Letters to the Editor - January 15, 2026

Thanks from North Canaan postmaster

As we turn the page on the holidays, I want to thank our customers in North Canaan for the patience, kindness, and support you showed our local Postal Service team during the busiest mailing and shipping season of the year.

Our carriers, clerks, and plant teams worked hard to keep mail and packages moving for families, small businesses, and neighbors who rely on us. Behind every delivery is a local employee who lives here, shops here, and cares about getting it right.

Now that the holiday rush is behind us, our focus is simple: steady, dependable service every day — along with continued improvements that help us handle today’s mix of letters and packages more efficiently.

If you had a great experience with your local Post Office this season, I hope you’ll share it with our team. And if we missed the mark, please let us know so we can keep improving at usps.com.

John F. Lyon

Postmaster

Canaan, CT Post Office

North Canaan

On delegate elections, party challengers

By the time you read this letter the Salisbury Democratic Town Committee will have elected members for the next two years. That happened on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at a duly noticed caucus open to all registered Democrats in the town.

We are proud to welcome a remarkable eighteen-year-old, Kip Carter, as a new member though I must point out that his letter-to-the-editor in last week’s Lakeville Journal reflected his own views on the 2026 elections and did not speak for the Salisbury DTC. It also contained an error that confused involved local political party members.

There will not be any elections of delegates to state conventions during the week of Jan. 17 as Kip stated. Delegate elections for the conventions that take place in May will happen in March. Any registered Democrat can be a delegate to conventions so if you are interested in being one contact me through the SDTC website and sign up for our informative monthly newsletter. salisburydemocrats.com

Kip is correct that our U.S. Congressional 5th and 30th State Senate Districts tend purple rather than Blue or Red. But Congresswoman Jahana Hayes has been elected four times and considering how much money was spent to defeat her in 2024 by the national Republican Party and dark-money sources, I’d say her margin of victory was remarkable.

Across the country incumbents are facing primary challengers in a healthy sign of democracy at work. Connecticut is no exception. The two announced Democratic challengers to Jahana have raised zero money and zero endorsements as far as I can tell. In fact, I find almost zero about them, no record of public service, and neither has a website or Facebook page devoted to their candidacy.

The two declared Republicans do have a social media presence, but they are, to be kind, unimpressive. So I don’t see that Jahana Hayes is “facing heavy winds” any more than in the past.

But Mr. Carter is correct that Northwest Corner Democratic Town Committees and Democrats at large will be working hard in what is possibly the most important election cycle in my 55 years of voting. In these bizarre and disturbing times it is comforting to have accomplished incumbent candidates like Jahana Hayes in Congress and Maria Horn in the state legislature.

Albert Ginouves

Lakeville

Is the EPA Protecting Us?

It is hard to believe but the EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, is considering approval of several new pesticides containing forever chemicals, dismissing concerns about human health and the environmental impacts. They have already approved two new pesticides, known to have PFAS, forever chemicals, or fluorinated compounds. The pesticides cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram have been approved for use on vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli and potatoes.

PFAS have been linked to several kinds of cancer, birth defects and damage to the liver and immune system. It is estimated 2.5 million pounds of pesticides containing forever chemicals are sprayed on California cropland annually. Young families already reeling from high food prices buy the fresh produce they can afford for their children assuming the EPA is protecting them from these dangerous chemicals. They are not.

States such as Maine and Minnesota have moved to ban the pesticides. Only one herbicide containing PFAS, diflufenican, is approved for use in the European Union. Pesticide products containing diflufenican are banned by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

With high concentrations of these pesticides in our food and water it certainly explains the huge reduction in numbers of our pollinating insects. Without these pollinators, including bees and butterflies, we would not have many fruits and vegetables. What will these pesticides do to the rate of cancer already rising in this country?

It is quite alarming that a dozen PFAS chemicals have been detected in the Everglades, which is Florida’s more important freshwater source for drinking water.

The EPA should not be exposing us to dangerous new pesticides; it should be protecting the environment and our health from exposure to more chemicals in our food and water.

Lizbeth Piel

Sharon

Cornwall Fire Trucks campaign exceeds goal

The Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department is pleased to announce that its New Fire Trucks Campaign exceeded its $600,000 goal at the close of 2025. This generosity will ensure the purchase of two of the very finest firefighting and emergency vehicles available for our first responders.

The success of this effort is a testimony to the community spirit displayed by hundreds of Cornwall individuals, organizations and businesses who generously donated. CVFD officers and members wish to thank everyone who supported the campaign.

Richard Sears, CVFD President

Cornwall Bridge

Klemens explains departure from PZC

I read The Lakeville Journal’s account of the Wake Robin Inn (ARADEV) land use controversy in last week’s paper.The Journal hasdone a valuable public service in reporting on this controversial land-use matter in great detail.I feel it necessary to clarify my resignation late last year from the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC). The officers of the Commission are elected annually by their peers.I made it known that I did not wish to be re-elected for a 16th term as Chair. While the public sees the meetings of the Commission, each hour of public hearing requires many hours of preparation by the Chair and the Land Use Office. As a volunteer elected official, the amount of work generated by many (more than ten) ARADEV public hearings was difficult enough, it was made personally untenable for the reasons Mr. Linden stated.

The second, separate and distinct issue, was that I was half way through my four-year elected term of office. My original intent was to remain on the PZC, just not as Chair, however I was unable to maintain my residency beyond the end of December 2025. For health reasons, I had been searching for several years for a permanent one-level living situation in Salisbury, renting to maintain my residency. I was unsuccessful in purchasing several modest ranch houses. One on Lakeview Avenue preferred to sell to a married couple, another on Woodland Circle was lost, despite mine being the highest, no-contingency cash offer. After these two failures, I purchased a building lot on Red Mountain Road, only to find that the costs of pre-fabricated construction rose so quickly, it was beyond my ability to complete that project. That two-acre lot with improvements and approved permitting is currently for sale.

In closing, it was not the ARADEV application per se that resulted in my resigning from the PZC. It was, despite Herculean efforts, my inability to purchase single-level housing in Salisbury. Apart from creating affordable housing, Salisbury needs to create housing options for seniors who wish to stay in the community, but cannot because of market forces and the dearth of single-level housing options. For Salisbury to remain a viable community it needs to provide housing options for demographic and socio-economic groups that are fast being squeezed out of our community. The Affordable Housing Commission, Salisbury Housing Trust, and Salisbury Housing Committee need everyone’s support. The Selectmen need encouragement to codify options to increase fiscal support of these efforts, as outlined in the 2024 Plan of Conservation and Development. On a happier personal note, I have subsequently found the housing I needed, just not in Salisbury.

Michael W. Klemens

Tucson, AZ