Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jul 20, 2008 Memorial Tree Grows Taller; Smith Family Fights on

George, Maureen and daughter Bree Smith stand before the Cos Cob Library and by the growing ruby horse chestnut tree planted in 2006 in Strickland Park in memory of their son, 26-year-old George Smith IV.

Full Story: Greenwich Citizen

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Jul 30, 2008 'Listening and Leading Tour' Makes Stop in Westport

Jim Himes of Cos Cob, a Democratic candidate in the 4th Congressional District, brought his "Listening and Leading Tour" to the Westport Public Library on Sunday.

Full Story: Westport News

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Friday, July 25, 2008

Jul 24, 2008 Exclusive: Himes on Himes

These days, Fourth District Democratic Congressional candidate Jim Himes is striving to keep a high profile throughout Fairfield County. And as part of his efforts to introduce himself to voters, Himes is attending 17 town meetings in 17 days, a tour the campaign has dubbed the "Listening and Leading Tour."

"It's a great opportunity to get to meet the voters and exchange ideas on the issues," Himes said in a recent interview with the Minuteman Editorial Board. "We've gotten a warm reception and it's been very gratifying."Himes is opposing incumbent Congressman Christopher Shays, a Republican who has represented the Fourth District since 1987.

In the past two election cycles, Shays has fended off a pair of serious election challenges from former Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell.

Himes said the reason he is running is simple: he wants the nation to return to its core values."It might sound hokey, but I firmly believe in our constitutional principles," explained Himes. "The ideas of freedom, service and democracy that guided the hands of our Founding Fathers. The American dream has been eroded."

Himes explained the starting point for America's return to core values involves three main issues: education, universal health care and energy.In terms of universal health care, Himes was critical of Shays' co-sponsoring The American Health Care Benefits Program Act (AHBP) with Congressman Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat.

"Chris Shays has been a Johnny-come-lately on this issue," noted Himes. "Jim Langevin has tried to get this bill passed in the past, and Chris Shays is coming on board only when it has reached a crisis stage."

Himes, who was born in Lima, Peru, and also lived in Bogota, Colombia as a child before moving to New Jersey, noted another reason he was running for Congress is the excellent public education he received in the Garden State."That public education is why I was able to go to Harvard and then to Oxford," he said. "Look, why is it that 40 percent of students in Bridgeport that walk into high school as freshmen don't walk out as graduates?"

Himes, a resident of Cos Cob, worked for 12 years at Goldman Sachs after Harvard and Oxford, then left the financial firm to join Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit organization charged with eradicating urban poverty. The candidate's financial background has proven to be a boost, as he is nearly even with Shays in fundraising.In figures released by the Federal Election Commission on July 16, Himes had raised $2.1 million as compared with Shays $2.3 million.

Another positive for Himes in the race with Shays is the widespread unpopularity of President George W. Bush. As the lone remaining Republican Congressman in New England, Shays will be vulnerable if anti-Bush sentiments and Barack Obama supporters drive up voter turnout. That could be especially harmful in Bridgeport, which is heavily Democratic, but has traditionally had low turnout.

The Democratic candidate argued that Shays has been lax on bringing significant funding back to the district, saying that freshman Connecticut Congressmen Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney have done a better job that Shays, now in his 21st year on Capitol Hill."I'll be a Congressman who can walk into (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi's office on day one and say here's what we need for our district," said Himes.

Himes, who is a former Chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, said he would not necessarily align himself lock, stock and barrel with the national Democratic Party on every issue.

"I'm particularly disappointed with how the Democrats handled FISA," said Himes. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), born after the Watergate scandal, establishes how the government can secretly eavesdrop on Americans in their own country in intelligence investigations.

On July 10, President Bush signed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA), aimed at updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The law meant to update FISA but many insist it gutted the original law by eviscerating the role of the judicial oversight in government surveillance.

The law also gave sweeping immunity to the telecommunications companies that aided the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. The act would not have passed without Democratic support and Obama controversially endorsed its passage.

But before he gets to Congress and even before he gets a crack at Shays, Himes must first defeat Lee Whitnum of Greenwich, who has collected enough signatures to force a Democratic primary Aug. 12.

Himes said he is glad Whitnum qualified for the ballot."From a practical standpoint, it's great for me," Himes said. "This allows me to get my name out there and to get our operation ready to go.

"I'm not taking anything for granted, but I am looking forward to the primary."

Source: Minuteman

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Fri Jul 18, 2008 Bishop: Novelist at 90, Woman of Independent Accomplishment

Tina Bishop, after a lifetime of writing, is a novelist at 90 with the debut of Fisherman's Creek...

Full Story: Greenwich Citizen

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

07/01/08 Fire burns one-family house in Greenwich; no injuries

GREENWICH, CONN. - A fire that engulfed two floors of a single family home today in Cos Cob was extinguished by 7:30 a.m., the city fire department said.

Volunteers from the Banksville Fire Department rushed to the emergency at 20 Fado Lane about 6:30 a.m.

No injuries were reported.

No rescue was needed, the Greenwich Fire Department said.

A cause was not given.

Source: Journal News

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An Invitation to our Cos Cob Community: BLOG ON!

Since this site is all about Cos Cob, we’d like to get the unique perspectives of local bloggers. If you’ve been blogging, great – send your name, email and a link to your blog to us at CosCobRoundup@gmail.com - we would love to check it out and possibly feature it on our Cos Cob site.

If you’ve never blogged, but think you’d like to give it a shot and share your views on what’s happening in the community, we'd like to help you get started. [For the record, “blog” is short for “weblog” which is kinda like an online journal]. Let us know what would make entering the blogosphere easy and stress-free for you and we’ll do our best to make it happen.

Point is, this site runs on the input, insights and inspiration from folks like you. We’d like to hear what you have to say – and so would others in Cos Cob. So blog on!

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