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TRUMBULL –  Trumbull Republican Town Committee Chairman Jack Testani is calling on Democrat First Selectman candidate Mary Beth Thornton to immediately denounce statements former Democrat candidate for Town Council, Louis Bevilacqua made on his Facebook page Monday. Bevilacqua announced Sunday he was asked not to run on the Democratic party’s ticket.

Comparing someone to Flavius Ricimer is sort of like comparing them to Hitler, Testani said. Ricimer was a Roman General who ruled the Western Roman Empire through puppet emporers.

“It is unconscionable that Ms. Thorton and the Trumbull Democratic Party have said nothing about the deplorable statements from one of their former candidates,” Testani said in a press release. “This is not only embarrassing to Ms. Thornton and her party but it is an insult to the political process and the intelligence of the voters.”

Bevilacqua responded by calling the Republican party Recimer in an email to the local press:

Obviously it goes to show that this is the type of mediocre leadership that comes from the republicans.  the republicans are threatened by strong leadership, they are threatened by me….the fact that they have nothing better to talk about than the fact the democrats are nominating professionals who understand public administration.   Their press release sounds desperate and completely betrays that they don’t understand in a democracy that talking about an issue is the first step in its resolution.  These republicans are not true conservatives but they are like the leadership one would expect from Ricimer…partisanship based politics, unable to understand hierarchy or talent. Ricimer was a staff member who presided over the destruction of rome…I suppose we can expect that much from these false conservatives.  They are so used to controlling everybody in lockstep in their own party….they have started to make suggestions to us.

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TRUMBULL – Louis Bevilacqua, the Democratic candidate for the 7th Town Council district of Trumbull announced that he is no longer a candidate for local town council in this year’s election.

“The local Democratic committee decided to go in a different direction,” Bevilacqua said. “Candidates need to be the right person for the times and I was honored to be a democratic candidate if just for a day. I choose to work within the boundaries of the party structure, this is necessary as one who is elected to office must work within the realities of our nation.”

The DTC has not yet announced who will be replacing Bevilacqua on the ticket.

Bevilacqua will be paid staff in this year’s election for the Democratic Party.

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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and top state emergency officials didn’t get much sleep overnight, as Hurricane Irene slammed into the Northeast with heavy rain and winds that resulted in power outages for half a million customers.

The governor spent Saturday night in the Emergency Operations Center in the state armory next to the Capitol complex in Hartford, taking reports on conditions from throughout the state and following the track of the storm.

Early Sunday he returned to the Governor’s Residence in the North End of the city and took three or four hours of sleep.

When he returned to the operations center at 6 a.m. Sunday and saw rainfall levels of at least an inch per hour on the saturated ground, along with the rising wind speeds as the meat of the storm bared down on Connecticut, he ordered the closure of the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways starting at 7 a.m.

There were two actions taken, said James Redeker, commissioner of Transportation, during a Sunday morning phone interview.  There was the truck ban on the interstates because of wind speed that was subsequently lifted and on the Merritt there were conditions for flooding and trees down.

With the natural tree canopy and a long history of falling trees that caused fatalities, it was an easy call to make, Redeker said, adding that at least 20 incidents of flooding and fallen trees were collected before the order for the 7 a.m. parkway closure.

If we didn’t take an action to close it, it effectively closed itself, Redeker said, adding that DOT crews were out continually investigating road conditions and clearing downed trees.

During most of the day on Saturday, Malloy and his advisers in the Office of Emergency Management coordinated local town and city reactions along the coast, determining the type of assistance they might need, reviewing evacuation plans and discussing changes in conditions of the slow-moving hurricane, which finally became a tropical storm when some of its energy was dissipated.

With half a million customers without power by late Sunday morning already surpassed the outages caused by Hurricane Gloria back in 1985.

And with high tides along the coast just starting, with the promise of more high winds of up to 60 miles per hour, from the back half of the storm, Malloy and his team knew the hurricane’s wrath was a long way from being finished.

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With Chris Shays firmly in as a candidate for the GOP nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Joe Lieberman, we want to hear from potential GOP primary voters:

Who would you like to see as the GOP nominee? Shays, 2010 nominee Linda McMahon, former Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, or someone else?

Vote in the poll below and leave a comment to tell us why:

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Sen. Joe Lieberman issued the following statement tonight on the developments in Libya:

“The liberation of Tripoli that is at last happening now marks a historic turning point in the Arab Spring and a victory for the advance of freedom globally. For the first time, a Middle Eastern dictator who tried to hang onto power by unleashing the most brutal possible violence is being deposed by his own people. The collapse of the Qaddafi regime thus sends a clear message to other autocratic regimes throughout the region — from Damascus to Teheran — that their day of reckoning too shall come.

“The liberation of Libya is an achievement that belongs first and foremost to the Libyan people, whose bravery and determination has forever changed the course of their history, and ours. This is also a victory for the United States and our NATO allies, whose use of military force stopped Qaddafi when he was on the brink of slaughtering his own people and empowered them to secure their destiny for themselves. America should be proud of the role we have played.

“While we join the Libyan people in celebrating this moment, we also know from history that the fall of a dictator does not guarantee the emergence of a successful, stable democracy in its wake. We also know that decisions and actions made in the immediate days and weeks ahead will carry consequences for years to come. For this reason, it is critical for the U.S. to redouble our assistance to and coordination with the Transitional National Council.

“In particular, we must support the new Libyan authorities to ensure they are able to prevent acts of retribution, initiate a credible process of national reconciliation, secure weapons depots and critical infrastructure, protect vulnerable populations, establish security and rule of law in Tripoli and throughout Libya, and begin the broadest possible outreach across Libyan society for an inclusive and transparent political transition. I am encouraged by the statements of Council leaders in recent days, instructing their forces to treat captured Qaddafi forces in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and pledging to protect the rights of all people in a post-Qaddafi Libya. These are precisely the right messages and reinforce the confidence of the international community in the TNC.

“Although I am optimistic that the Libyans will be able to shoulder the bulk of the transition to democracy on their own, I also hope that the U.S. and its allies will make available any and all assistance they request, including a civilian international monitoring mission.

“Qaddafi and his remaining loyalists also have a choice now. Rather than inflicting further pointless bloodshed and suffering, it is time for them to accept the will of the Libyan people and give up peacefully, before it is too late. There should be no doubt, anyone who persists in pursuing violence will be defeated.

“The liberation of Tripoli is a great step forward on the long and difficult path of the Libyan people to freedom. We recognize that journey is still far from complete, and that there are still many perils and pitfalls ahead. But as long as the Libyan people continue on this path, they should know that America will stay by their side as a friend and ally.”

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TRUMBULL – Former Town Councilman Charles Pitcher submitted a petition last week to run as an independent candidate for the 7th District Town Council seat in Trumbull. Pitcher, who lives on 117 Hilltop Drive, submitted 16 signatures supporting his candidacy.

Pitcher will run against Republican incumbents Tony Scinto and Chad Ciocci and Democratic challengers Thomas Whitmoyer and Louis Bevilacqua.

Bevilacqua announced Friday that he received the endorsement t of the union AFSCME, the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees.

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BRIDGEPORT — Mayor Bill Finch made his first jab at his mayoral opponent Mary-Jane Foster Thursday with a radio ad criticizing her involvement with the once-struggling Bridgeport Bluefish.
In the ad, one woman asks another woman whether she’s been following the mayor’s race in Bridgeport. When the other woman says she hasn’t because her summer has been busy, the first woman goes on to compare Finch to Foster, who co-founded the city’s baseball team.
Of Foster the woman says: “She’s telling people she’s a successful business woman…Well, as CEO and part owner of the Bluefish, she lost money nine years in a row. Things got so bad, she even took a million dollar taxpayer bailout.”
“So wait,” responds the other woman, “Mary Jane’s only business lost money and she took a taxpayer bailout? That’s not going to get my vote.”
The two women then give the mayor credit for new developments downtown, including developer Phil Kuchma’s mixed-use complex, which was the first new development in more than two decades. “I know, with so many new businesses opening, we actually enjoy going down there again,” one woman says. The two then agree that voting for Finch is a “no-brainer.”

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TRUMBULL – (press release) Democratic first selectman candidate, Mary Beth Thornton, unveiled her new campaign website, a site specifically designed to be a central hub for comprehensive information on Thornton, her positions, her biography and her Democratic team.

The site, www.marybeththornton.com, includes videos of the candidate, photo galleries, biographical information on the entire Democratic team, direct connections to Facebook and Twitter, and more. It includes a section on Thornton where she describes why she’s running and what she hopes to accomplish. It includes  testimonials from  Trumbull residents telling why they support Thornton.

Another feature is a newsfeed that will be updated frequently as the campaign gets underway and news breaks at a rapid pace. Supporters can also make online contributions to the Thornton campaign.

And finally, it has full contact information for a variety of campaign representatives and inquiries.