Stratford Hauntings

A Halloween haunted house in Stratford has become a mansion of terror for its owners and town officials. Joyce Mounajed and Jennifer Cervero's annual outdoor Halloween display was intended to give visitors to their East Main Street home a frightening thrill, but a ghoulish hanging character scared some townsfolk enough to shout in protest.

When Rev. Johnny Gamble, of Friendship Baptist Church in Stratford, happened to pass by the house last Saturday, he saw red. He called police and then confronted the homeowners. Gamble was so outraged by the hanging man, which he interpreted as a representation of the lynching of an African-American man, that he promised to organize a "massive protest" in front of the home if it wasn't removed. Mayor James R. Miron, Police Chief John Buturla and other community leaders met with Mounajed and Cervero and convinced them to take down the hanging man. The women insisted the character was just meant to provide some Halloween fun and did not depict any racial group. They removed the figure from the noose and moved it to the steps of the house, where it sits with a bloody knife through its heart. Since this incident hit the national news, the family has been harassed and threatened.

Halloween displays like this have sparked controversy across the country. Some homeowners take the decorations down yet others defend their right to keep them up. What do you think?

Moving Up

With one eye securely positioned on The White House, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd has his other eye set squarely on Iowa. Without a win in the early Iowa caucus Dodd's chances of moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. are over, and right now he's at the back of the pack of Democratic presidential hopefuls. What's the five-term senator from Connecticut to do? Well, his advisers said Iowa's the place he ought to be, so he loaded up the truck and moved to—Des Moines. That's right, Des Moines (Connecticut residents remember, both esses are silent). And wife Jackie and daughters Grace and Christina have joined him, too (Grace has been enrolled in kindergarten there).

So what about the people who voted for him in the first place? According to Dodd campaign spokesperson Colleen Flanagan,"His constituents in Connecticut understand that it is important to have a strong showing there [in Iowa]." Does that mean Connecticut's left with one senator, namely Joe Lieberman, to look out for its interests? Let us know what you think.

Tuition Wishin'

What bothers me most about the announcement today that college costs have risen an inflation-busting 6.6% during the last 12 months is the fact that as costs rise, the number of class days shrinks. In 1964, college students were in class an average of 191 days a year, according to the National Association of Scholars; now it's more like 140. That's a 50 day difference! Ten weeks!! The Christmas break has become unconscionably long, the school year ends in early May, classes typically meet once or twice a week. The whole thing is a joke, no doubt pushed hard by faculty members, many of whom would rather not have to be in actual classrooms with actual students. These same faculty members are enjoying unprecedented prosperity and leisure, especially those at the top colleges, which are basically printing money at this point. It's hard to see what will snap this trend . . . liberal guilt, maybe?

Simply Irresistible

In reading about the antibiotic-resistant organism known as MRSA, here, you may be wondering why the cases mentioned as occurring in Connecticut have often been linked to kids in high school. My theory: Kids in school, especially those involved in athletics who are routinely cut and bruised during competition, no longer take showers at the end of practices and games. At one time, it was required that athletes take hot showers at school before getting back into street clothes. If you didn't, there was something strange about you. Now, at most schools, the showers are basically unused, and cuts and scrapes that once would have been scrubbed at with soap and water right away are now allowed to fester. What's the reason for this? I have no idea, but somehow kids growing up in a seemingly permissive, sexually charged era are too modest to take showers in front of each other.

What the Cell?

The Insurance Journal recently ran an interesting article talking about the effectiveness of Connecticut's cell phone and driving laws. The gist of the story is that although more people are being ticketed by police for breaking the law, the reason is that even more are completely ignoring (and breaking) the law. (Don't even get me started on the fact that over two dozen bus drivers have been ticketed -- "Ride the bus and leave your negligent death to us.") And of those actually ticketed, less than half are being forced to pay the $100 fine.

Of course, there's talk of the legislature fine tuning the bill, but we all know the problem isn't the ban, it's the enforcement, which has been very weak, at best.

Yes, I know the police have better things to attend to, but when public safety is at risk because someone is more interested in keeping a phone tucked under their ear than paying attention while properly piloting a 2,000-pound hunk of glass and metal moving at 70 mph through a turn on a busy highway, I think it deserves their attention.

Then again, that might require them to put their own phones down first.

The Mildest Show on Earth

I see that the state legislature has approved a $1.25 million bonding request for renovations at Bridgeport's P.T. Barnum Museum. You may think this is an appropriate expenditure of public funds, or you may not, but to me it proves Barnum's famous line that there's a sucker born every minute. If the idea of the Barnum Museum is to keep alive the legacy of its namesake, it should be the most exciting, unpredictable, over-the-top museum in America. It should be a magnet for outrage, a center for scam, the Weekly World News of the museum world. People should be lining up outside its doors to come view the latest spectacle. Instead, the museum is quiet, unassuming and, dare I say it, so tasteful that you barely know it's there. What could and should be one of Connecticut's most notable and colorful attractions is instead a shrinking violet. Barnum no doubt would be embarrassed to have left behind such a low-key monument. And the state should wonder about its unquestioning support. Who are the suckers this time?

Mountain Lions in Connecticut?

One of our most commented-upon stories in the past few years is "Seeing Ghosts" by Brigitte Ruthman, which explores the possibility of mountain lions (or "cougars" or "catamounts" or "pumas") having returned to the state. Since the story was published on connecticutmag.com in 2005, there have been numerous eyewitness accounts posted from people who believe that they have seen a mountain lion here, primarily in the less-populated and more-forested northeastern and northwestern corners of the state.

Officials at the Department of Environmental Protection maintain that the majority of sightings are either bobcats or coyotes, and cite the lack of physical evidence (no footprints, no dead carcases, etc.). The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has created a site dedicated to the Easter Cougar, and is trying to verify the existence of this elusive creature.

I personally have done a lot of hiking around the state and never have come across any of these creatures, but that doesn't mean they're not out there. Anyone have any stories to share?

UPDATE: I posted this last week, and lo and behold in a hometown paper, the Shelton Weekly, there's a report of a third appearance of a large "cat-like" animal in the White Hills section of town. The creature sighted was a "golden animal" "the size of a baby deer" and was reported in a tree at one point.