The following is a guest post from Deborah Chernoff, Communications Director for the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 (SEIU Healthcare). -ctblogger. It’s not clear what exactly the tipping point was.

Maybe it was the outpouring of support for striking HealthBridge nursing home workers from residents’ family members and the surrounding community. It could have been the high-profile media attention HealthBridge’s record of lawbreaking to get its way was receiving.

Or perhaps it was Governor Malloy walking the picket line and standing with the caregivers that the 1% owners of HealthBridge would rather stand on.

Who knows?

But something got under the skin of the corporate strategists at HealthBridge. And when they realized that their scheme to transfer millions of dollars out of the pockets of Connecticut families and into their own bank accounts wasn’t going according to plan, it was time to shift into a new mode: Attack and accuse.

They are now attempting to divert attention away from their own crimes by accusing caregivers of sabotage – as if people who have given their lives to caring for the residents in their nursing homes would suddenly choose to endanger them. Here’s how workers reacted when they learned about the accusations from a Hartford Courant reporter:

On Wednesday, health care workers walking the picket line outside the Newington nursing home — one of five in Connecticut targeted by the 700 strikers — learned of the allegations. They were so indignant that they talked over each other, as rain clouds burst and small hail pelted them.

"That's ridiculous!" said Yolanda Amos, a nursing aide.

"We would never sabotage our residents," said Elaine Ewart.

"They're our family," Amos agreed.[…]

Several union members in Newington were so disbelieving of the accusations that they speculated that the managers staged the sabotage to make the union look bad.

Apparently, HealthBridge forgot it had filed police reports until a post magically surfaced on a right-wing blog on Monday. This was followed a few days later by a HealthBridge press release which was a heavily-politicized statement blasting not the alleged saboteurs but the Governor’s administration and other elected officials who offered their support to workers.

According to the police report, there is no camera footage to review. And only the regular caregivers, their strike replacements and HealthBridge supervisors had access to the equipment and materials that night before the strike began. The investigations are ongoing, and no one knows what the outcome will be. Despite the sensational headlines and disingenuous outrage churning in right-wing blogs, these accusations remain just that.

Let’s be clear.

The allegations are surfacing now because, in the eyes of HealthBridge’s owners, these workers are guilty of a much graver offense: daring to stand up to its larger economic agenda.

Because of this, HealthBridge, its right-wing enablers, and 1% apologists everywhere would love to discredit all of those on the picket lines, whether they are direct caregivers or those who support them. HealthBridge is carefully calculating ways to try and divert attention away from the very real costs of its relentless pursuit of greater-and-greater profits:

• More than 700 residents are now receiving care from complete strangers, after HealthBridge illegally forced caregivers to strike if they were unwilling to agree to its agenda of economic misery for the 99% and riches for the 1%.
• More than 600 caregivers remain out of a job while HealthBridge orchestrates its largest and most vicious campaign yet to destroy their union and break their will to fight to preserve quality resident care and good jobs for Connecticut’s healthcare workers.

And HealthBridge principal, brothers Daniel and Moshael Straus, their subsidiaries and related companies were paid a whopping $234 million from HealthBridge coffers in the same year.

As the strike continues, we can expect to see more diversions and distractions by HealthBridge to try and demonize those who stand up to their greed and expose the company’s long history of unlawful actions. The public can now expect to see a whole new side of HealthBridge—one that its workers and residents are all too familiar with and one that will stop at nothing to get what it wants.

You can follow the proceedings at the following link. I know of several statewide reporters who will follow this case so (as well as yours truly) so I'll try to keep everyone updated with the case as it proceeds.

• Currently, there is an open position for an Assistant Town Clerk
• Rumor has it that the tag team duo of Boughton loyalists/hyper partisan instigators Reg. of Voters Mary Ann Doran and Legislative Assistant Jean Natale desperately want to get one of there own into the Town Clerk office to keep tabs on Lori Kaback.
• It's also rumored that Jean Natale's daughter, Deborah, was a lock for the job.

...now here comes the tricky part.

In order to be considered for a civil service position, you have to place in the top six of a civil service exam...here's the result from the test.

As you can see, Natale came in 8th which, according to the law, which states that you can only pick from the top six candidates, makes her ineligible for the position.

But we're talking about Boughton's City Hall...a city hall that adheres and ignores the law at their choosing (and we all know how that translates in terms of lawsuits).

The question remains...could city officials be so arrogant to attempt to make the same mistake they made in the past?

More later...

The intersection of Locust and White Street was closed late last night while firefighters dealt with a first floor apartment fire.

According to the police on the scene, one person was taken to the hospital due to smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire was unknown at the time I was at the location.

Here's video of the scene after the fire was extinguished.