternoon:

In light of the budget deficits anticipated in both federal and state governments over the next few years and the impact of those deficits on the municipal budget process, I am requesting that the state and federal governments review the list of unfunded mandates imposed on local governments in order to:

1. determine the extent to which any of these mandates are absolutely necessary
2. to evaluate the potential of prioritizing these mandates for deciding the extent of the impact on the local communities with regard to financial burden and the services intended by the unfunded mandates.
3. to assess the possibility of either eliminating or suspending any of these unfunded mandates until the cities can again realize a solid financial base for continued funding
4. this procedure would include all segments of city government including both municipal and educational venues.
5. If adoptable, this proposal might lessen the financial burden on the communities at minimal/no cost or exposure to the state and federal governments thereby easing the burden on the taxpayer as we approach our pending budgetary process.

November 15, 2008

ESPN to build day care center for its workers

A new day care complex planned by ESPN will house 240 children of the worldwide sports leader’s employees.

Biff Longfield, who heads ESPN’s planning and construction division, said that if everything goes according to plan, work on the 205 Enterprise Drive facility would get underway in the spring.

The company intends to knock down an empty 50,000-square-foot storage building on the site in the city’s 229 Technology Park soon and to erect three buildings in its place, two of which would serve a different age group while the other would house a gymnasium that employees could use during off hours for child care.

Longfield said that ESPN is working with Bright Horizons, a day care provider that would operate the facility during normal business hours. It has teamed up with other large companies to provide day care.

The city’s planning and zoning commissions have given the proposal their blessing and other businesses in the industrial park have also agreed that the day care center should be allowed.

City Planner Alan Weiner said that a day care center is allowed in the industrial park as long as it gets an approval from the land use boards.

Longfield said the initiative for the day care center came from the Walt Disney Co, the owner of ESPN.

ESPN began searching for an appropriate site “close to our campus” off Route 229 but not actually on it.

He said that the company wanted a separate site because of the “security and risk management issues” involved in the day care center.

The planned day care, which won’t have any signs to indicate what it is, would have “its own internal security” to make sure children, staff and visitors are safe, Longfield said.

“It is only going to be for ESPN employees,” he said.

The 7-acre site currently has the storage building, 122 parking spaces and 11 truck dock spaces, Longfield said.

It has a small ditch, too, that requires ESPN get the backing of the city’s Wetlands Commission before proceeding with its plans.

The day care center will care for children as young as six weeks old and as old as 12, Longfield said. It will include a drop-in center for snow days or for when parents are sick, he said.

The center will operate only during normal business hours, he said.

The preliminary design calls for three buildings rather than one large one in order “to break down the scale” of the complex and make it appear smaller, Longfield said. It will be screened by landscaping, he added, to make it even less visible.

“It’s not something that’s going to jump out at you,” Longfield said.

There will be parking for employees and some others as well as a pull-in drop-off area where parents can stop to bring their children inside or go in to pick them up, Longfield said.

All told, it can handle about 115 cars, he said.

Land use regulators gave the plan a solid thumbs up, calling it well-considered and a good use for the property, which is within walking distance of ESPN.

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