HD video test

Friday, January 08, 2010
Time: 9:52 PM

This is a simple video test file I did with my new HD camera. It's a temporary file that I'll take down in a few hours but I thought everyone would like to get a sneak peek at what my new HD camera can do. I'm needed to post the video in order to check out the file on different computer platforms and check for any glitches.

In order to watch the video in high definition, you need to press on the HD button on the lower right hand side of the YouTube control bar.

In case your wondering, I shot this video on Friday Jan 8 around 8:15 PM at the Danbury Fair Mall.

...this in only a test.



1. From what I see so far, the video take a little time caching in HD. This could be due to the fact that I just uploaded it to YouTube and the service is still rendering the file. Other than that, the video looks really good (and amazing in full screen).

2. Just as I thought, the reason for the lag last night was because YouTube takes a longer time rendering HD video. Everything seems fine now. Tested on PC (Duo COre 2.4 MHZ, 4 gig memory) and Mac (Duo Core 2.5 MHZ 4 gig memory) both on wires internet and WiFi. Going to get playing the file on slower machines today.

CT 04: Congressman Himes town hall meeting info


Time: 7:25 AM



During my appearance on the local access show Ideas at Work and Beyond, I promised people that I would post the information regarding Congressman Jim Himes town hall meeting in Ridgefield this Saturday.

Well, here it is!

NEW LOCATION FOR RIDGEFIELD TOWN HALL MEETING ON AFGHANISTAN:

Ridgefield Play House
80 East Ridge Street, Ridgefield
Saturday, January 9th at 11:30am


Pitfalls in boot program could lead to legal problems

Thursday, January 07, 2010
Time: 1:50 PM



As the recent articles in the News-Times revealed (here and here), there are several pitfalls to the city's boot program. Although these problems might seem minor, as seen in other cities in Connecticut that also participate in the booting effort, these issues could result in litigation...and should be taken seriously.

One of the problem with the boot program doesn't stem from incompetence from VioAlert, but Danbury's ability to provide the boot company with an accurate database in a timely manner.

Another resident, Milagros Celis, said she was about to take her pregnant daughter to the doctor in November when she found a boot on her daughter's car.

"I was shocked," she said. "I had paid the taxes myself two months ago for my daughter, because she was on bed rest."

Celis said she spoke to City Hall officials, who apologized and had the boot removed within about half an hour.

When it comes to improperly booting a resident's car, in looking at other areas where the program is in effect, an apology doesn't always work.

VioAlert's beginnings can be traced back to New Haven...a city which was notorious with their lapses in their tax database as well as incidents where cars were unfairly towed.

New Haven Independent July 15 2008:
When Darrell Greene walked out the door to go work, he found out his SUV had been booted — for tickets he paid a month ago.

[...]

Greene woke up Tuesday morning at his home on Beaver Hill’s Diamond Street. He got ready to head to the Hospital of St. Raphael, where he works in the psych ward. When he stepped outside at a quarter to 6, he saw something slapped on the window of his Ford Expedition.

“I walk out the door, I see the big orange sticker with the boot,” he said. The city’s new VioAlert wheel immobilizer was clamped to his wheel. A note detailed the charges: $360 in unpaid parking tickets. With towing and booting fees added on, the fines totaled $465.

Greene fumed. He didn’t owe any tickets on his car. He had paid them a month ago, on June 17.

“I got pretty hot,” said Greene, standing outside his home Tuesday afternoon. “I had to call out” from work and miss a day’s pay, he said.

Mirroring Danbury resident Celis' problem, screw-ups with New Haven's tax database, which led to residents cars being illegally towed, were around long before VioAlert came to the area:
Tony and Tony had eight angry customers at their towing lot — innocent victims of a screw-up at the city tax office.

The customers were coming to get their cars after they were snatched in the middle of the night by the city Plate Hunter program. Prowling through the streets in the wee hours of June 18, the city’s license-plate-scanning device had identified their cars as belonging to tax scofflaws. Tony’s Long Wharf towing company, which was manning the Plate Hunter program on that shift, dutifully towed the cars.

Then Tony’s got a call from the city tax office saying there had been a screw-up: None of the eight people actually owed back taxes. Tony’s was asked to release the cars.

[…]

“Eight people got towed mistakenly,” explained the city’s tax collector, C.J. Cuticello, Friday. The tax data that the city downloaded into the Plate Hunter device was “corrupt,” he said. “How it got corrupt I don’t know.”

Jumping the gun by over a month, the city had downloaded the data of people who had open tax bills, meaning they hadn’t yet made tax payments that are due on July 1. Taxpayers are supposed to have until Aug. 1 to pay those taxes before they risk getting towed.

“There was a problem with the data that converted into misinformation,” said Cuticello. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

The New Haven incidents should serve as a wake up call to Danbury officials as the city could face litigation.
The incident sparked an angry letter to City Hall from attorney Robert G. Oliver, on behalf of Vincent DiLauro (at right in photo), who heads the city’s towing association.

In the June 18 letter, Oliver wrote that he has been advised that his clients (members of the towing association) have been ordered to tow cars for taxes when in fact no back taxes were due.

“That would be a serious violation of state law and expose the city to civil liability, while forcing my clients, through no fault of their own, to return vehicles without charge when the owner appears,” Oliver wrote.
“I strongly urge that you put an end to this confusion.”

In short, there are many moving parts to the boot program and as the incidents in New Haven outline how a minor mishap could result in serious consequences.

...too be continued.

LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Progressive Soup 01.06.10 broadcast


Time: 12:57 PM

Guest: Jim Dean, Democracy for America


LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Community Forum 01.06.10 broadcast


Time: 11:07 AM


All about Dodd

Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Time: 5:12 PM

Sorry for the lack of posting today but it's been a very busy political day in Connecticut.

Click here to see my video footage of Senator Chris Dodd's retirement speech.

Anger over boot program continues

Monday, January 04, 2010
Time: 3:53 PM

"Nobody disrespects my mother like that," he said. "Is this really people over politics?"

-Remark from Resident David Solis regarding the treatment his mother received from an employee of VioAlert. The employee yelled and told Solis' mother to turn off her car so he could but a boot on the wheel.


As the News-Times noted in several reports (here, and here), residents are becoming increasingly upset over the the practices of the company responsible for the boot program (VioAlert).

I've also received numerous complaints from residents who had their cars "booted" which I will outline in a future post. I'm also still working on a post that will give people some background on the history of the booting program as their aggressive actions in Danbury are nothing new.

Back to full speed Monday

Sunday, January 03, 2010
Time: 3:25 PM

Just wanted to drop a quick post and say that I'll be back at full speed on Monday. Hope everyone had a happy holiday...

© 2024 Hat City Blog | READ, WATCH, AND LEARN.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.
PEOPLE-POWERED MEDIA.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

INDEPENDENT PARTY OF DANBNRY
DATABASE COMING SOON


“Facebook”“Twitter”“Email”

trans_button
CITY OF DANBURY VIDEO ARCHIVE (Dec 2012-present)

The Mercurial (RIP)
Danbury News Times
Danbury Patch
Danbury Hamlet Hub
Danbury Daily Voice
Tribuna Newspaper
CT News Junkie
CT Capitol Report

10.03.18 (PDF):
"Approval of Danbury Prospect Charter School"

10.30.20 (HatCityBLOG VID): Charter School discussion during 2020 interview with Julie Kushner

2018 (RADIO): WLAD
"State Board of Ed signs off on Danbury charter school proposal"

08.20 (VID): CT-LEAD
"Stand up for Education Justice" Rally

08.20.20 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Charter schools are not ‘magic bullet’ to improving Danbury schools"

09.13.20 (OP-ED): CHAPMAN
Candidate for state Senate supports charter school for Danbury

01.15.21 (VID): CT-LEAD
Danbury Prospect Charter School press conference

03.19.21 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Danbury leaders do not want a charter school"

04.01.21 (OP-ED): CT-LEAD:
"Why did Sen. Kushner vote against us?"

05.06.21 (VID): Danbury rally to fully fund public schools

10.07.21 (VID): Danbury City-Wide PTO "Meet the Candidates" education forum

10.07.21 NEWSTIMES
Danbury candidates quarrel over charter school, education funding

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"New operator named for Danbury charter school: ‘I’m a huge advocate for parent choice’"

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"Some Danbury Democrats ‘open minded’ about charter school after new, CT operator named"

01.21.22 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Lessons from Danbury: Ending the dual process for charter school approval"

02.09.22 NEWSTIMES
"Proposed Danbury charter school won’t open in 2022, governor leaves funding out of budget"

02.18.22 NEWSTIMES:
Danbury residents plead for charter school funds in 9-hour state budget hearing: ‘Just exhausted’

03.05.22 (LTE):
Time has come for Danbury charter school

03.12.22 (OP-ED): TAYLOR
"Why I am excited about the Danbury Charter School"

03.16.22 (LTE):
"Why a Danbury Charter School?"

04.02.22 CT EXAMINER:
"Crowding and a Lack of Options for Danbury Students, But No Agreement on Solutions"

04.04.22 (OP-ED): DCS
"Danbury Charter School plans debut"

04.07.22 (PODCAST): (CEA)
"SENATOR KUSHNER DISCUSSES POINTS OF OPTIMISM FOR DANBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS"

04.18.22 (VID): CT-LEAD
Protest press conference

04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU
Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school

06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER:
"Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"

trans_button
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.

The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.

Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.

Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MAYOR BOUGHTON'S DEPOSITION

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MIKE McLACHLAN (then MAYOR CHIEF OF STAFF) DEPOSITION

Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants v.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
3:06-cv-01992-RNC ( D. Conn. )

(02.25.08) Court docket

(10.24.07) Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Emergency Motion for Protective Order

(09.26.07) Press Release

(12.14.06) Complaint


Barrera v. Boughton, No. 07-01436
(D. Conn. filed Sept. 26, 2007)

(02.25.08) Court Docket

Amended complaint

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss State Law Claims

Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Order on Motion to Dismiss

Defendants' Answer to Amended Complaint

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Immigrant's 2006 arrest was flawed Danbury mayor testifies

(10.05.07 (VIDEO) Boughton mislead the public about Danbury's involvement in raid

(09.18.07) Yale Law Students expose Danbury involvement in raid

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Interview with Yale Law Students at FOI presser

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 FOI complaint media roundup

City Clerk Jean Natale standing next to skinhead sparks outrage

(10.03.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 rally

(09.29.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 case deepens

Word of raid spread across the country

(09/29/06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 protest news conference

(09/29/06) Immigrant newspaper "El Canillita" gives best account of ICE day labor raid at Kennedy Park


trans_button Santos Family Story
VIDEO: Tereza Pereira's ordeal with ICE agents

VIDEO: Danbury Peace Coalition Immigration Forum (April 2006)
featuring Mayor Boughton and Immigration attorney Philip Berns

VIDEO: 2007 Stop the Raids immigration forum at WCSU

2007: Community protest anti-immigration forum

A tribute to Hispanic Center Director and immigrant activist Maria Cinta Lowe

trans_button


trans_button
2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Results:
11.15.23 Recanvass return
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Election night returns
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Initial returns


ESPOSITO FINANCE REPORTS:
Oct 10 2022
Jan 10 2023
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

ALVES FINANCE REPORTS:
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

CAMPAIGN SLATE DATABASE
Dem/GOP slate/ballot position

VIDEO: DRTC convention
VIDEO: DDTC conveniton


2021 (ALVES/ESPOSITO)

TOWN COMMITTEES
(VID) DDTC nomination convention
(PDF) DDTC campaign slate flyer

(VID) DRTC nomination convention
(PDF) DRTC campaign slate flyer

FORUMS/DEBATES
(VID) 2021 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum

CAMPAIGN FINANCE
First quarter
Alves Apr 10th SEEC filing

Second quarter
Alves Jul 10th SEEC filing
Esposito Jul 10th SEEC filing

Third quarter
Alves Oct 12th SEEC report
Esposito Oct 12th SEEC report

CAMPAIGN MAILERS
Alves "Jan 6th" attack mailer 10.21.21
Esposito "you can't trust Alves" attack mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 09.30.21
Esposito mailer 09.28.21
Alves mailer 09.27.21
Esposito mailer 09.27.21


PAST CAMPAIGN COVERAGE

2005 (BOUGHTON/ESPOSITO)
Danbury 2005 election results
Newstimes Dean Esposito profile (10.25.05)

2007 (BOUGHTON/ABRANTES)
Danbury 2007 election results
(VID) Helana Abrantes TV ad
(VID) BRT tax deferral presser
(VID) Helena Abrantes "Community Forum" interview

2009 (BOUGHTON/GONCALVES)
Danbury 2009 election results
(VID) 2009 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2009 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2009 DDTC nomination convention

2011 (BOUGHTON/TABORSAK)
Danbury 2011 election results
(VID) Saadi/Nero campaign kickoff

2013 (BOUGHTON/NO DTC ENDORSED CANDIDATE/MCALLISTER)
Danbury 2013 election results
(VID) 2013 DDTC nominaiton convention

2015 (BOUGHTON UNCHALLENGED)
Danbury 2015 election results

2017 (BOUGHTON/ALMEIDA)
Danbury 2017 election results
(VID) Al Almeida concession speech
(VID) 2017 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) Al Almeida nomination acceptance speech

2019 (BOUGHTON/SETARO)
Danbury 2019 election results
(VID) 2019 NewsTimes Editorial Board interview with Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro
(VID) 2019 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2019 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2019 convention endorsement speeches from Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro