Wayne Schulz’s Cool Stuff

The Department of Transportation's ninth annual truck roadeo will proceed Wednesday at the Tylerville maintenance yard in Haddam. Its cost — about $25,000 in staff time, equipment costs, food, T-shirts and trophies — is not playing as well in some quarters as it might have in other years, after firefighter training programs, food pantries, recreations centers and a broad array of other programs were hit with budget reductions this week.

Several states have steered away from the contests in recent years or changed the format to reduce costs.

" Pennsylvania stopped its roadeos several years ago, partially because of the cost," said Tony Dorsey of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. He forwarded a query from The Courant to agencies across the country and got a string of responses.

" Colorado scaled theirs back dramatically because of budget belt-tightening," Dorsey said. " Nevada does them, but they're sponsored by the Nevada Motor-Transport Association ... so it's private money."

Dorsey said Wyoming also lined up a private sponsor for a truck-driving championship. An Iowa DOT spokeswoman told The Courant that her department teams with several private motor-trade associations to hold the events. She said registration fees and sponsorship money reduce the public expenditure.

Illinois, South Dakota and Maine reported that they do not hold truck roadeos. Kansas has shelved its roadeos and now holds an annual training exposition with private partners, a spokeswoman said.

Officials in Alaska, the king of all the snow states, said they've never done truck roadeos.

"It is something, for us in Alaska, that is just not seen as being of great benefit to people who are looking to us for road improvements. We do other things, like hold career days to create jobs," Alaska DOT spokesman Roger Wetherell said.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-truck-roadeo-0905.artsep05,0,4671700.story

Loading mentions Retweet

Uh-Oh - maybe Chairman Michael Thomas shouldn't have opened his mouth and asserted in a letter sent to Tribal Membership on Wednesday, August, 19, 2009,”  that  “Foxwoods is here to support our people, not Wall Street.”

The Tribe Has Spoken

Mashantucket Pequot tribal councilors relieved Chairman Michael Thomas of his duties Monday, charging that he “betrayed our trust” by issuing a letter to tribal members describing his plan to deal with the tribe's dire financial circumstances.

The councilors sent an e-mail to Thomas in which they called for his resignation, closed his office and placed him on administrative leave, according to a tribal official who asked not to be named. The e-mail was sent by six members of the seven-member council. Thomas is the seventh member.

Loading mentions Retweet

Here's a great shot of Connecticut's legislature in action. They're burning some midnight oil surfing the web, playing solitaire, streaming a baseball game and eventually voting on the new budget.

I wonder if they're slipping in any legislative initiatives on Internet and laptop usage abuse by State employees?

The state House of Representatives late Monday approved a Democratic-written budget bill that would cut estate taxes for the wealthy, reduce the sales tax for everyone and increase the state income tax for couples earning more than $1 million a year.

For nonsmokers with middle-class income, the biggest tax impact would be a cut in their sales taxes from 6 percent to 5.5 percent that would be enacted in January 2010 in an attempt to stimulate the economy. But that tax cut would be repealed if the state's revenue collections fall more than 1 percent lower than projected.

In a vote shortly before midnight, the bill was approved largely along party lines, 103-45. The measure was immediately sent to the Senate, which was expected to approve the budget after a debate early this morning.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-state-budget-0901.artsep01,0,583118.story

Loading mentions Retweet