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The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Sackett v. EPA that federal protection of wetlands encompasses only those wetlands that directly adjoin rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. This is an extremely narrow interpretation of the Clean Water Act that could expose many wetlands across the U.S. to filling and development. Under this keystone […]
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How to kill a train line
Even while promoting transit-oriented development and better service, CT lawmakers are cutting back on the transit Our politician friends in Hartford are trying to kill mass transit in Connecticut, worsen our air quality and increase traffic, all in a move that contradicts public policy. They want to cut train service on Metro-North and Shore Line East railroads.…
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Wall Street settlement opens pathway to secure library parking
The recent Wall Street settlement between the City of Norwalk and Milligan Properties removes a nagging complication from moving forward with securing permanent on-site parking for users of the Norwalk Public Library. The settlement clears the deck for a renewed commitment to achieve the vision expressed by Mayor Rilling in his December 15, 2019, post-election…
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Arbor Day: Why planting trees isn’t enough
As ecologists who study forest restoration, we know that trees store carbon, provide habitat for animals and plants, prevent erosion and create shade in cities. But as we have explained elsewhere in detail, planting trees is not a silver bullet for solving complex environmental and social problems. And for trees to produce benefits, they need to be planted correctly – which often is not the case.
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Talk of pedestrian deaths touches a nerve
My recent column on the increase in pedestrian deaths brought us a lot of comments. Here are a few for you to consider: Doug Rankin, West Hartford “I have always enjoyed your column. Today’s was particularly alarming, and perhaps a canary in the coal mine. There have been more pedestrian deaths in the past 12 months…
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Long Island: So close to CT, yet so far away
On a clear day you can see it from the Connecticut shoreline (only about 20 miles away). But actually getting to Long Island often involves a very long, out-of-the-way journey. Maybe you’re going to LaGuardia or JFK. Or a Met’s game at Citi Field. Perhaps you’ll want to see the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.…
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Zone gasoline pricing — secretive and nonsensical
Connecticut’s free bus fares are gone and lawmakers have allowed gas taxes to rise to 20 cents a gallon as of April 1. But the end of our state’s “gas tax holiday” next month isn’t the reason gasoline prices vary so much from town to town. Just why does gasoline cost 60 cents a gallon…
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Act now to save endangered library parking
Creative programming and popular collections are the lifeblood of the Norwalk Public Library’s success, but convenient free parking is the oxygen that enables resident families to access the spectacular offerings available at the library’s Belden Avenue main branch. Unless City officials act quickly, the parking we’ve been able to offer for the past six years…
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Talk of pedestrian deaths touches a nerve
Last week’s column on the increase in pedestrian deaths brought us a lot of comments. Here are a few for you to consider: Doug Rankin, West Hartford “I have always enjoyed your column. Today’s was particularly alarming, and perhaps a canary in the coal mine. There have been more pedestrian deaths in the past 12 months…
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City-wide experiment will prove which side is right
In its continuing public service to Norwalk, NancyOnNorwalk plans to schedule a city-wide flush it event. This way we will all know whether the apartments are flooding the wastewater treatment plant. Oh sure, you’ve heard it, City officials and municipal staff members claim that the treatment plant can handle continuing development – which we all…
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NoN to offer one-day-a-year comments opportunity
Alas, the Comments section of NancyOnNorwalk.com remains a constant topic of debate between the governing board and the Managing Editor responsible for administering it. Over the years changes have been made to NoN’s Comments Policy – some minor tweaks (ALL comments now are subject to moderation review) as well as major improvements (EVERY commenter must use…
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Manhattan grand jury votes to indict Donald Trump, showing he, like all other presidents, is not an imperial king
A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump on March 30, 2023, for his alleged role in paying porn star Stormy Daniels hush money. Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina confirmed the indictment.
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Norwalk Charter Revision Commission update
The Norwalk Charter Revision Commission – authorized by the Common Council and comprised of seven Democrat, Republican and Unaffiliated volunteers – has been meeting bimonthly since September to review and recommend changes to the City’s charter. Largely unchanged since 1913, the charter is in desperate need of an update in order to make the document…
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Rising numbers of pedestrian deaths and injuries need everyone’s attention
She was just walking her dog. Seconds later she became the latest statistic in a growing list of pedestrians killed or maimed this year in Connecticut by motor vehicles. Donna Joy Berry, age 63, wasn’t on the road or even the sidewalk as she walked her dog in the Glenville neighborhood of Greenwich. She was…
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URGENT: Support NancyOnNorwalk by writing a note to State legislators
A bill up for a public hearing Monday in the Statehouse could help NancyOnNorwalk expand its news coverage. House Bill 6347 would require the Department of Administrative Services to award more state contracts for print and digital advertising to nonprofit entities and Connecticut-owned media outlet entities. If some of this advertising were directed to NancyOnNorwalk, you’d…
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ChatGPT’s opinion on Norwalk’s future
An NoN reader recently asked ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November, to use its future-predicting capabilities to advise Norwalk City government. This is the result. Prompt: hypothetically, could an AI be invented that could more accurately predict the future by making calculations of probabilities based on events in a large…