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Letters to the Editor - 4-11-24
Apr 10, 2024
The attacks are starting early
Area Dems are starting early to attack Congressional candidate George Logan. An intelligent, articulate and genuinely nice man, Logan served two terms in the Connecticut Senate and is now running for the 5 th District Congressional seat currently held by Jahana Hayes.
In 2000, Ms. Hayes narrowly defeated Mr. Logan despite outspending him by a margin of 3 to 1.
In 2022, Dems attacked Logan by deliberately misrepresenting his position on abortion. This year, they claim (3/21/24 letter) that his candidacy should be ignored because one of his donors, Blackstone, invests in houses and thus harms affordable housing efforts.
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager and has invested in hundreds, if not thousands, of industries over the years.
Fifth District voters might be interested to know that Blackstone has a charitable foundation who’s mission is “to foster economic opportunity and career mobility for historically underrepresented groups.” One of its arms is dedicated to helping minority students and students at community colleges develop career paths. Thus it is scarcely surprising that Blackstone would support Logan, whose parents immigrated from Guatemala.
Nineteen donors to Ms. Hayes 2022 campaign gave more than Blackstone gave to Logan. And so far this year, Ms. Hayes has raised over $1 million, compared to $425,000 for Logan. Are we to assume that no one would find anything to criticize among the hundreds of major donors to her campaign? Such as the $314,000 spent on her campaign by the NEA Advocacy Fund, a Super PAC?
As for Ms. Hayes’ efforts in supposedly securing $9 million in affordable housing funds for the 5th District, $9 million was the total of all appropriations for projects in the 5th, only two of which (totaling $410,000) were for affordable housing. This money was part of the $1.2 trillion spending bill recently passed by Congress. Our Committee is a strong supporter of affordable housing and we are grateful for Ms. Hayes help in getting some federal funding for this effort, even if it was not the $9 million touted in the recent letter.
Tom Morrison
Chair, Salisbury Republican Town Committee
Lakeville
Need for a second trooper in Kent
Over fifty years ago, I served the town of Kent as the Resident State Trooper from July 1, 1969, to March 1, 1975. The town has grown considerably and we still have one Resident Trooper. It is time to go from the 20th to the 21st century.
On or about Dec. 1, 2023, I submitted a request by letter to the Kent Board of Selectmen that a 2nd Resident Trooper be added to the 2024-2025 budget.
This letter was read at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Dec. 4, 2023, by First Selectman Martin Lindenmayer. This letter contained my reasoning that a 2nd Resident Trooper would provide the town with seven day coverage especially on weekends to combat the speeding on our town roads, Route 7, Route 341 and South Kent Road. The Trooper would be a First Responder, conduct criminal investigations and become familiar with the town that is very important.
I also provided information to the Board of Selectmen that Kent’s Town Attorney, Randall DiBella’s suggestion that he made in September, 2023. “That the Board of Selectman may vote to have an Informational meeting that is simply a request for a gathering of residents. However, this meeting would not be binding.
The Board of Selectmen had a meeting on March 6, 2024, that I was unable to attend. I reviewed a video of that meeting and there was no discussion or vote on my request for a 2nd Resident Trooper or having an Informational meeting, however, they did discuss other alternatives such as cameras. Residents and Taxpayers were not given the opportunity to share their views on both issues.
In regards to cameras, I have many questions to ask and here are a few: 1.The identity of the person driving the vehicle? 2. Where would the cameras be located and how many? 3. Who would do the investigation on each and every speeding violation as to the operator of the vehicle, especially motorcycles riders who frequently pass my residence in a group 60 to 70 miles per hour? 4. Would it be our Resident Trooper who has many other duties? Another reason for a 2nd Resident Trooper.
Andrew C. Ocif
Kent
Judicial training in abuse cases
Upon reading the article about domestic abuse in The Lakeville Journal, April 4, I began to wonder what, if any, kind of training and education a judge receives before he begins his tenure. I am referring to a domestic violence case from September, 2017.
It is shameful that the judge in this case (Edward McLoughlin) with his level of education and work experience, was so ignorant regarding domestic abuse. Hypothetically speaking, if a daughter of his had been a victim of domestic abuse, I’m sure he would have become very informed on the topic of DV. He would have learned that the most dangerous time for a woman living in a DV situation, is right before she leaves her abuser. Thus, a woman just can’t just up and leave whenever she wants to.
His finding that Nikki Addimando did not meet the requirements of a reduced sentence, is pathetic and laughable. But, Addimando was not laughing.
Those who are in power, police, judges, and politicians, to name a few, must be educated and exposed to the true root of why women stay with their abuser, When the abuser and the victim end up in a courtroom, it is even more imperative that those who are making life altering decisions, be thoroughly appraised of the multiple causes for a woman to stay with her abuser.
Until the denial, naivete and apathy ends, which afflict many court cases involving DV, relief and healing for the victims of DV will be little if any at all.
Laura J. Kisatsky
Cornwall
Sharon Housing Trust goals
Thank you for your coverage last week of the efforts of the Town of Sharon and the Sharon Housing Trust to agree a plan for the renovation of the Town’s moribund community center building on North Main Street into affordable housing units. Thank you also for your correction that the three buildings next to the community center, 91, 93 and 95 North Main Street, which already contain affordable housing units, belong to the Sharon Housing Trust and not the Town.
It is the goal of the Sharon Housing Trust to, with the cooperation and approval of the Town, rehabilitate all four structures into a moderate income, 10-unit housing campus of which the Town can be proud. The Sharon Housing Trust is a private nonprofit organization that has only recently begun its latest wave of activity and fundraising. We expect that Town residents and your readership will hear much more from us in the future!
Richard Baumann
President,
Sharon Housing Trust
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Less favoring of fossil fuels?
Apr 10, 2024
Congress has a “fiscal and moral responsibility to stop taxpayer dollars from padding the profits of an industry that is destroying our planet.” —Senator Bernie Sanders
Last December at the U.N. Environmental Conference in Dubai,U.A.E., one positive accomplishment was a document signed after much argument by representatives of each of the 197 countries attending the conference. For the first time, the individual countries pledged to “transition” away from fossil fuels toward cleaner sources of energy. And for the first time a U.N. document used the term “climate change”.
But despite the heroic efforts of former U.S. Climate Ambassador John Kerry in getting the members to sign onto this pledge, hope for any substantial re-orientation of energy priorities by the major participants in the forseeable future seems unlikely. Even in the U.S. talk is still much more plentiful than action.
However, a recent initiative by President Biden while not likely to be enacted for the time being seems very promising for the future should he win the 2024 election with a significant Democratic majority in Congress. While he has put similar proposals forth for each of the last three years, his call in the recent State of the Union address for removing the dozen or so oil and gas subsidies could make a real difference in our energy future. It would indicate that the U.S. is serious about combating climate change and push the rest of the world to do the same.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the largest U.S. energy companies, are enormously profitable. Last year, American companies pumped 13 million barrels each day on average, a record that had made the United States the largest crude oil producer in the world and also the world’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the major subsidies to the oil and gas industry cost taxpayers an estimated $14 billion a year or more.
Instead of investing in their businesses, the oil and gas companies have poured profits into stock buybacks, mergers, and acquisitions that benefited executives and wealthy shareholders. A New York Times analysis of lobbying reports found that energy companies have spent more than $30 million since Mr. Biden was elected just on lobbying efforts that included preserving the intangible drilling and depletion allowance tax breaks. But Biden’s proposed elimination of tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry, saving taxpayers billions a year is opposed by the fossil fuel industry, former President Trump, Republicans in Congress, and a number of key Democratic legislators including Senator Manchin of West Virginia.
The President is in a difficult position politically. He is fully aware that most nations, including his own, are not doing nearly enough to meet their commitments to decrease the use of fossil fuel. The political game demands that its participants consider environmental matters only on the most mundane level.
Despite the severity of the environmental crises we face, President Biden continues to talk about it in routine terms. Yes, we can put more Americans to work by building more clean energy facilities, and we need to recycle our waste and reclaim derelict land. But even more, we need to realize that we must move faster and more forcefully to arrest the overwhelmimg climate change that may make the planet uninhabitable.
An ominous article in the March 15th issue of The New Yorker by Elizabeth Kolbert entitled “Why is the sea so hot?” leaves one wondering if this unprecedented rise in ocean temperatures is a signal that Earth may be racing to a point of no return.
Former President Trump erased over 100 significant environmental rules instituted by the Obama administration and he keeps telling his supporters that climate change is a “hoax” and that the U.S. needs to “drill, drill, drill. . .” to produce as much fossil fuel as possible.
And many of the leading members of Congress seem to agree as do most Republican voters.
So Biden’s reluctance to campaign on environmental issues in a major way is understandable; with the presidential race so tight it seems smarter to stick to the most commonly discussed issues such as immigrants at the border and consumer economics.
But if Biden is returned to office a much more robust environmental agenda is likely to result. Should Trump win the presidency and the Republicans control Congress, current environmental protections will be substantially dismantled.
Architect and landscape designer Mac Gordon lives in Lakeville.
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Turning Back the Pages
Apr 10, 2024
100 years ago – April 1924
LIME ROCK – Several cars got stuck Sunday near the Belter farm, owing to the bad condition of the roads.
Mrs. Molly Cole had the misfortune of falling on the steps and injuring her back.
A.C. Roberts has returned home from Sharon Hospital, and while considerably improved is not yet able to resume his place at the store.
Editor Loope of the Millerton Telegram paid the Journal Office a fraternal call on Wednesday.
The hard rain of last Sunday and Monday removed practically all traces of snow and did much to pull the frost from the ground.
For Sale – Day old non-fertile eggs for water glass. Squabs. Foxhurst Farm, Lime Rock, Conn. Phone 76-4.
50 years ago – April 1974
The Peter Reilly murder trial neared an end Wednesday when both the prosecution and defense completed their presentations and rebuttals, after almost six weeks of testimony that began March 1. Only the summations by State’s Attorney John F. Bianchi and Defense Attorney Catherine Roraback and the charging of the 12 jurors by Superior Court Judge John A. Speziale remain, before the jurors are left to decide the fate of 19-year-old Peter Reilly, charged with murdering his mother last Sept. 28.
West Cornwall’s picturesque bridge across the Housatonic River is featured on the cover of the new 1974 Connecticut highway map issued by the Department of Transportation. The photograph was taken during the fall foliage season.
After many months of negotiations, the Canaan Selectmen’s Office has received notification that a portion of the state-owned former Lawrence Playground on East Main Street can be resold to the town. The state purchased the former civic center in the 1950s for the proposed relocation of Route 7. The topsoil was stripped from the property for use at the new Sam Eddy Field, the community house razed, and for over 15 years the field has laid a sandy wasteland.
Art Wagner, of Averill Park, N.Y., has made his living for many years cutting laurel from the thickets in Connecticut. Mr. Wagner has been at his job for the past 60 years, claiming he started to pick laurel and other greens when he was 14 years old. He now works with two younger employees. He couldn’t remember any exciting encounters with wild animals, but he did say that he wouldn’t ever pick near Copake Falls, N.Y., because of the rattlesnakes there. The laurel is sold in Canada and in New York State, where it is rare. Its primary commercial value is in funeral arrangements.
Doubt has been cast about the authenticity of the stone chapel near the Schaghticoke Indian Reservation. According to Emily Hopson of the Kent Historical Society, the early buildings of the town were all made of wood. St. Andrew’s Church, reputed to be the earliest stone structure in town, was built in the years 1825-1827 – well after the Moravian influence is said to have declined. Society historian Blanche Bull Jack states that the stone for St. Andrew’s was quarried on the property of one Clarence Fuller, a short distance behind the stone chapel. The stone used in the abandoned building is remarkably similar in appearance to that of St. Andrew’s. Furthermore, Mrs. Jack points out, the little stone building could never have held a congregation of 120 to 150 as the 1897 history describes, nor even 40 Indians mentioned in another work. Noting that the little building has the remnants of a cupola and probably a bell, Miss Hopson suggested it may at one time have served as a school for Fuller children and their neighbors.
25 years ago – April 1999
SHARON – Attention all Oprah Winfrey fans. Those who are faithful watchers of the nationally syndicated television talk show will not only see the noted host on Tuesday, April 13, but glimpse the Northwest Corner as well. A film crew of three or four was at Weatherstone Monday preparing for a brief segment of the daily “Remembering Your Spirit,” which appears at the end of each hourly show. Owner Carolyne Roehm will be featured. “Ms. Roehm will talk about how her life has changed in the last few years and how the fire was a big part of that,” he said. “The segment is basically about how people have turned negatives into positives.”
KENT – The Schaghticoke Indians have been denied motions for a trial to determine tribal status and a motion to consolidate. The March 31 ruling from the United States District Court in New Haven means the tribe will have to wait 7 to 10 years until the Bureau of Indian Affairs gives the tribe federal recognition.
Through the efforts of its beautification committee, Canaan has again received a grant for plantings in the town center. That is the third consecutive year the town has received the grant. The committee announced it will use a $3,000 America the Beautiful grant to plant shade trees and shrubbery along East Main Street.
These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.
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