As he laid off state troopers and prison supervisors in unions that rejected the pay freeze he sought (before becoming immersed in storm cleanup duties), maybe Gov. Dannel Malloy at last had enough of collective bargaining with state government employees. The troopers and prison supervisors apparently consider themselves indispensable and bigger than the government. Maybe their positions are indispensable. Even if the state police stopped chasing dopeheads around and issued fewer trivial traffic tickets, Connecticut’s social disintegration still would create plenty of need for police work. But then that is all the more reason not to let collective bargaining get in the way of public safety.Suppressing the police strike in Boston in 1919, Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge famously remarked, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.” That forthright declaration of democratic principle raised Coolidge ultimately to the presidency. While Connecticut half-heartedly outlaws strikes by government employees, the state still gives its employees great control over how much safety is to be afforded the public, as Malloy’s laying off the troopers and prison supervisors shows. For neither the governor nor the whole of state government can decide on their own just how many troopers and prison supervisors should be hired and what the terms of their employment will be. Disgracefully, even the highest managers in the state police are unionized now.What is the public interest in constraining public safety this way? Other than to please a special interest that dominates Connecticut’s ruling political party, why shouldn’t the public’s elected officials alone have the power to determine the terms of public safety — or, for that matter, the terms of all government employment?Maybe what has begun with the troopers and prison supervisors is another game of chicken like the one just ended between the governor and the other state employee unions. Maybe the troopers and prison supervisors will come around once the layoffs seem to be sticking, and maybe then the public interest and democratic control of public institutions will be restored — as they have been maintained lately in Wisconsin. In that state, Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who has become the nemesis of the government class and the political left, won passage of legislation to curtail public employee collective bargaining rights and thereby save money. But having won such legislation, Walker didn’t lay anyone off. By contrast, taking the approach of Malloy, a liberal Democrat who has exalted collective bargaining for public employees, Connecticut has saved little but has endured thousands of layoffs anyway — the first wave being canceled only to be followed now by layoffs of public safety personnel.In which state has the public been better served? Under Connecticut law, is serving the public even the objective?While the University of Connecticut’s varsity sports teams have achieved many championships in recent years and have thereby built enormous support for the university, UConn’s new president, Susan Herbst, has decided that what most urgently needs reforming at the university is … the athletic department. So Herbst’s first order of business was to hire an expensive consulting firm to contrive reasons to fire UConn’s longtime athletic director, Jeff Hathaway, though she already had decided to replace him on the basis of consultation with her own small circle. Herbst came to UConn this summer insisting that the university didn’t waste money, ignoring the scandal just weeks earlier about the huge salaries being paid to university police executives. As Herbst undertook to remove Hathaway, it was disclosed that the UConn Health Center long has been paying nurses overtime nearly equal to their base salaries rather than hire much cheaper part-time nurses — and maintains this policy only because the nurses union likes it. Now the nurses overtime issue has been absorbed into Gov. Malloy’s review of overtime throughout state government, letting Herbst off the hook for her embarrassing obliviousness.A top administrator is entitled to choose her top assistants. But a good administrator doesn’t needlessly humiliate someone who has given long and conscientious service. Herbst could have told Hathaway confidentially that she wanted to install her own athletic director and given him a limited time to move on. Instead she spent tens of thousands of dollars on a consultant and then maybe $700,000 on severance pay. As with the police executives and the overtime for the nurses, money continues to be no object at UConn. Chris Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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