Lucy Josephine L. Soper


LAKEVILLE — With sorrow and love, we share the passing of our dear mother and my wife, Lucy Josephine L. (Locantore) Soper of Lakeville. Lucy was born on May 11, 1933, the daughter of Joseph and Katie Locantore.
She was born in Bronx, New York, at that time referred to as “Little Italy.” During WW2 so many Italians moved from Italy to the United States and seemed to settle in this area. Lucy enjoyed her childhood in the Bronx and later in New London, Connecticut, with her sisters Hyacinth and Linda. She was predeceased by both sisters; may they be reunited in heaven.
She leaves behind her loving husband Joe, two devoted sons, Glenn and David, four Grandchildren, Katie, Ben, Chris and William as well as two nieces: Paula and Lisa and a nephew Steven.
Lucy worked for the Phone Company in New London, as secretary to the president for several years. She was a stenographer and loved her occupation.
Joe first met Lucy at a place called “Roseland Ballroom” in New York City. Within a few months they were making wedding plans. On Oct. 22, 2023, Joe and Lucy celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.
Lucy and Joe lived in Lakeville for 58 years where they raised their two boys and enjoyed the pleasures of a small, close-knit town. Lucy was a wonderful cook and baker. She enjoyed preparing wonderful Italian meals for her extended family. She was also known in town for her delicious baked goods. Her baked goods were always in big demand at the annual church fundraiser.
Once Joe and Lucy became empty nesters they began vacationing often on the East Coast and taking cruises with her sister Hyacinth and brother-in-law Paul.
In later years they moved to Noble Horizons where they enjoyed their remaining years together.
The family would like to thank the wonderful caregivers who helped support her through her last few years, including Hasmik, and staff from Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Litchfield County and Noble Horizons. The love and kinship she engendered around her was truly remarkable. Every one of the caregivers enjoyed her beautiful smile. We all are humbled and grateful for the time spent by her side.
Calling Hours are Friday, Jan 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home in N. Canaan CT. Funeral will be on Saturday Jan. 27 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Lakeville CT
At the request of the family, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Litchfield County, 32 Union Street Winsted, CT 06098
Alec Linden
KENT – The Board of Education presented its 2026-2027 budget proposal to the Board of Finance on Wednesday, March 25, showing a bottom line of combined expenditures for Kent Central School and Region One contributions at $8,146,440, a 4.32% increase from the previous year.
“While no one wants to cheer for any kind of budget increase, we’re pretty happy with that,” said Kate Symonds, chair of the BOE’s budget committee. “Percentage increases in the region have been significantly higher than that, as we’ve heard, so that number is pretty good,” she explained.
As of the current Region One budget draft, the bottom line is up over 6% from last year. While speaking to the Salisbury BOF earlier in the month, Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick said that it’s the biggest budget increase he’s seen in his 26 years working for the district.
BOE Chair Heather Brand said that Kent’s figures mark the “second lowest or the lowest” of Region One towns for this budget season.
Spending for Kent Center School sits at a total of $5,337,470, an increase of 2.69% over last year and markedly lower than increases in recent fiscal years. The number is subject to change as the BOE and BOF negotiate for a final proposal to send to a town hearing.
The town’s Region One costs are likely to total $2,808,970, 7.55% more than 2025-2026.
The Region One budget committee is set to meet for another budget review on April 6 before presenting a final proposal for public hearing on April 9.
Lakeville Journal
Elizabeth Taylor of LaCroix Artistry, based in New Haven, paints festive spring flowers on the windows at LaBonne’s Market on Thursday, March 26. Using standard wall paint—“the same thing you’d use in your house,” she said—Taylor has a contract to create similar decorations at all four LaBonne’s locations, including stores in Watertown, Woodbury and Prospect.
Lakeville Journal
Erin Stewart
SALISBURY — Republican candidates for statewide office sharply criticized Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont during a forum hosted by the Salisbury Republican Town Committee at the White Hart on Thursday, March 26.
Two of the three Republican candidates for governor — Ryan Fazio and Erin Stewart — attended the forum, outlining their cases for unseating Lamont. The third candidate, Betsy McCaughey, did not attend.
Fazio, a state senator representing the 36th District, led the attacks, accusing Lamont of burdening residents with high taxes and energy costs while failing to support economic growth.
He said the state now has the third-highest tax burden in the country, the second-highest electric bills and the fourth-worst economic development climate.
“He has abandoned common sense for ideology and partisanship.”

Fazio, who represents Connecticut’s 36th Senate District — including Greenwich, North Stamford and parts of Stamford, New Canaan and Newfield — acknowledged the challenge Republicans face in statewide elections but pointed to his own electoral success in a Democratic-leaning district.
He noted that Vice President Kamala Harris carried his district by 17 percentage points, yet he won reelection “by thousands of votes.”
“We worked harder than anyone. We listened. And we presented a vision for substantive change,” Fazio said. “If we can do it there, we can do it statewide.”
Also seeking the Republican nomination for governor is Erin Stewart, the four-term mayor of New Britain, who highlighted her record managing the city’s finances.
Stewart said that when she took office, New Britain was $30 million in debt and that she left with a $35 million surplus.
“We right-sized government. We did it methodically, looking at needs versus wants.”
Stewart also criticized Lamont’s leadership.
“He is asleep at the wheel,” she said. “He has no idea how to manage government.”
The Republican Party will select its nominees at its convention in May.
Other candidates in attendance included Peter Lumaj, who is running for secretary of the state; Chris Shea, John DeBarros and Michele Botelho, candidates for Congress in the 5th District; Fred Wilms, a candidate for state treasurer; Jen Tooker, running for state comptroller; Matt Corey, a candidate for lieutenant governor; and state Sen. Steven Harding (R-30).

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Lakeville Journal
Proud to be an American
On “No Kings Day” 1000 peaceful protestors showed up on the Salisbury Green. And The Boss — Bruce Springsteen sang to thousands in The Twin Cities. A “Boss Day” or an “All Queens Day” is in order.
In Falls Village at the Center on Main, the Children’s Theater presented a rousing production of Mary Poppins. Scores of costumes, exquisite direction and choreography by Darcy Boynton with Amber Cameron, founders of Blue Studio Dance, and what seemed like thousands of youngsters, made this oldster yet again know why he is in the theater. Herding cats, dare I say it, looks like child’s play compared to what they all achieved.
The Boss and the Children’s Theater make me proud to be an American.
Lonnie Carter
Falls Village
Stand up against this unlawful war with Iran
In recent polls a majority of Americans have expressed opposition to the Iran war, but President Trump is not listening. Not only has he ignored majority sentiment against the war, he has also contradicted his own campaign promises to end forever wars. Worst of all he’s fallen in line with a 2009 document issued by the Brookings Institute that talks about waging war on Iran to preserve U.S. hegemony, “WHICH PATH TO PERSIA? Options for a New American Strategy”.
This think tank study relies upon the false narrative that Iran is a sponsor of terrorism to justify a war of annihilation against Iran.Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been a willing partner in demonizing Iran for its own narrow purposes and pushing for Iran’s destruction. This long-term strategy convinced Trump to scuttle productive diplomatic negotiations and launch an unprovoked war of aggression in violation of International and domestic law.
On the horrific first day of the war, an attack killed over 175 elementary school girls, and assassinated Iran’s political and religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.The U.S. also killed his wife, daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren in the attack. The fact that the attack came as the parties were in the midst of diplomatic negotiations only makes the act more shameful.
The killing of elementary school children in Minab and the assassination of Khamenei had the opposite of the intended effect. Instead of leading to regime change, it strengthened the Iranian government and also inflamed the entire Shiia population in the region. It also removed a leader that was opposed to Iran having an atomic bomb; Khamenei had issued a fatwa, a religious edict, against the building of the bomb.
Since the war started, we have learned of massive U.S. and Israeli bombing strikes on apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, oil refineries and desalination plants, targeting and directing the fighting to the civilian population, similar to the conduct of Israel in Gaza. Iran has retaliated in kind and has shown a willingness to defend itself from the existential threat of destruction.
Thousands of innocent Iranians, an unknown number of U.S. soldiers and Israelis have been killed. And billions of dollars of destruction has occurred. Following the Vietnam playbook, Trump is now on the verge of sending in ground troops. This would make an already bad situation worse. Americans are sick of forever wars.
The war is unlawful, in direct violation of the U.N. Charter, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and our own Constitution. Commencement of an unprovoked war of aggression and the targeting of civilians are both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A foreign policy centered on military force, the targeting and killing of unarmed civilians, regime change and interference in the internal affairs of other countries to preserve U.S. interests is not only unlawful, it is also profoundly undemocratic and threatens world peace. It’s up to us, every day Americans, to declare our opposition to this military adventure and advocate for peace through diplomacy and international cooperation.
Leonard Polletta
Lakeville
Kathy Herald-Marlowe
August 24, 1814, Red Coats invaded Washington DC, ravaging and burning the Capitol in retaliation for Americans looting and burning York (today’s Toronto) – The War of 1812. At the White House, dinner for 40 had been prepared for a social gathering – the Redcoats sat, ate the meal, drank the wine, burned down the White House. Dolley Madison had famously departed just prior to the Red Coats’ arrival taking with her documents, some furnishings and the 8-foot, unfurled Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, a replica, to assure its not being fouled or brandished by the British.At the conclusion of the war, Congress debated moving the Capitol to Cincinnati but Washington DC and its buildings were renovated, the White House reopened in 1817, with Washington’s Portrait proudly displayed.Washington DC – the people’s city once again flourished.
211 years later, after the Red Coats, came Trump.In October 2025 the East Wing of the White House was demolished without advance public notice or approval of the National Capital Planning Commission or Congress.With private funding and speed the East Wing was torn down in weeks to make room for an elaborate, unreviewed, unapproved, out-of-portion 90,000 square foot State Ballroom. The speed of the demolition, privately funded by billionaires seeking favor, precluded court intervention - moot to sue the gaping hole where once stood the East Wing.57% of the public disapproved of the demolition at their White House.
Two weeks after President Kennedy’s assassination, Congress passed into law legislation renaming the in-development National Cultural Center – spearheaded by Eisenhower in his administration - to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a “living memorial” to Kennedy tragically assassinated in Dallas. Then in February 2025, shortly after his inauguration, Trump replaced the Kennedy Center’s Board with Trump allies naming himself Board chairman. In December, 2025, the Center’s newly elected Board voted to rename the “living memorial” to Kennedy, as legislated by Congress, to the Trump-Kennedy Center. Chaos ensued. February 1, 2026, after months of failures to retain performers, retain audiences, retain donors, the Board, with an unprofitable mess, voted to close the Center for two years while stripping it down to its core metal structure.The “living memorial” to Kennedy, an architectural icon, was now voted by Trump’s Board to be demolished. Several Court cases are pending
Housing the Vice President’s Office among Treasury and Department of Defense offices, what is next on the Trump raze and redo list is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB).November 2025, on Laura Ingraham’s Fox TV show, Trump announced his intent to power wash, point and paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) opened in 1888 – a huge building of cut and polished Maine granite. Immediate court cases have been filed claiming any change to the EEOB’s exterior is subject to analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act and must comply with the National Historical Preservation Act.Trump wants EEOB painted white….painting and power washing is assessed as detrimental to the granite building.
Additionally, Trump has proposed a 250-fifty-tall triumphal arch – Independence Arch- to be constructed directly across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.Officially the arch is said to mark the nation’s 250th celebration, though when asked who the monument would honor Trump replied “Me”.Of course, lawsuits have been filed as no congressional or agency approvals have been obtained.Concerns about the Arch and its location include that it sits along flight paths to Reagan Airport hindering low flying planes – an airport hazard - and that, so situated it, would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial as well as block the historic site line from Arlington Cemetery to the Memorial.Lawsuits are pending.
Although Trump touted a landslide electoral victory in 2024, he did not receive a majority but a plurality of the vote - he tallied the smallest win since 1900.Amid a war, a massive Epstein scandal of which he may be a party, the questions of what his son-in-law, Jared, is doing officially negotiating peace in Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran while he is openly seeking massive investments from the Middle East for his own financial company.
Trump is pulling apart the people’s places, DC once again is under siege. History, historic significance, character are not in Trump’s preview – nor seemingly is the law.
Kathy Herald-Marlowe lives in Sharon.

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