Bridgeport Beat: Some holiday thoughts and holiday scattershootings

Scattershooting around the city of Bridgeport while watching the snow melt in these mid-50 temperatures and pondering if a certain school board member is breaking any kind of record for filing lawsuits… I recently had the privilege of being a guest of John “Bird” Crowe on “Talkin’ Sports with The Bird” on WICC. Bird broadcasts every Tuesday night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. It was great to be back on the air with an old pal. I think between the two of us we laughed for almost the entire segment. Being on the air with Bird was just plain fun and he hosts a first rate radio program. For years he was partners with Bobby Ramos on the groundbreaking “Sports Talk in Black and White.”…Bird and I did have a chance to discuss the great work done by the Fairfield County Sports Commission and its Executive Director Tom Chiappetta. This organization doesn’t get a lot of headlines but it does more to promote sports in these parts than almost any other organization, including creating and maintaining the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame. Great job Tom and company…The Beat thinks it’s certainly a strong statement by Mayor Joe Ganim and the city to recognize Police Officer Gerald DiJoseph who was murdered on the job 36 years ago. No Bridgeport policeman who lost their lives should be forgotten. A portion of James Street in The Hollow is being renamed in honor of Officer DiJoseph…Mark Halstead, Executive Director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony reminds us that the GBS is one of the superior cultural institutions in the entire state of Connecticut. Next up for the orchestra is Bernstein at 99!, a celebration of what would have been legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein’s 99th birthday. The concert will be held March 18th at the Klein Memorial Auditorium… A fond farewell to School Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz and a warm welcome to her successor, Aresta Johnson. We at the Bridgeport Banner believe that Johnson will be a more than capable successor to Rabinowitz, who did a remarkable job, despite working with a Board of Education who made the word “dysfunctional” look like a compliment. At least it is gratifying to know that the insufferable Maria Pereira is no longer politically viable in any quarters whatsoever. That is the good news. The question is can the Board rebound and become effective despite Pereira’s gospel of vitriol and court appearances? To quote budget guru John Marshall Lee, “Time will tell.”…Despite the poisonous atmosphere surrounding the Bridgeport Board of Education in recent years, there is more good news arriving. The unanimous election of Republican Joe Larcheveque to succeed Dennis Bradley as Board President is a welcome bit of news. Larcheveque brings a bit of fresh air to the usually stagnant group and the thinking here is that his common sense will at least bring action and issues will be addressed. This can only be good news for Park City parents…Another encouraging development for Bridgeport was Senator Richard Blumenthal’s recent tour of Bridgeport’s deep water port, in an attempt to highlight Bridgeport’s need for more waterfront development and convince President-elect Donald Trump to kick some federal dollars our way. Trump is no stranger to Bridgeport, so he probably knows that the Park City probably has the least developed waterfront on the eastern seaboard…Don’t look now but Fairfield just beat “mighty” Boston College in hoops…Joe Ganim has vowed to get the Congress Street Bridge built. Finally. Cynicism probably makes us want to say that perhaps this is something he should have thought of in his first go round as mayor, but we won’t. We’ll just say: it’s about time. Just get it done. East Side residents have desperately needed this bridge in place for two decades now… Happy New Year Bridgeport Banner readers. See you at City Hall.