September 2, 2010

Our Team

George Gombossy was the first investigative consumer columnist in the Courant’s history, and probably its last, as he was fired as of Aug. 14 after refusing to “be nice” to major advertisers. Following 12 years as the business editor, Gombossy was asked three years ago to take on a new role of advocate for consumers. Working with thousands of readers who sent him complaints and tips, his Watchdog columns resulted in more than a dozen state investigations and improved customer service at CL&P and many other companies.

During his 40-year career at the newspaper, Gombossy led teams of reporters that won dozens of awards, including the George Polk Award and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. He helped the paper win its first Pulitzer Prize.

Under his direction The Courant won the SABEW Best in Business award for overall quality among midsize newspapers four times and he directed the work of two Gerald Loeb Award finalists and won the SABEW BiB award for his Watchdog column.

At least five of his investigative series were nominated by The Courant for the Pulitzer.

Most recently The National Association Of Consumer Advocates gave Gombossy its highest journalistic award- the 2009 Media Award – for his 40 years of working on behalf of consumers and investors as a reporter, editor and columnist. The 2008 Media Award was given to two Business Week reporters.

In January Gombossy returned to print journalism. His weekly Sunday column, CtWatchdog, now runs in the Bristol Press, New Britain Herald, Torrington Register Citizen, Middletown Press, West Hartford News, Avon News, Simsbury News, and Granby News. It will soon be carried in the New Haven Register.

He was a board member of the Society of American Business Writers and Editors, where he served on the contest and audit committees.

He is married to Laura Gaston. He has two adult children, Jennifer and Ethan; three grandchildren, Meagan, Caleb and Patrick; two dogs and two cats.

He also is blessed with hundreds of wonderful relatives (many of them from his Cuban-born wife’s side of the family).

Her father – Pop or Totio – is 88 and goes parachuting on his every birthday. He is preparing his sailboat to become the first Cuban (who was a guest in Fidel’s jail) to sail from Miami to Cuba with the government’s permission. He is a World War II veteran, having come to America to volunteer in the Army as a parachutist.

George is also a proud U.S. Army veteran, volunteering to serve during the Vietnam War. Born in Hungary, he came to the U.S. in 1956 and has been ever grateful to this country for what it has given him and his family.

George believes in long-term, not short-term, consumer solutions. That means you might disagree with some of his thoughts, it’s ok. This site is for people to exchange ideas. No one has the answer. But everyone who has something constructive to say is welcome. George also believes in supporting worthwhile charities. Half of all his speaking fees are given to charities. Since starting this website George has given Camp Courant $250, representing his half of a speaking engagement for Rockville Bank this October.

Reach George at George@connecticutwatchdog.com.

Dave Lieber, investigative columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

For 30 years, Dave Lieber, a humorist and storyteller, has used stories to help change our world. Dave works as The Watchdog investigative columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is one of Texas’ most popular speakers.

He won the Katie Award from the Dallas Press Club as the best columnist in the U.S. Southwest.

He is co-founder of one of North Texas’ largest children’s charities, Summer Santa, which serves thousands of children each year through a volunteer service that has no office or paid staff.

His work for Summer Santa earned him the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, which goes to the U.S. newspaper columnist whose work produces positive effects on the lives of readers.

He is the author of two popular books, “The Dog of My Nightmares: Stories by Texas Columnist Dave Lieber” and “Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong.”

His author website is www.YankeeCowboy.com and his book site is www.WatchdogNation.com. You can reach Dave at dlieber@ctwatchdog.com.

Denis Horgan, journalist, author and world traveler

Denis Horgan was born during a Thanksgiving snowstorm in a Boston taxicab that didn’t quite make it to the hospital on time. Starting off life that way gives special impetus to being “on the road.” Denis decided early to look on the world through the eyes of a journalist, starting as a copy boy at the Boston Globe and serving in a variety of capacities — reporter, editor, columnist — for the Bangkok World, the Washington Star and the Hartford Courant, where he was travel editor.

Most recently he is the author of the essays/memoir, “Flotsam: A Life in Debris,” and the novel, “The Dawn of Days.”

An indefatigable traveler, Denis is on the road whenever the occasion allows. He has journeyed to scores of countries around the world, and to hundreds of corners of the United States. “I have never taken a trip anywhere that hasn’t been interesting or fun,” he says. “Never. Travel is always exciting, illuminating and fascinating. And it’s so easy to do.” Denis is also a gifted writer, who  engages your senses with his carefully crafted columns.

E-mail Denis at dhorgan@ctwatchdog.com.

Larry Berk and Delaney La Rosa, health care and insurance experts

Larry Berk and Delaney La Rosa have more than 25 years of combined health care and insurance experience.

Larry is the president of VidaCura.com, a health and wellness products company. Delaney has been a health care professional for more than 18 years. She has a background in health care fraud investigation and is a registered nurse.

Write to them at thehealthcareconsumer@ctwatchdog.com.

Andrew Kreig, investigative journalist

Andrew Kreig, a former Hartford Courant reporter and now a nationally known investigative journalist, has joined the CtWatchdog.com team.

Andrew is a freelance investigative reporter, lawyer and radio host based in Washington.

His primary focus for the past year has been exploring allegations of corruption and other misconduct in federal agencies, and also advising several nonprofit groups fostering cutting-edge applications within the communications industries.

As president of the Wireless Communications Association International from 1996 to last summer, Andrew led its worldwide advocacy that helped create today’s broadband wireless industry.

Previously, he was an associate at Latham & Watkins, law clerk to a federal judge, author of “Spiked,” a book about the newspaper business, and a longtime reporter for the Courant.

Currently, he is a senior fellow with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and a research fellow with the Information Economy Project at George Mason University School of Law.

Listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in America, he holds law degrees from the University of Chicago School of Law and from Yale Law School. His undergraduate degree is from Cornell University, where he was a Daily Sun editor, a rower and a Golden Gloves regional finalist.

Write to Andrew at akreig@ctwatchdog.com.

Kevin Szymanski, personal fitness expert

My name is Kevin Szymanski, and I am a personal fitness professional, working at Healthtrax in East Longmeadow, Mass.

My goal each and every day is to use my knowledge, unlimited energy and unequaled passion toward my chosen profession to better the lives of my clients through fitness.

I have a degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts (one of the most respected schools in the country for this major) and have achieved a nationally recognized certification in my career field. However, I’m here to tell you that although those are two very important accomplishments recognized by my clients and peers, I must emphasize that the greatest tool in the toolbox of any fitness professional is EXPERIENCE!

Over 20 years of training clients of all ages (6 years to 96 years) and fitness levels (Olympic and professional athletes) has enabled me to better communicate my knowledge using understandable terminology, analogies and references. This type of communication is an asset that is unmatched and irreplaceable.

When I was 8 years old, a very influential swimming coach of mine introduced me to strength training and its benefits, and I’ve been hooked ever since. My father was an athlete, and my mother was a teacher. Her mother was a teacher as well. I believe that I discovered at an early age how to use my parents’ strengths to pursue my passion, which is to give my clients the knowledge, tools and guidance to achieve their fitness goals.

This experience of which I speak has also led me down the road to discover and almost obsess over the fitness term “the core.” I have accumulated 20 years of material, by study as well as practical application of movements born from simple to complex concepts in order to train clients in this key component of all fitness routines.

What is “the core”? The core is an integrated system of muscles and their functions used to synergistically allow a human being to balance, lift heavy objects with less risk of injury, excel in athletic performance, or prevent/recover from injury. It is an incredible power source that I believe most people do not understand well enough to achieve their full potential when performing these movements. The combined efforts of muscles located in the upper-to-middle torso in relation to the lower-to-middle torso function to maintain postural alignment as well as dynamic postural equilibrium. When a person is able to “master” the use of these muscles, which include (but are not limited to) abdominals, lower back, hamstrings, hip flexors and gluteus maximus/medius, then the ability to maintain optimal efficiency in the entire kinetic chain during movement is assured.

Besides the obvious education required to explain the benefits of training the core to my clients, I have a significant amount of practical experience in athletic movement to enable me to “feel” the muscular movements required to do so. In my youth, I was a competitive swimmer. Throughout training and competition, I discovered that although I didn’t necessarily swim as fast as my competitors, I was still able to win races against them. How was that possible? Simple, really. My start off the block was more explosive, and my flip turn was considerably faster than theirs. The reason for this was that I had the exceptional ability to contract and control the muscles of my core. This allowed me to produce more force in a smooth controlled manner and thus explode through those two important phases of a swimming race.

As an adult, I have played highly competitive softball. This sport has allowed me to travel throughout the United States and play against some exceptionally gifted athletes (former professional baseball and football players as well as college standout athletes). Although I am smaller in stature (5 foot 10 – 175 pounds) and weigh 20, 30, even 40 pounds less than these individuals, never have I felt athletically “out of place.” The reason again is core strength (and confidence, I suppose). I could, and still can, hit a softball 350-400+ feet (that is out of some major league stadiums). I am also able to throw a softball from the warning track of a 300-foot stadium virtually to home plate on the fly. It’s not “arm strength,” my friends. It’s core strength.

Now… how am I able to use this type of athletic performance/experience to assist my clients in regular, daily activities such as bending over to tie one’s shoes, raking leaves, lifting a toddler or climbing stairs? Again, it’s elementary… quite literally, elementary. I break down each movement of the core and its function toward everyday human motion to improve the life of each and every one of my clients/readers.

You can reach me at kszymanski@ctwatchdog.com.

Cheryl Jones-Reardon, stress coach

Cheryl Jones-Reardon, CEO of The Mindful Path, LLC, holds a master’s degree in exercise science from the University of Connecticut and a certificate in spirituality from St. Joseph College. She has completed extensive training in mindfulness-based stress reduction at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Cheryl is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Health Careers at Manchester Community College and is the author of “Mindful Exercise.” A former celebrity fitness trainer, Cheryl provides inspirational speaking engagements, seminars and wellness coaching.

Reach Cheryl at cjones-reardon@ctwatchdog.com. For more information, visit www.themindfulpath.com.

Brad Kava, music and radio critic

Brad is a real Renascence man (former cop reporter, musician, teacher, bikes across Iowa each summer with 10,000 other lunatics, and is one of the most respected music and media critics in the country. He has been a journalist for almost three decades, covering crime, city government, media and music. Most of his time was spent in the San Francisco Bay Area, with stops in Kansas City and Bradenton, Fla. He has been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone. He focuses, with a consumer’s eye, on media and music for the Connecticut Watchdog, looking into topics such as the price of concert tickets, the manipulations of talk show hosts, how the Rolling Stones are like Microsoft—and anything you ask him about the arts and media. You can send him an email at Brad@ctwatchdog.com.

Carol Mueller, marketing/sponsorship director

Carol is an experienced marketing and advertising saleswoman. For many years she sold advertising for The Courant, before joining the  Connecticut Dental Association where her main job was to produce huge conferences. She can be reached at carol@ctwatchdog.com.

And this website would only be a dream if it weren’t for Jeanne Leblanc and Tom Twitchell, who worked round the clock to design it.

We are constantly working to improve our site and will have a board of advisers to help guide it and nurture it - with your help - to become an institution that will serve the public for a long time.

Disclosure

Don’t believe a  journalist who tells you he or she is objective. We are not machines. What is important is fairness and transparency. Everyone has conflicts. I (George) certainly do. And as you read my blogs you need to know what they are: I own stock in several large bank companies including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley. I also own stock in Disney, The Hartford, UTC, GE, AT&T, eBay, Microsoft and several ETFs, one of which has large positions in Google and Apple, and Canadian oil companies. My son works for the Hoffman Auto Group. I own rental property in West Hartford and we sometimes rent our Key Largo condo.