There is a lot going on in politics right now at the same time as plenty of technology and personal developments are coming, so while I watch the stories develop, I thought I would provide a quick glimpse of some of what’s happening.

Dodd Challengers

I recently had a brief opportunity to speak with Roger Pearson. Roger is former First Selectman of Greenwich who is exploring the possibility of challenging Sen. Dodd in a Democratic Primary. He has been assembling the pieces to put together a credible challenge to Sen. Dodd and is expected to speak to the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee on Thursday. Key talking points are likely to include a focus on how the financial services industry is regulated. Mr. Pearson expressed concern about the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the need for meaningful campaign finance reform for U.S. Congressional elections.

Meanwhile, The Hill has a blog post about Merrick Alpert considering a run against Dodd despite a less than enthusiastic comment from his former boss “Joe Pelto”, more commonly known in Connecticut as Jon Pelto.

HB 6604

A few days ago, I wrote about the future of Public Access Television in Connecticut. One person pointed me to a request for a Declaratory Ruling regarding the Public Access interconnection between Cox Communications and AT&T. There is also a story going around that AT&T is trying to get the unions to oppose HB 6604 by suggesting that HB 6604 would cause AT&T to pull its video services out of Connecticut, causing further job loss. AT&T is currently facing difficult labor relations as noted in a New Haven Independent article about a rally for AT&T jobs.

Sotomayor

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Judge Sotomayor and the Doninger v. Niehoff ruling. Last week, the New Haven Register wrote an article about Judge Sotomayor and Ricci v. DeStefano. It will be interesting to watch how closely the decisions of various potential Supreme Court Justices are analyzed in online.

Mel Thompson

Mel Thompson is a Mayoral candidate in Derby, CT the blogger behind Derby Politics. The New Haven Register had an article about his computer being seized in a raid. In his blog, Mr. Thompson writes “Yes the person who made the false claims against me that led to the police coming over was Sam Rizzitelli.” Samuel Rizzitelli is the chair of the Derby Democratic Town Committee. According to Mr. Thompson, Mr. Rizzitelli allegation was extortion. The details remain sketchy but according to the New Haven Register,

Thompson alleged that the individual who filed the complaint with police had made a disparaging comment about him, and Thompson then threatened to sue for defamation. According to Thompson, the complainant asked him to draft a settlement agreement to resolve that issue, in which that person would pay Thompson $500.

I am particularly interested to watch the outcome of this for a few different reasons. One is that I’m concerned about Democratic politics in towns near Woodbridge. Another is to see how it might relate to issues of defamation and blogs.

Random Other Stuff

A while ago, I wrote about the Cat Farms of Florida. As an update, the special exemption that Haven Acres Cat Sanctuary had requested was approved by the County Commissioner, but it looks like there will be additional legal battles yet to come.

I’ve also been following the case of Rep James O’Rourke. A few weeks ago, there was a rumor that prosecutors were reviewing an arrest warrant where Rep. O’Rourke would be charged with negligent homicide in the death of a woman he had given a ride to. Rep. O’Rourke was suspended from his leadership position in the House Democratic Caucus based on this rumor. However, I have heard nothing further on the case.

These are some of the stories here in Connecticut that I’m keeping an eye on. What about you? Got any information on any of these? Are there other things I should be watching?