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Letter to the Editor 3/13/25
Mar 12, 2025
Chris Murphy: Poster boy for what’s wrong with Democrats
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is all over Facebook these days, asking for donations so that he can lead us to a better world.
Mr. Murphy is making his big push to the forefront of the national Democratic party as he apparently gears up to run for president in 2028.
In his Facebook fundraising and fearmongering pitch, Murphy screams like a good Democrat that we’re in a “constitutional crisis.” He says Donald Trump is trying to “shut down democracy” so that his “billionaire friends can steal from us.”
What? Again? This is the same failed playbook the Democrats have been using for 10 years. Don’t the Dems ever learn? One of Murphy’s own colleagues, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.), summed it up best after his party’s truculent performance at Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Fetterman said the Democrats are like car alarms that go off and no one pays any attention to them.
But screaming that the end is nigh is all the Democrats have. Endless claims of existential threats to democracy, to the Constitution, to the planet, to humanity, to government bureaucracy, to the Democrat agenda, ad nauseam.
Ever since the Dems got shellacked in November, they have assumed that all they need to do is a better job of putting out their fearmongering message. But messaging is not their main problem, although it is a problem.
Their main problem is their actual agendas and policies. As long as the Democrats keep pushing their transgender insanity, their woke insanity, their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion insanity, they will continue to lose. As long as they keep shouting against false fascist demons and for false woke gods, they will lose. As long as they divide us with identity politics, they will lose. The country has had enough.
Murphy, however, is one of the left’s old-school types. He doesn’t know how to do anything but fearmonger. He is fully embedded in the Democrat’s dying agenda and in the notion that screaming louder about Armageddon at the hands of Donald Trump and the MAGA hordes is the key to victory.
Well, if Chris Murphy is the best the Democrats have to offer, then JD Vance or Pam Bondi will be elected president in 2028, and even more Democrats will cross party lines to join the Republicans.
That will really make Sen. Murphy and the Democrats scream.
The Democrats should forget “messaging.” The only way they can fix their morass is to take all the insanity out of their platform.
But then they’d be Republicans.
Mark Godburn
Norfolk
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Turning Back the Pages
Mar 12, 2025
125 years ago — March 1900
SHARON — Miss Edna St. John left this week for Chapinville, where she will fulfill the duties of stenographer in Joseph J. Morehouse’s office in that place.
Mr. Edward Middlebrook of Sharon had the misfortune to lose a horse on Thursday last. The animal took fright near Mr. Robert Harris’ and kicking himself loose from the wagon ran until he came to the foot-bridge in front of the blacksmith shop, and thus becoming tangled up, broke a leg. This of course necessitated the shooting of the animal.
Mr. Chas. Beeman met with an accident on Tuesday. Jumping from a scaffold he struck a rusty wire spike which passed nearly through his foot, causing a very serious, if not dangerous wound.
A.F. Roberts is advertising a special in tea and coffee this week.
John O’Hara, who resides in the north part of the town was arrested by Deputy Sheriff Martin Monday for illegally selling cider. He appeared before Justice Hicks at Salisbury on Monday and was fined $10 and costs amounting to about $200.
The measles seem to prevail pretty generally throughout this and neighboring towns.
During the high water last week the gas main was bent and sprung where it passes through Burton brook, creating a leakage of the gas. The pipe was soon repaired by Messrs. Miller and Hoyt. It has been raised in the form of an arch over the brook and is fastened to the stone work of the bridge.
Last Thursday “Lon” Rowe had a narrow escape from drowning. He was fishing through the ice on Long Pond; he fell through; lost his fish ice tools and fishing tackle. John Thorpe was near by and rescued him. “Lon” now appreciates the sentiment of the old nursery rhyme “Ding Dong Bell, Pussy’s in the Well,” while John can answer to the character “Big Tom Stout.”
100 years ago — March 1925
Arthur Benson, 28 years old, of Lime Rock, died at the Sharon Hospital at about 5:30 o’clock Thursday night of last week as a result of injuries suffered when the blade of a buzz saw, on which he and his brother-in-law, Joseph Spoth, were cutting logs in the woods on their farm, was broken off, and imbedded itself in his leg, laying it open from the thigh to the knee. Benson was taken to the hospital immediately, but loss of blood and shock were fatal. He leaves a wife, Eda Spoth Benson. His father-in-law, Dr. Joseph Spoth, is serving a five-year sentence in the state prison at Wethersfield for manslaughter.
The life of a country squire in the town of Salisbury is just one animal after another according to Representative J. Mortimer Bell of Salisbury who succeeded in giving the legislative judiciary committee the impression that when one had routed out the red squirrels nesting in the beds, it was time to hurry outside and chase cows out of the garden. Mr. Bell is a member of the committee and did not appear before it, but did considerable to enliven a hearing on the humane society bills by his questions and comments.
Blue birds and robins are here; the boys are spinning tops and playing marbles, the sap is running and by these signs we know that spring is just around the corner.
Joseph Stanton has resigned his position at Leverty’s Pharmacy and the vacancy is now filled by his brother Thomas, and the vacancy at Benjamin’s store left by Thomas is now filled by his brother James.
More rents are needed in Lakeville, but there are at present no indications of new building construction. Several new houses could be used and it is regrettable that present high costs act as an obstacle to new construction.
If you observe a restless spirit shown by the average housewife you don’t need to be unduly alarmed — just remember it’s housecleaning time and the good wife will promptly recover after the house has been properly gone over, and don’t kick if you do have to take your meals off the shelf for a time.
50 years ago — March 1975
Housatonic Valley Regional High School teachers were reported in a “state of shock” late Wednesday afternoon after learning of an order to eliminate teaching positions for the 1975-76 school year. “We found out at 3:20 today,” Faculty Association President Robert Gutzman told The Lakeville Journal shortly after that hour. Principal Edward M. Kirby gave teachers the bad news at a hastily called faculty meeting. Kirby told his staff that the HVRHS Board of Education, in executive session Tuesday night, directed that 4.4 teaching positions be eliminated. It also directed further study of pupil-teacher ratios in Vocational Agriculture. The board’s vote was unanimous. No permanent staff members have yet been notified they will lose their jobs. The HVRHS staff now numbers about 48 full-time members.
Bargains and lower prices may have arrived, but there’s no such thing as 99-cent-a-quart scotch. Patrons by the scores learned to their regret this last week when they thronged the Millerton Super in response to a misprint in an advertisement in The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News. It was all a mistake as the price as listed was “less than $8.99.” The Journal and News apologize for the inconvenience to patrons and to Millerton Super, while noting by way of consolation that the episode demonstrated how many people read the ads.
25 years ago — March 2000
Sharon Hospital employees will learn next week if their jobs are among those slated for elimination. According to Ken Roberts, director of community relations at the hospital, another round of layoffs is scheduled to help in the cost-saving operations that are needed to keep the facility financially viable.
FALLS VILLAGE — A pile of debris in an abandoned railroad car off Sand Road was ignited Monday afternoon, creating a blaze that burned an acre of nearby swamp land. The incident has been reported to state police and to Fire Marshal Stanley MacMillan. No property was damaged by the fire and there were no injuries.
CANAAN — A spark from a sap house chimney was blamed for igniting a wood pile on Tobey Hill Road early Monday morning. The fire was discovered by property owners Winter and Judy Mead, whose home is across the road from the sap shed. They had been busy boiling sap until about 11 p.m. the night before. Firefighters and ambulance crews were dispatched to the scene about 3:45 a.m. Mrs. Mead estimated 12 cords of wood were destroyed but said the business remains in good shape for the season. “We have plenty of wood left and plenty more that we can cut. We’ll be fine. We were very lucky that the sap shed did not catch on fire,” she said. The Meads typically produce 600 gallons of maple syrup per season, she said.
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I have taught U.S. history for the past decade and over these years have never felt that I was both teaching and living history so much as I have over the past two months.
As I and my students experience the executive orders crippling the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development, freezing refugee migration to our shores, the President’s telegraphing of submission to Russia, and the suggestion of a cultural genocide in Palestine, I posited the above question to my students in 10th grade U.S. History and Literature.
I did so with genuine curiosity of the teenage generation’s thought on what America is, what it should be and what it could be. As one approaching middle age, am I too entrenched in decades of American hegemony and an idealized version of the United States as a potential force for good, or at least a balancing force against real danger around the world to understand the radical shifts of the moment? Or am I just old enough to be rightfully worried about the promised foreign agenda?
Prior to the students moving about to discuss, create mind-maps and word clouds, we reviewed the content we had studied up until that point which included the first contact of European settlers with indigenous people, the forced migration of Africans through the Middle Passage, the hopes of founders such as William Penn to create settlements where immigrants of all religions were welcome, and the first moments of rebellion against the British crown by the patriots in Massachusetts. Students had also had the opportunity, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new president, to read the first inaugural address by President Lincoln, as well as President Kennedy’s address. They also watched the address given by President Trump in the Rotunda of the Capitol.
This is all to say they were not coming to this question from an uneducated place. Further, the students that sit around the table in my classroom hail from all corners of Connecticut, countless states within our country and many nations abroad.
As I walked around the classroom and the hallways where they had situated themselves, I acted as a silent observer to the conversation. I was immediately struck by some of the points they were making. These young learners shared thoughts that included, “should be an escape for freedom,” “spreading ideas of equality,” “a military and technological leader” and “biggest economy-helping those with less develop.”
They asked high level questions of each other to come to these conclusions and were thoughtful about the supposed dichotomy of helping domestically versus helping abroad.
It was clear from the conversation that these 15- and 16-year-old students, from all around the world, understand what this administration does not; a positive presence on the world stage doesn’t make us weaker, it makes us stronger.
I taught some of these same students last year when we investigated WWI and WWII. They understand that isolationism didn’t work then, and it won’t work now in an even more globalized world.
A nation that keeps its promise to Afghans who worked alongside our men and women in uniform, a nation that provides low cost, but lifesaving aid to children in developing countries, a nation that assists in demining farm land of weapons that were left behind by our wars of the 70s, a nation that stands up to dictators and autocrats and a nation that supports the oppressed and marginalized at home and abroad is a safer nation, a better nation and a greater nation.
As my students so correctly identified, America’s role in the world is a beacon of hope; this is what makes America great!
Let us as the adults in our community stand up to enact what these young people know to be true. While it is undoubtably healthy to re-examine funding commitments and alliances from time to time, let us not break down all good will on the global stage.
As my students read Kennedy’s inaugural address they noted his appeal to a new generation. Though his speech from 64 years ago spoke to a time when even their parents were not born, they resonated with his words, most especially, “…a new generation of Americans…. unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed…”.
This new generation is witnessing an undoing, and they are committed to standing against it.
Jennifer Dillon of Ashford has been an educator at independent schools for the past 10 years.
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Salisbury Town Hall on Main Street.
Nathan Miller
SALISBURY — The Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the formation of a Plan of Conservation and Development Implementation Committee at its March 3 regular meeting which would facilitate the enacting of town strategies in line with the long-term blueprint.
The POCD is a state-mandated policy guide that directs and informs the growth of Connecticut towns. Municipalities are required to update these plans every decade; Salisbury’s most recent version was completed and effected in December 2024.
The new Implementation Committee would be a cross-departmental effort to ensure that the suggestions and guidelines laid out in the plan are actively pursued.
“I’d like us to look back in 2034 … and say boy we got a lot of things done,” said Planning & Zoning Chair Michael Klemens.
P&Z discussed the composition of the proposed committee, suggesting a small, town staff-based core team consisting of the land use administrator and a primary representative from Planning and Zoning. The Committee would call upon “liaisons” from other town commissions and interest groups for specific projects pertaining to the focus of that group.
Natalia Smirnova of the Salisbury Pathways Committee was present at the meeting, and expressed her enthusiasm to be one such representative. Members of other commissions would inform the Implementation Committee on projects relating to other focus areas, such as affordable housing or conservation.
“This is the only way we are going to effectively move this POCD forward,” said Klemens of the proposed collaborative approach to the new committee. “There’s going to be a lot of good cross-pollination here.”
Private art studio
P&Z addressed the transition of a storage building at 9 Sharon Road — adjacent to the restaurant Fern — into an art studio for sculptor Rina Banerjee. As the proposal was for a private studio space and not a public gallery, commissioners agreed that the new use would be low-impact and “benign,” though there was some discussion over how to codify the change within Salisbury’s zoning regulations.
P&Z alternate Danella Schiffer noted that its new classification as a “workspace” might change parking requirements on the special permit that had been allocated to the site.
Land Use Administrator Abby Conroy shared Schiffer’s concern and advised the commission to consider amending the site plan under item 803.5 in the town’s zoning regulations, which allows modifications to special permits that do “not materially alter the Special Permit as determined by the commission.”
Teepoo Riaz, who manages the property, asked why such a step was necessary given the low profile of the proposal and the fact that there are over 19 parking spaces on the premises.
Klemens responded that the commission must proceed by the book, needing to “go the extra mile” to “memorialize every decision.”
Ultimately, Commissioner Alan Cockerline motioned to accept the modification of the use of the structure from storage to workspace, which carried unanimously.
“Much ado about nothing,” said Klemens.
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