Here is the link to this great article about having people stay on your and pay you for the privilege.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/dining/26farms.html
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Another way to encourage staycations and make money
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/08/25/dining/20090826-farmstay-slideshow_index.html
This was a great slide show about how a farm decided to make some money having people pay to stay at the farm. Heck they even have people paying to do some of the chores. Absolutely unbelievable!
This was a great slide show about how a farm decided to make some money having people pay to stay at the farm. Heck they even have people paying to do some of the chores. Absolutely unbelievable!
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food
This a great article about the problems with our food chain. You have to ask are these huge farms endangering our health. As Russ Blakesly brought out at the town meeting, with his water polluted from one of these large operations, we need to ask ourselves whether this type of farming should be allowed in town. Is it ok to have large operations that confine large numbers of animals with all of the pollution that it causes?
This a great article about the problems with our food chain. You have to ask are these huge farms endangering our health. As Russ Blakesly brought out at the town meeting, with his water polluted from one of these large operations, we need to ask ourselves whether this type of farming should be allowed in town. Is it ok to have large operations that confine large numbers of animals with all of the pollution that it causes?
Developement Rights Purchased & New Ordinance Apporved
All of the measures that were proposed by the board of selectman were approved by the town last night.
There was some discussion about whether the ordinance, called the Right to Farm, was necessary because the town was subject to a state law that all ready said the same thing. Some other residents were concerned that the town is favoring one business over another and were extending special rights to the farming industry. A representative from the Connecticut Farm Bureau said that this was more of a Policy Statement by the town and many other towns (Woodstock and Guilford was considering it) had already approved the same ordinance. Probably the most poignant expression of opposition came Russ Blakesly who recited how a large Confined Animal Farm had polluted his water at his home. His feeling was that by approving the Policy Statement would allow large companies to bring in even more types of these operations and that we aren't encouraging family farms. This caused Mr. Smith from Cushman Farm to state that you can't make money with small operations.
There was some discussion about whether the ordinance, called the Right to Farm, was necessary because the town was subject to a state law that all ready said the same thing. Some other residents were concerned that the town is favoring one business over another and were extending special rights to the farming industry. A representative from the Connecticut Farm Bureau said that this was more of a Policy Statement by the town and many other towns (Woodstock and Guilford was considering it) had already approved the same ordinance. Probably the most poignant expression of opposition came Russ Blakesly who recited how a large Confined Animal Farm had polluted his water at his home. His feeling was that by approving the Policy Statement would allow large companies to bring in even more types of these operations and that we aren't encouraging family farms. This caused Mr. Smith from Cushman Farm to state that you can't make money with small operations.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Special Town Meeting
Tonight is the special town meeting to approve several purchases of development rights to properties in town. The first is vote on buying the developement rights to a farm called the Rechlin Property at 753 Waterman Rd. The total cost of this purchase is $50,000 or $7.06 for each man, woman, and child in the town. This would allow no access to the citizens in the town but allow for no developement.
The second request is for the release of $318,652 from a grant that was given to the town from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Farm and Ranchland Grant to purchase Conservation Easements on 3 properties. The first property the Cyr property at 1038 Trumbull Highway, the second at 595 Trumbull Highway called the Slate property, and third the Mindel property at 124 Norwich Avenue. All would allow the citizens to own the developement rights on these properties.
The third issue would ask the town to accept the Ordinance entitled Right to Farm Oridinance. The highlight of the ordinance is that the town would always favor the rights of the people to have a farm and farm with out harrasement.
In addition the town is being asked to allocate funds from the Town Capital Reserve account for work to be completed on Lake Shore Drive's Culvert to alleviate flooding issues and to buy a new Plow truck.
The second request is for the release of $318,652 from a grant that was given to the town from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Farm and Ranchland Grant to purchase Conservation Easements on 3 properties. The first property the Cyr property at 1038 Trumbull Highway, the second at 595 Trumbull Highway called the Slate property, and third the Mindel property at 124 Norwich Avenue. All would allow the citizens to own the developement rights on these properties.
The third issue would ask the town to accept the Ordinance entitled Right to Farm Oridinance. The highlight of the ordinance is that the town would always favor the rights of the people to have a farm and farm with out harrasement.
In addition the town is being asked to allocate funds from the Town Capital Reserve account for work to be completed on Lake Shore Drive's Culvert to alleviate flooding issues and to buy a new Plow truck.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Farmland saved in Lebanon
Governor Rell Announces State Preserving More Than 200 Acres of Farmland in Lebanon
07/28/2009 - Scanlon, Major Farms Among 6 Acquired for Preservation
Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that the state is completing the acquisition of development rights of two farms in Lebanon, assuring that more than 200 acres will be preserved for agricultural use.
The Governor said $702,600 to acquire the rights to the Scanlon Farm and $383,200 for the Major Farm were approved by the State Bond Commission in December 2008 and the funds are now being released to complete the purchase.
“Some of the most beautiful and productive farmland in the state is in Lebanon. This is valuable farmland the state and the town cannot afford to lose,” Governor Rell said. “My administration is committed to doing all we can to support a viable agricultural community, one that accounts for $2 billion of our economy.”
The Scanlon Farm acquisition includes 117.1 acres along Kick Hill Road. The Major Farm includes 95.8 acres near Old Route 2 and Camp Moween Road.
The State’s Farmland Preservation Program, which is administered by the Department of Agriculture, buys development rights to farms – placing a permanent restriction on the use of the land. The land can never be used for non-agricultural purposes and farms will stay under private ownership and continue to pay local property taxes.
The other four farms include:
• 164.9 acres – River Bend Farm, Suffield/Granby. $1.4 million;
• 82 acres – Cella Farm, Wallingford. $1.2 million;
• 149.8 acres – Weigold Farm, Torrington. $674,190;
• 82 acres – Kuss Farm, Woodbury. $575,000.
The goal of the program is to preserve 130,000 acres of farmland with 85,000 acres dedicated to growing crop. The state preserved its first farm in 1979. Since then, the state has preserved more than 34,500 acres on 254 farms.
Most of the land preserved is considered prime farmland. In many cases, the state attempts to preserve land contiguous or clustered near other farmland to create a stable farming community. Farmland preservation also results in many environmental benefits by conserving key wildlife habitat and providing flood control in certain areas.
07/28/2009 - Scanlon, Major Farms Among 6 Acquired for Preservation
Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that the state is completing the acquisition of development rights of two farms in Lebanon, assuring that more than 200 acres will be preserved for agricultural use.
The Governor said $702,600 to acquire the rights to the Scanlon Farm and $383,200 for the Major Farm were approved by the State Bond Commission in December 2008 and the funds are now being released to complete the purchase.
“Some of the most beautiful and productive farmland in the state is in Lebanon. This is valuable farmland the state and the town cannot afford to lose,” Governor Rell said. “My administration is committed to doing all we can to support a viable agricultural community, one that accounts for $2 billion of our economy.”
The Scanlon Farm acquisition includes 117.1 acres along Kick Hill Road. The Major Farm includes 95.8 acres near Old Route 2 and Camp Moween Road.
The State’s Farmland Preservation Program, which is administered by the Department of Agriculture, buys development rights to farms – placing a permanent restriction on the use of the land. The land can never be used for non-agricultural purposes and farms will stay under private ownership and continue to pay local property taxes.
The other four farms include:
• 164.9 acres – River Bend Farm, Suffield/Granby. $1.4 million;
• 82 acres – Cella Farm, Wallingford. $1.2 million;
• 149.8 acres – Weigold Farm, Torrington. $674,190;
• 82 acres – Kuss Farm, Woodbury. $575,000.
The goal of the program is to preserve 130,000 acres of farmland with 85,000 acres dedicated to growing crop. The state preserved its first farm in 1979. Since then, the state has preserved more than 34,500 acres on 254 farms.
Most of the land preserved is considered prime farmland. In many cases, the state attempts to preserve land contiguous or clustered near other farmland to create a stable farming community. Farmland preservation also results in many environmental benefits by conserving key wildlife habitat and providing flood control in certain areas.
Another part of the story from the Norwich Bulletin
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Melee erupts as Willimantic relatives rescue kidnap victims
Family brought bats, not ransom
The Associated Press
Posted Aug 03, 2009 @ 11:37 PM
GREENWICH —
A family asked to pay a ransom to free three immigrant relatives showed up with baseball bats instead, sparking a melee involving 19 people, police said.
The brawl happened in a shopping center parking lot Sunday morning in Greenwich.
The family members, who live about 90 miles away in Willimantic, told investigators their relatives had been kidnapped in Texas, police said.
They had agreed to meet the captors with ransom money, but showed up armed with baseball bats and rescued the three, police said.
Greenwich police said they arrived to find a large group of men fleeing in four vehicles. The vehicles were later found. Police declined further comment.
The kidnapping suspect and the three victims were being held for questioning on immigration violation charges, police said.
The brawl followed an alert by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to area police describing a human-smuggling investigation.
Citing the ongoing investigation, ICE declined to comment Monday, except to say that four people had been detained for immigration violations.
Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
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Melee erupts as Willimantic relatives rescue kidnap victims
Family brought bats, not ransom
The Associated Press
Posted Aug 03, 2009 @ 11:37 PM
GREENWICH —
A family asked to pay a ransom to free three immigrant relatives showed up with baseball bats instead, sparking a melee involving 19 people, police said.
The brawl happened in a shopping center parking lot Sunday morning in Greenwich.
The family members, who live about 90 miles away in Willimantic, told investigators their relatives had been kidnapped in Texas, police said.
They had agreed to meet the captors with ransom money, but showed up armed with baseball bats and rescued the three, police said.
Greenwich police said they arrived to find a large group of men fleeing in four vehicles. The vehicles were later found. Police declined further comment.
The kidnapping suspect and the three victims were being held for questioning on immigration violation charges, police said.
The brawl followed an alert by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to area police describing a human-smuggling investigation.
Citing the ongoing investigation, ICE declined to comment Monday, except to say that four people had been detained for immigration violations.
Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
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Crazy Story with Area Connections
courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-greenwich-melee-0804.artaug04,0,1148852.story
Courant.com
GREENWICH MELEE
Alleged Kidnappers Attacked With Baseball Bats By Victims' Relatives In Greenwich
By DAVID OWENS
August 4, 2009
GREENWICH —
Baseball bat-wielding relatives of three people reportedly kidnapped in Texas attacked two alleged human traffickers at a Greenwich shopping center Sunday.
Police took 19 people into custody after the melee, including one of the alleged traffickers, and federal immigration officials ordered four people held.
Greenwich police said they were alerted Sunday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that they were investigating a possible human smuggling case. The suspects were reportedly in a blue van and were transporting people kidnapped in Texas to Willimantic for ransom, police said.
About 11:30 a.m., Greenwich police got a 911 call reporting a fight at a strip mall in the Riverside section of Greenwich.
Police said they determined that those involved in the fight were the same people that Immigration was investigating.
Relatives of the kidnap victims, rather than pay ransom, decided to rescue the three captives, police said.
Family members agreed to meet the kidnappers at the shopping center.
"They said they were going to bring money, but they came with bats," a police spokesman told the Greenwich Time newspaper.
An Immigration spokesman said that the agency arrested four people on immigration charges, and they were being detained pending further investigation.
The spokesman said that the case remains under investigation and would not comment further.
All but the four ordered held by federal authorities were released.
Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Life in a sleepy little town
I have lived in town for a few years now and I am always amazed at what happens or doesn't here. I have been a member of the Fire Department for a few years and get to see the dirty underbelly of life here. One of those little dirty secrets is the number of alcohol related assaults, accidents, and "psychiatric" issues that I have personally had to respond to. In just the last 2 days we have had 4 calls in town and 2 of those calls were alcohol related. One was was a potential drunk driver who rear ended someone on Route 2 and then a Psych call at a camp in town.
On these calls I have been spit at, had blood splattered on me, sexual innuendo's hurled at me, and been physically assaulted. This happens nearly every weekend and no one discusses it. Our ambulance service is self supporting from the fee's that are charged for using the ambulance but I know that on many of these calls we never receive a dime in return for us going out and picking up these people.
There is so much focus by everyone on drugs but the elephant in the room is just ignored. Granted the state has changed their Drunk Driving laws and made them more onerous. The state has also increased the drinking age to 21 and made it so that those under 21 can't drive with any alcohol in their blood stream. In my eyes these are not proactive strategies to deal with the problems.
As a society we have put so much focus on things like suppressing weed and the war on drugs but are ignoring what causes a lot of other issues for people. I have been in the Emergency Medical Service's for over 10 years now and I can think of not one person that I have had bring to the hospital from smoking a joint or joints. I am not advocating that marijuana be legalized but I have to tell you that Alcohol causes many more problems in my eyes than marijuana.
This would give the impression that I am a teetotaler but I'm not. I just don't think that getting blinding drunk and starting a fight at a family get together or driving home drunk is a good idea. In my eyes this is a public health crisis that isn't being handled correctly and is contributing to the problems that we are facing as a country.
On these calls I have been spit at, had blood splattered on me, sexual innuendo's hurled at me, and been physically assaulted. This happens nearly every weekend and no one discusses it. Our ambulance service is self supporting from the fee's that are charged for using the ambulance but I know that on many of these calls we never receive a dime in return for us going out and picking up these people.
There is so much focus by everyone on drugs but the elephant in the room is just ignored. Granted the state has changed their Drunk Driving laws and made them more onerous. The state has also increased the drinking age to 21 and made it so that those under 21 can't drive with any alcohol in their blood stream. In my eyes these are not proactive strategies to deal with the problems.
As a society we have put so much focus on things like suppressing weed and the war on drugs but are ignoring what causes a lot of other issues for people. I have been in the Emergency Medical Service's for over 10 years now and I can think of not one person that I have had bring to the hospital from smoking a joint or joints. I am not advocating that marijuana be legalized but I have to tell you that Alcohol causes many more problems in my eyes than marijuana.
This would give the impression that I am a teetotaler but I'm not. I just don't think that getting blinding drunk and starting a fight at a family get together or driving home drunk is a good idea. In my eyes this is a public health crisis that isn't being handled correctly and is contributing to the problems that we are facing as a country.
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