To the citizens of Waterbury,

   On October 20, 2011, the Waterbury Republican published an article titled Latinos quit campaign. It is with great disappointment that the Latino community was portrayed as quitters in the local mayoral race.  We strongly feel that this statement should have only reflected those individuals that were directly involved with their inability to fulfill their political obligations.

Democrat aldermanic candidate Ruben Rodriguez, left, withdrew his name from the Democrat slate yesterday stating his ideas were being ignored by mayoral candidate Neil O'Leary. The O'Leary campaign had a different spin on Rodriguez's departure. O'Leary was quoted in the Republican-American newspaper this morning saying that State Representative David Aldarondo, pictured above on the right, had engineered the defection after O'Leary had refused to put Aldarando's friends and relatives on his campaign payroll. The following two press releases refer to the incident. Photographs by John Murray

Waterbury's Derek Poundstone successfully hoisted 913-pounds in the deadlift event at the 2011 World's Strongest Man Competition at Wingate University in North Carolina. It was a personal record.

  (The following is an account of Derek Poundstone's attempt to win the World's Strongest Man contest in North Carolina, USA, in September 2011. There were nine other athletes in the finals of the competition, but the Waterbury Observer focused primarily on Poundstone because he lives in Waterbury, Connecticut. He's our strongman. In tribute to the other athletes we've included more than a dozen images of their attempts to bring home the championship to their hometown, or country. It was an historic competition.)

   Story and Photographs By John Murray

   The massive bodies of strong man athletes are over-sized shock absorbers that cushion the pounding and abuse sustained during training and competition. Running fifty yards with 1000 pounds on your back places unimaginable stress on knees and ankles and lower backs. Pulling a two-ton Mack Truck 100 feet, pressing 342 pounds overhead for repetitions, and dead-lifting over 900 pounds are athletic feats that few men in the world can perform.

Neil O'Leary marching along Baldwin Street during the 2011 St. Patrick's Day Parade.
 

                           Interview and Photographs By John Murray

Observer –How do you define the role of mayor in Waterbury? Give a brief description of the job you are applying for.

O’Leary: I define the role of the mayor of Waterbury as the number one person responsible for the day to day operations of the city. The person who is solely responsible for the perception of the city. The person who should be the city’s biggest cheerleader on a 24-hour, seven-day a week basis. The person who has to collaborate with all the department heads for the running of the city. The person who has to offer a listening ear to his constituents who have elected him to run the city, and understanding the citizens are his bosses. A mayor must remain ever sensitive to the needs of the community and his constituents. They elected him for a reason, and we must never forget that if the people elect us then they have elected us for a reason, and what were those reasons? Obviously, strong leadership skills. Obviously, strong trust between the candidate and the constituents. Obviously, a belief that the person they are voting for is going to lead their city in the direction they want to see it go in. I think that is what the mayor’s primary responsibilities are. I think what happens a lot, especially if a person is a long-term incumbent, is that those constituency beliefs some how get watered down over time. I like to call it I.A., not the internal affairs as I’m familiar with, but incumbent arrogance. It’s not something that an incumbent sets out to strive for, it’s something that just develops over time.

   The Observer has concluded its Q&A interviews with the three mayoral candidates in Waterbury and will publish the results in its October 14th edition. Most of the headlines in the daily paper continue to bleat on about remarriages, brothels, and a car provided to a prominent State's Attorney. That may help Republican-American publisher Bill Pape sell more newspapers, but the people on the street don't give a crap about these issues. The voters want to know how the three candidates - incumbent Mike Jarjura, and challengers Neil O'Leary and Larry De Pillo, plan to address the major challenges facing the City of Waterbury. Those issues are unemployment, growing the grand list, revitalizing downtown, charter revision, aldermen-by-district, blight, brownfields, public safety, park maintenance, education, the Greenway, water, manufacturing, and the biggest issue of all - taxes.

    On a recent trip down to North Carolina to cover the World's Strongest Man competition, the Observer swept into the nation's capital to check out the new monument to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. The monument dedication was originally scheduled for late August, on the same day Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast. Wisely, the event was re-scheduled to Sunday, October 16th, 2011. The photographs were taken by John Murray, the publisher of The Waterbury Observer. The following information was taken directly off mlkmemorial.org, the official website for the monument.

IN THE HEIGHTS

Friday, November 4 -- 8:00pm; Saturday, November 5 – 2:00pm and 8:00pm
The 2008 Tony Award-winner for “Best Musical,” IN THE HEIGHTS takes audiences on an exhilarating journey into a vibrant Manhattan community where they’ll discover what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home. Sponsored by Webster Bank and WTNH/MyTV9. Tickets: $48/ $58/ $68

   The symbol of Mike Jarjura's stunning 2006 write-in campaign victory was stolen from outside his campaign headquarters on Scott Road in Waterbury. Jarjura lost in a stunning primary upset to Democrat challenger Karen Mulcahy, but stormed back in November 2005 to become just the fifth politician in American history to win a major political office by having th electorate pencil in his name on the ballot. The mayor's father, J.P. Jarjura, had a six-foot replica pencil made to honor the historic win, and presented to him at his third inauguration. Jarjura told the Observer today that, “I want it back. There will be no questions asked and no consequences. Just leave it outside the door of my campaign headquarters at night and we'll find it in the morning The pencil has great sentimental value to me.”

A Great Blue Heron flies in for a landing at the Riverside Cemetery in Waterbury. According to the Cornell University of Ornithology, "The largest and most widespread heron in North America, the Great Blue Heron can be found along the ocean shore or the edge of a small inland pond. An all white form is found from southern Florida into the Caribbean, and used to be considered a separate species, the Great White Heron.