Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 17, Issue 18
Vice chair contends ‘gauntlet has been thrown, but by who?
Durham P&Z discusses Fair Association permit By Chuck Corley Special to the Town Times
of discussing the 1986 permit that defines how the property may be used.
For the past few months, the Durham Planning and Zoning Commission has had a number of issues with the way the Durham Fairgrounds are used. This began earlier in the year, when commission chairman George Eames reported that an electrical business was running on the property in what Eames considered a violation of permitted uses for the land. The commission’s concerns over usage rose in anticipation of Bombfest, with members worrying about the amount of noise, traffic and other disturbances that the concert might generate. After the concert was actually held, the obscenities spoken by some of the performers finally prompted the commission to seek a meeting with the Durham Fair Association in the hopes
While there was initially no response to the commission’s request for a meeting, one finally came Aug. 4. In a letter composed by attorney John Corona, with the unanimous approval of the Fair Association, members of the Planning and Zoning Commission were described as “small-minded,” with special attention paid to the possible biases of commission members. The letter pointed out that two members
Friday, August 13, 2010
A comfy cow ...
See Fair, page 12
In this issue ... Calendar............................4 Durham Briefs ...........12-13 Libraries ...............10-11, 14 Middlefield Briefs...........14 Sports ..........................25-27 Spotlight ..........................21
This little farmer took a break from last weekend’s Middlesex and New Haven counties’ 4-H Fair at the Durham Fairgrounds to rest with the cows. See more photos on pages 18-19. Photo by Stephanie Wilcox
Primary results in our towns: Democratic and Republican By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times In the Aug. 10 primary election, 29.4 percent of registered Republicans and an unknown (at press time) percent of registered Democrats in Middlefield voted. In Durham, 35.25 percent of registered Democrats voted in District 2 and 30.06 percent in District 3. On the Republican side, 34.5 percent voted in District 2 (where there was a congressional race) and 29.2 in District 3. For the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Chris Dodd (D), Linda McMahon won the statewide Republican primary and will face current State Attorney Gen-
eral Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, who was not involved in a primary. Dan Malloy, winner of the Democratic primary for governor, will face Tom Foley, winner of the Republican primary. Democrat Nancy Wyman, who partnered with Malloy, will face Mark Boughton, who won the Republican primary for Lt. Governor though Durham voters did not agree. Denise Merrill won the Democratic primary for Secretary of the State, carrying both our towns also. Kevin Lembo won the Democratic primary for Comptroller statewide and locally. Martha Dean won the Re-
publican primary for Attorney General. These are the candidates who will represent their parties on the Nov. 2 ballot. Finally, in the Republican primary contest to elect a candidate to face incumbent Congressman Joe Courtney (D), Janet Peckinpaugh bested the field statewide and in District 2 in Durham. Compare these results of how Durham and Middlefield voted, below. Names in bold are the town winners, which usually indicate statewide success except in the case of the U.S. Senate Republican primary in Durham, where former Congressman Rob Simmons beat statewide win-
ner Linda MacMahon and in the Republican primary for Lt. Governor where Lisa Wilson-Foley won in Durham but not statewide.
Middlefield Governor: Tom Foley (GOP) 72, Michael Fedele (GOP) 61, Oz Griebel (GOP) 36, Dan Malloy (DEM) 207, Ned Lamont (DEM) 150. Lieutenant Governor: Mark Boughton (GOP) 79, Lisa Wilson-Foley (GOP) 77, Nancy Wyman (DEM) 231, Mary Glassman (DEM) 125. U.S. Senate: Linda McMahon (GOP) 83, Peter Schiff (GOP) 42, Rob Simmons (GOP) 45. Secretary of State: Denise Merrill (DEM) 235, Gerry
Garcia (DEM) 109. Comptroller: Kevin Lembo (DEM) 261, Michael Jarjura (DEM) 83. Attorney General: Martha Dean (GOP) 103, Ross Garber (GOP) 60.
Durham Governor: Tom Foley (GOP) 209, Michael Fedele (GOP) 137, Oz Griebel (GOP) 75, Dan Malloy (DEM) 240, Ned Lamont (DEM) 183. Lt. Governor: Mark Boughton (GOP) 169, Lisa Wilson-Foley (GOP) 220, Nancy Wyman (DEM) 258, Mary Glassman (DEM) 161. U.S. Senate (GOP): Linda McMahon 174, Peter Schiff 80, See Results, page 3 box