Easton did a fantastic job. I've been very critical in the past when storms knocked out power around our town for days on end in recent storms. But in this case, we excelled in the face of such a brutal storm. I was down in Bridgeport this afternoon to try and dig the snow out from around my office, and I had to walk half a mile just to reach the business since the streets were completely untouched. Its going to be days before the roads are clear in Bridgeport, whereas our town has responded very well. Kudos to our town crews for doing a great job! View Comment

Awesome job to the community. I get up early every Christmas eve to buy a bunch of pastries for Christmas morning brunch. My holiday would never be the same if Great Cakes shut down. I'll make a point to come in more often for my baked goods! View Comment

"Alcohol Can Be Sold in Easton on Sunday" ...hahahaha I wish! I don't think there's been a liquor store in Easton since the 19th century or Pre-Prohibition. Though I guess its nice we can finally buy in neighboring towns on Sunday. View Comment

I've been a loyal customer of S'Mac in NYC and love the Mac and Cheese restaurant concept. I work down the road from this new franchise and though I'm excited its opening up, I have to say the prices are out of this world. Bring the prices down to at least S'Mac levels and I'm sure they will do very well. Just my 2 cents. View Comment

This D.A.R.E race is a great event, I encourage anyone who likes to run in our bucolic town to get out there on Saturday and do it for a fantastic cause! View Comment

This is a really tough issue. The Board of Selectmen were certainly put in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation with Mr. Hazel. If he was evicted our leadership would be viewed by many as heartless, and furthermore Easton would immediately have a new headache in selling/leasing a challenging piece of property. On the other hand, acquiring the property and leasing it to the former owner, while "humane," might strike others as being unfair to the average taxpayer. Its a tough call. One which doesn't have an easy answer. Though, I'm a bit mystified that this situation was only brought to light to the public at Thursday's meeting. Whereas I can understand the desire for discretion as to not shame a longtime resident, more open ended discussion might have elicited a more sympathetic response from many of our citizens. We also would have had a chance to help this individual before the Board of Selectmen were forced to drastically act on their own accord. Some questions will need answers. How the Board plans to proceed in this individual case, as well as addressing how to respond to future foreclosures (as Mr. Greiser proposes). And of course, how Mr. Hazel was allowed to be delinquent on his taxes for 20 years (and why act now?). If the Selectmen are willing to absorb the property in favor of one of our elderly residents, they at least owe the rest of us a full disclosure for their actions. Anything less and outrage for many will continue. View Comment

Its good to see that some of the driveway bonds will be released to Easton residents. Its taken quite a while! Hopefully our town officials will shed more light on the subject in their upcoming town forum. I was disappointed when I just read that a proposed petition was denied, hopefully Mr. Hermann and the other selectmen will allow their voices to be heard. View Comment

Hahahaha +1! View Comment

That's a fair amount of vitriol directed towards a whistle-blowing member of our community, who in my opinion is trying to improve where we live by keeping our leadership in check. If Mr. Webbe has the time and inclination to investigate, good for him. Sportman, I wouldn't call him pathetic, but I sure find your needless negative feedback to be just that, as is the unaccounted for 200K! View Comment

Thanks you Karen for taking action where others might not! Cruelty to animals is such a hard thing to witness, and although I'm sure you made a few enemies along the way, it was a smart decision. Though a few were unfortunately euthanized, your actions may have saved them (and other animals as well) from more suffering. Kudos View Comment

Its too bad that all the good dogs and their owners are punished because of the few who cannot behave and take responsibility for their dogs in Trout Brook Valley. I have one dog who is perfectly well-behaved and is a gentlemen off his leash, while my other dog tends to chase squirrels and get lost if he is allowed to roam. Thus, one of my dogs remains leashed while the other is allowed to go free. The end result, a pleasant time for all. Instead of punishing all, we should set up a system to report and ban those dogs who cannot behave within reason in Trout Brook Valley. Maybe then you would at least see more leashing too. View Comment

Sounds like a good idea to me! I was quite annoyed by the lack of accountability by our leadership over the power outages (specifically UI making us the last town to get online) and I am all for a voice that keeps our leadership in check. Watch Dogs have their place, and have a lot more to offer than the Herrmann apologists (see previous response) who ATTACK those who question our leaders (its happened to me once or twice!). So long as Webbe keeps the conversation fair I'm sure his website can be an asset to our community. View Comment

That's a wonderful sentiment Ivitone. I'm around your age and fully agree with your point of view. Recently my brother (who teaches) had to cut his tutoring session short with a student when the main Uconn-Stamford building was overrun by a Professor and his students chanting Occupy Stamford slogans. They don't realize their protests are quite inconsiderate of those who are not the problem. What a shame that these Occupy Protesters will infringe upon a time of year that many of us find not only relaxing, but sacred. Its just Classless. View Comment

Lets hope the 3rd time is the charm and Easton gets the preferential treatment from the Utilities it deserves! At least there's hope. View Comment

Thanks a lot UI! Easton still has the largest percentage of homes without power in the UI grid, with over 1,000 according to their website. Once again, Easton has the lowest priority, which is inexcusable. Didn't our leadership learn anything from the Irene? Easton residents deserve FAIR treatment from our Utility company. Easton should be 100% back online before UI loans a SINGLE crew to CL&P! View Comment

The problem isn't the dogs, its the dog owners. I'm an Easton resident who walks my two terriers in Trout Brook periodically, and as a responsible owner I understand that my younger dog needs to stay on a leash during the hikes (he likes to run off) whereas the other is a Trout Brook veteran who is well behaved on the trail. Both are wonderful to other dogs/people whom we pass on our walks. However, I've encountered some rather vicious dogs who should at the VERY LEAST be leashed on the trails, much less roam around freely. Last week, my friend and her two leased dogs were attacked by 2 German Shepherds who were trailing their jogging owner. HOW RESPONSIBLE OF HIM! He ran back to break up the fight, and instead of leashing his dogs just continued jogging. I understand we can't always predict animal behavior, but an owner should have the decency to understand the temperament of his animals. If not, dogs who show this behavior need to be reported and BANNED. If we can't elicit trail courtesy, FORCE IT. Its not fair to the well-behaved dogs. As for the Aspetuck Land Trust, their management of the land is certainly exemplary, but please take it easy on the signs! My (now leashed) dogs are now banned on seemingly half of the trails, and the big signs at every trail head and conjunction reeks of "Big Brother." These are woods! Let those who respect them utilize them for their intended purpose, a free, quite respite, in our otherwise congested and busy lives. View Comment

The 8:30 AM update is very, very upsetting and disconcerting. Most of us are past the point of complaining, we just want our power back! Our leaders in Hartford are seemingly ignoring small towns like Easton, our First Selectman ISN'T EVEN IN TOWN, and the biggest culprit of all, UI not only is slow to give us information, but then they manage to break their promises. Big picture, what will this do to our home values? If I were a prospective home buyer, I'd have another reason NOT to consider Easton. Who knew a Tropical Storm could be so damaging? Hey, If I were a generator salesman, I'd be going door to door right now too! Shame on those leaving us in the dark. View Comment

Thats more like it! Fingers crossed our house is one of the lucky ones back online tonight! View Comment

I don't see anything from the above article quoting Mr. Dacey that insinuates any fault by our first selectman. He clearly is criticizing UI and the State's inadequate response on Easton's behalf. According to UI's website, which is finally back online. Easton is still 63 percent without power, including my street. As of tonight, Fairfield and Woodbridge have the next highest percentage, with a mere 29 percent!!! Why is Easton being overlooked?! My neighbors are growing restless and many are either leaving town early for the long weekend or attempting to find nearby accommodations. This is no longer an inconvenience, its a catastrophe! We simply ask to be treated equally, and UI has dropped the ball. "Two to three days is a reasonable expectation to plan to be without power," said Herrmann. That was Monday. And I am hearing rumors that some people may be without power into and possibly through the weekend! Is this true?! Action from our elected leaders, not storm related pictures and a few quotes will satisfy those citizens without power and water. Lets hope tomorrow is the day this gets done. View Comment

Here here Eastonborn! Generally we only lose power for a few hours at a time, but with the wild weather we have experienced this year, it may be a good idea to invest in a generator. It's certainly something to think about these days. And to reiterate Eastonborn's first point. There is no need to disparage another member of our community on a message board designed to sound off on UI's inability to restore our power. TheDailyEaston has been a great (and only) place to get reliable information about our town's energy dilemma and the (mostly) civil discourse in the talkback section has (In my opinion) been beneficial for the community. This includes the points made by Mr. Dacey. So please, let's keep it nice. We've got enough else to worry about when we get home tonight! View Comment