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LAKEVILLE — Winter classes begin Jan. 12 at Taconic Learning Center, a nonprofit membership organization providing lifelong learning opportunities in the Northwest Corner.
Annual membership dues of $60 per person are fully tax-deductible. There are no other set fees. Individuals may sign up for any number of courses. Classes lasting two hours are held once a week at one of three venues.
Class details below. For more info, visit www.taconiclearningcenter.org
Trials, Tribulations, Failures and Successes of Our First Three Presidents, 1789 to 1809
This course will examine several events and attitudes that Washington, Adams, and Jefferson had to address. Some of the problems these events and attitudes caused were handled during their administrations, some of them are still with us today, including: The power of the federal government. vs power of the states, and massive war debt. The class will look at these on a timeline basis, giving credit where due and criticism where appropriate.. Instructor: Tom Key. Mondays 10 a.m. to noon, Jan. 12 through Feb. 16, at Noble Horizons.
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was arguably the savior of the American Revolution and one of the essential contributors to its success. John Adams said: “Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.” And yet, of all the founders, Paine is without question the least known, the least understood, and the least appreciated.This course will examine his extraordinary life -- warts, brandy, huge successes, dramatic failures and all. The class will look at and discuss excerpts from some of his writings and the historical context in which he wrote. Instructor: Douglas Cooper. Mondays 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Jan. 12 through March 2 (no class Feb. 2 and Feb. 9) at Noble Horizons.
Composer Jam Part II
Five different composers this semester (can’t claim they are new since the oldest is from the 1600s) get their moment in the spotlight. The class will hear a sample of their best compositions in the best available versions. Instructor: John Robinson. Tuesdays 10 a.m. to noon, Jan. 13 though Feb. 10 at Geer Village.
Documentary Films on Humor
Enjoy the humor presented by great comedians and also review their lives and difficulties. The class will enjoy the artistry of Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams, and Peter Sellers. Instructor: Laurance Rand. Tuesdays 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., seven sessions starting Jan. 13 - Jan. 27 and again March 10 - March 31 at Geer Village.
Conversation Class
Based on exchanges from the past three Conversation classes, this discussion series could easily be retitled “The Anything and Everything Class.” Discussions have ranged widely across political, economic, social, and personal topics, and beyond. The class is known for its lively conversations and broad participation and will continue where it left off in the fall. Instructor: Laurance Rand. Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to noon, Jan. 14–Jan. 28 and March 11–March 25, at Noble Horizons.
An Amazing Period for the American Short Story, 1970-2020
The second half of the 20th century was a period of considerable upheaval in the US. Disturbances in the social, and political fabric of the country cut across many aspects of everyone’s lives (e.g., civil rights legislation, feminism, the Vietnam War, student sit-ins, HIV) and lasted well into the 21st century. In the literary world, story writers searched for new ways to capture and reflect on the lives of everyday Americans. The class will explore stories from this period, collected by John Freeman in “The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story.” In the six sessions, the class will read and discuss stories by 18 writers; among these are Raymond Carver, Louise Erdrich, George Saunders, Junot Diaz, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Lauren Groff. Enrollment is limited to 14 members in order to facilitate discussion. Instructor: Joanne Carlisle. Thursdays 10 a.m. to noon, Jan. 15 - Feb. 19, at Geer Village.
The Ghost Stories of Henry James
Part light-hearted fun, partly serious forays into human motivation, the ghost stories of Henry James are well worth exploring. Across the span of his 40-year career, he wrote 20 such stories, ranging from brief, almost comical accounts of fairly stereotypic “hauntings” to longer, intensely psychological portraits of individuals grappling with events that they could not understand, but which the reader comes to see as intriguingly ambiguous projections of psychological trauma.
In this class, participants will read and discuss several of James’s most intriguing ghost stories, including his famous novella, “The Turn of the Screw.” Instructor: Addison Stone. Wednesdays 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Jan. 14 to Feb. 18 at Geer Village.
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Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.