THE Lowes down.

When is Lowe's opening in Torrington?

July 16th.

Let the discount feud begin. I'm talking to you, Home Depot.

Torrington's Skatepark: When you want something done right, a few local cats have to do it themselves

As a skater myself at one point in the distant past, I definitely feel for any local kids that face a strong degree of resistance to their chosen activity and/or lifestyle. Skating on the streets will get you in trouble with local authorities and is potentially damaging to city property (though rewarding in it's variety), but establishing official support for a local park ends up being an uphill battle through stuffy bureaucracy and apathetic city officials. So what's a youth to do? Bypass the BS and do it themselves. That's what Anthony Riccucci and Matt Mottai, two city BMX riders, have taken upon themselves to accomplish.

“We’re trying to keep kids off the streets, where they aren’t arrested or harassed,” Mottai said.

Nice work guys. Looks like Torrington's skatepark is going to get a nice new coat of TLC thanks to their fund raising efforts. City officials could take a lesson from their ability to get things done.

Read the whole article here.

Drinking and driving with a walker, floodwaters and a rainy night: reporting the minutes with an officer of the TPD

Ronald DeRosa of the Register Citizen reporting.

Sort of a mildly interesting fly-on-the-wall read during a calm night with one of Torrington's finest. But it's the comment section following the article that starts to raise a few eyebrows. Torrington mutants? Rags?

"DUDLEY wrote on May 11, 2009 8:40 AM:
" What a terrible article. You went on a ride along on a Thursday during a rain storm. Everyone knows that the Torrington Mutants don't come out in the rain. To be fair, why don't you go on a ride along on a summer weekend and witness what these guys really have to deal with, the bar fights the heroin addicts the and the typical torrington rags that walk around downtown. ""

It's Dudley's wording that amuses me. I've heard this 'Torrington rag' thing before, but mutants? Look, I've had my run ins with some uncomfortable-to-be-around locals downtown, but the rants I've often found associated with them is downright hateful. Sometimes I find myself reading the RC online just to catch some of these comentees and their colorful wording... it's amusing and depressive at the same time.. [as an aside, I think he states a great point, that an article like this should illustrate the violent offenders the local cops really have to deal with, though I'm aware this was more as a candid piece than some sort of exposé.]

I'm not saying that we shouldn't have a better system to deal with the mentally challenged and questionable people in Torrington. I once had some friends in town from out of state, and upon visiting downtown we ran into a certain individual who gleefully recounted dismembering someone with his car. We were trying to get back into our car and leave but out of a strange sense of courtesy we were sucked into his story, unable to say, "why the fuck are you telling us this?!" This, I could do without in the town I live in. But I digress.

I think at the heart of Torrington, we're better than this hateful diatribe that I read frequently from purported locals. Sure it may only be a few people, but it's still shitty to know people feel this way.

Anyways.

For the sake of continuity, I'll end this post with my own thoughts on police salaries, as it was apparently a hot topic of debate within the above mentioned comment section. I think the police should be paid much more than they are on average, but there should be much, much more rigorous prerequisites to be a cop. Don't you want the most qualified individual to come to your assistance when you or a loved one is in distress? I certainly do. And for people who put their asses on the line for others, and that includes soldiers, firefighters, etc - these people don't get paid nearly enough.

Welcome to Torrington! Here is your parking ticket.

So who hasn't had this experience: you've parked downtown, prepare to exit your vehicle but first pause briefly to glance at the Warner marquee. "Ah. Brian Regan. He's kinda funny." You get out of your car, turn around to lock the doors and there it is: a bright orange citation grinning back at you, mockingly. "Welcome to Torrington!", it proudly declares.

I remember when I first moved here, I had parked downtown - unaware of the bloodsport that is parking enforcement in Torrington. I had danced the usual dance you would in any city: feed the meter as per your needed allotment of time, note your required return and hurry back to your car, [sometimes] shaving a minute or two past your meter's expiration. You accept the risk and consequences inherent with such tardiness, but usually have the odds in your favor as a meter attendent cannot be in all places at once...

Or can they?



Enter Torrington's merciless meter maid. At the time, I had briefly parked downtown with my hazards on, halfway onto a parking space that was taken up by a car that had parked midway into two spaces. I had to bring my wife her phone, as she was late to work and had forgotten it earlier. I ran in and ran out, making eye contact on the sidewalk with the dreaded meter maid who was across the street. Naturally, one gets the instinct to flee upon the sight of this particular city employee, so I dashed to my car and made my escape. Gleefull that I had legitimately avoided a seemingly inevitable parking ticket, I still glanced in my rearview, expecting maybe a fist shake or two in my general direction. Instead, what I saw gave me pause for concern, as the meter maid had stopped in the middle of the crosswalk, furiously scribbling something onto her curious pad of paper, her face in a knot as I drove away...

Weeks later, I received a call from my college roommate, hundreds of miles away. He seemed amused as he recounted the details of a certain citation that had arrived at the door of our former house (my plates were still out of state). "They wrote you a parking ticket and you drove away?!" No one served me with a parking ticket. First come, first serve. You get to my car first, I get the ticket. If I drive away before you get to me, having parked for maybe 46 seconds, then you have not properly presented me with a ticket and, more importantly, don't stand in the middle of the street, a lousy parking ticket is not worth your safety!

Now, I don't really care about that. It's just a silly story to emphasize the overzealous efforts of Torrington's parking enforcement. But I hear it's gotten worse now that we have a new maid on the beat. Even downtown business owners are getting spanked by this tireless crusade, being ticketed on the spot for double-parking deliveries. This is craziness. How is a business supposed to function without it's materials? Why not provide some sort of downtown sticker for business owners, so that they don't get ticketed when the meter maid repels from the roof to catch them in the act? Rotary members have these sorts of permits, why not businesses, who bring in far more economic activity than the paltry proceeds of parking infractions? Torrington should nurture it's businesses, not fine them over technicalities in the case of everyday necessities like deliveries or drop offs. I'm not saying there should be a free-for-all parking situation for business owners, or for visitors, but something needs to change...

Sample minutes from a parking ticket appeals comittee. Ticketing people assisting the handicapped? Salvation army employees? Harsh.



So this is my opinion, of course. But it was interesting to see an editorial in the Register Citizen, entitled "Parking Enforcement has to Change", which essentially sums up that these policies should be business-focused, but not business-impartial. Hmm. Well I'm not sure that many 'shop owners' camp out on the street everyday, as one 'amused' comment suggests, but there needs to be a way to encourage business, and not punish visitors for shopping in downtown Torrington.

"... the $200,000 the city generates in parking tickets each year pales in comparison to the amount of money local businesses bring in for Torrington."

One individual's comment points out:

" The only thing that has to change is the topic of your editorials!! I am getting bored reading day after day you complaining about the parking meters being enforced. Did you get a ticket you are upset about? It is cheap to park downtown, we should all be thankful we have parking enforced so we don't have abandoned cars and commuters blocking up the streets. How about you pick a new topic? There are many other things to write on these days. maybe an editorial on the war, mothers day, the state budget? "

Which... is a good point, to an extent, with the exception of Mother's Day (sorry Mom), but I think it's important to address local issues, no matter how frivolous some people may find them to be. There are editorials on war and the economy. And while war may be a bit more complicated to hash out in the local rag, we can address Torrington's economy by nurturing our downtown's development, and find a way to reward people who do just that.