Lakeville Journal Editorial

The health of the area child care centers in the Northwest Corner can be seen as a good bellwether of the health of the entire region as far as social fabric goes.

Community building comes in many forms. In the Northwest Corner, there are Memorial Day parades, Fourth of July events, firehouse breakfasts, lasagna dinners, various sports to watch or take part in. All of these were canceled or dramatically changed during COVID restrictions.

There is no better time to think about open government and transparency than now, as we are all watching the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia happening in real time.

On Feb. 17, the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy released a report on the effects of the expiration of the Child Tax Credit, which President Biden had expanded upon entering office. The conclusion is that 3.7 million more children were in poverty in January 2022 as were in December 2021.

Anyone who has lived in the region serviced by Sharon Hospital in northern Litchfield County, Conn., and eastern Dutchess County, N.Y., for any length of time knows how critical it is in times of need.

Connecticut is a state that values New England virtues of hardy independence and individualism. For those of us who reside in the Northwest Corner of Litchfield County, it can seem that those values are especially strong in this rather remote, lightly populated, rural region.

As COVID restrictions are now beginning to become past, not present, and hopefully not future, it is good for all of us that some events are happening that bring us out of the shells in which we’ve been encased, off and on, for the past two years. If we are looking for reasons to be hopeful, such activity can be held up as inspiration.

This is the year of the short legislative session in Hartford, when our representatives will delve into budgets and all manner of finances for the state. And what is more important in our governing? It affects every level of our communities.