For the past few months new members have been appointed to the South Norwalk Community Center board of directors as new volunteers are working on the implementation of administrative, reconstruction, programs and services for the Hispanic community and larger community overall. President and Chairman of the Board, Warren A. Peña, Vice Chair, Luis Miranda, Treasurer, Guillermo Pino, and Secretary, Jose Graterol. The administrative staff is composed of Executive Director, Josie D. Castillo (who has been with the center for 28 years), Deputy Executive Director, Marina Forero Ferrandino and Communications/ Marketing Coordinator Yolanda Plazas.

The Rowayton Arts Center is grateful to the following local businesses and individuals who donated almost $3,500 in prize money for the winning artists in RAC's 34th annual Community-Sponsored Awards Exhibition: LLC, Jerry's Artarama, MacGuire Cheswick & Tuttle, Max's Art Supplies, Orchard Farm Foundation, Rockwell Art & Framing, Rowayton Fuel & Oil Co., Rowayton Market, Robert Sachs, White Bridge Wines & Spirits and William Raveis Real Estate.

Repeated letters to the editor and comments online, seemingly from the same six or eight folks, have raised some spurious issues that need to be set straight for the citizens of Norwalk with respect to the Oak Hills Golf Course and the Authority that controls it. In sum, Oak Hills is a premier asset for the City of Norwalk, and it is appropriately exploring whether a driving range will be additive to the overall experience and economics. Rather than using facts, it seems mystical statements from faraway dentists and unsupported statistics are what stand in as an effort to frame the issue.

The Peace and Service Committee of Wilton Monthly Meeting of Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) met recently and agreed that Oak Hills Park golfing should not be expanded with a driving range. The area where the driving range is proposed is perfect for nature trails, and it would be extremely expensive to blast large rock faces and fill large valley areas merely to accommodate a driving range. New revenues could be gained from charging fees for community gardeners and having a competitive bid process for a new restaurant in that location.

Gun control, stopping violence need to be top priorities In a recent poll, an overwhelming majority of readers answered "NO" when asked if Norwalk's elected officials are functioning in a professional manner. If you can't make it, review the minutes and video on the city website at http://www.norwalkct.org/index.aspx?NID=1074 . If you belong to a political party, attend meetings of the Democratic or Republican Town Committee. [...] he spent 17 years as our chief of police, stepping down last July only after Norwalk had turned into Fairfield County's version of the wild west. After the recent tragedy in Newtown, issues related to gun control and violence are in the forefront of the national consciousness.

Dear Mayor, Common Council, Board of Estimate & Taxation Chair, Finance Director and Corporation Counsel: No doubt many of you have read local media reports, blog comments and letters to the editor discussing problems at Oak Hills Park, not the least of which may be attributed directly to the action or inaction of it's board, The Oak Hills Park Authority. In light of the inherent difficulties in private citizens getting access to public records, Norwalk taxpayers (myself included) believe it is time for the Mayor, Common Council, Board of Estimate and Taxation, and Finance and Legal departments to launch a thorough investigation into the management of Oak Hills Park, especially including a forensic financial audit and a complete review of the Oak Hills Park Authority, its Chairman Robert Virgulak, and the park management team. The selection and approval process of RM Staffing to take over the restaurant operation as a sub-lease of Quattro Pazzi. [...] it turns out the operations of RM Staffing at Rye Country Club were indeed shrouded in mystery, including a hang-up when I called inquiring as to their then-current operations. Ambiguous and misleading monthly financial reports, including a September 2012 update where Treasurer Ms. Williams states "it appears at this point that the cash flow can sustain the payroll and expenses through the winter months to March 2013 with excess funds." Even former OHP Director Vinny Grillo highlighted the realities of the finances and informed the public by questioning the OHPA in his Sept. 6, 2012 letter to the editor in The Hour: http://www.thehour.com/opinion/letters/so-oak-hills-how-much-do-you-have-in-the/article_d4d5c086-f749-5c26-a8a8-baf461691783.html.

A vital part of the Norwalk community will be lost when the YMCA on West Avenue closes its doors on Dec. 31. Thousands of children and adults from Norwalk and beyond have participated in its programs, from swimming lessons and Calvin Murphy basketball to fitness classes and child care. To accept that explanation on its face, or to accept it as "a sign of the times," as some have done, is to gloss over the severity of this loss and put our city at risk of similar losses going forward. If Norwalk also had done a better job with economic development as a whole, there would have been a broader base of businesses to support the efforts of the Y and its programs on a corporate level, enabling the employees of those businesses and their families to become potential members. Oak Hills Park was obtained by the city using public funds to serve as a park that contains a golf course, tennis facilities, paddle tennis and walking trails. Paddle tennis courts were removed and a large restaurant was built primarily for the use of golfers and for golf tournament banquets. [...] the Oak Hills Park Authority is proposing a golf driving range to help make up a shortfall in income needed to operate the golf course.

On Oct. 26, the press reported my intention to "take up right where I left off," in my path toward becoming Norwalk's next mayor. Today, we are poised to build on the momentum of that campaign and this year's presidential election, which inspired Norwalk's voters to cast their ballots for President Barack Obama by a nearly 2 to 1 margin. Between now and Election Day 2013, I will be meeting with you, listening to your concerns and ideas and articulating my vision for Norwalk's future. Chris Potts will again be treasurer and a bank account has been established so that contributions can be accepted.

[...] the U.S. Navy had been at war months before the Japanese attack. Since the summer of 1941, American destroyers and German U-boats had been swapping depth charges and torpedoes in the battle of the Atlantic. [...] the importance of Dec. 7 goes much deeper than remembering a sneak attack against a sleeping Pacific Fleet that claimed the lives of 2,403 Americans. [...] on July 26, 1941, in the face of continuing Japanese depredations on the Asian mainland, President Roosevelt froze Japanese assets stateside and embargoed American oil exports. [...] this meant capitulating to Western demands to halt the agenda of conquest on the Asian mainland; a submission that would not only have resulted in a humiliating loss of face, but would have been tantamount to committing political suicide, something the Japanese militarists were not prepared to do. German-trained Japanese troops pushed Chinese forces out of Korea, stormed Manchuria, took the Liaotung Peninsula, Port Arthur and threatened Peking. Starting in 1897, Japan began a six-year naval expansion program that saw four battleships, 16 cruisers and 23 destroyers added to the Japanese fleet. From 1942 on, the war became dominated, not by the European powers as in 1914-1918, but by outsiders that represented an irrevocable shift in the political, military and strategic realities of the 20th century. For out of the ashes of Pearl Harbor and the frozen hell of Moscow, the United States and the Soviet Union rallied to become the two big winners in mankind's greatest conflict; and in so doing, changed the course of history.

Any time there is an issue that the mayor has already decided on, you cannot have the floor, you cannot debate the issue and there is no discussion period. [...] you have no voice and no opinion. The truth is, the mayor lays down the law and has the votes to push his agenda without descent from not only Republican council members but what was originally three Democrats voting in lockstep with him. [...] one person came into police HQs in 2007, spent four hours there to make an assessment only to reaffirm or should I say rubber stamp the mayor's agenda. What the Mayor is afraid of is grievances from officers who did not take the Captains exam due to his bad policies in saying that he will abolish the rank of Captains. The upper level management of our PD should reflect our diverse community. Since the mayor and his commissioners do not like the landscape of who is up for promotion, they have decided to do something that is unheard of, abolish the rank. Since we are on this topic and I am the de-facto Latino Leader of this city, how can I ignore that the next in line to be captain happens to be a Latino? Ask Mitt Romney and the GOP what happens when a party does not pay attention to the entire community, specifically Latinos, African Americans, Asians, the younger generation and women. Issues of public safety, the police department and fighting crime is the jurisdiction of the council. Others suggested that members of the public "didn't know enough" about running a police department to have an opinion on the subject, only those who actually run a department. More importantly, why with a deadline fast approaching in which those affected by this decision (the list of those currently eligible to receive promotion to Captain expires on or around Nov. 17, 2012), were other members of the council so sure that they would not hear any information that they did not already know about this issue, much less something that might change their minds.