Letters to the Editor - July 3, 2025

John Coston

How can we help save the bees?

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are in trouble.

We are in trouble too, as the bee and butterfly numbers plunge, who will pollinate our fruit, vegetables, trees and flowers? We will have no food without pollinators.

The use of insecticides such as Neonicotinoids have reduced the numbers of our bees and butterflies to dangerous lows. Many countries have banned these products yet the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, and the BLM, Bureau of Land Management, and the US Department of Agriculture, are spraying thousands of acres of public lands with these products.

Today most seeds are coated with pesticides, usually with neonic insecticide. The growing plant infuses the chemicals throughout the entire plant—from its roots to its fruit to its pollen—making it toxic to birds, bees and butterflies.

Europe has suffered the same loss of pollinators, so many countries like Germany and Switzerland do not mow the grass along the sides of their roads. They let grass and wildflowers grow freely unsprayed to help the pollinators.We can do that.

The Connecticut State Senate bill SB9 limits the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. The bill bans neonics on lawns and golf courses and blocks using the pesticides on school grounds. But it does allow landscapers to use neonics on trees and shrubs next to lawns. Governor Lamont signed it into law on June 10th 2025. New York and Vermont have already passed a similar bill to protect pollinators. Neonics are now banned in Europe and the EU has proposed banning importing crops sprayed with those products.

How can we help? We can stop mowing part of our lawns to grow wildflowers for the bees and butterflies. We can stop using pesticides in the garden and instead use liquid detergent and white vinegar to spray plants against pests. We can buy our seeds at websites where we are sure that they are not infused with pesticides.You can join the Pollinator Pathway in Connecticut to give bees and butterflies a route to migrate safely through properties not using pesticides.We can contact the EPA, the Department of Agriculture and the BLM to complain about spraying public lands.Pollinators are too important for our country both now and in the future.

Lizbeth Piel

Sharon

Several points to consider on North Canaan’s proposed tripartite ordinance

1. North Canaan would join the ranks of many other towns in Connecticut and across the country in depoliticizing offices that should not be political. Tax collector, town clerk and treasurer are all purely administrative positions, they do not create or weigh in on policy. There’s no real reason that any of these positions should be left up to a politicized vote.

2. The existing language stipulates that these positions be appointed and, if necessary, removed by a majority vote of the Board of Selectmen, which effectively renders the minority selectperson’s vote inert.

3. Is this simply a continuation of Brian Ohler’s ongoing crusade to oust Jean Jacquier from the position of Town Clerk? He wasn’t able to do it through litigation, so is he now trying to do it through legislation?

4. Considering points 2 and 3, the current language of the ordinance would allow the majority party to appoint or remove anyone they so choose, regardless of qualification or efficacy, and thus render the depoliticization of the positions highlighted in point 1 ineffectual. The language should be amended to require a unanimous vote of the Board of Selectmen.

5. We have seen across the country in the last decade and especially in the last year just how much damage can be done by placing unqualified people in positions of power within a government. I would like to see a more specific design from the Board of Selectmen of the intended selection process and qualifications they will be looking for in candidates.

6. Such an important and impactful change to the structure of town government should be conducted through a ballot question on Election Day when more people have the opportunity to cast a vote, not through a special meeting only a few weeks after its introduction on a Monday night when many are unavailable and unable to attend.

Ashlee Baldwin

North Canaan

Ask yourself, what price would you pay?

Lately I have been reflecting on those who fought in the revolution and those who fought in the two great wars of the 20th century many of whom died. From my birth in 1939 to the present I have lived in a world shaped by their commitment and sacrifice.

What price would I pay today to preserve the rule of law under the constitution of the United States as I have known it? I immediately answer that I would gladly give my life to preserve those freedoms for my grandchildren. This is easy to say as an 85 year old.

Then I think of my grandchildren, ages 21 and 18, putting on uniforms and entering combat to preserve the liberties I have long taken for granted.Reluctantly and with conflicting emotions I would support their participation. To contemplate a life under Hitler, Putin, Kim Jong-Un and others is unimaginable. Mary and I recently spent several weeks in Albania where, for 50 plus years, no one could enter or leave. One could only live or work where directed.

Contemplate todays attacks on the press, independent universities, medical science, habeas corpus, the judiciary, voting rights, minorities, separation of church and state, historical truths.Ask yourself what price would you pay to preserve human dignity and our freedoms?

Philip V.Oppenheimer

Lakeville

Let’s grow together

Finding joy in the little things is a good place to start each day, week and season. However with politics throwing a monkey wrench into the idea of celebrating as a nation with a growing gap of the ‘have’s and ‘have-nots among people and corporations’ there’s plenty to ponder.

It’s important to know 250,000 people filled the streets of NYC protesting with calls for a “No Kings Act” meaning we need to clarify and count on the U.S. president working with Congress to represent all people and follow the Constitution. Basic support people have counted on for healthcare and food stamps along with Social Security have prompted serious concerns among people and many leaders such as the bellringer Chris Murphy!

No one seems protected by the law and plenty seem above it. Many are responding with calls to join together locally and online to organize meaningful efforts to help people and advocate for human rights on all levels.

Let’s grow together in our collaboration, creativity, and caring responses, perhaps meeting an hour before planned events to talk ‘on the sidewalk’ if that’s the only option.

Mother Nature is reminding us of the freedom and abundance of the great outdoors and sharing gardening and team work efforts.

Please be in touch if you’d like to join in such efforts for each age and stage of life to grow community and gardens of positivity and good food too!

Catherine Palmer Paton

Falls Village

The proliferation of yard signs in Lakeville

Yard sign proliferation is getting a bit ridiculous in Lakeville. It seems a bit analogous to the broken window theory that visible signs of disorder encourage more disorder. Here yard sign placement seems to encourage more signs and more signs encourage more signs. Wells Hill Road is awash in Wake Robin protest; many town corners advertise Music Mountain among other business and service signs. There are the Ukraine, and stop gun violence signs, and maintenance and contractor signs. It has all gotten to be too much.

The Wake Robin protest signs only benefit the sign maker, as the decision to approve or disapprove the expansion is not based on public opinion. So many of the other signs seem to support causes that won’t cause the owner any blow back. I haven’t seen any signs that support Russia or express an opinion or support for Israel or Palestine. And, by the way stop gun violence would infer that other forms of violence are okay. I still see save the rail trail even though it doesn’t appear to be in any danger.

Please stop!

Dan Lewis

Lakeville