Towns respond to proposal from Desegregate CT

GOSHEN — Bob Kenny of the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (and filling in for DEMHS Region 5 coordinator John Field) told the members of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments that increased supplies of COVID-19 vaccine should be arriving in the next couple of weeks.

The NHCOG is made up of municipal leaders from 21 area towns.

Kenny spoke to the NHCOG on Thursday, March 11 (on Zoom).

He said DEMHS is working on a “fixed site” for vaccinations in Bridgeport, Conn., and the agency has requested that two mobile sites be activated.

The mobile sites could be in the form of a bus, Kenny added, but he wouldn’t commit to it.

The mobile sites would be used not only for densely populated areas but for “less densely populated” areas, such as the northwest and northeast corners of the state.

Kenny said DEMHS is also working on ways to transport people to vaccination sites.

Michael Criss, first selectman of Harwinton and the chair of the NHCOG legislative committee, sounded the alarm on several bills that are getting public hearings in the state House and Senate during the week of March 14. 

The bills concern housing and related issues and are largely the result of proposals from a group called Desegregate CT.

Criss said the bills are not “fair or equitable” for small towns and would contradict long-standing environmental regulations (especially those concerning water quality).

He said a better starting point would be to discuss the state’s goal of municipalities having 10% affordable housing.

Donna Hamzy from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities opened the meeting with a report on how that organization has met with Desegregate CT and agreed on some changes to the language used in some of the bills.

Criss made many of the same points he made during his legislative report later in the meeting.

NHCOG Chair Don Stein (of Barkhamsted, Conn.) asked if the legislation would override local zoning. Hamzy said that issue didn’t come up.

Criss continued to press the issues, noting that a proposed requirement for training for members of planning and zoning commissions would represent a burden for small towns who have trouble finding volunteers for such boards already.

He said such requirements would make local planning and zoning commissions “obsolete,’ and wondered aloud if the goal is to replace local boards with regional or a state-wide approach.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less