Decision on Lime Rock Park brings local rule to the fore again

The Connecticut Supreme Court decision issued on Friday, May 22, on the regulation of Lime Rock Park’s racing schedule is the culmination of years of divisive and often highly contentious argument over the way oversight of the track should be accomplished. (See stories by Patrick Sullivan May 28 and this week, and see the full decision at www.tricornernews.com.) All the years of litigation and discussion have brought the topic back to where it began: at the feet of the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission. 

Now it’s time for all interested parties to come back to the table and come to a workable agreement on the way that Lime Rock Park can run its business. Track Owner Skip Barber has been a considerate neighbor over many years, and deserves to be able to have a viable operation to pass on to the next generation. There are some who would prefer to have no racing on that site, but they may not prefer to see many locally owned businesses that benefit from the support of visitors to the track close down. 

It will now be up to the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission to make decisions according to evidence presented to its members going forward. This newspaper will continue to cover all sides of this issue as that happens, as it has over many years, so our readers can be clearly and fully informed.

Time for national change

“We’re sick of it. The cops are out of control,” protester Olga Hall said in Washington, D.C. “They’re wild. There’s just been too many dead boys.”

— Associated Press, May 31, 2020, article by Tim Sullivan and Stephen Groves

Thank God and Big Tech for smartphones that take video and audio of high quality. While society may not always like or deal well with the results of ubiquitous technology, it’s very clear that visual records of police misconduct in the United States have made a big difference in how some of law enforcement’s violent interaction with the public has been seen and understood in recent years. Profound thanks also go to the courageous people who take videos at scenes of police brutality, because they know first-hand how at-risk they are themselves.

It’s surely true that not all those in law enforcement condone such behavior as was seen in Minneapolis during the arrest of George Floyd on May 25. It may even be that most don’t; but if that is so, those police officers need to make their voices heard now.

It’s time for real social change in this country; actually, it’s long overdue. All who agree with that need to become activist, like Olga Hall quoted above by the AP, and to find ways in their own lives to create a path to that change. They also need to find leadership that responds to the inequality in our nation with solutions and an obsession for justice. They need to vote for such leaders and to work to encourage others to vote for them as well.