Wedenesday

The spotlight - politically speaking - is on Hartford today where Gov. M. Jodi Rell will be sworn in to office for her first, full four-year term. A parade is planned followed by the ceremonies at the state Capitol and capped off later this evening with the state's first inaugural ball since 1998. The rest of the constitutional officers and members of the General Assembly will also be sworn in today.

Here in Washington, we still have one more day to wait for the start. Congress will officially convene Thursday - so today is more or less a work day for congressional staffs as they prepare for the start of business. U.S. Rep.-elect Joe Courtney's staff are in a bit of no-man's land - unable to officially move into their offices until tomorrow. They've been sharing offices wherever possible, and this morning I'm going to try and track them down and see how things are going. Courtney's district director, former Colchester First Selectwoman Jenny Contois, is expected to be here for tomorrow's ceremony before returning to Norwich and moving into the district office in downtown Norwich.

Another 150 to 200 eastern Connecticut residents will also be arriving in Washington today to be part of the ceremonies. Included among them are Norwich Mayor Ben Lathrop and Norwich City Manager Bob Zarnetske. There's no organized event for them scheduled for today, so we'll try and find some of them later this afternoon and see what plans they have for today.

My first stop this morning will be up to the Capitol to register for my credentials. The forecast is calling for sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 50s.

More later...